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This Month at the Library
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When it comes to programs, the library is pretty quiet in June. This is because we are taking a breather before starting the madness that is . . . the Summer Reading Program! There are a couple of events happening to get you through the month and they are mentioned below. But get rested up because we will be keeping you busy in July!
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"The role of a librarian is to make sense of the world of information. If that's not a qualification for superhero-dom, what is?" ~Nancy Pearl~
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A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to attend the Alberta Library Association Conference in Jasper. I was especially excited to be there because super-hero librarian Nancy Pearl was a speaker and I had hopes of meeting her, which I did! All right, so about the Conference. One of the sessions I attended was by the Dewey Divas who were presenting "Our Favorite Spring 2018 Adult Books." This was a great session with information on upcoming books. There were too many interesting books to list here so I've made a small list of books that were mentioned. Keep in mind, many of these books are on-order or in processing so are not available right away. But you can place a hold and receive your item "hot off the presses." ~Marie~
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Social Creature : A Novel
by Tara Isabella Burton
"A sharp, biting, and irresistible debut about parties and ambition in New York City--introducing a talented Mr. Ripley for the digital age, with all the glitz and grit of Bright Lights, Big City. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. Louise Wilson is an expert at just barely making it. She's mastered the tricks and shortcuts that a penniless small-town girl needs to survive in New York City. When she meets the beautiful, wealthy, eccentric, and aimless Lavinia Williams, she thinks her dreams of a cosmopolitan existence may be coming true. Lavinia introduces her to a rarified life of beauty and indulgence: private opera boxes, secret bookstores in brownstones, Shakespearean masked balls, underground cabarets, closets full of hundreds of dresses, and the finest champagne money can buy. The more Louise tastes, the more she wants. Could she ever truly be a part of this world? She can speak with the right affectation, wear the best makeup, drop the appropriate references, but she is always afraid people can see her true nature, which is darker than anyone can imagine. She finds herself haunted by the disparity between them. Lavinia has so much, and Louise so little, despite her yearning. Nightlife--the music, the buzz, the dim lights--is the great equalizer. But morning always comes, and Louise will do whatever it takes to keep the party going. This delicious debut takes a classic tale of obsession and makes it undeniably modern"
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My Year of Rest and Relaxation
by Ottessa Moshfegh
From one of our boldest, most celebrated new literary voices, a novel about a young woman's efforts to duck the ills of the world by embarking on an extended hibernation with the help of one of the worst psychiatrists in the annals of literature and the battery of medicines she prescribes.
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Ayesha at Last: A Novel
by Uzma Jalaluddin
A modern take on "Pride & Prejudice" set in Toronto and featuring Muslim Canadian characters.
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Florida
by Lauren Groff
In her vigorous and moving new book, Lauren Groff brings her electric storytelling and intelligence to a world in which storms, snakes, and sinkholes lurk at the edge of everyday life, but the greater threats and mysteries are of a human, emotional, and psychological nature. Among those navigating it all are a resourceful pair of abandoned sisters; a lonely boy, grown up; a restless, childless couple, a searching, homeless woman; and an unforgettable, recurring character - a steely and conflicted wife and mother.
*This book was recommended by Nancy Pearl.*
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The Good Son
by You-Jeong Jeong
Early one morning, twenty-six-year-old Yu-jin wakes up to a strange metallic smell, and a phone call from his brother asking if everything's all right at home - he missed a call from their mother in the middle of the night. Yu-jin soon discovers her murdered body, lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs of their stylish Seoul duplex. He can't remember much about the night before; having suffered from seizures for most of his life, Yu-jin often has trouble with his memory. All he has is a faint impression of his mother calling his name. But was she calling for help? Or begging for her life?
*You-Jeong Jeong is considered "the Korean Stephen King." As I have a fondness for Stephen King, this book is definitely on my To Be Read list.*
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The Cabin at the End of the World : A Novel
by Paul Tremblay
"The Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Head Full of Ghosts gives a new twist to the home invasion horror story in a heart-palpitating novel of psychological suspense that recalls Stephen King's Misery, Ruth Ware's In a Dark, Dark Wood, and Jack Ketchum's cult hit The Girl Next Door"
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The House Swap
by Rebecca Fleet
A compelling and hypnotic domestic noir novel in which a house swap becomes the eerie backdrop to a crumbling marriage and tantalizing affair, and the fatal consequences that unfold.
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**Please note, the above presentation takes place at the Canmore Civic Centre.**
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Captain Fantastic is a 2016 American film written and directed by Matt Ross and starring Viggo Mortensen. The story centers on a family that is forced by circumstances to reintegrate into society after living in isolation for a decade. "A story of love and extremes, the pleasurably freewheeling "Captain Fantastic" centers on a family that has found its bliss in splendid, unplugged isolation. Somewhere in deepest Oregon, amid the tall pines and soaring mountains, young and old hunt and holler and drop lines from Noam Chomsky. The clan's father isn't a superhero, but because he's played by Viggo Mortensen he's the next best thing . . . Mostly, though, Ben Cash takes care of his ...six kids, who range in age from 7 to 18, on a compound where they have thrived beautifully without electricity, a sewer line or trend alerts about the Kardashians. By day, Ben teaches and trains the children, racing them through the woods like Olympians or Special Forces soldiers. At night, the family plays music together and reads by firelight - leafing through books one page at a time - before bedding down in the communal tepee. Perhaps it all sounds fairly ridiculous, like a story about a little survivalist house in the woods or the start of a joke about puritanical parenting (no gluten, no grease) that has Gwyneth Paltrow as its punch line. But lifestyle doesn't begin describe the Cash family's alternative reality . . . . . . American movies about families tend to come in two flavors: the upbeat (the mainstream default) and the catastrophic (the indie brand). "Captain Fantastic" tries hard to find a third way. The story kicks in when a death forces most of the family off the compound and on the road, where they have silly and sober encounters with strangers and relatives on the way to a collective epiphany . . Along the way, Ben keeps on keeping on about the evils of capitalism while his children discover themselves and other people . . . If "Captain Fantastic" doesn't cram all of human experience into that box we like to call the dysfunctional family - a category that suggests that all anyone needs to get through Thanksgiving is therapy talk and a group hug - it's partly because its characters have politics, not simply feelings. The Cash children stumble, but they're supremely capable and self-aware. What makes them unusual isn't their knife skills; it's that they talk seriously about ideas. The same holds true of Ben, whose worldview falters only because Mr. Ross seems anxious to soften the extremes he'd sharpened. There's something moving about his search for balance, something a little pleading too. Perhaps it's no surprise that Mr. Ross ends up nudging "Captain Fantastic" into more generic terrain. He never sells out his characters, but after all the radical power-to-the=people talk he finally comes down on the side of compromise and the soft landing. It's left to Mr. Mortensen...to keep the movie from slipping into sentimentality. He's the most obvious reason to see it, although Mr. Ross's insistence on taking your intelligence for granted is itself a great turn on. His characters don't need smartphones to do their thinking for them; he assumes the same holds true of his audience." NYT Critic's Pick: excerpt from a review by Manohla Dargis July 7, 2016
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