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Martha Canfield Library E-news - September
Welcome to the September 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
Thankfully the Library came through Tropical Storm Irene without any damage. We have been getting news bulletins from the Vermont Emergency Operations Center and other agencies via the Vermont Department of Libraries. Residents of Bennington County who sustained storm damage are now eligible to apply for assistance from FEMA. Businesses can also get assistance from the Small Business Administration (SBA). Details are available at marthacanfieldlibrary.org or at the library.
We have also received a press release warning flood victims to watch out for fraud. All FEMA and SBA workers carry official identification, and there are NO fees to apply or to be added to a list. Be wary of anyone asking for personal information such as bank account or Social Security numbers. In addition, be wary of contractors asking for large down payments. For more information, check the press release on our website.
Book Sale
Our giant book sale at Fisher School was a success. We made almost $2,400. The sale helped clear a space in the basement to sort more donations. Thanks go to our dedicated crew of volunteers that made it such a success. And thanks go to the people who baked the delicious goodies that helped sustain us all.
Our regular book sale continues on its usual weekend schedule through Columbus Day weekend. We’ll be open Friday and Saturday 10 am to 4 pm and Sunday 1 to 4 pm. Watch for weekly specials through the fall. And we are adding new books almost every week, so stop in and see what’s new.
We are still accepting donations of gently used books, DVDs, games and puzzles at the Library during our regular hours. A few things we can’t use: textbooks, Readers’ Digest Condensed Books, encyclopedias or old medical books. And, please, we can’t use books with mold, which can hide under the paper dust jackets. Mold on books can be a health hazard for staff and for you, especially if it spreads to other books in the building. And the Library has to pay to dispose of those books.
For Kids
With the start of the school year comes a new Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award list. We recently added many titles from the list to our collection. Look for the “DCF” in the New Books listed below, then come in and check them out.
In the Canfield Gallery
The colors of a New England summer are on display this September in an art pottery show by Arlington artist Jessica Phillips. Using a special technique of sprayed-on glazes, Jessica has brought to life her memories of the quiet woodlands of New Hampshire where she grew up, of August days at the sparkling Maine coast and of glorious Vermont sunsets and awe-inspiring dawns. Jessica’s ceramic pieces will be on display through September 29.
Mark your calendars for Art and Animal Photography by Rick Raphael and Leslie Fuller, coming in October. Come and meet Rick and Leslie at the opening reception on Saturday, October 1 from 3 to 5 pm.
The Russell Vermontiana Collection
By Bill Budde, Curator
It is hard to believe that summer is nearly over. Psychologically, autumn seems to start with the passing of Labor Day.
With the hurricane season in full swing and our experience with Irene, I want to ask residents of Sandgate, Arlington and Sunderland to donate photographs of the storm and its aftermath to the historic photograph collection maintained through the Russell Collection. We are able to digitally scan and return your original paper prints or to accept digital copies on CDs, DVDs, flash drives or as email attachments. If you provide your name and contact information, we can add your materials as a special “mini-collection” in your name that will make up part of our Hurricane Irene Documents. Before moving on, we want to recognize the time and work Sandgate, Arlington and Sunderland’s volunteer firefighters, Highway Department, Rescue Squad, State Police, Sheriffs and citizens contributed to ensuring our safety.
Following our request for volunteers to map and record our area cemeteries, we had two volunteers offer to help. If you are interested, we can provide training and equipment, and we will make sure that you do not have a large cemetery to complete all by yourself. We received some excellent photos of the so-called Mt. Pleasant cemetery and the legible inscriptions thanks to the work of Martha Folsom and her sister-in-law.
Finally, it is with some sadness that we heard that the Tyrus Hurd house, also known as the Methodist parsonage, built about 1842, is being demolished. The house was privately owned until 1883 when ownership was passed to the Stewards of the Methodist Church. Shortly after the joining of the Congregational and Methodist congregations to form the Federated Church in 1948, the minister elected to purchase a home in the community in 1951. At that time, the Parsonage was converted to apartments. With the recent designation of Vermont Route 7A as a state byway, and Arlington turning 250, there are more opportunities to apply for assistance and funds to preserve our historic buildings and landmarks. The parsonage is one of the key landmarks on the East Arlington byway loop that helped us earn this special state and national designation. Looking to the future, East Arlington’s preservation was felt to be a significant attraction for visitors and funds because of its scenic beauty and historic significance. Instead of diminishing our scenic beauty, perhaps we can work together to preserve our heritage.
Volunteer Opportunities
We are still looking for someone to handle some publicity for the Library, writing press releases and submitting them to the media. If you have a flair for writing, we would appreciate your help.
The Mystery Corner
This month we feature a guest author. After Ms. Sugarman's talk on Sherlock Holmes at MCL August 27 we asked her to list for us her favorite books on Holmes not written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Here is her list.
Sherlock Holmes Mysteries
By Sally Sugarman
After you have finished reading the fifty-six stories and four novels that make up the Sherlockian Canon and still want more stories about this master sleuth, as most people do, here are some titles that might interest you. There are many others besides these. Many of the characters in the Canon have their own series, but these are among my favorites.
Sherlock Holmes and The Alice in Wonderland Murders – Barry Day has written three Sherlock Holmes mysteries, all of which are delightful. In this mystery, the murders have a connection to the Alice in Wonderland stories, just as the Shakespeare Old Globe Murders mimic murders in Shakespeare plays. An American Rupert Murdoch-type newspaper tycoon exploits the crimes for sensational stories. Not only are the two friends in rare form but they have
villains worthy of their skills.
The Jewel of Covent Garden by Wayne Worcester - The key to a successful Holmesian pastiche is usually the Dr. Watson. The author needs to capture the right tone for it is Watson’s narrative that draws us into Sherlock Holmes’ world. The Dr. Watson in this instance is believably recreated as is the city of London. There are descriptive passages that are so evocative and sensory that one can feel the fog. There is respect for the characters of Holmes and Watson and a
solid sense of period. The writing is of a higher quality than that in many of the other numerous series about Holmes.
The Raleigh Legacy - L. B. Greenwood also does a fine job with Holmes and Watson. This author also offers a series of three adventures. Having tried this one you may want to hunt down the others. All of the complications of a mysterious inheritance and what it does to families are a part of this adventure with Holmes addressing all with his usual skill and Watson adding his perspective.
The Italian Secretary - Caleb Carr is best known for his Alienist books, but this one, written in a year many established authors did their Holmes books, is a worthy addition to the genre. Although initially Carr seems straining too hard to achieve Watson’s voice and period, he quickly settles down and moves from his own elaborate rhetoric to Watson’s more natural tone. In the process, he demonstrates a trace of humor, not a notable characteristic of his writing. A
Holmes story curbs his tendency towards length and makes for a well paced story. He does particularly well with Mycroft, humanizing him as he puffs about and the sibling rivalry is nicely done. Carr’s only failure is that he does not give Holmes a villain worthy of his talents.
The Whitechapel Horrors - Since Jack the Ripper was operating at the same time as Holmes was in business, many authors cannot resist the temptation to write the story. This book by Edward Hanna is one of the best of the tales. Hanna weaves in many elements of the time, including the new technologies that we don’t often remember as being typical of the Victorian period. Watson is treated with a great deal of respect and his medical training is utilized most effectively. The resolution of the case and the identity of the Ripper are most convincing.
Dust and Shadow - This is an impressive first novel by Lyndsay Faye. Like Edward Hanna’s book, it is about Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper. Faye is much more explicit about the horror of the disemboweling than many other writers are. She also recreates the atmosphere of fog and poverty that are a part of the whole situation. Faye provides a clever blending of the real and the imagined. She uses a lot of the slang of the time and provides the perspective of the street with the character of a young woman Holmes hires to be his eyes and ears much like the Baker Street Irregulars, Although she is street-wise and probably a prostitute, we are led to believe that she will end up with Stephen Dunleavy, a reporter who is also investigating the case.
Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula - Another contemporary some authors like to match Holmes with is Dracula. Stephen Seitz does well with the delicate job of blending “no ghosts need apply” Holmes with the supernatural vampire. There are interesting twists and turns that bring Holmes back from the Reichenbach Falls quite interestingly. Seitz knows the two origin stories very well and uses them most effectively.
Durkheim Is Dead - This is the third in a series of books by Arthur Asa Berger wherein he uses the mystery form to explicate social theories. In this case Sherlock Holmes is the detective, one of many examples of Holmes being used to teach other subjects. Someone has stolen Lady Cecily Bracknell’s diamond. Any reader who doesn’t get that joke shouldn’t be reading the book. So Holmes interviews Weber, Simmel, Freud, DuBois, Lenin and Beatrice Webb. He has already spoken to Durkheim and Weber’s wife Marianne. The explications of the theory are fine and we have Watson to ask for clarification.
The Trial of Sherlock Holmes, by Leah Moore and John Reppion. Illustrated by Aaron Campbell, with covers by John Cassaday. - This is an excellent Sherlock Holmes graphic novel, beautifully plotted and drawn. Simply put, but not simply executed, Holmes is framed for a murder so he will be out of the way of an assassination plot against a visiting Baron. There is a locked room mystery with Holmes found with a gun in his hand and a dead man on the bed. Watson and Lestrade work together to prove Holmes innocent while Mycroft refuses to help. Holmes escapes from the jail but when recaptured wants to go to trial to prove his innocence. Meanwhile, Watson and Lestrade foil the assassination plot. That is done in pictures while the voice-over is Holmes The story ends with Holmes and Mycroft playing chess.
The American Years - From the first sentences of Leslie Klinger’s introduction to the last story, this is a collection to delight both Sherlockians and more casual readers. Michael Kurland has edited two other collections of Sherlock Holmes stories, each with its own theme. This anthology focuses on the years that Holmes spent in the United States. This is Sherlock Holmes in his younger years before he had decided on his life’s work. He encounters a range of famous
Americans, including Samuel Clemens and P.T. Barnum among others. His foreignness is particularly evident in his adventures out west where his accent and clothes elicit derision that turns to admiration at his deductive skills. Although believably young, his skills developing, Holmes emerges as a character consistent with whom he will become. Each reader will probably have a favorite encounter but mine is the tale told by a young William Gillette watching Holmes
perform Malvolio in Twelfth Night. The stage may have lost a fine actor when Holmes decided to become a consulting detective, but he was well represented by Gillette. The consistency of tone among the stories is remarkable given the diversity of authors.
Reader's Pick by Lesley Nase
The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill
Susan Hill is an English author who has written many novels but never any crime novels until “The Various Haunts of Men.” In this, her first Simon Serrailler crime novel, she wrote to tell the story of “why” someone would commit a crime. Set in a contemporary village in England, you meet ordinary people whose lives are changed in an instant while going about their everyday routines.
A single woman in her mid 50’s goes out for her daily run; she vanishes. New DI Freya Graffham has a gut feeling something is just not adding up. DI Graffham connects the disappearance of a young overweight woman in her 20’s to the first missing woman. She probes deeper till she has something to present to her boss DCI Simon Serrailler. How are two women, one male biker and one barking dog linked? All went missing without a trace on the Hill.
This first novel sets the place and the characters for the next five novels in the series. Susan Hill has you caring about the characters in a way that will have you identifying with their emotions, and will delight you with their actions and shock you at the end. This “who done it” crime story is an enjoyable read that leaves you wanting to find out more about DCI Simon Serrailler, his family and the village of Lafferton.
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.
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
A Clash of Kings, by George R. R. Martin
A Darker Place, by Jack Higgins
Djibouti, by Elmore Leonard
Last Snow, by Eric Van Lustbader
The Last Surgeon, by Michael Palmer
Robopocalypse, by Donald H. Wilson
Rules of Deception, by Christopher Reich
The Sea Captain’s Wife, by Beth Powning
A Storm of Swords, by George R. R. Martin
The Story Sisters, by Alice Hoffman
Strategic Moves, by Stuart Woods
TailSpin, by Catherine Coulter
The Terror, by Dan Simmons
Treasure Hunt, by John Lescroart
The Jefferson Key, by Steve Berry
Sisterhood Everlasting, by Ann Brashares
Ghost Story, by Jim Butcher
Dance With Dragons, by George R. R. Martin
The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain
Burnt Mountain, by Anne Rivers Siddons
Mystery
Crunch Time, by Diane Mott Davidson
Not Quite Kosher, by Stuart M. Kaminsky
Resurrection Row, by Anne Perry
Free Fire, by C. J. Box
Hell is Empty, by Craig Johnson
Non-fiction
The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America, by Timothy Egan
The Book of Field and Roadside: Open-country Weeds, Trees and Wildflowers of Eastern North America, by John Eastman
The Book of Forest and Thicket: Trees, Shrubs and Wildflowers of Eastern North America, by John Eastman
The Book of Swamp and Bog: Trees, Shrubs and Wildflowers of the Eastern Freshwater Wetlands, by John Eastman
The Great Crown Jewels Robbery of 1303, by Paul Doherty
Raising Your Spirited Child, by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka
Resilience, by Elizabeth Edwards
World On Fire: Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War, by Amanda Foreman
Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed and Corruption Led To Economic Armageddon, by Gretchen Morgenson
Med Head, as told by James Patterson and Hal Friedman
The Crimean War: a History, by Orlando Figes
Audiobook CDs
Blackout, by John J. Nance
The Cold Moon, by Jeffrey Deaver
The Concrete Blonde, by Michael Connelly
The Copper Scroll, by Joel C. Rosenberg
The Judge and Jury, by James Patterson and Andrew Gross
Marker, by Robin Cook
The Naming of the Dead, by Ian Rankin
Skeleton Coast, by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul
Thirteen, by Richard K. Morgan
Wildfire, by Nelson DeMille
False Impression, by Jeffrey Archer
Havoc, by Jack Du Brul
In Secret Service, by Mitch Silver
Natural Selection, by Dave Freedman
The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines and the Secret Mission of 1805, by Richard Zacks
The Silent Man, by Alex Berenson
DVD
The Bone Collector, with Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie and Queen Latifah
The Civil War, a Documentary, by Ken Burns
The Gift, with Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves and Katie Holmes
The Jackal, with Bruce Willis, Richard Gere and Sidney Poitier
Road to Perdition, with Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh
Traffic, with Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Douglas, Luis Guzman, Dennis Quaid and Catherine Zeta-Jones
When Harry Met Sally, with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan
Fiddler on the Roof, with Topol, Norma Crane and Leonard Frey
The Sherlock Holmes Collection, with Matt Frewer and Kenneth Welsh
Young Adult
The Danger Box, by Blue Balliett (DCF)
Geektastic: Stories From the Nerd Herd, edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
Dragon’s Oath, by P. C. Cast
Out of My Mind, by Sharon Draper (DCF)
Belly Up, by Stuart Gibbs (DCF)
Ruby Red, by Kerstin Gier
Dream of Night, by Heather Henson (DCF)
Turtle In Paradise, by Jennifer Holm (DCF)
The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt, by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel (DCF)
Touch Blue, by Cynthia Lord (DCF)
Sources of Light, by Margaret McMullan (DCF)
Sugar and Ice, by Kate Messner (DCF)
Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot, by Sy Montgomery (DCF)
Half Brother, by Kenneth Oppel (DCF)
The Prince of Mist, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (DCF)
After Ever After, by Jordan Sonnenblick (DCF)
Forever, by Maggie Stiefvater
Linger, by Maggie Stiefvater
Children
Fiction
Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter, by Annie Barrows
The Magic Spell, by Linda Chapman
Shoeless Joe and Me, by Dan Gutman
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger (DCF)
The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, by Jeanne Birdsall
Jake, by Audrey Couloumbis (DCF)
The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester, by Barbara O’Connor (DCF)
Star in the Forest, by Laura Resau (DCF)
Ninth Ward, by Jewell Rhodes (DCF)
The Grimm Legacy, by Polly Shulman (DCF)
Picture Books
Tia Isa Wants a Car, by Meg Medina
Fancy Nancy, Stellar Stargazer, by Jane O’Connor
If You Were an Alliteration, by Trisha Shaskan
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