Book Buys

Beautiful, fascinating and moving–three adjectives to describe three different titles that have come through donations into our bookstore. All are for special sale, by email: bshank@watertown-ma.gov

Beautiful
The word doesn’t do justice to Frank Weitenkampf’s FAMOUS PRINTS: MASTERPIECES OF GRAPIC ART REPRODUCED FROM RARE ORIGINALS. Charles Scribner, 1926. Number 342 of a limited edition of 1025 copies. Very good condition with gold stamp on green cloth, gilt top edge, art paper. 70 fine black and white reproductions with introduction and critical notes by the author. Large format-12 x 15 1/2 inches. $125

Fascinating
W. Nephew King’s THE STORY OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR AND THE REVOLT IN THE PHILIPPINES
offers first hand accounts by Navy Lieutenant King and is illustrated with black and white drawings and photographs and colored paintings. Peter Fenelon Collier & Son, 1900. Stressed condition with loose binding and pages. Red cloth with gold stamp. Large format- 19 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches. $40

Moving
Allan Rohan Crite illustrated THREE SPIRITUALS FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN. Harvard University Press, 1948. Roland Hayes writes in the book’s forward that Crite’s black and white drawings capture both the simplicity of Negro Spirituals and the grandeur and symbolism with which they are filled. Very good condition. Green cloth binding. $75

Anne Harrington Photography Exhibit in February

Images of China: the New, the Old, and the Disappearing

Anne Harrington A native of Arlington, MA, and a graduate of Regis College and the Universities of Maryland and Virginia, Anne (at far right) developed a serious interest in photography beginning in 1997.

During the two years that she taught English at Shanghai University in Shanghai, China (2002-2004), Anne photographed people, places, and life in and around Shanghai. She also had the opportunity to travel and photograph beyond Shanghai. Her trips, frequently on her own, included Hong Kong, Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin, Lijiang, and other less well-known locations. Anne photographed what she saw from the perspective of an expatriate teacher living and working in China. One theme that emerged in her photographs was the impact of a “rising China” on daily life in Shanghai and the disappearing “old” China. Some of these images are featured in her current exhibit at Watertown Library.

Digital Slide Presentation: Sunday, February 24, 2008

Anne continues to photograph and exhibit and looks forward to her next trip to Asia.

Baby Yoga

Baby Yoga at the Library

Sign up now in the Children’s Room for the free 4 week series offered every Friday 9:30-10:30am in February. Please dress comfortably and bring a yoga mat, towel and small toy for each class. Only 1 parent/caregiver per child. No yoga experience required.

Shakespeare Reading Group

Shakepeare Reading Group

Come join the Shakespeare Reading Group to read aloud and discuss the plays of William Shakespeare. No experience or knowledge needed – just curiosity and interest.

They will meet to continue and complete The Winter’s Tale on February 26 at 6:30 PM.

Book Buys-January ‘08

The Library’s Bookstore Cafe is brimming with new items and some of the quirkier are those older children’s titles.  We culled some interesting ones that will fetch a little more than the regular stock in our bookstore.  Email me at bshank@watertown-ma.gov if any of these make you nostalgic about childhoods past or present!

Byrd Baylor’s THE BEST TOWN IN THE WORLD is a picture book signed by the author
that celebrates a Texas hill town of years past where everything is better and bigger.  Illustrated with charming watercolors by Ronald Himmler. Scribner, 1982.  Great condition, blue cloth.  $10

Roald Dahl’s CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY has achieved children’s classic status. Perhaps a first edition, illustrated with line drawings by Joseph Schindelman. Knopf, 1964. Very good condition with paper cover. $10

Anne Orth Epple’s NATURE QUIZ BOOK tests the knowledge of 10 to 16 year olds, as it was understood in the mid-1950s. 26 quizzes with answers. Platt & Munk, 1955. Very good condition with paper cover. $10

Howard Garis’ UNCLE WIGGILY AND HIS FRIENDS offers many adventures of the friendly rabbit.  Illustrations are in color and black and white . Platt & Munk, 1955. Good condition, green binding with some wear in corners. $50

Johnny Gruelle’s RAGGEDY ANN STORIES are familiar to many generations. Color and black and white illustrations by the author. Bobbs-Merrill, 1947. Good condition, spine worn. $10

Laura Lee Hope’s THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT WINDMILL COTTAGE is just one title in another very popular children’s set. Grosset & Dunlap, 1938. Good condition. $5

Dean Koontz’s ODDKINS is “a fable for all ages” by the best selling novelist. Color illustrations. Warner Books, 1988. Excellent condition, paper cover. $10

Josephine Lawrence’s NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS written for older elementary school girls. Cupples & Leon, 1926.  Good condition, paper cover. $10

Arthur Rackhams’s FAIRY BOOK introduced many children to Beauty and the Beast, Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladdin and Cinderella. Illustrated. Lippincott, no date. Very good condition. $5

Fran Striker’s THE LONE RANGER is based on the famous cowboy’s adventures by George Trendle.  Grosset & Dunlap, 1936. Good condition, partial paper cover. $5

Staff Picks and Recommendations: Clayton, Rebecca, and Barbara

Clayton has been reading: Bad Monkeys by Mark Ruff. “Funny, lots of attitude, a bunch of twists – just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean you’re not being watched! Highly recommended!”

Dog Wars by Anthony C. Winkler. “This is a wicked funny, laugh-out-loud book. It takes on inter-class cultural assumptions, lots of sex, crazy vegans, a Hindu limo driver looking for his Beulah so he can finally repay the camel he stole in another life over 1,000 years ago…. Read this book!”

Madhur Jaffrey’s memoir, Climbing the Mango Trees. “She’s written so many good cook books (you’ve likely used some of her recipes before) and writes about growing up in Delhi. Currently its after the second world war, before independence – but almost entirely focused on her family life – a very wealthy, progressive yet traditional, family – of roughly 30 people give or take!”

Rebecca says, “I have been reading In the Heart of the Sea: the Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. Not too long ago I plowed through Moby Dick and then I went to the Whaling Museum on Nantucket. They told me about the Philbrick book and that it told the story of the whaleship Essex upon which the story of Moby Dick was based. It is a very good book and very clear to read, unlike Moby Dick, and it’s also a true story. I would imagine his recent book about the Mayflower would be just as enlightening.”

Barbara recommends, “Anything from the collection of Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown!! The Bravest Dog, two clever cats and their friends solve the Mystery and save the day before their well-meaning, but only human, parents know what’s happened.”

Book Buys

Specially Selected Book Buys

Bill Brett Lecture

Join photographer Bill Brett, author of the book Boston: All One Family, on February 21 at 7PM in the Watertown Savings Bank Room for a lecture and book signing.

Ben Kerman Exhibit at the Library Through January

Ben Kerman writes, “I am a 21 year resident of Watertown, Massachusetts, and have been an Emergency Physician at Mount Auburn, Boston City, and Carney Hospitals. I am the father of three adopted children, now teenagers, and hope I will survive their adolescence. I was an amateur pilot, still am an avid tennis player, and love poetry.|

I feel that I was born to travel the world and become attached to places like people. I inherited an artist’s soul from my mother and wanderlust from my father. Photography is something I’ve had an affinity for since getting my first camera as a young boy. Only in the past five years have I come to realize taking pictures is a way to express feelings and convey my love of the world around me.

Born in Denmark, I was raised in the Boston area and New Mexico, lived in Paris, Mexico City, Seattle, San Francisco and a few other places for different periods of time growing up. At age 12, I spent a summer riding horses and camping in what was back then (1968) the wilderness of the Colorado Rocky Mountains and fell in love with all things alpine. As an Emergency Physician, I have worked for Native American tribes in Alaska, Idaho, and Western Washington State and once again fell in love with the damp green spectacular country of the Pacific Northwest. I have set foot in every state of the union but Arkansas and North Dakota (go figure).

I have visited Iceland, Ethiopia, New Zealand, and Australia. Life has presented me with many blessings, for which I am deeply grateful. Through photography, I am able to share these blessings with others. If my luck holds out, I’ve got many more people and places to visit and photos to take.”

Join us for the exhibit reception on Sunday, January 6th from 3 to 5 PM.

Visit his wesite at: www.loveofplacephotography.com