Monday, January 31, 2011

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest


Without hesitation my No. 1 favorite of all time. It is a comedy and a tragedy, hilarious and heartbreaking all at the same time.
This play is about a new and rebellious patient who is brought to a small mental institution where his antics endear the other patients to him and incur the wrath of the wrath of the stern and repressive nurse who runs their ward.

In my mind I thought it would be just short of impossible to replace the original McMurphy Chief, and Nurse Rachett, but the actors did an outstanding job with their roles.

Nineteen seniors from the Kasson Public Library service area attended an almost full house of Rochester Civic Theater production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest on Sunday, January 30 at 2 pm. The seniors thoroughly enjoyed this play and eagerly talked to each other about it.

Kasson Library in partnership with Rochester Civic Theater (RCT) and the Minnesota Legacy Grant program applied for money to offset the expense of seniors attending plays at RCT during the 2010-2011 season. This partnership was formed last Fall to provide cultural experiences for senior through the Minnesota Clean Water Legacy Act by voters in November, 2008.





Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Rhythm Storytime Week of January 25th

Rhythm comes in all forms-sounds, music, or words.








Children's Librarian Ingvild chose Rhythm as her storytime theme this week. Rhythm is the repetition of a beat or sound in a regular or predictable pattern. Children made a their own music shakers out of egg carton section and beans. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/

Music and rhythm, in their many forms, are part of all children's lives. The tick-tock of clocks, the purring of cats, and the rhymes and songs on television accompany them as they grow up. Music is portable. You can take it - or make it - anywhere. Part of growing up is learning to make and listen to music. Children of all ages express themselves through music. Even at an early age children sway, bounce, or move their hands in response to music they hear. Many preschoolers make up songs and, with no self-consciousness, sing to themselves as they play.

Monday, January 24, 2011

February New Books



Heartwood by Belva Plain 2/8
Though Iris Stern considers herself a modern woman, with a successful academic career and a happy marriage, she still holds steadfast to her old-fashioned sensibilities. But as the mother of three adult children, each with their own lives and burdens to bear, she often finds those sensibilities called into question when confronted with the choices her children have made.

For one of Iris’s daughters, it’s the choice of a fresh start in New York City—and a last chance to save her troubled marriage. While Laura and Robbie cope with an impending separation and its effect on Iris’s young granddaughter, Iris herself must come to grips with the discovery of a long-held family secret. But it’s an emotional parting of another kind that looms most prominently on Iris’s horizon—as neither her beloved husband, nor the solidity of her own marriage, is immune to the ravages of time.

Through separations and reunions, the changes we cannot avoid and the love that sustains, Iris will weather whatever lies ahead with a faith that cannot be shaken. Like the inmost rings of a tree that abide through the generations, she will be as strong as heartwood.





Death of a Chimney Swift by M.C. Beaton 2/25
In the south of Scotland, residents get their chimneys vacuum-cleaned. But in the isolated villages in the very north of Scotland, the villagers rely on the services of the itinerant sweep, Pete Ray, and his old-fashioned brushes. Pete is always able to find work in the Scottish highlands, until one day when Police Constable Hamish Macbeth notices blood dripping onto the floor of a villager's fireplace, and a dead body stuffed inside the chimney. The entire town of Lochdubh is certain Pete is the culprit, but Hamish doesn't believe that the affable chimney sweep is capable of committing murder. Then Pete's body is found on the Scottish moors, and the mystery deepens. Once again, it's up to Hamish to discover who's responsible for the dirty deed--and this time, the murderer may be closer than he realizes.


The Union Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini 2/22
In 1862 Water's Ford, Pennsylvania, abolitionism is prevalent, even passionate, so the local men rally to answer Mr. Lincoln's call to arms. Thus the women of Elm Creek Valley's quilting bee are propelled into the unknown. Constance Wright, married to Abel, a skilled sharpshooter courageous enough to have ventured south to buy his wife's freedom from a Virginia plantation, knows well her husband's certainty that all people, enslaved and free, North and South, need colored men like him to fight for a greater purpose. Sisters-in-law Dorothea Nelson and Charlotte Granger wish safe passage for their learned husbands. Schoolmaster turned farmer Thomas carries Dorothea's Dove in the Window quilt with him. Charlotte's husband, Dr. Jonathan Granger, takes more than a doctor's bag to his post at a field hospital. Alongside the devotion of his wife, pregnant with their second child, Jonathan brings the promise he made to his unrequited love, Gerda Bergstrom: "My first letter will be to you."

Together with the other members of the circle, the women support one another through loneliness and fear, and devise an ingenious business plan to keep Water's Ford functioning. That plan may forever alter the patchwork of town life in ways that transcend even the ultimate sacrifices of war.




Fadeaway Girl by Martha Grimes 2/13
Emma continues her investigation into the strange disappearance of the four- month-old Slade baby from the Belle Ruin Hotel more than twenty years before. The sudden appearance in town of the baby's father, Morris Slade, makes her even more determined to learn the truth. Then a mysterious drifter named Ralph Diggs appears at the Hotel Paradise, looking for work, ingratiating himself with everyone there. Everyone, that is, except Emma.









Fatal Error by J.A. Jance 2/1
Ali Reynolds begins the summer thinking her most difficult challenge will be surviving a six-week- long course as the lone forty-something female at the Arizona Police Academy—not to mention taking over the 6:00 AM shift at her family’s restaurant while her parents enjoy a long overdue Caribbean cruise. However, when Brenda Riley, a colleague from Ali’s old news broadcasting days in California, shows up in town with an alcohol problem and an unlikely story about a missing fiancĂ©, Ali reluctantly agrees to help.
The man posing as Brenda’s fiancĂ© is revealed to be Richard Lowensdale, a cyber-sociopath who has left a trail of broken hearts in his virtual wake. When he is viciously murdered, the women he once victimized are considered suspects. The police soon focus their investigation on Brenda, who is already known to have broken into Richard’s home and computer before vanishing without a trace. Attempting to clear her friend’s name, Ali is quickly drawn into a web of online intrigue that may lead to a real-world fatal error.


Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston 2/22
At twelve, Gideon Crew witnessed his father, a world-class mathematician, accused of treason and gunned down.

At twenty-four, summoned to his dying mother's bedside, Gideon learned the truth: His father was framed and deliberately slaughtered. With her last breath, she begged her son to avenge him.

Now, with a new purpose in his life, Gideon crafts a one-time mission of vengeance, aimed at the perpetrator of his father's destruction. His plan is meticulous, spectacular, and successful.

But from the shadows, someone is watching. A very powerful someone, who is impressed by Gideon's special skills. Someone who has need of just such a renegade.

For Gideon, this operation may be only the beginning . . .



Treachery in Death by J.D. Robb 2/22
This is Peabody's first case as primary detective-good thing she learned from the master.

But Peabody soon stumbles upon a trickier situation. After a hard workout, she's all alone in the locker room when the gym door clatters open; and-while hiding inside a shower stall trying not to make a sound-she overhears two fellow officers, Garnet and Oberman, arguing. It doesn't take long to realize they're both crooked-guilty not just of corruption but of murder. Now Peabody, Eve, and Eve's husband, Roarke, are trying to get the hard evidence they need to bring the dirty cops down-knowing all the while that the two are willing to kill to keep their secret.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Hats Storytime Week of January 18th

HATS! No matter what the shape, size or color of the hat is this week's theme. One of the stories was about a cowboy and how he hated people to touch his hat. The children colored a cowboy hat for the craft. It was fun to see all of the different colors the children chose for their own special hat.


Additional pictures of each storytime may be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/


Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Babies Storytime Week of Jan 11th

This week's theme was babies, babies and more babies. The children enjoyed talking about their little brothers, sisters and especially their new babies at their house.
Library Director Bonnie Adams read three stories to the children. They thoroughly enjoyed the book "The Day the Babies Crawled Away " by Peggy Rathman. They were told to find a baby hanging upside down on each page and they eagerly search the page until they found the baby. They wondered why the baby did that until the answer was revealed on the very last page of the book.
Additional Pictures may be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/




Thursday, January 6, 2011

Snowmen Storytime Week of January 3

Children's Librarian Ingvild chose the theme-snowmen. The children talked about snow, snowmen and how to build a great snowman. The craft was coconut flavored glittered salt dough the children rolled into balls and placed on top of each other. There was silliness and laughter while they constructed their very own snowman to share with their families.

Additional pictures can be found at :http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/