New Faith Fiction for the New Year
Marissa Creamer
Begin your new year with a novel from a new author. These three debut novels shake up the convention of the traditional faith fiction genre:
"I did not expect to meet the Angel of Death while he was extricating himself from a washing machine. Actually I wasn't really expecting to meet the Angel of Death at all. Not this soon. Not in this place. Yet there he was, slowly unwinding himself from Dixie Manufacturer's finest front-loading commercial washer, twisting and turning and pulling his full body up and over the rim and out onto the laundromat floor." With an opening like that, I had a hard time putting down "Saving Erasmus," Steven Cleaver's debut novel. And the tale only gets stranger as it proceeds. Andrew Benoit, fresh seminary graduate, encounters the Angel of Death, who informs him he has one week to save the tiny town of Erasmus from destruction. It seems the town has lost its faith, and it's up to Andrew to help them find it. He is assisted by a band of mystics who meet at the Instant Coffee Cup and is guided by visions from the Velveteen Rabbit and Homer Simpson, among others. The editor describes this wacky tale, which was recently named one of "Publisher's Weekly's" Best Books of 2007, as a sort of Angel of Death meets "It's A Wonderful Life."
Leaper: the Misadventures of a Not-Necessarily-Super Hero" by Geoffrey Wood brings us the adventures of a new superhero: James, the over-caffeinated coffee barista who suddenly develops the ability to leap through space. James is a reluctant and neurotic hero ("You can never worry too soon"). We see him grapple with controlling his new ability ("Like a butterfly in a bad breeze, I'm all over the place.") as he attempts to make sense of it all. Is this a gift from God? Is he obligated to use his power to do good deeds? (Does he need a cape?) This quirky debut novel made me laugh out loud, but its deeper message about the purpose of our gifts and the meaning of redemption and faith is thought provoking and profound.
Another "Publisher's Weekly" Best Book selection for 2007 is "Feeling For Bones" by Bethany Pierce. "At the age of sixteen, I suffered recurring nightmares. I was running as hard as I could while my destination on the horizon receded to a pinpoint and vanished like the white pop of an old television screen winking out. Awake, I lay in a trance at the bottom of a pool, suffocating beneath an invisible, silent weight: people's voices reached my ears across a great distance, and the reflection of my body was always before me, wavering in myriad and grotesque distortions." For Olivia, the year a scandal forces her father to lose his position as pastor of their church is a time of troubled dreams and distorted images. The budding artist's unhealthy self-image leads to an eating disorder. As she struggles to overcome her anorexia she learns much about faith, family, self-acceptance, and starting over.
Start out your new year with one of these new faith fiction novels. You can find them at Rowan Public Library.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
PAUL BIRKHEAD
Digital cameras ranked in the top ten gift ideas for this Christmas, so there’s a good chance you might have found one under your tree. Some cameras were put to use immediately while others have remained in their boxes. Any new technology can be intimidating, but it may seem more so for someone who has only used film cameras in the past. However, Rowan Public Library has many books that can educate anyone venturing into digital photography.
“Understanding Digital Photography: Techniques for Getting Great Pictures” by Bryan Peterson, is a good book for those unfamiliar with digital cameras or photography in general. Peterson has a laid-back style of writing that puts digital novices at ease right away. Topics range from learning about pixel size to using software that will bring out the best in your photos. Peterson’s book is filled with digital photographs specifically chosen to show the right and the wrong way to do things.
Tom Ang, a full-time photographer, writer and television host, is the author of several books, including his latest “How to Photograph Absolutely Everything.” In it, Ang’s self-proclaimed goal is to show the reader how to photograph any subject in any situation they might encounter. His photographic recipe for success starts with the basic ingredients of color, light and space. Then he cooks things together with such techniques as exposure, framing and focus. The hundreds of beautiful photographs shown throughout the book were actually taken with the more common digital point-and-shoot cameras, seemingly proving Ang’s theory that proper technique and not fancy equipment make good pictures.
For those with a little more experience, “Shooting Digital: Pro Tips for Taking Great Pictures with Your Digital Camera,” is a good resource for learning how to take your photography to the next level. Author Mikkel Aaland published one of the first books on digital photography back in 1992 and has not stopped writing about the subject since. In this latest book, Mikkel Aaland goes beyond the basics and explains how professional photographers get the most out of their digital cameras. In each chapter, stunning photographs are featured. Then, the techniques utilized to make them great are explained in detail.
Whether you’ve recently acquired a digital camera or are contemplating a purchase, Rowan Public Library has plenty of books that will expose you to the world of digital photography.
PAUL BIRKHEAD
Digital cameras ranked in the top ten gift ideas for this Christmas, so there’s a good chance you might have found one under your tree. Some cameras were put to use immediately while others have remained in their boxes. Any new technology can be intimidating, but it may seem more so for someone who has only used film cameras in the past. However, Rowan Public Library has many books that can educate anyone venturing into digital photography.
“Understanding Digital Photography: Techniques for Getting Great Pictures” by Bryan Peterson, is a good book for those unfamiliar with digital cameras or photography in general. Peterson has a laid-back style of writing that puts digital novices at ease right away. Topics range from learning about pixel size to using software that will bring out the best in your photos. Peterson’s book is filled with digital photographs specifically chosen to show the right and the wrong way to do things.
Tom Ang, a full-time photographer, writer and television host, is the author of several books, including his latest “How to Photograph Absolutely Everything.” In it, Ang’s self-proclaimed goal is to show the reader how to photograph any subject in any situation they might encounter. His photographic recipe for success starts with the basic ingredients of color, light and space. Then he cooks things together with such techniques as exposure, framing and focus. The hundreds of beautiful photographs shown throughout the book were actually taken with the more common digital point-and-shoot cameras, seemingly proving Ang’s theory that proper technique and not fancy equipment make good pictures.
For those with a little more experience, “Shooting Digital: Pro Tips for Taking Great Pictures with Your Digital Camera,” is a good resource for learning how to take your photography to the next level. Author Mikkel Aaland published one of the first books on digital photography back in 1992 and has not stopped writing about the subject since. In this latest book, Mikkel Aaland goes beyond the basics and explains how professional photographers get the most out of their digital cameras. In each chapter, stunning photographs are featured. Then, the techniques utilized to make them great are explained in detail.
Whether you’ve recently acquired a digital camera or are contemplating a purchase, Rowan Public Library has plenty of books that will expose you to the world of digital photography.
Monday, December 17, 2007
‘Tis the Season for Giving
Sara Grajek
December 16, 2007
The season of Christmas is filled with glittering lights, shiny presents, and many traditions. What we can also add to the holiday is a spirit of giving. Rowan Public Library has some books that can help you share this concept with children. From storybooks with beautifully illustrated pictures to short biographies, the public library has a great selection of books.
“The Quiltmaker’s Gift” by Jeff Brumbeau tells the story of an old, wise woman who makes the most beautiful quilts in the land, but only gives them to the poor or those who are homeless. When the powerful and greedy king demands one, she tells him he must give away all his possessions before she will make one for him. The king sends the old woman to various exiles as punishment, but each time she befriends the creatures who inhabit those far away places. As the king realizes how unhappy he is, he follows the old woman’s advice and slowly gives away his prized possessions, making those with less very happy. This in turn, makes the king poor, but happy, and the old woman makes him a beautiful quilt showing his journey.
Set in 1945, “Boxes for Katje” by Candace Fleming was inspired by true events in the author’s American mother’s life. In Holland, Katje’s family receives a box from America, “the land of plenty.” Inside is soap, wool socks, chocolate, and a letter from a little girl named Rosie. Katje writes back telling how much the box has brightened their day. Because of the war, it is very difficult to get anything sweet in Holland. Boxes containing food and clothing continue to arrive throughout the winter, much to Katje and her family’s delight. So many boxes come that the family shares them with the rest of the town. Letters back to America are only thing Katje can offer, until one day when a box of tulip bulbs arrive at Rosie’s door.
In the brightly illustrated book, “If the World Were a Village” by David J. Smith, the author asks you to imagine the world as a village of 100. This makes the current population of just over six billion, an easier number to understand. In the village of 100, 61 are from Asia, 13 are from Africa, while 5 are from Canada and the United States. 76 have electricity and most use it only at night. Of those, 10 have computers, 24 have televisions, and 42 have radios. 50 people do not have a reliable source of food and are hungry some of the time and 20 are undernourished. This book will hopefully bring about a realization that the world is a much larger place than just the small part many children encounter in their everyday life.
Biographies of humanitarians such as Mother Teresa, Florence Nightingale and all those who work to make a difference can also be found in the children’s room of the library. These selections and more, from Rowan Public Library are a wonderful opportunity to share with children that each person can be giving and make the world a better place, in the holiday season, as well as everyday.
Sara Grajek
December 16, 2007
The season of Christmas is filled with glittering lights, shiny presents, and many traditions. What we can also add to the holiday is a spirit of giving. Rowan Public Library has some books that can help you share this concept with children. From storybooks with beautifully illustrated pictures to short biographies, the public library has a great selection of books.
“The Quiltmaker’s Gift” by Jeff Brumbeau tells the story of an old, wise woman who makes the most beautiful quilts in the land, but only gives them to the poor or those who are homeless. When the powerful and greedy king demands one, she tells him he must give away all his possessions before she will make one for him. The king sends the old woman to various exiles as punishment, but each time she befriends the creatures who inhabit those far away places. As the king realizes how unhappy he is, he follows the old woman’s advice and slowly gives away his prized possessions, making those with less very happy. This in turn, makes the king poor, but happy, and the old woman makes him a beautiful quilt showing his journey.
Set in 1945, “Boxes for Katje” by Candace Fleming was inspired by true events in the author’s American mother’s life. In Holland, Katje’s family receives a box from America, “the land of plenty.” Inside is soap, wool socks, chocolate, and a letter from a little girl named Rosie. Katje writes back telling how much the box has brightened their day. Because of the war, it is very difficult to get anything sweet in Holland. Boxes containing food and clothing continue to arrive throughout the winter, much to Katje and her family’s delight. So many boxes come that the family shares them with the rest of the town. Letters back to America are only thing Katje can offer, until one day when a box of tulip bulbs arrive at Rosie’s door.
In the brightly illustrated book, “If the World Were a Village” by David J. Smith, the author asks you to imagine the world as a village of 100. This makes the current population of just over six billion, an easier number to understand. In the village of 100, 61 are from Asia, 13 are from Africa, while 5 are from Canada and the United States. 76 have electricity and most use it only at night. Of those, 10 have computers, 24 have televisions, and 42 have radios. 50 people do not have a reliable source of food and are hungry some of the time and 20 are undernourished. This book will hopefully bring about a realization that the world is a much larger place than just the small part many children encounter in their everyday life.
Biographies of humanitarians such as Mother Teresa, Florence Nightingale and all those who work to make a difference can also be found in the children’s room of the library. These selections and more, from Rowan Public Library are a wonderful opportunity to share with children that each person can be giving and make the world a better place, in the holiday season, as well as everyday.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Cowboy Culture
Gretchen Beilfuss Witt
December 6, 2007
The cowboy of the American West is one of the best-known cultural icons of the United States. He is a central figure in the American mythology reflecting the courage, honor and individualism with which Americans identify. However, the original cowboy is a much different figure than either the “tough straight-talking hero” or the “lawless, wild villain spreading mayhem on the frontier”. At the beginning of the range-cattle industry, they were generally young men - the average age was twenty-four. “Nearly one cowboy in three was either Mexican or black.” . The hours were long, dirty and difficult and the pay was minimal. Many of the cowboys were former soldiers – mustered out Union soldiers tired of the overworked dairy farms of the northeast, Confederate veterans looking for any work, or freed slaves. By some definitions, the true heyday of the cowboy really lasted only one generation, beginning at the close of the Civil War and ending in the mid-1880’s. Others will say the story of the cowboy began much earlier when cattle was first brought the Americas by the Spanish in 1494 and extends even to the present day.
David Dary in his book “Cowboy Culture: A Saga of Five Centuries” traces the history of cattle and the vaquero in New Spain, its evolution as the Mexican cattle ranching stretched up into the United States and its eventual spread across the American West after the Civil War and continues up to the turn of the century.
William Savage, Jr. has put together a collection of commentaries about cowboys and the life of they led in “Cowboy Life Reconstructing An American Myth”. Walter Baron von Richthofen, the nephew of the Red Baron who himself was a cattle rancher in the American West and Joseph Nimmo, Jr. the chief of the U.S. Bureau of Statistics in 1886 are among those whose fascinating views are included.
Richard W. Slatta, a professor at NC State University, presents a lovely illustrated history of the cowboy considering both the “golden age” of the late 1800’s and the modern cattleman. In “Cowboy” he takes a look at ranching and the changes over time as well as the cowboy image as it is related to food, apparel, and popular culture.
Books devoted to cowboy antique collecting, black cowboys, and artistic works portraying the American cowboy at his work and even rodeo heroes like Ty Murray can be found in our collection. While checking out the books at the library visit the display of cowboy postcards and other memorabilia shown in the case on the third floor of Headquarters.
Gretchen Beilfuss Witt
December 6, 2007
The cowboy of the American West is one of the best-known cultural icons of the United States. He is a central figure in the American mythology reflecting the courage, honor and individualism with which Americans identify. However, the original cowboy is a much different figure than either the “tough straight-talking hero” or the “lawless, wild villain spreading mayhem on the frontier”. At the beginning of the range-cattle industry, they were generally young men - the average age was twenty-four. “Nearly one cowboy in three was either Mexican or black.” . The hours were long, dirty and difficult and the pay was minimal. Many of the cowboys were former soldiers – mustered out Union soldiers tired of the overworked dairy farms of the northeast, Confederate veterans looking for any work, or freed slaves. By some definitions, the true heyday of the cowboy really lasted only one generation, beginning at the close of the Civil War and ending in the mid-1880’s. Others will say the story of the cowboy began much earlier when cattle was first brought the Americas by the Spanish in 1494 and extends even to the present day.
David Dary in his book “Cowboy Culture: A Saga of Five Centuries” traces the history of cattle and the vaquero in New Spain, its evolution as the Mexican cattle ranching stretched up into the United States and its eventual spread across the American West after the Civil War and continues up to the turn of the century.
William Savage, Jr. has put together a collection of commentaries about cowboys and the life of they led in “Cowboy Life Reconstructing An American Myth”. Walter Baron von Richthofen, the nephew of the Red Baron who himself was a cattle rancher in the American West and Joseph Nimmo, Jr. the chief of the U.S. Bureau of Statistics in 1886 are among those whose fascinating views are included.
Richard W. Slatta, a professor at NC State University, presents a lovely illustrated history of the cowboy considering both the “golden age” of the late 1800’s and the modern cattleman. In “Cowboy” he takes a look at ranching and the changes over time as well as the cowboy image as it is related to food, apparel, and popular culture.
Books devoted to cowboy antique collecting, black cowboys, and artistic works portraying the American cowboy at his work and even rodeo heroes like Ty Murray can be found in our collection. While checking out the books at the library visit the display of cowboy postcards and other memorabilia shown in the case on the third floor of Headquarters.
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