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Martha Canfield Library E-news - May
Welcome to the May edition of the Martha Canfield Library’s e-newsletter. If you have any suggestions, you can email them to our hotmail account or leave them in our suggestion jar on the front desk.
News
Many of us book lovers have more books than we have space for, but if you can’t resist adding to your collection, come to our Free Book Giveaway on Saturday, May 7 from 10 to 2 outside the library. We have an assortment of duplicates and lots of intriguing odds and ends to clear out, so stop by on your way home from Green-Up Day and help us “green up” our basement.
Technology News
Our new computers are up and running! We had a slight delay in getting our software ordered and keys in hand, but now we’re up-to-date. Thanks to the generosity of Mack Molding, we have ten new computers for Internet access.
For Kids
Our new Youth Room is almost finished. The furniture is in place and all the middle and high school level books and magazines have been moved in there. Stop in and spend a half hour reading in one of the new comfy chairs.
In the Canfield Gallery
May’s featured artist is Williamstown, MA photographer Nada Samuels. She says: “I am drawn to color, composition, and line and tend to compose each shot while in the process of shooting. I see images embedded in large contexts. For example, rocks that look like human figures, portions of walls that remind me of paintings, tree trunks that look like painted surfaces or even human limbs.” Her lovely show will be open during regular library hours from May 2 through May 28. Come and meet the artist at a reception on Saturday, May 7 from 3 to 5 pm.
The Russell Vermontiana Collection
By Bill Budde, Curator
April has been a busy ‘behind the scenes’ month. Volunteers Irene Novotny and Pat Williams have finished the preparation of the Arlington Vital Records, first prepared by Dr. George Russell in 1937. Our next step is to prepare the information for publication, either in book form, CD or both.
Two seminars scheduled to promote Historic Document Preservation were presented at the end of the month. The seminars were scheduled twice so the greatest number of people would be able to attend. The result was very good- 33 people attended three seminars, and I hope for a large turnout for the final seminar scheduled for Saturday May 7 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. The topic is reading early American handwriting and will cover handwriting from the period of 1650 to 1850.
Two other seminars to be scheduled in the near future are Using Genealogy Software and Using DNA in Family History Research. The software seminar will present several programs including free genealogy programs and the popular Family Tree Maker® program.
Book Sale
Spring is here, and summer is not too far away. And with the “official” start of summer on Memorial Day weekend comes the start of our book sale in the Community House on Route 7A. We have completely restocked with a tasty selection of donations collected over the past winter, including history, biography, sports, art, fiction, mystery, a wide range of children’s books and more. The sale will be open Memorial Day weekend on Friday, May 27 and Saturday, May 28 from 10 to 4, and on Sunday, May 29 and Monday May 30 from 1 to 4. Stop in and see what’s new!
Volunteer Opportunities
Do you like meeting people and talking about books? We’re looking for volunteers to take a three-hour shift at our book sale, starting Memorial Day weekend. You can schedule a shift as often as you like, or be on call as a substitute. Openings are available on Fridays and Saturdays from 10-1 or 1-4, and on Sundays from 1-4. Contact Phyllis at the library if you are interested.
New Board Members
We welcomed several new board members at our last annual meeting. Joining us were Robert Dudley, John Hess, Mark Hyde, Joel Tibbetts, Maryanne Wagner and Elizabeth Macksey. We look forward to working with them this year on several projects.
Wish List
We can use four lightweight folding tables for workshops in our meeting room. Staples has them $79.99 each.
We have had requests for some of the Great Courses audio programs. We put together a list with prices ranging from $60.00 to $120.00. If you would like to donate one, please contact Phyllis.
The Mystery Corner
A MIXED BAG
By Martha Folsom
Here we have everything from cozies to police procedurals. This is a mixed bag of authors that you might want to include in your mystery reading.
Peter Robinson – Robinson gives us Detective Inspector Alan Banks. In the first book, Gallows View, Banks has recently relocated from the busy city of London to the quieter Yorkshire territory. While the first book is almost a ‘cozy’, later books develop into solid police procedurals.
Val McDermid – Ms. McDermid writes three series. Each is very different from the others, but most people enjoy her style and read all three. Dr. Tony Hill is a police profiler in a fictitious town in Northern England. The books are graphic police procedurals. First in the series is The Mermaids Singing. Kate Brannigan is a private investigator in Manchester, England. She is witty and very capable. Her first appearance is in Dead Beat. Lindsay Gordon is a journalist in Glasgow. First in the series is Report for Murder.
Janet Evanovich – One for the Money, Evanovich’s first book in the Stephanie Plum series won two awards and was a finalist for six others. There is a reason why this series is so popular. Evanovich takes outlandish characters and portrays them in such a way that they are totally realistic. Plum is witty, gutsy and down to earth. In the first book you learn how Plum goes from being an out-of-work discount lingerie buyer to a gun-toting bounty hunter. If you have ever had a day go from bad to worse, you’ll love this series.
Colin Dexter – Inspector Morse and Sgt. Lewis in Oxford, England, are well known to mystery lovers through the PBS television program. Morse is his usual testy, impatient self and Sgt. Lewis bears the brunt of his moods, but they do get the job done. You can start with any book in the series.
Simon Brett – Brett is author of A Shock to the System which was made into a movie starring Michael Caine. He has three ‘cozy’ series. One features actor and amateur detective, Charles Paris. The second has Melita Pargeter, widow of a thief. While she may be in Miss Marple’s age bracket, she is not like her in any way. Melita has maintained contact with many of her husbands ‘associates’. The third features Carole Seddon, a retiree from the Home Office.
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Catherine Aird – CID Inspector “Seedy” Sloan is gruff but you will really like him and his assistant, Constable Crosby. The stories are very well plotted. Begin with The Religious Body.
Earl Derr Biggers – The 1920’s & 30’s were the “Golden Age”, the era of the pulp fiction detectives. The best of the writers are considered “Masters” and are held in as high a regard as Agatha Christie in her genre. Among these writers was Earl Biggers who wrote six exceptional mysteries featuring a Honolulu detective, Charlie Chan. Your idea of Charlie Chan may be colored by the four dozen films made, but, in the written form, he is one of the best detectives ever created and you owe it to yourself to give the books a try.
Margery Allingham – Ms. Allingham is one of the “Grand Dames” of British mysteries. Her sleuth is the suave Albert Campion. (I picture him as a cross between Lord Peter Wimsey and The Saint.) In the first Campion book, The Crime at Black Dudley (APA The Black Dudley Murder), Campion is not the main character. He appears in a secondary role in an absolutely delightful mystery. When the second novel, Mystery Mile, appears, Campion is fully developed and the main character of the series.
We would love to hear from you about this column, your favorite writers, writers we have missed, best mystery ever... Let us hear from you. Email us at
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Mystery Reader's Pick by Mallory Rich
Learning to Swim, by Sara J. Henry
I thought I'd run out of compelling, well written mysteries to read. Then I found the just-released debut novel by Vermont author Sara J. Henry. Learning to Swim hooked me from the first page and I couldn't put it down. Intense, sensitive, intelligent -- the story pulls you into the life of an almost-ordinary young woman who happens onto a tragedy in "mid-stream," and won't let go. That changes everything.
Wanted: More Reader's Picks
How about a Biography Reader's Pick for this newsletter? Or a History Reader's Pick, a Young Adult Reader's Pick -- even a Cookbook Reader's Pick? Send us short reviews of favorite books you think other like-minded readers will enjoy. E-mail to
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or drop them off at the desk.
By the way, if the library doesn't yet own the book, perhaps you'd like to purchase a copy -- at the library's 20-45% discount -- and gift it to the collection. Talk to Phyllis.
New Books
Fiction
The Land of Painted Caves, by Jean Auel
A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
A Trio of Sorcery, by Mercedes Lackey
Heartwood, by Belva Plain
Gideon’s Sword, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
The School on Heart’s Content Road, by Carolyn Chute
Sing You Home, by Jodi Picoult
The Three Weissmanns of Westport, by Cathleen Schine
Minding Frankie, by Maeve Binchy
The Machine’s Child, by Kage Baker
Masques, by Patricia Briggs
Pathfinder, by Orson Scott Card
Company of Liars, by Karen Maitland
Fugitive, by Phillip Margolin
Miss Me When I’m Gone, by Philip Stephens
Tick Tock, by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Toys, by James Patterson and Neil McMahon
Whiplash, by Catherine Coulter
The Wrecker, by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott
44 Charles Street, by Danielle Steel (Large Print)
Mystery
Death of a Chimney Sweep, by M. C. Beaton
Red Herring Without Mustard, by Alan Bradley
The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag, by Alan Bradley
Dead in the Family, by Charlaine Harris
All Together Dead, by Charlaine Harris
From Dead To Worse, by Charlaine Harris
Gone, by Lisa Gardner
Treachery in Death, by J. D. Robb
I’m Dying Here: a Comedy of Bad Manners, by Damien Broderick and Rory Barnes
A Lonely Death, by Charles Todd
Beautiful Ghosts, by Eliot Pattison
Learning to Swim, by Sara J. Henry (VT author)
Long Lost, by Harlan Coben
The Silver Swan, by Benjamin Black
Terror Town, by Stuart M. Kaminsky
Non-fiction
Life, by Keith Richards
Cleopatra: a Life, by Stacy Schiff
The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food and Love, by Kristin Kimball
The Wave: in Pursuit of Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean, by Susan Casey
A Summer of Hummingbirds: Love, Art and Scandal in the Intersecting Worlds of Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Martin Johnson Heade, by Christopher Benfey
Descartes’ Bones: a Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason, by Russell Shorto
Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes, by Giada De Laurentiis
Fit Kids, by Mary L. Gavin, Steven A. Dowshen and Neil Izenberg
Grow the Good Life: Why a Vegetable Garden Will Make You Happy, Healthy, Wealthy and Wise, by Michele Owens
The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage, by Daniel Mark Epstein
The Map Book, by Peter Barber
New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery and Conspiracy in Eighteenth Century Manhattan, by Jill Lepore
Painted Crafts, edited by Sara Jane Treinen
Royal Pains: a Rogue’s Gallery of Brats, Brutes and Bad Seeds, by Leslie Carroll
What Love Comes To: New and Selected Poems, by Ruth Stone
Audiobook CD
Island Beneath the Sea, by Isabel Allende
Treachery in Death, by J. D. Robb
Listening Woman, by Tony Hillerman
Secrets to the Grave, by Tami Hoag
Unnatural Death, by Dorothy L. Sayers
DVD
Radiant Heart Yoga
Stretching for Serenity
Childproofing Your Guns
Gun Cleaning Made Easy
Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West (National Geographic)
The English Patient, with Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe and Kristin Scott Thomas
Mr. Jones, with Richard Gere, Lena Olin and Anne Bancroft
Titanic, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane and Kathy Bates
VHS
Beyond the Forest, with Bette Davis and Joseph Cotten
Dangerous, with Bette Davis and Franchot Tone
Dark Victory, with Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Ronald Reagan
Jezebel, with Bette Davis, Henry Fonda and George Brent
The Little Foxes, with Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall and Dan Duryea
Young Adult
Ancient, Strange and Lovely, by Susan Fletcher
Tall Story, by Candy Gourlay
Austenland, by Shannon Hale
The Cardturner, by Louis Sachar
Children
Fiction
The Midnight Tunnel: a Suzanna Snow Mystery, by Angie Frazier
Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border, by Jeff Smith
The Trouble With Chickens, by Doreen Cronin
Encyclopedia Brown Keeps the Peace, by Donald J. Sobol
Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way, by Donald J. Sobol
Encyclopedia Brown, Super Sleuth, by Donald J. Sobol
Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Case, by Donald J. Sobol
Picture Books
Happy Endings: a Story About Suffixes, by Robin Pulver
Babushka’s Mother Goose, by Patricia Polacco
Olivia Counts, by Ian Falconer
Olivia’s Opposites, by Ian Falconer
Bridget’s Beret, by Tom Lichtenheld
Princesses Are Not Perfect, by Kate Lum
So come on in!
Hours:
Tues. & Thurs. 9 - 8
Wed. 9 - 5; Fri. 2 - 6; Sat. 10 - 3
Closed Sun. & Mon.
Russell Collection: Tues. 9 - 5, or by appointment
Martha Canfield Memorial Free Library, 528 E. Arlington Rd., P.O. Box 267, Arlington, VT 05250 (across from Arlington High School)
Phone: 802-375-6153 e-mail:
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web: www.marthacanfieldlibrary.org
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