More Agatha Christie

 This week I read The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie. It was very good! I had been told that this book had a surprise ending that received rave reviews when it was first released.  I was kind of skeptical. There have been so many mysteries written since then with complicated plots and twists.  How original could it really be?  Well, I was surprised!  I really didn't see it coming.  I had a few things figured out that turned out to be correct, but I had missed a couple of significant clues. 

     I have come to realize with Christie books that I sometimes miss clues because I don't understand the culture and language of the time period.  There will be a word that I don't know and I'll figure out the approximate meaning from the context, but I won't understand it well enough to realize that it was a clue in the mystery.  For instance, if I'm not sure what a "perambulator" is, how can I know that it could be mistaken for someone pushing a wheelbarrow.  From the context in which it was used, I pictured it as a laundry cart, not a baby carriage or wheelbarrow type of thing.

     I'm getting kind of burnt out on Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  I think I'll have to read something a little more contemporary for a while. I'm not sure yet if I'll stick with thrillers or something light, but I'll keep you informed :-)

Way back when...

Way back when I first started this blog, I admitted my lack of skill at reading classics. I was going to cure myself of this by reading War and Peace! Well, you can imagine how that went :)
Since then, I tried a few times to read classics, but was again discouraged and failed to complete even a single book. I tried, Moby Dick and made it a paragraph or two past, "Call me Ishmael".


I made it a chapter or two into "The Scarlet Letter" before I found myself hopelessly lost, so I watched the movie with Demi Moore :)













"The Picture of Dorian Gray" overwhelmed me with the page long descriptions of unimportant characters after about 25 pages.

Then I started reading "The Hound of the Baskervilles"! It took me a little bit to get my mind to think in early 20th Century English, but after that it was smooth sailing. I finished that book and then read 3 more Sherlock Holmes tales. After that, I started on Agatha Christie books! I've finished two and have requested "The Mouse Trap" and "The Man in the Brown Suit" from neighboring libraries.




I sometimes reward myself for finishing a book, by watching the movie. Many of the classics have been made into films at least once througout the years. Although, since I've been reading mostly mysteries, it has been a bit disappointing because I already know, "Who dunnit!"

So... if you're like me and struggle with classics, my advice to you is to keep on trying. You just need to find the right book, author or genre. All is not lost!

Bye for now :)

2010 WVLS Technology Seminar

Last week I had the privilege of attending the Wisconsin Valley Library System technology conference in Wausau.  In the morning we had a live video conference presented by Sue Polanka.  Sue is the moderator of No Shelf Required, a blog that discusses e-books and readers and their place in libraries.  The afternoon was time for demonstrations of the 3 most popular e-readers, Amazon Kindle, Sony E-reader and Barnes & Noble's Nook. 

I went in with very little knowledge about the Kindle and Nook and was most interested in the Sony.  My boss, David, had won an E-reader at one of the other WVLS meetings and had given it to our library.  I'd played with it a little bit, but had quite a few questions that I needed answered before I felt we could start checking out and circulating it to our patrons.  I got most of my questions answered and a lot more too. 

I was most surprised to learn that I didn't have to purchase a bunch of expensive best sellers to download to the e-readers.  There are lots of e-books available to check out at Overdrive.  These books, you check out just like library books and after a few weeks they expire and you can delete them from the e-reader.  There are also thousands of books available at the Gutenberg Project.  These are books whose copyrights have expired, so they are now public domain.  I found lots of classics there to download - Around the World in 80 days, Wuthering Heights and Dracula - to name a few :) 

As far as a preference in e-readers, I think I might try the B&N Nook personally when I get around to purchasing an e-reader of my own.  I had concerns about the compatability of the Kindle with other readers and file types and the Sony E-reader doesn't have internet access while the other 2 do.  Apparently though, there are over 50 different e-readers available right now, they are just not as well known as the big 3. So, my opinion may change as I learn more about some of the others. 

I think that an e-reader would be most useful to someone who travels a lot for business or pleasure.  You can keep a library of 1000s of books on one e-reader, so you will always have the right book with you.  Another great advantage of e-readers is the ability to change the font size, so now any book you have can be read in large print. 

With more and more e-readers becoming available in libraries and the prices dropping lower and lower, I suggest that you all find one to try and get familiar with them and their many capabilities.  They seem like a lot of fun.

Writer's Workshop

The Rib Lake Library hosted it's second annual Creative Writing Workshop on Saturday, August 7th.  Sue Roupp, author and poet, shared tips for improving writing skills and enjoying the process.  Here are a few examples of the ideas she shares at her workshops:

• write/type as fast as you can to unleash creativity and curb fear
• write every day or think about it - key to good writing

About a dozen patrons joined us for the afternoon.  One of our patrons, Alise Swan, had this to say about the workshop:

"I didn't know what to expect when I decided to attend the Rib Lake Library's Creative Writing Workshop.  I had never gone to something like this before.
It turned out to be a fulfilling experience. We were taught how to focus our minds and let our creative juices flow. The instructor was very encouraging to all of us there. She had helpful tips for those that have been writing for awhile as well as novices to the pen. Our group consisted of new writers of all ages from 13 to over 50 yrs old. I am sure that good things will come of this event and cannot wait to read some new material written by upcoming Rib Lake authors."

Thanks to everyone who helped make this a successful afternoon.  We are planning to have Sue Roupp join us again.  Check back next summer for more details. 

Foraging in Nature's Garden and Making a Splash

We had a great time last week here at the RL library with 2 big events in 2 days!

We started out on June 8th with author Sam Thayer paying us a visit.  In spite of the damp, cold weather a group of almost 30 people went out to Holiday Hills Campground to explore the Standish Price Wild Food Interpretive Trail.  Although we had Sam to take us through part of the trail, when finished, it will be a self guided tour into the world of foraging wild edibles with a brochure describing the clearly labeled plants. This is the second time that Sam has visited us over the past couple of years and both times have been a great success.  He really draws the crowd in with his expert knowledge on foraging.  Who knew that there were 4 different parts of a cattail that are edible!?   I suggest giving his books a try when you get the chance - you never know when you might want to try some Sumac Juice or Fiddleheads :)
















The following afternoon, singer, sailor and storyteller, Tom Kastle, come in and entertained a group of about 50 people, mostly children.  Tom taught the children about sailing through his songs. They learned what a windlass is (a machine that sailors use to pull up big anchors) and the fancy name for the rope you use to raise a flag or sail (halyard).  The children enjoyed the guitar and concertina and asked about the tall ships on the Great Lakes.  He must have really have awakened their curiousity about sailing because I think every book we own about sailing, ships and pirates was checked out after the program :)  Tom has a few music CD's available on Amazon and you can pre-order his new one, Tommy's Gone to Hilo, from his website.