Brunswick Community Library

In a unique collaboration, the New York Council for the Humanities has joined forces with the Brunswick Community Library to offer Reading Between the Lines: Rethinking Religion—Recent Women’s Novels and American Identity, a monthly reading and discussion series that runs from Sept 15^th to December 15^th.

Join us for a series of lively conversations exploring four novels by women that involve the quest for meaningful religious experience in contemporary American society. Each session centers on a book selected by Elizabeth Toohey, a student at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Each 90-minute conversation will be facilitated by scholar Marie Venaglia. Participants are asked to attend and contribute to all four sessions. Copies of the books will be available to borrow.

Paradise Park by Allegra Goodman—Wednesday, September 15, 6-7:30

Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko— Wednesday, October 20, 6-7:30

Paradise by Toni Morrison— Wednesday, November 17, 6-7:30

Final Payments, by Mary Gordon— Wednesday, December 15, 6-7:30

Participants in the series read works of non-fiction and works of literature that are discussed within an historical context. The program is free and open to the public, although pre-registration is required. For more information about series dates and acquiring books, please contact library director Julie Zelman at 279-4023.

Reading Between the Lines is designed to promote lively, informed conversation about humanities themes and strengthen the relationship between humanities institutions and the public. Reading Between the Lines series are currently being held in communities across New York State.

For more information about Reading Between the Lines: Rethinking Religion—Recent Women’s Novels and American Identity visit http://www.nyhumanities.org/discussion_groups/adult_audiences/syllabus9.php

The New York Council for the Humanities is a private, non-profit organization that helps all New Yorkers to lead vibrant intellectual lives by strengthening traditions of cultural literacy, critical inquiry and civic participation. To find out more about the Council visit www.nyhumanities.org

Reading Between the Lines for Adults was developed in partnership with the Center for the Humanities at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of either the Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Tags: Bookish Thoughts....Reviews & More, Library News by Julie
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There’s a new genre of self-help–books with tips on everyday tasks that everyone used to know. I’m thinking of How to Sew a Button: and Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew, by Erin Bried. Some of you still possess this sort of knowledge, and will be surprised to hear that there are people who must be told that chicken stock is made with leftover chicken bones….just the other day I was making a shrimp marinade in the kitchen and heard “Gross! What’s wrong with those shrimp? Aren’t they supposed to be pink?” To which I replied, “Not when they’re raw. Have you been in this room of the house before? Do you know what it’s for?”

How to Sew a Button is for people like my young friend in the kitchen. The author, Erin Bried, lives in New York City, and we know this because in the foreword, we find this line: “It’s been so long since I’ve done my own laundry that I can no longer remember if you wash clothes in hot or cold.” For reference, she uses a cadre of grandmas. No offense, gents, but your grandma probably took care of your grandpa in a way you won’t be getting from the mail order bride of your dreams. They just don’t make housewives like they used to. My mom ironed Dad’s hankies into perfect little squares, and wore a dress to do it, too. These days she’s hoofing it to Vegas and buying rotisserie chicken to go…

The book covers most of adult life–there are chapters on Cooking, Gardening, Cleaning, Fitness, Budgeting, and Relationships, romantic and otherwise. It may sound mostly housekeeping related, but there are sections entitled How to Sing in Harmony, and How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep.  Can any book cover this much ground thoroughly in any given area? Probably not. But it’s a fun read.  Whether the people who need this information will know to look it up is another story. Some of it is clearly for entertainment purposes only–I offer a free darning egg from my collection to the first person to show me evidence that they’ve read and put to use the steps in “How to Darn a Wool Sock”.

I think Martha Stewart’s method for folding a fitted sheet beats the one in this book. Here’s a link to her website, with helpful photos. You just can’t beat the Martha….

Tags: Bookish Thoughts....Reviews & More by Julie
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I heard an author interviewed this morning on Radio Times, a public radio show on WHYY in Philadelphia. He is a first time novelist named Mahbod Seraji, and his book is Rooftops of Tehran. This book came out last year, and is in two libraries in our system. I had not heard of it before, but the reviews I looked up are very positive. Because it follows the coming of age of two boys, teenagers, in 1970’s Tehran, there are many comparisons to The Kite Runner.

The writer came to the United States as a teenager himself, unable to speak much English, so he subsisted for some time on “one Big Mac, small fries, small Coke”, which caused him to gain 17 lbs. He gradually learned to speak English, by making friends, and watching television. He returned to Iran for a visit twenty some years later, not having seen his father in the interim. Imagine saying goodbye to  a parent who is in his forties, and returning unable to figure out which of the men in their 60’s gathered to greet you is your own father.

Tags: Bookish Thoughts....Reviews & More by Julie
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