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

5 Questions about books

We here at the Syosset Public Library are very involved with books.  We read them for personal enjoyment and for our professional responsibilities.  We talk about them with patrons and with each other.  Most of us just plain love books.  And we want to share the love.  One way to do that is to let you in on a little bit of the “book lives” of the people who work here at the library through short 5 question interviews that will appear in this blog from time to time.  Our first interviewee will be me- Sonia Grgas, librarian trainee.

What’s on your nightstand now? Well, I like to keep several books going at once this way I always have something  I’m in the mood for.  Right now I’m reading:

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon.

Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life by Winifred Gallagher.

Corn Flakes with John Lennon: and Other Tales from a Rock ‘n’ Roll Life by Robert Hilburn.

The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, a Daughter and the People Who Raised Them by Amy Dickinson.

Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What it ‘s Becoming, and Why it Matters by Scott Rosenberg.

Book you would most want to read again for the first time: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. I can’t say why for those who have never read it.

Earliest book you remember: It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw.  I was about 4 years old and I was at storytime at the local library in Queens.  The library was in a storefront and the late afternoon sun was pouring in through the window.  The fact that someone else realized that clouds could look like different things blew my mind!

Book you feel you should have read but haven’t yet: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.   I love the movie (Joan Fontaine-Orson Welles version) and I’m afraid it might not be the same for me after I have read the book.

You like to read books about: I like to read about a lot of things but I always make a beeline for books about reading books and any book that is connected to the Beatles in any way.

-posted by Sonia, Readers’ Services

October is National Reading Group Month

National Reading Group Month was launched in October of 2007 by the Women’s National Book Association in an effort to formally recognize the benefits of shared reading and to encourage more people to join or start reading groups.  We here at R & R would like to help the cause:

Have you always wanted to start a group of your own?  This could be the time to do it and the Syosset Public Library can help. We have books to help you start a group and books that suggest titles that make for good group discussion.  The literature databases to be found on our website, also provide a wealth of information about books your group can choose.  And of course, there’s our “Book Club in a Bag” program.  Each bag contains multiple copies of a selected title, discussion questions, and biographical /critical information- every thing you need to make your discussion a success!

Visit the Readers’ Advisory desk on the second floor to find out more and get tips for getting your club up and running from our experienced staff of librarians.

– posted by Sonia, Readers’ Services

20-Something Title Swap!

Tuesday October 20^th, 7:30 PM

with 20-Something Librarians Jackie Ranaldo and Jessikah Chautin

Finally, an event for our age group!  Come meet some great new people and share the titles you love with your 20-Something peers.  Together we’ll compile a list and you’ll have great reads through the fall and winter!  No registration required: it’s a free event.  Refreshments will be served.

Check our new Facebook page for upcoming events and great suggestions for your next read:

Syosset Public Library 20-Something Book Club

– posted by Jackie, Readers’ Services

A word about audiobooks…

First of all, do you “read” audiobooks?  Or do you “listen” to them?  Does one get the same experience from the printed version of a book as from the audio version?   This can lead to some heated discussions:  some people absolutely will not hear of someone saying ,  “ I just finished reading  Kite Runner on CD”, believing that if you have not read a book in its printed form you have not really read it.   The audiobook experience could not possibly be as intellectually rewarding.  The thing to say to these individuals is “I just finished listening to Kite Runner on CD”.  People who do “read” audiobooks, insist that they are “just as good”.

Before I started using audiobooks,  I, too,felt that listening to the audio version of a book couldn’t possibly be the same as reading it in print.  And do you know what ?  I still do.  But that does not mean that one experience is worthier than the other, but the two are definitely different.    I’ll save my thoughts about  the differences  for a later post.  Until then, what do you think?  Let us know by making a comment.

(If you’re interested, the Syosset Public Library has The Kite Runner in both print and audio.)

– posted by Sonia, Readers’ Services

Take a break…

Summer is winding down and our thoughts will soon  turn to “getting back to business” – but not yet!.  Why not take a break from the heat, come into the library to relax and flip through some magazines.  The Syosset Public Library has well over 300 periodicals waiting to be perused in our main floor periodicals section.   Whatever your interests, you’re sure to find some magazines or newspapers to enlighten and pique your curiosity- decorating tips, financial advice, vacation ideas, recipes- the possibilities are endless!

So come on in, pick a few magazines and a comfy chair, and stay awhile.

– posted by Sonia, Readers’ Services.