Celebrate Black History Month...Cinema Style!

On Wednesday, February 20, the library will screen the film, In the Heat of the Night, at 5:00pm, with FREE sub sandwiches and drinks! Then, we'll have our monthly film club discussion at 7:00pm, about In the Heat of the Night. If you can't make the screening, no problem: we'll have multiple copies available for viewing at home, and you can still make the discussion at 7:00pm!

Hope to see you at either the film screening, the discussion, or both!

America's Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee is having several events during February, and here are some other sites with information about Black History Month:

http://www.history.com/minisites/blackhistory/

http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/

chicklet to chick lit

From the "chicklet" (or should it be "chickette"?) corner, the Caldecott and Newbery Awards are out: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick won the Randolph Caldecott Medal. 2007 Honor Books include: Henry's Freedom Box: a True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine and illustrated by Kadir Nelson, First Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, The Wall: Growing up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis and Knuffle Bunny Too: a Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Williams. I really liked The Invention of Hugo Cabret; it is one of the most unique children's books I have ever read. But is it really a picture book? Should it actually have won the Caldecott? Or the Newbery? It doesn't fit easily into either, but I am glad it won a 2007 Medal.
The John Newbery Medal was awarded to Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz and illustrated by Robert Byrd. I didn't see this one as the winner; I preferred the 2007 Honor Book: Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. Also receiving the Honor status are: The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt and Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson.

From the "chick lit" corner, I have started wading through the sea of Jane Austen related books that have flooded the market recently. I just finished Darcy's Story by Janet Aylmer. She did a good job of sticking to the Austen style and language, as well as following the Pride and Prejudice timeline. Check it out. A patron directed me to a mystery series involving Mr. and Mrs. Darcy; I am just starting Pride and Prescience. I'll let you know how it is. Any other good Austen-like books that you've read lately?

At the film club discussion...

...had a great turnout - 8 people, our biggest group yet! We discussed Little Children, a film based on the Tom Perrotta novel of the same name. While some liked the movie, most found it "disturbing" and definitely not light film fare. However, we had a great discussion about sex offenders' rights v. parents/children's rights, grownups behaving like "little children" in their relationships, escaping unhappy marriages, Madame Bovary, and even an interesting tangent on Hummel figurines...all an all, a great discussion!

Next film club film and date: In the Heat of the Night (Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, 1967 Oscar for Best Picture), in honor of Black History Month; Wednesday, February 20, 7:00-8:00pm. Hope to see you there!

At the last book club discussions...

...we discussed The Abortionist's Daughter, by Elisabeth Hyde. Discussion synopsis: This book melded a murder mystery (abortion provider, Diana, murdered) with the issues surrounding abortion. In general, our group found the book did a decent job of exploring both sides of the issues surrounding abortion using typical scenarios, but that it did lean more toward the pro-choice side. None of us were surprised by who the murderer was in the end - we thought Hyde could have done a better job of developing multiple characters with motives to keep the suspense going. Final analysis: an okay book.

Next month's book: Red River, by Lalita Tademy. Dates: Sunday, February 17, 1:00-2:00 or Thursday, January 21, noon-1:00. Hope to see you there!

Join us at next week's book club discussions!

Heads Up: January's book club book is The Abortionist's Daughter, by Elisabeth Hyde. Pick your preferred discussion time: Thursday, January 17 and noon; or Sunday, January 20 and 1:00pm. Copies available at the library - hope to see you there!

Helping inform your vote!

Check out the website the library put together of some helpful links for informing your vote during the 2008 elections:

http://www.wcfls.lib.wi.us/delafield/elections.htm

Wisconsin Primaries are February 19!