From our Shelves - Spring 2009

A number of people attended the Mayor’s Levee, held on February 1st. It brought out our residents to enjoy a visit with their friends and new Council Members while paying the various fees associated with our community. Our Library volunteers were present to pass out a questionnaire regarding suggestions to improve our Library.

The results have been informative and interesting and we hope to implement most of them.  It appears our readers are satisfied with our yearly fees of $15.00 per family and $7.50 for single memberships. Many would like to see Tuesdays re-open in the afternoon and there were certainly many suggestions for broadening our bases regarding book purchases. We thank you for taking the time to give us your thoughts.

What a winter we have had, sometimes white and beautifully stunning, other times slushy and problematic as far as our travels were concerned.  However, the long winter nights provided time for reading some of the newer books now available at the Library.

Writer Steve Berry has produced another entertaining adventure “The Charlemagne Pursuit” with his character Cotton Malone, a former U.S. Justice Dept. agent on the job once again. Berry does a good job of combining adventure, mystery and historical facts in all of his books and certainly the twists and in this adventure provide a satisfying, easy read.

A wonderful winter read was Conde Nast Traveler “Book of Unforgettable Journeys” –Great Writers of Great Places”. While not a reader of short stories, this book is just so beautifully put together, I raced from one country to another. England, Greece, Romania, Jordan, The Himalayas, Iceland, Tanzania and many other places are explored by these writer guides.  After each piece, the writers give practical insider information should one be anticipating a trip to any of the afore mentioned areas.

Julia Child’s “My Life in France” was a trip back to early T.V. days… when this tall, somewhat gawky, sharped voiced chef introduced us to the love of French cooking.
Arriving in Paris as a newly married, she embarked on training in France’s famous Cordon Bleu cooking school, found it somewhat lacking and commenced on a 10 year writing adventure to produce the book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. “My Life… covers her marriage to Paul Child, their adventures with the American Embassy in Paris, the couples association with the OSS (early CIA) during the war years and their many friendships made in France, along with her love of food, wine and travel.  Her comments are delightfully honest and simple and while reading the book I remember the lessons she imparted with such joy.  Her light went out at the age of 92 but what a life well lived.

Author Simon Beckett has composed a likable character as a forensic anthropologist in "Written in Bone".

“Dr. David Hunter”. This second novel takes our good doctor to a far away island kin the Hebrides…where isolation has not prevented a number of very grisly murders to occur and a the plot that indeed thickens, twists and surprises right up to the last page…Beckett’s books compare well with books by Patricia Cornwall and Kathy Reichs.
There are many other new books on our shelves, for the enjoyment of our readers. Check Thomas L. Friedman’s “Hot, Flat & Crowded” The Greening and Renewal of America. Iris Johansen writes another intriguing mystery in “Countdown”.

Bruce Courtney’s “Sylvia” is a historical novel from the 1200’s relating to the Crusades, while Bernard Cornwell’s “Azincourt” takes us through the terrible battle of Agincourt, France, when England’s Henry V battles over his right to rule France.

I would also like to take this opportunity to send a “Thank You” to all our Library volunteers. Each week Celia Haas, Lorraine Surcouf, Manje More, Morfudd Scott, Nancy Seow, Joan Johnson, Margaret Watson, Tracy Ralph and Glenn Gates willing give their time to our reading facility, so we send our gratitude to them and to all other great volunteers we are fortunate enough to have in Lions Bay.

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