Planning and banning in the U.S.A.

In 1935, Oregon became the first state to regulate the safety of condoms. Soon other states passed similar laws, and by 1937 the FDA set up federal inspections of prophylactics. Before that, as the CEO of the company that makes Trojans explained, defective condoms were simply marketed under other brand names. "If there is a flagrant hole or a flagrant defect," he admitted, "naturally they are sold too."

I learned that from a fascinating book called Devices and Desires: A History of Contraceptives in America by Andrea Tone. The book begins in 1873, when passage of the Comstock Act outlawed a variety of "obscenities," which included vulgar books and pictures, and also contraceptives. The author shows that this and other laws interrupted a voracious American demand for birth control products.

Since for many decades contraceptives were illegal, a thriving black market supplied consumers with remedies that were unregulated, inconsistent, and by our standards highly sketchy. The number one contraceptive of the 1930s and 40s gave, at best, only the illusion of control. At worst, it delivered painful and dangerous chemical burns. And female readers of this book are likely to reflexively clutch their abdomens when they see the photograph of 19th-century IUDs.

Not surprisingly, laws and customs dealing with contraception are very revealing when it comes to attitudes towards sex and gender throughout history. Contraception also opens a window on opinions towards apparently-unrelated matters, like race and class. For instance, companies did not market diaphragms in places like Harlem, on the theory that the method was too complicated for African-Americans to learn.

Though all readers may not share the author's socially progressive outlook, Tone's analysis of these demanded but morally-debated products throughout America's history is interesting, important, and quite timely. Whether you're interested in today's politics of personhood, or just enjoy social history, Devices and Desires by Andrea Tone is a great read.

Saving Money Just Got Yummier

I've read everything the library has on the topic of being frugal, and even though the tips have become a little repetitive, I always check out the new ones, just in case. I'm really glad I grabbed The Cheapskate Next Door, by Jeff Yeager. I credit this book with potentially saving me hundreds of dollars over the next few years, and I'm not even going to make you read the whole book to find out how (although if you like this tip, maybe you should pick up the book to find more!)

It’s all about one little URL: http://www.restaurant.com/

It’s so cool—really, unbelievably cool. Basically, you buy restaurant gift certificates for yourself or others, and you buy at a discount. A $25 gift certificate costs $10, a $50 gift certificate costs $20, a $100 gift certificate costs $40! My whole family can’t go out together for under $100 anymore, so cutting that down to $40 is really exciting.

There is a catch, sort of. Our local restaurants are apparently not participating. There’s one in Corvallis, one in Eugene, and 95 in Portland. The full list of participating restaurants for Oregon is here: http://tinyurl.com/27qm39s. If you have friends or relatives in other states, search for their city; you can buy a specific certificate for them, or give them a Restaurant.com certificate, which they can use to choose their own restaurant online. (If you buy them a $100 certificate for $40, they can then choose a certificate of the same face value, also worth $40.)

Some restaurants will not allow alcohol to be paid for by gift certificate, and many have a minimum purchase amount that might require you to buy two of the smaller denominations at once. And tip is not included—you are expected to pay an 18% tip for the full value of the meal. Really quite reasonable, considering.

I sort of feel like I’m advertising for these guys, but remember, I’m really advertising for Jeff Yeager’s book and for your library’s fine collection. Thar’s money-saving information in them thar shelves!

Moloka'i

I admit it. Alan Brennert's debut 2003 novel, Moloka'i, is the one book that made me cry.

When her mother discovers the tell-tale sores of leprosy on 5 year-old Rachel Kalama's legs, she tries to hide them under long skirts and white lies. But a school-yard argument with her big sister exposes Rachel's secret. The little girl is first sent to quarantine hospital in Honolulu and eventually becomes one of the first settlers on the Kalaupapa peninsula on Moloka’i. Left to fend for themselves, the patients are treated more like inmates, denied family contact and even the most basic of supplies. Despite the odds, they carve a life out of the barren windswept rock that is Kalaupapa with little more than their bare hands and debris washed up onto the beach.

Despite the sometimes barbaric treatment of the island’s patients by the medical authorities and the Catholic church charged with running the leper hospital, the residents create a real community. Rachel Kalama’s brave and resilient spirit sings out in this poignant and touching novel.

Brennert uses the true story of the leper colony on Moloka’i along with his wonderfully rich gift of character to bring us to tears as we read about the residents of Kalaupapa, the last of whom still live there today.

A mockingbird in the rye makes three

I Read Banned Books. You probably do, too. One person's banned book is another person's Bible, Koran, or classic childhood favorite. Throughout history, as long as people have expressed ideas, others have tried to limit or squelch their freedom to speak, read, and think for themselves.

Banned Books Week, which is recognized September 25 to October 2 this year, highlights the benefits of free and open access to information, while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

To celebrate our freedom to read freely, the Newport Public Library will host a panel discussion with readings from banned and challenged books on Wednesday, September 29 at 7:00 p.m.

This is the third year the Newport Public Library has offered this discussion program. Panelists at this year’s event are Sharon Beardsley, English instructor at Oregon Coast Community College; Carla Perry, author, publisher, and founder of the Nye Beach Writer's Series and Writers' on the Edge; Niki Price, writer and editor of Oregon Coast Today; Catherine Rickbone, Executive Director of Oregon Coast Council for the Arts; Ted Smith, Director of the Newport Public Library; and Joaquin Varo, Certified Medical Assistant-Medical Translator with Centro de Ayuda.

Admission to the program is free of charge. For more information, check our website at http://newportoregon.gov/dept/lib/bbw2010.asp.

Shut Up and Freegal Me

I was flipping the channels on my car radio when I came across a song I hadn't heard in years. "Shut Up and Kiss Me" by Mary Chapin Carpenter sits right on the corner of Country and Rock. It has a bluesy guitar line and fun lyrics, and Carpenter has a beautiful smoky voice.


In short, I dig it, and I wanted to own it.

Did I go to iTunes or other online music vendor and buy the song? No.
Did I go to a record store and buy the album? I did not.
Did I go to some virus-raddled P2P site and download it illegally? Hardly.

I went to the Newport Public Library's home page, where I clicked the Freegal icon. Within 45 seconds, that song was mine, all mine.

I did not part with a penny. It was easy and fast and completely legal. And the song I downloaded is DRM-free.

There is a downside to this. You need a card from the Newport Library. You're not going to find any indie artists on Freegal, and you can only download three songs a week. Still, that's a lot of free, legal music that's just waiting to be claimed.

Interested in learning more? Go to our home page and click this:

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Extremely epic fantasy, which stretches beyond the common trilogy format, is an ambitious field for a writer. At its worst, it can be tiresome, repetitive, wearying—but at its best it can be an exploration of character and theme more intensive and thorough than any other. Some of the more notable efforts:

• George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire—amazing, transcendent—and STILL unfinished.
• Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant—much more uneven. (Let us not even speak of Donaldson’s further epic efforts.)
• Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time—another uneven one, though incredibly popular.
• Goodkind’s Sword of Truth—thought-provoking and addictive, with slightly clunky writing.

A new epically long series is on the scene, and promises to be up there with the best. The Way of Kings is the first book in a new fantasy series by Brandon Sanderson called The Stormlight Archive. Sanderson’s the fantasy writer who was chosen by Robert Jordan’s widow to complete The Wheel of Time, based on her admiration for his earlier work. For me, that wasn’t much of a recommendation, as Wheel isn’t one of my favorite series, but I gave The Way of Kings a chance anyway, and I love it. It’s kind of a bummer, how much I love it, because I have a feeling this projected ten book series could be the work of decades.

Way of Kings follows several fascinating characters through a time of political upheaval in a believable and well-crafted fantasy world. World-building information is trickled into the story naturally, so despite the unique and foreign nature of the magical energy that suffuses the world (Stormlight) and the complex history and class structure, one is always absorbed in the characters’ immediate experience rather than feeling overwhelmed by expository information. My favorite character is Kaladin, a young man whose desperate internal struggles between hope and despair are matched only by his dismal situation. He epitomizes human ingenuity and perseverance in the face of hell, and at the same time he’s a stupid kid who makes the same kind of mistakes we all do. He’s a soldier with the training of a surgeon, and he’s full of the need to protect and save as well as the need to fight.

The themes of the book center around honor, loyalty, and hope. Sanderson makes a strong case for living by one’s beliefs no matter how decadent or bleak one’s surroundings, no matter how beaten down or how jaded one’s peers. He writes suspensefully, combining mystery, comedy, and intrigue with skill.

I don’t know how many epic fantasy fans we have out there, but if you think you might be, this looks like it’s going to be a series to enjoy for a long time coming.

Tim Gunn makes it work.

I rarely watch television, and I never read self-help or advice books. And yet, when a new advice book came out by a television personality, I seized it with a glad cry. The book is Gunn's Golden Rules by Tim Gunn, the co-host of Project Runway.

If you haven't seen Project Runway, a.k.a "My Favorite Show," it's a reality show that brings together a group of beginning fashion designers. They are given design challenges, which they must complete in a severely limited period of time, sometimes using odd materials. (In the first season, designers had to make outfits out of materials found at a grocery store; the winning garment, pictured here, was woven from corn husks.) Then there's a fashion show, and we get to see the beautiful, hilarious, and/or awful creations of the designers. Each episode, one designer wins, and one is eliminated.

The show rewards hard work, creative thinking, and persistence. Group challenges emphasize teamwork and interpersonal communication. Excuse-making, back-stabbing, and whining are almost as severely discouraged as sloppy craftsmanship and poor taste.

The show's courteous, responsible tone is consistently set by the designers' mentor, Tim Gunn, an impeccably-suited teacher from Parsons School of Design. See a mashup of Gunn's style here:

Gunn's Golden Rules is, on its surface, a book about manners. His rules include "Take the high road," "Be a good guest or stay home," and of course, "Make it work." Nothing cutting-edge there. What makes Gunn's Golden Rules a must-read for me are the behind-the-scenes Project Runway tidbits and the dishy anecdotes about people in the fashion industry. Among these is the now-famous story of Vogue editor Anna Wintour being carried down several flights of stairs by her bodyguards.

Gunn is not a brilliant prose stylist, and you'll find no deep insights here. But Gunn is exactly the sort of person you want to be friends with, share drinks and gossip with, get advice from, and maybe even introduce to your mom. In other words, he is delightful, and his book is lovely, silly fun.