December’s Book Displays

In keeping with the season, our first display is Happy Holidays.  What better way to celebrate than with food!  Lots of cookbooks and guides for Christmas celebrations and Jewish holidays. The display also includes a couple of Christmas themed novels. Readers’ Services is offering the Adult Winter Reading Club and will be hosting the Year-End Readers’ Services Celebration with author Kitty Zeldis on December 17, 2019 at 2 pm. No registration is required and refreshments will be served.

Take a Byte Out of a Good Book is the theme for our second display. There is plenty to learn about computers and technology and this display has it – from the Internet, Mac Books, iCloud, Photoshop, Adobe, Access to coding, blogging, Twitter and more. Some of the books are geared towards Seniors and “Dummies.”

 

 

The two mini-displays* are:

• Get Cozy with the Elm Creek Quilters – a series written by Jennifer Chiaverini.
• Classics You May Have Missed.

*Mini-displays are subject to and do change during the month*

On the third floor the health librarian’s display is Consider the Caregiver. Being a caregiver is an emotionally challenging role in today’s society. In many instances, a person can be suddenly put into this role without any training. These books can help you understand how to care for a loved one and how to get them the professional help they need. Lots of handouts!

 

On the lighter side, American Art is the topic for the other third floor display. Come and enjoy this collection of oversized books with lots of pictures of American artwork – lots to see and learn.

Happy Holidays to all our wonderful Syosset Public Library patrons!

-posted by Betty, Reference Services

Coming Soon: Movies Based on Classic Books

The Jungle Book – April 15

Starring Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba and Christopher Walken.

Based on the book by Rudyard Kipling.

 

Alice Through the Looking Glass – May 27

Starring Johnny Depp, Sacha Baron Cohen and Anne Hathaway.

Based on the book by Lewis Carroll.

The Legend of Tarzan – July 1

Starring Margot Robbie, Ella Purnell and Alexander Skarsgård

Based on the books by Edgar Rice Burrowes.

Afternoon Book Club

 

Join us on March 24, 2015  at 1:30 PM for a discussion

of the Jane Austen classic

Pride and Prejudice

with Sonia Grgas, Reference Librarian

“When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers thatDarcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life.” – from the publisher.

This program is free and all are welcome.

Books are currently available at the circulation desk.

Hope to see you there!

– posted by Sonia, Reference Services

 

Evening Book Club

to discuss

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

in celebration of 70 years of publication

Please join us on Tuesday, January 13 at 7:30 PM to discuss the classic novella The Pearl by John Steinbeck.  The discussion will be led by Jackie Ranaldo, Head of Readers’ Services.

“One of Steinbeck’s most taught works, The Pearl is the story of the Mexican diver Kino, whose discovery of a magnificent pearl from the Gulf beds means the promise of a better life for his impoverished family. His dream blinds him to the greed and suspicions the pearl arouses in him and his neighbors, and even his loving wife Juana cannot temper his obsession or stem the events leading to tragedy. This classic novella from Nobel Prize-winner John Steinbeck examines the fallacy of the American dream, and illustrates the fall from innocence experienced by people who believe that wealth erases all problems.” (From the Publisher)

All are welcome.

No registration required.  Free.

Copies of the book are currently available at the Circulation Desk on the Main Floor.

For more information, contact the Readers’ Services Department: 516-921-7161 x 239.

– posted by Jackie, Readrers’ Services

10 Classics Its Time to Reread This Spring!

As an admitted “Book Fanatic”, I read constantly, averaging about 100 books per year.  Lately though, I have found myself so overwhelmed by all the new books being released that I haven’t made time to read the classics.

Every once in awhile it’s refreshing to look back at the titles that have lasted through generations of readers and figure out what makes them so great.  I’ve decided classics are always better the second time around.  I find myself able to appreciate the writing, the tone, the foreshadowing and other literary elements because I’m not worrying about what happens next… I already know the ending.  Below are the titles I believe are worth a second reading (or first, if you’ve never read them).  Yes, there are MANY more that I could add.  These are just my favorites …

My first choice is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and a remake of the original film is rumored to be in the works.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

“First published in 1939, Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads, driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity.”

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

“The explosion of racial hate and violence in a small Alabama town is viewed by a young girl whose father defends a black man accused of rape.”

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

“A Chinese peasant overcomes the forces of nature and the frailties of human nature to become a wealthy landowner.”

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

“An unlikely pair, George and Lennie, two migrant workers in California during the Great Depression, grasp for their American Dream in a tale of commitment, loneliness, hope and loss.”

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

“Huxley’s classic prophetic novel describes the socialized horrors of a futuristic utopia devoid of individual freedom.”

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

“A young man newly rich tries to recapture the past and win back his former love, despite the fact she has married.”

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

“A poor fisherman dreams of wealth and happiness for his family when he finds a priceless pearl.”

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

“The classic study of human nature which depicts the degeneration of a group of schoolboys marooned on a desert island.”

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

“When Buck is stolen from his kind family, he must quickly learn a new set of survival rules as he is taken away to the gold-crazed North by unsavory men.”

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

“Growing up in the home of a cruel aunt and a harsh charity school, Jane Eyre, an orphaned young woman, accepts employment as a governess at Thornfield Hall and soon finds herself in love with her employer, the enigmatic Rochester.”

*All descriptions from the Publishers.

– Posted by Jackie Ranaldo, Head of Readers’ Services

Question of the Week #1

Today we introduce another feature that will be recurring on this blog, “Question of the Week” (a great idea that’s borrowed from another blog (Daily Lit– thanks!).  Hopefully we’ll spark some enlightening ” back and forth”  in the comments.  Since October is National Reading Group Month, thoughts turn to reading groups and the discussions they generate.

Although I have been involved in book discussions with various reading groups over the years, one of the best discussions that I have ever participated in was  for “The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway at one of the library’s monthly book club meetings this past summer.  This was because it was the first time I had been involved with a reading group discussion involving a book considered a classic.  It might be a cliché, but that’s why they are called classics.  They are books that usually seem, on the surface, to be either very simple or very complicated and sometimes quite boring to read. Yet, if you stop and think about the motivations for what the characters say or do, and the word choices the author is making, a “classic” book will yield insights that do not stop coming!  Although I had read “The Sun Also Rises” before, hearing it discussed by the group led me to  a variety of new and different thoughts about it.   Discussion of any book will do this but a “classic” will always allow for greater depth.

Since National Reading Group Month is almost over, a reading group question seems to be in order:

Which book, read for a reading group, has led to the most interesting and liveliest discussion?

Let us know by making a comment below.

– posted by Sonia, Readers’ Services