Jacob Jankowski is a student at Cornell University with a promising future in veterinary medicine. That all changes when his parents are killed in a car accident. Grieving and unable to pay his college tuition, Jacob leaves school and joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a traveling circus. Jacob's job is to care for the animals in the circus menagerie, a task made more difficult by the abuses heaped upon the creatures by the circus's boss, August. Jacob forms a close relationship with an elephant, Rosie, whom he strives to protect from August. He also falls in love with August's lovely, abused wife Marlena. This atmospheric tale is based on actual circus stories and is documented with historical circus photographs. Have you read this book? Post a comment. You can also come to a discussion of the book as a member of Johnson City Library's Tales & Talk book group. For more information about Tales & Talk call the library at 434-4454 or come by the Reference Desk on the 2nd floor.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Book Discussion
ON THE ROAD TO FREEDOM: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail by Charles E. Cobb Jr. Howard Zinn's recommendation: "Cobb was in the heart of the Southern movement and one of its keenest observers...His book is rich with history, drama, and emotion." Read about the marches, struggles and triumphs. The library will host a book discussion on Chapter 9. This discussion will be on Tuesday July 8 at 6:30 and will feature small group discussions and two speakers who will bring the Civil Rights movement full circle to Johnson City. Charles Cobb Jr. will visit Johnson City this winter. Come to the discussion and post a comment or even if you miss the discussion feel free to participate.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Book Discussion
Revenge by Laura Blumenfeld
As a college student, Blumenfeld vowed to avenge the shooting of her father, a rabbi. Years later, as a Washington Post reporter covering many of the world's hot spots, she develops an obsessive curiosity about revenge. She uses the occasion of a one-year stay in Israel to find the Palestinian who tried to kill her father and to exact some kind of revenge. She saw Israel as an ideal place to study this most primitive of emotions, a land that "possessed an archaeology of revenge that layered all the way down to the beginning of time."
What does "revenge" mean to you?
As a college student, Blumenfeld vowed to avenge the shooting of her father, a rabbi. Years later, as a Washington Post reporter covering many of the world's hot spots, she develops an obsessive curiosity about revenge. She uses the occasion of a one-year stay in Israel to find the Palestinian who tried to kill her father and to exact some kind of revenge. She saw Israel as an ideal place to study this most primitive of emotions, a land that "possessed an archaeology of revenge that layered all the way down to the beginning of time."
What does "revenge" mean to you?
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Book Discussion
The Echo Maker by Richard Powers is a powerful story. It won the 2006 National Book Award and was a 2007 Pulitzer Prize Finalist. William Kowinsky of Bookmarks wrote "The mysteries of perception and cognition, of normality and dysfunction of reality and dream -- all of them are louder echoes of the most pressing mystery that Powers begins to deal with: the neglected relationship of human beings with the rest of nature, as well as their own... there's an apocalyptic feel to The Echo Maker, with intimations of an imminent and unstoppable finality and of people dealing in their way with this fragility."
What does the title "The Echo Maker" mean to you?
What does the title "The Echo Maker" mean to you?
Monday, March 3, 2008
Book Discussion
What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
Have you read the book by Peter Hedges or seen the movie starring Johnny Depp and Leonardo Di Caprio?
Here's a reminder of the story:
"Grape is 24 and stuck in a rut. Trapped by feelings of responsibility to his eccentric family, he works bagging groceries in their small Iowa town. And what a family! At its core lies his beached whale of a mother; she never leaves her TV chair and clamors constantly for more food and cigarettes. There is Ellen, his maddeningly pubescent sister; 17-year-old retarded brother Arnie, whom Gilbert loves dearly; and his older sister Amy who devotes herself to keeping everyone happy. Gilbert is saved by a beautiful and strange girl who startles him into life. That such a creature would take an interest in an apparent loser like Gilbert requires the reader's willing suspension of disbelief; but with such appealingly funny writing, one is only too happy to oblige." Sheila Riley/Library Journal
Check out the Literature Resource Center to read what Richard Aleva says about the movie:
"...Yes, in Gilbert Grape, we do have that flat landscape and that dreary town and those dead-end jobs and a seemingly nonexistent future for our hero. But you also become aware that desolation and ugliness are just part of the fabric of Gilbert's life, and the movie is really about that entire fabric, with its elements of pity, comedy, lyricism, and nascent sexuality, as well as its boredom and squalor. Gilbert certainly does feel trapped by his "beached whale" of a mother (his description), his boring job in a grocery store, and his obligation to bathe his backward but all-too-energetic brother Arnie every night and to fetch him down from the water tower that he periodically climbs. But, sometimes through Gilbert's eyes and sometimes over his shoulder, we're looking at the flow of life in a particular place at a particular time. And, as life flows, it refuses to be labeled as "boring" or "wasteful" or even "charming." Life flows and sweeps away these categories..."
Have you felt stuck in your life? What do you think of Gilbert's relationship with his mother and his siblings?
Have you read the book by Peter Hedges or seen the movie starring Johnny Depp and Leonardo Di Caprio?
Here's a reminder of the story:
"Grape is 24 and stuck in a rut. Trapped by feelings of responsibility to his eccentric family, he works bagging groceries in their small Iowa town. And what a family! At its core lies his beached whale of a mother; she never leaves her TV chair and clamors constantly for more food and cigarettes. There is Ellen, his maddeningly pubescent sister; 17-year-old retarded brother Arnie, whom Gilbert loves dearly; and his older sister Amy who devotes herself to keeping everyone happy. Gilbert is saved by a beautiful and strange girl who startles him into life. That such a creature would take an interest in an apparent loser like Gilbert requires the reader's willing suspension of disbelief; but with such appealingly funny writing, one is only too happy to oblige." Sheila Riley/Library Journal
Check out the Literature Resource Center to read what Richard Aleva says about the movie:
"...Yes, in Gilbert Grape, we do have that flat landscape and that dreary town and those dead-end jobs and a seemingly nonexistent future for our hero. But you also become aware that desolation and ugliness are just part of the fabric of Gilbert's life, and the movie is really about that entire fabric, with its elements of pity, comedy, lyricism, and nascent sexuality, as well as its boredom and squalor. Gilbert certainly does feel trapped by his "beached whale" of a mother (his description), his boring job in a grocery store, and his obligation to bathe his backward but all-too-energetic brother Arnie every night and to fetch him down from the water tower that he periodically climbs. But, sometimes through Gilbert's eyes and sometimes over his shoulder, we're looking at the flow of life in a particular place at a particular time. And, as life flows, it refuses to be labeled as "boring" or "wasteful" or even "charming." Life flows and sweeps away these categories..."
Have you felt stuck in your life? What do you think of Gilbert's relationship with his mother and his siblings?
Monday, February 11, 2008
Women's History Month @ JCPL
Greetings, and thanks for coming to see what JCPL is working on now– the Library is using this internet resource to inform people about the planning and events we’re doing for Women’s History Month in March this year and in the future. You can use it to share your ideas and comments with us and each other. It’s also an easy way to inform other people you think might be interested in the Library’s activities and women’s issues in our region. I’m Lisa Williams, and I am doing planning for these events. I also work at the Reference Desk at the Library. Please feel free to contact me with questions or ideas that you have about the efforts discussed below, either by leaving a comment on the blog, via email (by clicking on my name under "Contributors"), or by calling the Reference Department at 434-4454.
JCPL has identified an opportunity for Northeast Tennessee to lead in the development of rich cultural resources in the topic of women’s history. Together with community partners – academic, business, and professional – JCPL wishes to explore avenues for the growth of our region’s strategic strengths: a combination of a unique history and talents and “our own story to tell.”
That story gives the Johnson City Public Library a unique bond with women’s history – the Library itself was founded by a small group of women who called themselves “the Monday Reading Club.” They were inspired by a trip to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, and determined upon their return a need for “reference books” to further their studies and a desire to help their community. In this Johnson City’s Library is not unique; most public libraries in the U.S. were founded by women with similar commitments. Learn more about the odyssey of these local cultural pioneers here (link forthcoming), in a presentation created by JCPL Librarian Gail Campbell.
Events at JCPL in 2008 will feature an exhibition of items from the collection of the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University, through the assistance of Dr. Roberta Herrin, and archivists Norma Myers and Ned Irwin. The pieces included will feature an emphasis on visually striking images that reflect a diversity in women’s lives in Tennessee from roughly the post-Civil War era to mid Twentieth century. This exhibit will be free and open to the public. This presentation of items from the Archives will help increase public awareness of the many historical treasures preserved there, which are accessible to the general public for research purposes.
Additionally, JCPL will host an invitational luncheon, “Women’s History Celebration,” on March 25th, with keynote speaker Sandy Treadway, state Librarian of Virginia. Sandy will discuss the Library of Virginia’s commitments and activities with women’s history in Virginia; afterwards JCPL Director Nelson Worley and event facilitator Lisa Williams will present ideas for program implementation by the Johnson City Public Library and discuss these with the luncheon participants. Among the programs under consideration:
Ø A Memorial Awards program/foundation – to create awards in recognition of women who have been instrumental in recent local history, to be awarded to select women of promise each year
Ø A “memory project” or museum – either bricks and mortar, virtual or some combination of both
Ø Expanding the current exhibit into a touring show, with collateral catalogue raisonné and print materials, memorabilia for sale
Ø Open access E-journal of women’s history/women’s studies under the auspices of SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) incubator program
Ø Author talks/lecture series at Millennium Center
Ø Cooperative education opportunities with local institutions
JCPL has identified an opportunity for Northeast Tennessee to lead in the development of rich cultural resources in the topic of women’s history. Together with community partners – academic, business, and professional – JCPL wishes to explore avenues for the growth of our region’s strategic strengths: a combination of a unique history and talents and “our own story to tell.”
That story gives the Johnson City Public Library a unique bond with women’s history – the Library itself was founded by a small group of women who called themselves “the Monday Reading Club.” They were inspired by a trip to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, and determined upon their return a need for “reference books” to further their studies and a desire to help their community. In this Johnson City’s Library is not unique; most public libraries in the U.S. were founded by women with similar commitments. Learn more about the odyssey of these local cultural pioneers here (link forthcoming), in a presentation created by JCPL Librarian Gail Campbell.
Events at JCPL in 2008 will feature an exhibition of items from the collection of the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University, through the assistance of Dr. Roberta Herrin, and archivists Norma Myers and Ned Irwin. The pieces included will feature an emphasis on visually striking images that reflect a diversity in women’s lives in Tennessee from roughly the post-Civil War era to mid Twentieth century. This exhibit will be free and open to the public. This presentation of items from the Archives will help increase public awareness of the many historical treasures preserved there, which are accessible to the general public for research purposes.
Additionally, JCPL will host an invitational luncheon, “Women’s History Celebration,” on March 25th, with keynote speaker Sandy Treadway, state Librarian of Virginia. Sandy will discuss the Library of Virginia’s commitments and activities with women’s history in Virginia; afterwards JCPL Director Nelson Worley and event facilitator Lisa Williams will present ideas for program implementation by the Johnson City Public Library and discuss these with the luncheon participants. Among the programs under consideration:
Ø A Memorial Awards program/foundation – to create awards in recognition of women who have been instrumental in recent local history, to be awarded to select women of promise each year
Ø A “memory project” or museum – either bricks and mortar, virtual or some combination of both
Ø Expanding the current exhibit into a touring show, with collateral catalogue raisonné and print materials, memorabilia for sale
Ø Open access E-journal of women’s history/women’s studies under the auspices of SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) incubator program
Ø Author talks/lecture series at Millennium Center
Ø Cooperative education opportunities with local institutions
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