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Reluctant Reader Wednesday: Dracula by Bram Stoker
Okay, I hear what you’re saying: why are you recommending THAT dusty old thing? How could a reluctant reader be enticed by a book that was written in the 19th century? Well, I’m recommending it because WHAT’S OLD IS NEW AGAIN. Also because (and this is important!) Dracula is a classic book that has aged well.
Even if you’ve never read this book, you already have an idea of what this story is about. A vampire is killing people, and some of the smartest and strongest people fight back. There’s lots of blood, and suspense, and drama. But if, like me, most of your understanding of Dracula came from movies and other kinds of pop culture, then reading the original book will surprise you. By the time you finish this story, you’ll have thoughts running through your mind like …
Who knew that an American cowboy was a major character in this story?
Who knew that a woman was a major hero of this story?
“Lizard fashion”????
I’m REALLY in the mood for some paprika chicken right now!
There are several different ways to enjoy the classic book Dracula. You can definitely check out a copy of the book from the library. But in “what’s old is new again” news, you can also read the story in chronological order through Dracula Daily emails, and you can listen to the story in chronological order through the Re: Dracula podcast!
#Reluctant Reader Wednesday#Dracula#Bram Stoker#horror#vampires#Dracula Daily#Re: Dracula#Kingsbridge Library#NYPL
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Tell us about different monastery burning motifs! Would be interesting to hear how each of them work narratively
hi! this was mostly explored when @st-vesta and I were yelling incoherently about it. I also don't have a very good grasp on The Name of the Rose as I've only watched the show. tbh I'm really only confident of my interpretation of PotE SO WITH THAT IN MIND
[SPOILERS FOR THE NAME OF THE ROSE, THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH AND PENTIMENT]
Right from the get-go their burnings are very different in when they come into the narrative. It comes very early on in Pillars of the Earth, with Kingsbridge Cathedral burning down right near the start. It's the force that drives the plot. Pentiment's Kiersau Abbey goes up in flames in the end of the second act as a culmination of the long-standing tensions over the course of five (?) years. The Name of the Rose ends its story with the burning of its mountain monastery.
How do they happen? Till the last second, Kingsbridge's fate was kinda just strung on a line of bad luck and split-second decisions. A forest boy named Jack tags along with a mason's family, becomes refugees of a burgeoning civil war, and ends up in Kingsbridge. He gets the idea to burn down the cathedral to give the kindly mason a job, and isn't even fully sure of his decision as he lights the vault boards on fire. He’s just a child.
And yet.
Fire is a catalyst. As much as it is a catastrophe, it also presents three groups of people all fucked by the hellscape of 12th century England with an opportunity to build something brighter. Aliena’s family and earldom taken by the Anarchy, Philip and his languishing priory, and Jack, coming from the fringes of society all working together to pull their futures out of the ashes of the cathedral… Kingsbridge and its town start thriving again.
(Fire is very much a motif in PotE. Someone as powerless as Jack using this volatile force of nature to bring down something as grand and sacred and built-to-last as a stone church! The Church controlling fire to produce a ‘miracle’ and restore faith in the institution! Fire as Hell, the only thing that has ever scared William Hamleigh! Fire as hope, Philip treading the aftermath and watching the sun rise with Tom!! I;m very ill)
Kiersau and Tassing, on the other hand, have been fostering tensions that would eventually destroy the monastery. It is the powder keg’s inevitable explosion. Neither the village nor the abbey are willing to back down, so it culminates in a situation where one or the other caves in. Nobody has been having a Good Time for a Long Time. Especially not Claus. In his grief, he walks into the library and sets it on fire.
Fire is an answer. It is a terrible, terrible night. We are told that the Benedictines scattered to the wind. We don’t get to see the immediate aftermath, but does it matter? Magdalene explores the abbey and it is still the same derelict cathedral from years ago. She wasn’t there to witness it, but there its soot-stained carcass stands as a reminder of tragedy. Some saw it as a victory, certainly- the humble villagers triumphing over their Benedictine landowners. Things grew from it, though- Wojslav and Matilda find their new chapter of life here, Mathieu and Illuminata find new, loftier prospects outside of Tassing, and Andreas finds a way out of an unhappy life.
The mountain monastery in The Name of the Rose has a long-kept secret, and attempts to unearth it are met with death. It goes up in flames after a week of murders as a last-ditch effort by Jorge to destroy its library and bury its secret for good.
Fire is the end. No matter how grand and complex the library labyrinth was, it would have never held up against fire. William and Adso didn’t succeed. They couldn’t have saved the library and they couldn’t stop the deaths. Jorge did what he set out to do! The elusive Finis Africae is still shrouded in mystery and anyone who knew of the contents is dead! The monks disband and William comes out of it disillusioned.
TBH, all three of them make use of monastery burnings to destroy some hidden truth or secret. The history of Tassing? Records largely in flames, and even given to distortion, since we, the player, are able to interpret that segment! The truth about the White Ship? Gone with Prior James’ bones! And Finis Africae. Fire, if anything, can hide and rewrite.
TL;DR: fire do many thangs and pyromaniacs everywhere are right.
#pentiment#pillars of the earth#the pillars of the earth#the name of the rose#pentiment spoilers#pote spoilers#notr spoilers#birbwellspeaks#really my expertise is on PotE. ive only played through Pentiment once so i hope i can do this justice#though i also have lots of thoughts about how different Tassing and Kingsbridge are community-wise...#like. that response to the fire. and in general they are written v differently#ALSO SORRY FOR THAT SHITTY NOTR SCREENSHOT#i dont have the episode in good quality
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I need some book recommendations! I mostly like fantasy, some sci fi and historical. Here are some books I either love forever or read recently and liked, which if I wasn’t typing this up on my phone I would explain them more but I am mostly listing them so that things can be recommended to ME
Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton (this is one of my favorite books of all time, I have read it many times)
Temeraire series by Naomi Novik (just reread the whole thing again. So so fun books)
The Hidden Sea trilogy beginning with Children of a Hidden Sea, which I really wanted to have one more book in it, by A. M. Dellamonica
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
Read the first three books of the 1632 series by Eric Flint. They were solidly OK. I don’t want to read any more of them but they were fun.
All T. Kingfisher books, the Paladin series especially. Nettle and Bone was good, the horror ones are Alright.
I enjoy a good Tortall. I think Beka Cooper were my faves. The circle of magic series weren’t as good to me.
The Kingsbridge books by Ken Follett, although honestly the only one I’d ever personally recommend to anyone is Pillars of the Earth, which after reading the entire encyclopedia of a series in order last year still stands out as the best one. They are all fun though
His Dark Materials, classic forever, and the sequel La Belle Sauvage, but what a miserable book The Secret Commonwealth was. Still gonna read the third one when it comes out but jeez.
The Scythe books by Neal Shustermann I ended up deciding I didn’t like after I finished them. But they were enjoyable enough, including for evidence of reading more futuristic sci fi I guess lol
I’m going through my library checkout history for these lol.
Oh Liliths Brood by Octavia Butler, also fun to read but I just got so annoyed by the aliens being hypocrites that I saw it on the list and got mad at it lol.
The Martian was fun. Artemis by the same author was just alright.
Trying to think of some other faves. Jonathan strange and mr. Norrell. Uhh u kno like, Watership Down. Oh the Alien Chronicles by Deborah Chester. I liked Enders game and shadow a lot way back when but can’t bring myself to reread it anymore because of the author, u kno how it goes. Diana Wynne jones books, the chrestomanci ones and dogsbody were my faves. I have read a lot of Michael Crichton books, my faves were great train robbery and timeline I think. I don’t know I have read a lot of books
Anyway please recommend me some books I am bored at work again
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How successful does someone need to be before they have a horse?
According to the linked wikipedia page, only one person owned a horse at the time of the Revolution in the early 1800s, John Jay:
From his father's side, John Jay's family was distinguished as a wealthy patrician with strong Tory and Revolutionary ties. His grandfather, John Jay Sr., had been a loyal Tory patriot and Governor of New York, and had been a delegate to the Continental Congress who helped draft the Declaration of Independence. His wife, Maria, was a sister of John Locke, one of the signers of the Declaration. John Jay Sr. gave the children classical schooling and tutors, including a tutor for his grandson's older brother, John Jr., who also became a lawyer and a staunch Tory. Jay Sr.'s second son, John "Monk" Jay, also became a lawyer and a political ally, and was named to serve in the Continental Congress along with John Jay Sr. and John Jay, Jr. His daughter, the second wife of General George Washington, served as a presidential elector for John Adams.
John Jay Jr. was born at home in 1745 at Manhattan's elegant family manor, Elizabeth Hall, where his father, John Jay Sr., lived and raised his children. The home's entrance hall was converted into a drawing room with a parlor to the right, and a dining room to the left. Two flights of stone steps ascended to the second floor, then a circular staircase led to the first floor. The grand, high ceilings and wide windows of the hall were a large influence on the architectural style of the home. The children were tutored by a French tutor, Henri Clémens. Clémens trained the family's servants in the etiquette and the French language, and taught John Jay, Jr. to play music on the violin.
John Jay Jr. first rode a horse with his father in 1765, riding out to Staten Island on behalf of his father's legal practice. John Sr. had a lifelong love of horses, and his son's horsemanship was so refined that it inspired envy in George Washington. At twenty-two, Jay became a riding instructor and groom for Washington's household. His brother, Richard, a physician, taught John "Monk" Jay to ride. Monk would later marry the daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia merchant, Sarah Van Rensselaer. Jay's mother, the former Maria Livingston, inherited many of her late father's properties, as her husband had already inherited most of his father's estate by that time.
Jay took riding lessons with Washington in 1773, and by 1778 Washington was telling Thomas Jefferson that Jay "is the most accomplished horseman in America." In 1784, Jay married Martha Livingston, the youngest daughter of the New York Livingston family. They soon became the parents of two sons and a daughter, all of whom went by their middle name, Edward, to distinguish them from a younger brother also named Edward. John Jay was the oldest of eight children.
Martha Jay spent her childhood, teen years and early adult years living in her parents' home at 6 Wall Street. She took riding lessons from a young man whose mother, Eliza Jay, taught her daughter to ride in 1776. Martha Jay's first horse, a large black stallion named Sully, was named after Martha Washington.
From "The Ride: A New Horsemanship."
In 1778, Jay began showing off his horsemanship to fellow students at Columbia College. In 1782, he was appointed to the board of trustees for Columbia's new Academy of Arts and Sciences, in New York's Harlem neighborhood, which was founded in 1766 by a group of wealthy Presbyterian ministers. Jay was among the trustees who oversaw the academy's development and became an active member. In 1784 he purchased an old country seat, Bethania, in Kingsbridge on Staten Island, where he and Martha frequently spent time with their children and grandchildren. In 1789 he became a charter member and president of the New York Society for the Prevention of Pauperism, and he donated a large portion of his library to the society's library fund. In 1790 he was named to the board of visitors of New York State Prison, his home state, and in 1791 he joined other prominent New York citizens in an anti-slavery petition to Thomas Jefferson, in response to the Quakers of Pennsylvania's "Albion's Seed" petition.
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Pillars of the Earth Review
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet is a 1076 page Historical Fiction novel. The 1st in the Kingsbridge series, and it’s followed by World Without End (#2) and A Column of Fire (#3). I got this book from my mother who found it at a little library.
Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape. Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters into their dreams, their labours, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life.
The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the centre of the drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king.
Trigger Warning: Rape, Graphic Violence.
I rate this book 5/5 stars.
I’m astounded by how much I love this book. I will confess my bias and tells that I’ve been raised Christian (Christian school, but not like going to church every Sunday), but I’ve never wanted to see a Cathedral be build so much in my life!
The chapters are insanely long, like chapter 1 was 83 pages! But with the 40 hour audiobook it felt like it was flying by and has an awesome narrator. This chapter follows Tom Builder and his family which was really interesting to see the conversations that they’re having. However the insta-love between him and Ellen was something I’m not a fan of. Luckily their relationship really grows inside these pages and I really wanted them to flourish. What shocked me was his fate at end of part 3. I still feel it in my soul.
Chapter 2 follows Peter and I really didn’t see the switch between POVs coming. I really like how his story line picks up from when we meet him with Tom.
Chapter 3 is William’s POV and I really dislike him as a person, but love him as a characters. I just love to hate him and it’s been a very long time since I loved to hate and abhor a character so much. His fate at the end is very fitting.
After these three chapters I really thought that William’s was the most interest.
A lot happens within these 1000+ pages. I won’t be able to cover all of it, but here are a few highlights:
My favourite character I absolutely love is Aliena, and yes, she gets her own POV. She’s a strong independent woman, who needs no man to save her. Yet it’s the silent type that captures her heart.
I do like the themes within the book. The hypocrisy within the church is a very large part, especially with Prior Phillip being such a humble and honest man and even he has to give in to trickery at some moments, but he really is a ‘means justify the end’ type of man.
Every single character is morally grey. They do good things and they do bad things. They do thing for their own advantage, some do care about the consequences and others don’t care at all or a little less, casting them aside after nothing more than a moments thought.
It’s only those special few that actually go out of their way to help others.
I do absolutely recommend this book for anybody and everybody!
Do you have any questions? Or maybe some recommendations? Send me an ask here on Tumblr or tweet me. If you wish to support me, you can buy me a coffee! Or even buy my debut fantasy novel, The Mending Road.
#Pillars of the Earth#Ken Follet#world without end#A column of Fire#historical fiction#cathedral#england#12th century#book review#series#books#reviews#review#religion#The morning and the Evening
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December 2022 Reading Wrap Up
I read 8 books in December and 1 DNF. This was also a really good reading month, and I feel like 2022 in general was one of the best reading years for me since 2019 maybe. I'm looking forward to 2023, because I think I have even better books on my tbr!
1.Return of the Thief (Queen's Thief 6) by Meghan Whalen Turner, 5/5 stars. This is the last book of the qt series, and I was very satisfied with this conclusion and this book was everything I wanted it to be. I'm very glad I read this series, and it has been a defining series of 2022 for me. YA fantasy.
2.Moon Witch, Spider King (Dark Star Trilogy 2) by Marlon James 3/5 stars. This is the second book to MJ's African high fantasy series. This was enjoyable, but these books are tough to rate. I enjoyed the more female centered perspective on this one. Adult, African inspired fantasy.
3.Forging Silver into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer 5/5 stars. This is the first book in a spin-off series by Kemmerer from her ACSDAL series. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and the romance (mlm) was super adorable and had more good disability rep. young adult high fantasy
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (DNF). I had a physical copy of this, and decided to see what it was about. I dnf'd at about 20%
4.One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig 3/5 stars. I was a tad bit disappointed in this one. I was hoping for more of Margaret Rogerson's Vespertine but got more of Hannah Whitten's For the Wolf instead. This would have been a better spooky season read. I doubt I will read the sequel. adult high fantasy
5.The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge 1) by Ken Follett 4.5/5 stars. This is a sweeping historical fiction surrounding the fictional English town of Kingsbridge trying to build a cathedral in the 12th century. I deeply enjoyed this one. Warning for a strong male-gaze/perspective and graphic r*pe scenes. Historical Fiction
6.Moira's Pen (Queen's Thief Collection) by Meghan Whalen Turner 3/5 stars. This is a collection of short stories, drabbles, illustrations, and even a recipe. It was enjoyable to read some behind the scenes stuff, and to get glimpses into the future after the 6th book, but I found several things frustrating and disappointing. It raised more questions than it answered. ya fantasy.
7.Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children 3) by Seanan McGuire, 4/5 stars. Wayward Children is a series I desperately need to catch up on, and I just discovered my one library card has them all on audio. I really enjoyed the audiobook narrator. I thought this one was a fun quest/adventure story with our main cast of characters. Fantasy
8.What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher 3.5/5 stars. The Fall of the House of Usher is my favorite Poe short story, and I was excited for this one. I enjoyed this queer novella, with an even creepier twist to the classic story. Horror.
January reading goals:
Keep listening to the Wayward Children series on audio
Reread (on audio) the Folk of the Air in anticipation for The Lost Heir
Reread Ninth House and read Hell Bent
Emily Wildes Encyclopedia of Faeries
Sofi and the Bone Song
The Shadow of the Wind
Next Kingsbridge novel?
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Our solar eclipse glasses are HERE!
FYI, each adult (18 years and up) receiving a pair of glasses needs to sign a liability waiver IN PERSON for themselves. If anyone 17 years old or younger wants a pair of these glasses, their parent or guardian needs to come in IN PERSON to sign the waiver on their behalf.
Excited for the Solar Eclipse? Free Eclipse Glasses Available at the Library
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Looking for some banned and challenged books to help celebrate BANNED BOOKS WEEK? Check out the display on our main floor by the service desk!
FYE, here’s a peek behind the scenes of what it looked like when we were prepping for our Banned Books Week displays!
To learn more about banned and challenged books, visit:
American Library Association: Banned & Challenged Books
Banned Books Week at the New York Public Library
bannedbooksweek.org
#Banned Books Week#banned and challenged books#UniteAgainstBookBans#classics#book displays#Kingsbridge Library#NYPL
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Looking for kids' books to celebrate Native American Heritage Month? Check out the new display in our Children's Room!
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#NoCutsToLibraries: Stand with NYC Libraries on June 15, 2023!
Visit Invest in Libraries to learn more!!!
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Reluctant Reader Wednesday: Cat on the Hero’s Lap by Kousuke Iijima and Shiori
Red is a level 3 hero, who goes on quests with his companions Grace (a level 12 mage) and Aina (a level 10 martial artist). Red is very brave when it comes to fighting monsters like goblins and even dragons. But recently, he’s become the victim of a creature that’s proving to be even more dangerous: a cat who keeps keeps coming over to sleep on Red’s lap.
Red needs to level up if he’s ever going to help his party with their ultimate mission: to defeat the demon king. But every time this mysterious cat appears, it heads straight for Red’s lap. While the cat is sleeping on his lap, Red can’t fight at all, he can’t level up, and his party is defeated again and again.
Is this cat his friend or his enemy? And does Red have any future as a hero, if he can’t even manage to get around a single cat?
Give this manga to teens who enjoy animals, role-playing games, and stories that will make them laugh out loud!
#Reluctant Reader Wednesday#Cat on the Hero's Lap#Kousuke Iijima#Shiori#graphic novels#manga#cats#LOL#RPGs#Kingsbridge Library#NYPL
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Libraries and Librarians on Film: The Night Strangler (1973 / TV Movie)
The Night Strangler was the second TV movie to feature Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak, the investigative reporter who would go on to be the star of a short-lived but highly influential TV series called Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
The formula of most Kolchak stories goes something like this:
Kolchak is an investigative reporter who's having trouble finding / holding down a job. Sometimes it's because he steps on too many people's toes, and sometimes it's because the cases he investigates are simply unbelievable.
He gets a new case, which seems at first to be ordinary, but it turns out that there's actually something paranormal going on.
He uncovers evidence, but people don't believe him. He yells at his boss, and his boss yells at him.
HOWEVER, he does gain one or more allies along the way. Sometimes they just believe his story, and sometimes they actively help with his investigation, even if that means putting their own lives at risk.
More stepping on toes. More yelling.
The case is solved by Kolchak, who knows that he's right about the vampire / zombie / etc. that was really behind it all. But either nobody believes him, or the people who do believe him can't do anything about it. Kolchak's newspaper story is either suppressed entirely or changed completely.
In case it wasn't obvious, I'm a big fan of the Kolchak movies and TV show, as well as Kolchak's spiritual successors like The X-Files and Fringe.
But why am I singling out this particular story? Because one of Kolchak's allies in The Night Strangler is a smart, curious, and helpful man called Mr. Berry (played by Wally Cox in one of his final roles). Mr. Berry isn't a librarian per se, but he DOES work with archives. He works in the morgue of the Daily Chronicle, which is the newspaper in Seattle that's employing Kolchak as he tries to solve a bizarre series of murders.
Kolchak himself isn't a big fan of research, but he knows that he needs a researcher to help him with this case:
When he meets Mr. Berry, he quickly learns how he feels about research:
[Personal Question: So, should I have "Research. That's where the joy lies." put on my business cards by itself? Or should I also add in the line "This is where the meat is found."???]
ANYWAY, Kolchak visits Mr. Berry multiple times during his investigation, and it's Mr. Berry who first suggests that the current murders are very similar to some murders that took place 21 years earlier ...
And this encourages them to search further back ...
And further back ...
And even FURTHER back ...
By the time that Kolchak has stepped on so many toes that he's been handcuffed by the police, it's Mr. Berry who comes to the rescue with supporting evidence that will show that Kolchak isn't crazy after all:
Which leads us to Mr. Berry's moment of justly-deserved recognition:
Of course, just because Kolchak was right doesn't mean that his story is going to be published. In fact, the real story will never make it to print. Sound familiar?
But on the plus side, the success of these TV movies DID lead to Kolchak's own TV series!
While the New York Public Library doesn't carry any of the Kolchak TV movies / series, Kolchak: The Night Stalker IS included in the book The Greatest Cult Television Shows of All Time by Christopher J. Olson.
If you'd like to immerse yourself in the Kolchak movies and TV episodes, here are some links to help you find more information about them, as well as any renting / streaming / buying options:
The Night Stalker (TV movie): IMDB / JustWatch / Amazon
The Night Strangler (TV movie): IMDB / JustWatch / Amazon
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (TV series): IMDB / JustWatch / Amazon
#Libraries & Librarians on Film#The Night Strangler#Kolchak#Carl Kolchak#Kolchak the Night Stalker#libraries#archives#Kingsbridge Library#NYPL
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Check out the celestial wind chimes that our teens made during today’s TEENS GET CRAFTY program!
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If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.
-- Cicero
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Please remember today that Libraries Are For Everyone (even Tyler the dog!)
New Yorkers, tell @NYCMayor & @NYCCouncil: libraries make NYC stronger. The upcoming city budget proposes $58.3 million in cuts to public libraries.
Repost to spread the word: #NoCutsToLibraries!
https://www.nypl.org/speakout
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Did you know that April is Arab American Heritage Month?
Check out this new book display in our Children’s Room!
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