Danbury Library Blog

Hollywood studios are putting out their “prestige” films this time of year, in anticipation of award nominations and big holiday box office receipts. As always, the quality films are often adaptations of quality books. I saw the film version of Dennis Lehane’s “Gone, Baby, Gone” this past weekend, and the movie was great and made me eager to read Lehane’s other books featuring private eye Patrick Kenzie. The preview for the film version of Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men” was tantalizing---starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin, directed/produced by the Coen brothers. Bardem also stars in big screen version of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's “Love in the Time of Cholera,” the current choice for Oprah’s Book Club. I love Ian McEwan’s novels and am eagerly awaiting the movie of “Atonement,” starring James McAvoy and Keira Knightley. “Beowulf” is getting the CGI animation treatment---it looks, um, interesting. I really enjoyed “Charlie Wilson’s War” by George Crile, and the preview for the film version looks terrific---Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hope it's not another "Bonfire of the Vanities!"

Posted by Andrea at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whether your taste in movies is either all-inclusive (you'll watch almost anything on Turner Classic Movies and you visit Loew's several times a month) or much more exclusive (you only like what the Bethel Cinema shows), have we got news for you! The library is now offering two film series on Sunday afternoons at 2:00 p.m. Now entering its fourth season, the Independent Film Series features award-winning independent films on the first Sunday of the month at 2:00 pm. Facilitated starting this season by Andrea Wright Barrett and once again sponsored by the FRIENDS of the Danbury Library, the movies showcase the best of indie filmmakers from around the world. A new series, European Classics: From Silents to the New Wave, on the second Sunday of the month and facilitated by Library Director Mark Hasskarl, takes a look at great European movies from the 1920's to the 1950's. Both series are free and include an introduction, refreshments, and a stimulating discussion following the film. So if you truly love movies, come sit in the dark with us for some out-of-the-ordinary films.

Posted by Mark at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Peter Greenberg, aka The Travel Detective, is a great source of info for the harried traveler. I love his translations of travel industry speak--"secluded hideaway" means impossible to find or "carefree natives" equals terrible service. His newest offering The Complete Travel Detective Bible is loaded with tips on everything from where and how to get the best prices to details like which cruise lines have the highest illness records or where is the best place to swim with dolphins.

Another source--an extremely helpful list of 25 travel sites compiled by Travel and Leisure covers air and hotel pricing, currency conversion, restaurant menus and even reviews 12,000 public bathrooms in 120 countries.

Posted by Mary at 02:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Books on Fire is a new arrival which explores the lamentably many examples of book burnings and the destruction of libraries throughout history. It is penned by a noted French historian named Lucien X. Polastron.

He does an excellent but depressing job of recounting the many examples of the annihilation of libraries starting with the fire that destroyed the Great Library at Alexandria which set back classical learning for hundreds of years. He goes right up to the present day with examples like the destruction of the National Libraries of Sarajevo and of Iraq. He is sceptical of the digital book and see it as a threat to the physical book and ultimately to the library itself. It is wise to recall Heinrich Heine's ominous and prophetic words about book burnings: "Where they burn books, they will in the end burn human beings as well."

Posted by John O'Donnell at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It’s so much more than a music player. Apple’s iPod and its associated technologies are transforming the way we acquire and use information. Downloading music, video and books is old hat. Practically anything you can think of is available to download immediately, 24/7. How about a narrated walking tour of public art monuments in Lower Manhattan? Track the progress of your workout through Nike+iPod? Access over 277 recipes at Pocket Vegan? Can do.

Come to the library’s iPod, iPhone & iTunes workshop on October 20 to learn more about everything i. Or check out these iPod books.

Posted by Andrea at 01:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A celebrity melodrama of long ago is revisted in Pattie Boyd's "torn between two rock stars" memoir Wonderful Tonight. Married to George Harrison whilst carrying on and later marrying Eric Clapton this onetime muse to the kings of rock finally tells all about the men who wrote songs about her: George wrote "Something" and Clapton as everyone has known for decades was inspired to write "Layla" about her.

Clapton: The Autobiography is a thoughtful, candid account of the legendary guitarist's life chronicling the music, addictions and tragedy. His "self-reckoning is filled with modesty" as one reviewer wrote. At this point he seems to have found peace and a sense of accomplishment--most notably in the Crossroads rehab center in Antigua which he founded . For us, there's still the music.

Posted by Mary at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Danbury has had two Medal of Honor winners. They were Nathan Hickok (Civil War) and Lee Hartell (Korean War).

Nathan Hickok won his Medal of Honor for capturing a Confederate flag at Chapins Farm, Virginia on September 29, 1864. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in October of 1864 and then subsequently captured at Fair Oaks, Virginia. His life after this is veiled in mystery but he is buried in Wooster Cemetery.

Lee Hartell was the first Connecticut man to be awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in the Korean War. Even though he was mortrally wounded he kept at his post on Bloody Ridge and kept directing artillery fire at the advancing enemy and stopped the enemy at the cost of his own life.
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Posted by John O'Donnell at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite into orbit around the earth, and the Space Race was under way. Check out NASA's website for a cool multimedia presentation commemorating the 50th anniversary of the launch; it includes a 3D model of Sputnik and biographies of key U.S. and Soviet players. Danbury Library has a selection of new books dealing with the personalities and institutions battling it out in this epic rivalry. The story of Sputnik and the birth of the Space Age is chronicled in A Ball, a Dog, and a Monkey: 1957 The Space Race Begins, Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries That Ignited the Space Age, and Sputnik: The Shock of the Century.

Space Race : The Epic Battle Between America and the Soviet Union for Dominion of Space is a fascinating look at rival rocket scientists Wernher von Braun and Sergei Korolev. And Live from Cape Canaveral: Covering the Space Race from Sputnik to Today is a wonderful memoir by pioneering journalist Jay Barbree.

Posted by Andrea at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)