The American Way of Volunteering

Earlier this year, the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System had a visitor from Germany. Beate Hoerning was traveling across the U.S. by train, interviewing volunteers in American public libraries in a search "to find historical, sociological, mental and economic roots and reasons for the very successful 'American Way of Volunteering.'" She hoped to bring some of the lessons she learned with us back to Europe, where volunteering is not as popular.

Read her story as she travels from New York to Los Angeles in ALA's International Leads publication.

Do You Have an Itch to Stitch?

Many of the libraries have stitching groups these days. Juan Tabo has a Stitch in Time, Taylor Ranch has A Good Yarn, East Mountain has Sandia Stitch 'n Time--days & times vary, so check out the library website for more information. Here at Cherry Hills we have An Itch to Stitch, meeting weekly from 10AM-noon on Tuesdays.

An Itch to Stitch is an eclectic group, including crocheters, knitters, cross-stitchers, embroiderers & quilters. Our intrepid needlers meet to craft together, talk together, laugh together. This past week, they celebrated the kickoff of the holiday season with a party--finger foods & fun! They have also been choosing a book to read monthly and discuss. The current book is Ghost at the Table by Suzanne Berne.

All are welcome to attend any of the library stitching groups. So drop in & meet with like-minded crafters, whether you need advice on a project or just want to chat. Also check out our Stone Soup Crafts program this Saturday, December 5th @ 3:30 PM. It's a chance for you to share your leftover craft supplies--fabric, wood, yarn, what have you--with other folks. So stop by with your leftovers & sift through other people's & out of the Stone Soup cauldron of crafts we'll brew up something new!

Book on the Side: Week 3

As we wend our leisurely way through The Thirteenth Tale, I'm happy to say that I have finally made some progress with the novel. As soon as I started reading, I was immediately sucked into the plot & especially the mystery. I think Diane Setterfield has done a really good job writing a modern Gothic novel. The Thirteenth Tale seems to me to have all the elements of Gothic fiction (as defined by Wikipedia)--a ruined house, madness, secrets, hereditary curses, secrets, darkness, doubles. & while, like many others I've spoken to, I was not exactly smitten with the protagonist, Margaret, I think that she is an important piece of the novel. She is a protagonist in the tradition of Rebecca's unnamed protagonist--"lacking self-confidence and overwhelmed by her new life." (Wikipedia)

How is your reading coming along? Are you enjoying it? The book has impressed me so far as exhibiting "a pleasing sort of terror", straddling the genres of horror & mystery. I've been at the edge of my seat reading, that's for sure.

I made it! Last night at 1 AM I wrote my 50,000 word, went to the website to validate my word count, was told I only had 49,917 words, wrote some more, validated again, and lo and behold, I am a winner of NaNoWriMo 2009! (I get a printable certificate and a web badge.)

Winning, by the way, just indicates that I reached my 50,000 word goal. Actually, I have a few more pages to write to wind up my last plot threads, and I can go back to the site and update my word count if I finish any time before midnight on Monday, November 30th. But frankly, I am so excited not to be working on a deadline that I'm not sure any more writing will be done this week. Just to give you an idea of me working against the clock, I wrote 6,000 words between Thanksgiving dinner and returning to work on Saturday morning. I'm exhausted!

Hurrah for NaNoWriMo!

Book on the Side: Week 2

I've got to confess: I'm behind in my reading of The Thirteenth Tale. What with writing 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month (current word count: 32, 000) and getting ready for Thanksgiving, it has just fallen by the wayside.

So, our idea is, let's continue with our reading of The Thirteenth Tale into December, which will give us a chance to catch up & not give us, or any of you, another reading assignment during the busy holiday season. We'll start afresh with a new book in January, so if you have suggestions, don't hesitate to start letting us know!

For those of you who have been diligently reading & looking forward to discussion, I consulted with Thirteenth Tale fan Elisabeth for some commentary:

Elisabeth doesn't like mysteries, but she liked this book--she found it to be a great psychological story, like Rebecca, dark & slightly creepy. Elisabeth thought Margaret was a bit of a cold fish and Vida was sometimes annoying but feisty & more likeable. She also liked the characters of the housekeeper & the gardener. The most interesting thing about Elisabeth's experience with The Thirteenth Tale is that she first listened to it on audiobook, but disliked the reader & was not very interested in the book. However, when her book group opted to read the book, Elisabeth tried reading it in book form & loved it.

Do you agree? Disagree? Inquiring minds want to know, we want to know!

What We're Reading...

We're librarians. We're surrounded by books all day. It's kind of like being a kid in a candy store. So, even though we're working all day & reading books for the library book groups all night, sometimes we just want to read something just for fun.

Joy just read Katherine Hall Page's The Body in the Sleigh, the latest book in her Faith Fairchild series. Joy's enjoyed following the adventures of Faith through the eighteen-odd books written about her. Joy was also tickled pink to see Ms. Page's Author's Note at the end of The Body in the Sleigh, which contains, in addition to the book's dedication to librarians (aw, shucks, you shouldn't have), the story of how this book came to be written and an explanation of what libraries & librarians mean to the author. Ms. Page won Joy's heart by starting off with a quote from Henry Ward Beecher (brother of Harriet): "A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life."

Joy recommends the Faith Fairchild series for those who like a good cozy mystery--with recipes, to boot! Over the years, Faith has come to seem like an old friend of Joy's & Joy hopes you'll feel the same.

Book on the Side: Week 1

How are you enjoying The Thirteenth Tale? We've been debating it amongst my co-workers. One didn't like the book--she found the characters too self-consciously odd, as though the author was trying too hard to make them quirky. Another did enjoy the book, particularly the mystery aspect of it.


Much of the novel takes place in two grand estates --- Angelfield and then Miss Winter’s. How are the houses reflections of their inhabitants?

As the story unfolds, we learn that Margaret and Miss Winter are both twins. What else do they have in common?

I've seen The Thirteenth Tale listed as 'having all the mystery of a modern day blockbuster' and as gothic fiction, in the tradition of the Brontë sisters. Do you agree with these classifications?