50 Years Ago…

The library has a display on the third floor commemorating the 50th anniversary of the watershed year 1968. In a Time magazine article earlier this year historian Jon Meacham compared the year 1968 to 1776, 1861 and 1941 as a time when everything in U.S. history changed http://time.com/5107482/50-years-after-1968-still-living-in-its-shadow/

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It was indeed a turbulent year. It was a sad year marked by the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy. There was anger. In January the Viet Cong launched the Tet Offensive. Protests against the Vietnam War escalated with demonstrations on university campuses and at the Democratic National Convention. Olympic runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in a Black Power salute during the Olympic medal ceremony in Mexico City.

Lyndon Johnson surprisingly announced he would not run for reelection. Richard Nixon was elected as the 37th President in November.

 

The Prague Spring began the year with hope when Alexander Dubcek was chosen as the Czech leader promising a government of “socialism with a human face.” But when members of the Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia with tanks and troops the period of liberalizing reforms quickly ended and totalitarian Soviet rule was reinstated.

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But there were lighter notes that year. Some cultural highlights included the first TV broadcast of “60 Minutes” and “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.” In the movies “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Planet of the Apes” were popular. And “Hair” opened in London. The year also saw the introduction of Hot Wheels toy cars and McDonald’s Big Mac. The Beatles started Apple records with “Hey Jude” as its first single.

The year ended on a high note with the successful Apollo 8 mission. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William A. Anders became the first humans to see the far side of the moon.

Visit the library and choose a book (or two!) from the display to increase your understanding of this time period.

-posted by Brenda, Reference Services

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New in DVD

Mission Impossible: Fallout

Action PG-12

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a mission gone wrong.

 

Pope Francis: A Man of his Word

Documentary PG

Pope Francis travels the world speaking to those in need and delivering a message of hope.

 

God Bless the Broken Road

Drama PG

While grieving the loss of her husband, a financially struggling widow meets a race car driver

-posted by Ralph, Media Services

Looking ahead to December…Recap Your Book Club’s Year

Many book clubs skip having a December meeting as it is a very busy and hectic time of year. Instead of cancelling your meeting, your group might skip reading a new book in December and recap all the book discussions you have had during the year.  Make a holiday party of it while you discover new perspectives on the books you’ve enjoyed (or not!).  With this in mind, the following is a recap of the book discussions I had the pleasure of facilitating at Syosset Public Library during 2018. You might consider one of the following for one of your own book discussions.

January 2018: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

“This literary thriller-mystery is an entertaining and thought provoking read – extremely discussible”

Follows a Viet Cong agent as he spies on a South Vietnamese army general and his compatriots as they start a new life in 1975 Los Angeles.

April 2018: My Life, My Love, My Legacy by Coretta Scott King

“This title was chosen to tie-in with the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Not knowing much about his widow before, I was glad to have the opportunity to read this book. It is an interesting life story told well and other discussion participants thought so too.” 

The wife of Martin Luther King Jr., founder of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change and singular 20th-century American civil rights activist presents her full life story, as told before her death to one of her closest confidants.

 June 2018: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 

“My most well attended discussion of the year.  A wonderful book, one of the best I’ve read this year.” 

Deemed unrepentant by a Bolshevik tribunal in 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house arrest in a hotel across the street from the Kremlin, where he lives in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history unfold.

September 2018: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 

“This year’s Banned Book discussion choice was a surprise for me, not what I expected at all. 200 years old this year, the book is as timely now as it was then.”

Obsessed with creating life in a laboratory, a medical student haunts graveyards and dissecting rooms in search of the materials for his experiments. But when he achieves success, he rejects his ghastly creation. The creature — longing for love but shunned by all — turns evil and exacts revenge.

-all summaries from the publishers

 Let us know if you have any recommendations for book discussion choices in the comments.

*This article previously appeared in Syosset Public Library’s newsletter The Book Club Insider, November 2018 issue*

-Posted by Sonia, Reference Services

 

 

New in DVD

Searching

Drama PG-13

After David Kim’s sixteen-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter’s laptop. David must trace his daughter’s digital footprints before she disappears forever.

-posted by Sonia

FOUR NEW MUSEUM PASSES AT SYOSSET LIBRARY

Visit art museums, historic sites, parks and other cultural venues with a Syosset Library Museum Pass. Four new passes have been added, bringing the grand total to 31. The new passes are:

Planting Fields Arboretum

Oyster Bay Railroad Museum

Hofstra University Museum of Art

NYS Empire Pass

To make a reservation using your Syosset Public Library Card and/or view the full list of museum passes, please visit the Museum Pass Program page of our website.

What We’re Reading Now

We’re checking in with our staff today to see what they’re reading:

Jackie, Head of Readers’ Services:

“I just finished rereading the 2011 National Book Award Fiction Winner, Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward:  An incredible story of one poverty stricken family’s decision to ride out Hurricane Katrina in their coastal Mississippi home. Highly recommended!”

Enduring a hardscrabble existence as the children of alcoholic and absent parents, four siblings from a coastal Mississippi town prepare their meager stores for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina while struggling with such challenges as a teen “pregnancy and a dying litter of prize pups.*

Evelyn, Readers’ Services Librarian:

“Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens – the best book I read this year.”

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She’s barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark. But Kya is not what they say.*

Amy, Children’s Services Librarian:

“Currently reading: This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philipps.”

Presents a memoir by the beloved comedic actress known for her roles on Freaks and Geeks, Dawson’s Creek and Cougar Town, who has become a breakout star on Instagram.*

 

Rosemarie B., Children’s Services Librarian:

“Just finished Vox by Christina Dalcher. Dr. Jean McClellan is haunted by her complacency during her college days in this dystopian novel in the not-so-far future.  The United States government has put women in “their rightful place” by systematically limiting the words they can use each day.  Is 100 words a day enough to make a change?  Dr. McClellan truly hopes so.”

Pam M., Assistant Library Director:

“The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa”

Stripped of her family’s privileges by the Nazi party in 1939 Berlin, Hannah Rosenthal forges a pact that she will remain true to her best friend, Leo, before embarking on a refugee ship bound for Havana, where rumors of a deadly plot force her to make an impossible choice.*

Sonia, Health Reference Librarian:

“Genius Foods by Max Lugavere  This is a fascinating book about how what we eat affects our brains, and in turn, the rest of our bodies.”

Draws on the author’s in-depth research into dementia in the wake of his own mother’s mysterious diagnosis to outline practical recommendations for optimizing mental performance and balance through a high-nutrition diet tailored specifically for brain health.*

*Summary from the publisher.

-posted by Sonia, Reference Services

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New in DVD

Crazy Rich Asians

Comedy PG-13

Native New Yorker Rachel Chu accompanies her longtime boyfriend, Nick Young, to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore. Excited about visiting Asia for the first time but nervous about meeting Nick’s family, Rachel is unprepared to learn that Nick has neglected to mention a few key details about his life. It turns out that he is not only the scion of one of the country’s wealthiest families but also one of its most sought-after bachelors.

Kin

Science Fiction PG-13

Chased by a vengeful criminal, the feds and a gang of otherworldly soldiers, a recently released ex-con and his adopted teenage brother are forced to go on the run with a weapon of mysterious origin as their only protection.

-posted by Ralph, Media Services