Most Popular Classics in Lititz

The library director's Lititz Record newspaper column this week is intriguing. Susan wrote:
"A recent survey of the Lititz Public Library’s adult fiction collection found 430 novels designated as “literary classics”. . . . The titles are found on school reading lists and as book club selections, often rediscovered after a PBS miniseries airing. Surprisingly, 13% are borrowed from the library at least once a month, with 85% borrowed one or more times per year."

She then revealed the top ten most borrowed classics in the Lititz Public Library collection. Here they are...
#1 – Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
#2 – Emma by Jane Austen
#3 – The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
#4 – Persuasion by Jane Austen
#5 – The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
#6 – Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
#7 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
#8 – Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
#9 – The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
#10 – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

If this list whets your appetite for a classic read, stop by and pick up our brochure listing the most popular and some lesser known classics. Right now, the brochure is on top of the western fiction shelf in adult fiction. Thank you to volunteers Sue and Nicki for creating it!

Two Are Better Than One?

As a fan of nonfiction, I love the variety of subjects to choose from. Sometimes, though, I find myself so immersed in a topic that I still want more after my first book on a subject is finished. Many times, I discover related reading that piques my interest cited right within the first book. I think that a 'double shot' of a certain topic also helps me to gain a more objective perspective about an issue or a person.

Here are some duos that I have recently read:

Two books about the school shooting in Littleton, Colorado (there are certainly more than two on this topic) -
Columbine by David Cullen (373.38882 CUL)
Cullen spent ten years researching the events and people surrounding the Columbine High School shooting. The result is a fascinating and nearly comprehensive treatment of the subject.

No Easy Answers by Brooks Brown (373.38882 BRO)
This book was written much sooner after the shooting occurred, and the author was a personal friend of the shooters. As a result, this book offers a more emotional and less scholarly or literary look at the story.

Two recent books about the life of former NFL player Pat Tillman -
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer (B TILLMA PAT KRAKAU)
Krakauer, famous for previous books such as Into the Wild, devotes his newest book to the life of football player turned Army Ranger, Pat Tillman. Krakauer not only examines the unique character and integrity of Tillman, who was killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan, but also includes important background which presents Tillman's sacrifice in an even more profound way.

Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman by Mary Tillman (B TILLMA PAT TILLMA)
This title, written by Pat Tillman's mother, was published prior to Krakauer's book. Mary Tillman focuses primarly on personal memories of her son along with the convoluted details of her long fight to uncover the truth regarding his death.

Here is another pair that I am interested in reading:

Patrick Swayze: One Last Dance by Wendy Leigh (SWAYZE PATRIC LEIGH)

A recent biography of the dancer and actor Patrick Swayze.

The Time of My Life by Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi (B SWAYZE PATRIC SWAYZE)

Swayze's autobiography, written with his wife and completed shortly before his death.

New Early Literacy Service for Children

Everyone with a valid Library System of Lancaster County can now use the BookFLIX(TM) website from Scholastic to read children's books online! This access to the BookFLIX collection was paid for by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

Visit online.lancasterlibraries.org - type in a valid library card number - then click on the BookFLIX icon and have fun... The books are divided into categories such as "Animals and Nature," "Family and Community" and "Imagination." When I sampled one of the online books, it brought back good memories of my Reading Rainbow-watching days.

Don't forget, we also offer TumbleBooks(TM), another great source of online storybooks for children. You can access TumbleBooks the same way as described above for BookFLIX.

Cultural Memoirs

Our director's most recent newspaper column points out several cultural memoirs that can be borrowed from the Lititz Library collection. These books offer fascinating insights from authors who have navigated between cultures, sharing their observations with readers. Here are a few examples:

Laughing Without an Accent: Adventures of an Iranian American, at Home and Abroad by Firoozeh Dumas (910.4 DUM)

Amusing tales of the author’s Iranian-American family and their experiences, from dealing with her French husband’s Christmas traditions to taking fifty-one Iranian family members on a cruise to Alaska.

That Summer in Sicily: A Love Story by Marlena de Blasi (914.58 DEB)

The author and her Venetian husband travel to the mountainous heart of Sicily and discover a world much removed from modern life.

My Heart’s in the Lowlands: Ten Days in Bonny Scotland by Liz Curtis Higgs (914.147 HIG)

Best-selling novelist shares an entertaining journey through Dumfries and Galloway, exploring the villages, crumbling castles, bookshops and charming tearooms of the Scottish Lowlands.

The Prince of the Marshes: and Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq by Rory Stewart (956.70443 STE)

The author, a former fellow at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, shares the frustrations of reconstructing the marsh regions of southern Iraq after he was appointed deputy governor of two provinces.

Marrying Anita: A Quest for Love in the New India by Anita Jain (B JAIN ANITA JAIN)

A journalist decides to pursue an arranged marriage in her parent’s native India, an endeavor marked by cultural perceptions about her age, an onslaught of nosy relatives and dozens of potential husbands.

National Parks receive well-deserved attention

Have you been inspired by the new Ken Burns film that premiered on PBS this week? If you're looking for more information related to the national parks or other topics featured in the film, here are a few suggestions from our collection...

John Muir: Nature's Visionary by Gretel Ehrlich
(B MUIR JOHN EHRLIC)
~ A beautiful blend of photos and text,
published by National Geographic

A Passion for Nature: the Life of John Muir by Donald Worster
(B MUIR JOHN WORSTE)
~ A 2008 Oxford University Press biography of Muir



National Parks Collection by National Geographic Television
(DVD 917.3 NAT)
~Includes 7 discs featuring overviews of some of the major parks; originally broadcast on National Geographic Channel


NPR Road Trips: National Park Adventures by National Public Radio and HighBridge Audio (CD 791.4475 NPR)
~NPR presents a collection of stories focused on America's national parks; selections originally broadcast between Feb. 28, 2005, and July 4, 2008

For more information online, see The National Park Service site and The National Park Foundation site. Search the catalog to check on availability of the items mentioned above.

Book Discussion Group at the Library

A new season for our Literary Travelogue begins in October. Join us as we discuss contemporary fiction written by an international author or set in a foreign land. Deborah Linder will again lead the discussions, which run from 10 AM to 12 noon.

This season's books:
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (October 23)

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (December 4)

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (January 15)

City of Thieves by David Benioff (February 19)

Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner (March 26)

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (May 7)

Even if you can't attend the discussions, you may want to read along with some of the book selections. Use the catalog to check on the availability of the titles you'd like to read.

National Book Festival 2009

Today is the day for the National Book Festival on the mall in Washington, DC!

The Library of Congress has said that they will be making webcasts of the day's presentations available sometime in the late afternoon. Podcasts from a number of the Festival authors are already available. The Library of Congress is also launching a great new website, Read.gov. Exciting!