NOT ALL THOSE WHO WANDER ARE LOST

RE-READING

“Bunter!”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Her Grace tells me that a respectable Battersea architect has discovered a dead man in his bath.”

“Indeed, my lord? That's very gratifying.”

“Very, Bunter. Your choice of words is unerring. I wish Eton and Balliol had done as much for me...” 
-Dorothy Sayers
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Just the other day I finished re-reading Whose Body, the first Lord Peter Wimsey novel. Looking through a collection of Dorothy Sayers quotes online, I enjoyed their wit and perspicacity so much I decided to re-read the Wimsey mysteries.

Picking up Whose Body again was like resuming a comfortable conversation with an old childhood friend after decades of not seeing each other. Let me put it another way. If the Lord Peter books were wine, they'd be a mellow mature old Burgundies. Most of the contemporary mysteries and thrillers I read remind me more of  bold, aggressive, assertive whites that are sometimes highly acidic. 

Left to my own devices, my recreational reading is mostly mysteries and thrillers. Some of them extremely gruesome and bleak. It's pleasant and satisfying to plunge into a different epoch. Lord Peter's and Bunter's world is less frenetic, more genteel and somehow reassuring in its stability. Yes, I know that nostalgia idealizes the past and tends to blind us to the ugly cruel realities that have plagued humans from the beginning of time. Maybe that's one of the reasons I enjoy surrendering my self to books such as these. After all who says you have to be bleakly realistic all the time?

So, if you enjoy mysteries and vicarious visits to times past, then I think the Lord Peter Wimsey novels would be just your "cuppa tea"! They're witty, the mysteries are challenging enough to satisfy the fussiest reader and you'll meet such an array of different characters that you'll feel enriched for life. But you needn't take my word for it. Check one out and see for yourself.

For those who want to read them in order you can see a list by clicking here. 

                                                            

PHILOSOPHY

Two professors from the philosophy department go to the University Club for lunch. One orders a roast chicken dinner--half a roast chicken, salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, desert and choice of tea or coffee--plus an egg salad sandwich. The other one is amazed.

"Dang, you must be hungry!" he says.

"Nope," his friend replies, "I just want to see which comes first, the chicken or the egg!"

+++   +++   +++   +++   +++   +++   +++   +++   +++   +++   +++   +++    

Today I'm starting a new feature in Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost. Every Wednesday, I'm going to post something about one of my favorite reads. 

Although the above joke isn't included in it today's book, Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, is full of them. So, even if you skipped the philosophy parts of it, the book is a great read for the jokes alone!

Skipping the philosophical bits, though, would short change you. These guys are that good! Their definitions of various philosophies are masterpieces of succinctness and accuracy.

Upon publication six years ago in 2007, this book became something of an overnight cult classic. I can see why. As someone who doesn't buy a whole lot of books (I work in a library after all) I went out and bought this one immediately!

I don't know if Cathart and Klein had fun writing this book, but I sure did reading it! And I think you would, too. But you needn't take my word for it; read it and see for yourself!

Until next time, this is Mark Pendleton reminding you to NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER SAY "DIE"! AND ABOVE ALL: KEEP ON READIN'!

EL DÍA DE LOS NIÑOS/EL DÍA DE LOS LIBROS

Here's something that I think many of you may want to attend!

On Saturday, May 4, 2013, in celebration of el día de los niños/día del libro, Thomas Branigan Memorial Library will host children’s author Vaunda Micheaux Nelson reading from her Coretta Scott King Author Award-winning picture book Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S.Marshall at the Library at 10:30 am. A complimentary copy of Bad News for Outlaws will be given to every family while supplies last.  All ages are invited to this free event.



El día de los niños/El día de los Libros was founded by Santa Fe author Pat Mora in 1997.  The purpose of this internationally observed day is to celebrate children, families, reading, and multiculturalism. 

 

At 3 pm, also on Saturday May 4th, Ms. Nelson will speak about the importance of genealogical research and writing at New Mexico State University’s Branson Library. At this time, she will highlight her young adult novel No Crystal Stair:  A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller.  This book received a Coretta Scott King Author Honor and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award.

 

The two events are being funded by a grant from NMSU’s Southwest and Border Cultures Institute, and are co-sponsored by the NMSU Library and Thomas Branigan Memorial Library.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros Blog Hop Kickoff

LIBRARIES ARE THE HEART OF THEIR COMMUNITIES

NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK 

runs from Sunday 14 April through Saturday 20 April 2013. During this time Thomas Branigan Memorial Library joins libraries in schools, campuses and communities nationwide in celebrating National Library Week, a time to highlight the value of libraries, librarians and library workers.

Libraries today are more than repositories for books and other resources. They are trusted places where everyone in the community can gather to reconnect & reengage with each other to enrich and shape the community and address local issues. Whether through offering e-books and technology classes, materials for English-language learners, programs for job seekers or ones to support early literacy, librarians listen to the community they serve, and they respond.

Thomas Branigan Memorial Library is celebrating National Library Week by hosting the following presentations:

• Monday, April 15^th
  @ 10am-12pm; How to Start A Business
• Monday, April 15^th
  @ 1:00-3:00pm; How to Choose & Buy a Franchise
• Tuesday, April 16^th
  @ 10am-12pm; Export or Import, Follow the Flow
• Tuesday, April 16^th
  @ 1:00-3:00pm; Working with your Financial Statements
• Thursday, April 18^th
  @ 2:00-4:00pm; Job Search and the Internet
• Saturday, April 20^th
  @3:00-5:00pm; Four Shillings Short (Celtic World & Folk Music)
  Co-sponsored with and held at the Branigan Cultural Center

 

To register online, go to: http://library.las-cruces.org/,  click on Library Calendar on left side of page, then click on the event you want. You can also register  by phone at 575.528.4005. For more information: Carmella Lee at 575.528.4024 or
calee@las-cruces.org

 

BUT SOMETIMES THEY MIGHT THINK THEY ARE

WHILE IT'S TRUE that not every wanderer is lost, it's equally certain that sometimes some of them are, or at least that they feel like they're in unknown territory. That's how I've been feeling lately. 

Since January:
1) I was in the hospital with cardiac complications (since resolved);
2) my wife was in hospital with Gall Bladder problems (resolution pending);
3) I flew back to Maine to be with my brother as he sat with my dying mother.

She died in the early hours of Easter morning. And while I'm sad, I also take comfort that she's no longer in any distress.

So, yes, lately I've been feeling just the tiniest bit like a lost nomad. The up side is that I also have taken my self in hand and recalled how grateful I am. Life is so precious and mine is incredibly enriched by all the wonderful people I love and whom I count as friends!   

All that is in aid of saying that I'm back from wandering and will be posting here regularly again. And, now, how could I end without a note of lightness?

The past, the present and the future all went into a bar. The situation became very tense.

DON'T WASTE YOUR VOTE!

ON READING BANNED BOOKS

BANNED BOOKS WEEK (BBW) is one of my favorite advocacy events of the year! My wife says it's because I'm naturally ornery and a born contrarian. She just may have something there. Nevertheless, I say it's because people trying to decide what others should read ticks me off. And I know that's true.
THIS YEAR, THIS ANNUAL celebration of the freedom to read what you want to read, not what someone else thinks you should be allowed to read turns 30. It'd be nice if we didn't need such a reminder in a modern democracy, wouldn't it? Sadly, we do, though.

JUST LAST YEAR THE American Library Association's (ALA) Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) received 326 reports attempts to ban books in schools and libraries. Here are the ten most challenged books of 2011.  
  1. Lauren Myracle. The Internet Girls series titles: ttyl; ttfn; l8r; g8r
REASONS: offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group 
  2. Kim Dong Hwa. The Color of Earth  (series)
REASONS: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
  3. Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games  (trilogy)
REASONS: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence
  4. Dori Hillestad Butler. My Mom's Having a Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy
REASONS: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
  5. Sherman Alexie. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
REASONS: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit;       unsuited to age group
  6. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Alice (series)
REASONS: nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint
  7. Aldous Huxley. Brave New World
REASONS: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit
  8. Sonya Sones. What My Mother Doesn't Know
REASONS: nudity, offensive language; sexually explicit
  9. Cecily Von Ziegesar. Gossip Girl (series)
REASONS: drugs, offensive language; sexually explicit
10. Harper Lee. To Kill A Mockingbird
REASONS: offensive language; racism
I'm proud to report that Branigan Library owns copies of all of them.

I HAVE NOTHING  AGAINST SOMEONE not wanting to read a particular book, and I can understand someone being offended by certain language. After all, there are books that I refuse to read and, as are all people, I'm offended by certain things. ***B*U*T*** I don't try to force my viewpoint on the general population, nor should I. Neither should someone who disagrees with me. That's what our democracy is about, protecting the rights of all not just the majority.

SO IF A BOOK OFFENDS ME, no one should have the right or power to force me to read it. Neither should anyone have the right or power to deny me the opportunity to read something because it offends them.

TWO OF THE MOST IMPORTANT cornerstones of our democracy are the free exchange of ideas and free access to information. Censorship kills both. At root, there's no difference between banning a book, proscribing certain words, or outlawing certain thoughts. And from there it's just a short, slippery and steep slope to banning people. And human history is replete with horrifying examples of the atrocities that follow when that happens.

SO GET YOURSELF DOWN TO your favorite public library, wherever that is, and celebrate, enhance, exercise, robustify, protect and promote your freedom. The freedom to read, think, say and be what you please! And while you're at it, always do everything you can to make sure that we all enjoy those rights!  









 

 

 

 

 

SOME OF THE BEST FUN YOU'LL EVER HAVE WITH YOUR CLOTHES ON

I'M SITTING here at my desk thinking that I need to post to NATWWAL; and soon! But what to blog about? It hits me.

PEOPLE & STORIES. I've been doing this award-winning short story reading and discussion series here @ YOUR FAVORITE PUBLIC LIBRARY for over seven years now. And it's still as enjoyable as when I started.

A PEOPLE & STORIES session goes like this: participants arrive and chat. At start time the facilitator passes out the story for the day and briefly introduces it. Then S/he reads the story while participants follow along. This is is followed by an almost always lively discussion. That's it. No tests, no trick questions, just a bunch of people getting together to read, listen, talk, enjoy the conversation and the company. 

THE FALL/WINTER 2012 season of P&S at Branigan Library begins in a little over a week on Friday the 21st. Here's the schedule:
SEPTEMBER
21st
28th
OCTOBER
  5th
12th
19th
26th
NOVEMBER
  2nd
  9th
All sessions are on Fridays at 11:15 am in the Library's second floor conference room.

WE'RE STARTING THIS season with Carlos Fuentes' novella Aura (the English translation, although I have done and am open to doing so again PEOPLE & STORIES-P&S- sessions in Spanish). If you enjoy gothic tales you'll be drawn to this miniature masterpiece.
                                                
SO, CONSIDER THIS your open invitation to join us and enjoy some of the best fun you'll ever have with your clothes on! Questions? email me or you can call 575.528.4001.

TWICE AS NICE

IT'S A TREAT TO READ a great book. It's twice as nice to meet the author as well.

AND WHILE I CAN'T read this book for you,  I can tell you how to meet the author of The Double Happiness Company: come to the Branigan BookClub (BBC).

NEXT TUESDAY (the 21^st of August 2012) at 1:00 pm, Ms. Aylor will discuss this, her second novel, at the BBC August meeting in the 2^nd floor Roadrunner Room at Branigan Library. The BBC usually meets twice (10:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m.) on the 3rd Tuesday of each month, but this month we meet just the once for this special appearance.

BRANIGAN LIBRARY OWNS copies of The Double Happiness Company.  If you want your own copy, though, you have two options. You can go to Casa Camino Real, 314 S. Tornillo St. here in Las Cruces and buy one. Or you can wait until next week and get one after you listen to the author. Either way she will be happy to sign it for you after the program.

I hope to see many of you there.

CHOCOLATE, FUEGO, SOLEDAD Y OTROS DEMONIOS

(The English version appears below the Spanish)
ABAJO SE ENCUENTRA la lista de libros que leeremos en el Club de Libro Carlos Fuentes (CLCF) desde el agosto 2012 hasta el julio 2013.

El CLCF se reúne el 4° jueves del mes en la Biblioteca Branigan.

PARA MAYOR INFORMES:
Viviana
multipropmiami@gmail.com
786.327.8175

Mark
mpendleton@las-cruces.org
575.528.4001

2012
+ 23 de agosto: Carlos Fuentes. Aura

+ 27 de septiembre: Laura Esquivel. Como Agua Para Chocolate



+ 25 de octubre José Saramago. Ensay Sobre la Lucidez

+ 29 de noviembre: Juan Rulfo. El Llano en Llamas. Se reúne el CLCF en el 5° jueves del mes (29°) en noviembre porque la Biblioteca está cerrada en el 4° jueves (22°) por ser éste la Fiesta del Día de Acción de Gracias. (Según la página web de la Biblioteca Branigan, el CLCF reúne el 22 de noviembre, pero no es la verdad. He de cambiarlo).

+ 27 de diciembre. Jorge Luís Borges. El Libro de Arena.


2012
+ 24 de enero: Enrique Serna. Señorita México.

+ 28 de febrero. Gabriel García Márquez. Del Amor y Otros Demonios.

+ 28 de marzo: Elena Poniatovska. Paseo de la Reforma


+ 25 de abril: Isabel Allende. El Cuaderno de Maya.

+ 23 de mayo: Marina Castañeda. El Machismo Invisible.

+ 27 de junio: Ocatavio Paz. El Laberinto de la Soledad.

+ 25 de julio: Ángeles Masttreta. Arráncame la Vida.


    

CHOCOLATE, FIRE, SOLITUDE AND OTHER DEMONS

WHAT YOU SEE ABOVE
is the reading list for the Carlos Fuentes Memorial BookClub (CFMBC) from August 2012 through July 2013.

The CFMBC will meet  at 6:30 PM
on the fourth Thursday of each month
at Branigan Library 
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Viviana
multipropmiami@gmail.com
786.327.8175

Mark
mpendleton@las-cruces.org
575.528.4001