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