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Book Spotlight: Aug 9–Fog

by Public Service Associate Juliana

Aug 9–Fog by Kathryn Scanlan (2019) | print

Spare • Experimental fiction • Literary realism

Welcome to another Book Spotlight! Today’s feature, Aug 9–Fog, will appeal to those who gravitate toward literary realism.

Literary realism: a literary movement that represents reality by portraying mundane, everyday experiences as they are in real life. (Master Class)

All the books currently checked out on my library card contain the subject “everyday life”, books by Tove Jansson, Virginia Woolf, Kathryn Scanlan. These books highlight the beauty of the day-to-day, the minutiae of real life. This results in leisurely paced narratives that focus on character rather than plot; nothing much happens; characters talk about the weather, daily routines and what they’ll watch later on TV.

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International Cat Day

by Public Service Associate Autumn

In late 2015, several news outlets, including USA Today, announced scientists had determined that if housecats were larger, they would kill and eat their human companions. A nice, snappy headline, but strictly speaking not true. The actual study1 does not say that our beloved kitties are just waiting for their moment to strike. It just says that personality-wise, a cat is a cat, whether they’re hunting the laser you point for them or stalking prey across the African Savannah. This was probably obvious to anyone who has seen photos of jaguars, tigers or pumas sitting in cardboard boxes. Or this lion sitting in a wheelbarrow.  I should acknowledge here that I am not an ailurophile (a lover of cats). I have dogs. However, August 8th is International Cat Day, and we here at the library do not want to make our individual cat overlords unhappy by not acknowledging it. 

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Host a Spectacular Movie Night with Help from Your Library

by Public Service Associate Juliana

Image from Walt Disney Studios

Are you looking for a fun way to get together with family and friends? A movie night might be the ticket. Keep it simple with pizza, popcorn and candy, or create a menu based on your movie choice. You and your guests might enjoy it so much that you plan to do it on a regular basis.

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Gonzo Journalism: Dark, Funny, Strange, and Mostly True

by Public Service Associate Luke

One of the core tenets of journalism is to remove yourself from the story and keep that sense of detachment in order to avoid any kind of bias or personal involvement. This rule is what allows journalists to maintain an air of neutrality in their reporting. “Gonzo Journalism” is the direct breaking of and sometimes flippant disregard for that rule. These stories often become more about the writing itself, rather than just the objective of the article or book. The term “Gonzo” has several disputed origins, from the semi-translation of a French term to a 1960s jazz song (no, none of them relate to the blue-beaked Muppet).

Gonzo Journalism was first mentioned by the editor of Scanlan’s Monthly when describing the seminal piece “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved” by the creator of the movement, Hunter S. Thompson. This journalistic style is known for its writers being directly involved in the act they are meant to be observing. Think of embedded journalism, if the journalist also fired the rifle, smoked the drugs, or engaged in otherwise frowned-upon activities. The ethics of such a style are questionable, but they certainly bring about excellent and extremely detailed product. Hunter S. Thompson would begin and continue to add to the movement, while many other journalists and authors took influence from him and began getting involved in their own subject material. I first found Thompson in junior high, and I now own a copy (or two) of each of his works. I love this type of writing, and so I’ve collected a list of some of my favorites.

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Books Becoming TV and Movies

by Public Service Associate Luke

Adapting books into movies and television is no new situation. Some of the greatest directors of all time have used the written form for story inspiration, such as Steven Spielberg adapting Jaws and the near entirety of Stanley Kubrick’s filmography. Sometimes the adaptation falls short, and others are changed with such near perfection they become cultural media juggernauts on their own, such as Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Television shows are also no stranger to creating new versions of novels, which has given us The Handmaid’s Tale, Daisy Jones and the Six, The Old Man, and so much more. It is almost difficult in this IP-driven media landscape to find a current movie or TV series that does not have some form of inception from literature.

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How to Enhance (or Extend) Your Next Vacation

by Public Service Associate Juliana

Planning a trip to somewhere particularly literary? As we inch closer to summer I’m thinking of how to savor time off. Truth be told, a vacation from the first through the fifth sounds like a five day vacation, right? But factor in flights and time zones, it could be more like an evening and three days. This was my recent experience visiting Los Angeles. Day one we arrived in time for dinner, spent three blissful days in the sun, and day five we left before breakfast.

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Iconic Reading Glasses

by Public Service Associate Hannah

When I say glasses, what comes to mind? The pair you place on your nose each morning? A pair of cheaters left behind at some restaurant? Or maybe a celebrity’s iconic look. As someone who has worn glasses since the fifth grade, with no interest in adding contact hygiene to my daily routine, glasses mean the world to me. They go hand in hand (eye in eye?) with my love of reading! So naturally, I decided to write a BPL Blog about glasses.

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Six Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month

by Public Service Associate Juliana

It’s time to celebrate poets! Do you find poetry intimidating? Does your experience extend beyond Shakespeare’s sonnets you read in high school? This April is the perfect time to give poetry another chance. Read on for six ways to infuse your month with an appreciation for verse.

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The Irish-American Novel

by Public Service Associate Owen

St. Patrick’s Day may have come and gone, but, in the spirit of Irish-American History Month, I’d still like to highlight some of the great contributions that Irish-Americans have made to the tapestry of American literature. What makes American literature so unique is the sheer variety and diversity of its authors; writers of all different creeds, classes, and backgrounds have contributed (and will continue to contribute) their work, and the Irish-Americans are no exception. From F. Scott Fitzgerald to John O’Hara to Colum McCann, Irish-Americans of all stripes and generations have accorded us their literary talents. So to honor them, and all other past and prospective Irish-American authors, I’d like to present a brief history of Irish emigration to America, as well as recommend some archetypal Irish-American novels.

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Celebrate Pi Day with Pizza!

by Public Service Associate Juliana

“Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th (3/14) around the world. Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159. Pi Day is an annual opportunity for math enthusiasts to recite the infinite digits of Pi, talk to their friends about math, and eat pie.” (PiDay.org)

I’m not really a math person, but I’m definitely a pizza person. This Pi Day I suggest a BYOP party! Yep, you read that right. It’s like BYOB except with pizza. A dear friend of mine once threw a party where she invited everyone to bring their favorite pizza from their favorite pizza place to share with everyone. BYOP. Essentially a pizza potluck, plentiful in both variety and quantity. I can’t get over what a great idea this is. Pizza is often a matter of convenience as well as taste preference. BYOP is a way to get to try some of the best that may be outside your normal range.