D-Day: The Battle for Normandy

Click link to go to the catalog

Title:        D-Day: The Battle for Normandy

Author:        Beevor, Antony

Catalog:    940.5421 BEEVOR

Synopsis:

[From the HPL catalog] The #1 internationally bestselling history of D-Day is now enhanced with rare video footage from the NBC News Archives for the ultimate narrative of the battle for Normandy.  The definitive account of the Normandy invasion by the bestselling author of Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945.  From critically acclaimed world historian, Antony Beevor, this is the first major account in more than twenty years to cover the whole invasion from June 6, 1944, right up to the liberation of Paris on August 25.  It is the first book to describe not only the experiences of the American, British, Canadian, and German soldiers, but also the terrible suffering of the French caught up in the fighting.  More French civilians were killed by Allied bombing and shelling than British civilians were by the Luftwaffe.  The Allied fleet attempted by far the largest amphibious assault ever, and what followed was a battle as savage as anything seen on the Eastern Front.  Casualties mounted on both sides, as did the tensions between the principal commanders.  Even the joys of liberation had their darker side.  The war in northern France marked not just a generation, but the whole of the postwar world, profoundly influencing relations between America and Europe.  Beevor draws upon his research in more than thirty archives in six countries, going back to original accounts, interviews conducted by combat historians just after the action, and many diaries and letters donated to museums and archives in recent years.  D-Day will surely be hailed as the consummate account of the Normandy invasion and the ferocious offensive that led to the liberation of Paris.

Why I like this book:

As a grade-schooler I was fascinated by World War II and read everything on the shelf at my elementary school library.  I also read everything I could from the public library.  I think I was mostly fascinated by the sheer scale of it all and the huge variety of machines, weaponry, and equipment that were created for it.  As an adult, I retained my fascination regarding WWII, but in a slightly more human-centered way as I read more stories about the experiences of the soldiers themselves.  To be honest, this was a tough read.  Not because of the writing or the tremendous volume of material, but because of the detail and the images of war that come out of the descriptions.  In fact, I did judge this book by its cover at first.  Once I looked at that picture, and having seen the visceral Saving Private Ryan, I felt a tinge of dread as I started reading.  The reward is that Beevor is a good writer and his research is solid.  There are a tremendous number of very helpful maps to keep the reader on track with the myriad events occurring all at once during such a massive military action.  This is a book I will read again in the future and would recommend to anyone who wants to really understand just how astonishing, audacious, and miraculous was the allies’ invasion of Normandy.

2012 Kansas Library Association meeting

Go check out this ad campaign - it will open your eyes!

Every once in a while, it's good to get together with a group of people who do the same general things you do and talk about it.  You find out new things, get new perspectives on old problems, and sometimes you find that the things you are doing are ahead of every one else!

I spent a couple of days last week in Wichita at just such an event, the 2012 KLA conference.  This is a gathering of Kansas librarians from all walks of the profession - public to college to special libraries.  Of course, the best thing about these events is the time you get to spend talking with colleagues.  Sure, the sessions impart information, the keynote speakers inspire you to new heights, etc.  But the real value in putting forth all the work necessary to hold a professional conference is the face-to-face communication.

I will say that the keynote speaker, R. David Lankes was quite interesting.  His whole talk was about how libraries have slowly shifted focus over the centuries and how we need to look back and consider reviving some ancient practices.  Take for example the great library at Alexandria.  Over two thousand years ago, some very wise people started collecting not "things" per se, but thinkers - people.  They invited great scholars to come there and create.  The knowledge created was then cataloged and stored in the library there.  Wouldn't that be a cool thing for modern libraries to do?  We could make it easier, more conducive, and desirable to come to the library to collaborate, think and create.  And here's a crazy idea:  We could tell people that's what we're doing!  It made me feel very good about the future directions of the Hutchinson Public Library and what we are planning with our re-imagined library technology center.

Well, off I go, back to my daily routine.  But I have some new ideas to work into the regular flow of "stuff" that happens every day.  I think that if some of my HPL colleagues were as inspired to make changes as I was, you'll see some cool new stuff here soon!

Books I Like...

Available at the library

This will be book recommendation #2.  I think I may have written about this book in the past, but I've heard that there is a possibility that it will be made into a movie (much as I thought <cough, cough>).

Title:                    Boneshaker

Author:                Cherie Priest

Catalog:               F Priest

Synopsis:

[From the HPL Polaris Library Catalog]  In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest.  Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska's ice. Thus was Dr. Blue's Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.  But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.  Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city.  Just beyond it lives Blue's widow, Briar Wilkes.  Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing - until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.  His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.

Why I like this novel:

This novel fits into the Steampunk genre of fiction.  It is an alternate history story, which I find to be generally thought-provoking and fun.  With this book, it’s mostly fun.  However, Priest has a great way with words and keeps the story rolling along.  As I read the book, I could see many of the scenes as movie scenes.  I liked the Civil War-era setting and the pretty good attention to accuracy and detail given to the technology of the day.  The machinery and other “fantastical” creations in this alternate-history world reminded me a lot of Jules Verne.  This book really would make a great movie, I think.  It has all the elements of a good action film - that is, "good action".  It has some elements of romance, some good twists, and it has zombies and larger-than-life hero/characters.  Oh, and a capable and determined female lead character who kicks butt.

Books I Like...

I don't read nearly as much as I should.  But I do read some.  I thought I might share a few of my favorites and why I like them.  You may agree or disagree with my assessments and that's OK.  I'll be posting them from time to time and they represent my opinions, and not necessarily those of my library or other staff members here.  Although they might want to post some recommendations of their own and I will put them up if they ask!

Recommendation #1:

New Cover

Title:                     More Than Human (originally published – 1953)

Author:                 Theodore Sturgeon

Catalog:               HPL does not own

Synopsis:

My copy has this cover

This is a 3 part short novel expanded from a couple of short stories.  (Sturgeon was primarily known for his short story writing.)  The novel is comprised of 3 parts: The Fabulous Idiot, Baby is Three, and Morality.  Over the course of the story, six extraordinary characters come together and “blesh” (a combination of “blend” and “mesh”) into homo gestalt – Sturgeon’s view of the next step in human evolution.

The book begins following the character “Lone” who has the telepathic ability to make people do what he wants.  He suffers various trials and ends up living in a shelter in the forest with 3 runaway children – one a telekinetic and a set of twins who possess the ability to teleport.  Over the course of the 3 sections of the novel, the characters gradually become aware that they have “bleshed” into a new form of human being – homo gestalt becomes self-aware, a new type of organism.  It isn’t until the final section however that homo gestalt is complete, receiving the final portion of its consciousness in the form a character that provides it with a conscience.

Why I like this novel:

First off, I am a fan of Science Fiction.  Sturgeon comes from that “Silver Age” of SF writers when unconventional themes were explored to the extreme and, to me at least, the real potential of science fiction was beginning to be realized.  No longer was an SF story simply a space opera with burly heroes, rockets and lasers, and oozing, evil alien beings.

Sturgeon had a fabulous way of writing – a gift for turning a phrase that I have found in precious few other writers.   In many ways, to me at least, he is more of a poet than anything else.   More Than Human stands out to me as a masterpiece in his body of work simply because he takes a story fitting his interests and writing style and expands it fully into one of his few attempts at novel-length fiction.   The idea that the next step in human evolution would be a mental one instead of a physical one appeals to me as well.

Cow Creek Book Festival 2012

A HUGE "thank you" goes out to everyone involved in making the inaugural Cow Creek Book Festival a great success!  We had a great crowd for Clare Vanderpool at 10:30 Saturday morning.  We had a wonderful time with our great friends and partners, the Hutchinson / Reno Arts and Humanities Council and the excellent refreshments they provided.  And our Friends of the Hutchinson Public Library group sent a tremendous amount of used books out through the library garage with their 1/2 price sale kick-off event!

Here are a few shots from the day (more author pictures on the way):

Clare Vanderpool

Clare Vanderpool speaking about her book "Moon Over Manifest"

Author Roy Bird

Friends Book Sale - so many choices!

Author Steven Farney

Newbery Medal winner Clare Vanderpool!