And the movie of the month is...

Waltz With Bashir!

For All of the "To Kill A Mockingbord" Fans Out There

The current issue of the New Yorker has a fascinating article on the politics of the Tom Robinson trial. I thought you might all enjoy reading this since in a poll we had a few weeks back 33% of you chose it as your favorite high school book.

View the article here:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/10/090810fa_fact_gladwell

The Time Machine: Enriched Classic

Unless you are familiar with 1895 British society, you may want to check out the enriched classic version of The Time Machine. The book is full of notes that give you insight to all of Wells' inside jokes and his mocking of the popular culture at the time. I have found it very useful so far and thought the rest of you who are reading this might also appreciate the extra information.

Teach an Adult to Read

I like to think that one of the missions of this blog is to help promote and improve literacy at all age groups in our community and beyond. I currently came across a program at our local library that I would love to share with all of you.

It's called Project Second Chance, and it is a part of the CCC Library's Adult Literacy Program. They are currently looking for volunteers to help tutor these brave people who are fighting for a second chance at reading. For as much as we love to read, I think it is our duty to help others share in this love.

Tutor training hours are:
Wednesday Sept. 23rd from 6:30-8:30
Saturday Wednesday 26nd from 9:00-3:00
Saturday October 3rd from 9:00 to 3:00

All 14 hours are required to become certified to tutor.

For more information please visit www.ccclib.org/psc

THANK YOU!!!

Interview With The Mayor!?!?!

Three weeks after requesting an interview with Pleasant Hill Mayor Michael Harris he has accepted! I initially requested the interview to discuss the library budget issues and am now very excited to get some answers and clarification on this very big local issue!

I also want to involve the voice of the readers of this blog. If you have a question you would like me to ask please let me know. I promise I will make sure to ask him (within reason).

We are currently in the process of scheduling the interview. I will keep you posted!

August Book of the Month

This month's book selections were all chosen from the Top 10 Nerdiest Books of All-Time. To participate in the discussion, share your views, or to pose questions to a larger group, please leave these in the comments section on the August Book of the Month tab at the top of the page.

This month's primary book of the month is The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. The secondary books (which we recommend if you happen to finish the initial book before our next meeting) are Enemy Mine by Barry Longyear and Dune by Frank Herbert.

Place your book on hold at the library: http://catalog.ccclib.org/?q=the%20time%20machine

Read the book online: http://books.google.com/books?id=08Xf_6gWh9AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=time+machine&hl=En#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Or download the book: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5496237.The_Time_Machine

Happy Reading!!!



PS- August Movie of the Month to be posted shortly!

Interview With Local Authors: Roberta Alexander

This interview is a bit different from those in the past. Roberta Alexander is actually a book reviewer not an author. I think it is interesting to read about the book industry from a different perspective.

How long have you lived in the Bay Area? Which parts?

A long time … first at Stanford, later in Berkeley. My children went through school in Alameda. Then I moved to western Contra Costa County, where I’ve lived for nearly 20 years.

How did you get started reviewing books? How did you get starting reviewing mystery novels?

I’d been working at the Contra Costa Times for a number of years, and had noticed that most of its reviews were a] from the wire service and b] covered books by male authors. I wasn’t anti-male, just concerned that so many of the books I enjoyed never got any publicity.

When I discussed this with the book editor, she suggested I do something to remedy the situation. There were several boxes of unread books from publishers; I went through them and picked out a few. I tried to focus on books by women and on new authors, figuring people who had full-page ads in the New York Times touting their books didn’t need my contribution.

How long have you been with the Contra Costa Times?

I spent 17 years on the copy desk of the Times, leaving in 2001. But I’ve continued to write reviews as a freelancer.

How involved are you with the community?

You mean as a reviewer? Now, not so much. When I was on staff, I sometimes moderated mystery panels and stuff like that. I enjoyed it. But I spent six years on the library commission of the city where I live, and have remained active in library/literacy activities.

What challenges have you faced as a reviewer?

At first I wasn’t taken seriously because I reviewed paperbacks as well as hardbacks. My feeling as a reader was that I was much more likely to buy a paperback, and why shouldn’t it get some attention?

For the last year or so, I’ve been challenged by having less space in the newspaper. That means reviewing fewer books or writing shorter reviews, neither of which I like.

Now that I have a website, I can write some longer reviews.

What was the most original mystery novel you've ever reviewed?

Maybe Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann.

Have you ever tried to write a novel?

I wrote my first novel at age 10. I am always writing, fiction, nonfiction, something. For the last couple of years I have been working on a series of essays, some funny, some poignant, dealing with my childhood in New York, among other strange things.

What types of books would you recommend for young readers?

J.K. Rowling did a pretty good job by offering young people (and millions of adults) a story that was exciting as well as meaningful.

What do you think is the best way to get young people excited to read?

In my house, books were always important, and my children picked that up.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

I was an early fan of Janet Evanovich and Alexander McCall Smith, but Evanovich’s later books were forced and unfunny. I like Julia Spencer-Fleming, Judy Clemens, Margaret Maran and Sharan Newman. Although their subject matter varies, what they all offer is strong, believable characters you can follow from book to book.

Do you have a website we can visit?

RobertaInk.com

Bodhi's Baby Books of the Month

This is a new feature that will have recommendations for children's books. At least two members of the club have young children at home and I think this is a good way to recommend books that children will like.

Bodhi is currently 11 months (almost a year) and his books of the month will be books that are at his age level and that he seems to love.

His fist selection is The Little Gorilla by Ruth Borstein. Since Bodhi's vocabulary is pretty limited (mama, dada, ok, book, duck, and good), the following are reviews from Amazon.com.

"Short and sweet, a song of love which . . . is beguiling. Everybody
loved Little Gorilla from the day he was born until one day "something
happened . . . Little Gorilla began to grow and Grow and Grow . . ."
And he was big, and everybody came and sang and danced and wished him a
happy birthday and still loved him. So the message to the audience is
clear: love goes on. The drawings are simple, large-scale [and] they
fit the text very comfortably." -- Review

"Little Gorilla’s velvety-soft jungle world seems as comfortably secure as the story’s evocation of love and friendship. Each page radiates a quiet drama as one after another, the jungle inhabitants indulgently express their affection for the irresistible baby. . . . Preschoolers will take pleasure in joining the conversely shrinking animal menagerie in wishing the not-so-little Little Gorilla a happy birthday."

Pleasant Hill Community Focus

Local paper, Pleasant Hill Community Focus, has written an article concerning the Pleasant Hill library cuts. Katherine Brackin's article, Reduction in Library Hours, gives all the details behind the issue as well as where to go to donate to the cause.

The paper's website is www.pleasanthillcommunityfocus.com.

To view this month's issue please visit: http://www.pleasanthillcommunityfocus.com/PHFocus_Aug09final.pdf

The Concordian

The local magazine "The Concordian" is now available at your Pleasant Hill Library. I first heard of the Concordian after our interview with local author Andre' Gensburger. Its quite possible it has always been available at the P.H. Library and it just wasn't on my radar, but either way I am excited to now be able to get a copy locally.

This month's issue has several compelling articles, some of which include a story on a local Iraq War veteran (by Gensburger), an editorial on the sportsmanship of the British Open (by Dan Ashley), a story on new surgical robots (by Tamara Steiner), and many many local interest stories. There is also an article in there remembering the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshia by another interviewed local author Willem Ridder.

For more info on The Concordian please go to www.myconcordian.com

Local Author Barbara Bentley Wins Major Award

From Barbara Bentley:

Greetings to all,

Some of you may already know about the award but this announcement includes new information.

Several chapters of my book "A Dance with the Devil" tell the story of how I changed the divorce law of California. When a board member from an Atlanta foundation read the book, she wrote me the following letter and sent it to me via my publisher.

"I was impressed and interested in learning of your achievements in the arena of improvement of our laws and justice system. Thank you for making a difference. I am a board member of the Foundation for Improvement of Justice, founded in 1984 by the Chapman family to recognize outstanding contributions to our justice system. Please refer to our web site www.justiceawards.com for further information as to history, purpose, award recipients, contact information, submissions towards our selection process and the awards.
In May and June each year, our Board receive and review approximately 80 to 100 nominations from nominators. The Board finalizes, in a blind selection process, selections down to the very best 8 to 10. These are our Paul Chapman award winners.
In September of each year the award winners, along with their nominators, are recognized at our awards banquet at The Ritz Carlton, Atlanta, Georgia, where they enjoy a wonderful banquet, a nice monetary award for the winner and well deserved recognition.
In closing, I simply wanted to inform you of our Foundation, knowing of your interest in Justice and our interest in receiving the very best nominations/achievements each year in the field of justice."

My friend Sheryl Sturges , a board member of Community Violence Solutions, was kind enough to nominate me.

This past Friday I received a phone call advising me that I am a recipient of one of the six 2009 Paul H. Chapman awards. I am still reeling from the news!

The awards package includes: the Paul H. Chapman medal (photo attached), a check for $10,000, a commendation bar pin, a certificate of appreciation, and an invitation to the awards banquet in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 26. The foundation is picking up the airfare and hotel for four: myself and Sheryl and our two guests.

I feel blessed and honored to be among the recipients. Previous winners include judges, politicians, police, and organizations. In appreciation for my selection, I am donating half of my cash award to Community Violence Solutions in honor of Sheryl Sturges' passion to help victims of sexual assault and family violence.

For more information, please visit http://www.justiceawards.com and http://www.cvsolutions.org/. I have also updated my website www.adancewiththedevil.com.


Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,
Barbara

Valley Life: Eat, chat, spy -- Who knew research could be so much fun?

By Penny Warner
Valley Times

Although I didn't plan to become a fiction writer, I was already making stuff up during my school days.Any time I had to do a paper that required research — which I hated — I always wrote from my imagination and hoped it sounded realistic enough to fool the teacher. I made up stuff on everything from visiting historic California missions to interviewing experts on the importance of atomic energy. And back then, I didn't even have the Internet for help.

Now that I've morphed into a fiction writer, I've come to love research. In fact, I'd much rather research a person, place or topic than actually write the book.I'm currently writing the second book in my mystery series and it requires a lot of research to make the story sound authentic. For example, last weekend, I spent the day just doing research.

First, I sat inside one of those teeny toy Smart Cars to see if my broad-shouldered love interest could fit. I found the car amazingly roomy inside, great for making U-turns on one-lane mountain roads, and perfect for a car chase on the sidewalk. I almost bought one, but they were out of yellow.

Next, I went to the San Francisco County Jail to see what it would be like to visit a prisoner, just as my protagonist must do in order to save her BFF.

Sure, there's plenty of information on the Internet about visiting the jail, like "No cell phones, weapons or gang colors." And good thing, since I'd planned to wear something colorful.

But I wanted to know more. Such as, what color are the walls? (Somewhere between Shenandoah taupe and caramel apple) and what does it smell like? (A cross between a hospital hallway and high school locker room). Those are details you just can't get from the Internet.

The characters in my books like to eat between action scenes and romantic interludes, so I had to check out San Francisco cafes, diners, and bars that would make interesting backdrops for their clue-filled conversations. I discovered a wonderful French cafe hidden in San Francisco's trendy South Park, filled with pony-tailed hippies and spike-haired hipsters, computer techs in logo T-shirts and bike riders in colorful Spandex, all gobbling blueberry crepes and croque-monsieurs. They'd be perfect for an appearance in my latest mystery.While sipping a café au lait, I eavesdropped on conversations that ran from dramatic breakups to outlandish adventures. And I took notes.

On the way home, I swung by Treasure Island, the primary location for my book, to see how I could make that unique setting become a character in the story.That meant attending a wine tasting (I bought a bottle of Treasure Island Wine because the label featured a pirate flag), talking with the security guard (who filled me in on the new TV show "Trauma" being filmed there), and chatting up the commodore at the Treasure Island Yacht Club (he tipped me to the best garlic fries on the island).

Although I'll probably use only a small percent of the things I'd learned, I hope those "telling details" will make the book come alive.

You just can't make that stuff up.

Interview With Local Authors: Lynn Goodwin

How long have you lived in the Bay Area? Which parts?

I am a Bay Area native. I grew up in Los Gatos, went away to college, returned to get a California teaching credential, and then taught in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District and various community colleges for many years.

When did you get your first book published?

My first books, From An Author's Point of View: Tips on Writing and From An Author's Point of View: Tips on Marketing were published by the Other Side of Creativity in 2001. The organization no longer exists.

My current book, You Want Me to Do What? Journaling for Caregivers was published in December of 2008. It offers encouragement, simple instructions, and over 200 sentence starts to help anyone begin writing. Those who have tried it love it, and since I have been marketing it, I've discovered that everybody is a caregiver for someone.

What type of books do you write?

Both of these books are self-help meets how-to. So is my e-zine, Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com. I've also drafted a YA novel and written plenty of short stories, memoirs, and articles.


Why do you write?

So many reasons; so little time. I guess the simple answer is that I write to share stories, express opinions, analyze events, find my part in things, help others, and explore.

How involved are you with the community?

I am very involved with the writing community. One of the perks of You Want Me to Do What? Journaling for Caregivers is that it has helped me connect with a number of organizations in the medical and care-giving community. I give journaling workshops and talks for any interested organization. E-mail me at Lgood67334 (AT)comcast (DOT) net or visit http://www.writeradvice.com/workshops.html for information.

What challenges have you faced as an author?

Depending on the project and the moment, I can be challenged to find the right word, phrase, subject, angle, or venue. When I remember that everyone has great stories to tell, I know that the rewards of writing outweigh the challenges.

Who were some your influences as a writer?

"I'd like to thank the Academy and..." Truthfully, I am influenced by writers, readers, and critiquers. I name some specific authors as I answer "What are some of your favorite books?" below.

What types of books would you recommend for young readers?

Read books about subjects you love. Follow your heart. Classic or contemporary; fiction or non-fiction; print, graphic, manga, or e-zine, read what you want to read. It will give you sustenance for reading what you have to read. Almost all books have something to say to you.

Who are some of your favorite authors? & What are some of your favorite books?

Jodi Picoult's Nineteen Minutes
Sybil Lockhart's Mother in the Middle
Veronica Chater's Waiting for the Apocalypse
Meg Waite Clayton's The Wednesday Sisters
Rachel Sarah's Single Mom Seeking
Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows' The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
Jennifer McMahon's Island of the Lost Girls

Based on this list, I should try writing fiction or memoir, shouldn't I?

Do you have a website we can visit?

My website is Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com. Please visit, click on the links and boxes, and let me know if you have any questions.

Where can we find your books?

You Want Me to Do What? Journaling for Caregivers is available at Amazon and other online bookstores. You can also order it through Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com. Click on Journaling for Caregivers. Then click on Order Online. You can also ask any independent bookstore to order it.