From The President

From The Book Nook

Wow..it is 2009 and we are talking money here and appreciation. Our wonderful December sale is just over and we did well over our usual $4,000 mark. Regular customers and dealers alike crowded the aisles filling their arms and sometimes boxes with their choices. Many thanks go to Irene Fransen's crew of Carrie Chapin, Dorothy Ferguson, Judy Smith and John Treleaven for setting up and knocking down the sale setups. It is a big job to take piles of books out of storage, fill in spaces during the sale and then putting the leftovers back in storage again. Thanks, too, to the people who did the cashiering. That is sometimes an exhausting occupation, what with half-price charges, bagging and other customers lined up in front of the desk waiting their turn. Our people rose to the occasion.

As usual, a great time was had by all at our December Holiday Luncheon. Good food, good friends and the darling Chase Collegiate bell ringers and chorus. We made our usual donation to the school and it was a very nice gesture to have the youngsters visit each table to deliver their personal thanks.

Additional gratitude goes to those members who contributed to our goodies table along with the following merchants who were kind enough to participate: Highgate Liquor Shop; Dom & Bonnie's Flower Botique; NeJaime's Fine Wines & Spirits; Capobianco's Main Street Market; Hosking's Nursery and Lisa Sugrue's Got-A-Dream.

As they say, "What goes around, comes around" and we have recently received our own kudos from Ms. Tina Agati, Executive Director of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Waterbury. Ms. Agati thanks us not only for our donation of children's books which were distributed to children of their adult learners at their recent annual Holiday Party but also for twenty bibles which were shared with inmates in local prisons.

As I am sure you know, the mission of Literacy Volunteers is to teach adults to read, write, speak and understand English so that they may achieve personal, educational, employment and civic goals. Where and when we can, we help to make these efforts possible. Several more bibles were given to the Gateway Church, through one of our customers, to be sent to some of our soldiers overseas.

It is very gratifying that in addition to our retail work we can still participate in the act of giving and sharing - all done in conjunction with our beloved books.

"The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Queenie Mraz
Book Nook Chairmen

FYI...

Happy New Year! And as the New Year ushers in a new presidential administration, the focus will be on presidential biographies from different eras.

Bookmarks consulted several experts asking them to compile a list of their favorite biographies. The first two listed won the Pulitzer Prize.

Douglas Wilson, Director of the Lincoln Studies Center selected David McCullough's, Truman. The book is a reconstruction of Truman's career and the crisis he faced - the atomic bomb, the Cold War, Israel, Korea, MacArthur and decisions he made with little public understanding. Wilson states "that because of McCullough's unerring sense of narrative and a masterly command of language" this was the most enjoyable presidential biography he had ever read.

H.W. Brands, Professor of History at the University of Texas recommends Jefferson and His Times by Dumas Malone. He suggests that Malone "channeled the ghost of Jefferson in order to re-create the world of philosopher-prince", who was a much tougher politico than his rivals imagined.

Brand also selects The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro calling the three published volumes "glorious and riveting melodrama."

Abraham Lincoln, a biography was chosen by Allen C. Guelzo, a Professor of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College calling it an "eminently readable narrative" as well as "the best balanced overview of Lincoln's life" written in the last fifty years.

Joan Rintelman
Director

From Membership

Welcome: New members who responded to our Fall mailing. A special thank you goes to Nancy and Steven Litzenberger who enrolled as a Friend's Sponsor.

Exciting news: A new membership brochure has been created which includes the most updated information and photographs of Friend's sponsored activities. They are available at the main library desk as well as in the Book Nook.

A Thought: You may want to share the brochure with your own group of acquaintances as a great way to add to our membership!

Happy 2009!

Christine Guidita
Membership Chair

Book Discussion Group

February 3   The Thirteenth Tale  by Diane Setterfield

March 3   Moral Disorder  by Margaret Atwood

April 7   The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak

May 5   Eat, Pray, Love  by Elizabeth Gilbert

June 2   Away  by Amy Bloom

On Tuesday, February 3, The Friends Reading Group will meet at the Oakville Branch of the library at 2pm to discuss The Thirteenth Tale. This group of enthusiastic readers with Robin Osborn as facilitator will discuss their personal reactions to both the novel and the author's style. Join the discussion or listen to gain new insight into this popular work of fiction. Books will be available two weeks before the book group meets.

Grab a cup of your favorite warm beverage, forget our bleak New England winter, and begin reading: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

The Thirteenth Tale, a riveting story written with beautiful poetic language. Diane Setterfield's debut novel is an interesting, imaginative, exciting story about stories. Margaret Lea, the narrator, is a lover of books and an occasional author who is invited to meet Vida Winter and to write about the renowned novelist's life. Famous for her Tales of Courage and Desperation, a book that contains twelve fables, Vida supposedly composed a thirteenth tale - a tale that was never published. This mysterious thirteenth tale and Vida's narration of her life compose a layered tale, with stories within stories, that keep Margaret (and readers) curious and entertained. This novel which is reminiscent of classic British novels like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre emphasizes the power of books and stories. Perhaps you should keep the kettle heating as you'll spend several hours unraveling the surprises and discoveries in this book lover's book.

February Lecture Series

I have been working hard for the last two months putting together a lecture series that I hope will interest you all and calling it "Mixed Media February." These will be held every Wednesday throughout the month of February at the Oakville Branch with the lecture to begin at 12 noon. Bring your lunch, we will provide coffee, tea, and desert.

As you can see from the attached flyer week one (February 4) we are having Barbara Davitt from Coffee Break at WATR radio. Week two (February 11) is going to be Charles Monagan editor of Connecticut Magazine. Besides discussing about being editor of the magazine, he is bringing his book Connecticut Icon, 50 Symbols of the Nutmeg State. He will sell and autograph copies of his book. Week three (February 18) is Carrie MacMillan a reporter from The Waterbury Republican-American. She wrote the article for us last spring about Pete Hamill. And as this newsletter is going to press, I'm still waiting to hear from the speaker for week 4 (February 25). I'm trying to get someone from television! They will all be discussing with us how they got involved in their fields, funny stories that have happened to them, how they get their ideas, and answer your questions.

Please put all these dates on your calendars. I need people to help me with hospitality, so all you bakers out there, call me and sign up to bake for one of these lectures.

If you are interested in coming but you don't want to drive, also give me a call as we have people who will help to get you there. I really want to fill the branch and show these speakers that we are interested.

You can reach me at the library Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 10 - 4, or call me at home 274-5228.

Linda Merriman
Program Chair

There has been a scheduling change for the February Lecture Series - Week three (February 18) is now our Mystery Guest - Teresa LaBarbera a reporter with Channel 3 WFSB. Week four (February 25) is Carrie MacMillan a reporter from The Waterbury Republican-American.