Summer Reading Program 2013: Dig Into Reading

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Embedded Frog lilly pad

The first Summer Reading Program I remember participating in was when I went with my two sisters to spend the summer with Uncle Carl and Aunt Gladys in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. What magical memories I have of going to the library with Aunt Gladys each Tuesday to get new books. I was so excited to keep track of my progress and earn my prizes!

I still have the reading log. It was an under the sea theme which seems odd for such a land-locked state, doesn’t it?  I’ve lost the wonderful little clay animals that you were allowed to make after completing each reading column, but vividly recall them: a grey-blue clay dolphin, complete with little hand squeeze marks, a sand dollar and, of course, a fish. Even though my treasures are lost, I keep them in my mind as a happy memory.

How about creating some happy memories for your child or even yourself this summer? It’s time for everyone, young and those also not as young, to sign up for Everett Public Library’s Summer Reading Program. We have programs for the read-to-me set, young readers, teens and even adults! The theme for 2013 is ‘Dig into Reading’.

digintoreading

Summer reading begins the instant school ends and that was last week for the Everett School District. That means you can start your reading log on the first day of summer vacation. For each column completed, bring your reading log to the library to receive a prize courtesy of our sponsors. Prizes are available while supplies last. The summer reading prizes are made possible by the Friends of the Everett Public Library, AFSCME Local 113, Rotary Club of Everett, Rodland Toyota, Subway, Taco Time and Masonic Lodge #95 F & AM.

Summer reading at the Everett Public Library also offers programs and activities designed to inspire children’s creativity and imagination. This summer’s programming is sure to excite children with the varied offerings, which include everything from musical concerts and puppet shows to themed story times and Wednesday ‘crafternoons’. Programs begin in June. Some of the highlights will be a Nancy Stewart concert Saturday, July 27th at both libraries, and the super fun ‘Dig into Art’ (‘crafternoon’)  craft time at the Main Library at 3 PM on Wednesday afternoons.

Everett Public Library’s 2013 summer schedule  is available online. This is where children can find activities just for them! Copies of the Reading Program brochures are available at both library locations.

Everett Public Library is dedicated to providing educational programming for youth during the summer months, helping keep children engaged in reading and in their communities while out of school. Summer reading programs are designed for children to have positive learning experiences and to encourage reading as a lifelong habit.

I read Dr. Seuss and Are You My Mother? and other such literary tomes during that long-ago summer in Iowa. This summer I have quite a long list of books to enjoy including: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies also by Hilary Mantel (Thanks, Eileen, for the suggestions), The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman, and Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.

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Some titles I’ve read recently and can recommend for your (adult) summer list include: The Language of Flowers by Victoria Diffenbaugh, Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple, and Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris (for a little chuckle).

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If you’d like to help a child find age appropriate and exciting reads this summer, check out these lists from the American Library Association.

There’s no need to go all the way to Iowa to enjoy summer reading. Join me in creating more happy summer reading memories right here in Everett!

Leslie

Take the Adult Summer Reading Challenge

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diginto1“Groundbreaking Reads” is the theme for Everett Public Library’s 2013 Adult Summer Reading Challenge. Groundbreaking books of the reader’s choice, including fiction or nonfiction, new or not-so-new releases, can be explored. Or if you prefer, pick up some music CDs, a movie or an audio book. The library has them, as well.

Registration began June 1. The program is open to those age 17 and older and will run through August 31.

Visit a local branch library to register and pick up a book log. More information about the challenge is on epls.org/asr. Don’t forget about the prizes!

  • After reading your first book, you are eligible to receive a peat pot with seeds
  • After reading your third book, you are eligible to receive a 2 for 1 coupon for Bookend Coffee Co.
  • After reading your fifth book, you are eligible to receive a Friends of the Library key chain or a “I read between the covers” window cling
  • After reading your seventh book, you are eligible to receive a Friends of the Library tote bag.

Registration in the challenge is also an entry for one of four grand prizes:

If you want to share your thoughts on the books you’ve read this summer, you are encouraged to submit short reviews. You can get book review forms at the main library or the Evergreen branch as well as online. We will publish select reviews right here on A Reading Life (as well as on the Everett Herald website). Book reviews will be accepted at all library branches June 3 through Aug. 31. 

But that’s not all. Be sure to mark your calendar to attend a program. There are two designed with the Groundbreaking theme in mind which are free and at the Main Library:

Kimberly-clarkUnearthing Kimberly Clark:  2 p.m. on Saturday, June 15th – As it was being demolished the Kimberly-Clark plant was often described as the last vestige of Everett’s smokestack heritage. But centered in the very heart of the city’s bay front industrial corridor, the site has connections stretching all the way back to the region’s tribal past, the earliest peninsular homesteads and the coming of the railroad. Everett Public Library historian David Dilgard will take us on an exploration of pictures and maps that reveal the many-faceted story of this key spot in the life of “The City of Smokestacks.”

composting

Getting the Dirt on Dirt:  10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 22nd – All dirt is not created equal.  Learn what it takes to maximize the growth potential of your soil. Master Gardener Sandy DeLisle will show you how to create compost from yard or food waste. One lucky participant will take home the demonstration worm bin. 

Sponsors for the 2013 adult summer reading challenge include: Friends of the Library, and Bookend Coffee Company.

Dig Into Reading today!

Kate

Lights, Camera, Read

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You see them everywhere: smiling for the camera, promoting their latest film, putting their hands in cement. Yes, I’m talking about the famous (and infamous) stars of stage, screen and television. You can stoically resist their charms, but even the most cynical of us have a tendency to succumb to their gravitational pull eventually.

I was surprised to find that, for me, this even holds true when I’m selecting an audiobook. I’ve found that, if the narrator of an audiobook has a famous name, I will sometimes give it a try no matter what the book itself is. Call me shallow, but this has actually led me to listen to some interesting audiobooks that you might enjoy as well. Here are two examples:

world war zWorld War Z (Movie Tie-In Edition) by Max Brooks
I know, I know. More zombies. But there are two good reasons to give this audiobook a try. First there are more stars than you can shake a stick at narrating this edition. Clearly the author, with the help of the studio promoting the upcoming film I would wager, pulled some strings to get the likes of Mark Hamill, John Turturro, Nathan Fillion, Simon Pegg, Henry Rollins, Martin Scorsese and many, many, others to narrate. Secondly, this book is actually more of a social history of a zombie apocalypse than a survivalist do or die zombie apocalypse. I know it sounds odd. Lisa captured the feel perfectly in her post from last summer. Once you get into it, it truly does feel like an oral history, albeit of a fictional future event.

I, ClaudiusI Claudius: A BBC Radio-4 Full Cast Dramatization by Robert Graves
There is no need for an ancient history degree to appreciate this fun visit to a very, very dysfunctional family who just happens to rule the Roman Empire. While definitely based on the Robert Graves novel, this recording is a fresh take on the material and is more akin to a recorded play than a reading of the book. There is little gravitas which lets the dark humor of the Machiavellian scheming come through. Best of all, the cast is chock full of British stage, film and television actors that are top-notch. Standouts include Tim McInnerny, Harriet Walter, Jessica Raine, Tom Goodman-Hill and, of course, Derek Jacobi playing Augustus this time around.

Sadly my listening time is even more limited than my reading time. There are only so many listening hours (primarily when I’m driving, exercising or weeding) that I can squeeze out of the week. But if my formula of star power leading to intriguing listening experiences holds true, these new titles might also be worth considering.

gatsbyThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Timed to coincide with the theatrical summer release, this version is narrated by the actor Jake Gyllenhaal. To my shame, I’ll admit that Gatsby has never been one of my favorite novels. On the other hand I really did like Donnie Darko. Perhaps the two might negate each other and lead to a pleasurable listening experience. Stranger things have happened.

88 by Dustin Black
This is a recording of Black’s play about the legal attempt to repeal proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that repealed the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. While an important topic, politics and the legal system can be a bit dull. The all-star cast (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Kevin Bacon, John C. Riley, Jamie Lee Curtis and many more) might just bring it to life, however.

During my search, I was surprised to find that actors and actresses narrating audiobooks is not a new phenomenon. There are many who regularly narrate and are well represented in our collection. A few names that you might recognize are: Joe Mantegna, Campbell Scott, Elizabeth McGovern, Gary Sinise, Bronson Pinchot, Wil Wheaton and Dan Stevens.

So there you have it. A new method of selecting audiobooks based on star power. Don’t be embarrassed. Resistance is futile.

Richard

Grilled Salmon and DEET

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Lisa with apple in front of mountains

Demonstrating advanced trail food preparation

When my husband and I moved here from Chicago, I thought that I was finally coming into my element. Mountains, ocean – all the things the Midwest couldn’t provide. We had mastered what the flatland could offer us in regards to camping, so we were ready to up our game. For those of you lucky enough to have been born and raised in this lovely region, you know that my attitude was like thinking I was ready to play in the MLB because I batted cleanup in t-ball. Thankfully my husband was more experienced in these matters, and managed to keep up safe, dry, happy, and entertained in the wild. He’s since joined the Mountaineers and has been scrambling on the tops of mountains, while I have contented myself with scrambling eggs at camp and taking photos of mountains from the relative safety of familiar flat land.

Needless to say, I have some learning to do. I think I’m finally over the hump of thinking I’m always on the verge of being eaten by bears. Seeing a bear retreat in horror from my loud approach last weekend helped me realize that they don’t want to deal with me either. Now I’m going through the enjoyable process of checking out the library’s resources on all things outdoors. I know this isn’t a shock, but there is a lot here to get through.

Scout's Backpacking Cookbook

Not surprisingly, my first foray into outdoor ed. was the cooking section. It looks like I may be able to salvage that ill-conceived food dehydrator purchase from the kitchen gadget bone-yard after all. There are a ton of books in this area, so I quickly eliminated anything to do with RV or car camping (we’ve got that down). My favorite was The Scout’s Backpacking Cookbook, by Tim and Christine Conners. This book was packed with useful information about equipment, cooking techniques, meal planning, safety, ‘Leave No Trace’ cooking and camping, and recipes. There were also wonderful appendices that provided measurement advice, additional reading, and helpful websites.

Other picks:

The Trailside Cookbook by Don Philpott

Camp Cooking in the Wild by Mark Scriver

Longstreet Highroad Guide to the Washington CascadesWith the food taken care of, choosing a destination was my next priority. When we camp, we choose our destination based on a few different things. Weather is the most obvious determining factor; last weekend we went over the mountains to find the sun. On other trips we’ve selected sites because they were off pleasant drives, or offered a selection of excellent hikes. The Mountaineers Books has a fantastic series of Day Hiking titles that cover different regions of Washington and Oregon. My favorite book that I found about exploring Washignton was the Longstreet Highroad Guide to the Washington Cascades, by Allan May. May created a guide to geography, history (human and natural), and recreation in the Washington Cascades, all wrapped into a very enjoyable read.

Note: Sometimes published info about campgrounds, trails, and roads can be outdated. To be certain that you can actually get to where you’d like to go, call ahead to the ranger station in the area you’re planning to visit to make sure that everything is open.

The Backpacker's ManualLast, and certainly not least, I looked into info on safety and preparation. This is perhaps the largest section of outdoor materials we have because there is much to be said on the topic. For a beginner’s overview to all things backpacking, The Smart Guide to Hiking and Backpacking is a good place to start. More advanced advice on trip planning, cooking equipment, and more can be found in The Backpacker’s Field Manual, by Rick Curtis. I found some really helpful illustrations and ‘how to’s’ in Basic Illustrated Wilderness First Aid, but I strongly recommend attending some courses on the topic if you are serious about venturing into remote areas. If not, be sure to trek with someone who has.

Other titles that I found helpful tips in:

Hiking with Dogs by Linda B. Mullally

Ultralight Backpackin’ Tips by Mike Clelland

Making Camp: A Complete Guide for Hikers, Mountain Bikers, Paddlers & Skiers by Steve Howe, et al.

So there you have it – my newbie backpacker reading list. Come in and browse the shelves; there’s a lot more here for those who are more advanced than I am. As for me? I have a date with the food dehydrator – who doesn’t want to try powdered cheese?

Lisa

The Wolf Inside

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Hemlock groveThere are books that get inside of you like a bloated white worm. You can feel it in there, just to the left of your heart, burrowing deeper, further away from the light and closer to the red dark. When I was 17 I read Helter Skelter, a fat book about the Manson Family murders. It was such a bleak book, weighing so heavily inside my head that when I finished it I hid it in a cardboard box in the basement and made sure that the next time a charity truck came around to pick up donations, that box was first out on the porch.

Brian McGreevy’s Hemlock Grove has a similar feel (except I couldn’t put it in a donation box since it’s a library book). The Godfreys own Hemlock Grove, a small Pennsylvania town. They once owned a steel mill that now lies dormant and desolate. It is now a warren of machine mazes for the town’s teens to get drunk and practice (and fail) the rhythm method. Roman Godfrey lives with his mother Olivia and sister Shelley in the Godfrey mansion. His mother reminds me of a wealthy mother from the 50’s: devoid of warmth and maternal instinct but with a purring liquid voice helped along by excessive (and socially acceptable) amounts of Valium. A snake has more warmth than Olivia Godfrey. 

There’s a creepy intimacy between mother and son, a relationship that feeds gossip and uneasiness. And it kinda made me throw up a little in my mouth. Olivia’s 15 year affair with Norman Godfrey continues, even after his brother (Roman’s father?) commits suicide. Norman is weak (as most humans are in the face of love that eats away at the brain and heart) and continues to see Olivia even after vowing “This is the last time.” Famous last words.

Peter Rumancek and his mother arrive in Hemlock Grove and move into a relative’s mobile home. They are Gypsies. I’m not being judgmental here. They openly call themselves Gypsies and are more than proud of it. Not long after they move to town, a girl is brutally attacked. No, not just brutally attacked. The girl is torn in half, her milky cobalt blue eyes staring into the great nothing. The other half of her body is missing.

Sometimes a wolf goes crazy and doesn’t eat what it kills.

Christina, a high school freshman who wants to be a famous novelist questions Peter. She asks him with the bluntness of youth without an inner filter “Are you a werewolf?” Being polite as possible he tells her to shut up and go away. Roman Godfrey takes an interest in Peter and the two begin to hang around. They make an odd couple: Roman Godfrey, the scion of a wealthy family and possessing the gift of hypnotism by looking into a person’s eyes and Peter Rumancek, a tetherless wanderer who never stays in one spot for very long and who has a talent for slipping his skin during a full moon. 

After another murder the two team up to find out who-or what- is tearing young girls apart. What else is there to do in a small town after dark? Join forces and hunt for clues, a demonic duo as unlike the Hardy Boys as can be. 

At the center of the story is the White Tower, the Godfrey’s medical institute where strange experiments run by Doctor Johann Pryce are conducted. Shelley Godfrey, a speechless giant of a girl (over seven feet tall standing up straight) is often tested there. The word supernatural never pops up but there’s something to Shelley’s conception and growing. Her skin glows at certain moments: happiness, sadness, fear. Her brother and Doctor Johann affectionately call her Glow Worm. She embodies the name gentle giant. She is an old sweet soul with fierce intelligence. Her heart breaks each time a child sees her and bursts into terrified tears or the whispers about her aren’t so hushed.

Amidst the carnage is the story of Letha Godfrey, Roman’s cousin. She claims to have been visited and impregnated by an angel. She plans on keeping the baby. Roman’s territorial attitude with Letha almost rivals his bizarre relationship with his mother, especially when Letha takes an interest in Peter. Two more murders take place and Roman decides the time has come to kill whatever is targeting the town’s people.

If you’re a fan of gothic horror with a modern twist, read this book. The author worked with Netflix to bring it to the screen and it was better than great. Some books don’t translate well into movies but the series followed the books closely. It’s like a day time soap opera on crack. I might have to watch it again.

Jennifer

Spot-Lit for June 2013

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Spot-Lit

This month marks the one-year anniversary of Spot-Lit, so we thought we’d take a look back.

Spot-Lit’s objective is to help you easily discover worthwhile new fiction from both established and emerging authors, while giving the edge to deserving authors who might be overlooked. The main reason for this slant is because we know you can always click the On Order or Most Popular links in the catalog to easily find the most highly anticipated and in-demand titles. But we’re open to featuring any good book – and we did choose Gone Girl before it went on to dominate the bestseller lists for the past year.

We got some validation for our efforts from a recent round-up of The Year’s Best Crime Novels by Booklist magazine – almost half of their picks were also featured in Spot-Lit (see the titles we agreed on here). Of course, the advance reviews published by Booklist and other trade sources help us select materials for the library and aid us in making our Spot-Lit picks.

Additionally, we featured a number of titles as they came out that ended up winning some major awards. In addition to Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies (Man Booker Prize), we highlighted these crime fiction award-winners:

We’re just sayin’ – you could do worse when looking for new book recommendations.

With the self-aggrandizement out of the way – on to this month’s selections! As always, simply click on the titles below to read more or to place holds.

General Fiction / Literary Fiction 

TransAtlanticTransAtlantic  by Colum McCann
In a tale that spans 150 years, McCann beautifully weaves together multiple narratives that include the first nonstop transatlantic flight, Abolitionist Frederick Douglass, four generations of women from an Irish family, and more. From the National Book Award winner of Let the Great World Spin.

We Are All Completely Beside OurselvesWe Are All Completely Beside Ourselves  by Karen Joy Fowler
As Publishers Weekly notes: “It’s worth the trouble to avoid spoilers, including the ones on the back cover.” So we’ll only say that this story of a middle class American family has it all – plus a twist. It’s one you really don’t want to miss.

Last Summer of the CamperdownsThe Last Summer of the Camperdowns  by Elizabeth Kelly
A 12-year-old girl witnesses a violent crime but says nothing to her eccentric parents who are enmeshed in running a political campaign in Massachusetts in 1972. Tense, witty and mordantly funny.

First Novels

Good Kings Bad KingsGood Kings Bad Kings  by Susan Nussbaum
Nussbsaum’s debut takes us inside a privately run Chicago facility for learning-disabled students, where profit-driven decisions only add to the hardship of the students’ courageous, resilient, disadvantaged lives. Winner of the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction.

Lullaby of Polish GirlsThe Lullaby of Polish Girls  by Dagmara Dominczyk
When a young Polish-American girl returns to Poland to visit her grandmother, she makes strong friendships with two other girls. They stay in touch over the years though their lives have taken them in very different directions, and then a murder brings them back to the city where their friendship began.

Square of RevengeThe Square of Revenge  by Pieter Aspe
International bestselling author Aspe’s U.S. debut includes a mysterious crime at a jewelry store where gems are dissolved in acid rather than stolen, a series of notes whose Latin words take the shape of a square, and a kidnapper who demands a priceless collection of art as ransom.

Blood of HeavenThe Blood of Heaven  by Kent Wascom
Wascom’s red hot debut is set in the violent frontier of West Florida in the nation’s early years, where a young man falls in with renegade founding father Aaron Burr’s secessionist movement. If you liked Blood Meridian, you’ll want to get your hands on this.

Courting GretaCourting Greta  by Ramsey Hootman
An unlikely romance between a nerdy computer programmer, who leaves his well-paid job to teach high school computer classes, and a tough-talking high school gym coach.

Crime Fiction / Suspense

Crime of PrivilegeCrime of Privilege  by Walter Walker
When Assistant DA George Becket decides to take on a powerful family and reopens the investigation of a young woman’s murder, he has to confront his own hesitant complicity in an abuse case from many years before. Strong characterization, plotting and puzzle-solving.

Her Last BreathHer Last Breath  by Linda Castillo
A hit-and-run “accident” kills an Amish buggy driver along with two of his children. As ex-Amish congregant and current police chief Kate Burkholder sets out to investigate the death of her friend, human remains with a connection to her past are found in an abandoned grain elevator.

Last Kind WordThe Last Kind Word  by David Housewright
Millionaire and unlicensed investigator Rushmore McKenzie is in over his head when he agrees to help the ATF infiltrate a gun-running operation near the Canadian border.

 SF / Fantasy

Ocean at the End of the LanejpgThe Ocean at the End of the Lane  by Neil Gaiman
Speculative fiction master Gaiman’s first novel for adults since 2005’s Anansi Boys. The publisher calls it a “whimsical, imaginative, bittersweet, and at times, deeply scary modern fantasy about fear, love, magic, sacrifice, and the power of stories to reveal and to protect us from the darkness inside.”

Abaddon's GateAbaddon’s Gate  by James S.A. Corey
In this top-notch space opera, the alien artifact that has been troubling Earth and Mars inhabitants has now built a massive gate that reaches out of the solar system. A flotilla of ships, including Jim Holden’s Rocinante, head out to investigate, but Holden is implicated in the gate’s appearance and is targeted in an act of political revenge.

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Good writing remains good writing long after a book is first published, so if nothing in this month’s post exactly suits your mood, why not browse the Spot-Lit archive? There must be something there you’ll like.

Release Your Inner Toddler

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Now that my daughter is of an age where she reads books about gruesome murders, ghosts and hungry games, I seldom delve into children’s picture books. However, I recently ran across an interesting review, read the book, and was entranced. This made me recall that some picture books are at least as equally entertaining for adults as for children. So I sought out a few titles that would delight grown-ups, and here’s what I found.

Black Book
The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin and Rosana Faria

Imagine that you can see a color that no one else can see. You try to describe the color, but it’s so different from all other colors that it can’t be described by referring to known colors.

Now imagine describing any color to someone who has never seen a color. Saying that it’s light or dark or bright would not be helpful. Which leads me to wonder, how do unsighted people perceive colors? The Black Book of Colors is an entirely black book with short, poetic descriptions of colors, both in braille and text, followed by raised pictures for the reader to feel.

“Thomas says that yellow tastes like mustard, but is as soft as a baby chick’s feathers.”

The purpose of this book is to give sighted people an opportunity to explore what it’s like to be blind. As I felt the raised pictures (without looking at them), I had no idea what they depicted. It was actually a frustrating experience, which makes me think that the book is effective.

For those who might want to read the text in Braille, the Braille alphabet can be found at the end of the book.

Chloe and the Lion
Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett, pictures by Adam Rex

Here we find lovely pictures that illustrate a story where both the author and illustrator are also characters in the story, however with a more realistic appearance than that of the other characters. The action occurs on a stage set with scenery (as in a play), although the story is told as if it’s really happening rather than being acted out. All grinds to a halt when the illustrator thinks his idea for a beastie is way cooler than the author’s. A fight ensues ending with the author firing the illustrator and hiring a different artist. The new artist is somewhat less talented than the original, but he also thinks that he has cooler ideas than the author. Soon he too is fired and the author decides to both write and illustrate. One tiny problem: he can’t draw. Finally, he invites the original illustrator to come back (after an abject apology), and the story concludes with a mystery and a surprise ending.

Squirrels
Those Darn Squirrels! by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri

Old Man Fookwire has few joys in life, but he loves to paint pictures of the birds in his yard. Every winter when the birds fly south he feels sad and lonely. One particular winter he comes up with a plan to keep the birds from leaving: build bird feeders to provide food for the birds in the cold foodless months. The problem, as most Northwesterners know: bird feeders are actually squirrel feeders. When the weather turns cold, the birds leave, and the old man is lonely once again. However the squirrels, who are hungry but not bad at heart, devise a plan to bring some joy into Fookwire’s life.

The following passage gives a feel for this book’s prose:

“The squirrels stayed up all night working out their strategy. They drank cherry cola and ate salt-and-vinegar chips to help them stay awake. Finally, they had it: the perfect plan! They put on their tiny helmets and prepared to launch themselves into the air, over the fence, between the lasers and onto the bird feeders.”

 A fun read with silly pictures conveying a silly story.

There are countless other enticing picture books as well. I encourage you to share some titles with the rest of us so that we may let loose our inner toddlers (which is already pretty close to the surface in some cases). And if you see Harold with his crayon, say, “Hi!”

Ron