Ballston Reader
What's Happening at the Town of Ballston Community Library
Friday, September 6th, 2019
Check Out These Books!
The Grammarians by Cathleen Shine
"Identical twins Laurel and Daphne Wolfe, both named for the same minor Greek goddess, shared everything: a womb, a language known only to themselves, the red hair that set them even further apart from their peers (only 2% of the world’s population are gingers, less than the 3.3% that are twins). They also share a love of English that (and they would adore the irony) cleaved them together as much as it cleaved them apart.
Long before their first adolescent stirrings, the pair fell head-over-heels for words. Daphne amassed rare ones (rebarbative, hendiadys, aposiopesis) in her notebook, the same way other kids collect sea glass or baseball cards. Laurel looked them up in their father’s massive Merriam Webster’s Second Edition. They played with words, quarreled over words, used words as both rapier and armor.
Author Cathleen Schine is a keen student of both language and families, and The Grammarians calls to mind the likes of Nora Ephron or Joan Didion. It’s not every verbal stunt pilot that can bring a mid-novel excursus about the differences between Webster’s Second and Third editions to a safe landing." - Excerpt from Book Page Book Review article
A Door in the Earth by Amy Waldman
"Former New York Times reporter Amy Waldman left an indelible imprint on readers with her debut, The Submission, which examined the fallout of 9/11 at Ground Zero. Eight years later, Waldman returns with an even more ambitious novel, A Door in the Earth, which proves to be as politically provocative and challenging as its predecessor.
Drawing on her years based in Afghanistan, Waldman takes readers deep into the heart of the country, transporting us to a remote and largely unremarkable village, ringed by mountains far from the ongoing military conflicts that make headlines overseas. Guiding us is Parveen Shamsa, an earnest medical anthropologist who has recently graduated from Berkley. Inspired by a fictional bestselling memoir by Dr. Gideon Crane, which shed light on the abysmal state of women’s health in Afghanistan, Parveen has left the comforts of home in California to volunteer at the women’s clinic established by Dr. Crane and to reconnect with her own Afghan heritage." - Excerpt from Book Page Book Review article
Specner's New Pet by Jessie Sima
"Jessie Sima presents the entertaining story of Spencer’s New Pet as if it were an old black-and-white motion picture. The book opens with a film leader, the countdown from three to one with large numbers in rotating circles. The book’s art deco typeface—for the titles of the story’s three main parts, presented like the intertitles of a silent film (the book is otherwise wordless)—resembles film fonts from the middle of the last century. Throughout the book, rendered on a palette of varying shades of gray, Sima even simulates iris shots, a technique frequently used in silent films. A spare, warm red is devoted to only two objects in the book.
A boy leads his new balloon animal, tied by a clown, about on a leash, and the danger of popping seems to lurk around every corner. But what appears to be the simple story of a boy enjoying his new balloon animal as if it’s a pet turns out to be otherwise." - Excerpt from Book Page Book Review article
Disney Planning
Heroes All Around Us - USS Slater
*Registration Required
Tuesday, September 24th - 6:30pm
Fermentation for Food & Health with Cornell Cooperative Extension
*Registration Required
Wednesday, October 16th - 6:30pm
AAA Car Seat Safety Check
Table Top Games
Try out new games at the Library's Table Top Game Night. Each session we'll play a different game. Games to be announced.
*Registration required, for ages 10 & up.
Thursday, September 12th - 3:00pm (long game)
Friends of the Library Monthly Meeting
Tuesday, October 1st - 9:00am
Memoir Writing with Mary Sanders Shartle
Memoir Writing with Mary Sanders Shartle.
*Registration Required
Thursdays, 10:30am-12:30pm 6 weeks starting August 22nd
(You register once for the 6 week session)
*Memoir Writing courtesy of The Baum Fund through the Friends of the Library
Trivia Night @ Galway Rock Winery Tasting Room
Join at the Galway Rock Winery Tasting Room at 988 Saratoga Rd (Route 50) for trivia! Come have fun, maybe learn something, and try to win a prize!
Friday, September 13th - 7:00pm
*Ages 21 and over only. Refreshments and snacks will be available for sale.*
Dietitian from Field Goods
In this discussion Jennifer Bannigan will blend two themes of National Cholesterol Month and National Childhood Obesity Month together. She will also be talking about easy, tasty recipes, what to do with uncommon veggies, healthy eating, etc.
Field Goods has partnered with Jennifer Bannigan a local Registered Dietitian. Jennifer has also been a Field Goods customer since 2015!
Read more about Jennifer Bannigan here: www.nextstagenutrition.com
Calling all artists & collectors!
Town of Ballston Community Library
Email: web.toblibrary@gmail.com
Website: toblibrary.sals.edu
Location: 2 Lawmar Lane, Burnt Hills, NY, United States
Phone: 5183998174
Facebook: facebook.com/toblibrary