Okefenokee Book Club

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

2012-02-16T19:34:00.000-05:00

I am on page 44 of Bury Your Dead. The setting is different from the previous books in the Three Pines series but, as usual, there are plots and subplots in the story as I have come to expect in Penny's books. The first few pages had to do with what appears to be some type of raid led by Chief Inspector Armand Gamache in which he underestimated the danger involved. The story then fast forwards to Gamache on leave in old Quebec City and staying with his retired mentor. He is accompanied by his dog and has been doing research at the Literary and Historical Society library. Slowly certain facts are revealed. Gamache was injured in that raid. Inspector Beauvoir is also at home recuperating. Young officers have been killed. We don't know what exactly happened in the raid. How did it go so wrong?

There is a link back to The Brutal Telling and therefore back to the quirky characters from Three Pines. Gabri has been sending letters daily to Gamache insisting that Oliver, his incarcerated partner, is innocent. His certainty is based on the dead body being moved. Why would Oliver move the body of his victim to a place where it could be found when he could have left it in the woods. I am hoping all the loose ends from that murder mystery will have a satisfactory resolution in this book.

Naturally, in the midst of this, a dead body is found in the basement of the library that Gamache has been visiting. He is asked to get involved even if it were a minor role as interpreter for the French speaking police and the English speaking librarian. Up to this point in the book he has refused. We meet new characters in this book, the Board members at the Literary and Historical Society. They are all aged except for a young pastor.

At least one amazon reviewer has said that this is the best one in the series. I will let you know if it is.

What are you reading now?

2012-02-14T19:52:00.000-05:00

I finished The Brutal Telling. The ending leaves you wanting more. Too many loose ends; too many things are unresolved. I want to know what was the brutal telling that made Emily Carr leave home? The themes in The Brutal Telling were greed and fear. The biggest fear according to the author was conscience. I have moved on to the next book in the Three Pines series by Louise Penny, Bury Your Dead. Hopefully, I will get some answers here.

What are you reading now?

The Brutal Telling

2012-02-13T19:23:00.000-05:00

I am on page 362 of the Brutal Telling. This story reminds me of a lite version of the Da Vinci Code and The Amber Room by Steve Berry. There are codes to be broken and interpreted. There is art, history, religion, literature - poetry and allegory intertwined in the story. For example, the story incorporates a statue of the artist Emily Carr and her monkey named woo. Emily left home because of some mysterious incident involving her father. Also, there is a reference to the Buddhist belief in the Wheel of Life, specifically the "Hungry Ghost". That's a concept of the state of man where the more he fills his life with food or money or power, the hungrier he is for more.

The murder weapon has been found, a motive for murder has been discerned, and an arrest has been made. Yet, at this point of the story there are unanswered questions, as the author says, a wide trail of "maybes" and "whys". How did the dead man end up with historical treasures that have not been reported stolen; such as a pane from the Amber Room. Why did Dr Gilbert turn up around the time when a murder takes place? Coincidence? I can't wait to read more.

Three Pines Series

2012-02-11T16:42:00.001-05:00

As you know my dear reader, I became hooked on Louise Penny ever since reading Still Life, a book club selection,with a French Canadian village setting. I am on page 245 of The Brutal Telling, the fifth in the Three Pines series. Imagine my surprise when I received my copy of First Magazine for Women, dated March 5th, and found a book recommendation; the 7th book in the Three Pines series, A Trick of the Light. In that story, Lillian is found dead in Clara's garden; a woman Clara claims she has not seen in twenty years.

In The Brutal Telling, a dead man is found in the bistro, owned by Gabriel and Oliver, in the village of Three Pines. Oliver knows the dead man but is pretending he has no idea who he is. Everyone knows the hiding place for the key to the bistro so anybody could have killed the stranger and put him in the bistro. The question is why was the body moved to the bistro, where was he killed and why.

Chief Inspector Gamache is on the case with the usual team plus one rookie. Fascinating story so far especially the sub plot of the old Hadley house which has new owners who want to turn the house of death and evil into an exclusive spa destination.

Book Club Selection 2012

2012-02-03T10:20:00.000-05:00

I love this quote. Wanted to share with you book lovers:

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies," said Jojen. "The man who never reads lives only one.”― George R.R. Martin, A Dance With Dragons

Two days ago, I finished reading the classic historical fiction, Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini, set in the period of the French Revolution. Interestingly, what led to the revolution was the situation where the poor was burdened with heavy taxation while the rich and nobility had numerous tax exemptions.

I loved the storyline divided into three parts: Andre-Louis the lawyer and cynic; Andre-Louis transforming into Scaramouche the improv actor, writer, and businessman; then Andre-Louis the master swordsman and revolutionary. In 1952, the movie version of Scaramouche starred Stewart Granger as Andre-Louis and Janet Leigh as Aline.

A book club member introduced me to the writings of Louise Penny, a Canadian murder mystery writer. Today, I will move on to Louise Penny's fifth book, The Brutal Telling. After that, I will start our book club selection for March, The Paris Wife.

Toastmasters Newsletters

2012-01-30T09:11:00.016-05:00

If you have an interest in public speaking, story-telling, or leadership skills, please browse these Toastmasters newsletters posted on Scribd. Let me know what you think. If you are in South-east Georgia and want to visit a meeting, walk right in and say Ms. Jan invited you.

Book club Selection - Scaramouche

2012-01-29T09:01:00.000-05:00

I am at an important part of the story where Andre Louis becomes Scaramouche. This is the background: Andre-Louis is wanted for sedition and has decided to hide from the law by joining a group of itinerant actors who all use stage names. Andre-Louis took on the name Parvissimus but now the lead actor in a play titled Figaro-Scaramouche is ill. Andre-Louis has been pressured into taking the role of the lead, Scaramouche. On page 133 he reflects on the changes in his life over the course of a week. Andre-Louis says that he has gone from lawyer, mob-orator, outlaw, property-man doing manual labor, and now to a buffoon whose role is to move an audience to laughter using sarcastic humor. Apparently a scaramouche is someone who is sly, an astute intriguer who stirs up trouble and that is exactly what Andre has been doing since his friend Philippe died. I am very interested in seeing how this story develops.

Historical Fiction - Scaramouche

2012-01-28T17:39:00.000-05:00

Scaramouche is an interesting story set in France in the period of the French Revolution. I am finding it a little difficult to follow the English translated from the French so I am reading the story slowly. First sentence in the book tells us the protagonist Andre-Louis, a lawyer from the village of Gavrillac, was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.

Early in the story, his friend Philippe de Vilmorir, a divinity student, has gotten himself killed in a duel with the Marquis de la Tour Azyr. The background to his death is very simple. A vassal of Lord Gavrillac was stealing pheasants from the property of the Marquis and the gamekeeper on the property killed him. Philippe, with his sense of justice, wanted reparation for the vassal's widow. Philippe's meeting with Lord Gavrillac did not go well. Lord Gavrillac, Godfather to Andre-Louis, wants his niece Aline to marry the Marquis and certainly did not think that the family of a thieving vassal deserved reparation. Philippe was more hopeful about his meeting scheduled with the Marquis himself. To Andre-Louis' shock, Philippe ended up being killed in an unfair duel with the Marquis. The Marquis admitted that he was bothered by the oratorical skills of Phillipe. Suddenly, Philippe's fight for justice becomes a fight against the wealthy nobility. That in turn becomes Andre-Louis' fight and his weapon is his oratory skills.

I am on page 96 and Scaramouche, described as a villainous-looking fellow, has appeared in the story. It took me a while but to figure out that Scaramouche and his company of 12 which included Climene, Leandre, Harlequin, and Rhodomont were actors.

Okefenokee Book Club Moves to Paris

2012-01-20T19:35:00.001-05:00

We will be moving to Paris and stopping over in London ... in our imagination. Members of the club have selected the following books for discussion this year:

Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour.

Let's Try to Understand SOPA & PIPA

2012-01-20T09:35:00.000-05:00

Unless you were hiding under a rock you must have heard or experienced the successful web blackout on January 18th. I say successful because the Senators who sponsored *SOPA/*PIPA have backed off ... for now. The bills need more "due dilligence", they say.

Why were SOPA and PIPA proposed in the first place, you may be asking. Well, Hollywood studios, recording industry, computer software publishing companies, and major publishing houses lobbied Congress to act against foreign Web sites (the pirates) that give away U.S. movies, music and books and enable copyright infringement. They say piracy costs the county 100,000 jobs.

So stopping copyright violation is one side of the argument; however, read this article to find out how SOPA and PIPA would affect you personally. Read the part that says the acts would make bloggers responsible for everything that is on their site and this would include the comments of visitors. Read also the part about posting a video of your child, on YouTube, singing his or her favorite song.

The Anti-SOPA faction are against *DNS filtering (blocking access/connection to domains/hostnames) which it calls policing the web and censoring the free flow of information. Listen also to Clay Shirky 18 minute talk defending the right to share.

Let's learn some Acronyms:
SOPA = Stop Online Piracy Act
PIPA = Protect Intellectual Property Act
DMCA = Digital Millennium Copyright Act
DNS = Domain Name System (a look-up service for translating a website name to an IP (Internet Protocol) address)

More Louise Penny Books

2012-01-16T19:27:00.000-05:00

I finished reading Canadian writer Louise Penny's book, A Rule Against Murder, this morning. I was not disappointed; very good storyline with an unexpected twist. I have three more in the Three Pines mystery series to check out: The Brutal Telling, Bury Your Dead, and A Trick of the Light.

Louise Penny is a four time winner of The Agatha Award for Best Mystery naturally named in honor of British writer, Agatha Christie.

While I am waiting for The Brutal Telling to arrive, I am going to start reading a recommendation from a book club member Scaramouche, an old historical fiction that was made into a movie.

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny

2012-01-15T10:24:00.000-05:00

I have been reading Canadian writer Louise Penny's fourth book in the Three Pines Mystery series; A Rule Against Murder. This is the first story in the series where the setting is not Three Pines. The setting is a small hotel called Manoir Bellechasse in Quebec. This story focuses on a family reunion of the dysfunctional Finney/Morrow clan so I am learning about Peter Morrow's background. Peter and his wife Clara, both artists, have been featured in every Three Pines mystery so far. Peter's behavior is obnoxious and insensitive to his wife when he is around his family. There is some discussion about bathrooms that moves Julia Morrow to anger for no reason apparent to me the reader. Shortly thereafter, by page 87, there is a dead body. I am curious to find out what that anger episode was really about and who in the family has a motive for murder.

I am getting a little more background on the conflict between the English speaking and French speaking Canadians. The Finney/Morrow family reflects the superiority of the Anglo-Canadian. This arrogant family presumed that Inspector Gamache and his wife, guests at the hotel, were guilty of murder because they presumed they were low class Franco-Canadians.

Louise Penny writes with humor and tries to portray human emotions in this story: jealousy, vindictiveness, arrogance, and love. I am now on page 110 and I am enjoying the storyline.

The first book in the series is Still Life, a Okefenokee Book Club selection last year.

Books to Clean Up Your Life

2012-01-10T20:13:00.000-05:00

I found these 9 books on Oprah.com that are being promoted as life changing books. I have read only one on the list; the historical fiction Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Powerful, powerful love story and tragedy. I absolutely loved it but it did not "clean up my life." Take a look at the list of characters in Tale of Two Cities.

How God Changes Your Brain is a book on the list of 9 that I would like to read.

Personal Finance Books 2012

2012-01-08T16:13:00.000-05:00

I read about this personal finance book list by Jeff Wuorio in an article in USA Weekend and thought I'd search online, locate the link, and share it with you. It's all about reading and learning about personal finance in 2012.

I am into frugal living so I would especially like to access this book The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. Also, most of you probably heard of Geneen Roth's book on Women, Food, and God; well, here is another book by her on Mr. Wuorio's personal finance book list: Lost and Found: Unexpected Revelations About Food and Money.

Holiday Reading

2012-01-02T18:58:00.001-05:00

I am back! The holiday is over and work starts tomorrow. Hope you like my pic of Santa taken on December 16th at the Jacksonville International Airport.

My holiday reading was The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny. This was my third Three Pines mystery by Louise Penny, set in French-speaking Canada, featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. I loved it; 4 1/2 stars from me. I think this story was better than the first book, Still Life, our book club selection a few months ago

I loved the main characters who all seem flawed and seem to have complicated relationships with each other. For example, there is the underlying professional jealousy that the artist Peter has for his artist wife Clara. He loves her yet he is jealous of her artistic talent and she is oblivious of his jealousy. I am now trying to get the fourth book in the series, The Brutal Telling, and am wondering if this theme of jealousy is going to be developed in this novel.

The main storyline is a murder that takes place in a "haunted house" at a seance but there is a secondary story also taking place. In Fatal Grace, the second book, we learned that Gamache was having some difficulties relating to his job and may even have a spy on his investigating team. In The Cruelest Month the specific difficulty is identified and there is a satisfactory resolution.

While I am waiting for The Brutal Telling, I am reading V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton. Several issues are going on in this book. A man accumulates gambling debts and is murdered by his loan shark. Private Investigator Kinsey Millhone is hired by a lonely widower to find out if his shoplifting fiancee Audrey Vance, of whom he knows very little, committed suicide or if there was foul play. Nora has a cheating husband and seems to be about to have a tryst with a loan shark and mobster named Dante. At some point I think Dante, Nora, Kinsey and a newspaper reporter, Diane, who Kinsey detests, are going to connect. I will find out as I read more tonight.

This is eBook Universe

2011-12-13T19:39:00.000-05:00

This is eBook Universe and we are just passing through it:

Reading Devices

· Barnes and Noble

o Nook Simple Touch -$99

· Amazon

o Kindle (Fire- $79, Touch- $99)

· Sony

o Reader Pocket- $100, Reader Touch - $150

Other Mobile Devices

· iPhone, iPod, iPad, Tablet, Android

o Mobile apps

§ Iceberg, Course Smart, Kindle, Nook,Kobo, iBooks

Benefits of these devices: light, small, paperless, instant delivery of eBooks, read eBooks anywhere

Free eBooks on the internet

· HathiTrust.org, Gutenberg.org, Scribd.com, Free-ebooks.net, Openlibrary.org

The Big Six Publishers have got to be feeling threatened by Amazon's new projects: Kindle Lending Library

and the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select which seeks to win over self-publishers.

Here is an interesting article about KDP Select Amazon is very enticing for those new writers who want to reach a wide audience. Other than the Big Six and other independent publishers, KDP is competing with Barnes and Noble's PubIt

Manley Memoirs

2011-11-29T19:37:00.000-05:00

Stayed up late reading The Manley Memoirs by Beverley Manley until 3:00am this morning. I was caught up in Mrs. Manley's life. that is, her rise from humble background, as people would say, to First Lady of Jamaica rubbing shoulders with Fidel as in Castro; Jimmy Carter and the usual expected political dignitaries; then to divorcee struggling to find a job; and then co-host of the very popular radio program, Breakfast Club.

I liked the humor. The anecdote about the dinner disaster involving the escargots was not only hilarious it was very revealing about the lifestyle of well-to-do Jamaicans. I liked the honesty but what made me squeamish were the bits that I thought belonged in the category of "Too Much Information". I am not accustomed to Jamaicans washing their dirty linen in public so I found some of the details of her parent's marriage distasteful.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. She told the reader exactly who she was and how she became who she is. There was some repetition but it helped to remind me of how the various persons connected. There were occasions when I got a little confused about the timing of an event. There were some gaps in the information. For example, she presented the charismatic Prime Minister Michael Manley as a distant father with his first three children by three ex-wives but the relationship with her own children was not clear to me. Everyone in Jamaica knew he was a playboy and knew of his reputation of having relationships with his friends' wives so that confirmation in the book was not shocking to me.

I would have liked the more recent photographs to be in color. The black and white photos in the book were not as sharp as those in Condoleeza Rice's book. Yes, I checked.

Three Pines Mystery series

2011-11-21T18:43:00.001-05:00

I am hooked on the Three Pines Mystery series by Louise Penny set in the village of Three Pines in French-speaking Canada. I have read Still Life (book club selection in October) and Fatal Grace and am waiting for the arrival of The Cruelest Month from a library.

In Fatal Grace, the author tells us in the very first sentence who was going to be murdered. I believe the same thing happened in Still Life, I remember for sure that the reader knew who the victim was from the first page. The characters in the series are all quirky which I love. Three older women were introduced in this novel; Bea, Em, and Kaye. Grumpy Ruth the poet, Clara and Peter the artists, and Myrna the black retired Psychologist who owns a book store seem to be constant characters. There is some trouble stirring with Inspector Gamache and there seems to be a traitor in his entourage so I am continuing with the series to find out more. I am eager to know if someone is going to die in Three Pines. I don't think this little village can stand another murder in its midst.

On another genre, I just heard about this new Sci-Fi book on kindle by first time author, Jennifer Fales. I am not a big Sci-Fi fan but I did enjoy The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood. I started Oryx and Crake by the same writer but could not get into it.

What do we read next? Historical Fiction?

2011-11-20T14:07:00.000-05:00

We will not meet next month. We will not choose a book for January. We are using this time to catch up on individual reading choices. Kathy wants us to consider a historical romance, Scaramouche, by Rafael Sabatini set just before the French Revolution. Sabatini's own life sounds like a novel. Divorced from his wife, Ruth, after their son died tragically, he later married Ruth's sister-in-law, Christine. Christine had a son that was as personable as his own son had been. He too died tragically in a plane crash right in front of Rafael's and Christine's eyes. If we choose Scaramouche, I'd like us to do A Tale of Two Cities , an historical and classic novel by Charles Dickens, set during the French Revolution. Michelle is reading The Paris Wife about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, the woman who loved him before he became a famous writer, set in the 1920s in Chicago and France.

Book Club Discussion - November 18th

2011-11-12T12:46:00.007-05:00

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is our book choice this month. The setting is Afghanistan, first in the town of Herat and then Kabul. It's a love story but it's also about the harsh family life that Afghan women endure. I read it such a long time ago that I decided to read this summary to refresh my memory before our meeting next Friday. This link gives the background of the writer, who was the son of a diplomat, and also has a discussion guide.

Take a look at the very exciting movie trailer. Hosseini is also well-known for his first book, The Kite Runner. Here is that movie trailer.

Our pizzeria location closed so we are headed for Michael's Deli.

Check these links

2011-11-01T13:25:00.009-04:00

I've been getting some really interesting links from social networking: bloggers, and twitter and facebook friends.

For those of you who dream of writing a novel, today is 11/1/11 and it's National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I found a list of book bloggers, on Joy's Book Blog, who will be participating by writing a 50,000 word novel

Here is a link I found on twitter: Infographics on reading habits, check it out. One in six readers use an e-reader or is likely to purchase one in the next 6 months. Interesting response to the question, What type of books have you read in the past year?

I got this very interesting TED Talk link from facebook featuring David Brooks, writer of The Social Animal:the Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement. Watch the video clip.

Word Cloud for My Twitter

2011-11-01T01:23:00.000-04:00

While I am at it, I may as well do my word cloud for my twitter account. Loving Tagxedo.com.

My Word Cloud for This Blog

2011-11-01T00:21:00.000-04:00

I found this librarian's blog, and she mentioned using Tagxedo. I am liking it. Thanks my fellow CPD23 participant.

Marketing New Books

2011-10-30T12:30:00.001-04:00

Take a look at the video trailers to market new books that I found on writer, Stacy Eaton's blog. The books are Come Back to Me, which will be available November 1st; My Blood Runs Blue, by Stacy Eaton herself; Sounds of Murder, In Leah's Wake, and Black: Beast: A Clan of MacAulay, all now available on amazon.

You may be interested in this book review of an authorized biography titled simply, Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson which covers the good, the bad, and the ugly about Jobs.

Here is one more link that I found interesting. It's a link to a new children's book, Island Princess, by Diane Browne, one of the best geography teachers I ever had in high school. (I remember her being short and dainty walking in her extremely high heeled shoes.) I liked her insight about book covers to market children's books. Her comments are true; most Jamaicans do have family who live abroad or know someone who has family abroad. I have family members who emigrated to the United States in 1919. I also liked the most recent post on book covers and Caribbean culture.

Okefenokee Book Club Selections 2011

2011-10-25T19:29:00.000-04:00

January 21
The Ape House by Sara Gruen

February 18
Tidewater Blood by William Hoffman

March 18
The Confession by John Grisham

April 15
Vivaldi’s Virgins by Barbara Quick

May 20
A Matter of Class by Mary Balogh

June 17
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

July 15
Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock

August 26
The Passage by Justin Cronin

September 16
East of the Sun by Julia Gregson. Follow her on Twitter

October 21
Still Life by Louise Penny. Check this author's Facebook page.

November 18
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Unusual Libraries:Tent , Phone Booth, Jail

2011-10-24T10:32:00.040-04:00

Who knew that Occupy Boston had a tent library? No due date; no library fines. And, who knew that Occupy Wall Street and other "Occupy" venues had libraries? This is called taking the library to the people. Interestingly, Boston is the home of the United States' first major public library

People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn (2003) is the most requested book by the Occupiers. According to the product description, this book is telling the history from the points of view of America's women, factory workers, African Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers.

After reading about the tent library, I recalled a story about an old, bright red, London telephone booth that had been converted into a library. This gives new meaning to the word "recycling". The library is filled with a collection of over 100 books, DVDs, and CDs.

Here is another unusual library; this one is in the Caribbean. I used to visit frequently this octagonal-shaped public library and museum located in Nassau, Bahamas. It was a former jail built in the 18th century. Do you know of any other unusual libraries/

212 Degrees: The Extra Degree

2011-10-23T10:28:00.000-04:00

I am reading a very inspirational book titled, 212 Degrees by Sam Parker and Mac Anderson. Water is hot at 211 degrees. If you raise the temperature of water to one more degree then the water will boil and turn to steam. Steam can power a locomotive. That is an analogy that shows that one extra degree of effort can yield exponential results.

This book calls for persistent and additional action and commitment. There are subsections titled 212 degrees thought and commitment. For example, there is a 212 degrees thought impressing on readers the importance of one more act of kindness with a 212 degrees commitment to doing good, a 212 degrees approach to stop complaining plus a 212 degree commitment to put that thought into action, a 212 degrees approach urging readers to pause, reflect, and act plus a 212 degrees commitment to do so twice weekly. There are many readers, including myself, who need the challenge to step out of our comfort zone at least once each week to create more opportunities and more possibilities.

It's time to turn up the heat! say Parker and Anderson.

Meet the Author Event at Waycross College November 8th

2011-10-17T11:23:00.000-04:00

The Waycross College Library will host author and environmental activist Janisse Ray on Tuesday, November 8th at 11:30 a.m. at the Waycross College auditorium. Ray will be reading excerpts from her new book, Drifting into Darien: A Personal and Natural History of the Altamaha River, followed by a book signing at 12:15 p.m.

She has been to at least one Meet the Author event in Waycross before. I remember going to the Okefenokee Regional library in Waycross some years ago when she was promoting her book, Pinhook: Finding Wholeness in a Fragmented Land (2005). Other books by this author, available at the Waycross College library, are the award winning Ecology of a Cracker Childhood (1999) and Wild Card Quilt: Taking a Chance on Home (2003). Ray has also written a collection of nature poetry, A House of Branches, published in 2010.

She is originally from South Georgia, Baxley if I remember correctly, and lives now in Reidsville, Ga.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Waycross College Library at (912) 449-7515.

Famine is the Real Obscenity

2011-10-16T06:23:00.042-04:00

Today I am focusing on books about food. I have blogged about Books and Food before; however, today   I am blogging about food with hundreds of bloggers from 80 countries around the world. I will have a few things to say about hunger and famine. Here is the story behind the title of this post.

Blog Action Day
I found this link on twitter, two days ago, declaring Blog Action Day (BAD) to be October 16 and that the topic was food. Well I decided to find out more about BAD. I clicked another link that took me to a registration form. I discovered that BAD has existed since 2007. The BAD plan has been to get bloggers around the world to blog about one important global topic on the same day. This year BAD happens to coincide with World Food Day. Hence the 2011 theme is anything related to food.

Books about Food
First, some books with food themes that I have read and enjoyed:

In Defense of Food and Food Rules by Michael Pollan
Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel; our book club selection in July 2004.
Letter to My Daughter and Hallelujah! The Welcome Table by Maya Angelou.   The chapter on Morocco in Letter to My Daughter had an interesting coffee drinking story.
Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews.
Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth

Book Club Cookbook
In a previous post, I mentioned this blog called The Book Club Cookbook which linked books with food. Check it out.   One of our past book club picks is listed on the blog, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. It is linked to a recipe for Demetrie's Chocolate Pie. Also, here are some popular books about food that I would really love to read:
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
My Life in France by Julia Child
Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl

Hunger and Famine
For this World Food Day, please check out this F word video that brings attention to famine. Famine is indeed an obscenity. Remember those who are hungry in the United States of America. Click to see where the hunger crisis is located in the rest of the world.

CPD 23: Thing 1 to Thing 23

2011-10-15T19:03:00.004-04:00

I took a moment to re-read my Thing 1 comments and my Thing 23 comments.
I can't believe I have been blogging about CPD23 from June to October. I wrote, in June, that I wanted to be an Awesome 2.0 Librarian so my intention was to learn everything I needed to know about the web 2.0 world. I looked at three different blogs when I started Thing 1. Only one of the three is still blogging; The London Librarian who is now on Thing 19. The London Librarian has an interesting reflection of how CPD23 has inspired her behavior.

Played around with Google calendar (Thing 8) and I think I will be using it often; tired of the paper calendar. I registered with Evernote (Thing 9) and read their blog but did not download and explore it.

What next ? I think I am becoming an activist blogger and tweeter. Tomorrow I'll be combining my love of books with my fight against hunger and famine. I am joining bloggers around the world and our theme is food. In the days to come I am sure there will be an opportunity to be an advocate for libraries, books, and reading.

Storyteller Martha Donaldson

2011-10-12T08:33:00.004-04:00

It's October, Halloween month. Storyteller Martha Donaldson will be returning to the Okefenokee Regional library on Lee Avenue, courtesy of the Friends of the Library, to tell the story of the "Pea Patch Murders" that took placein Waresboro in 1930. Here is your chance to hear it if you missed it the last time. It will be Thursday, October 27th at 7:00pm. I had fun listening to this fascinating story three years ago at this venue.

Finally, Thing 23 of CPD23

2011-10-11T19:46:00.003-04:00

This is the end of my online professional development training. I did not get around to exploring Evernote or Pushnote. I found Prezi interesting but challenging. I am more engaged with social media than ever before; I have stopped lurking and have started adding more comments on other people's blogs and tweets. I learned how to make a podcast and for that I am pleased. I enjoyed the section on Advocacy, Mendeley, and screen capturing tools. The periodic reflection was useful. Reading other people's routes and roots was worthwhile and interesting.

How do I feel about CPD23 in six words? My first response was: Current and more aware than ever. After reading Nobul Librarian's blog, this sentence came to me: Tinkered with Things, learned some Things. Can you tell I am a fan of six word memoirs at Smith Magazine? I look forward to reading how creative everyone will be with this six word challenge.

Task 2: Professional Development SWOT Analysis

Strengths:
1. I like to learn new things.
2. I learn quickly.
Weaknesses:
1. I am slow to get on the tech track. Gosh, I just bought my first Ipod this year.
2. Location. Few libraries and museums in the area where I live; few opportunities to network through volunteering. Chances a library conference will be held in this area is small..
Opportunities:
1. Online Courses. I can look for free professional development courses,similar to CPD23, where I learn at my own pace.
2. Non-Library Organizations. If I don't use all the CPD23 Things on the job, I belong to/volunteer with non-library organizations where I can practice much of what I have learned.
3. Time. I have a four day work week so there is time to volunteer, learn some new skill, research and write.
Threats:
1. The economy is a threat right now as it creates uncertainties in the work place and affects budgeting for F2F conferences.
2. Fear of the unknown.

CPD23: Thing 20, Thing 21, and Thing 22

2011-10-05T23:38:00.001-04:00

Thing 20 is all about library careers and is related to Thing 10. Here is what I did for Thing 20. I organized my thoughts a little better, using sub-headings Roots and Routes, and revised my Thing 10 post on the Library Routes Project. My path is typical. Many librarians, and Nikki is one, moved from teaching into librarianship.

Thing 21 is about Promoting yourself in Job Applications and at Interviews. The Hobbit Hole has a post with some useful links that I intend to check out later. I agree with all the bloggers that emphasized proofreading one's application and resume as a very important tip.

One task for Thing 21 is for me to outline my activities and interests and explain how I can use them in my working life.

Interests: Watching television, listening to music, reading, and communicating (orally and in writing), cooking and baking. I watch The Voice, American Idol, America's Got talent. I listen to Beyonce, Rihanna, Bruno Mars, and a host of young British singers including Adele. I love reading books, hence this book-club blog, but I also read pop culture, news, health, and food related magazines: People magazine, Prevention magazine, First magazine, The Week. My knowledge of pop culture helps me to relate to the young people I serve.

Strengths: Communication skills, ability to get along with people, research skills, ability to work independently as well as with a team.

Job Enjoyment: I enjoy using my research skills to help students find information. Like all librarians, I love it when I connect students to the right information as they need it. I especially like when a novel I recommended was enjoyed by a patron.

Thing 22 is about volunteering to get library experience. I like this post by Laura. Volunteering in a museum led her to a library career. The emphasis of Thing 22 is that volunteering should be mutually beneficial. My only voluntary library experience involves working as a part of a Library Advisory Committee at a technical college. We meet once per semester and it has been a good opportunity to offer guidance, receive ideas, and liaise with other librarians in the area.

I know for a fact that volunteering can lead to a career path. My voluntary experience, believe it or not, has been with the local Rape Crisis Center. I used to be on call to go to the hospital to provide information and comfort to the families of rape survivors and the survivors themselves. I used to help the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner with the colposcope. My buddy, who was a volunteer with me, ended up pursing a career as a Social Worker because of her experience with the center.

The Girl Effect

2011-10-04T01:00:00.006-04:00

I have been following The Girl Effect on Facebook and Twitter. I know that we have a situation on our hands. The clock is ticking. I want to help. Why? I attended an all girls school in a developing country. Our school motto was "Life More Abundant." I support the education of girls. I support the abundant life for all girls. I am against child marriage.

On this day October 4, I am joining The Girl Effect and blogging in support of investing in the education and safety of girls in the developing world. I don't understand why investment in female education as an effective solution to global poverty is considered such a radical idea. After all, it is a fact that educated girls grow up to be women who send their own children to school and pull their family as well as their village out of poverty. Imagine what all educated women joining together could do for the world.

Take a look at this video about an 18 year old Ethiopian girl.

Yeah! Girl Effect! Learn more. See what you can do to help. Tick tock.

Some Political Book Titles 2011

2011-10-02T10:13:00.000-04:00

A tweet made me aware of this political book by Dick Morris, Condi vs. Hilary, published in 2005. The comments on amazon for this book are hilarious especially in light of what happened in real life.

After reading the amazon reviews I did a search on political books in 2011. I found this link to the Washington Post that highlighted these books: Known and Unknown by Donald Rumsfeld, My Father at 100 by Ron Reagan, Inside Wikileaks by Daniel Domscheit-Berg, Our Last Best Chance. There are also other titles written by Scott Brown, Tim Pawlenty, and Mike Huckabee.

The Huffington Post has a list of 25 Overlooked Political Books of 2011. On this list are titles such as
The End of the West:: The Once and Future Europe by David Marquand, Crossing Borders: Migration and Citzenship in the Twentieth-Centruy United States by Dorothea Schneider.

I found a link to an article dated April 1, 2011 in the New York Times. That list includes Revolt again by Dick Morris with Eileen McGann, Endgame by John Mauldin and Jonathan Tepper,Then Everything Changed:Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics: JFK, RFK, Carter, Ford, Reagan
by Jeff Greenfield and more.

After looking at reviews of Then Everything Changed, it appears that Dick Morris' book, Condi vs Hilary, falls in the category of historical speculation. I see what my next post is going to be. It'll be about speculative fiction.

From Social Media Skills into Career Track

2011-10-01T16:37:00.000-04:00

I am reading The Digital Mom Handbook by Audrey McClelland of momgenerations.com and Colleen Padilla of classymommy.com. This is an eye-opener. I had no idea that there were so many opportunities to channel social media skills into a career track. I recall food blogger Julie Powell transitioning from blog to book and then the book was turned into a movie; The Julie/Julia Project. This handbook made me aware that there were paid and unpaid career opportunities from social media:blogs, vlogs, tweeter, and Facebook. I am learning that companies pay for travel and hotel expenses for bloggers so the bloggers can see their products and write posts about them. Also, companies ask bloggers with large readerships to co-host parties and blog about the event. The writers of this Handbook have been invited to write about products and got paid for their services. Compensation is in the range of $10 to $500 per post. Some bloggers become brand ambassadors, advertisers, spokespersons. This book shows you how to sell yourself, trademark your business name, create a limited liability company and more.

Well this is a book club blog but let me say a word to Naked Juice. I love your juices and I especially love your Naked 100% Coconut water. Take it from this blogger with Caribbean roots, your product tastes like the real thing. Can I be your ambassador? Only thing is, it is more expensive than VitaCoco and that brand has Rihanna as one of its spokesperson.

The Cure for Online Addiction

2011-09-28T19:55:00.000-04:00

Do you have an online addiction? Are you playing too many online games and checking in on social media all the time? It's time to read a book, says Randy Murray. He advises that you should have at least 6 books in your queue. What is he reading? A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare:1599.

I am reading this article on online addiction the same day that I am reading about the new cheaper Kindle Fire that's here to compete with the IPad and the Nook: $199.00 for the Kindle Fire, $139 for Nook Touch.

By the way, other ways listed to fight online addiction are gardening and cleaning.

Prezi & Slideshare

2011-09-25T17:06:00.001-04:00

I have been looking forward to Thing 17 The Medium is the message: Prezi and Slideshare. I did a test Prezi on public speaking but I found the video instructions a little difficult to follow. I like that Prezi is free. I like that I can upload an existing powerpoint and upload videos so I played with that. I find it time consuming right now but I would imagine with practice I would be able to use my time wisely. When done properly, Prezi's zooming ability really is impressive to me, for example, this brief presentation by wikiman about blogging. Apart from one spelling error the presentation is awesome.

I have learned a lot from the repository that is slideshare but have never created a powerpoint and posted on it. I had no idea people used visual resumes like this very creative yet simple one here. I still have not tested slideshare but if I ever have anything worth sharing this is a useful tool.

Still Life: Who dun it?

2011-09-25T01:27:00.086-04:00

I came across some Criminal Justice students last week who had to find a book, fiction or non-fiction, and relate it to Criminal Justice. I recommended, to one student, a book club selection from April 2006, Blind Obedience by Bill Boyd, about real life murders that took place in Valdosta, Georgia. Another student chose The Hollow by Agatha Christie. She said Hercule Poirot is on the periphery in this story.

If I were doing the assignment, Still Life by Louise Penny, the book I am reading now would be a good choice. I'd write about the setting of the mystery, Three Pines in the French speaking area of Quebec, and write about the main characters, Jane Neal the deceased, her best friend Clara Morrow, and Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. I would write about investigative strategy as the Inspector explains it to his protege, Yvette Nichol. He says listening to the villagers, to the suspects to the gossip, to one's instincts and to one's colleagues are keys. He pointed out three of four things that would lead to wisdom if said sincerely: "I don't know. I need help. I'm sorry." He forgot the fourth but to add humor to the story, the writer makes Nichol literally thinks it's, "I forget". I am looking forward to hearing what the fourth element really is. I would give examples of Gamache practicing these three or four elements if I were in the CJ class.

I am on page 156. So far the investigation is leaning towards Jane Neal's death being a murder made to look like a hunting accident. Timmer Hadley, a hateful, needy, manipulative woman, who died just a few months before Jane, supposedly died of kidney cancer but her name comes up so often I am beginning to think this was also a murder. I'll read on and find out but I won't tell, just in case you want to read this book too. Interestingly, Timmer's son is the one that found Jane.

Personally, I think Jane's murder has something to do with her art work. She did her art while Timmer was dying and everyone was at the Fair. Despite her stick figure drawings people recognized themselves in the drawing. Is there someone who should have been at the fair and wasn't? When I find out, I am still not telling. .

100 Thousand Poets For Change - Sept 24th

2011-09-24T01:59:00.007-04:00

Check out this link to 100 Thousand Poets for Change all around the world.

Award Winning Book: Still Life

2011-09-22T19:42:00.001-04:00

Still Life by Louise Penny is our book selected for discussion next month. Has anyone read this book? This award winning book is a murder mystery set in the village of Three Pines, Canada. It starts off with a dead woman in the first sentence, "Miss Jane Neal met her maker in the early morning mist of Thanksgiving Sunday." What an intriguing first sentence! Jane was 76 years old. We are introduced on page 1 to Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, a French Canadian in his mid-fifties, who is investigating the case. Page 2 flashes back to just before Jane was murdered and introduces us to her friends. Her dearest friend is Clara Morrow.

So far I am not finding it as interesting as the first in the series of Young Sherlock Holmes by Shane Peacock. I am pressing along because I am curious to find out why this lady described as a wonderful and gentle woman is a murder victim. I am also curious about what is inside her house. No one, not even her dearest friend Clara, had ever been inside.

This is the first in a series by Louise Penny. It has won all these awards:

Award Winning Books

2011-09-18T01:00:00.001-04:00

Winning! I just found out through Facebook that my former Geography teacher, Diane Browne, won a Commonwealth award for her short story for children, The Happiness Dress. The Overall winner was Philip Nash with his book, Rejoinder . Barbara Nash from Trinidad was the Caribbean winner with Head Not Made for Hat Alone.

UK World Book Night - Aprl 23, 2012

2011-09-17T01:22:00.000-04:00

This blog about CPD23 Thing 16 led me to a list of top 100 books posted by a UK campaign promoting libraries and reading, World Book Night April 23, 2012 The logo says, A million reasons to read a book.

This list will certainly be of interest to my book club. Many on the list are books that the club read already such as The Book Thief, Shadow of the Wind, and The Help. Over 250 persons across the UK chose those books as their personal top 10 favorite books. My other favorite book, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was selected by 237 persons. Yet another favorite, Lovely Bones, was selected by only 184 persons.

East of the Sun by Julia Gregson

2011-09-16T11:37:00.027-04:00

We meet today to discuss East of the Sun, by Julia Gregson. This book won the UK Romantic Novel of the Year prize and Le Prince Maurice Award 2010 for literary love stories.

I read this historical fiction some time ago and I will have to check out amazon reviews before this evening's meeting to remind myself how the story unfolded. I remember it was about a "Fishing Fleet" a derogatory term for British women who sailed off to India "to fish" for husbands from among the British soldiers.

Read how the writer came up with the idea for her book. I am actually the one who recommended this book because I liked the storyline about three naive women sailing off to India; one to get married, one to find a husband, and one to chaperone the others and find out more about her deceased family.

Thing 19: CPD23 Reflection

2011-09-15T21:32:00.001-04:00

Thing 19 is similar to Thing 5. It's all about reflection.

Recall: I am happy that 23 Things started off early with Social Media encouraging blogging, tweeting, Facebook and so on. Pursuing 23 Things with CPD23 has encouraged me to comment on other librarian's blogs rather than just lurk. I joined twitter as a PR tool for my Toastmasters club a few months ago. Thanks to CPD23 I started a separate personal twitter account.
Evaluation:
What did I learn? The three things that stand out for me are Mendeley, Screen Capturing using Jing, and Podcasting.
What did I enjoy? I have enjoyed learning from other bloggers. I particularly enjoyed reading how other persons entered the profession.
What worked well? CPD23 has made me think. I am thinking about library advocacy vs.activism. I don't think I will be presenting at conferences any time soon but I will be looking for opportunities to present to a non-librarian audience. I have done this before; I spoke about some of the issues involved in renovating a college library to the Kiwanis Club last year.
Application: Right now I am satisfied with Camtasia. I am not sure Jing or podcasts will be applied on the job but the knowledge will be useful. I would like to be more active as an advocate for libraries generally. What library issues am I (should I be) concerned about? I found this link useful. My answer would be reduced hours, staff, services at public libraries, eBooks and the digital divide, Literacy. These are some links that I am going to look at some more to get ideas: Hobbit Hole, this newspaper article on Andy Woodworth, and the use of Change.org

Thing 18: CPD23 - Screen Capture & Podcasts

2011-09-11T12:18:00.000-04:00

Note: You can hear my voice for 30 days.

Thing 18 is what I have been waiting for. I have heard about Jing, that it is easy to use, and will download it to my computer today. Camtasia is available at my library so I am more familiar with it. I have used Camtasia to instruct users on how to get a password to access the online collection of databases from their home computer. Also, I have used Camtasia to create a virtual library tour. Some changes have taken place in the library recently so I am in the process of updating the virtual tour: taking new pictures for the PowerPoint and updating my script.

One advice given to me when I first started with Camtasia was to not let the message/the lesson go beyond 3 minutes. Students' attention span is limited. As Jamaicans would say,"So I get it, so I give it".

As a result of Thing 18 I created my first test podcast using Audacity. I am excited. The link to Podwhating was very helpful to me. I did not know I had to download the MP3 encoder, LAME, to use in conjunction with Audacity. For weeks I have been trying to figure out how to create a podcast. I had the podcatching software, i-tunes, and the sound recorder, Audacity, then I was stuck.

My task this week is to check out how other libraries are using podcasts. I noticed one Librarian blogger said that her students were not interested in non-visuals and were not keen on putting their book reviews in audio format.

On a personal note, I need to buy a more sophisticated mic for my home computer. On this cheap mic I can hear all the emphasis on my 's' sounds.

Using these instructions I have signed up with a podcast host, archive.org. Since this is a test, this podcast will be for 30 days. I am excited!

"Stop You're Killing Me"

2011-09-10T17:58:00.002-04:00

Here is a site site to die for(pun very much intended) which I got from my FB friend. It's called Stop You're Killing Me. It's a good source for titles of favorite mystery book writers and series characters. The site covers Agatha Awards, Anthony Award Nominees, Dagger Award Nominees, and more.

More on Mini-Books

2011-09-10T15:22:00.000-04:00

I should have posted, for those of you interested, the link to Kindle Singles. According to the link, the Singles "offer a vast spectrum of reporting, essays, memoirs, narratives, and short stories presented to educate, entertain, excite, and inform."

If you don't own a kindle, you can download free amazon app to read Kindle books on your PC. I just did. I bought a really interesting and easy read titled, Social Media by David Mullings for $2.99

eBooks: Mini-Books, Chunkable Books

2011-09-10T11:40:00.000-04:00

Never heard of mini-books or chunkable books? Well I'm just learning that Apple has launched "Quick Reads" and Amazon has "Singles" which allows readers access to portions or chunks of an eBook.

Bookstores, Librarians, and Book Bloggers

2011-09-06T20:55:00.000-04:00

How are librarians and bookstores working with book bloggers? Read Book Blog Basics. Read how booksellers are "getting in bed" with book bloggers. Check out the Book Lady's Blog.

Staying true to Thing 15, here is a Librarian preparing to present on the topic, The World of Book Blogs. This made me search Google for a list of Book Blogs. This is what I found, a top 10 best book blogs list.

Note to self: Think of, write about, speak about a topic relating to book blogs that has not already been covered.

CPD23 - Thing 16 Advocacy

2011-09-05T14:13:00.001-04:00

Note to CPD23: All right CPD23 I see where this is going. You want me to be proactive. You want me to be a real librarian joining professional organizations, speaking at and organizing library conferences, and publishing in library publications. I just wanted to learn a little more about the technology, people.

Thing 16 is about Advocacy and Getting Published and I am to discuss the following:

Importance of Advocacy and Examples of advocacy on my part: Yes, advocacy is important for job security my own and others. It is important to me because I believe in equity of access. I personally advocate for public libraries on this blog. I still have the Geek the Library campaign on my blog. I promote frugal library tips on this blog and at my job. Library Advocacy is part of my job. The purpose of writing for my library's newsletter and the student newspaper where I work, is to promote library use. Also, I am a Toastmaster. I get the opportunity to speak about my passions at least once per month. Books and libraries just happen to be a few of my passions. I believe my fellow Toastmasters, who come from all areas of work, have a better understanding of what I do. Now that I am taking this adventure with CPD23, I will check out other ways to get involved as an "activist' and still keep my job ;).
I just checked out the hashtag #savelibraries on Twitter and will follow @Save_Libraries to see what others are doing.

Thing 16 had a Publication challenge! A prize for anyone who gets a piece of library advocacy published. I must add that I am thankful the section dealing with publishing also mentions publishing outside of library publications -blogs. That is something I know about.

Thing 15: All about Conferences - CPD23

2011-09-05T13:09:00.001-04:00

Thing 7 was about F2F networking and conferences and I wrote about conferences I remembered attending. Thing 15 is encouraging librarians to attend, present and organize conferences. My Thing 15 task is to discuss using these questions as guides:

What worked and what didn’t work? I remember that the AUCRIL conference I attended covered topics that were way above my level of understanding. On the other hand, The Georgia COMO conference with the theme: Beaches, Blogs, and Books, was very interesting to me. It related more to my every day job. I learned to look at things differently and I enjoyed having a real live author as a presenter. I have also attended conferences for libraries in the University System where I work. Those have been useful. Generally what did not work is the information overload; giving too much information in too little time. Also, I am a Toastmaster. I automatically listen for distracting filler words and tend to be turned off if the presenter is disorganized or speaks in a monotone.

The Future:

Are there conferences you’d like to attend? The past two years I attended conferences in my state online. I prefer F2F contact for conferences but in lieu of that I would love to attend Georgia COMO online but so far this is not an option.
If you have a burning idea for a great event, now would probably be a good time to talk about it! Since the technology is constantly changing, some of these very topics covered in CPD23 would be good: Reference Management Tools, Collaboration Tools, Social Networking for Librarians.

Things 13 & 14: Online Collaboration & Reference Management Tools - CPD23

2011-09-05T11:55:00.000-04:00

I have not written anything before on Things 13 and 14 but I have been experimenting with the projects. I see my fellow learners have left me behind and moved on to Thing 18.

Thing 13 is about Online Collaboration using Google Docs, Wikis, and DropBox. Accessing Google docs was easy since I have a google account.

Everyone is familiar with wikipedia so I have an idea about how wikis are used and I have explored library wikis prior to this adventure into CPD23. I have never tried to edit or add to a wiki prior to this. I took on the task of registering with the Library Routes wiki, a wiki set up since 2009, and posted my blog link to Thing 10 about how I got into librarianship. I am not sure if I was successful in posting but I will check later. I browsed and found out that other librarians added their Thing 10 blog link to this wiki.

If I ever want to start my own wiki or ask students to do group work by preparing a wiki, I know now that I can simply go to or recommend these links: Mediawiki.org and PBWorks. This information was useful to me.

I registered with DropBox but I can see I will not be using that much.

Thing 14 is all about Reference Management Tools: Zotero, Mendeley, and CiteULike. Last week I attended an online class : Mendeley for Librarians. I liked the academic social networking aspect, that it does not require a special browser,and that it can be downloaded for free. I will experiment some more with Mendeley.

This blog about Thing 14: Managing the Sea of Information by Rebecca in Indiana who is a fan of Zotero was very useful feedback for me.

What Should Our Book Club Read Next?

2011-09-04T11:00:00.001-04:00

Our book club is trying to decide what to read next. These books listed below are suggestions we have so far. You will notice that they are mostly Young Adult fiction:

How Angel Peterson Got His Name is Kathy's pick.

Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is Linda's pick but it has many 3 star reviews on amazon.

Death in the Air, Young Sherlock Holmes 2nd mystery is my pick because I enjoyed the first one.

This one is not Young Adult; the setting is Japan,Wind Up Bird Chronicle, but it is over 600 pages long.

We will decide at our next meeting.

World Champs in Daegu, South Korea

2011-09-02T09:59:00.000-04:00

Let me congratulate Caribbean athletes for their fantastic performance in Daegu:

Yohan Blake gold medalist from Jamaica 100m men.
Veronica Campbell Brown gold medalist from Jamaica 200m women, silver medalist in the 100m.
Kirani James, 18 year old gold medalist from the island of Grenada 400m men

Others have won medals but these three were fantastic so far. There is more to come. I have been truly entertained. Great job y'all.

What's in Cheney's Book?

2011-09-02T09:44:00.000-04:00

Former VP of USA, Dick Cheney, has a book out, In My Time: a Personal and Political Memoir. OK that's no longer news because already there is controversy with Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell.

Read what Rice has reportedly said about the content of the book. Also, here is Former Secretary of State Powell's feedback.

This morning I found this interesting link that gave a little more information about what is in the book. Read if you intend to add this memoir to your collection.

Sad News about Pat Summitt

2011-08-23T14:11:00.001-04:00

The first book we ever read as a club in February 2002 was the motivational book, Reach for the Summit, by basketball coach Pat Summitt. I just read that she's been diagnosed with dementia. The book was recommended by our book club member who was a coach at Waycross College at the time.

Book Club Meeting at Matt's Italian Postponed

2011-08-19T16:57:00.000-04:00

We'll meet next week Friday at Matt's Italian Restaurant instead of today. Some members did not like The Passage. I like dystopian fiction so I am not completely turned off this book. I can say however that I preferred Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

I am on the last few pages. The group from the Colony led by Peter with Amy are featured in Part X1. Alicia was infected and saved from turning into a viral but now has Superwoman qualities. I am getting some understanding of the virals in this section.

The original 12 persons in the Noah Project, former death row inmates, were infected with a virus and morphed into vampire-like creatures that have bee-like qualities. The original 12 are like the Queen bees. They infect hosts. They travel in swarms and send out scouts to check out new hives. The Haven, with the zombie-like people that reminded me of the fictional characters called The Others in the TV show Lost, was one big hive. There should be 11 more similar hives. At this point in the story the group has a theory that when the Queen dies, the hive dies. Since I am close to the end and this book is the first of a trilogy, I am guessing that killing the "Queens" will be the focus of the next book.

Dystopian Fiction

2011-08-17T10:59:00.000-04:00

I found another dystopian fiction, on a blog called bookasm.com, where some states have left the union to from independent republics. It's Flashback by Dan Simmons. So this idea in The Passage of California seceding from the union is not that unique.

For other interesting Science Fiction books found on this blog, link here.

Links to The Passage

2011-08-16T14:59:00.000-04:00

I love these links to The Passage on Scribd.

Book Club Selection: The Passage

2011-08-16T13:51:00.000-04:00

I found an interesting book trailer and a Reader's Guide for discussing The Passage by Justin Cronin. Of all the questions on the list, I would say the key questions are the following:

What do you feel were the main themes Cronin was wrestling with in this novel? Survival must be one. At the end, I will think about this again.
Did you think the national response to the crisis was realistic (ex. California seceding from the U.S.)? Yes. If Governor Perry of Texas in this day and age can allegedly suggest the secession of Texas because of taxes and/or a stimulus plan, I would imagine in a viral disaster such as this, secession of California is believable.
Did you have a hard time transitioning from the first third of the book to the last two-thirds? Why or why not? I ceratinlydid. I had to get to know a whole new cast of characters.
Was there any point in the story where you felt you couldn’t read anymore? Oh yes, especially the part when Amy was not included in the story.

Thing 4 of 23 Things

2011-08-14T20:50:00.000-04:00

Found these interesting links today, about the very valuable tool of Twitter, that relate to Thing 4: Current Awareness. This is a Twitter 101 for us newbies:

1. Five Creative Uses for Twitter
2. Five Valuable Twitter Uses
3. How the Five Major Platforms Stack Up
4. Twitter vs Facebook vs Google+

Thing 12: Putting the Social into Social Media

2011-08-13T10:18:00.001-04:00

Found a link this morning that related to Thing 3 of the list of 23 Things. It is about being visible on Twitter. One suggestion was improving the profile.

Moving on to Thing 12. I am to consider the role of social media in building up networks and a sense of community.

are there any other advantages to social networking in the context of professional development than outlined below?:

Better communication between individuals who may or may not have the chance to meet otherwise
Collaborative working space.
Easy access to other fields of the profession.

For me personally, numbers 1 and 3 have been key. I get to see what other librarians are doing in their libraries, see how they are thinking, and get ideas.

Can I think of any disadvantages to social networking? I would say I spend too much time going from link to link. Social networking is addictive.
Has CPD23 helped me to make contact with others that I would not have had contact with normally? Definitely. I have made contact with librarians outside of the USA and their experiences have been worth reading. Very interesting reading about other people's journey into this profession.
Did I already use social media for career development before starting CPD23? Will I keep using it after the program has finished? I made minimal use of Twitter for career development. I never had a personal account until I started the program. I only had an account for my Toastmasters Club. I intend to continue using Twitter after completing the 23 Things.
Does social networking really help to foster a sense of community? It certainly helps. The need to belong is very strong in us human beings. Social networking of like minded persons facilitates that feeling of belonging.

Fiction Therapy

2011-08-11T12:34:00.000-04:00

Seen in September 2011 issue of Prevention magazine: Research proves that relating to fictional characters creates a sense of belonging. What does this mean? Pick up a novel and read to avoid loneliness! Or, I would suggest that you join a book club.

Still reading The Passage. I don't feel a sense of belonging. I feel as if I am in a scene in Lost, the TV show. A Colorado bound group consisting of Amy, Peter, Alicia, Sara, Michael and about three other characters whose names I've forgotten are with a group of strange people that I could call The Others as in Lost. These Others seem nice and helpful but there are few children among them, most of the women are pregnant, and they seem to be administering a drug to Michael that keeps him in their sick bay. They have taken away the weapons from the group presumably for safe keeping and have invited the group to stay with them in their Haven. What will happen if the group wants to leave and continue their journey to Colorado where they think they may find the answers to their questions such as why is Amy over 100 years old and looks like 15 and what is her link to the virals.

Thing 11 - CPD23

2011-08-08T19:53:00.001-04:00

Thing 11 is mentoring - learning by association with a relevant role model. I have never had a formal mentor for librarianship. I have learned many things from reading library literature, from my more experienced Library Directors, and from library ListServs. I read the article on how to find a mentor. It made reference to finding a local group such as Rotary Club or Kiwanis to see their structured mentoring program. Well, I have been both mentoree and mentor in the Toastmasters Club so I have some idea of mentoring. The article also said that finding a mentor is about taking opportunities as they present themselves. This is what I'll do with Thing 11: look for opportunities. Here's a question that I have: If mentoring encourages reflective practice and CPD23 encourages reflective practice, can I consider CPD23 as my mentor, friend, and colleague?

Dystopian Fiction

2011-08-07T18:14:00.001-04:00

Are you still reading with me people? I am in a strange world in this dystopian fiction titled, The Passage. I am in a new post Project Noah world with virals which are vampire-like with glossy teeth and new characters who work in their Colony of 94 souls as Builders, Watchers, and Runners. They work to protect themselves from the virals who travel in threes. In this world there are also Walkers. I believe these are the survivors; the ones on the run from the virals. Mysterious Amy has not been the focus of the story for quite a while. I'm on page 291, a group is about to step through a hatch and this reminded me of the fictional universe in the TV show Lost. The station crew that was supposed to be working in the hatch is missing.

I am not enjoying this part of the book but I am hanging in there. I'm hoping Amy will turn up soon.

A Brave New World and Ape and Essence, both by Aldous Huxley, and We , are some other Dystopian fiction my Facebook friends have recommended that I put on my Must Read list.

Zero Footprints: The Passage

2011-08-04T18:47:00.000-04:00

Project Noah is experimenting on people with zero footprints, people who nobody would miss, people who have been abandoned by friends and family such as the sexual predators, homeless men on death-row. Project Noah specifically has an interest in the abandoned 6 year old Amy. Amy is mysterious. She seems to speak the language of bears; she has communication powers with animals. Her visit to the zoo with Sister Lacey turned chaotic. In the midst of the chaos Amy is taken by Special Agent Brad Wolgast and his side-kick Doyle. However unknown to Wolgast and Doyle, Amy is suddenly no longer a zero footprint. The police have an interest in Amy. The police tracked a murder weapon to Amy's mother hence the interest in Amy herself. Fortunately, Wolgast is interested in protecting Amy. Sister Lacey senses it just by looking at him. Doyle senses it. Amy knows it. It appears that the trio: Wolgast, Doyle and Amy are on the run.

I am on page 155 and something ominous is about to happen. Sister Lacey is missing. Sister Arnette senses that something terrible and dangerous is about to happen. She says some dark force is loose in the world.

Book Club Selection: The Passage

2011-08-02T20:14:00.001-04:00

I am entertaining a house guest and am trying to focus on The Passage, a dystopian fiction by Justin Cronin. Very mysterious so far. I just found out this is the first of a trilogy. Several characters, many settings. I am at page 68 and about to see how all these characters are connected.

The first characters I met were Amy and her mother Jeanette. Amy's Dad was Jeanette's abusive boyfriend. She and her daughter Amy met on hard times to the point that Jeanette found it necessary to turn to prostitution. Then the story took me to emails from Dr. Jonas Lear to a Paul Kiernan in Cambridge. Dr. Jonas was writing from the jungles of Bolivia. There were no emails from Paul for us readers to read but it was clear that there was communication from him to Dr. Jonas.

By page 23, Dr Jonas emailed that his team was attacked by bats and some had died. By page 26, I was meeting Anthony Lloyd Carter death-row inmate number 999642. He did not seem to have a vivid memory of the murder he committed. By page 29, I was meeting Special Agent Brad Wolgast who was in Texas to meet with Carter and get him to agree to sign his life over to "Project Noah". He was to get the agreement without actually telling Carter that Project Noah was a scientific experiment. Wolgast's side-kick is Phil Doyle.

The story goes back to Amy who was abandoned by her mother, Jeanette, at a nunnery. Sister Lacey took Amy under her wings. On page 68, Wolgast and Doyle were on their way to pick up Amy for Project Noah.

I look forward to reading more of the story.

Thing 10: 23 Things for Professional Development

2011-08-01T10:30:00.004-04:00

I may go back to Thing 8 and Thing 9. I am so stuck on the computer for long periods googling, tweeting and blogging that I am reluctant to sign up for two more things: Google calendar and Evernote. Yet, the whole point of doing 23 Things is to become familiar with new things. Today I read this blog by Katie and she is also skipping Things 8 and 9 so I don't feel so guilty skipping. I did say I may go back.

Thing 10 is about my experiences, in particular, why I chose the career and how I got to this place and what next. In other words, I will be outlining my library roots/routes:

The Roots
In 1990 I decided that I loved teaching but did not enjoy teaching at the high school level. Also, I loved information, loved knowing things. Before owning a computer, I would go to the public library and read newspapers from all over the world. I found a picture of the public library in Nassau that I used to frequent. Interesting fact: this octagon shaped library was once a prison.

While teaching in the Bahamas, I saw an ad about pursuing a MLS degree at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica. I already had a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Linguistics from that institution. Immediately I thought, " Hmm, school librarian." That's being involved in education plus information. Then I thought, "Hmm, job security." Every school and every college would need a librarian.

I applied and was accepted into the program. I had no idea there were so many other aspects to librarianship such as Special Librarianship or that it was so Technology oriented.

Looking at this UWI site, I can see that much has changed since I did the course. There were no Trends and Issues or Copyright Issues in my time. There is even a B.Ed degree now in School Librarianship. Looking back, the Information Technology part of the program was the least effective in preparing me for the world of work and for the 21st century.

The field work part of the program, however, was the best part and involved working at the National Library of Jamaica and the Planning Institute of Jamaica.

The Routes
Before completing my course I got a job in an academic library. The library was the focal point for the college libraries network in Jamaica called COLINET. I was involved in library orientation so I did my Master's thesis, naturally, on library orientation programs in all the libraries in COLINET. I was the editor for COLINET News. My primary job was copy cataloging using CDS-ISIS software.

I became a school librarian at an all boys' school in Jamaica. My primary focus was to get those boys interested in reading and channel their energy into studying. I then took a job with a college in another island. The college had a small library/study room. I was also employed to teach English, Reading Development, and Spanish. I conducted bibliographic instruction as part of the college's student success program.

I am still an academic librarian this time in the big USA. I am getting first world library experience. Won't give
too much information for potential stalkers.I assist students and staff with research, manage resource sharing:
Gil Express and Interlibrary Loan, teach library orientation classes, write articles for the library newsletter,
and the student newspaper.

What next?

My dream used to be working in an international library. At one time I was hoping it would have

been the International Seabed Authority located in Kingston, Jamaica. It's all about learning and growing for
me now. My desire to search for information, my passion for reading, and my drive to teach have got me
to this place in my career. I am open to whatever opportunity.

Ingrid Seward: Grief and Taking control

2011-07-31T09:47:00.000-04:00

Here is a writer who expresses her grief and her feelings as a result of personal trauma and drama. Ingrid Seward is a London writer who focuses on the personal and minute details of British Royal Family. In fact I just read that she was the last journalist to have interviewed Princess Diana before her death. Here now is her personal story in the Mail Online of an unfaithful husband and how she took control of her life after his death. One lesson must be to pay attention to details in relationships.

Louise Bagshawe, Chick-Lit Author

2011-07-30T09:46:00.000-04:00

Sometimes the things you do in youth come back to haunt you. Although frankly, this Chick-lit author and Tory MP does not seem overly concerned about her drug past. She brilliantly removed the focus from the drugs to her bad dancing. Her pen name is Louise Bagshawe.

Books On Tape

2011-07-29T11:10:00.000-04:00

Books on Tape newsletter promoting, Read with Your Ears. That works for me if I am traveling a far distance. Personally I like to hold a book.

Are you a Blogger? JoinToastmasters

2011-07-27T09:37:00.001-04:00

Toastmasters Club

Readers, I have three interests: reading, writing, and speaking. Found this very interesting article titled Five Reasons Why Bloggers Should Join Toastmasters. The purpose of the article is to persuade you to join this international public speaking club. Look at number 4, your communication skills learned at Toastmasters plus your expertise on a particular subject can put you on the Professional presenter track.

If you are in Waycross or its environs, the Okefenokee Toastmasters Club meets at Quality Inn every Wednesday at 7:00am. August 20th there will be a Toastmasters Humorous Speech and a Speech Evaluation contest at First Christian Church Fellowship Hall at 10:00am, McDonald Street in Waycross. Free to the public.

Book club Selection

I started my book club August selection: The Passage. Started off with a lot of action but already the pace has slowed down. I will post my impressions as I read further on.

Read Any Good Books Lately?

2011-07-24T17:52:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading Fall of Giants, Book one of the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett. I finished reading in the wee hours of the morning. This historical fiction followed five families from USA, England and Wales, Germany, and Russia before World War 1, through the war, and just after the war. The most likeable characters were the Welsh family Ethel and Billy Williams specifically, and the Russian Grigori. When Billy defended himself against charges of treason, you feel like cheering for him. The reader follows Billy from a 13 year old boy working in the mines for rich unethical mine mangaers until he and his sister win seats as Members of Parliament in post war Britain. It is clear that somehow all their lives will intersect. I can't wait to read the other two books.

Book club meeting at Matt's Italian & Pizzeria

2011-07-23T08:30:00.000-04:00

We met for the second time at Matt's. There were 8 of us; the first in a long time we have had such a good turn out. It was difficult to talk so that everyone could hear at once. We need round tables in restaurants for large groups. Once again I ordered spinach & mushroom pizza just added tomatoes and shared it with Linda. Next time I'll try the calzone with spinach with the 2 cheeses; I know one was ricotta.

Yes, we want to meet at Matt's again. We have changed our meeting place for the fourth time. We like good books and we like good food.

As usual, very little discussion of the book itself. We all loved the Young Adult book, Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock dealing with the first Sherlock Holmes mystery. We all thought the writer's obvious tribute to Arthur C. Doyle, where one of the characters was a Andrew C. Doyle, was a good touch. The description of London during that period and the tension in the storyline were very well done. Most of the chatter was about Christine relocating to California and Carol who will be joining our group.

Linda wanted us to know that she was enjoying Carlos Ruiz Zafon series of Young Adult books. The club loved Shadow of the Wind by this author. It was magical, gothic, and suspenseful. She said he had four books for Young Adults. I found the first two in the series, The Prince of Mist and The Midnight Palace in English on amazon. The other two listed on amazon are in Spanish, Las Luces de Septiembre and Marina.

Our next book for August is The Passage by Justin Cronin.

Thing 7 of CPD 23 Things

2011-07-22T09:27:00.000-04:00

Thing 7 is again about networking but it differs from Thing 6 in that it is specifically about face to face networking and professional organizations. As a new librarian, I was a member of the Jamaica Library Association (JLA) and a paying member of the American Association of School Libraries.

I had an active role in the Executive of the JLA now known as the Library and Information Association of Jamaica and went to conferences and meetings all over the island. My job encouraged active involvement. When I lived in the Bahamas, I attended an ACURIL annual conference. I think that was in 2000. Several librarians that I knew from Jamaica attended that conference. Membership in ACURIL is open to Caribbean libraries, archives, organizations, and individuals. It started in the 1960s and is affiliated with IFLA. The most recent conference was held this year in Tampa, Fl in May/June. Disaster Preparedness, Response and Research was the theme.

Here in the USA I eagerly joined the American Library Association and went to a conference in Atlanta. Networking and keeping up with new trends are very important. However, the economy has directly affected my ability to continue face to face networking. I have had to reduce expenses and unfortunately face to face meetings has been cut from my budget. It is costly to travel from a rural community to meetings in a big city and to pay annual membership fees.

The last library conference I attended was Georgia COMO held at Jekyll Island in 2007 and I blogged about a very interesting presentation on Chick Lit by Claire Matturo. I see on the web that Georgia COMO will be held in Athens, Georgia this year.

My library subscribes to only one professional journal now, The Library Journal , and I make the time to read the hard copy and I also receive their free e-newsletter. I also check out the free online classes and participate to learn as much as I can. My job also requires that I join professional ListServs such as the Galileo ListServ.

Spotlight on Audio Books

2011-07-21T12:58:00.000-04:00

Take a listen to audiobooks on this website. Also, take a sneak peak at this You Tube link to The Night Circus as read by Jim Dale.

I also found a link to the movie trailer for The Help on an email from Books on Tape.

Wendi's Right Hook May Save Movie

2011-07-20T23:11:00.000-04:00

Just a day or so ago I read that the movie Snow flower and the Secret Fan co-produced by Wendi Murdoch would get a big blow at the box office because it debuted around the same time as the popular Harry Potter movie and in the midst of Rupert Murdoch's News Corps scandal. Today I read that it is anticipated that Wendi's right hook thrown to protect her husband will probably save the movie. Wow!

Book into Movie: Sarah's Key

2011-07-19T06:59:00.015-04:00

Yeah, I saw this on The Piers Morgan show. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay is now available in movie format. It's a historical fiction about a Jewish family that was rounded up by the French police and put into a concentration camp in France in 1942. This was another one of my favorite book club selections.

Thing 6 of 23 Things

2011-07-18T20:08:00.001-04:00

Thing 6 is about online or social networks. I am hooked on Facebook. Facebook may well be "the backyard BBQ and LinkedIn, the office". Personally, I love BBQ. I check in everyday to see what my family and friends, including my former classmates, are doing. Today, by the way, several family members and friends reminded me with their postings that today is Nelson Mandela's birthday.

I also connect to causes and network with librarians on Facebook. I raised funds for the American Cancer Society via Facebook, for example. I have an interest in educating girls and am against child brides therefore I have "friended" The Girl Effect, a non-profit orgaznization. Libraries and Transliteracy is my personal favorite library networking link. In fact, I just saw some information worth passing along: Free Storyworld webinar click here to register. I will certainly check out the LISNPN with which I am not familiar.

Book into Movie: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

2011-07-18T01:43:00.000-04:00

Oh oh, new movie based on the book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan has a connection to Rupert Murdoch. Read this. Will that link affect the success of the movie? I doubt that.

I found a preview of the movie on this link. The book was written by Lisa See and the movie was released July 10.

Thing 5: 23 Things Professional Development

2011-07-17T12:57:00.024-04:00

The Thing 5 CPD23 assignment is about engaging in reflective practice in relation to my participation in the 23 Things program.

Recall
Blogging was Thing 1. When I first started blogging in 2005, it was for my book club, a group of informal book lovers. I thought that all of us would be writing the blog posts and posting comments but then I noticed I was the only one writing. Six years later, I am still writing and this has become my personal blog. My mission has not changed. The blog is about books, writers, book blogs and includes my personal book reviews. Occasionally I write about libraries and about money saving ideas. I decided not to start a new blog but to piggy back on this existing blog to participate in CPD23.

Thing 2 was a challenge. I love to view blogs but I rarely post a comment. One of the blogs I commented on was The London Librarian and it is still active. Now I am at Thing 5 and I am still browsing other blogs related to 23 Things and posting comments.

I explored Thing 3, considering my personal brand. I want to maintain some privacy so I limit personal pictures and personal information in the blogosphere. My blog, my twitter, personal facebook page do not have my picture. I am satisfied with the brand out there.

I joined twitter on behalf of one of the social organizations I belong to so I did not open another account for Thing 4. I did not register with Pushnote. I found another hesitant participant, the Neon Librarian,
who posted interesting (and greatly appreciated) comments on Pushnote.
Evaluation:
What did I learn?
Even before this project, I had explored other blogs to see what librarians were doing. I must confess I find some librarian blogs intimidating. They are so wonderful that I feel so inadequate. I have learned that the social media landscape is getting wider and wider and I need to learn more and more.

What did I enjoy?
I enjoyed learning from the blogs and the tweets. It takes up much of my time to connect and post but I am learning. I want to make note of Wendy's Blog for Learn with CDLC & 23 Things . It led me to reflect on CDLC's 10 Things. Thing 10 is about Future Trends.

What (potential) impact could participation in CPD23 have on my job? I will be more ready and more competent in the work place when it comes to navigating social media.

Application: This is the What Next part of the reflection. I want to combine action and learning. I have been applying my knowledge of social media in my community activities. I want members of the organizations, to which I belong, to see me as the go-to-member, who happens to be an Information specialist, when it comes to communication as well as navigation of the social media. I am putting much more thought in how to apply new thinking about libraries into library orientation sessions at work.

Thing 4: 23 Things for Professional Development

2011-07-17T01:07:00.004-04:00

I am still following 23 Things for Professional Development . Thing 4 was about setting up a Twitter account, RSS feed and Pushnote. I use blogline and google reader. I confess that I need to check in with them more often. Pushnote was new to me but I am not ready to register for one more thing.

I started my tweets some months ago and did the 3 essential things suggested by the wikiman to start: Posted a pic, posted what I thought was an interesting bio, and just started tweeting.

My tweets are about communication and leadership: #oketoast. I check in on #libraries and #CPD23 from time to time. Here are 3 tweeters I have found interesting:

1. @Dmguion led me to this copyright link. Libraries uphold the public interest. Also, he led me to this link on the librarian's job. It's to be a data hound, guide, evaluator of information, person who checks out meeting rooms and equipment to patrons.

2. @aavigorito led me to libraries are essential. Libraries help people improve their lives.

3. @buffyjhamilton, The Unquiet Librarian, led me to her powerpoint Media 21 According to this post,
learning is now about creating connections and developing networks. Boundaries are vanishing. The future is about digital media and learning; digital writing and publishing; deeper idea storming, independence, inquiry and ownership.

Meet Julie Garwood, Kansas City, August 9th

2011-07-16T10:41:00.000-04:00

The Ideal Man by Julie Garwood will be released on August 9th. To celebrate the release, Rainy Day Books will host a book signing in Kansas City on August 9th.

If you are in Kansas City find out how to get your tickets here. If you are out of state or even out of the country and would like an autographed book, check out the Rainy Day Books website for a signed copy.

International fans email Mailbox@RainyDayBooks.com for a shipping quote.

You can follow the author on Twitter and Facebook.

The Help

2011-07-16T10:11:00.000-04:00

I loved the coverage of the best selling novel and soon-to-be-released movie, The Help, on 20/20 yesterday. See clip here. Imagine Kathryn Stockett's manuscript was rejected 60 times. Reminded me of Steve Berry who had his first book rejected over 80 times before it finally attracted the attention of a publisher. Each of these two writers persisted and made his/her manuscript better and better. There is a lesson right there.

The Help of course was one of our book club's favorite picks. The movie is to be released early August.

The Boy Sherlock Holmes Series

2011-07-11T19:18:00.000-04:00

We will meet on the fourth Friday this month to discuss the first of four books in The Boy Sherlock Holmes series. So far all the book-clubbers have enjoyed Eye of the Crow, the first case, and some have moved on to Death in the Air. We do not exclude the Young Adult category from our list of books to discuss. Read an excerpt of Eye of the Crow here.

RITA 2011

2011-07-09T11:02:00.000-04:00

The award winning novel for category of "Novel with Strong Romantic Elements" is: Welcome to Harmony by Jodi Thomas (Berkley: Penguin Group [USA]). It sounds like a novel I would actually like to read. This was rated 4 and 5 stars by amazon readers. It's part of a trilogy, the Harmony series, which includes "Welcome to Harmony" and the sequel, "Somewhere Along the Way." Jodi has won several other awards for the novels in the series. If you're a romance novel lover, this is the series to check out.

Romance Writers Awards

2011-07-06T16:53:00.024-04:00

I am not a big fan of romance novels but some of you may be interested in knowing which ones were the best romance award winning books for 2010. As you probably know, the Romance genre comes in different subgenres. Well, there were 12 categories for these RITA awards which included.... (drumroll) .... "Novel with Strong Romantic Elements".

Full Circle with Kei Miller

2011-07-05T02:28:00.013-04:00

Finished The Last Warner Woman by Kei Miller on Sunday. Wonderful story ... 41/2 star rating in my opinion. This was actually a story about several variations of the same story. It was a story about storytelling. Made me sad. Made me laugh.

Loved how the story came full circle. Original Pearline Portious gave birth in a home for lepers. Her daughter, Adamine, in turn gave birth in a home for the mentally disturbed. Loved the characters. Mother Lazarus turned out not to be a composite of the nuns who cared for the lepers in the real life leprosarium in Jamaica. She was an atheist who ironically tried to pray life into Pearline.

There were so many themes in the story: time, truth, madness, power of the spoken word, physical abuse. Loved the theme of "time"; that everything had a season. The sentence, "It is time" was repeated frequently. Loved the theme of truth telling. Liked that the writer made Adamine whisper her truth to the universe, the wind, and told the universe to hush; shhhhh. Everyone had a different version of the truth but readers finally get to it in the end. As the writer says, "In the end every story is edited, brought down to some essence...."

Some readers won't like the repetition, the constant flashbacks with the different outcomes but I loved it. Then again I liked those movies that have flash forwards with different outcomes such as Deja Vu with Denzel Washington. Something about the twists and turns of the story reminded me of the wonderful, mystical world portrayed in Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Eva's Memoir

2011-07-04T10:45:00.022-04:00

Eva Gabrielsson, Stieg Larsson's partner, finally wrote her own book. It's a memoir of her life with him. Link here to read a review of the memoir. Stieg, you may remember, is the Swedish writer of the exciting Millennium trilogy of thrillers. Those books also inspired Swedish and American movies.

Movies Inspired by Books

2011-07-03T10:32:00.001-04:00

Books that inspired Movies were featured on Oprah's website.

The Help we read for our book club discussion but I have not read the other books on the list, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan or One Day or the Harry Potter book.

Right now I am still reading and enjoying The Last Warner Woman by Kei Miller. I think this would make an interesting movie. Instead of the flash forward genre of movies with different outcomes. This would be a flash backward with different outcomes. Adamine's story and Mr. Writer Man's story are two different versions of the same story. Fascinating!

Leprosarium in Jamaica

2011-07-02T10:46:00.000-04:00

I thought the setting of The Last Warner Woman by Kei Miller was fictional. A quick google search revealed that there really was a leprosarium in Jamaica. There is an autobiographical book on amazon called, Once Over and Lightly, and the co-writer was sister Mary Augustine who was stationed at the leprosarium in Spanish Town, Jamaica. "Two Hearts, One Fire", another book, is actually about Sister Mary Augustine's experience in Jamaica. I found a Sister Judith who was stationed in 1965 at the leprosarium in Jamaica called Hansen Home. Mother Lazarus could be based on a composite of the nuns who were assigned to the Home. Actually, now that I have written the name Hansen Home, I do have a vague recollection of its existence. It closed in the 1980s since there was no more need for it.

FYI: Hansen's disease is another name for leprosy.

I am reading The Last Warner Woman

2011-07-02T10:09:00.000-04:00

I have just started reading this novel by Jamaican writer and poet Kei Miller It was recommended to me by friend via Facbook. The setting of the story, up to the point that I have read, is Jamaica in 1941.

I know what a warner woman is. I used to take the bus in Kingston, Jamaica way back when. From time to time, someone would come on with the warning to repent or else. It was annoying to be going home from school and to be forced to listen to the loud warnings. I think most of us passengers would lump all these clap-hand-jump-up-shout-out Christians as a little crazy prior to the dawn of the charismatic movement in the "regular" churches. Once middle class people, including myself, in "regular" churches embraced "clap-hand-jump-up-shout-out", the warners didn't sound so crazy.

I am only on page 30 and so far there is a little craziness going on in this story. I have met these characters: the original Pearline Portious, Monsignor Dennis and Mother Lazarus.

Pearline likes to crochet using colored yarn and is having difficulty selling the colored crochet doilies yet refuses to crochet white doilies. Sixty-five year old Monsignor Dennis is in charge of a leprosarium and finally buys a purple crochet doily from Pearline plus he orders additional crocheted items; still not clear what the items are or for what they are used. Agatha, over 85years old known as Mother Lazarus, works and lives at the leprosarium; she gives the injections to the patients and rubs their skin with chaulmoogra oil. She is recruiting the "sweet- spirited" Pearline to live and work with the lepers. By page 18, I am introduced briefly to another Pearline Portious who is known as Adamine Bustamante. Adamine was born at the lepreosarium. She reveals in pages 18 to 22 that the story I read in the first seventeen pages is Mr. Writer Man's version of Adamine's story. Stay with me now. Parts of the story told were inaccurate. Have I lost you yet? The location of the leprosarium, for example, is Writer Man's invention. This is a story within a story.

I like the flow of the language so far. This would be by dream job: to read this book for the audio-book version. Let me put it out in the universe.

23 Things for Library Professional Development

2011-06-25T16:33:00.001-04:00

I officially signed up to participate in "23 Things". I want to be an Awesome 2.0 Librarian so I am learning everything I need to know about the web 2.0 world. Thing 1 was to create a blog. Thing 2 was to explore other blogs and post a comment on them. I did that a few days ago. I posted a comment at BookMates, a project of two Seattle-based readers, because it seemed similar to this blog in that it was about selecting and recommending books. I also commented on 23 Things: The Way Forward by an Irish blogger interested in professional development.

Today I explored one more blog and the blogger was based in London and in fact used to be in New York. This blogger has educated me a little about librarianship in the UK. Chartership is a professional qualification earned by practicing librarians in the UK. Reflective writing is a requirement of Chartership and blogging for this Librarian is one approach to meet that requirement.

I look forward to continuing with Thing 3 and of course I am going to finish reading my book, The Eye of the Crow.

Sherlock Holmes heart Crows

2011-06-24T18:53:00.000-04:00

So it is 1867. London. Poverty is in abundance. Bigotry and bullying is the order of the day. Thirteen year old Sherlock Holmes is half Jewish, smart, very analytical and is bullied at school and harassed by a gang of misfits known as The Irregulars; a gang led by a teen called Malefactor. The Irregulars are petty thieves, thugs and include two Jewish boys so their harassment of Holmes is not based on racial prejudice.

There is the discovery of a dead young woman. An Arab man, Mohammed Adalji, has been arrested for her murder and for robbery. He singles out the boy Holmes in a crowd to shout to him that he is innocent. Soon, Holmes is arrested and placed in a cell beside Mohammed. Holmes was seen going to the murder scene twice. He was just following his friends, the crows, to the murder scene but he can't confess that to the police. The police believe Holmes and Mohammed are associates. They can't find the woman's purse so they are hoping that by putting the two misfits next to each other they will get a confession or at least some revelation about the missing purse.

Crows; symbol of evil but also known to be smart birds, lovers of shiny things. The reader can tell by page 48 that the crows are key to the mystery somehow. Other birds are mentioned magpies, jays, ravens but all belong to the crow family; the corvid family. Fascinating story, Eye of the Crow, Sherlock Holmes first mystery by a writer who was himself fascinated by the writing of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and all things "Sherlockian".

The Birds and Young Sherlock Holmes

2011-06-24T00:20:00.001-04:00

Just started The Eye of the Crow. Abundant use of bird symbolism in the few pages that I have read. Crows are usually symbols of death and magic. The teen aged Sherlock is quite fond of these carrion eating crows. In this story they follow him around as he plays hooky from school. In the first few pages of the story, Sherlock reads a newspaper article about a murder of an attractive young lady. Sherlock spots a crow in the newspaper's photo of the deceased girl. Sherlock's Dad just happens to have an interest in ornithology and works with doves, symbolic of peace. I will see in the next few days how this story develops.

Personal note: I first started this blog some years ago for my book club so that I could be more proficient with the new social media. More recently, I started a twitter account for the Okefenokee Toastmasters Club (#oketoast) for the same reason. Today I came across this blog, 23 Things For Professional Development. I have read about 23 Things before but this seems to be an updated version and I am going to try to participate as much as I can. Already, I posted comments on two blogs to spread my online wings and in accordance with "Thing 2" - Establish an online presence.

Jamaican Poet and Novelist

2011-06-23T09:18:00.000-04:00

Kei Miller, Jamaican poet and writer, was brought to my attention by friend on Facebook. Will certainly put this book, The Last Warner Woman, on my list of Must Read books. I remember those "Warner Men and Women" on the JOS buses. They warned that we should repent since the end was near.

Book club Meeting in Waycross

2011-06-17T19:58:00.000-04:00

We enjoyed our book club meeting today at a new venue, Matt's Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria. The spinach and mushroom pizza was delicious. Everyone had a lot to say about the book, Snow Falling on Cedars. Our book next month is Eye of the Crow.

I have just finished reading, with my online book club, the first few pages of a pre-pub book, The Brink of Fame by Irene Fleming. So far it appears interesting. I will add this to my list of books to read.

Theme of Snow Falling on Cedars

2011-06-11T09:09:00.000-04:00

The story has to do with prejudice; the bigotry shown towards Japanese Americans about10 years after World War 11 ended. In my opinion the theme is right there on page 418. It has to do with the battle of fate, coincidence, and accident versus reason. Reason won but the game changer was truth. It was truth that won a victory for one of the protagonists in the story, the proud, stoic Kabuo Miyamoto. Very good storyline, steamy love scenes, graphic description of an autopsy and of the war, good use of imagery but there was an overabundance of descriptive details which slowed the action.

I was a little disappointed that the much described island of San Piedro, devoted to fishing and strawberry farming, did not actually exist outside the imagination of the writer. I don't know the meaning of the symbolism used, the snow and cedars, but there were constant references to both through out the story. May be the cedars had to do with the quiet, patient, strength of Kabuo. I would have liked to have known if Kabuo got his 7 acres in the long run but that is not clear.

I see on wikipedia that the novel was a bestseller in 1995 and a movie has been made based on it.

Reading Snow Falling on Cedars in the Summer

2011-06-04T16:22:00.001-04:00

Our selection for the hot summer month of June is Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. The setting is San Piedro Island and this is post-World War 11. This story starts of with a court scene and then goes back to when "the incident" took place.

In the first few pages, we meet in the courtroom, the accused man, Kabuo Miyamoto; the judge, Llewellyn Fielding; and a local reporter, Ishmael Chambers. We learn that the deceased is a fisherman named, Carl Heine, and that Kabuo is also a fisherman, a Japanese American, and a former school mate of Ishmael. This writer is very detailed. There is a lot of detailed description of San Piedro Island, the lonely life of the fishermen, and about the dead man, including his genitalia, as he is being examined by Horace Whaley, the coroner. On page 56 and I have just read a bit of information that makes me see why, of all the fishermen, Kabuo is the one accused of murder. Carl has a blow to his head that looks like a kendo strike, as in Japanese stick fighting. I am now on page 60 and the story is back into the courtroom.

I think it's about to get really interesting. I'll let you know later.