She Would Have Preferred A Letter
Diana Athill starts Instead of a Letter with a reflection on her elderly grandmother’s death, noting that this woman had created a family, “a world for us,” but what of herself, asks the author, “a woman who had never had the chance, or had missed the chance, to create something like that?” So begins the author’s memoir which was first published in 1962 and reissued in 2010. Instead of a Letter recounts Diana Athill’s youth, family life in the British countryside, and an ill-fated love … Continue reading
Cod, Who Knew?
A fish that shaped world history is the subject of a fascinating book to be discussed by the library’s book group, Memoirs and Coffee. The group will discuss Mark Kurlansky’s Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World on Tuesday, January 26th, at 10:30 a.m. in the Community Room of Bernardsville Public Library. The book recounts the role this once prolific fish played in driving world exploration, national economies, wars, and culinary science. Kurlansky also describes the life … Continue reading
Memoirs and Coffee Group Has Animal, Vegetable, Miracle On Its Plate For Next Book Meeting
Bernardsville Public Library’s book group Memoirs and Coffee will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, May 26th, at 10:30 in the Community Room. Led by Pat Kennedy-Grant, the group will discuss Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Two contributors to the book are Steven L. Hopp, who tackled the food science and environmental issues, and Camille Kingsolver, Barbara’s daughter. The book is based on the decision of the author and her family to eat only locally … Continue reading
Upcoming Selections for Bernardsville Library’s Book Groups
Copies of the next selections for Bernardsville Public Library’s two book discussion groups are now available at the circulation desk. Memoirs & Coffee will read Doris Lessing’s Alfred & Emily which chronicles her parent’s unhappy relationship following World War I. Lessing adds a twist to the story by giving a speculative account of what her parents’ lives might have been like if they had not married. Alfred & Emily will be discussed on Tuesday, April 28th, at 10:30 a.m.Saturday Samplers … Continue reading
Once Upon A Time, Once Upon A Town
“Once upon a time,” the spirit of American volunteerism inspired a wildly successful war effort project. Women from the region of North Platte, Nebraska, organized a canteen at the North Platte train depot to provide refreshments and entertainment for World War II service personnel who deboarded while the trains had their scheduled servicing. At the height of this effort, over 3,000 service people were treated to nourishing homemade goods every day. Bob Greene’s book, Once Upon a Town: The Miracle … Continue reading
Coffee Drinkers To Try Tea
Memoirs and Coffee, the Tuesday morning book group at Bernardsville Library, will discuss Greg Mortenson’s bestseller, Three Cups of Tea, on July 22nd at 10:30 a.m. in the library’s Community Room. Copies of the book are available at the circulation desk.Three Cups of Tea recounts Mortenson’s efforts to encourage education among the youth in the remote Karakoram region of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Over a period of ten or so years, Mortenson built 55 schools, many of them for girls, as … Continue reading
Topical Book Discussion Next Week
Memoirs and Coffee, a Bernardsville Library book group, will offer a well-timed and, no doubt, spirited discussion of Irene Spencer’s memoir, Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist’s Wife, at the next meeting, Tuesday, April 22nd, at 10:30 a.m. As news of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Texas currently dominates the headlines, the issue of polygamy is surfacing once again as a topic for national discussion. If you have read Shattered Dreams or are reading … Continue reading
