Each year, Marin's public libraries, their program
partners, and sponsors invite the community to simultaneously read and discuss
the same book as part of the One
Book One Marin program. While providing an opportunity to engage around
themes, ideas and characters presented, One Book helps develop a dialog
throughout the County to examine important issues as they relate to the
literature. This year's selection, Amy Tan's Saving
Fish From Drowninghas been the topic of countless book discussion
groups across Marin and has inspired a series of free public events on topics
of Burma, travel, art, and history.
The 2008 Project will culminate this month in a closing celebration: Amy Tan in
conversation with KQED "Forum" host Michael Krasney on Tuesday, May
6th, 7pm at Dominican University's Angelico
Hall. The entire community is invited to bring their book groups, neighbors,
colleagues, friends, and family to attend this free event to gain even greater
insights into the book and its relevance to our community today. No RSVP required,
but limited seating, so plan to arrive early. Doors open at 6:00 pm.
There are (more than) 50
Good Reasons to bicycle in 2008. If you're getting ready to ride this
year, check out the Marin County Health and Human Services Department’s
Marin on the
Move for a great subject guide developed by the Civic Center Library,
Let’s
Go for A Bike Ride! Here you can find up to date information on different
types of bicycles, tips on buying a bicycle, a list of books about bicycling
at the library, links to recommended websites, and more.
In addition to providing such resources online
and at the branch, over 1,000 copies of the new Let’s
Go for A Bike Ride will be distributed at Marin energizer stations on Bike
to Work Day, along with information about the Library's Services and Facilities
Vision Plan. Be sure to stop by and get one! Celebrate Older Americans
May is the nationwide observance of Older Americans Month but at the
Marin County Free Library,
we celebrate our older citizens all year long. Our
Bookmobile
visits senior housing around the County and sends collections of books
to many other facilities. Our award-winning Library
Beyond Walls program matches volunteers to deliver materials to homebound
patrons.An increasing number
of our library branches offer free computer
instruction, ADA Internet
workstations, and help adapting computer monitors for easy reading.
We also host book
discussion groups that provide opportunities to meet a variety of
folks with similar interests. The Library has a wide variety of
large print titles and our collections of audio books and DVDs is growing
by leaps and bounds.
If you'd like to learn more about the Marin
County Free Library and our various programs and services for older Americans
- just ask us!
This month's Bargain Sunday is a focus on non-Fiction--the
following categories will be on sale Sunday, May 4. Enjoy 50% off savings on
Anthropology/Sociology, Sports, Travel and Reference. Our hours on Bargain Sunday
are noon-4pm.
The Book Place is operated by the Friends
of the Marin County Free Library, a nonprofit volunteer organization devoted
to raising funds for the libraries. You can help by volunteering at the store
(call Nancy Montgomery, 883-5628), by becoming
a member of the Friends (call Ginny Schultz, 883-5488) and by donating books
and buying books at The Book Place.
BRANCH
EVENTS
The Marin County Free Library hosts a wide variety of cultural and educational
branches responsive to the needs in our communities. In addition to special
events for adults, teens, and kids, the Library hosts regular book clubs,
storytimes, bilingual and Spanish language events. For further information
about specific Library
Events and Classes please visit our branch
event webpage or our online
calendar for a complete listing.
HOURS
and LOCATIONS
Marin County Free Library branches are located throughout East and West
Marin. Open days and hours of operation vary by branch. With 11 locations
to choose from as well as 24/7 access
on our website to reference
assistance, the online
catalog, databases,
and eBooks
you'll never be far from the information you need.
COMPUTER
AND INTERNET CLASSES
The Marin County Free Library offers classes and one-to-one tutoring in
computer basics, the Internet, e-mail, the Library’s online resources, Microsoft
Word, Excel, and more. Please check
our website for times, locations, and registration information.
BOOKCLUBS
Marin County Free Library branches host a wide variety of monthly reading
groups. Club members meet each month for a lively discussion about a particular
book or theme. Please check
our bookclub listing for locations, times, selections, and contact information.
STORYTIMES
The Marin County Free Library offers storytimes at each of the branches
for children in various age groups. Please check
our Storytimes page for times and ages.
BOOKMOBILE
The Marin County Free Library Bookmobile visits geographically isolated
communities throughout the County. Most stops are made twice within a four-week
period each month. Copies of the Bookmobile schedule are available at all
County Library branches and on the Bookmobile’s
webpage.
Place your request
early and be one of the first to check out these new releases. More
fiction and non-fiction previews are available through BookLetters.
Each of our BookLetters
listings provides links to our online catalog, so you can check availability and
easily request materials be delivered to your local branch library. You can also
subscribe to one or more of these lists and have updated information send to you
via email
or RSS feed.
The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America
By Clarke, Thurston 2008/05 -
Henry Holt & Company
9780805077926
Check Our Catalog
Clarke provides an absorbing historical narrative of the action-packed 82 days of Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign as well as the heightened personal, racial, and political dramas of the time.
...More
Odd Thomas's fourth adventure breaks new ground, taking this utterly unique hero to undreamed of new places, where both the perils he will face and the stakes for which he fights surpass all that has come before.
...More
In this eagerly anticipated novel, the "New York Times"-bestselling author brings back Scotland Yard's Thomas Lynley in a stunning mystery in which he's caught in the middle of a seemingly perfect crime.
...More
Have a suggestion for a title that you think the library should purchase? You can offer your suggestion via the form on the MARINet website at http://marinet.lib.ca.us/acquire.
Bestsellers
Here's a selection of recent Best Sellers, as published
by the New York Times. More best selling fiction and non-fiction titles
are available through BookLetters.
Each of our BookLetters
listings provides links to our online catalog, so you can check availability and
easily request materials be delivered to your local branch library. You can also
subscribe to one or more of these lists and have updated information send to you
via email
or RSS feed.
In Jonathan Kellerman's latest super-charged thriller, Detective Milo Sturgis and psychologist Alex Delaware square off against the most sadistic murderer they've ever encountered. Ballantine Books
...More
BookPage Notable Title Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lahiri delivers eight dazzling stories that take readers from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand as they explore the secrets at the heart of family life.
...More
BookPage Notable Title Many know Julie Andrews from The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins. In this memoir, she looks back on her early years with an aspiring Vaudeville mom and a loving dad and her role in Camelot with Richard Burton at age 20.
...More
Have a suggestion for a title that you think the library should purchase? You
can offer your suggestion via the form on the MARINet website at http://marinet.lib.ca.us/acquire.
Award Winners
The Pulitzer
Prize is named for journalist Joseph Pulitzer and is awarded annually to works
determined by the Pulitzer Prize Board to be distinguished. 2008 Pulitzer's were
recently announced - highlights of which are listed below. A complete listing
of Pulitzer Prize Fiction,
Non-Fiction,
Biography,
History,
Poetry, and
other Award Winners are available through BookLetters.
Each of our BookLetters
listings provides links to our online catalog, so you can check availability
and easily request materials be delivered to your local branch library. You can
also subscribe to one or more of these lists and have updated information send
to you via email
or RSS
feed.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
By Diaz, Junot 2007/09 -
Riverhead Hardcover
9781594489587
Check Our Catalog
Winner - 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
2007 National Book Critics Circle Award Winner: Fiction
BookPage Notable Title The long-awaited--and thrillingly satisfying, genuinely original--first novel from the unmistakable voice behind the story collection Drown.
...More
Winner - 2008 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
The enactment of the German extermination policies
that resulted in the murder of six million European Jews depended upon
many factors, including the cooperation of local authorities and police
departments, and the passivity of the populations, primarily of their
political and spiritual elites. Necessary also was the victims' willingness
to submit, often with the hope of surviving long enough to escape the
German vise. "The Years of Extermination," the completion of Saul Friedlander's
major historical opus on Nazi Germany and the Jews, explores the convergence
of the various aspects of this most systematic and sustained of modern
genocides. In this unparalleled work--based on a vast array of documents
and an overwhelming choir of voices from diaries, letters, and memoirs--the
history of the Holocaust has found its definitive representation
...More
Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father
By Matteson, John 2007/08 -
W. W. Norton & Company
9780393059649
Check Our Catalog
Winner - 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Biography
BookPage Notable Title Matteson looks at the personal life behind the beloved author of Little Women in this story that highlights the tense yet loving bond between Louisa May Alcott and her father, Bronson, and the impact of that relationship on her life and work.
...More
What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848
By Howe, Daniel Walker 2007/11 -
Oxford University Press, USA
9780195078947
Check Our Catalog
Historian Howe illuminates the period of American history from the battle of New Orleans to the end of the Mexican-American War, an era when the United States expanded to the Pacific and won control over the richest part of the North American continent.
...More
Winner - 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
National Book Critics Circle Best Recommended Poetry
Winner - 2007 National Book Award for Poetry
In his first poetry collection in a decade, former poet laureate Hass is in great form, simultaneously blithe and commanding.
...More
Have a suggestion for a title that you think the library should purchase? You
can offer your suggestion via the form on the MARINet website at http://marinet.lib.ca.us/acquire.
New DVDs
The following DVD titles have recently been added to our collection. Complete
lists of the MARINet libraries' DVD and video holdings are available online via
a quick search.
You can also browse our BookLetters Movie Database for descriptions and video
clips of hundreds of new releases and favorite classics. Each of our BookLetters
listings provides links to our online catalog, so you can check availability and
easily request materials be delivered to your local branch library.
Gone Baby Gone
Amanda McCready is a 4-year-old who has disappeared from her Boston home.
The police make little headway in solving the case, so the girl's aunt hires
Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro, private detectives. They freely admit
that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family
wants them for two reasons: they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood
in which they all live. As the case progresses, Patrick and Angie must face
area drug dealers, gangs and pedophiles. When they finally solve the case,
they are faced with a moral dilemma that tears them apart.
Into the Wild
A true story, based on the book by Jon Krakauer. Freshly graduated from
college with a promising future ahead, Christopher McCandless instead walked
out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What
happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring
symbol for countless people - a fearless risk-taker who wrestled with the
precarious balance between man and nature.
King of California
A man is reunited with his teenage daughter after spending years in a mental
institute. When he becomes obsessed that ancient treasure is buried under
his home, his daughter decides to go along with his antics.
The King of Kong: A Fistfull of Quarters
Documents novice gamer Steve Wiebe on his quest to destroy the top score
of gaming legend Billy Mitchell, the uncontested champion of the Donkey
Kong world for over 20 years. Only one can truly claim the title King of
Kong
Lars and the Real Girl
Lars is a sweet but quirky guy who thinks he's found the girl of his dreams
in a life-sized doll named Bianca. He is content with his artificial girlfriend
until he develops feelings for Margo, an attractive co-worker. Now Lars
finds himself in a unique love triangle, hoping to somehow discover the
real meaning of true love.
Blame it on Fidel
When Fernando and Marie decide to dedicate themselves full time to various
political causes, their nine-year-old daughter, Anna, must learn to face
the world on her own.
I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal
Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal lost 89 family members and helped track
down over 1,100 Nazi war criminals. He spent six decades fighting anti-semitism
and prejudice against all people. Watching the early efforts of the U.S.
government to prosecute Nazi war criminals he realized that without justice,
there is no freedom, and initially decided to dedicate a few years to that
quest. A few years turned into the rest of his life.
Bamako
Melé, a bar singer, and her unemployed husband Chaka are on the verge
of breaking up. In the courtyard of the house they share with other families
in Bamako, the capital city of Mali, African civil society representatives
have taken proceedings against such international financial institutions
as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, whom they blame for
Africa's woes. As numerous trial witnesses air bracing indictments against
the multinational economic machinery that haunts them, life in the courtyard
presses forward.
Margot at the Wedding
When Margot and her son, Claude, come to attend the wedding of her sister,
Pauline, it seems as if a family rift is being mended. Despite their best
efforts, Margot and Pauline revert to their most dysfunctional selves. It
does not help that Pauline's fiancé is woefully depressed and Margot's
lover is as narcissistic as she is. Margot's estranged husband can't seem
to recognize that Margot cringes at his every effort at reconciliation.
Margot and Claude have both a loving and poisonous relationship and she
begins to pull Claude down with her as she sinks in self-absorption.
There Will be Blood
A down-and-out silver miner raising a son, self-made oilman Daniel Plainview,
whose voracious appetite for oil turns him into a California tycoon in the
early years of the 20th century. Getting the oil from the ground is an intensely
physical process that later broadens into Plainview's equally indomitable
urge to control land and power. Along the way, Plainview deals with a mighty
derrick fire, a visit from a long-lost brother, and the ongoing involvement
of Plainview's poker-faced adoptive son. Plainview's rivalry with Eli Sunday,
the local preacher.
Brave One
New York City radio host Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) is working and living
a wonderful life. One night she and her fiancé, David, are brutally
attacked. David is killed and Erica is almost beaten to death. Erica is
traumatized and in order to cope and work past the tragic event, Erica becomes
someone else. She buys a gun and begins to roam the streets at night looking
to take her revenge on the men who were responsible for the attack.
Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Reinventing himself as Sweeney Todd, a man unjustly sent to prison returns
to exact revenge on those who ruined his life, especially the evil Judge
Turpin who sent the man to prison. Not only does he seek revenge for the
cruel punishment he suffered in prison, but also for what happened to his
wife and daughter. When he returns to his home town, he reopens his barber
shop, where Mr. Todd becomes the Demon of Fleet Street. Mrs. Lovett is Sweeney's
amorous accomplice who creates diabolical meat pies out of the remains of
Mr. Todd's victims.
Why Did I Get Married?
During a trip to the picturesque snowcapped mountains in Colorado, eight
married college friends have gathered for their annual seven-day reunion.
But the cozy mood is shattered when the group comes face-to-face with one
pair's infidelity. As secrets are revealed, each couple begins questioning
the validity of their own marriage. Over the course of the weekend, husbands
and wives take a hard look at their lives, wrestling with issues of commitment,
betrayal and forgiveness as they seek a way forward.
Golden Door
Salvatore is a very poor farmer and a widower who decides to emigrate to
the U.S. with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark,
they meet Lucy. She is a British woman who wants to go back to the States.
Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, needs to marry someone before she
arrives at Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts her proposal. Once
they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass
the examinations to be admitted to the States. Tests are not so simple for
poor farmers coming from Sicily. Their destiny is in the hands of the custom
officers.
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly
Jean-Dominique Bauby, at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed
his entire body, except his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir,
Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his interior world.
Have a suggestion for a title that you think the library should purchase? You can offer your suggestion via the form on the MARINet website at http://marinet.lib.ca.us/acquire.
Looking for bestsellers, fiction, non-fiction, mysteries or audio books? Check
out some of our most popular recommendations on BookLetters.
You can also subscribe to one or more book lists and have updated information
send to you via email or RSS feed. E-Connect publication
E-Connect is an online publication distributed monthly by the Marin County Free Library.
Contact: Library@co.marin.ca.us
