Surf into a Good Book Wrap Up!

Oh, when the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof...

And your shoes get so hot you wish your feet were fire-proof...

Under the boardwalk, down by the sea...

On a blanket with my book....is where I'll be....

Drifters

We wrapped up Surf into a Good Book with an Iced Tea Social. We spent a great time discussing what books we read, what we liked and what we didn't. Raffle prizes were given out, and the reader with the most books won a grand prize. Thank you Martha Clara Vineyard for donating our prize, a private wine tasting for ten. The winner was Roberta Kalous, who read 22 books over the summer. Congratulations Roberta!

The other raffle winners were:

Frank McNultry

Elizabeth Grohoski

Beth Dumblis

Pam Davis

Phyllis Markopoulos

They won baskets filled with mugs, summer songs CD tea, coffee, cookies and (of course) books.

Congratulations to all of you and thank you for your support of our reading club.

We had sixty readers sign up for Surf into a Good Book and received back fifty Readers Cards with lists of books that were read.

The top ten books read this summer by the book club were:

Dewey: the Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Sunday's at Tiffany's by James Patterson

Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

Fire and Ice (Joanna Brady Series #15) by J.A. Jance

Knockout by Catherine Coulter

Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clarke

Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews

We talked about what books we liked the most that we read, among those discussed were:

Columbine by Dave Cullen

As the title says, this is about the Columbine school shooting. Hard to believe it's been ten years since that horrible event. The main point stated that what you may believe what you read and think you understand what happened that day, you would be surprised to discover what two normal, popular, very good students were planning for their classmates...and nobody picked up on it.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

The Resistance by Anita Shreve

Both books are set during World War II. Sarah's Key is about the Vel' d'Hiv roundup of Jewish families by the French police. On the sixtieth anniversary, reporter Julia Jarmond is surprised at what she discovers and connection she has to the event.

The Resistance is about a Belgium couple who shelter refugees from the Nazi's on their farm. Things change when an American B-17 bomber is shoot down and the pilot is found severely wounded. You never know when your past might come back and collides with your present.

The Quickie by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

It's James Patterson doing what is known for. What happens when revenge goes horribly wrong--a lie always takes on a life of it's own as Lauren Stillman finds out. You would think that as a NYPD detective Stillman would know that better then anyone....

One of Patterson's many (many) co-authored books he puts out every year....sigh.

I, of course, took some vacation time, and I have been lazy, reading trashy beach books, sinking my teeth into a new vampire series (I know, I hear the groans) re-reading some old favorites, making cool music CD's and checking out what's coming in the fall..........

I will be blogging about what I have been reading...trash and all!

Happy Reading!!

One of Patterson's (many) new ones....

Columbine is strongly recommended!

Good read about World War II and the resistance in Belguim.

Continuing saga in her Brady series....

Read a good book!

Libraries Should Never Be Shushed

"It's funny that we think of libraries as quiet demure places where we are shushed by dusty, bun-balancing, bespectacled women. The truth is libraries are raucous clubhouses for free speech, controversy and community. Libraries have stood up to the Patriot Act, sat down with noisy toddlers and reached out to illiterate adults. Libraries can never be shushed."

Paula Poundstone

Unfortunately, libraries being shushed might just happen. Reading page 15 of the current issue of the Suffolk Times about Governor Patterson's proposed budget calls for cutting 17%, $600,000.00, from the Suffolk Cooperative Library System and the possibility of the Southold Town Board cut of $10,000.00 from its budget, libraries will face a hardship. Go to page 25 and there is a listing of what libraries are offering.

There is the saying that "libraries will get you through in a time of no money, but money won't get you through in a time of no libraries." With the economic times we are experiencing libraries fill a need more then ever. People have to cut back on things to make ends meet and the library helps fill that void. We have the daily newspapers, current issues of many (many) magazines, latest DVDs and Cd's, and the books on the best sellers list. Libraries run numerous Children's' programs, adult programs, exercise classes, wireless access, training classes (How to write a resume is one that is full), Mah Jongg....I could go on and on but the point being, a library is a vital part of a community and has a lot to offer. Next Saturday, March 14 at 3pm is author Alan Furst who is one of the best spy novelist writing today. (Spy readers! Treat yourself to an Alan Furst novel if you haven't.)

Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones commented "...the public library is a great equalizer." True. With a library card you have the world at your fingertips. You are entitled to whatever your mood feels like. Want to go to the Middle East...check out a book, fiction, non-fiction or a travel book...don't forget a DVD! Take a trip back in time? History is there to feed your soul. Science fiction? Your library has the latest and best. A particular person whose life you want to know about? Come on in and find a biography. A library card is your window to the world, take it, use it, empower your world.

"Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest." Lady Bird Johnson

Curiosity is a wonderful thing. Reading a book can satisfy that curiosity or it can make it grow. How great is that? To have a question and be able to find the answer. If you can't find it yourself, you can ask anyone at a library and they will find your answer for you. One of the main purposes is to share any and all information

Pete Hamill said, "For those without money, the road to the treasure house of the imagination begins at the public library." These are the times we are in, I ask again, in these economic times to even consider cutting library funding, therefore cutting services, accomplishs what? What it does is hurt the community and the people who rely on the library to help them though these tough times and the provide them with some of the pleasures a library gives them.

Don't take your library for granted. Libraries have a petition to send to Albany asking for a reversal of the possible budgets, please stop by and sign it. As Paula Poundstone said so well, libraries shouldn't be shushed, nor should it be made difficult to serve the purposes Benjamin Franklin wanted them to.