Inspiring Messages from Two Extraordinary Women

I recently had the pleasure of listening to two memorable works, Maya Angelou’s newest autobiography Mom & Me & Mom and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s memoir My Beloved World.

Maya Angelou narrates the audio CD of Mom & Me & Mom.  Her once booming voice is a little frail now but it nonetheless resonates with the listener. In Mom & Me & Mom, the 7th volume of her autobiographical series, Angelou describes her complex relationship with her mother, Vivian Baxter Johnson.  When her parent’s marriage began to fall apart, Angelou along with her brother Bailey were sent to live with their paternal Grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas.  Angelou lived with her Grandmother from the age of 3 to age 13.  When she is finally reunited with her mother, Angelou refuses to call her “Mom” instead referring to her as “lady”.  Angelou explores the path, often painful, that Mother and Daughter must take to reach forgiveness.  Angelou and her Mother grew extremely close after their reconciliation and Angelou credits the love and support of her Mother as one of the factors in her achieving great success; “My Mother’s gifts of courage to me were both large and small.  The latter are woven so subtly into the fabric of my psyche that I can hardly distinguish where she stops and I begin.”

 The audio CD of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s memoir My Beloved World is narrated by actress Rita Moreno. In My Beloved World, Sotomayor tells of her life growing up with an alcoholic Father and distant Mother in an impoverished Bronx neighborhood.  Like Maya Angelou, Sotomayor spends time with her paternal Grandmother, as her parent’s marriage fails. Sotomayor’s determination and self reliance help her deal with the early death of her father and her diagnosis of diabetes.  She excels in school and receives a full scholarship to Princeton University and graduates summa cum laude.  She then goes on to graduate from Yale Law School.  Throughout her memoir, Sotomayor celebrates her ethnicity and cultural heritage.  She is not afraid to tackle tough intimate subjects and address her failings.

 Maya Angelou and Justice Sotomayor show how hard work, faith and dedication can triumph over circumstance and greatness can be achieved.  They cherish memories of their beloved Mothers and Grandmothers and credit these women (however unconventional they were) as key factors in their success. Both books would make excellent choices for book clubs.

- posted by Lisa J., Readers’ Services

Afternoon Book Club

The Afternoon Book Club will meet on

May 28, 2013 at 1:30 PM to discuss

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

The award-winning author of The Financial Lives of the Poets presents his most romantic and enjoyable novel yet that follows a young Italian innkeeper and his almost-love affair with a beautiful American starlet, which draws him into a glittering world filled with unforgettable characters.

Please join Evelyn Hershkowitz, Readers’ Services Librarian

in Room B/C.  Refreshments will be served.

The books are available at the circulation desk.

Hope to see you there.

- posted by Evelyn, Readers’ Services

New to Book Club in a Bag

Syosset Public Library owns sets of book that are exclusively for local book clubs to check out for their discussions. Discussion questions are included in the set, along with biographical and critical material.  Readers’ Services has added the following titles to our Book Club in a Bag collection:

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

“A baseball star at a small college near Lake Michigan launches a routine throw that goes disastrously off course and inadvertently changes the lives of five people, including the college president, a gay teammate, and the president’s daughter.”  (From the publisher)

Maus: A Survivor’s Tale I, My Father Bleeds History and Maus:  A Survivor’s Tale II,  And Here My Troubles Begin Graphic biographies written and illustrated by Art Spiegelman.

Maus I:  “The author-illustrator traces his father’s imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp through a series of disarming and unusual cartoons arranged to tell the story as a novel.” (From the publisher)

Maus II:   “A narrative sequel to Maus captures the experience of the Holocaust as it chronicles the continuing story of Vladek, who survives Auschwitz, is reunited with his beloved Anja, and sires young Art.” (From the publisher)

Next to Love by Ellen Feldman

“Follows the stories of three young couples whose lives are irrevocably changed in the years following World War II, a period during which they struggle with difficult losses and witness profound transformations in American culture.” (From the publisher)

Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman

“Traces the author’s upbringing in a Hasidic community in Brooklyn, describing the strict rules that governed her life, arranged marriage at the age of seventeen, and the birth of her son, which led to her plan to leave and forge her own path in life.” (From the publisher)

Please contact Readers’ Services, 921-7161, ext 241 or 239

to reserve a book for your Book Club.

The revised Book Club in a Bag Pamphlet is available

at the Readers’ Services desk.

- posted by Evelyn, Readers’ Services

Evening Book Club

Join us on Tuesday, May 14th at 7:30PM,

as we discuss Ben Fountain’s award winning debut novel

“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”

“A ferocious firefight with Iraqi insurgents at “the battle of Al-Ansakar Canal”—three minutes and forty-three seconds of intense warfare caught on tape by an embedded Fox News crew—has transformed the eight surviving men of Bravo Squad into America’s most sought-after heroes. For the past two weeks, the Bush administration has sent them on a media-intensive nationwide Victory Tour to reinvigorate public support for the war. Now, on this chilly and rainy Thanksgiving, the Bravos are guests of America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys, slated to be part of the halftime show alongside the superstar pop group Destiny’s Child. Poignant, riotously funny, and exquisitely heartbreaking, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is a devastating portrait of our time.” (from the publisher)

Copies of the book are currently available

at the Main Floor Circulation Desk.

This program is free and no registration is required.

The discussion will be led by Ralph Guiteau, Readers’ Services Librarian.

We look forward to seeing you there.

- posted by Ralph, Readers’ Services

A Golf Themed Book Discussion

The first of the PGA’s (Professional Golf Association) 4 major tournaments, The Master’s, was held this past week, on April 11, 2013 through April 14, 2013 at majestic Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia.  Nothing says spring has arrived than the lush red and purple azaleas in bloom along the rich green grass of the Augusta National Fairway.  Another picturesque golf course is Pebble Beach in California where the waves of the Pacific Ocean crash into the rocks along the shoreline.  To quote the golfer Tom Watson, “No other game combines the wonder of nature with the discipline of sport in such carefully planned ways.  A great golf course both frees and challenges a golfer’s mind.” If you are looking for new subject matter for your book club to explore or to learn a few tidbits about the game of golf, here are a few suggestions that will evoke great discussions for your group.

The Back Nine by Billy Mott

Though he is older and slightly disheveled, Charlie McLeod can still drive the ball as straight and as far as the best players in the world. When his extraordinary skills are discovered, he quickly becomes embroiled in a high stakes game between his wealthy employers and a ferocious pro. What ensues is the hilarious and touching story of an underdog and the joys and life lessons found in the great game of golf.

The Kingdom of Shivas Irons by Michael Murphy

This is the enchanting story of Murphy’s return to Scotland in search of Shivas Irons and his wisdom about golf and human potential. Murphy’s quest takes him from the mystical golf courses of Scotland, across the world to the first Russian Open Golf Championship, and finally to Pebble Beach on the California Coast. The result is a delightful exploration of the inner game of golf and a provocative inquiry into our remarkable possibilities for growth and transformation.

The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen

As elderly women, sisters Twiss and Milly live alone in the house where they grew up in Spring Green, Wis. They spend their days tending to injured birds and roaming their land, lost in memories. For Milly, there is the constant reminder of what could have been. Twiss spent her childhood happily trailing behind their golf-pro father, but Milly dreamed about a family and children that never happened. There was hope for a young Milly, until an accident strips their father of his golfing abilities and sets in motion a series of events that rips apart the already unstable family.

Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons

After escaping Germany during WWII, Jack and Sadie Rosenblum, together with their baby daughter, settle into a life of acting “English.” In post-war England, however, no golf club will admit a Rosenblum. So Jack hatches a wild idea: he’ll build his own. It’s an obsession Sadie does not share, particularly when Jack relocates them to a thatched roof cottage in Dorset to embark on his project.

- posted by Lisa J., Readers’ Services

Afternoon Book Club

2013 Long Island Reads Selection to be discussed at

the April Meeting of the Afternoon Book Club

Join us on Tuesday, April 23 at 1:30 PM as we discuss J.R. Moehringer’s novel Sutton,  chosen as the 2013 Long Island Reads Selection.

To learn more about Long Island Reads, visit their website.

“This clever imagining of the surprise pardon of Willie Sutton, one of the most notorious criminals in American history, on Christmas Eve in 1969, traces the remarkable life of this mysterious man, who was known to police as the Babe Ruth of Bank Robbers, and his doomed, dangerous romance with his first love.” (From the Publisher)

Copies of the book are currently available at the Circulation Desk on the main floor.  This program is free and no registration is required.  The discussion will be led by Jackie Ranaldo, Head of Readers’ Services.  We look forward to seeing you there.

For more information regarding author J.R. Moehringer,

visit his Facebook Page.

-posted by Jackie, Readers’ Services

20 & 30 Something Book Club

The Syosset Public Library 20 & 30-Something Book Club will be meeting on Monday, April 8th   at 7PM to discuss the novel “Super Sad True Love Story” by Gary Shteyngart.

“In the near future, America is crushed by a financial crisis and our patient Chinese creditors may just be ready to foreclose on the whole mess. Then Lenny Abramov, son of a Russian immigrant janitor and ardent fan of “printed, bound media artifacts” (aka books), meets Eunice Park, an impossibly cute Korean American woman with a major in Images and a minor in Assertiveness. Could falling in love redeem a planet falling apart?” (From the Publisher)

This program is open to any 20-something/30-Something looking for a great book discussion.  No registration is required and the program is free.  Non-Syosset residents are welcome.  Copies of the book are still available at the Readers’ Services Desk on the 2nd floor.  Please call 516-921-7161 x 239 for details.  The discussion will be led by Jessikah Chautin and Jackie Ranaldo, 20 –Something Librarians.  Look forward to seeing you there.

Don’t forget – Friend us on Facebook: Syosset Public Library 20-Something Book Club

- posted by Jackie, Readers’ Services

Agatha’s Own Favorites

Now that Agatha Christie Month at the Syosset Public Library is drawing to a close I would like to leave you all with a little treat. Dame Christie wrote over 100 different works.  Have you ever wondered which of those were her own favorites?  According to the official Agatha Christie website, these were her favorites (in no particular order):

Murder on the Orient Express

Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. One of his fellow passengers must be the murderer. Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man’s enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again.

And Then There Were None

Ten people arrive on Indian Island off England’s southwest coast. They have been drawn there, to a grand mansion, by enticing invitations from a mysterious host. Of them, none will leave alive. They are the prey of a diabolical killer. Gradually each realizes that every single one of them is marked for murder. Terror mounts as their numbers dwindle.

Towards Zero

“I like a good detective story, but they begin in the wrong place! They begin with the murder. But the murder is the end. The story begins long before that.” So remarks esteemed criminologist Mr. Treves. Truer words have never been spoken, for a psychopathic killer has insinuated himself , with cunning manipulation, into a quiet village on the river Tern. But who is his intended victim? What are his unfathomable motives? And how and when will he reach the point of murder…the zero point?

Crooked House

In the affluent suburb of Swindley Dean, Aristide Leonides lies dead from barbiturate poisoning. An accident? The police think it’s unlikely, and suspicion immediately falls on Aristide’s luscious widow, fifty years his junior, who is now set to inherit a fortune. But criminologist Charles Hayward is taking a much harder look. He’s casting about his own doubts on the innocence of the entire Leonides brood and every member of the Leonides clan has a motive.

Ordeal by Innocence

Recovering from amnesia, Dr. Arthur Calgary discovers that he alone could have provided an alibi in a scandalous murder trial. It ended in the conviction of Jacko Argyle. The victim was Jacko’s own mother, and to make matters worse, he died in prison. But the young man’s innocence means that someone else killed the Argyle matriarch, and would certainly kill again to remain in the shadows.

The Moving Finger

The placid village of Lymstock seems the perfect place for Jerry Burton to recuperate from his accident under the care of his sister, Joanna. But soon a series of vicious poison-pen letters destroys the village’s quiet charm, eventually causing one recipient to commit suicide. The vicar, the doctor, the servants—all are on the verge of accusing one another when help arrives from an unexpected quarter. The vicar’s houseguest happens to be none other than Jane Marple.

Endless Night

Gipsy’s Acre was a truly beautiful place, with views of the sea, and in Michael Rogers it stirred a childlike fantasy. There, among the dark fir trees, he planned to build a house, find a girl, and live happily ever after. Yet, as he left the village, a shadow of menace hung over the land?for this was the place where accidents happened.

A Murder is Announced

You are cordially invited to a murder. A personal ad in the newspaper inviting strangers to participate in an evening of murder mystery fun and games at the home of Letitia Blacklock is an invitation that Miss Jane Marple cannot pass up. A good thing, too, because when the lights are dimmed real gunshots ring out, killing a young boy. Now it’s time for a new, much more serious game of “whodunit.”

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

A murder in a small English village leads Hercule Poirot into a strange mystery involving a determined, curious spinster, the local doctor, and a wide range of suspects with possible motives and mysterious relationships.

- posted by Sonia, Readers’ Services