"A library is a different kind of social reality (of the three dimensional kind), which by its very existence teaches a system of values beyond the fiscal."
-Zadie Smith
Attention: All Thomas County Public Libraries Will Be Closed Mon, July 4, To Observe Independence Day.
All challenge materials due July 8th!
Don't miss out on your chance to win one of many stellar prizes (such as a $100 Sass! gift card, a $50 gas card or a $20 Bookshelf gift card). Turn your challenge materials in by Friday, July 8 to enter your name toward the prize of your choosing.
Beginner Yoga
Wed, July 6, 9:45am
This is a beginner's level yoga flow that moves slowly through a simple vinyasa sequence while focusing on alignment and breath while working on strength, balance and flexibility. Yoga mats and blankets available for those without. Sign-up for the free class HERE.
Spanish 101
Wednesdays, 4:30pm, June 8-July 20
We get it, you don't know anything more than "tacos" & "margarita", or maybe you've taken a decade off. Either way, you are ready to change all that with Spanish 101. Perfect for those new to the language and wanting to learn the basics. Sign up and learn more HERE.
Friends of the Library Book Sale
Every Tuesday, 10-5pm
Check out the FOL's used book store, open every Tuesday.
All proceeds go toward programming and materials at all our branches. Books, DVDs, puzzles, children & young adult books, music and more!
For the Kids:
All reading logs due Friday, July 8th!
Kona Ice Truck
Fri, July 8, 10:00-11:00am
Celebrate the end of the Summer Reading Challenge with some tasty Kona Ice! Turn in your Summer Reading Challenge logs then grab yourself a FREE shave ice from the Kona Ice Truck. Truck parked in the Thomas County Public Library parking lot. All ages welcome.
At the Branches:
Ochlocknee:
-Kona Ice Truck | Tues, July 5, 3:00-3:30pm
Free shave ice! All ages welcome.
Boston:
-Quiddler Club | Tues, July 5, 2:00pm
The Boston Quiddler Club is back. The group meets every Tuesday at 2:00pm for an afternoon of socializing, laughter and a few rounds of the word-card game which challenges players to make words out of an ever increasing hand of letters. Speak with Suzanne M. at the Boston branch for more details.
Pavo:
-Art + Crafts | Tues, July 5
Drop by anytime during open hours (1:30-6:00pm) for some creative fun. The day's project is a handprint aquarium painting. Best for ages 4-7.
Meigs:
-Kona Ice Truck | Thurs, July 7, 2:00-2:30pm
Free shave ice! All ages welcome.
Recommended Reads:
A few unputdownable books.
Circe, by Madeline Miller
Circe is part beautifully-written literary fantasy and part divine Greek soap opera. This strange combination makes for a book that is extremely quotable, rich in description and detail, and also a page-turner. It moves seamlessly between the broader scope of the world and its many gods and monsters, to the more narrow focus of the nymph-turned-witch, Circe, and her daily life before and after she is exiled to the island Aeaea.
- Circe becomes a powerful witch, but the strength of her story is in all her relatable flaws and weaknesses. We follow her as a naïve lesser nymph, longing to be accepted and loved. We stay with her as she believes the lies of others and, later, becomes hardened against such deceivers. Her compassion constantly battles with her rage. Understandably.
- There is some grim satisfaction to be gained as this woman who has been bullied, belittled and trod on her entire life slowly claws out some vengeance for herself. The pain she endures along the way means that her successes are bittersweet. In the end, Circe might be full of fantasy, backstabbing and murder, but it is first and foremost the story of one woman's life - through pain, love, desire, heartache and motherhood.
Out, by Natsuo Kirino
There's just something about Japan that produces the grittiest, darkest, scariest, most realistic horror, psychological thriller, and suspense. The seedy underbelly of Japanese society is perhaps so successfully portrayed because so little has been embellished. And with the dark, empty suburban streets, so much is possible, so much can go unnoticed. In Natsuo Kirino's wonderful crime novel, Out, a sharp social commentary on Japan's patriarchal society and the situation for women and foreigners is tangled up with loan sharks, gambling, the yakuza and murder.
- Masako works in a bento (boxed-lunch) factory on the night shift with her workmates Yoshi, Kuniko and Yayoi. Together they make a team to get the best spots on the conveyor belt, and because they're housewives with responsibilities during the day, they're more or less each other's only friends. Each has problems: Masako and her husband barely interact anymore and her son hasn't spoken to her in a year; Yoshie is widowed and takes care of her daughter and her bed-ridden mother-in-law in a tiny house that's ready to be knocked down; Kuniko's husband has left her and taken all their money, and she's over her head in debt because she's constantly buying new clothes to impress people; and Yayoi's husband has spent all their savings on gambling and a beautiful Chinese hostess called Anna. Their lives are circumscribed and lonely, and there seems to be no way out for any of them.
The Rain Heron, by Robbie Arnott
A very different book, original, using allegory and myth to describe events in a world run amuck. . In fact, it starts with a myth, or at least what sounds like one, of a supposed mythical heron that can bring rain or drought. Wealth or destruction, in a world where climate change is occurring rapidly. The political situation in this unnamed country is also a factor as a coup is happening and people are fleeing villages for other places where they hope to find safety. There are few characters, but each of them have former lives, lives that are no longer livable.
- The book is divided into sections, and despite these crucial events, it is a quiet, but impactful novel. . Very much character oriented, and the two main characters are women from very different backgrounds. This is a novel of survival and the ways in which we need or choose to act to survive. Some of the scenes seem impossible, the allegories are paramount and open to a readers interpretation as to what they are meant to represent.
- The writing is gorgeous, the descriptions eloquent and despite the often grim state of affairs, quite lovely. A very strange book about a strange time.
Podcast: Topic - Ukrainian POW
