An "Official" Little Free Library

So, the other day I was looking at the Official Website of the Little Free Library (to see where the closest one to Zürich is), and I noticed that the only "official" one in the 91711 is in way north Claremont - on La Junta. Of course, I had to go by and check it out. This is a pretty big outfit with the regular little house, a bench behind it with children's books, and a table next to it with "beach reading" books. It's a little out of the way, but if you are like me, you need to check it out. You can read about other book sharing free libraries here.

What's Wrong with This Photo?

As seen in Vroman's

International Festival

I don't remember when I went to CMC's International Festival last, but today's perfect weather was a great excuse to walk through the goings-on.  At the Festival one can peruse items to buy, from books and other treasures to a great variety of foods from all over the world. The lines at Thailand were very long. One can also sit a spell and listen to storytelling or watch dancers, or try your hand at crafts. 

Claremont is hoppin' today, and among the other offerings was Nano Days at the library. You can read about last year's Nano Days here.

Farewell to Vista's Librarian

It comes with the territory of working with a group of people. For one reason or another, the players change due to retirement, moving, career change, or something else. Now Vista is saying good-bye to our librarian. Yes, even though each elementary school has the position of "Library Media Aide", Cindy Dewey (so aptly named for her job) is an actual, certified librarian. She has done so much for the kids from book clubs, blogging with student book reports (written and video), encouraging every reader as well as buying books with her own money to make sure kids have the books they really want to read.     She is moving to Albany, NY since her husband is starting a new job, and although we wish her well in her new life, we will miss her terribly.

Last night the staff had a party to celebrate Cindy's last 8 years with Vista, and we enjoyed this cake made by one of our recently retired teachers. If you click on the photo of this little story on top of the cake, you can read about our love for Cindy.

Library Check-Outs

This is an odd sight on my library account page - no check-outs and no holds! I recently read and returned the newest No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency book (The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon) and The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida (written by a 13-year-old Japanese autistic boy to explain what it's like to be autistic). Now I need to read some of the books that I own…

Book Lovers Sale

Today I told H, "It seems that even though I always try to get rid of things, it seems as though I can always buy more books." He answered, "That's one transgression I will grant you." So, yeah. (And truthfully, there are plenty of books which go through the revolving door of my house. In and then out to a friend, or a donation, or to paperbackswap.com.) 

It's December, and that means too many fun things to do, even on a rainy Saturday. First thing on my list yesterday was to get to the Claremont Library Book Lovers Sale. This is not to be confused with the  bi-annual sale where you can get a book for a buck. This one caters to discerning reader with better quality/more "expensive" type of books. 

I particularly enjoyed this section in the corner of the library - the Plain Brown Wrapper Collection. Just click on the photo for a closer view of the scandalous titles. 

Here are books for the young and young-at-heart.

Coffee table books for the art lover.

Travel, anyone?

But here, this was my treasure of the day. Now I don't have to ask you to give me your copy, Dad! It was a deal for only $8 (after using my $2 off credit for being a member of the Friends of the Claremont Library). (I had seen a copy in Vancouver, BC over a year ago for $15, and I passed it up then.)

FOCL Fall Book Sale

This year the used book sale at the Claremont Library, hosted by the Friends of the Claremont Library features free tote bags for members as well as a $2 coupon for books that they sell during the regularly scheduled hours. Not a member? No problem. Just join at the door!

Little Free Library - Geek Style

Here are a few shots of the Harvey Mudd College Take-A-Book/Leave-a-Book Lending Library. I especially like the very geeky sign on the left which makes no sense to me, but I think I get the gist.

Moonrise Kingdom

Moonrise Kingdom was one of those movies that I wanted to see in the theater this summer, but it was gone before we could get there. We finally watched it last night, and I really, really liked it. Now, Wes Anderson films are pretty quirky, and I'm not a particular fan of his at all, but this one's sense of a mythic 1960s childhood resonated with me. (Guess my age!) It felt like the kind of foreign film that I often enjoy without being able to pinpoint why.

I loved the music of the film - lots and lots of Benjamin Britten (who knew I was such a fan of his?), and the fact that the girl carried a portable record player with her. She also carried about six library books that I found out were made up for this movie.

If I had to chose books that I would have put in her hands, some would have been Harriet the Spy, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (I know it was published in 1966, a year too late for the movie, but, it would still fit), A Wrinkle in Time, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Prydian Chronicles, and any of the Narnia books.

I am also catching up on some TED talks, and I blogged about one of them in my music blog. This one is Stuart Brown's talk about the importance of play in human life.

Maybe I'll add that to my new year's resolution list - relearn German and play more.

Year-End Entertainment Round-Up

I feel as though I should make some sort of "the year that was" post for this New Year's Eve. Since we went to see The Hobbit last night, I thought I would look back on the movies, tv, and books that entertained me this year.

First of all, Home Performance Matters, the company that did our house's energy retrofit, invited all its clients and staff and their families to see The Hobbit at the Laemmle all together last night. We started out with hot drinks and cookies on the Plaza (it was cold!), and then we trooped into theater 4 (the big one), nearly filling all 250 seats.

I agree with all the reviews I heard - too long, too much gore, but also great cgi, costumes, good acting, and fun for Tolkien fans. I can't believe there will be two more movies to finish this book.

The Hobbit brings our movies-in-the-theater number to 8 for this year. That number seems high and low. High, because we used to see about 2 movies in the theater every year before the Laemmle came to Claremont, but low compared to past years at the Laemmle. We need to remedy that.

As for television, we watched through 4 full series thanks mostly to the public library. We are waiting to watch more of Treme, Downton Abbey and The Good Wife.

This year I read 43 books. Two books were the second go-round, two were audio books, and I gave seven of them stars. That number is a little lower for me than usual, but some of the books were quite long.

Here's to a new year of stories!

So Long and Farewell, Stone Center

 It is with great sadness that I heard last night that the George G. Stone Center for Children's Books (The Stone Library) will be closing its doors for good. The last day for the public to come is next Wednesday, Dec. 19. The library has been a part of CGU's School of Educational Studies since 1962, and it has been a part of our lives since we moved here in 1986. Declines in patronage and use by the Teacher Education Program and a shift in academic emphases have "finally forced the question of long-term sustainability of the library," said the Dean of the School of Educational Studies in a letter to the CGU community.

My daughters grew up reading in this wonderful treasure of a library. We would come after nap times and spend a hour or so reading books and checking out a stack to take home. It's here where we first learned about Harry Potter and The Golden Compass books. Carolyn Angus, the library director, was always ready with some of the very best book recommendations that we had. We loved the new and used book sales, the friends we made and met in the cozy space.

Although I don't read many children's books anymore, I will certainly miss knowing that this very special place will no longer be there.

The first home we knew for this collection of the books was this building on 10th St.

A number of years ago, the library moved to its current location on College Ave.

Here is the room with picture books and I Can Read books.

Another Little Free Library

People are now alerting me whenever they see a new Little Free Library in Claremont, and now I know of 5. The newest one I know about is on Harvard across the street from Wolfe's. 

Further Adventures of the Little Free Libraries

My friend Judy and her blog have kept me apprised of the newest additions to Claremont's Little Free Libraries which seem to be popping up in various locales throughout town. When last I blogged about these little gems, I knew of two - the first one I saw on the corner of Cambridge and 9th St., the one near The Press.  The Claremont Courier also mentioned the one in front of the new Crepe restaurant in the Packing House (where we have not yet had a chance to eat, despite our one attempt).

Then I heard about one in front of my friend Marjorie's house on N. Mills. It's on the east side just north of Foothill.  This morning I drove by and took a picture of the box as well as the contents. 

Judy's blog post yesterday altered me to yet another Little Free Library, this one in the 400 block of W. Harrison on the north side of the street. In its previous life, this repository was a small refrigerator. I not only snapped photos of the contents and the outside of this library, but I also deposited my copy of Amy Tan's One Hundred Secret Senses and took out a John Irving novel, The Fourth Hand.

Vacation Bookstores

As I was saying, I still prefer the dead trees variety of books. It is no wonder that many vacations include bookstore browsing. How can shopping online for an e-book version ever compete with losing yourself in stacks, especially in used-book land?  It can't. This time around we did not make it to the granddaddy of bookstores, Powell's, in Portland, although it has been a go-to destination of ours on previous visits. 

In Vancouver, our little guesthouse was just about 2 blocks from the amazing McLeod's Books. We kept walking by it just after it closed, but one evening we were picking up food at Gorilla Food next door, and while we were waiting for our order, we wandered into the bookstore and just started to get our feet wet. We knew we would be back. While there I saw a hardback copy of William Saroyan's My Name is Aram. I know it is out of print, but I wasn't sure I wanted to pay $15 for it. 

We never made it back, though, because that was when we had to make our quick getaway out of Vancouver. 

While in Eugene, though, we remembered the equally great Smith Family Bookstore and had a prowl through there (on the morning of the wedding, no less). This is one of those TARDIS-like places (for you Dr. Who fans) where the inside is much bigger than it looks on the outside. I thought I might luck out and find the Saroyan that I missed in Vancouver. I found Saroyan, but only his The Human Comedy. For $3 I could not resist, and H said that he still needed to get me an anniversary present (I thought the whole vacation was an anniversary present), so I came home with this paperback.

Smith Family Bookstore Interior

While I did enjoy this particular Saroyan, I don't think it was as compelling as My Name is Aram.

Vacation Reading

What should I take along for vacation reading? That's the eternal question. When I'm home and I start a book that I can't get into, I put it aside and pick up another, or run to the library. That's not quite as easy when traveling. I know I can download books on my iPad, but I still really enjoy my dead wood versions of novels.

This trip I lucked out and took along two excellent vacation reads. For me that means that the story is engaging and easy to read. The sentences do not need to be beautiful, but I have to be interested in the plot.

Having never read any Jodi Picoult, the recommendations of the women in my book club helped me choose Plain Truth, the one about an Amish murder mystery. It sure kept me turning pages.

I am surprised that I think I have only read one other Amy Tan book, The Joy Luck Club, but when I found The Hundred Secret Senses at the Claremont Library used book sale, I picked it up just for this trip.

Perhaps I'll put some Picoult and Tan into my next suitcase.

Little Free Library

About a month ago I blogged about a cute little library on the corner of 9th and Cambridge. Last week the Courier wrote about a Little Free Library that now exists by The Press on Harvard. Perhaps the two little libraries are linked, not only because they both exist in Claremont, but because they are both inspired by LittleFreeLibrary.org? The website has a map of dozens of such little libraries across the US, Mexico, Canada, Africa, Europe, Australia and even Haiti. It even offers a catalog where you can buy your own little box, plans for building such libraries and a place to register your own little book-lender. I wonder how many more will pop up in our neck of the woods?

A Little Road Reading

The bulk of our driving time to Yosemite was spent along US 395. And although north of Ridgecrest the scenery starts to improve, it IS still 5 1/2 hours of car time. One way. H came home with the great idea that we download Tina Fey's newest book, Bossypants, to listen to. Unable to find it quickly 1) for download 2) for less than some large sum of money 3) at the library, I scanned what actually WAS available at the library and came home with The Lost City of Z by David Grann on a mere 8 CDs.  Deadly Obsession in the Amazon?  I'm in!  

After about 3 CDs, I asked H if he thought we'd EVER get to the Amazon, and although we were tempted to skip ahead, we listened to the whole thing (being a captive audience and all).  The author has thoroughly researched the (many) expeditions of Col. Percy Fawcett (lots of maggots and anacondas) through the jungles, and I felt as though he didn't need to include every single detail he discovered.

The part of the book that put me off the most was the parallel story of the author's own journey to trace Fawcett's disappearance (I don't think that's a spoiler - we know going in that Fawcett never returned from his final trip.) Grann's recounting of his own research is a yawner, and the most interesting part of the whole book is tacked on in the last chapter - what exactly we now know about the ancient civilizations in the Amazon (El Dorado/The City of Z).

While not in the car, I had time to finish up another yawner of a book - Kindred by Octavia Butler.  Butler was a black woman science fiction writer with numerous awards, and I had been wanting to read something of hers for a few years now.  Let's just say that in this book, time travel is merely a device to move characters around, and it is unclear as to the reason for the time travel.  That is, I wouldn't call this science fiction, but more of a historical fiction with bland prose and mostly undeveloped characters.

Hidden Claremont: Tiny Lending Library

Check out this little gem in Clare-mont on the corner of 9th and Cambridge.  Swap your old book for one from the little mailbox.  This week I saw the second Girl With the Dragon Tattoo book in the mix.....