Wildlife at Newport Library

As a young mom one of the best places to take my children was Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon. Many wonderful memories come from those visits. Because my mother was a docent at the park, we always got to go in the "Keep Out - Staff Only" areas.  My sons still talk about giving a bottle to a baby cheetah.

This Wednesday's Summer Reading program will be a special treat because Wildlife Safari is coming to Newport!  Right here in the library's Literacy Park at 1:00, there will be snakes and lizards and turtles and other wonderful creatures.  No, no lions or cheetahs or elephants but fascinating creatures nonetheless.  Fortunately for us, the animals come with very informative people who work at the park and love to share all the amazing things they know about the animals they bring to Newport.

Like all Newport Public Library programs, the Wildlife Safari show is free and people of all ages are welcome.  Please remember your sunblock and water, Literacy Park is out of the wind and can get pretty toasty.

NOS4A2 @ Christmasland

Titled with the vanity plate NOS4A2 (Nosferatu), Joe Hill’s latest might seem to be just another vampire book, but never fear. Hill’s blend of strong characterization, a classic but nuanced good-versus-evil plotline, and paranormal events impinging on the mundane world is reminiscent of Stephen King. His unique interpretation of the vampire tale transcends cliché.

We meet our hero, Vic, when she's only eight and known as The Brat. She gets the coolest bike ever for her birthday, back in the days when a kid could ride around a small town all day without supervision. Her dad warns her never to ride across the Shorter Way Bridge, a decrepit covered structure overdue for collapse. But when Vic’s parents have a fight, she dares herself to do it, wanting to shock them out of their selfish behavior. Her dangerous ride leads to her first discovery of a special and costly talent for finding lost things, no matter how far away.

Years pass. Vic grows up, hurting both from what’s she’s experienced because of her talent, and from her father’s abandonment. At 16, she runs into Mr. Manx for the first time—a man with a gift somewhat like hers, but much much worse. He has the ability to take children to Christmasland, where it’s Christmas morning every day, snowflakes are made of sugar, and there’s no such thing as sadness, conscience, or fear. Where little boys and girls get to go, if they’ll only go with the Gasmask Man and give up their souls. Vic's first encounter brings her close to death, and leaves her terrified, half-believing she's crazy.  Christmasland just won't leave her alone, and Vic must eventually face Manx again, when the well-being of her own son is at stake.

Vic is an extremely distinctive and sympathetic character, damaged and floundering but strong at the core. The love of her life, Lou, a fat motorcyclist/comic book geek/mechanic, is so real and likeable I wish he could come over for dinner. And, of course, there's the tragic but heroic stuttering librarian, Maggie Leah, who I'd be proud to work with, so long as she got the monkey off her back. I finished the book in two days and am still wishing it lasted longer. If, like me, you enjoy horror fiction that relies less on gore and more on mind-bending twists of reality, and poignant, knife-sharp details, give Joe Hill's NOS4A2 a try
.

Controlled Hallucinations and other poetry

The Newport Public Library will host two renowned Portland poets for a reading and book launch on Saturday, July 13 at 4:00 p.m.  Both writers, editors, and literary community leaders, John Sibley Williams will be launching his debut collection, Controlled Hallucinations, alongside the award-winning poet A. Molotkov. 

John Sibley Williams

Filled with impassioned logic and musicality, Controlled Hallucinations strives to reconnect language to the things they describe, to control the uncontrollable by redefining the method of approach. In these compact poems, so edged in dark corners and the strenuous songs of beauty and identity, Williams establishes a unique world of contradictions and connections that works to bridge the foreign with the familiar. 

Williams is the winner of the HEART Poetry Award, and finalist for the Pushcart, Rumi, and The Pinch Poetry Prizes. He serves as editor of The Inflectionist Review and co-director of the Walt Whitman 150 project.  For more information, you can visit his www.johnsibleywilliams.wordpress.com. 

A. Molotkov

Born in Russia, A. Molotkov moved to the US in 1990 and switched to writing in English in 1993. His work won a variety of awards, and has been accepted by The Kenyon Review and over 70 other publications. He co-edits The Inflectionist Review and serves on the Board of Directors of Oregon Poetry Association. Visit him at www.AMolotkov.com. 

Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Hi. My name is Pat Peoples and I just got out of the bad place. I’m living with my parents, and my mother has fixed up the basement into a totally awesome gym, because I’m getting in shape for Nikki. Nikki is my wife. She was mad at me because of my temper, but I’m learning to be kind, not right, and pretty soon apart-time will be over.

My dad doesn’t talk to me, but sometimes we watch the Eagles on TV together and do the Eagles chant. My brother, Jake, gave me a genuine Hank Baskett shirt and a season ticket to the games. He’s the best brother!

I’ve started reading English literature, because Nikki teaches English, and I want to impress her with my new knowledge of books. So far I’ve read The Great Gatsby and A Farewell to Arms, but I don’t really like them because they have sad endings. I want the movie of my life to have a happy ending, and I know it will.

One thing I cannot stand is Kenny G. Sometimes he is standing over me when I wake up, and I hum and count to ten, over and over, until he goes away.

While I was in the bad place, my friend Ronnie got married and had a kid. I’m not sure how that happened—I was only gone a few months—but I don’t want to think about it. He tried to set me up with his sister-in-law, Tiffany, even though I’m married and apart-time will be over soon. Now Tiffany follows me whenever I run, which is kind of weird. She runs fast for a girl, but I have man strength, and can outrun her.

My mother taught me to believe in silver linings, and I know that soon Nikki and I will get back together. Why does everyone change the subject when I mention Nikki?

The Silver Linings Playbook is available in print and as a sound recording.

Summer Reading gets Zany!

Zaniac Alex Zerbe comes to Newport Library's Literacy Park Wednesday, July 11 at 1:00 pm for a show of wild juggling tricks, zany humor, danceable music and lots of audience participation.

Zerbe hales from Seattle and is a two-time Guinness World Record holder who was voted Seattle’s Funniest Prop Comic. He has appeared on prime-time television in three countries including the hit NBC TV shows, “America’s got Talent!” and “Last Comic Standing”. He is a Hacky Sack World Champion and half of the award-winning comedy act, Brothers from Different Mothers. When Jamie Lee Curtis saw his one-man show she said, “Boy are you talented, FANTASTIC!”

Zerbe is a gifted physical comedian and human cartoon. In addition to his juggling skills, he performs beat-boxing, music looping, silly dances and funny raps. He is an original when it comes to family-friendly entertainment.

Zerbe's Newport show is sponsored by Ready To Read grants provided by the Oregon Legislature and support from Umpqua Bank, Ross and Janis Neigebauer and Jeanette Hofer. While in Newport he will be staying at La Quinta Inn and Suites. For more information about Alex Zerbe’s performances, take a look at his website, www.alexzerbe.com.

Empowerment, Moran Style

A patron approached me at the reference desk recently [for the record, I swear I am not making this up for the sake of a blog post], asking, “ Where are your books on women and power? I want to feel empowered.” And my inner Gloria Steinem commenced a wild dance of celebration while I oh so calmly and professionally led her over to the appropriate non-fiction section (in case you are wondering, we have relevant titles shelved in the 150’s and early 300’s). As I filled her arms, I scanned book spines in vain for Caitlin Moran’s How to Be a Woman, eventually coming to terms with the fact that it was checked out and informing the patron that I would put it on hold for her pronto. Because if you want to read a book about becoming an empowered woman (and are not squeamish about the liberal use of profanity and colorful euphemisms), look no further than Moran’s honest, funny, and (to put it lightly) strongly worded memoir-cum-manifesto.

 Early on in her book, Moran references a study that claims only 29% of American women count themselves feminists and demands, “What do you think feminism is, ladies? What part of ‘liberation for women’ is not for you? Is it freedom to vote? The right not to be owned by the man you marry? ‘Vogue,’ by Madonna? Jeans?” This sort of straight-up denunciation of what she deems societally ingrained short-sightedness is interspersed with fairly lurid tales about growing up poor and in time becoming a successful music journalist, newspaper columnist, and married mother of two girls in London. So camp out on the couch with a cup of coffee and try not to snort it out your nose as you read all about one woman’s quest to become empowered, and in so doing, empower the rest of us.

The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon by Tom Spanbauer

I love books with a strong or unique voice, a character whose language echoes inside your head so forcefully it feels like you can hear them talking to you. A few that come to mind are classics such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or Moby DIck, and more contemporary novels such as Kazuo Ichiguro’s The Remains of the Day. Even non-fiction books can have a strong voice: T.E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom for example.

One of my favorite voices in contemporary fiction belongs to Shed, the half-Shoshone protagonist in Tom Spanbauer’s 1991 novel, The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon. Out-There-In-The-Shed, or just Shed, speaks in a clipped, sometimes ungrammatical voice that I can recall to this day. Speaking in that special voice, Shed narrates his remarkable life in and around the dusty little town of Excellent, Utah during the last half of the nineteenth century.

After Shed’s mother is killed, the boy is taken in by the no-nonsense local brothel keeper, Ida Richelieu. Wanting to know more about his past, and especially the identity and whereabouts of his father, Shed embarks on an adventure that changes his life and his understanding of the world. FIlled with unforgettable characters, such as Damn Dave and his damn dog, and the four African-American Wisdom brothers, Homer, Blind Jude, Ulysses and Virgil, The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon is an exuberant twist on the American western. Using a technique the author calls, “dangerous writing,” Spanbauer mixes Native American spirituality with the bawdy rambunctiousness of more picaresque American voices like Twain’s.

If you’d like to hear Shed’s voice for yourself, you can reserve The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon here.