Rossland Public Library Report
By Contributor
Books of My Life
Question and Answer with Gillian Eames, resource sharing librarian, Rossland Public Library
What is your favourite childhood book?
My favourite childhood book is the collection of Dr. Dolittle stories by Hugh Lofting. My grandparents sent me the whole collection. My mum couldn’t read them fast enough for me, so I had to learn to read. I remember that by book six I was reading on my own and so very proud.
Name one classic you’re embarrassed to say you’ve never read.
There are many classics that I have never read. I tried The Odyssey and The Iliad many times but could never get past the first pages. During my undergrad I took an English Language Classics course. I am embarrassed to say I skimmed most of the required readings and skipped some entirely. I did however enjoy and linger with W.B. Yeats and still keep a collection of his work by my bed.
Name the last book that made you laugh.
There are few books that have made me laugh out loud. However, The Woefield Poultry Collective by Susan Juby, a writer from Vancouver Island was for me, hilarious. I burst out laughing all through this book.
What are you reading now?
I have just finished reading Drowned Country and Silver in the Wood, two slivers of books by Emily Tesh. They are adventures centered around the Greenman and all the spirit creatures like dryads of the English woods.
Name one book everyone should read.
A book that has had a lasting impact on my life was The Good Life by Scott and Helen Nearing. It is a classic in the world of self-sufficient living. I read it in my early 20’s and have held my own short version of a quotation by Helen Nearing within me ever since: “When you are faced with food that has been sterilized, fumigated, hydrogenated, hydrolyzed, homogenized, coloured, bleached, puffed, exploded, defatted, degermed, texturized, or if you don’t know what has been done to it, the safest rule is not to eat it.” My children have apparently suffered terribly by this quotation.
Name your literary loves.
I will finish with the literary love of my life, Oscar Wilde. I admire his wit, his bravery, his style, his vulnerability, his love of beauty and of people, even when so many were hard on him. I would love to have him to dinner. I might not have him the same night Yeats comes to dinner.
Library Announcements and Information
Iona Whishaw Virtual Visit
On May 25th at 6:30 PM, join Iona Whishaw as she embarks on a national tour from her living room to celebrate the publication of her eighth novel in the Lane Winslow Mystery Series, A Lethal Lesson. Lane Winslow, a war-weary ex-intelligence officer, leaves London in 1946 looking for a fresh start. She settles in King’s Cove, a sleepy hamlet nestled in the idyllic interior of British Columbia. Surrounded by a suitably eclectic cast of small-town characters she feels like she may finally be able to put her past to rest. Instead, Winslow is enlisted to solve an array of local crimes in this historical mystery series. Register by clicking on the link on the homepage or at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUlf-GhqDIpH9QFeRexQpVVetH-xMFo6tf7
Rossland – k’lwist
To celebrate the April 23rd Supreme Court decision recognizing the Sinixt Nation has constitutionally protected Indigenous rights to hunt in ancestral territory in Canada, we are featuring a collection of First Peoples literature. Check out Not Extinct: Keeping the Sinixt Way by Marilyn James and Taress Alexis; Coyote Stories by Mourning Dove; Keeping the Lakes Way by Paula Pryce and many more. This collection is just inside the front door.
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Some featured books include Jessica J. Lee’s Two Trees Make a Forest, Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore, and several Vietnamese and Asian cookbooks.
Art in the Library
Come to the library and be prepared to admire the beautiful artwork of Kat Goetz, Nicole Rose, and Alex Moon. You may view during library hours.
RPL Book Club
RPL’s May Book Club meets at 7:00 PM on Thursday, May 27th via Zoom. Looking for something short and intense, we selected True Grit by Charles Portis, a “Western” adventure featuring 14-year-old Mattie Ross, the tough, trigger-happy and hard-drinking US Marshal Rooster Cogburn, and Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf as they search for Mattie’s father’s killer in the American Wild West. Although decidedly “gritty,” the contrast between these three characters makes for lively and humorous situations. The 1969 movie stars John Wayne, but the 2010 Coen Brothers version is a definite favourite. Copies of the novel are available at the front desk. Please join us. Register at ravenreadsbookclub@gmail.com.
Kootenay Library Federation “Read Local” Book Club
Also on May 29th but at 6:30 PM, the KLF Book Club meets via Zoom to discuss This One Wild Life: A Mother – Daughter Wilderness Memoir by Angie Abdou. This memoir features a mother who aspires to hike a peak with her daughter during the summer holidays, and things don’t go as planned. To register and obtain a copy of the book, email kootenaylibrariesprogramming@gmail.com
New Books
Look for Self-Sufficiency for the 21st Century, an updated Lemon-Aid, Burke’s Law, A Life in Hockey, and The Healing Powers of Essential Oils amongst others.
Front Windows
Our front windows have been painted in delightful spring colours!
Free Books
Two boxes of free books are still available. Help yourself.
