It Will Boo Spooktacular!

Halloween lurks around the corner to wrap up a spooky month during which we’ve celebrated several famous ghosts! A literary ghost, Sir Simon de Canterville, has haunted us this October while we’ve enjoyed the communal reading of Oscar Wilde’s short story, “The Canterville Ghost,” chosen as our One Book Bernardsville selection. In addition, there’s also our very own library ghost, Phyllis, to whom we must pay homage. Said to haunt the old library building, Phyllis has her own extended history of … Continue reading →

One Book Bernardsville

  This month Bernardsville Library and its community will be enjoying a shared reading experience called One Book Bernardsville. We will be reading “The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken” by Laura Schenone, discussing the book at three different book group meetings, and participating in an interesting and varied assortment of programs related to Italian culture, cuisine, and ethnic history. Our first program offers insights into the Italian community in Bernardsville which provided skilled artisans for the Mountain Colony estates they … Continue reading →

Go Set A Watchman: Tell Us What You Think

The newly released novel “Go Set A Watchman” pre-dates Harper Lee’s masterpiece, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” yet reactions to its storyline have been swift and furious even though some people haven’t read it.  Have you finished “Go Set A Watchman,” and do you hold an opinion you’d like to share with us about this early Harper Lee book? We’d love to hear from you! If you’re local, feel free to write up a short review or even a few lines that we … Continue reading →

Soon in June! What’s Coming Up

  How concerned should you be that the precious resource, water, is endangered? In jeopardy not only from the physical effects of climate change, water reserves around the globe are now being depleted, polluted, privatized, and commoditized. Who has a handle on this? Find out at our free screening of the award-winning documentary, “Blue Gold: World Water Wars,” on Sunday, June 7, at 2 p.m. in the Community Room. This viewing is sponsored by the Bernardsville Green Team. Please tell … Continue reading →

“I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.”

In October, Bernardsville Public Library will host a month-long community reading event known as One Book Bernardsville.  A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson has been selected as our One Book.  To become better acquainted with the author, please view the enjoyable video posted below. Bill Bryson’s 1989 book, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, begins with the words “I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.”  That opening line also kicks off this video about … Continue reading →

One Book Bernardsville

  Bernardsville Public Library is pleased to announce that Bill Bryson’s memoir, A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, has been selected for its first “One Book Bernardsville” event to take place in October. During this month, our community of readers and area book groups are invited to participate in this shared reading experience.  The library will provide assistance for book groups wishing to participate, and copies of the book will be made available. In addition, … Continue reading →

Driving With Dead People

Monica Holloway’s memoir, Driving With Dead People, will be discussed on May 4th at 3:30 p.m. by Bernardsville Public Library’s book group, Saturday Samplers.  The observation that some people ought never to become parents certainly applies here as the author reveals a childhood of parental abuse and neglect that proved shocking to the people who knew her family and later read her memoir. Some of the abuse from her parents was verbal, some psychological, some physical, some violent, yet those in her hometown … Continue reading →

The Life of a Newspaperman

    Bernardsville Public Library book group, Saturday Samplers, will attend author Mark Di Ionno’s talk on Saturday, April 6th, in the Community Room of the library. The book group has just finished reading his new book, The Last Newspaperman, an acclaimed piece of historical fiction set entirely in New Jersey.  Mr. Di Ionno is an award-winning reporter for The Star-Ledger and has a lot to say about the newspaper business. The Last Newspaperman recounts the life and journalistic exploits of fictional reporter Fred Haines, … Continue reading →

Elegies for the Brokenhearted

            Christie Hodgen, author of Elegies for the Brokenhearted,  is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and an award-winning writer. Her father (shown above with her daughter) is John Hodgen, a poet and college teacher.  A 2006 interview by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette with Christie and her father can be read here.  As John Hodgen notes, Christie has always been quite observant, and that quality stands out as a strength in her writing. Certainly … Continue reading →

Trillion Dollar Shoreline, Comes With Spare Tires

    Why does Manhattan turn inward onto its glittering skyscrapers and avenues of commerce when a gold coastline, a potentially magnificent waterfront, beckons from all sides?  Would its residents rush to these shorelines, partaking of promenades, water sports, and river transportation systems if accessibility were vastly improved?  New York essayist / author Phillip Lopate muses on these and many other thoughtfilled topics in his excellent 2004 publication, Waterfront: A Walk Around Manhattan.  Waterfront will be discussed this Saturday, May 5th, by … Continue reading →

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