The Librarians Bedside Table

OSCAR GRADY PUBLIC LIBRARY

THE LIBRARIANS’

BEDSIDE TABLE What your friendly librarians have been reading and MUCH MORE!

NOW you can access almost 3000 different magazines with your Libby app.

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PLUS:

Recommendations from your friendly librarians Upcoming programs Information on resources And much more!

Oscar Grady Public Library Mission Statement:

The mission of the Oscar Grady Public Library is to provide high interest, high demand materials and make them readily available from the Library’s collection or through interlibrary loan. The Library supports lifelong learning, information and recreational needs for people of all ages and abilities. Special emphasis is placed on stimulating children’s interests and appreciation for reading and learning. The integration of new technology with traditional library resources is used to expand service beyond the Library’s physical walls.

On this new issue of our “Librarians’ Bedside Table”, we compiled a list of really good titles recommended by your library friends. Each title can be accessed in electronic format for your convenience. Click or tap in the hyperlinks attached to each title that will take you right to them

in the Monarch Catalog. We hope you enjoy this selection of books from your

librarians at the Oscar Grady Public Library!

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Hope, our Collection Developer would like to recommend these titles:

News of the World by Paulette Jiles It is 1870 and Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. An elderly widower who has lived through three wars and fought in two of them, the captain enjoys his rootless, solitary existence.

In Wichita Falls, he is offered a $50 gold piece to deliver a young orphan to her relatives in San Antonio. Four years earlier, a band of Kiowa raiders killed Johanna’s parents and sister; sparing the little girl, they raised her as one of their own. Recently rescued by the U.S. army, the ten-yearold has once again been torn away from the only home she knows.

Their 400-mile journey south through unsettled territory and unforgiving terrain proves difficult and at times dangerous. Johanna has forgotten the English language, tries to escape at every opportunity, throws away her shoes, and refuses to act “civilized.” Yet as the miles pass, the two lonely survivors tentatively begin to trust each other, forging a bond that marks the difference between life and death in this treacherous land.

Arriving in San Antonio, the reunion is neither happy nor welcome. The captain must hand Johanna over to an aunt and uncle she does not remember—strangers who regard her as an unwanted burden. A respectable man, Captain Kidd is faced with a terrible choice: abandon the girl to her fate or become—in the eyes of the law—a kidnapper himself.

Description provided by publisher.

The Plague by Albert Camus A haunting tale of human resilience and hope in the face of unrelieved horror, Albert Camus' iconic novel about an epidemic ravaging the people of a North African coastal town is a classic of twentieth- century literature.

The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague, which condemns its victims to a swift and horrifying death.

Fear, isolation and claustrophobia follow as they are forced into quarantine. Each person responds in their own way to the lethal disease: some resign themselves to fate, some seek blame, and a few, like Dr. Rieux, resist the terror.

An immediate triumph when it was published in 1947, The Plague is in part an allegory of France's suffering under the Nazi occupation, and a timeless story of bravery and determination against the precariousness of human existence.

Description provided by publisher.

Maggie B. , our YA Program Coordinator, would like to recommend the following title:

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn Just months after losing her mother, Bree Matthews is accepted to a program at UNC-Chapel Hill. Looking to escape painful memories at home, she jumps at the chance to start college at just sixteen. But the campus, which was also her mother's alma mater, abounds with secrets, many of which connect to Bree's past in ways she never would have guessed.

Witnessing a magical attack throws her into the path of the Order of The Round Table. Descended from King Arthur's knights, they are charged with powers to continue an ancient fight. Bree must compete to join the society, and to discover the truth- about the society, about her mother, and about herself.

Martin, our Collection Developing and Adult Services Coordinator would like to recommend these titles:

An Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky What if you grew up with the prospect of travelling the world reduced to your fingers doing the travelling by sliding through a map? Growing up in East Germany during the 80s, this was the reality of Judith Schalansky for whom visiting anywhere beyond the Berlin wall was nothing more than mere utopia.

In composing this atlas, which has won numerous awards for its concept and design, Ms. Schalanksy takes us to fifty islands that she declares already from the book’s cover she has “never set foot on and never will”, offering what it may seem like trivial information about them, but in doing so, brings them closer than many of us will ever get to experience. A perfect book for anyone wanting to travel but not being able to do so.

An Inventory of Losses by Judith Schalansky In this interesting exercise that blends fiction and non-fiction, Ms. Schalansky invites us to browse on this inventory she created, which is composed of twelve actually recorded treasures that humanity have lost forever, including a building in East Germany, an island in the Pacific, a Greek poem, a painting and more. Starting each chapter dedicated to each item, she shares with us what they were and how we lost them, following with a fictional short story inspired by these items in her inventory, creating an interesting concept of memory generating by giving life to what’s not there anymore and in the process making us participants on mourning their loss, mainly because as the book does very well from its first pages, their loss could be that of many other treasures still out there, that we could lose anytime without realizing it until is too late, be it your local dinner or a cathedral in some European city.

Rita would like to recommend these titles:

Songteller by Dolly Parton If you are interested in Dolly Parton’s songwriting process, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics (2020) by Dolly Parton and Robert K. Oermann, may be the book for you. If you are looking for a more traditional biography, this book will give you an overview of her life and may leave you wanting to read additional books about her. Songteller is available in regular print through Monarch; both book and audio versions are available through Libby.

While Songteller illuminates Dolly Parton’s songwriting process and includes full lyrics for over 150 of her hit songs, it has a rather random thematic organization, which can be a bit jarring. The mansplaining by Robert K. Oermann is very irritating. Parton contributes background stories for her songs, but her contributions are uneven; sometimes they are brief, other times, they are detailed. Parton’s descriptions of her songwriting process are comprehensive and make the book worth reading. Many photos from her life (some previously unpublished), and of her album covers, enhance the book.

Dolly Parton, now 75 years old, has written roughly three thousand songs. Approximately 450 of them have been recorded, though not always by her. She began her career in Nashville by writing for others and recorded her first album, Hello, I’m Dolly, in 1967. Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2014, the Recording Industry Association of America certified the number of her worldwide record sales at 100 million. Parton has won 11 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award and a MusiCares Person of the Year Award. Her most recent Grammy was received in 2020. In addition to songwriting, Parton’s talents and work ethic have been channeled into successes as a business owner, author, musical score writer, actor, and film and television producer.

Dolly Parton is an extraordinary, indomitable person. The Guardian describes her as a social unifier, musical trailblazer, and business genius. (Her net worth was estimated at $500 million in 2017.)

Yet, she is even more remarkable than that. In the spring of 2020, Parton pledged $1 million to fund research at Vanderbilt University for a Covid-19 vaccine. (Her donation helped fund the research that produced Moderna’s vaccine.) She also launched a web series called Goodnight with Dolly in which she read bedtime stories for homebound children. After wildfires decimated her East Tennessee homeland in 2016, Parton organized and hosted an Emmy Award-winning telethon that raised $8.9 million for victims. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (launched in 1995) had distributed more than 100 million free books to children. It expanded from a statewide Tennessee initiative to an international one and was celebrated in the 2020 documentary The Library That Dolly Built. Her philanthropic contributions are extensive.

While many lyrics are included in Songteller process, perhaps the most relevant for today are found at the conclusion of Parton’s 2020 video for the song, When Life is Good Again: “Be safe, be respectful, wear your mask, lead with love.” Another quote from Dolly Parton is a reminder why: “You know what they say, that which does not kill us makes us glad it didn’t.”

Duke and I (2000) by Julia Quinn Are you looking for romance to warm the winter? Consider reading or listening to The Duke and I (2000) by Julia Quinn. It is the first book in a series of eight and inspired season one of the popular Netflix series Bridgerton. The Duke and I is available through Monarch in large and regular print, and the audiobook (approximately 12 hours) is available through Libby.

Although the outcome of the story is predictable, the journey to the last page is enjoyable. The cast of characters keep this period romance interesting, and a couple of sizzling scenes add spice.

In Regency London, the season has begun. Determined aristocratic mothers parade their young, virginal daughters through London’s ballrooms, with the goal of securing a marriage proposal for them from the generally older, worldly aristocratic men.

In this setting, Simon Basset, the irresistible, enigmatic Duke of Hastings, who has sworn off marriage forever, hatches a plan to keep himself free from the town’s marriage-minded mothers--he pretends to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton. Daphne is intelligent and witty, but she has yet to find a suitor to set her heart on fire. Daphne agrees to the ruse, believing once the duke showers her with attention, additional suitors will finally notice her and come calling. Complications arise when Simon and Daphne become attracted to each other, despite Simon’s determination to remain single. Painful secrets, protective brothers, a duel keep the plot moving toward its satisfying end.

ac·cess (/ˈakˌses/ noun : a means of approaching or entering a place.

We are always looking for ways to give you access to all the resources & tools you can access simply by having a library card.

Click or tap on each of the above icons to access some of the many benefits having a library card can offer you.

WWW.OSCARGRADYLIBRARY.ORG

MOVIES, BOOKS, MUSIC, INTERNET, COMPUTERS, and much more!

The benefits of having a library card keep getting bigger and greater!

Now you can access over 3,000 magazine titles from your Libby app, including top titles like:

US Weekly National Geographic Good Housekeeping  Vanity Fair  Rolling Stones 

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For a full listing of all the magazines you can access now through the Libby App, please visit the following link: OverDrive_Magazine_Title_List_11.16.2020Download

GROOVY!

NOW PLAYING! More and more albums are being added to our collection of vinyls for you to check out. Artists in a great variety of genres await for you and your needle to enjoy music at 33 1⁄3 rpm!

Now around town! Books for everyone.

The Oscar Grady Library with the support of The Friends of the Oscar Grady Library has purchased three Little Free Libraries, which have been installed at three convenient locations: Quade Park, The Oscar Grady Library, and Village Hall.

Check them out! Love them, enjoy them, treasure them.

Welcome to Gale Courses!

The Monarch Library System is thrilled to be able to provide all patrons in every member library the opportunity to engage in meaningful learning through Gale Courses. This robust online resource provides access to exceptional classes on multiple topics of interest, including career training programs. If you seek deeper knowledge of areas from A (Accounting) to W (Writing), Gale Courses has something for you. We hope you consider exploring the offerings for personal and professional development. Please let us know about your experience so we can continue to streamline our services to benefit your needs! Enjoy your journey.

How to Enroll: 1. Find courses by browsing through the categories on the left of your screen or by using the search bar above. Click “Enroll Now” next to the course of your choice.

2. Select your course start date and click “Continue.”

3. Create a free Gale Courses account, or sign in to an existing ed2go account.

New Students – Enter your email address in the New Student area and click “Create Account.”

Complete the “Account and Student Information” page and then click “Continue.”

Returning Students – Enter your account email and password and then click “Sign In.”

You will use your Gale Courses account email and password to log in to the My Classroom area to view your lessons once your session begins.

4. Enter your library barcode in the box labeled Submit. Then click “Use Library Card” to complete your enrollment.

IMPORTANT! Students who have enrolled in a course must log in and view lessons one and two within 13 days after the start date of the course, or they will be automatically dropped.

www.oscargradylibrary.org