Wave Runners (A Jim and Erica Winters Adventure Book 2)

Right-Swipe is sarcastic, irreverent, and uproariously funny. Ricki Schultz's wry debut will speak to fans of Bridesmaids or Trainwreck, and to anyone who's ever been on a bad date. Rae Wallace would rather drown in a vat of pinot greezh and be eaten by her own beagle than make another trip down the aisle--even if it is her best friend's wedding. She's too busy molding the minds of first graders and polishing that ol' novel in the drawer to waste time on any man. But when her best friends stage an intervention, Rae is forced to give in. After all, they've hatched a plan to help her find love the 21st century way: She's skeptical of this electronic chlamydia catcher, but she's out to prove she hasn't been too picky with men.

However, when a familiar fella's profile pops up--the dangerously hot substitute teacher from work--Rae swipes herself right into a new problem Everybody loves local attorney and favorite son, Ben Laroux. Well, at least everybody of the female persuasion—until he meets Sabine O'Connor. She loathes him and makes no secret of her feelings, even when he pours on his famous charm hoping to thank her for helping his family.

Ben has never been told no, and if there's one thing he's never walked away from, it's a challenge. However, when her past threatens to derail her present and future, Ben might be the only man she can trust. There will be a reception after the program. Please note, this event will be held at the Toco Hill--Avis G. Using this as the basis for culinary exploration in her second cookbook, the author of Field Peas to Foie Gras uses one list of fresh ingredients to create two meals, one Southern and one French. Combined grocery lists provide time-saving tools for recipes from cocktails to desserts and everything in between, drawing on the strengths of both regions.

A novel about love, loss, and sharks by the New York Times bestselling coauthor of the memoir Traveling with Pomegranates. Want to learn the pros and cons, the ins and outs of traditional and self-publishing? Refreshments offered during the breaks. The focus of the show is on children's book illustration and the power of visual art and the written word in story-telling.

Come and see fabulous works of art and literature from some of the South's finest writers and illustrators. Love Sick is a smart and witty account of dating while navigating a life of uncertain health. Writing from a place of strength and vulnerability, Cory Martin faces her fears head on with humor and grace. Her tales are true to life and relatable. There is no magical ending and no grand epiphany. Instead it is her desire to be loved and feel normal that makes her journey so poignant. Sometimes Bone King cannot go through doors.

But then renowned neurologist Arthur Limongello offers a diagnosis as peculiar as the ailment: New York Times bestselling author and cultural critic Chuck Klosterman's tenth book collects his most intriguing of those pieces, accompanied by fresh introductions and new footnotes throughout. Klosterman presents many of the articles in their original form, featuring previously unpublished passages and digressions. This is a tour of the past decade from one of the sharpest and most prolific observers of our unusual times. But in the past fifteen years, a revolutionary new standard of measurement—sabermetrics—has been embraced by front offices in Major League Baseball and among fantasy baseball enthusiasts.

But while sabermetrics is recognized as being smarter and more accurate, traditionalists, including journalists, fans, and managers, stubbornly believe that the "old" way—a combination of outdated numbers and "gut" instinct—is still the best way. Baseball, they argue, should be run by people, not by numbers. Ordinary women in s America. All they wanted was the chance to shine. Be careful what you wish for. As a war raged across the world, young American women flocked to work, painting watches, clocks and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium.

It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous - the girls themselves shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in the dust from the paint. They were the radium girls. As the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious and crippling illnesses. The very thing that had made them feel alive - their work - was in fact slowly killing them: Yet their employers denied all responsibility.

And so, in the face of unimaginable suffering - in the face of death - these courageous women refused to accept their fate quietly, and instead became determined to fight for justice. Drawing on previously unpublished sources - including diaries, letters and court transcripts, as well as original interviews with the women's relatives - The Radium Girls is an intimate narrative account of an unforgettable true story. It is the powerful tale of a group of ordinary women from the Roaring Twenties, who themselves learned how to roar. Small Crimes, which won the Levine Prize for Poetry, is her debut collection.

When fifteen-year-old Lucy Willows discovers that her father has a child from a brief affair, an eight-year-old boy who lives in her own suburban New Jersey town, she begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her home and her life. How could her mother forgive him? Due to time constraints, photos are allowed from the signing line, but no posed photos will be permitted. Nobel Prize novelist Toni Morrison writes about each of us, no matter the setting, the conflict, or the race of the characters.

Can one stand alone without the sustaining support of others? If you would like more information on the lecture series, please listen to Pearl's interview with Lois Reitzes on City Lights. Over the course of one momentous day, two women who have built their lives around the same man find themselves moving toward an inevitable reckoning.

Former Lutheran minister Henry Plageman is a master secret keeper and a man wracked by grief. He and his wife, Marilyn, tragically lost their young son, Jack, many years ago. But he now has another child—a daughter, eight-year-old Blue—with Lucy, the woman he fell in love with after his marriage collapsed. Marilyn distracts herself with charity work at an orphanage.

Henry needs to wrangle his way out of the police station, where he has spent the night for disorderly conduct. Lucy must rescue and rein in the intrepid Blue, who has fallen in a saltwater well. But before long, these four will all be drawn on this day to the same destination: The collision of lives and secrets that follows will leave no one unaltered. Ballplayer , a new memoir by former Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, immerses us in the best of baseball.

Chipper Jones was just a country kid from small town Pierson, Florida. Jones tells the story of his rise to the MLB ranks and what it took to stay with one organization his entire career with great detail and humor. The National League MVP also opens up about his overnight rise to superstardom, and the personal pitfalls that came with fame. Due to time constraints Chipper Jones will not sign any memorabilia. Photos are allowed from the signing line, but no posed photos will be permitted.

Frannie Lewis has a lot of bad history with men, starting with the first one she ever met. She's watched her aloof father disappear in the summers to work with a traveling carnival, seen her mother grow ever more suspicious and resentful. All her life, Frannie has kept their secrets and told their stories. Now thirty-six, she remains a pawn in their longstanding marital chess game--and at this point, it has devolved into a grudge match. In partnership with A Cappella Books [https: Little Shop will be on hand with plenty of her cookbooks and delightful picture books for sale that evening.

Doors open at 6: Choices and Their Consequences: In each of these novels, classics of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the protagonists are faced with nearly overwhelming odds as they revolt against the status quo of their cultures. How Huck Finn and Jonas come to realize their worlds as drastically flawed and how they make decisions suggest to readers that choices have consequences, sometimes favorable, sometimes disastrous. Free and open to the public. From the New York Times bestselling author of Walking the Bible and Abraham comes a revelatory journey across four continents and 4, years exploring how Adam and Eve introduced the idea of love into the world, and how they continue to shape our deepest feelings about relationships, family, and togetherness.

Containing all the humor, insight, and wisdom that have endeared Bruce Feiler to readers around the world, The First Love Story is an unforgettable journey that restores Adam and Eve to their rightful place as central figures in our culture's imagination and reminds us that even our most familiar stories still have the ability to surprise, inspire, and guide us today.

This program will be held at Holy Trinity Parish, E. Jones takes readers on a historical, geographical, cultural, and personal journey through her life and the life of her home state. This debut poetry collection is an exploration of race, identity, and history through the eyes of a black woman from Alabama.

From De Soto s discovery of Alabama to George Wallace s infamous stance in the schoolhouse door, to the murders of black men like Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner in modern America, Magic City Gospel weaves its story through time, weaving Jones personal history with the troubled, triumphant, and complicated history of Birmingham, and of Alabama at large. In Magic City Gospel's pages, you ll find that gold is laced in Alabama s teeth, but you will also see the dark underbelly of a state and a city with a storied past, and a woman whose history is inextricably linked to that past. Alongside this event, attendees are asked to bring a book whose story has stuck with them to swap for another.

From the author of Before I Go comes an evocative, poignant, and heartrending exploration of the power and possibilities of the human heart. Love has no boundaries Jubilee Jenkins has a rare condition: After a nearly fatal accident, she became reclusive, living in the confines of her home for nine years. Jubilee finds safe haven at her local library where she gets a job. Eric is struggling to figure out how to be the dad—and man—he wants so desperately to be. Jubilee is unlike anyone he has ever met, yet he can't understand why she keeps him at arm's length. So Eric sets out to convince Jubilee to open herself and her heart to everything life can offer, setting into motion the most unlikely love story of the year.

Join us for an evening with two award-winning and best selling authors as they take questions, and chat about writing and publishing. In the middle of the twentieth century, the music of the Mississippi Delta arrived in Chicago, drawing the attention of entrepreneurs like the Chess brothers. Their label, Chess Records, helped shape that music into the Chicago Blues, the soundtrack for a transformative era in American History. Using beauty, grace, humor, and the written or spoken word, rhythm and rhyme served as a balm for the troubled soul, and a voice for the voiceless.

We invite you to an evening of poetry full of grace, humor, and beauty. Gangs, Bullies, and Difference: The classic teen book The Outsiders , written by S. Hinton when she was 16, that pits the Socs and the Greasers against one another is resolved when Pony boy discovers that people are more alike than they are different. Spokane Indian Arnold Spirit, Jr. Adding to the angst of adolescence and the push and pull of values a visible difference that marks Auggie Pullman more so than even skin color, Wonder by R.

Palacio is also a coming-of-age story in a school setting. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn M. Twain and The Giver L. Troylyn Ball and her husband, Charlie, an engineer and real estate investor, had spent their entire lives in Texas. But after a near fatal trip to the emergency room with their mute, wheelchair-bound son Coulton, they admitted the dust and the heat were too dangerous.

To save their boys, the Balls cashed out, sold their beloved farm, and moved to Asheville, North Carolina. Nearing fifty, Troy thought her chance at adventure had passed. She struck up a friendship with a legendary eighty-year-old raconteur from the mountains, met his friends, and soon found herself in a rickety country shack with an ingeniously inventive retired farmer trying to create the best recipe ever for traditional mountain moonshine.

If she was going to save her family—and she was definitely going to save her family—she needed to become the most successful woman in the legal whiskey business. Full of eccentric characters and charming locations—from a "haunted" cabin in the mountains to the last farm in the world to grow heritage Crooked Creek corn— Pure Heart is a charming story of a woman who set out to find a purpose in the most unexpected of places, and ended up finding happiness, contentment, and a community of love and respect. Collin Kelley and Karen Head, two award-winning poets will read their poetry round-robin style, selecting poems on the fly to find common themes, moods and imagery.

A senseless act of violence. A city in turmoil. While other detectives take the lead on the Spelman murders, Salt is tasked to investigate the case of a recently discovered decomposed body. When she combs through the missing-persons reports, it becomes clear the victim is a girl Salt took into custody two years before, and Salt feels a grave responsibility to learn the truth about how the girl died. But before she can pursue any leads, Salt is called onto emergency riot detail—in the wake of the assault on the Spelman students, Atlanta has reached the boiling point.

In a city burdened by history and a community erupting in pain and anger, Salt must delve into the past for answers. A gripping and astute story about what it means to serve and protect, Old Bones solidifies Trudy Nan Boyce as an evocative, authoritative voice in crime fiction. Since Reconstruction, African Americans have served as key protagonists in the rich and expansive narrative of American social protest.

Their collective efforts challenged and redefined the meaning of freedom as a social contract in America. During the first half of the 20th century, a progressive group of black business, civic, and religious leaders from Atlanta, Georgia, challenged the status quo by employing a method of incremental gradualism to improve the social and political conditions existent within the city. By the midth century, a younger generation of activists emerged, seeking a more direct and radical approach towards exercising their rights as full citizens.

A culmination of the death of Emmitt Till and the Brown decision fostered this paradigm shift by bringing attention to the safety and educational concerns specific to African American youth. Deploying direct-action tactics and invoking the language of civil and human rights, the energy and zest of this generation of activists pushed the modern civil rights movement into a new chapter where young men and women became the voice of social unrest. Myers is the most celebrated African American writer of novels for young adults.

His more than books have earned him the Margaret A. In Monster , sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon finds himself in jail, a detention center, for being an accessory to a murder and writes his imagined trial as a screenplay. Fallen Angels tells the story of young Richie Perry in Vietnam, fighting to stay alive as his buddies fall, as he faces death.

Alexie , Wonder R. That he begins to find echoes of his recent past in the lives of the black family who work for the Jeslers—an affinity he does not share with the Jeslers themselves—both surprises and convinces Yitzhak that his choices are not as clear-cut as he might think.

In It's Good Weather for Fudge: The past becomes the present in this poem that ranges from love and war to sickness and health, fudge and friendship. Its many allusions to the life and works of Carson McCullers make it a kind of poetic biography. A Reading and Lecture Series presented by Dr. In light of the calls for justice in the US, and hearing our leaders from many areas say that one action that should be taken is to consider others, to think about being in their shoes, their situations, to understand the daily fear people of color experience, Pearl McHaney will present the following series for the Georgia Center for the Book for Spring Pearl believes that the way to the future is not in how we are different but how we are the same and that literature provides the thinking and actions that are being called for.

The texts she will present include young adult, adult, and crossover novels. The lectures will be suitable for general audience, young people, parents, and teachers. Attendees could read the books or not. Pearl will be bringing the texts to light in how the authors and their characters see other worlds, recognize and work with difference, make decisions, learn empathy.

The remarkable untold story of how the American Revolution's success depended on substantial military assistance provided by France and Spain, and places the Revolution in the context of the global strategic interests of those nations in their fight against England. In this groundbreaking, revisionist history, Larrie Ferreiro shows that at the time the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord the colonists had little chance, if any, of militarily defeating the British. Instead of viewing the American Revolution in isolation, Brothers at Arms reveals the birth of the American nation as the centerpiece of an international coalition fighting against a common enemy.

Seating will be based on a first come, first served basis.

Wishlist – Grassroots Books

The doors will open shortly after 6: We will distribute numbered bracelets at the door, one per person. Once all those are distributed, no other persons will be admitted. There is no assigned seating; one bracelet equals one seat. We encourage all attendees to wear their beast Greaser or Soc attire! Please be advised there is limited parking in the Library Parking Deck. Please allow yourself extra time to locate other parking in Decatur once the deck is at capacity. Please check our Facebook for the most current updates.

The international bestseller and inspiration for a beloved movie--now with bonus content. Celebrating 50 years of the novel that laid the groundwork for the YA genre, this is the ultimate edition for fans of The Outsiders. Louise Runyon, dancer, choreographer, and poet, has performed her work in Atlanta and the Southeast for the past 35 years. She will be joined on stage by Thrower Starr. He works at Paideia School as English teacher and as counselor, and is a psychologist in private practice. The Georgia Center for the Book is pleased to welcome two Georgia authors, for an evening of conversation on their debut novels Calamity and Eyes on the Island.

The Christian story, from Genesis until now, is fundamentally about people on the move—outgrowing old, broken religious systems and embracing new, more redemptive ways of life. With McLaren's trademark brilliance and compassion, The Great Spiritual Migration invites readers to seize the moment and set out on the most significant spiritual pilgrimage of our time: When a job opportunity enters the frame in the form of the mysterious Mr. With the help of his eccentric new girlfriend Lucy, Will will do everything he can to deliver on his promise to help Mr. Dinsdale keep the Curioddity Museum in business.

Paul Jenkins is the award-winning author of Wolverine: Black , Soul Reaver , Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction , God of War and many others. From two-time National Book Award nominee Melissa Fay Greene comes a profound and surprising account of dogs on the front lines of rescuing both children and adults from the trenches of grief, emotional, physical, and cognitive disability, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Her successful argument before the Supreme Court became the landmark Olmstead Decision.

Although known for the Olmstead Decision, the story of Lois as an artist is often overlooked. Lois' art has been exhibited in galleries throughout Georgia and in New York City. Join us as award-winning author Thomas Mullen and debut novelist Gray Stewart discuss their latest works and the process of writing a novel. Darktown by Thomas Mullen The award-winning author of The Last Town on Earth delivers a riveting and elegant police procedural set in Atlanta, exploring a murder, corrupt police, and strained race relations that feels ripped from today's headlines.

Set in the postwar, pre-civil rights South, and evoking the socially resonant and morally complex crime novels of Dennis Lehane and Walter Mosley, Darktown is a vivid, smart, intricately plotted crime saga that explores the timely issues of race, law enforcement, and the uneven scales of justice. Is it our school systems? Is it our popular media? This question animates HAYLOW as Travis rummages around in his family's history, looking for the truth behind what happened years ago on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp so he can understand how much of the burden of the South's racist history is his to shoulder.

The exhibition is located in the Periodicals Gallery at the Decatur Library through September 30, Thursday evening, September 29, , we will host the second "White Glove Night", when we put away the "do not touch" signs, and provide participants with white gloves- allowing firsthand exploration of the books in the exhibition.

Volunteers will be on hand to assist participants, and we will have special presentations by some of the artists whose work is on display! For this evening's event, our featured speakers will be: Entry to the gallery will be through the first floor, rear doors of the Decatur Library. The Georgia Center for the Book is pleased to welcome poet Theresa Davis, who will discuss her latest book of poetry Drowned: Books will be available for purchase from our friends at Charis Books and More. On the 20th anniversary of Trials of the Earth , we are pleased to welcome Kerry Hamilton for a special presentation of Mary Mann Hamilton's classic autobiography.

Conveyed in frank and expressive prose by a natural-born writer, and withheld for almost a lifetime, Trials of the Earth will resonate with readers of history and fiction alike-an emotional testament to our ability to endure, as well as the story of extraordinary love and the allure of pioneer life. Thursday evening, September 15, , we will host the first "White Glove Night", when we put away the "do not touch" signs, and provide participants with white gloves- allowing firsthand exploration of the books in the exhibition.

On Thursday, September 15, our featured speakers will be: With precision and compassion, Lelyveld examines the choices Roosevelt faced, shining new light on his state of mind, preoccupations, and motives, both as leader of the wartime alliance and in his personal life. Co-sponsored by our friends at the Little Shop of Stories [http: In honor of the launch of their books, Furthermore and Tales of the Peculiar , our favorite literary couple will join in conversation to discuss all things magical, wonderful and peculiar!

This event is free and open to the public, however, guests must purchase either a copy of Furthermore or Tales of the Peculiar in order to get into the signing line. The authors are happy to sign backlist, and to pose for photos. On September 2, , at the age of sixty-four, Diana Nyad emerged onto the sands of Key West after swimming miles, nation to nation, Cuba to Florida, in an epic feat of both endurance and human will, in fifty-three hours. In Find a Way , Diana engages us with a unique, passionate story of this heroic adventure and the extraordinary life experiences that have served to carve her unwavering spirit.

This will be the seventh installment of this prestigious list to be unveiled. This year's lists can be found on the GCB Facebook [https: Human Rights in Children's Literature investigates children's rights under international law -- identity and family rights, the right to be heard, the right to be free from discrimination, and other civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights -- and considers the way in which those rights are embedded in children's literature from Peter Rabbit to Horton Hears a Who!

This book traverses children's rights law, literary theory, and human rights education to argue that in order for children to fully realize their human rights, they first have to imagine and understand them. Through an examination of their unique history and an incisive analysis of policy successes and failures, A Spirit of Charity reveals the remarkable story of why public hospitals matter and why they should play a more prominent role in our public policy discussions. In its narrative scope, The Idealist spans two centuries, covering the 74 years of Coubertin's life from his birth in Pairs in to his death in Geneva in It reveals how the transformation of Paris into the capital of modernity helped fire a young man's imagination and how the drumbeats of war sounded by the German hosts of the Berlin Olympics spoiled an old man's dreams, and left him bereft of hope for the Movement he created to foster peace among nations.

The writers will be reading from new and favorite work, as well as talking about their experiences with the award-winning small press. Borland will discuss SRP's exciting transition to a nonprofit, which will create even more opportunities for authors. Books will be available for sale. The story of the first airplane flight in Georgia has not been told correctly in more than one hundred years. The year given for this flight, , is not correct, the plane identified as the first to fly never got off the ground, and Ben T. To Lasso the Clouds sets the historical record straight and brings to light the complete, incredible story of the two young men from Athens, Georgia who achieved their dream of flight.

Epps and Zumpt A. Huff were described by one newspaper after that first flight as a "second pair of Wright brothers. Aldridge resides in Winterville, Georgia. The creative team behind the debut graphic novel series The Jekyll Island Chronicles joins us to discuss their work, the process of creating a graphic novel and what we can expect from them in the future.

As Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in August , and media commentators across the ideological spectrum referred to the angry response of African Americans as "black rage,?? With so much attention on the flames,?? Since and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, every time African Americans have made advances towards full participation in our democracy, white reaction has fueled a deliberate and relentless rollback of their gains. Board of Education decision was met with the shutting down of public schools throughout the South while taxpayer dollars financed segregated white private schools; the Civil Rights Act of and Voting Rights Act of triggered a coded but powerful response, the so-called Southern Strategy and the War on Drugs that disenfranchised millions of African Americans while propelling presidents Nixon and Reagan into the White House.

Carefully linking these and other historical flashpoints when social progress for African Americans was countered by deliberate and cleverly crafted opposition, Anderson pulls back the veil that has long covered actions made in the name of protecting democracy, fiscal responsibility, or protection against fraud, rendering visible the long lineage of white rage. Compelling and dramatic in the unimpeachable history it relates, White Rage will add an important new dimension to the national conversation about race in America. The White House Ground have been an unwitting witness to history—a backdrop for soldiers, suffragettes, protestors, and activists.

Kings and queens have dined there, bills and treaties have been signed, and presidents have landed and retreated. The front and back yard for the first family, it is by extension the nation's first garden. Starting with the seed-collecting, plant-obsessed George Washington and ending with Michelle Obama's focus on edibles, this rich and compelling narrative reveals how the story of the garden is also the story of America. Readers learn about Lincoln's goats, Ike's putting green, Jackie's iconic roses, Amy Carter's tree house, and much more.

They also learn the plants whose favor has come and gone over the years and the gardeners who have been responsible for it all. Fully illustrated with new and historical photographs and art, refreshingly nonpartisan, and releasing just in time for election year, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the red, white, and green! From the nationally bestselling author of The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls comes The After Party , a story of s Texas socialites and the one irresistible, controversial woman at the bright, hot center of it all. Joan Fortier is the epitome of Texas glamour and the center of the s Houston social scene.

Tall, blonde, beautiful, and strong, she dominates the room and the gossip columns.

Every man who sees her seems to want her; every woman just wants to be her. But this is a highly ordered world of garden clubs and debutante balls. The money may flow as freely as the oil, but the freedom and power all belong to the men. What happens when a woman of indecorous appetites and desires like Joan wants more? What does it do to her best friend? Devoted to Joan since childhood, Cece Buchanan is either her chaperone or her partner in crime, depending on whom you ask.

A thrilling glimpse into the sphere of the rich and beautiful at a memorable moment in history, The After Party unfurls a story of friendship as obsessive, euphoric, consuming, and complicated as any romance. Some people stay all summer long on the idyllic island of Belle Isle, North Carolina. Riley Griggs has a season of good times with friends and family ahead of her on Belle Isle when things take an unexpected turn. While waiting for her husband to arrive on the ferry one Friday afternoon, Riley is confronted by a process server who thrusts papers into her hand.

And her husband is nowhere to be found. So she turns to her island friends for help and support, but it turns out that each of them has their own secrets, and the clock is ticking as the mystery deepens Cocktail parties aside, Riley must find a way to investigate the secrets of Belle Island, the husband she might not really know, and the summer that could change everything. Each novel has taken Hart higher on the New York Times Bestseller list as his masterful writing and assured evocation of place have won readers around the world and earned history's only consecutive Edgar Awards for Best Novel with Down River and The Last Child.

Now, Hart delivers his most powerful story yet. A boy with a gun waits for the man who killed his mother. A troubled detective confronts her past in the aftermath of a brutal shooting. After thirteen years in prison, a good cop walks free as deep in the forest, on the altar of an abandoned church, a body cools in pale linen… This is a town on the brink.

This is Redemption Road. Brimming with tension, secrets, and betrayal, Redemption Road proves again that John Hart is a master of the literary thriller. Join novelists Collin Kelley and Erica Wright in a discussion about their latest works and the process of creating an alluring mystery. In Leaving Paris , Collin Kelley's conclusion to the Venus Trilogy, Paris teeters on the brink of a chaos that eerily foreshadows the city's recent turmoil. Erica Wright's disguise-skilled private detective, Kat Stone, is on the trail of a deadly gangster in The Granite Moth. In a dual biography covering the last ten years of the lives of friends and contemporaries, writer Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain and statesman John Hay who served as secretary of state under presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt , The Statesman and the Storyteller not only provides an intimate look into the daily lives of these men but also creates an elucidating portrait of the United States on the verge of emerging as a world power.

In what has to be viewed as one of the most shameful periods in American political history, Filipinos who believed they had been promised independence were instead told they were incapable of self-government and then violently subdued in a war that featured torture and execution of native soldiers and civilians. The United States also used its growing military and political might to grab the entirety of the Hawaiian Islands and a large section of Panama.

As secretary of state during this time, Hay, though a charitable man, was nonetheless complicit in these misdeeds. Nearing the end of their long and remarkable lives, both men found themselves struggling to maintain their personal integrity while remaining celebrated and esteemed public figures. Come Home is the first book by Atlanta-based photographer and storyteller, Brent Walker.

Through stunning portraiture and intimate conversations, Brent takes the reader on a journey across the Southeast United States, uncovering stories of heartbreak, addiction, and hope. The book features more than stories and portraits of people from all walks of life juxtaposed with photos of the Southern landscape that help paint a rich and complex picture of The Hidden South. It quickly garnered attention from press and is followed by thousands on social media.

Just because people call his dad Big Thunder doesn't mean he wants to be Little Thunder. But just when Thunder Boy Jr. National Book Award-winner Sherman Alexie's lyrical text and Caldecott Honor-winner Yuyi Morales's striking and beautiful illustrations celebrate the special relationship between father and son. For this event, you must purchase a copy of Thunder Boy Jr. Reina Castillo is the alluring young woman whose beloved brother is serving a death sentence for a crime that shocked the community, throwing a baby off a bridge—a crime for which Reina secretly blames herself.

With her brother's death, though devastated and in mourning, Reina is finally released from her prison vigil. Seeking anonymity, she moves to a sleepy town in the Florida Keys where she meets Nesto Cadena, a recently exiled Cuban awaiting with hope the arrival of the children he left behind in Havana. Set in the vibrant coastal and Caribbean communities of Miami, the Florida Keys, Havana, Cuba, and Cartagena, Colombia, with The Veins of the Ocean Patricia Engel delivers a profound and riveting Pan-American story of fractured lives finding solace and redemption in the beauty and power of the natural world, and in one another.

From left to right: Despite it being a challenge adapting to a new place, being at Suffield more than prepared me for this experience. Being at a small liberal arts college, it was very easy for me to apply the same concepts that made me successful at Suffield here, and as a result, I am really enjoying myself.

Nevertheless, nothing compares to my time at Suffield, my home. To my family at Suffield, you will never be in an environment as supportive and as nurturing as Suffield, so cherish that and appreciate it throughout your four years! Our ties to the island are so strong and the current families are as committed to our school as ever. The Durhagers were tremendous hosts! It is most remarkable when these people are volunteers yet generously give their time, wisdom, and resources. WALKS has a clear and refreshingly simple mission, and its donors have played a key role in helping more young people gain access to our schools.

It was a much 04 different time then. He gave us an eye for detail, a good work ethic, and a love for quality in It was Mason Nye who lit that fire, workmanship. He demonstrated a life of balance between work Who helped assemble the kindle sticks and rest, discipline and pleasure. Already yearning for a deeper flame, In our teens, we were the beneficiaries of his emphasis on the need to communicate well, to be able to engage in discussions with others who had differing viewpoints.

Speaking very personally about growing up in this particular Who opened my eyes to the wealth of words And how they could mutate while being the same, Who asked questions in class that opened me up: Our father instilled in us a belief in the idea of a calling in life, This gift will always be with me, no matter what, And for which I will always be so grateful. Here are a few excerpts from their work: He loves to teach algebra As athletic director, he likes to be involved with the entire school and geometry and wants to see values are honesty and acceptance.

Foote is a great role model. Yeager has in her life. The two blue fish are during my freshman year at followers of the red fish that is leading Suffield Academy. Yeager is the red fish and wants all her students to become like the red fish. Henry is an important He takes pride in teaching students to member of our community.

She makes great contributions to Suffield Academy. As director of physical plant, he She offers help to the kitchen when needed and likes to help others feel comfortable. Kerry Tabbert is a familiar face on Mrs. The human experience is limitless. Live Life - 48 - dynamically. I continue to be a student first and a teacher second logical, manageable steps. In essence, it teaches process- and am always searching for a better way to be both. This is not an exercise; this is helping him build a strong foundation as a learner and Movement Perspective. He believes everyone in the community—from The Boulder Movement Collective is based on the teachers and fellow students to members of the physical movement teachings of Ido Portal, who is known for plant and food service teams—helped push him along to his bodyweight-resistance and gymnastics-orientated keep digging and discover his self.

Located being a firefighter and ski patroller to a CrossFit instructor. Although athletics are an essential part of the While he is certified in various CrossFit programs—from programming at Suffield Academy, one of the many advanced gymnastics to mobility—Movement Perspective special attributes of the school is that it encourages is nothing like CrossFit.

Each class centers on spatial students to be successful in all areas of their lives. Not dynamism and mental coherency. It is much more graceful everyone was born to be a stellar athlete, nor was everyone than a CrossFit program and inspires unity between preconditioned with the same cognitive strengths. Some physicality and mentalism. No matter what teaching but just making people feel like they were field of interest one may prefer, there is a process that doing the right thing.

I discovered that the fitness world can be learned to improve that skill. This philosophy lies had forgotten how we learn everything else in our lives, at the heart of the student-teacher relationship and is and I needed to fix that. Where was the research, the the foundation of Boulder Movement Collective.

He remembers I first learned how to share my passion with others. My admiring his teachers at a young age and has opened time in that SOLO barn introduced me to my love for his mind to the various forms this relationship may take. I find influence in a lot personal life. Suffield never pushed me to go to this college or that university, but instead me to encouraged create my own path, work hard, and be my own person.

We witnessed the progress of or blister. The day biotechnology advances because there is a great deal way we conducted the experiment was by taking single worms of research being done with RNAi and gene expression. I am and putting them on three different petri dishes. The first had extremely grateful that Ms. Reed gave us the opportunity to do Blis-1, which is bacteria containing a gene that causes blistering.

The level of interest going back for more. My investigation suggested the behavior of ignited by this class is impressive but not shocking. Experiential those that could metabolize the alcohol follow the same learning is a trend that many schools are adapting into their behavior as alcoholics. Suffield has remained ahead of the curve in this audited it and completed her experiments on her own time.

I think this type of classroom process that involves many steps many chemical compounds, adds even more value to a Suffield education. The concepts we as well. Both ways are also inefficient extraction methods can learn here and investigate are relevant. Not only can this because they yield small amounts of the protein. Through genetic be a lucrative career path for many of them, but this material is engineering we can create an unlimited supply of the protein very exciting. This is education at its best. I like to take to express themselves and discover individual pathways photographs, and I try to tell a story with my images to convey towards their own success.

My dad is an artist I always want to improve, but it requires a lot of patience. As a junior, I am not prepared for the same for us. I am currently producing a series of thrown teapots. In the past, I feel like speaker series, Manny took the opportunity to talk about his music and performing arts have been getting more attention work while sharing images made by watercolors, pastel, than studio arts, and I am happy to see more platforms to acrylic, ink, and charcoal. His drawings and paintings depict show our work this year.

I am excited to see it grow. A gentleman sure that if I had gone to another school, I would not be the of deliberate words, his style is delicate and often celebrates artist I am today. Visual art feels more natural to me. My work is meant to or can depict to a beautiful piece of artwork.

I tend to be a perfectionist in multiple meanings to the viewer and is open to interpretation. My teachers are very encouraging, and Suffield is Like others in the studio, Leyza has grown a lot over her time at - 60 - Suffield, and her work shows it. Their art is a window into their soul. Hopefully it will also encourage them to continue The project I am currently working on is called Crowd.

And by working together we accomplish a gaining interest in the visual arts, and this has added to common goal; that common goal is harmony. They pour our student artists and are deeply impressed with their sincere their hearts and souls into it and express their ideas and commitment to this exciting work. All of this is clear evidence that every followed by the senior exhibition of Brooklynn Hayes, the human being has a creative dimension to their character.

The exhibits will continue with a number of solo appropriate instruction for each student to allow them to and collaborative senior artist exhibitions, as well as the connect with their innate artistry. A faculty Fine this is a time for the Suffield community to celebrate its Art Exhibition opened in the space, featuring the ceramic wide array of creative accomplishments. They are certainly work of Erica Caginalp, photography by Jennifer Graham, making a sound. He was voted in as class president his the financial aid piece to fall into place in freshman year and served as a class leader order to attend.

Hobart College was able to on the student council for his entire tenure at guarantee me an education, as well as the Suffield. He was a three-sport varsity athlete money to attend. When you ask After college Chris went into the Air Force. Suffield was a fascinating, diverse 10 years. He was in Vietnam at the tail end of school where I met kids from all over the the war serving as a bombardier. Later, Chris world and had opportunities that I never attended the Air Force Institute of Technology dreamed possible.

Chris continued to fly at Suffield for teaching him the life skills he missions in Central and South America as a still uses today. Mason Nye development, as he has discovered his love showed me what true passion was and really for working with people. In the next year, exploded with love for what he taught us in Chris plans to retire and spend more time with English. Ken Lindfors was the most patient his three children and four grandchildren with man I ever knew.

He was a tremendous another one arriving in July. He will retire listener and never judged. He showed me how make time for the people and things he loves. George Pervear was a team player. I look to him but chose to stay in the background and back with fondness on the time that I spent make the others around him look good.

These in the classroom and playing fields. I love were tremendous role models to have around giving back to the school as a Class Agent. Shops were also found in Pompeii that contained equipment and tools that would be consistent with those used in pizzerias. By the s and early s, Naples was a thriving challenges; some of which Sean and his staff were not waterfront city. Technically an independent kingdom, entirely prepared.

It was immediately clear he needed it was notorious for its throngs of working poor, and help executing this plan. Many inexpensive food that could be consumed quickly. For 17 years meal and sold by street vendors or informal restaurants— Manny Meleounis, whose family descends from Apolakkia, met this need. As Sean began searching for an tomatoes, cheese, oil, anchovies and garlic. It was not until Sean had a factory jobs.

Gennuardo Lombardi opened the first appeared on campus ready to discuss this project. As the documented American pizza shop on Spring Street in story goes, he was eager to be on board. New York City in By the s, pizza had become When planning for the new pizza station, the original a staple food in New York just as it seemed to be in concept was to hand toss pizzas to order.

Pizzerias began opening all over New York lasts 90 minutes; it would be impossible to keep up with and formed a league of their own, often being served that kind of volume during such a short period of time. Sean was also concerned about creating a huge floury Since becoming popular in New York, all different styles mess, a possible hazard to those with restricted gluten of pizza have been created and sold, now a common allergies.

They decided the process would be cleaner and love for New Yorkers and people all around the world. This saves want to make pizza; we wanted to make the best pizza valuable time. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. A rustic, utilitarian food of Made from scratch, the dough contains no eggs or sugar. Recipes can be copied, but tastes veggie, pesto chicken with fresh tomatoes and olive oil, and flavors are more dynamic than simple measurements. The result is another element Sean. We like this or of this quality. This is something eventually traveled a great distance to the United States we would be proud to serve our own family, and we are and the rest of the world.

Its story now partners with a certainly proud to be serving it at Suffield. Led by the pace of Daniel Championships. A Williston in a successful season. Several Suffield looks forward to the returning support of Isabella key underclassmen will return next season. John admits he found his way to Suffield Academy by chance.

The Ledgelets Cottage Colony is located school and chose to participate in a one-day tour as a visitor to in Sandys Parish in Bermuda. It is the westernmost parish of nine the Harwood Union School in Vermont. After that one day he on the island and contains Dockyard, where all the action will knew it was not for him and followed a cousin to Eaglebrook. The This is the first time it will be contested in Bermuda—on the Great tuition was a great deal of money for my dad, but he knew what Sound, a natural amphitheater for viewing the race on land or a tremendous opportunity it was for me.

I had amazing teachers by boat. His grandfather, and Bill Butcher. I was also remarkably fortunate to have Andy s, and a unique cottage colony was born as he began to Lowe, Bill Berghoff, and Tom Slear as coaches, and swimming host paying guests on a whim. The Ledgelets Cottage Colony became a big part of my life. In fact, John began our Upon graduation, John matriculated at the University of interview by describing his grandfather with great reverence.

He always encouraged me to be who as a freshman at UVM, and eventually decided to ski and work I was, and do what I thought was right without too much outside for a couple of years in Vail, Colorado. This is where he first influence. He had an exceptional life story but always remained started to hone his skills in the hospitality industry, working for a humble and generous person who made people feel great Vail Village Inn and Vail Racquet Club.

He ultimately returned about themselves. At 13, he left school to work and support his to Vermont, finished his degree, and remained in the hospitality four sisters. He would also make Resort at Stowe. In , after more than 15 years away, John the team for the games in London following the end of returned home to Bermuda to continue his hospitality career.

John World War II. We have some of the former home as we spoke, and I could see and feel the history of his best golf courses with amazing views. Bermuda also has a unique family. We shopping, food, and the beaches! But want it to be a place where our guests what is really interesting is that we can congregate, have an evening are seeing a peaked interest in rock cocktail, arrange a family dinner, or climbing, cliff diving, mountain biking, just relax and play pool or watch a spear fishing, deep sea fishing, and game. These are just a few s.

I had a hard time focusing on of many examples of activities that just one thing as it is all so interesting we can arrange for our guests. We and figures, know many of the purveyors, and we paintings, croquet trophies, antique truly believe this is what people are furniture, looking for. They need to get out and unique. John and welcome card and a pitcher of rum Alie serve as personal concierges with swizzle.

The Pool House is a tastefully the knowledge and ability to steer decorated one-bedroom home with people in the right direction. If tourism the pool and gardens and is as private in Bermuda is going to thrive, we must as you would want, but with John offer unique vacation opportunities. If you love Bermuda with our expert guidance, while one of and are looking for a new way to the main goals of the big hotels is to try experience the island, or if you have and keep their guests on the property never been, I guarantee a unique and to increase revenues for themselves.

There tourism is vast. I hope to head back very soon! We have kept in touch, and 25 years later I try to remind Riley to take time out of each day to appreciate not only the beauty of Suffield, but everything it has to offer. The Field Station reunion. I was impressed with the who owned and managed the facility while number of college counselors that are it was a resort Bonita Beach Plantation working with the students and his outlook Resort.

To on the future of the school and the plans serve as a venue and base of operation for educational programs, community involvement and scholarly research that increases our understanding and promotes science-based stewardship of coastal watersheds, estuaries and Gulf of Mexico ecosystems, with special emphasis on the education of future scientists and for achieving the goals set forth.

It is a far scientifically literate citizens. I think it has given some of us design and production at the Art University there. She worked as a counselor and He gave a lot of hands-on help as well, and I am happy to see that tradition has been improved. Ap worked very hard to reset the foundation of the school so it could grow into the very good school it seeing its success. Seaverns would meet leadership to achieve this success. Since both my wife and I have been in athletics, we walked through the gymnasium and were impressed with the rowing facility as I am retired now after completing adventures most of this year.

Best to my classmates. We drive them of their precious Isabela Faith Mag on to games and lessons. Suffield is still in my heart, and I wish The team worked hard and made it to it only the best. I enjoy reading the family together again, all of us living in third place in the playoffs.

We have continued this practice Well, has been an exciting year for since their move to Connecticut, and the Mag family. My son Saul, who was still set aside each Tuesday to watch Bela married in to Rebekkah Goldman, who is now walking! Upon her graduation from Paul Grimmeisen her get to know us! She replaces the recovery room. And and was transferred from their regional we are both on, and is truly a fountain of twice monthly, as a SCORE volunteer, I center in New Hampshire to offices in work with two partners to offer mentoring West Hartford.

As exciting as all of this service to people who are interested in Every day is a good day at my age. I do Habitat almost every Saturday. We help to cards. I just finished a tour as country director with Johns Hopkins University in Haiti. We were current epidemics—to include Zika. We work with several area banks of enthusiasm as five years ago.

It was, I am still working 29 years in the financial and credit unions to help our clients obtain as five years ago, a marvel to review the services industry as a second career. I small business loans where appropriate. I spent a good deal of time New Hampshire, for antique week. Of great fun also was the return September. Looking forward to our 55th A big hello to the Suffield community. All of my old roommate, Paul Martin, and his Reunion at Suffield next fall.

Dani 11 , are keeping us very busy. Zach is Paul is in terrific shape; retired after a most busy with both club and school basketball, successful global career, and pursues the playing in both the ARC and AAU leagues. Dani, is an aerial I received 7, votes for lieutenant Naples, Florida, is now our home. Lifestyle artist and swinging from trapezes and governor in the recent Vermont general is great. We have traveled on the Rocky silks.

I still have my company, Original Film, election. On election day, a documentary Mountaineer through the Canadian Rockies and am off to Hong Kong for a commercial film crew followed me around from 5: My wife, Allison, is in her ninth until 10 pm. I trip to London this past summer and have everyone from Suffield and wish you all the best. This past July, on October 8, My daughter After about 18 months of being relocated the first time. We are blessed to have two Jennifer is living in England with her from Boston to Leawood, Kansas, to wonderful daughters-in-law and will spend family for three years.

We helped Virginia until mid-May. Nye and Sandy—they believed in me more field for navigation. It is challenging Their joy and respect was a good patriotic than I did in myself. Does Suffield have an and great fun! In August took the family two daughters health. Would like to have been on campus Off to play golf! It was a blast! Will dedicate it at our 55th. We stopped recommend it. Let me know Jenn and I, along with my youngest son Grant, just returned from a polar bear adventure in Churchill Canada.

Saw lots of polar bears from our artic rover vehicle and by helicopter just before Hudson Bay freezes and the bears go out on the ice to Jon Booth, Ned Smith, Nat Stevens, Tom Webster Minnesota for a family reunion. Donna and I again spent I am actively retired and enjoying life with family and friends. A big thank you to all who contributed to the have been working occasional shifts in a the summer sailing on Lake Ontario.

If you have not been - 96 - pleased to say I was an election night our community college. And wonderful to meet and Cancun, Mexico June The Far It was great seeing my classmates at our in person Charlie Cahn and begin to get to East and Mexico are major trading interests 50th and hanging out together, drinking know Suffield as it is now. Thanks to all who with the US, and as commercial real estate retro beer and listening to 60s music.

We realize what a huge effort of In short, Newfoundland is Maine My wife, Nita, and I drove to the 50th was made in our behalf and hope a new on steroids, and the Canadians are very Suffield Reunion from our Cape Coral precedent was set for future 50th reunions. Scared of the president-elect but very Florida home I cannot say enough about this leaving in May for the October event. The Vikings were there centuries with always new adventures, making new understanding the total commitment before Columbus took the southern route friends along the way, and overcoming to an exceptional, non-elitist, whole life from Europe to San Salvador.

They hopped challenges not found while staying at education, and being catered to for three from Iceland to Greenland to Labrador home. My wife, Ximena, and I are and then Newfoundland hence the name: Each hop was about two enjoyed the wonderful weekend Visited Gros Morne which with great weather, classmates from but long not seen classmates. Truly a physical educational plant, with a pristine, special and rewarding. We recognize the majestic fiord-esque adventure. Very beautifully landscaped campus—SA Pride. If you are ever doing a recruiting of Newfoundland. My wife and I had a great time at the or alumni event in the Washington DC reunion.

I am currently back in Pakistan area, please count on our support. Again, advising the privatization commission of thanks so much for the privilege of being Pakistan on how to get better organized part of such an inspiring institution, and guarantee that the important agenda Suffield Academy! Of course I had to do the autobahn on the bike and headed back south all the Currently retired!

Living with my wife chasing Porsches at speeds which would way down to Genoa and then made a right Pamela in our dream log home in the put me in jail for 30 days over here. Small headed out to get the bike over the Swiss is a small walled village nearby where I hobby farm with rocking chairs on the Alps before the snow hit. Unfortunately have some friends. Lugano to Milan to porch. My hobbies include was evil and possessed, sending me in all possessed GPS in one day.

The moto gardening, travel, and poker. We love to different directions. First unscheduled sits in Vence now patiently waiting for me travel—always going somewhere: Europe, stop Freiburg, Germany. What an amazing to return. Had I over there may be to put the bike on a ferry New Zealand, Canada, and all 50 states!

Next day ventured further Somber note was the memorial in Nice I attended Oberlin College, dropped out for south and got over the top of the Alps, very to the 80 people killed by the terrorist. Found a nice hotel in Quite sobering, especially the children I then graduated from Oberlin in , then Lugano, reached for my passport, darn it who were killed. No passport and an from Suffield, there are still adventures to and worked various day jobs. I did evil GPS. Not a good combination. Bright be had out there.

They is my motorcycle s and the journeys on a period farmhouse with my parents. I were very nice, and I had a new passport them provide the one and only item on my retired in after 15 years with USPS. I tried to get the really list, but it is a continuing, ever changing pretty Italian lady in the US consulate to item, some planned and some not. Malibu come with me to France but she declined. Got back on the bike in the middle trip next. Lesson learned—it would be: Went back to basics busy but be very rewarding. Mike Coskren, our trusty birdwatching guide for the last 4 years, will lead a group through the various habitats within Ellacoya State Park, listening and watching for birds that are migrating north.

The group will leave promptly at 7: Trail conditions may be muddy so please wear appropriate footwear, and bring your binoculars and bug spray. In the event of a rain cancellation, the birding walk will take place on May 16th at the same time. Please sign up at the Circulation Desk for this birding walk so that we know who to call in case the first date gets rained out.

The rest of May and into June will become gradually more full with programs, events and classes. Summer Reading starts at the end of June and we have plenty to keep you busy until then! Swing by the Library after the birdwatching program for Tech Talk: Learn about the many different services that Google offers like a calendar, Gmail, Google Docs, and more.

Then, pick up a May calendar and see what else we have in store for these next, beautiful weeks of spring. As always, happy reading! Some are quite large think Red Hook Brewery in Portsmouth and some are quite small Moat Mountain in North Conway is too small to even offer brewery tours! Some of the earliest craft breweries in the country were located in New Hampshire! Even today, New Hampshire is known across the country for its high number of small craft breweries.

Nearly every county in New Hampshire boasts a brewery of some kind. But then I found a tattered copy of The Great Gatsby and fell in love with the beautiful old classic story. There is something very refreshing about rereading classics you may have experienced only briefly in school. There are no expectations, no book reports, no grades - only a chance to really take your time and enjoy the incredible writing and careful prose that has made these novels lasting favorites for years.

With re-reading the classics in mind, the Gilford Public Library has begun hosting a classics book group every other month, led by Abi Maxwell. The next meeting of the Classics Book Group will be on April 28th from 6: The Grapes of Wrath chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. An iconic novel that has both inspired and outraged readers, John Steinbeck wrote it in just five months.

For me there is something about reading a classic that feels very nostalgic, and I find great interest in reading a novel that has been enjoyed or criticized by many generations before me. I find that I want to know for myself what has made a book so enduringly popular for so many years. I encourage you to give classics a second chance like I did, you just might be surprised by how much you enjoy these timeless stories. This week has been a very busy week at the Library! A truly essential part of what makes the Library run so well, the team of volunteers that work behind the scenes here is irreplaceable.

Did you know that the average new book or movie here at the library will be handled by at least three different volunteers before it is available for check-out? It all starts in the back room with a book delivery- then volunteer extraordinaire Dorothy Piquado enters the bibliographic information for each item into our computer catalog so that our library cataloger can add information easily.

Then the book is covered, stamped, and labeled by one of our many coverers Ruth and John Gill are doing a fabulous job covering books as I write this! The book is then brought to the Circulation Desk and checked in I think Sue Goulet just headed to the front desk with a few new books! Finally the book is shelved by yet another volunteer! We have so many volunteers it can be hard to keep track! I went down there this morning and counted over books waiting to be put away! I never truly knew all of the hands that made this process possible until I saw it all in action.

Aside from helping with Library materials, our Volunteers assist in dozens of other ways. It would take many pages to identify and thank each and every volunteer for all of their hard work and dedication that keeps the Library running, but I hope that a simple thank you to all our volunteers from all of us here at the Library will suffice. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, or would like to learn more about what kinds of jobs our volunteers do for the library, stop by the library and fill out a Volunteer Application.

If you are in the library during Volunteer Week, and happen to notice a volunteer working, be sure to thank them for the incredible job they do. April 13th through the 18th is National Library Week! It is a time to celebrate the contributions of the nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support.

Best books of 2017 – part two

Here at the Gilford Public Library, we are celebrating with Scavenger Hunts all week long to take you around the Library and see all that we have to offer. From ongoing programs and special presentations to more books and movies than you could ever hope to read and watch, the Library is full of things to do and materials to check out. Turn in your completed scavenger hunt at the Circulation Desk before we close on Saturday and you will be entered into a drawing to win a special National Library Week prize! During National Library Week, the Library will also have two special programs for the kids.

On Tuesday, April 14th, from Have the kids bring their teddy bear in for a story and tea party, then set him up to sleep over in the library with his teddy friends! Sponsored by the Friends of the Gilford Library, Eric is a returning visitor to Gilford Library and is known for his upbeat performances full of singing and dancing.

This program is highly recommended for kids of all ages, and parents too. Contact us at library gilfordlibrary. One of the original 13 colonial states, New Hampshire has had a long time to build a history full of humorous tall tales, fables, and cultural anecdotes. Our unique state and culture not to mention our accent! The Gilford Public Library has hosted a number of popular programs in the past that poked gentle fun at the people and history of the Granite State, and we are fortunate enough to be able to offer another!

Our latest program to take a humorous look at our great state and the people who reside here is New Hampshire — A State of Mind. This presentation will highlight Colonial Days, New Hampshire political traditions, its culture, and more! In addition to years of hands on experience he brings a commitment to community and industry service.

He enjoys teaching now because he gets a chance to share his many experiences with students. This program is provided in part by the UNH Speakers Bureau, an outreach service made possible by volunteer speakers from among the faculty and staff who teach, conduct research, study and work at UNH. April is National Poetry Month and libraries across the country are celebrating in many ways. Poetry readings, poetry writing workshops, even poetry parties! The possibilities are endless. National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in and has since grown to be one of the largest literary celebrations in the world.

In a letter sent to New Hampshire libraries, Alice invited all libraries to join in celebrating our collective imagination by hosting a poetry party during the week of April 5th — 12th. This April Poetry Party is a chance for people of all ages to come together to simply read, recite, or listen to poems they know and love. No is writing involved—just an hour or two of sharing poems by local or famous or individual poets.

Refreshments will be provided so all you have to bring is a poem to share or ears to listen! Join in this state-wide celebration of poetry and share a poem that you enjoy! The Library is also fortunate enough to offer a second poetry program during National Poetry Month with Alice Fogel herself! Alice will present Strange Terrain: Alice will walk you through eight simple steps toward understanding and appreciating more elements of poetry than you ever thought you could. This program is provided by a grant from the New Hampshire Humanities Council and is free and open to the public.

I would highly recommend this program to anyone interested in better understanding poetry, and to anyone looking for an interesting night out at the Library! I encourage you to stop by the Library during the month of April and browse through a book of poetry. Have you ever seen a moose? Great, lumbering beasts that vaguely resemble deer but with a majesty all their own, moose are native to New Hampshire. Moose are most frequently seen at dusk or dawn in the vicinity of the wetlands they call their home.

They never fail to impress me with their sheer size and somewhat comical appearance. With large noses, long gangly legs, dinner-plate sized hoofs, and broadly stretching antlers, moose are certainly something to look at! A self-taught wildlife photographer since , Rick is best known for his incredible photographs of moose. Rick has a rather unique approach to photographing wildlife — he flies in by floatplane to wilderness settings and explores and shoots by kayak once there.

His immersive approach to photography has resulted in many absolutely stunning images of moose in their natural habitats. With many of his photographs come incredible stories as well. Rick grew up on a dairy farm in the beautiful Blackstone Valley area of Massachusetts. He spent much of his youth in the woods exploring nature and was given his first camera when he was Rick is completely self-taught and shot with Nikon film cameras for many years before making the transition over to Nikon digital cameras. At 62 years old, Rick is determined to spend a few more decades kayaking with the moose and following his soul-fulfilling passion.

The Gilford Public Library website is a great resource not only for checking in on upcoming events or logging into your Library account, but for getting you started on research as well! Through the Library website you can access a wide variety of different databases and other helpful sites. One of my personal favorite resources to use, besides the NH Downloadable e-books database, is the free language learning software.

In the past the Library has offered access to Mango Languages and this year we are introducing a new program as well — Transparent Language Online. Transparent Language Online gives you access to 80 different languages which are taught in conjunction with cultural and social connections to provide a more immersive learning experience. Ancestry Library Edition is a huge subscription database that may be accessed in the library on our public computers. You can access NoveList from home through the Library website; all you need is your borrower barcode to log in.

If you find an interesting title, head over to the New Hampshire Downloadable Books Consortium and see if an e-book edition is available for download! Other popular online resources include Consumer Reports Online, which can be accessed within the Library, and EBSCO, a full text database of scholarly publications that is the perfect starting point for research of many kinds. Have your library card handy because you will need it to access some of these databases, and feel free to give the Library a call if you need help accessing any of the online resources.

The sun is shining brightly today and from inside the Library it almost feels like spring is on its way. Take a step outside however, and the brutal cold that has been ever present the last few weeks still persists to bite at your nose and hands. A few lesser known and debut authors also have had some exciting new releases in the last few days and weeks. I just finished a new book titled Green on Blue by Elliot Ackerman, a stirring debut novel about a young Afghan orphan facing the intractable consequences of war.

Happy reading, and stay warm! A debut novel is the first novel an author has written. Sometimes a debut is a hit, and launches an author into a much anticipated series or unique direction. I personally love to read debut novels because I like to try out different authors. I also read debuts because I like to support emerging authors — publishing a first novel is a gamble, and novelists rely on people actually reading their work to get recognition. Several notable debuts have been published in just the last few months. My favorite book of the year so far, The Secret Wisdom of the Earth by Christopher Scotton, just so happens to be a debut!

Set in a coal town deep in the heart of Kentucky, this coming-of-age novel follows a young boy and his friend, through a fateful summer that changes their lives forever. When a prominent voice against mountaintop removal falls victim to a hate crime witnessed by one of the boys, they are thrust into a fight for survival in and around their isolated town. Another notable debut you may have heard of is The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, a fast-paced psychological thriller perfect for fans of Gone Girl.

A young woman who rides the train daily becomes deeply immersed in the investigation of the disappearance of a woman she used to watch from the train, but soon finds herself in over her head. Reading your old favorites and popular titles is certainly not a bad thing, but I challenge you to try something different every once in a while. The Library receives new shipments of newly published books every week, and with many popular authors publishing several books a year, our collection is constantly growing. The demand for newly published books by popular authors can be huge and despite purchasing multiple copies, the Library still can have a short waitlist for many popular titles.

If you come to the library hoping to get a copy of those super popular titles, you may want to look at e-books as another option. The Library is a member of the New Hampshire Downloadable Books Consortium and uses Overdrive Media to provide free copies of thousands of e-books and audiobooks to its patrons. A common complaint with New Hampshire Downloadables is that, just like here in the library, popular titles may accrue long waitlists. The Overdrive Advantage Program helps to avoid this problem by enabling libraries to purchase special digital copies of new or popular titles solely for their own patrons use!

Every week at the Library we look at what ebooks are the most popular, and how many of our own patrons are on the waitlists. All you have to do to find these titles is log onto the New Hampshire Downloadable Books Consortium website using your Gilford Library Card and look for books with a little orange check-mark in the corner. Log into the website using your Library card and browse the expansive collection of e-books and audiobooks.

If you need help learning how to download e-books or audiobooks to your Kindle or e-reader, stop by the Library on Wednesday mornings from Many books on the Consortium offer the Overdrive READ format, where you can read e-books right in your browser, without the need to download. With all of the recent snowfall and bitter cold, our quaint little town has begun to look and feel a bit on the Arctic side. One of my favorite parts of spring is hearing the first songs of the first birds to venture out, and seeing wildlife and green shoots emerge from the melting snow.

This presentation, A Passage Northwest: Pam, a wildlife biologist for the Audubon Society, spent two weeks in August travelling over a vast area of Alaska. From Pacific rainforest to Mt. McKinley to remote areas on the Bering Sea, Pam logged a lot of miles and saw a lot of birds plus mammals and scenery.

It began when her great-uncle—a wildlife biologist himself—took her to a wildlife refuge in New Jersey. The area was filled with herons, ducks, geese, and more, and it sparked a lifelong interest. As for birding in Alaska, Pam remarked that it was particularly interesting because up there you get to see the nesting place of many birds that we only see in New Hampshire in the winter.

In case of inclement weather, a snow date has been set for February 26th. Splashes of pink and red have exploded into bloom all across town in the last few weeks. My tastes were pretty varied this month, but thankfully I was able to track down a few very interesting, slightly unusual love stories from our new materials. What better way is there to celebrate the love in your life than by making a delicious, thoughtful dinner?

From delicate, gourmet appetizers to just plain yummy cake, this book focuses on bringing couples together for evenings filled with good dishes and better company. The Marriage Charm features friends who made a pact to find husbands. Conflicted hearts, handsome men, heartsick women — this novel has it all!

Before I Go by Colleen Oakley is a beautiful and inspiring story of a woman diagnosed with cancer who comes to terms with the end of her life while searching for another wife for her beloved husband. At times riotously funny, at other times desperately sad, Before I Go takes an intimate look at a woman and the love of her life as they prepare for their final days together. Bestselling author Kristin Hannah has delivered another thoughtfully well-written story in her newest book, The Nightingale. Set in the heart of German-occupied, war-torn France during World War II, The Nightingale tells the story of two sisters, separated by years and experience, who each embark on a dangerous path towards survival, love and freedom.

From steamy romances, to heartfelt historical sagas and recipes built for two, the Library has a little bit of everything to satisfy your romantic side this February. Stop by this coming week and check out our display for more staff-recommended love stories and romantic reads! This month Betty Tidd will retire from the library; tomorrow marks her last day. So she goes on. What other institution is there that is like that? Tell me what else there is! She believes in books; she is steadfast and unwavering in her belief that they not only enrich but truly save lives.

1. Maggie O’Farrell!
2. The Secret is out: Complete Series She Enjoys BDSM on Webcam (BDSM Discoveries Series).
3. Digging to Indochina:A Novel?
4. Twisty, Suspenseful Mystery and Thriller Books.
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7. How to Market a Restaurant - 5 Easy and Affordable Ideas to Implement Today.

What seems particular about Betty is that her enthusiasm for books and the connections they can create in the community is so totally personable. When Betty first came to the library, there were exactly two volunteers. In part, her job was to build that program up. Now, some fifteen years later, the library has over 70 active volunteers who donated more than 5, hours last year alone. But how, exactly, does she do that? First, she knows your name, and she seems genuinely thrilled to see you. She also knows what you like to read, and she has become an expert at matching the right book with the right patron.

In short, Betty takes the time to draw people out. I know she does—she did so with me. When I moved to Gilford, she shepherded me into this library and gave me a volunteer job to do and very quickly she made me a part of this community. And in my five or so years here, I have watched her do the same with so very many people. Betty will be greatly missed. When radio personality Mike Morin entered the 5th grade, he stopped taking the school bus and started being driven to school, and that experience changed his life.

Now, some forty years later, Morin has retired from radio and written a book of the highlights of his career, Fifty Shades of Radio: In an effort to fundraise for an organization, he was once buried alive and simultaneously broadcast on the radio; on another occasion, he was frozen under 5, pounds of ice. Currently, he continues to write a weekly humor column for the Nashua Telegraph, and in he was honored with the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Morin will be at the Gilford Public Library for what promises to be a lively and humorous event on Thursday, January 29, from 6: The event is free and open to the public, and all are welcome and encouraged to join. Following the program, his book Fifty Shades of Radio will be available for purchase and signing. For almost two years, library patron Bonnie Deutch has been leading a line dancing group here at the Gilford Public Library.

The group meets on Wednesday mornings from 9: Last week, I stopped in on Wednesday morning to see how the line dancing group was going along. When I did, Bonnie turned to the group and asked them to describe their weekly dance meetings. Still, that morning she had ten dancers, only one of whom had prior dancing experience. And, she talks about dancing wherever she goes. Yet the fact is that line dancing is simply a choreographed set of repeated steps, in which the dancers—regardless of gender—line up in a particular way.

The Electric Slide is a line dance. So is the Macarena. The two discussed a study Bonnie had recently read, which shows that the bass in music is soothing. The music is good for people. We had a five year old dancing, so his father sang him Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to the steps. New members—both beginners and advanced dancers—are welcome and encouraged to join this lively group on Wednesday mornings from 9: Have you ever read a book that was so well written or whose characters or plot were so memorable that you had to immediately read the book again?

Or have you ever read a poem so well-articulated that you could picture the image or setting moving across your mind? A well written piece of work is something very special — and something into which countless hours of hard work were poured. Beginning a piece can be a daunting task, and revising a piece you have worked hard on can sometimes be even more difficult.

Sometimes what you need most is a second set of eyes to read over your writing, or a second person to bounce ideas off of. Whether you write fiction, poetry, or are trying to put together a draft of a research paper, report or resume, help with writing is usually much appreciated! The Gilford Public Library has begun a new program with all kinds of writers in mind: Abi is the author of Lake People, a hauntingly beautiful novel published in She has also hosted writing workshops here at the Library in the past and is passionate about writing regularly.

If you would like some help honing your writing skills or fine-tuning a piece of work, sign up for a session with Abi through Check-Out-An-Expert. Abi will be available for writing help on Tuesday afternoons from 3: Blocks will be non-renewable and are open to adults and teens in Grades 5 and up. Bring any type of writing — schoolwork, resumes, fiction, poetry, or family histories — and Abi will work with you one-on-one to revise work and improve your writing skills. She is also available for any stage of the writing process, from initial brainstorming to an actual draft. Abi said she began this program because: On writing, and on developing writing skills Abi had a few inspiring words; "Most people need to write for some part of their lives — work, personal communications, etc.

Her many years of experience with writing combined with her passion to help others become better writers insure that your time will be well spent! We hope to see you at the Library! Now in its third year, the Candlelight Stroll is designed to be a relaxing evening for all members of the family, and a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle that usually accompanies this time of year.

The Candlelight Stroll is an opportunity to step back in time and enjoy the beauty of a candlelight stroll through the village, with festive music, crafts and activities for the kids, and horse-drawn wagon rides. Combining some of the most favorite of holiday traditions, the Candlelight Stroll is becoming a favorite yearly tradition itself here in Gilford. The Candlelight Stroll will take place on Saturday, December 13 th from 5: Throughout the village will be a number of historic sites to visit, including the Grange building, the Village Store, the Meetinghouse, and the Rowe House.

Once again there will be fresh cookies baking in the wood stove in the Grange kitchen and many sites will also have refreshments, demonstrations, or crafts for the kids! This year is also busier than ever here at the Library! You can catch a ride on the horse and wagon here, or try your hand at line dancing in the downstairs Community Room.

The Candlelight Stroll is free and open to all. A schedule of events will be available at any of the open buildings. For more information, contact Kathy at xteachkl metrocast. I just want something light and relaxing. Luckily, the library has an ample amount of new books that fit just that description. Do you ever sit around asking hypothetical questions that seem to be answerless?

If so, What If?: In it, web-comic creator and scientist Randall Munroe poses absurd questions, such as: What if all the water was drained from all the oceans? Or, What if all the lightning in the world struck one single spot? Then, even more absurdly, Munroe goes on to answer the questions using reason and research. The result is a fascinating, funny, and compelling book to peruse. In addition to sitting around, paging idly through a book, I find that cooking leisurely meals—or at least imagining the meals I could cook one day—can be a good way to relax during the holiday season.

The follow-up to his book Plenty , this cookbook is filled with bright, creative recipes that are organized by cooking method, from tossed to mashed and everything in between. Laughing, of course, is another great way to relax during the holidays, and when I stumbled upon Texts from Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg, I laughed out loud over and over again.

Using the voices of classic and modern writers and literary characters, from Hamlet to Harry Potter, Ortberg writes satirical, irreverent text conversations that will be hilarious to nearly any reader even vaguely familiar with the characters and writers she impersonates. And finally, a few books that might be of particular interest to people around here: It includes furniture history and restoration technique, and might inspire a great winter project. Miracle by Debbie Macomber. When my grandmother was a young woman in the s, she and her friends joined the Great Books Foundation , which sent them classic books, plus questions to aid in their discussion.

That group changed her life. For the first time since college, she had the chance to discuss the stories and ideas she read, and to connect with others on them. Before she passed away, she wrote down some notes about this period in her life, when literature really drew her out. So, in memory of my grandmother and in an effort to discuss great books in our community, we are excited to start the Classics Book Group in here at the Gilford Public Library. So it was that when, as a graduate student, I was assigned not only Madame Bovary but also a book of literary criticism about it, both to be read over the course of just one week, I was afraid.

Now, some seven years later, I still vividly remember reading that great classic. I sat outside, on the shaded bench in my yard, and I read the book all day long. The next day, I woke early to do the same. I was entirely entranced by that story—it was so full, so rich.

Categories, Authors, Themes etc

When winter break came, I spent it reading Pride and Prejudice and Anna Karenina , and finally I learned that, among other things, classic novels are simply incredible, timeless stories. Here at the library, we will begin our Classics Book Group on February 24, from 6: After that, we will continue every other month throughout the course of the year. Like any book group, our aim will be to discuss the story and its ideas.

All are welcome and encouraged to join us. But he changed that. He quickly gained favor with those who wanted to go out and have a good time dancing, and soon he began to get calls to travel for dances. Over time, more and more players and callers began to pop up. Currently serving as a museum, gallery, and function hall, the Belknap Mill is also an important historical relic whose exterior has remained largely untouched since its construction in Few know the vast importance and historical legacy of the mill better than local author and historian Carol Anderson.

The author of "A History of the Belknap Mill: Laconia's Belknap Mill thrived in the boom of the Industrial Revolution and swiftly rose to the forefront of the city's hosiery industry in the nineteenth century. Learn from Carol how this early symbol of the Industrial Revolution fought to become the pride of Laconia's industrial heritage today. Carol Anderson will be at the Gilford Public Library on Tuesday, December 2 nd for a special presentation about her book and the history of the Belknap Mill.

Her first book, The History of Gunstock: Shortly after being released, it received the prestigious Skade Award from the International Skiing History Association. The program will begin at 6: If that sounds impossible, just take a look at the statistics: Among their many tips for writers, "No plot? For those discerning readers out there, this concept might feel a bit problematic. After all, when we read, both plot and quality matter.

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• Sebastian Barry.
• Twin Sexters Book II.
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• Deceptions: A Connor Hawthorne Mystery (Connor Hawthorne Mysteries Book 1);

Sometimes those elements are all that matter. And that is just the sort of draft that NaNoWriMo is after.

Georgia Center for the Book Previous Author Events

The idea is simple: Forster put it another way. For young writers in grades 5 to 8, I will lead three hour-long afterschool writing groups on November 4, 18, and These programs are free, and we encourage you to join. Call for details, and happy writing! Though Meg took classical piano lessons for a brief period as a child, she never did feel an affinity for the instrument, or any instrument, for that matter. Still, it was with a certain amount of surprise that, years into adulthood, she found herself not only playing the piano and writing songs, but producing albums, too.

Her first time in the recording studio, she arrived with eleven songs and no lyrics. Her goal was simply to record her music as a gift for her family. Yet as Meg began to play, listeners suggested she sing, too. So she wrote lyrics, and soon she found herself hiring accompaniment. The program is free and open to the public; all are welcome and encouraged to attend. Last week, I caught guitarist Dorian Michael on the telephone while he was driving across Kansas in a rain storm, headed toward a gig. And since that time, music has been the priority of his life.

Talking to Dorian, one gets the sense that he is one of those rare, shining people who lives purely for his craft. That is no easy task, but he attests that it is a satisfying one. You have to be a little selfish. People have to give you some slack. But if you put the music first and the other things second, then you will get your rewards. Not fancy rewards, mind you.

His rewards are the countless days spent within the music he loves. Though a guitar player at heart, it was actually the Chicago blues and Mississippi Delta singers who first led Dorian to his own musical voice. It inspired him to think deeply about his own sound, and to commit to creating "pure music for regular folks. The show is free and open to the public; all are welcome and encouraged to attend. Autumn has always been one of my favorite times of year, and October in particular is one of my favorite months.

I like the cool nip in the air and the smell of falling leaves, fresh apples in apple pie, and amassing a collection of pumpkins on my front stoop. But most of all I like the spooky reading I always pack into the weeks before Halloween. After a cool walk outside, or an afternoon of raking, my favorite spot to spend October evenings is curled up on the couch with a mug of apple cider and a horror story guaranteed to keep me awake at night. I encourage you to join me in reading frightening fiction in these days before Halloween, though you may need to leave the lights on at night if you dare to try some of the following spooky stories!

Both books tackle the haunting of family estates and the emergence of long buried family secrets as mysterious and dangerous as the spirits that trouble the old homes. Old enemies and new creatures must come together to solve the mystery of the Voice and find out exactly who-or what-the Voice is, what it desires, and why…. The secrets shared by a new minister in town, his beautiful wife, and a young local boy continue to haunt the boy as he grows into a deeply troubled young man. When he encounters the minister again, their interaction sets off a terrifying race to a disturbing conclusion.

If a good thriller is more your speed, check out Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger, a murder and abduction mystery set within a remote Ojibwe community by the shores of Lake Superior. The line between myth and mystery is blurred as investigators search for answers within a reservation that still holds firmly to old legends and traditions amidst a rapidly modernizing world. For these and more great reads to get you into a spooky Halloween spirit, stop by the Library!

For kids up to 5 years old, we will have a costume parade and plenty of tricks and treats! Stop by and check out the costumes, or check out a spooky book — the choice is yours! Next week at the library is Teen Read Week! It began in and is held annually during the third week of October. Its purpose is to encourage teens to be regular readers and library users. With new titles arriving every month, the collection is continually growing and expanding. In addition to offering a wide selection of titles, the Teen Room is a popular space for middle and high school students to spend time after school.

The teen room has four computers available for checkout, and tables to spread out and do work on. Every month on early release the Library also offers programs for students to do after school. In September, I taught a small group of teens how to create simple circuits using conductive and insulating play-dough, a battery pack, buzzers, and LED lights. After the group got the hang of simple circuits, they started experimenting on their own and some of the flashing, buzzing, dough creations were pretty extravagant!

Next up on the agenda for teen early release activities is a zombie make-up tutorial on October 15 th! The Group is newly formed this year and is designed to give teens a greater voice at the library through including them in the planning process for teen programs and helping them become involved in volunteer and community service projects through the library.

We plan to meet once a month after school. Joining TAG is a great chance for teens to earn volunteer experience and plan fun and engaging afterschool activities. We had a great first meeting in September and our next meeting will be on October 23 rd , from 3: The group is open to Grades 6 and up. I recently read an interesting definition of what it means to be a Yankee. According to the book I read, a Yankee fits into the following definition; "to someone who lives south of the Mason-Dixon line, a Yankee is someone who lives north of the line.

Rebecca Rule has entertained audiences for years with her wit and unique perspective on the idiosyncrasies and quirks that make New Hampshire and those who dwell here so fascinating and hilarious. From flatlanders to maple syrup to our peculiar accents, Rebecca Rule covers it all with her stories and musings. Her presentation is sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council. I just finished Live Free and Eat Pie in preparation for a book discussion here at the library on Thursday, September 25 th.

Full of great stories and humor, Live Free and Eat Pie was an entertaining and quick read.