Each week a Rocky River Public Library staff member will share a glimpse into their reading shelf in hopes that you will discover that next great read.
Discover RRPL’s Shared Shelf
Book Awards
Discover Book Club Kits@ RRPL
We know how difficult it is to choose a book for your next book group meeting, and to find enough copies for all the members of your group. We would like to make this easier for you by offering Book Club Kits to our patrons. You will receive 8 copies of the same title, a set of discussion questions and other pertinent information about the book or author, all inside a canvas library bag, to be checked out on the library card of the patron picking up the kit. The loan period for the kit is 6 weeks. We own 18 Book Club Kits, 12 fiction book titles and 6 nonfiction book titles. I’d like to share with you one of our newly selected book titles, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell..
“On a summer’s day in 1596, a young girl in
Stratford-on Avon takes to her bed with a
fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches
everywhere for help. Why is nobody at
home? Their mother, Agnes, is over a
mile away, in the garden where she grows
medicinal herbs. Their father, a playwright,
is working in London. Neither parent knows
that one of the children will not survive
the week.
Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a
famous playwright. It is a story of the bond
between twins and of a marriage pushed
to the brink by grief.
Above all, it is the tender reimagining of a
boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name
was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.”
http://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk
© Women’s Prize for Fiction
Mary’s Top 10 of 2020
While I fell short of my personal reading challenge this year, I can say my top ten books of this year I thoroughly enjoyed. The Ferrante quartet I simply fell in love with, the historical fiction choices captured the details of the time period with eloquence, the thrillers kept me engaged and the nonfiction moved me beyond words. I took my time with each book and found moments of pause and new meaning in a world that can be overwhelming, and admiration and gratitude for sharing their story, albeit fiction or truth. Happy holidays and my best for a peaceful and bright 2021.
Reconnect@ RRPL
Discover RRPL’s Shared Shelf. Each week a staff member will share a glimpse into their reading shelf in hopes that you will discover that next great read.
Imagine Your Story @ RRPL
I did it! I finished the Neopolitan Quartet, My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay and The Story of the Lost Child, by Elena Ferrante, and I already feel lost without “my” girls, Lila and Lenu, Ferrante’s main characters in this sweeping series of a lifelong friendship within the backdrop of a poor neighborhood of Naples, Italy.
I need to rely on some wonderful quotes from a review by Ella Alexander found at https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/a25122947/elena-ferrante-neapolitan-novels-female-friendship/ to give an essential understanding of Lila and Lenu’s story. “We place a lot of emphasis on romantic love because of the narratives that we’re fed from such a young age. But the relationships and love we have for our female friends, especially during childhood, are equally as emotional and charged…But it’s not always rosy. There’s the jealousy, competitiveness and cruelty that people only dish out to those they love the most, and when we’re children, teenagers and even in our early twenties, we don’t understand yet how to rationalize those feelings or to temper them… It is a reminder that we never lose the love for someone who we were once so close to, and of how far someone can push another before deciding that a friendship brings more sadness than joy.”
I believe most readers will find a friendship, somewhere within their lifetime, that will cause reflection and raw emotion to surface, while reading about the journeys of Lila and Lenu. As a reader, as well as both the main characters, you come full circle and find some understanding and peace as to how we got here.
If you choose to go on this journey with Lila and Lenu, which I highly recommend, it will be lengthy, but take your time, absorb, digest, reread, if necessary. I also watched the HBO series while reading the books and found that each format, reading/watching, complimented each other very well, and ultimately enhanced the story for me.
While I will miss “my” girls”, I look forward to jumping into Ferrante’s new novel, The Lying Life of Adults, to be released September 1st, 2020.
Imagine Your Story@ RRPL
Have You Heard About RRPL’s Little Library?
Our Little Library is located near the front entrance, right next to the bench. I’m sure many of you have heard of “Little Free Libraries” and may have seen one in your own neighborhood. The philosophy of the “Little Free Library” is simple: take a book, leave a book. Here at RRPL we encourage our community to simply take a book, no need to contribute books, we’ve got that covered. This is a small collection of books ranging from adult book selections to books for children. We refresh our selections weekly, along with a bottle of hand sanitizer to keep you safe. If you would like to browse a larger collection, come into our lobby and peruse our ongoing Book Sale. Donations for your choices are always appreciated and can be left at the Greeters Desk. I love tending to the books housed in this little gem, and I can’t help but smile when I discover these books have found a new home. So, if you find yourself taking a stroll near the library, take a peek inside our Little Library, who knows, maybe you will stumble upon that next great read!
Imagine your story-July titles we can’t wait to read….
Imagine Your Story@ RRPL
RRPL SHARE THEIR SUMMER READING PLANS
Imagine Your Story @RRPL
RRPL STAFF SHARE THEIR SUMMER READING PLANS
Your Library Staff At Home… 4 Book Clubs You Can Join Now
Struggling with what to read next? This can be overwhelming, especially with the constant barrage of best seller lists readily available anywhere, yet ever changing. Joining a celebrity or popular book club can be a great way to discover new books and possibly dive into some meaningful discussion. This can be a great option if you can not physically attend a book group.
Here are 4 celebrity or popular book groups you should consider joining now:
Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club, Hello Sunshine. The book choices in her club focus on books written by female authors. Reese’s current book pick is The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
Jenna Hager Bush, co-host of NBC “Today Show”, Read With Jenna Book Club. The book choices in her club are generally contemporary novels with a compelling plot. Hager explained her book tastes in an interview as, “No matter what, you have to have a great, compulsively readable plot. Something where you cannot wait to figure out what’s going to happen.” Jenna’s current book pick is All Adults Here by Emma Straub.
Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club, Oprah’s Book Club. Oprah deserves the ultimate round of applause for popularizing book clubs across the county. Oprah unveils her pick each month, and then features an interview with the author. Oprah’s current book pick is Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker.
Now Read This, a book club from PBS NewsHour and The New York Times. This is a staff created book list in which they choose a book that, in their own words, “helps us makes sense of the world we’re living in — fiction, history, memoir, and more.” The current fiction book choice is Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips.
Read it or Weep 