Events
What's everybody looking at?
Written by Barbara T. on 10/13/2009
ART ON VIEW!
Photography by David Hurwitt
October 13 through November 30
Artist's Reception on Friday, October 23, 6 - 8 p.m.
The show's going up today and will be in the Art Gallery through November 30th. Please be sure to come by and have a look at this wonderful display of photographs from near and far! For a brief glimpse of the exciting exhibit making its way to our walls, enjoy the video slideshow.
Special Film Screening on Friday
Written by Barbara T. on 10/07/2009
This Friday, October 9th, at 7:30 p.m., we'll be showing the classic film GASLIGHT. The announcement was made last week at the Darien Domestic Violence Task Force's annual proclamation - that October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. (The ceremony was held in the Library's Courtyard (pictured) last Thursday morning.)
The film, from 1944, stars Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, and Joseph Cotton. It's a psychological thriller - one which resulted in a Best Actress Oscar for Ingrid Bergman, a film classic, and a glimpse into the insidious world of psychological torture. From this film we also get the term "gaslighting," which means the ruthless manipulation of an individual into believing something other than the truth.
It's a great movie and we hope that you'll join us for this special screening.
Refreshments will be served.
Diaries, Intelligence, and Madness = October at Darien Library
October at the Library is full of wonderful events, programs, and arrivals. As the headline states, our month includes diaries, intelligence, and madness. Allow me to clarify that.
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On Sunday, October 4th at 5:30 p.m., A. J. Jacobs, the author of The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment will be here as we kick off our Fall Author Series. A few of us have had the opportunity to meet A. J. (and his wife, "the saint")...and have read the new book. We are ecstatic that he agreed to come to Darien Library to speak! (Note to self: I must tell him how I made a spectacle of myself howling with laughter while reading The Guinea Pig Diaries...on Metro North.) Let this serve as a warning to you about selecting an appropriate place to read this hilarious book and also as a friendly reminder that you don't want to miss this event! (Did you catch him last week on the Colbert Report? Very cool gig.)
On Sunday, October 18th at 5:30 p.m., Professor John Wargo, Chair of Environmental Studies, Yale University will be here to present Green Intelligence: Creating Environments that Protect Human Health. Professor Wargo will talk about the risk of toxic exposures and the health threat, particularly on children. Though his sobering assessment of the impact of toxic chemicals on human health is frightening, he also proposes clear solutions, and outlines practical protective measures and guidelines. Click here for all the details about the program. Sounds like another "must."
On Thursday, October 22nd at 7 p.m., Lucinda Scala Quinn, the author of Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys will be our speaker as our Fall Author Series continues. Earlier this year, my favorite cookbook was Giulia Melucci's I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti. Now I have a new favorite to add to my small but well-used and well-loved cookbook collection! Click here to read all about my Mad Hungry madness. (I cannot hide my enthusiasm over this one - I've already ordered copies that I'm giving as Christmas gifts (and, of course, I'll get them all signed when she's here on the 22nd!).)
There is so much going on in October. This just scratches the surface. Please check our Events post for even more October events.
I am madly in love with "Mad Hungry"
Written by Barbara T. on 10/01/2009
Really. This is my new favorite cookbook. Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys by Lucinda Scala Quinn doesn't come out until mid-October, but I've seen a copy and believe me, it's glorious! I don't have any men and/or boys in my household anymore, but I suppose that if I did, I might love this cookbook even more(!)...so..I am here to tell you that these recipes are good for all genders, ages...and occasions! Don't let the title throw you! These are practical recipes for delicious homemade meals....and the book is beautiful with page after page of color photographs!
We will have to wait a little while for the book to be released, but then on Thursday, October 22nd at 7 p.m., Lucinda Scala Quinn will be our featured speaker as one of our Fall Author Series authors! Lucinda is Vice President and Editorial Director of Food and Entertaining of Martha Stewart Omnimedia. She is also the co-host of the Everyday Food program on PBS.
We'll be baking some excellent dessert recipes right out of this book to serve at the program...AND Lucinda will be doing a live demonstration of one of her recipes!
If this cooler weather is putting you in a cooking or baking frame of mind, plan on checking out this new book from Martha Stewart's Food and Entertainment guru and make sure to come to the program on the 22nd!
People will be talking...
...and listening...and watching. And, we think, smiling. In October, we return with our Foreign Film Series, another short story discussion series (Short Stories for Short Days), the One Page Poetry Circle, a special film screening for Domestic Violence Awareness month, and our Fall Book Discussion Series. We'll be continuing with our increasingly popular Meet Us on Main Street throughout October, and present the first in our fall Classics 2.0 program where we will take a closer look at literature and its timeless relevance. This month, we will also introduce Book Group Savvy, a workshop for those looking to start a book group or just looking to add some pizzazz to their exisiting group.
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Briefly, here are some key dates for October at the Library:
Every Tuesday at 3 p.m. - Short Stories for Short Days
Every Wednesday at 11 a.m. - Meet Us on Main Street
Sunday, October 4, 5:30 p.m. - Fall Author Series: A. J. Jacobs, author of "The Guinea Pig Diaries"
Wednesday, October 7, 11 a.m. - Book Group Savvy
Friday, October 9, 7:30 p.m. - Film Screening - "Gaslight"
Tuesday, October 13, 7 p.m. - Fall Book Discussion Series - (A Golden Age is the discussion book.)
Monday, October 19, 2 p.m. - Classics 2.0 (film screening: "Sense & Sensibility")
Wednesday, October 21, 7 p.m. - One Page Poetry Circle (Poetry & Masks)
Thursday, October 22, 3 p.m. - Classics 2.0 (book discussion: "Sense & Sensibility")
Friday, October 23, 7:30 p.m. - Foreign Film Series begins ("The Class" is the first of seven films in the series)
And, as long as we're talking about...well...talking...we have more news for you --our teens have been talking, too! Last month, they created and posted their very first Darien Library TEENCAST!
Click here to listen.
They are pleased and psyched (and preening) about their podcast prowess and are gearing up for more.
The Intelligent Color Choice for Fall: Green!
Written by Barbara T. on 10/01/2009
Darien Library and Yale Club of Lower Fairfield County Speakers' Series Present
PROFESSOR JOHN WARGO
Chair of Environmental Studies, Yale University
Green Intelligence: Creating Environments that Protect Human Health
Sunday, October 18 at 5:30 p.m.*
Darien Library is pleased to bring you this exciting and timely presentation and discussion with Yale Club of Lower Fairfield County Speakers' Series. Please join us for this important event featuring Professor John Wargo, where he'll talk about the risk of toxic exposures and the health threat, particularly on children. In his new book, Green Intelligence, he demonstrates that exposure to hazardous health-damaging chemicals is widespread and poorly regulated, and that knowledge of contamination and danger is often kept from a too-trusting public.
Most individuals carry in their tissues a combination of metals, pesticides, solvents, fire retardants, waterproofing agents, and by-products of fuel combustion and not surprisingly, many toxins are significantly more concentrated in the bodies of young children.
Pesticides. Nuclear testing. Vehicle emissions. U.S. military activity. Plastics. These are some of the specific examples of past and present exposures to identify weaknesses in our system and lessons we can apply to guard human health.
Professor Wargo's sobering assessment of the impact of toxic chemicals on human health is frightening, but he also proposes clear solutions, and outlines practical protective measures and guidelines.
Professor Wargo was a guest this week on the Living on Earth radio show and podcast - click here to listen.
John Wargo is professor of environmental policy, risk analysis, and political science at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Department of Political Science at Yale University. He is Chair of the Environmental Studies Major in Yale College and has been an adviser to several EPA administrators and National Academy of Sciences Committees, theU.S. Congress, the U.N. World Health Organization, and Vice President Al Gore.
Here are more details about the October 18th program at the Library:
* - 4:30 p.m. - Special behind-the-scenes Green Tour of our environmentally innovative Darien Library
- 5:30 p.m. - Presentation by Professor Wargo
- 6:15 p.m. - Q&A and reception
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's.)
Our Book Discussion Series Continues
Written by Barbara T. on 09/30/2009
Our Fall Book Discussion Series continues on Tuesday, October 13th at 7 p.m. with A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam. Set mainly in the 1970s against the backdrop of Bangladesh's Liberation War, A Golden Age is the story of one woman's experiences. Rehana ia a widowed mother of two almost-grown children with ties in both East and West Pakistan. The story is about her heartbreak, activism, resolve, risks, and choices. This is one that's destined to become a classic. Come and discuss it with us.
"Compelling…Anam is cracking open secrets, personal and political, to let the healing begin." -- O magazine
"In this striking debut novel . . . Anam deftly weaves the personal and the political, giving the terrors of war spare, powerful treatment while lyrically depicting the way in which the struggle for freedom allows Rehana to discover both her strength and her heart." The New Yorker
Following the discussion of A Golden Age, the upcoming discussion books are:
Tuesday, November 3, 7 p.m.: The Painter from Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein
Tuesday, November 17, 7 p.m.: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
On Tuesday, December 1 at 7 p.m., Dr. Mark Schenker, Associate Dean, Yale College, of Yale University will present the lecture: "Imagined Travels to Real Places: How Fiction Connects Us to Places We've Never Been."
For more information about the Series, click here.
Tonight at 7 - "Little Bee" Discussion
Written by Barbara T. on 09/29/2009
Our Fall Book Discussion Series begins on September 29th at 7 with Little Bee by Chris Cleave. This popular novel has had the world abuzz with praise since its release in February. Here's a glimpse of what the press has been saying.
"...[an] immensely readable and moving second novel... The character and voice of Little Bee reveal Cleave at his finest... An affecting story of human triumph."-- New York Times Book Review
"Little Bee will blow you away....In restrained, diamond-hard prose, Cleave alternates between these two characters' points of view as he pulls the threads of their dark -- but often funny -- story tight. What unfolds between them...is both surprising and inevitable, thoroughly satisfying if also heart-rending."-- Washington Post
Please join us and share your thoughts.
For more information, click here.
News from The Mall
This past Saturday, approximately 130,000 people attended the annual National Book Festival on The Mall in Washington D.C.(photo at left). Erica and I were thrilled to be there - swept up in all the wonderful book 
madness and swept away by some brief encounters.
Lee Child (pictured right) is one of our absolute favorite people and we were so happy to run into him on The Mall!
Want to know where Jack Reacher's next adventure will take him? How about his next TWO adventures???
Okay. I can tell you. According to Lee, the next book will take place in South Dakota. The one after that will be set in Nebraska.
Like I said...News from The Mall!
To my utter delight, I had a few minutes to sit and chat with Nicholas Sparks. The discussion at the table was about the in-general, too-early introduction to Shakespeare in schools. Nick's suggested reading is:
7th grade - The Notebook
8th grade - A Farewell to Arms
9th grade (high school) - Romeo and Juliet (or any Shakespeare), when students are mature enough to understand and appreciate Early Modern English and the themes. (What do you think?)
I also had a chance to catch up with our soon-to-be Darien Library guest, David Baldacci (he'll be here on Thursday, November 5th at 7 p.m.). We talked about the enormous crowds at the festival and the long (LONG) lines for book sales and author signings...refreshing and heartening news amid the doom and gloom reports about the publishing industry and the future of books.
We talked about his upcoming book True Blue, which publishes at the end of October. He'll be introducing a whole new character with this book - Mace Perry (do I detect another series???). He's looking forward to coming to Darien Library to tell us all about it...and we can't wait!
Fall Author Series Begins This Sunday!
Written by Barbara T. on 09/28/2009
A. J. Jacobs, author of The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment, will be here at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 4th. For more information about our Fall Author Series, click here. For more information about A.J. Jacobs and his upcoming appearance at Darien Library, check back right here during the week.
...and speaking of that Fall Author Series, please note:
Thursday, October 22, 7 p.m. - Lucinda Scala Quinn, author of Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys
Sunday, November 1, 5:30 p.m. - Michael Mauboussin, author of Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition
Thursday, November 5, 7 p.m. - David Baldacci, author of True Blue
Sunday, November 15, 5:30 p.m. - Chris Welles Feder, author of In My Father's Shadow: A Daughter Remembers Orson Welles
We hope that we're on your calendars!
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