This Week at the Library - October 26th 2020

 This Week at the Library – October 26^th 2020

As we head into the library each day, our home away from home, we can feel the cold air blow in with the gusts that shake the leaves off the trees. Our windows give us a beautiful panorama of this most beautiful time of year... We see Rattlesnake behind us, Stinson to the east, and Buffalo Road covered with falling leaves. The cold mornings remind us of what is coming next and we start eyeing the new titles on our shelves that we are anxious to delve into each evening in our cozy homes. We feel so fortunate.

The library will continue to be open on Wednesdays from 1 until 5 and on Saturdays from 10 until noon. Starting this week Byron G Merrill Library will be open for browsing. We are so excited to invite our patrons into the library without appointments to browse, choose, and check out library materials. We will continue to offer “Porch Side” pickup and drop off as well.

·         One to two o’clock on Wednesdays will be reserved for seniors and high risk readers.

·         We ask that you wear a mask to enter the library and at all times while in the library and that you use the hand sanitizer on entering and leaving.

·         We will monitor our visitors and make sure everyone has plenty of distance. At times you may be asked to wait before entering. You will notice that we too will be keeping our distance.

·         We ask that you keep your visits to 20 minutes or less.

We look forward to this next phase and hope that it makes your time at the library more enjoyable. If, for any reason, we feel a concern for your safety or ours, we will make the necessary changes. Let’s all work together to make this work.

 New Display:  

As we spend more time at home I cannot help but dream of past and future travels... especially to France and Italy, two of my favorite countries. A few years ago, my granddaughter made this gift for us... an illustrated quote from Saint Augustine, “The world is a book and those who do not travel only read one page”. We have put together a delightful selection of books to whisk you away.... Bon voyage!  Buon viaggio!

·        Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard... An American girl falls in love with a handsome Frenchman and French food and stayed! Loved it!

·         A Paris Year by Janice Macleod... Day to day adventures in the most romantic city in the world... a peek into a diary which has you sharing the experiences and wonderful memories for those who have visited France and a definite To Do List for those who plan to go...

·         A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena de Blasi... Marlena, a divorced America chef travelling in Italy meets Fernando... the story of two people, both set in their ways but also set on being together, built a life. The descriptions made me feel each street, each market... Loved it!

·         Plus many more!

New from Marilynee Robinson

In 2005 author, Marilynne Robinson, received the Pulitzer Prize for Gilead, the story of Reverend John Ames’s as he lays dying, penning a letter to his young son accounting for his life as well as his forebears. Ames, the son of an Iowa preacher, came west to Kansas to fight abolition. The second book, Home, which takes place during the same time period focuses on Glory Boughton who returned to Gilead to care for her dying father (John Ames). Her brother Jack, the prodical son returns as well... a story of families and the passing of generations. The third novel, Lila, is the story, a woman with a tough background, who comes to Gilead and becomes the wife of John Ames. New this year is Jack, the story of the prodical son.... These books have all been well received and I, for one, am going to give them a try. The themes seem to be current with this year’s events.

New Author – Paul Doiron, a native of Maine and author of the Mike Bowditch mysteries

·         Knife Creek (2017)... Maine game warden Mike Bowditch, tasked with shooting invasive feral hogs, makes a horrific discovery

·         Stay Hidden  (2018)... A woman is shot to death by a deer hunter but is this crime really what it seems?

·         Almost Midnight (2019)...  An attack on one of Maine’s last wild wolves leads Mike to an even bigger conspiracy

·         One Last Lie (2020)... coming soon!

New this Week!  The Orphan’s Guilt (2020) by Archer Mayor and Anxious People (2020) by Fredrik Backman

New This Week!  And two more to get us thinking!

·         Conditional Citizens by Laila Lalami (2020)... What does it mean to be an American? In this book, Ms Lalami recounts her journey from Moroccan immigrant to United States citizen. Tapping into history, politics, and literature, she elucidates how accidents of birth – such as national origin, race, and gender – still cast their shadows today. “Conditional Citizens”, she argues, are all the people whom America embraces with one arm and pushes away with the other. A timely read that we may start to understand....

·         Just Us, An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine (2020)... Ms Rankine has put together an assembly of essays, poems, documents and images about race, each item giving us something to think about. This is a book to thumb through, find an item of interest, and give it some thought...  The items are fascinating and well documented.

Our Library Bears 

are masked and ready for Halloween. They are peering out the library windows to see what is going on.... We invite our young people to take a walk around the outside of our library and wave to our masked friends...  Can you find all 13?? They are anxious to see you!

That’s a wrap for this week... Time to settle in with my book... currently reading Jodi Picoult’s latest offering The Book of Two Ways (2020)... learning a bit about archaeology in Egypt!

Enjoy your week... Come see us!  Susan and the Library Ladies

Susan at sturbyne@rumneylibrary.com and Jane at jkelso@rumneylibrary.com

 

This Week at the Library - October 19th 2020

 

The decision has been made... Our BOOK SALE will continue for another week. Many, many cartons of books have been added this week so then make a generous donation to our little library. See you Saturday or when the flag is out!

 

“Porchside Pickup” and “Library by Appointment” will continue... email us with your wish list of reads or to set up an appointment and we will do our best. Our library hours this week are Wednesday 2-5 and Saturday 10-1. You are also welcome to stop by when the flag is out, without an appointment, and hopefully we will be able to accommodate you.

Our fun Story Walk (In the Woods: Who’s Been Here? By Lindsay Barrett George) on the Common will be continuing ... It has been fun having many of our local families taking part in this activity. Please send photos and comments to Jane who is putting together a memory page.

We have filled the large round table with lots of new reads... hot new best-sellers, books on current issues, and lots of carefully culled donated books to us. No time to tempt you with titles and authors so hopefully you will stop by and take a look.

 

We are wishing everyone a good week...  Hours are Wednesdays 2-5 and this Saturday 10-1. Happy Reading and Don’t Forget our Book Sale!

Susan (sturbyne@rumneylibrary.org)  and the Library Ladies

This Week at the Library - October 12th 2020

 

This past Saturday was just perfect for our Book Sale.... Everyone wore masks, kept their distance, and found many treasures! It was just great seeing everyone enjoying themselves. It was so much fun that we have decided to continue our Book Sale this coming Saturday (October 17^th from 9 until 1) with boxes and boxes of different books. Our patrons continue to donate many good reads and we look forward to passing them on to you! As always, we encourage you to fill a bag and then make a generous donation to our little library. See you Saturday!

“Porchside Pickup” and “Library by Appointment” will continue... email us with your wish list of reads or to set up an appointment and we will do our best. Our library hours this week are Wednesday 2-5 and Saturday 9-1. You are also welcome to stop by when the flag is out without an appointment and hopefully we will be able to accommodate you.

Our fun Story Walk (In the Woods: Who’s Been Here? By Lindsay Barrett George) on the Common will be continuing this week... It has been fun having many of our local families taking part in this activity. Please send photos and comments to Jane who is putting together a memory page.

We have just placed a book order which includes Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand...many of us have been eagerly waiting for the conclusion to this fun series, Knife Creek by Paul Doiron... the first in several books about a Maine Game Warden, Jack  by  Marilynne Robinson to complete her Gilead series and two more to get us thinking: Conditional Citizens..On Belonging in America by Laila Lalami and Just Us...An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine. Do you want to be on the “next to read” list for these books when they arrive??? Send us an email!

 

New books going on the shelves this week, thanks to our generous patrons, include:

The Hardscrabble Chronicles (2002) by Laurie Bogart Morrow...True dog stories from a New England village

The Traitor  (2020) by V S Alexander... a story of the resistance movement of young Germans against the Nazi in 1942

The Edge of Lost (2015) by Kristina McMorris... In October 1937, on the island housing Alcatraz, a prison guard’s only daughter has gone missing

The Dragons, The Giant, The Women  (2020) by Wayetu Moore... a memoir of early life in warring Liberia to a new life in Texas acknowledging the tenacious power of love and family.

The Red Lotus (2020) by Chris Bohjalian... an American man vanishes on a rural road in Vietnam and his girlfriend, an emergency room doctor trained to ask questions, follows a path that leads her home to the very hospital where they met

Girl, Woman, Other (2019) by Bernardine Evaristo... Ms Evaristo won the 2019 Booker Prize for this novel about the lives of black British families

Dragon Bone (2003) by Lisa See... a combination of ancient myth and contemporary anxieties to tell a story of love, betrayal and murder

One by One (2020) by Ruth Ware... With this offering Ms Ware is referred to as “The Agatha Christie of our generation” by none other than David Baldacci!

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions (2015) by Mario Giordano... One of our favorites, Adriana Trigiani, refers to this offering as “Delizioso!”

We are wishing everyone a good week... Happy Reading and Don’t Forget our Book Sale!

Susan (sturbyne@rumneylibrary.org)  and the Library Ladies

 

This Week at the Library - October 5th, 2020

 Hello October. Hello National Book Month. Don’t just read a book by the fire this season... Make a book! Take some photos, write about some of the neat things you have been doing during these strange times and share with your friends and family. And remember how fortunate all of us are to live where we do... Get out of doors and enjoy the beauty of this most spectacular month!! The library will be ‘open’ Wednesdays 2-5 and Saturdays 10-12 during the month of October.

Our Book Sale will continue this week with some additional open hours... The selection keeps growing with each day that passes!  We are featuring tantalizing  mysteries by lots of your favorite authors including David Baldacci, Steve Berry, Lee Child, Harlen Coben,  and James Patterson to name a few and have shelves filled with fiction and nonfiction selections. We will also be offering a variety of paperbacks and dvds... Fill a bag, make a donation... that is all there is to it! Donations are so important to making our library special and keeping our collection up to date!  BOOK SALE HOURS THIS WEEK! 10/9 FRIDAY 5-7 AND 10/10 SATURDAY 9-2

“Porchside Pickup” and “Library by Appointment” will continue... email us with your wish list of reads or to set up an appointment and we will do our best. Send requests for children books to Jane (jkelso@rumneylibrary.org) and adult requests to Susan (sturbyne@rumneylibrary.org)

Our fun Story Walk (In the Woods: Who’s Been Here? By Lindsay Barrett George) on the Common will be continuing this week... be sure to take a photo of your little ones enjoying this fun activity.

 We just ordered new books by Archer Mayor  (The Orphan’s Guilt), Jodi Picoult (The Book of Two Ways) and Nicholas Sparks (the Return). Do you want to be on the “next to read” list??? Send us an email!

 

New books, thanks to our generous patrons, going on the shelves this week include:

The River Murders  (2020) by James Patterson (mystery)

Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry (2019) by Mary Higgins Clark (mystery)

When You See Me (2020) by Lisa Gardner (mystery)

The Things We Cannot Say (2019) by Kelly Rimmer (historical fiction/WWII)

On a Making Tide, Tested by Fate, Breaking the Line, The Nelson and Emma Trilogy by David Donachie  (historical fiction/the private lives and dangerous times of England’s greatest naval hero and his legendary mistress)

The Rule (2020) by Larry Hite (financial advice, “How I Beat the Odds in the Markets and in Life and How You Can Too”

We are wishing everyone a good week... Happy Reading and Don’t Forget our Book Sale!

Susan and the Library Ladies

 

This Week at the Library - September 28th, 2020

 

This Week at the Library – September 28^th

Here we are six very long months into the coronavirus pandemic and you have probably watched every show on Netflix, put together all your puzzles and perhaps even baked bread. I bet you are wondering what there is left to do??? There is only one answer – READ! As the nights start to get cooler, grab a blanket, a good book, and just get cozy.

The good news is that our Book Sale is underway....  This week we are featuring tantalizing  mysteries by lots of your favorite authors including David Baldacci, Steve Berry, Lee Child, Harlen Coben,  and James Patterson to name a few. We will also be offering a variety of paperbacks and dvds... Fill a bag, make a donation... that is all there is to it! If our hours don’t match yours, email me and hopefully we can find a mutual time for you to take a look.

“Porchside Pickup” and “Library by Appointment” will continue... email me with your wish list of reads or to set up an appointment and we will do our best. Jane is also happy to put together a bag of picture books for our preschoolers...email Jane (jkelso@rumneylibray.org) with your request.

Our fun Story Walk (In the Woods: Who’s Been Here? By Lindsay Barrett George) on the Common will be continuing this week... be sure to take a photo of your little ones enjoying this fun activity.

Our new reads this week include... and I hope you are reading this Sam Coes... the Richard Bolitho series by Alexander Kent. The year is 1772 and Richard Bolitho is a sixteen year old midshipman about to undergo a severe initiation into the game of seamanship which includes destroying a vicious band of pirates.

We are wishing everyone a good week....... Susan (sturbyne@rumneylibrary.org) and the Library Ladies.  (Library Hours: Wednesday 2-5 and Saturday 10-12)

This Week at the Library - September 21st, 2020

 

Looking out the library windows at several beautiful red maples.... the sky is blue, the air is crisp at least for another day, the children are back at school and life goes on...

Yes... The library is open for ‘Porch Side Requests” and “Library Appointments” which will continue for the next several weeks.

·         Requests may be directed to sturbyne@rumneylibrary.org anytime 24/7 and we will do our best to fill your request and set it on my porch (36 Buffalo Road) for you to pick up. Good news... Interlibrary loan has started up which greatly increases our offerings.

 

·         We will continue to set up appointments for our patrons who feel comfortable coming into the library. We have set aside Wednesdays from 2 til 5 and Saturdays 10 til noon for appointments.  Please email me at sturbyne@rumneylibrary.org with your day and time preference and I will do the best I can to accommodate you.

 

Our StoryWalk* is now up on the Common in Rumney

In the Woods: Who's Been There

By Lindsay Barrett George

Enjoy reading this story about two children on a nature walk and the very interesting things they discover. The story is read panel by panel as you walk along, beginning at the fence opposite the church and following the arrows.  The Story Walk will be up for a month so you can visit and revisit any time... bring your friends!  Hope to see you!

Miss Jane

 

 "... I just wanted to let you know we loved the story walk today! It's such a treat to be able to read a book that way and see the anticipation on the kids' faces! They loved running to the next page and trying to guess who was there. Lily did the whole circuit twice! Thanks for putting this together!" (Jill and family)

 

 

 

We have added some new titles to our collection thanks to our very generous patrons...This week featuring Adult Fiction... 

·         The Warsaw Protocol (2020) by Steve Berry... the latest in the Cotton Malone series. One by one the seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, are disappearing from sanctuaries across the world. Will Cotton Malone be able to save the day??

·         The Boy from the Woods  (2020) by Harlan Coben... Wilde can’t ignore an outcaste in trouble but in order to help he must venture  back into the community where he has never fit in, a place where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions...

·         Blindside (2020) by James Patterson/James O Born.... the latest in the Michael Bennett series. The mayor of New York City has a daughter who is missing and in danger. Michael Bennett has a son who is in prison. The two strike an intriguing deal.

·         Masked Prey (2020) by John Sandford... Lucas Davenport investigates a vitriolic blog that seems to be targeting the children of US politicians ...

·         The Institute (2019) by Stephen King... To quote one reader, “This is like the early Stephen King. It is very plausible story about kids with psychic abilities and the Institute, which attempts to weaponized them. Great story and great characters.”

·         Window on the Bay (2019) by Debbie Macomber...  A reader review...”Sweet story of two divorced women who find a second chance at love as they maintain a close relationship and support system for each other.”

·         The Oysterville Sewing Circle (2019) by Susan Wiggs... Another review... “This novel is a compassionate and telling one about lost love, lost career, and new beginnings...uplifting at times, hard at others. Truly a heartfelt novel.”

 

Happy end of September to you all...Sending all our good wishes your way...

Susan and the Library Ladies

Byron G Merrill Library – 10 Buffalo Road – Rumney NH 03266

603-786-9520 during library hours

*The StoryWalk Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. StoryWalk is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson.