Smythie
The monthly e-newsletter of the Smyth Public Library
February, 2018
Volume 11, No.11
Events…
Candia Meet the Candidates Night
Thursday, March 8th at 6:30pm
Meet all the candidates running for contested seats in this year’s election in this public forum.
The library is closed Monday, February 19th to observe Presidents Day.
HOW-TO’s
How To:
Cranberry Chocolate Chip Scones
with: Jodi Headstrom
Please sign up at front desk.
Tuesday, February 13th at 6 pm
The Art of Remembering Names with Neil Kutzen- Memory Trainer
Tuesday, February 20th at 6 p.m.
How to Mindfulness Program with Liz Korabek-Emerson, certified mindfulness instructor
Wednesday, February 21st at 6 pm
Wednesday, March 14th at 6 pm
Thursday, April 12th at 6 pm
Mindfulness teaches us how to be in the present moment and settle our racing minds and busy lives.
If you have a special talent you’d like to share, please see Heidi at the front desk
Check out our “At-a-Glance” and monthly calendar on our website.
New!!!!!!
The library is proud to now offer The Healing Library; reading kits to aid with coping with difficult situations. We offer The Death of a Loved One, The Death of a Pet, plus Alzheimer’s & Your Family. These are located in the children’s room, along with books relating to each topic. The kits are available now for check out.
Coming in March:
Digital Movies, Music and More –Instantly Available –24/7 –Free with your Library Card!
We are excited to announce hoopla digital coming next month: a new digital media service provided to you, our patron, through which you may access and enjoy nearly half a million titles, from six different formats: Movies, TV,Music Albums, eAudiobooks , eBooks, and Comics/Graphic Novels. All in one location, from your computer, tablet or Smartphone!
With hoopla, there are no hold lists, no extra apps or accounts needed or special steps to use it.
It just works! On a mobile device, borrowed content may be temporarily downloaded and accessed offline or, in either the app or on a computer, all borrowed content may be enjoyed while connected to the internet by streaming.
New on our shelves…
New Fiction…
Carnegie’s maid: a novel Benedict, Marie
The immortalists: a novel Benjamin, Chloe,
Perish: a Gardiner and Renner thriller Black, Lisa
The grave’s a fine and private place ; a Flavia de Luce novel Bradley, C. Alan,
Act of revenge: a novel Brown, Dale
Robicheaux: a novel Burke, James Lee
The view from Rainshadow Bay Coble, Colleen
Fools and mortals: a novel Cornwell, Bernard
The wanted Crais, Robert
Color me murder Davis, Krista
Traitor: a thriller De Shalit, Jonathan,
The woman in the window Finn, A. J.,
Into the Black Nowhere: An Unsub Novel Gardiner, Meg
False witness: a novel Grant, Andrew
Death at Nuremberg: a clandestine operations novel Griffin, W. E. B
Munich Harris, Robert
Hellbent: An Orphan X Novel Hurwitz, Gregg
The music shop: a novel Joyce, Rachel
Promise not to tell Krentz, Jayne Ann
Dark enough to see the stars in a Jamestown sky Lapallo, Connie.
Cutting edge Larsen, Ward
What she knew MacMillan, Gilly
When crickets cry Martin, Charles
Peyton Place ; and, Return to Peyton Place Metalious, Grace
Red sky at noon Montefiore, Simon
The outcasts of time Mortimer, Ian,
Still me Moyes, Jojo
The black painting: a novel Olson, Neil,
Beneath the darkest sky Overstreet, Jason
The bomb maker Perry, Thomas
City of endless night Preston, Douglas J.
A treacherous curse: a Veronica Speedwell mystery Raybourne, Deanna
The take Reich, Christopher
Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves Reilly, Matthew
A dangerous crossing: a novel Rhys, Rachel
The olive tree Riley, Lucinda
The pearl sister: CeCe’s story Riley, Lucinda
Dark in Death: An Eve Dallas Novel (in Death, Book 46) Robb, J. D
Pen 33 Roslund, Anders
A mortal likeness: a Victorian mystery Rowland, Laura Joh
The winter station: a novel Shields, Jody,
Fall from grace: a novel Steel, Danielle
Operator down: a Pike Logan thriller Taylor, Brad
Brooklyn: a novel Toibin, Colm,
Women of the silk Tsukiyama, Gail
Anatomy of a scandal: a novel Vaughan, Sarah,
Sing, unburied, sing: a novel Ward, Jesmyn
The English wife Willig, Lauren
Unbound: a Stone Barrington novel Woods, Stuart
Grist Mill Road: a novel Yates, Christopher J.,
New Non-Fiction…
The stowaway: a young man’s extraordinary adventure to Antarctica
Shapiro, Laurie Gwen,
Good grief: a constructive approach to the problem of loss Westberg, Granger E.
Experiencing grief Wright, H. Norman.
The monk of Mokha Eggers, Dave
All-American murder: the rise and fall of Aaron Hernandez, the superstar whose life ended on murderers’ row Patterson, James
Dinner in an instant: 75 modern recipes for your pressure cooker, multicooker, + Instant Pot Clark, Melissa,
Where you’ll find me: Risk, decisions, and the last climb of Kate Matrosova Gagne, Ty.
New Books on CD…
Every breath you take CD (6) Clark, Mary Higgins
Crash & burn: a novel CD (11) Gardner, Lisa
MacNamara’s woman CD (7) Gardner, Lisa
Say goodbye CD (11) Gardner, Lisa
Brandon’s bride: / a family secrets novel CD (6) Scott, Alicia.
Maggie’s man CD (7) Scott, Alicia.
Death at Nuremberg CD (8) Griffin, W. E. B
City of endless night CD (9) Preston, Douglas J.
Operator down: a Pike Logan thriller CD (12) Taylor, Brad
A Dublin student doctor: an Irish country novel CD (12) Taylor, Patrick
Audio disc: An Irish doctor in peace and at war CD (11) Taylor, Patrick
New Video…
The mountain between us DVD 1059 [PG13]
Goodbye Christopher Robin DVD 1060 [PG]
Leap! DVD 1061 [PG]
American made DVD 1062 [R]
Oddball DVD 1063 [PG]
It DVD 1064 [R]
Chinatown DVD 567 [R]
Million dollar baby DVD 942 [PG13]
Some Good tips!!
Daunted by that list of new titles?
From Adiba Jaigirdar of “BookRiot”, here are five tips
to read more than one book at a time:
1. Read books in different genres
2. Read in different places
3. Read in different media (hard cover, soft cover, e-reader)
4. Read for your mood, not your “to be read” list
5. Don’t worry about how long a book will take (you can always renew)
Just finished a book about the Golden Gate….
It was a bridged version.
Coloring night for all ages, all supplies provided,
Fridays 6-7 pm
Plus, packets available to use anytime we are open and you feel the urge
Ongoing Book Sale!
You can browse at your leisure now and bring home a favorite to keep or to give away to a friend. Just look for the bright signs just inside our main doors on the left. Pay at the front desk. Only… $1 for hardcover and $.50 for paperbacks. Proceeds go to the Friends of Smyth Library.
Tip from the front desk
Make time for READING
Excerpt from Sept 2017 Familycircle.com
Netflix, the nightly news and just plain exhaustion can keep you from opening those books on your nightstand. Here’s why you should start turning pages again.
“Reading for pleasure is so important for emotional health,” says Yale linguistics professor Kenneth Pugh. “It’s good for the soul.” It also strengthens creativity by challenging us to do more “interior” work-Pugh likens it to weight lifting for the mind. (And whose brain doesn’t need a bit of a workout?)
“The author invites you into the world they created, but what that world looks, feels and sounds like is totally up to the reader,” says Reagan Arthur, senior vice president and publisher at Little, Brown and Company. “When you connect with a book, a relationship develops between you and the author that then expands to embrace all the readers who’ve shared that experience and form a unique community.”
HOW
~Don’t leave home without it- a book or reading device, that is. Having something on hand means you can sneak in a few pages while commuting, waiting at soccer practice, standing in line at the post office or whenever you find yourself with a bit of free time.
~Pencil it in. Half your life is scheduled, so be sure to add in the fun things too. Block out time on your calendar, even if it’s just 20 minutes. Think of it as your daily reading assignment and stick to it.
~Make a swap. Trade an hour of your latest Netflix addiction for some quality book time.
~Keep a book on your nightstand- and your phone in the other room.
~Make it a habit to read a chapter before bed. You may even find you fall asleep faster.
~Always have another book ready on deck so that you can dive right in.
~Don’t worry about reading in short snatches. It does add up, and those snippets can leave you wanting more.
Looking for some good books? Come to Smyth Public Library.
Heidi Deacon, Director
Writers’ group
2nd and 4th Friday of every month, 6:30pm
The Smyth Public Library hosts a gathering of writers once or twice a month where we work together on timed writing exercises using prompts and other sources of inspiration. The writing periods will be followed by sharing some of the work with each other. The goal of the group is to loosen up and get the pen moving on paper. We don’t seek to have a finished work by the end of the session and you don’t need to arrive with a finished piece of writing to share. The writer’s group is a place to meet with other writers and to flex your writing muscles.
Please come ready with a writing medium of your choice: paper and pen/pencil, computer, tablet, etc.
Is there a word that contains all the vowels, including “y”?
Unquestionably!
Family Game Nights!!
First Friday of every month at 6:30
Coming up: card games, Giant Yahtzee, Dominoes and Quidditch
Knitting & Crochet Circle
Help with the cap, blanket, and scarf charity project, work on your own items, or just come to learn. Call Lisa 587-0603 for more info.
Third Thursday of the month, 7pm
Try out our new “Volunteer Your World” ideas at Smyth Public Library. Come to our monthly meeting (Last Monday of the month) or visit our Volunteer Your World Page
Monthly Lego Night!
EVERY third Friday 6:30-7:30 for all ages
In the Gallery…
THE PEACE IN THE WORLD:
Pärnu Sütevaka Humanitaargümnaasium, Estonia
Beautiful and creative work from children of Estonia
ART WANTED!!!
Our art gallery and (locked) glass case is always available for the works of local artists. Just see Heidi at the front desk to display your works
ANOTHER [REAL] BOOK!!!!
LOVE TO SHARE A GOOD BOOK?
How about sharing your thoughts on a book at the friendly monthly book discussion group?
Thursday, February 22, 7:30 pm
The Heretic’s Daughter
By Kathleen Kent
*Extra titles of this book are available at the front desk
Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and willful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. Often at odds with one another, mother and daughter are forced to stand together against the escalating hysteria of the trials and the superstitious tyranny that led to the torture and imprisonment of more than 200 people accused of witchcraft. This is the story of Martha’s courageous defiance and ultimate death, as told by the daughter who survived.
Kathleen Kent is a tenth generation descendent of Martha Carrier. She paints a haunting portrait, not just of Puritan New England, but also of one family’s deep and abiding love in the face of fear and persecution.
Library Assets…
LITTLE FREE LIBRARY
Brought to you by the Friends of the Smyth Public Library
The Little Free Library is up and running at the CYAA complex – anyone can take advantage!!
Making Your Life Easy:
By going to our website, you can search our entire catalogue for books, CD’s, DVD’s and movies. Once found, you can check to see if what you want is in. If so, just to our website and reserve the book. The next time you come in, it will be waiting for you at the front desk. WITH OUR NEW WEBSITE YOU CAN DO IT WITH YOUR MOBILE DEVICE!
PLUS!! Check out our smythpl.org website updates and Smyth Library’s new Public Catalog featuring:
– A crawl of new items.
– “What’s Hot” now covers several choices.
-“Most Popular” titles (a combination of checkouts and reserves are used to determine this list).
– “More Search Options” includes Medium that lets members search by DVD or Large Print, etc.
Available at the library…
Candia Walking Tour Guides to Candia Village, East Candia and Meetinghouse Hill ($2 each or $5 for all three to the Heritage Commission)
A Sense of Place: Candia’s Past & Present 1763-2014: A Compilation of Town Tributes, Personal Histories & Cherished Memories in Celebration of the Semiquincentennial ($15 to the Heritage Commission) Water Powered Mill Sites in Candia, New Hampshire ($20 to the Heritage Commission)
More Research Options:
Full text articles from thousands of magazines, journals and national newspapers, plus NoveList. Call or e-mail us and provide your name and your library card number, and we’ll give you the password.
We’re on Facebook!
Like the Smyth Public Library
Look at our page on Facebook for events and updates about our library!
Downloadable Books!!!!
Ipods and Kindles work and you can
Order right from our website!
Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of the Smyth Library
PASSES….PASSES….PASSES
Check our website for passes!!!
All are listed in the “museum passes” tab of the website and can be reserved there.
Kids’ Stuff…
Check out our monthly calendar for children on the children’s tab on our website.
Baby—Preschool children-
Stories, games, crafts, music, puppets
During Thursday Story Time 10 a.m.
School Age Children (K-6)
Art Club (K-5)
First Thursday every month. No club vacation week. Next club on April 5th.
STEM Club (gr. K-2)
Second and fourth Thursday every month. Next meeting: February 8th and 22nd .
Children’s Sewing Club
Every other Monday February 12th and 26th at 6:30 pm
Registration required; $5 material fee, limited class size.
READING CLUBS
Book Clubs (please book up first book at the Smyth Public Library front desk)
Magic Tree House Book Club (gr. K-2)-3 pm-third Thursday every month next meeting: February 15th (Dinosaurs Before Dark)
Dear America Book Club (gr. 3-4)-3 pm-first Wednesday every month next meeting: February 7th (Mirror, Mirror on the Wall)
Fifth Grade Book Club (gr. 5)-3 pm-second Wednesday every month next meeting: February 14th (Because of Winn Dixie-DiCamillo)
Sixth/Seventh Grade Book Club-4 pm-third Thursday every month next meeting: February 15th (The City of Ember-DuPrau)
FOR TEENS!!
Teen Book Club:
Teen Book club (gr. 8+)-Third Wednesday every month at 5pm next meeting: February 21
Reading: Everything Everything (Nicola Yoon)
Teen Creative Club (gr. 8+)-Fourth Wednesday every month at 5pm next meeting: February 28
Sharpie night-design your own mug!~
Read to Simon, Gwen Paprocki’s Certified Therapy dog.
Want to boost reading confidence?
Monday afternoons.
Why is reading to a dog educational AND fun? Because Simon is soft, furry and warm and he loves the attention you give him when you practice your reading out-loud skills! In the Children’s Library Room ~ one-on-one with Ms. Gwen and Simon present. (Simon and Gwen Paprocki are certified through Therapy Dogs International)
Please sign up if interested. Call Gwen for more info at 483-8245
Pajama Story Night
2nd Friday of the Month, 6-7 pm
Join us monthly for a night of storytelling and treats!
Storytime with Samantha
Thursdays, 10 a.m.
Preschoolers and babies welcomed
New!!
FUTURE ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS!!
Second Friday, 6:00 p.m.
We break out our snap circuits! Build exciting projects including computer interfaced experiments and solar cell applications. Build over 175 exciting projects now with lights. All new kits and all ages welcome! Check our Facebook page for some cool snap circuit projects
1000 BOOKS before Kindergarten
Personal memory registers and book bags are available for parents.
Family Movie Night
Friday, February 23, 6:00 p.m.
“The Stray” rated PG ~ A true story… The Stray tells the inspiring true story of a stray dog, “Pluto,” who appears from out of nowhere just in time to save a family that is falling apart. Pluto is not only a guard dog – he’s a guardian angel. Sometimes help comes in the most unlikely forms. Sometimes prayers are answered in the most unlikely ways.
New books for children…
The Healing Library-The Death of a Loved One: Children’s Books Conversation Community Caring
The Healing Library-The Death of a Pet: Children’s Books Conversation Community Caring
The Healing Library-Alzheimer’s & Your Family: Children’s Books Conversation Community Caring
U.S. Presidents: lift-a-flap fun
The costume party Chess, Victoria.
Love de la Pecła, Matt,
Dreams come true: all they need is you! Dooley, Mike,
Just be happy! Poems with sound by the hamster of happiness Gray, Bill.
Here we are: notes for living on planet Earth Jeffers, Oliver
Raising a hero Numeroff, Laura Joffe.
New books for young adults…
The cruel prince Black, Holly
The silent songbird Dickerson, Melanie
The forgotten book Glaser, Mechthild,
Soldier boys Hughes, Dean
Truly devious Johnson, Maureen
Batman: Nightwalker Lu, Marie
Everless Holland, Sara
From the Young Adult Shelves~
Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1)
by Maureen Johnson
Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”
Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.
True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.
The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three
Goodreads
New books for juniors…
Sunny Side Up Holm, Jennifer L
Dog Man and Cat Kid Pilkey, Dav
Online resource: Pugs and kisses Howard, J. J.
Unearthed Kaufman, Amie
Mez’s magic Schrefer, Eliot
Spirit animals — Book 2, — Hunted / Stiefvater, Maggie
My Name is America: a Chinese miner — The journal of Wong Ming-Chung
Yep, Laurenc
From the Junior Shelves~
Mez’s Magic (The Lost Rainforest #1)
by Eliot Schrefer
Caldera has forever been divided into those animals who walk by night and those who walk by day. Nightwalker panthers, like young Mez and her beloved sister, have always feared daywalkers as creatures of myth and legend. Until the eclipse.
Now Mez has discovered that she can cross the Veil and enter the daylight world. Her magical power has unknown depths, but she must rush to discover it after a mysterious stranger arrives at her family’s den, bearing warnings of a reawakened evil.
Saving Caldera means Mez must leave her sister behind and unite an unlikely group of animal friends to unravel an ancient mystery and protect their rainforest home.
Goodreads
Trivia
Time!
Every month we ask a trivia question. If you know the answer, drop it off at the front desk or e-mail it here. We will randomly select the winner from the correct answers and the WINNER
will win ONE FREE WEEK of OVERDUE FINE AMNESTY ON ONE BOOK
Last month’s question and answer:
Q. What was the name of Captain Nemo’s submarine?
A. Nautilus
No Winner!
This Month’s Trivia Question:
Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, Scout and Jem – from what classic novel?
From the New and Recent Shelves~
We (being I) are always looking for contributors to this reviews section. The editor has a limited range of taste, so any reviews would be more than welcomed. Just e-mail them in reply to this, or to librarian@smythpl.org
EDITOR’S NOTE
I admit to a rather limited taste in reading materials. I generally eschew science fiction, fantasy and what are euphemistically referred to as “chic books”. I realize this is a deficiency in not only me, but the “From the New and Recent Shelves” section of “The Smythie”.
I may therefore resort to pilfering reviews from Amazon.com for a book at times to widen the breadth of this service. I’d much rather have a contributing reviewer (or twelve). If you’ve read a book you’ve loved, please shoot me a review so we can enjoy a more personal perspective.
Fiction…
Krista Davis’s COLOR ME MURDER was described as a “cozy” mystery, but there is more than that to it. It makes me think of Agatha Christie – in a good way. The heroine, Florrie, is no tough feminist chasing criminals, but a feminine bookworm and “nice” young woman who professes to be boring. Her mentor and good friend, the professor, is accused of committing a murder in the bookstore which he owns and Florrie manages. He relies upon her to solve the crime and find the real killer.
The backdrop of a Georgetown mansion is interesting. The supporting characters are unique and eclectic. I was worried when I got the book and saw the blurb about the cover being colorable. Although Florrie draws coloring books, this is not a major element of the book. The book is warm without being cutesy and Florrie is an engaging main character. Not to mention that the plot is a good one.
RED SKY AT NOON by Simon Sebag Montefiore is an “epic” historical novel about a political prisoner who can be “redeemed by shedding blood” by joining the Russian cavalry to fight the Germans as they attempt to take (then) Stalingrad. Stalin needed bodies, so he made the offer to convicts. The hero of the novel, Benya Golden, a writer, not a horseman, took advantage and he joined a company of Cossacks and convicts.
This is an interesting mix of brutal war scenes taking place in the gorgeous grasslands of the Soviet Union, political intrigue and two love stories. One is Benya’s, the other Stalin’s daughter. They are a bit incongruous, but they break up the brutality of the battle scenes.
This is the third of the author’s “Moscow Trilogy” (although a minority takes place in Moscow). I have not read the others and do not believe I missed anything for it.
Non-fiction…
THE STOWAWAY, A YOUNG MAN”S ADVENTURE TO ANTARCTICA by Laurie Gwen Shapiro, is an account of Billy Gawronski who, after a few failed attempts, made it onto Byrd’s expedition to Antarctica as a stowaway.
The book is as much a picture of America in the late 1920s as it is about the son of Polish immigrants. Adventurers were still idolized and the “rock stars” of the day.
This is a very readable history that captures the flavors of the time using an ambitious teenager/adult as the focal point.
Ever want to be one of those know-it-all reviewers?
Got a book to recommend?
Want to write a blurb?
Have a child with a favorite book who would like to contribute to the Smythie?
We welcome contributors (less for us to write!), especially children and teens to review and recommend favorite books. Just drop Heidi Deacon an e-mail at librarian@smythpl.org or “reply” to this and we’ll include it here. It need not be a new book – it can be a golden oldie, a classic, a trashy beach book or whatever you have enjoyed.
I hope you have enjoyed this edition. Comments, suggestions and, of course, reviews are always welcomed.
Rick Mitchell
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Past Volumes:
November 2014
December 2014
February 2015
March 2015
April 2015
May 2015
June 2015
July 2015
September 2015
October 2015
November 2015
December 2015
January 2016
February 2016
March 2016
April 2016
May 2016
June 2016
July 2016
August 2016
September 2016
October 2016
November 2016
December 2016
January 2017
February 2017
March 2017
April 2017
June 2017
July 2017
August 2017
December 2017