Library Running Club
16 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Events Tags: library running club, life, nonfiction, readalikes, running
Runners are Readers too! The Rice Lake Public Library kicked off a new club that you might be interested in. The Library Running Club meets weekly each Saturday at 9 am. Everyone is welcomed regardless of experience or fitness level.
Please sign a waiver before participating. As with all exercise, please consult with your doctor before beginning, if needed.
* * * * *
There are a number of great books about the sport of running, and tons of music you can borrow from the library to motivate you to move faster. Check out some of these great titles!
The Beginning Runner’s Handbook
Ian Macneill
This easy-to-use, practical guide helps runners safely build strength and endurance, get motivated and set realistic goals, choose the proper footwear and clothing, eat right, and avoid injury. A revised RunWalk program gives runners a choice between running 10K or covering the distance by running and walking. Combining advice from the experts, training tips and testimonials from runners of all ages, The Beginning Runner’s Handbook is a step-by-step road map for achieving running success.
Run Your Butt Off!
Sarah Lorge Butler
Shed unwanted pounds and keep them off ONCE AND FOR ALL with Run YourButt Off!, a back-to-basics, test panel–approved weight-loss plan and beginners’ running program that yields sustainable, healthy results. The Run Your Butt Off! program is founded on the simple concept that in order to lose weight, calories burned must exceed calories consumed. No gimmicks, no shortcuts, no silver bullets can circumvent that reality. With this program, you’ll learn to burn fat from both sides of the weight-loss equation—the calories in and the calories out—at the same time. Run Your Butt Off! will make you fitter, stronger , and leaner .
Barefoot Running Step by Step
Ken Bob Saxton
Barefoot running involves more than simply taking off your shoes and hitting the track and Barefoot Running Step by Step teaches runners how to train their feet and body to run barefoot properly and in a way that will dramatically reduce injuries. Barefoot Running Step by Step separates the facts from the hype covering the latest research and running techniques behind this key trend. Written by noted barefoot runner and instructor Ken Bob Saxton and running journalist Roy Wallack this guide outlines proper techniques for running barefoot properly and incorporating the practice into their running regimen for a better stride, longer endurance, and fewer injuries.
The following music recommendations were borrowed from the article “Crank it Up” by Susan Rinkunas from the February 2009 edition of Runner’s World.
| Warmup | ||
| 64 BPM |  |
“We Are the Champions” Queen |
| 96 BPM |  |
“Faith” George Michael |
| Start | ||
| 116 BPM |  |
“Gonna Make You Sweat” C + C Music Factory |
| 120 BPM |  |
“Pump It” Black Eyed Peas |
| Halfway Point | ||
| 127 BPM |  |
“You Shook Me All Night Long” AC/DC |
| 130 BPM |  |
“Where Are We Runnin’?” Lenny Kravitz |
| Final Stretch | ||
| 166 BPM |  |
“Let’s See How Far We’ve Come” Matchbox 20 |
| 209 BPM |  |
“Are You Gonna Be My Girl” Jet |
PageTurners Read “Hart’s War”
09 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in PageTurners Tags: historical fiction, PageTurners, prisoners, racism, reviews, soldiers, world war II
Hart’s War
by John Katzenbach
World War II was racially segregated, the lowliest jobs going to African American GIs. A distinguished few called the Tuskegee Airmen, however, became officers in the U.S. Air Force, escorting bombers in their lethal new longrange Mustang fighters. When proud, defiant First Lieutenant Lincoln Scott arrives at Stalag Luft Thirteen, he is subjected to hostile treatment by bigoted airmen who refuse to acknowledge that any black man can equal them in skill and courage. Scott’s persistent tormentor, Captain Vincent Befford, is soon found murdered. Honor, courage, and sacrifice are revealed in unexpected ways as a ranking U.S. prisoner in a Nazi POW camp is joined in December 1944 by a law-student lieutenant who’d been captured despite his father’s powerful military connections. When First Lieutenant Lincoln Scott is falsely accused of murdering fellow prisoner, Captain Vincent Befford, Second Lieutenant Tommy Hart, the only prisoner with any legal training, is appointed to defend him in a formal military trial observed by top- ranking German officers, who will furnish the firing squad when the defendant is almost certainly convicted.
The PageTurners Book Club met on Thursday, May 3, at 6 pm in the Bottom Shelf Room at the Rice Lake Public Library. Six people attended the discussion. The general consensus about the book was that it started slow but became more enjoyable once the mystery began. Several participants watched the movie in lieu of reading the book; it was agreed that the movie differed substantially from the book. The average score awarded to this book was 3.75 out of 5 books; the lowest score was a 3.5 / 5 and the highest score 4 / 5.
Click on the book graphic below to see a full recap of book club members’ opinions.
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Hart’s War by John Katzenbach is available at the Rice Lake Public Library. There over ten copies of this book in the MORE System. Please visit the card catalog website or call us at 234-4861 to reserve a copy today.
New Books of May 2012
02 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in New Books Tags: clutter, coming of age, dogs, fiction, historical fiction, indians, Korean War, list, magicians, Native Americans, new, organizations, racism, readalikes, reincarnation
A Dog’s Journey
W. Bruce Cameron
Buddy is a good dog. After searching for his purpose through several eventful lives, Buddy is sure that he has found and fulfilled it. Yet as he watches curious baby Clarity get into dangerous mischief, he is certain that this little girl is very much in need of a dog of her own. When Buddy is reborn, he realizes that he has a new destiny. He’s overjoyed when he is adopted by Clarity, now a vibrant but troubled teenager. When they are suddenly separated, Buddy despairs – who will take care of his girl?
The Lower River
Paul Theroux
Ellis Hock loved teaching in Malawi for the Peace Corps, but that experience was cut short when he had to return to take over the family business. Thirty-five years later, the store and his marriage have failed, and he returns to Malawi for a nostalgia-induced vacation. He’s warned on arrival that people are hungry and only want money, but he heads into the bush with a bagful of it. Malabo, the remote riverbank village where he’s remembered as the mzungu (white man) who helped build the school and clinic, gives him a warm welcome, but Hock’s disillusion sets in fast. The school is a ruin; the visiting doctor is a quack; AIDS is rampant; requests for money are constant. The villagers keep him under surveillance at the direction of the headman Manyenga, who is all smiles and lies. He makes three escape attempts. All his escapes are foiled by the formidable Manyenga. This novel will have you on the edge of your seat wondering whether he will escape, and what will happen to the villagers.
Magic Words
Gerald Kolpan
Young Jewish immigrant Julius comes of age surrounded by the wild world of 1867 Nebraska. While traveling in the American West, he is captured by the Ponca Indian tribe. Living as a slave, Julius meets the noble chief Standing Bear and his young daughter, Prairie Flower, with whom he falls in love. Becoming the tribe’s interpreter-its speaker-his life seems safe and settled. But Julius has reckoned without the arrival of his older cousin, Alexander-who, as the Great Herrmann, is the most famous young magician in America. Filled with adventure, humor, and colorful characters, Magic Words is a riveting adventure about the nature of prejudice, the horror of genocide, and a courageous young man who straddles two worlds to fight for love and freedom.
A Gift for My Sister
Ann Pearlman
Sky and Tara share the same mother but different fathers. Sky is cautious, dutiful, marrying the perfect man, practicing her dream career as a lawyer, and raising their daughter, Rachel. Music is all Tara cares about until Aaron, a black rapper with a juvenile record, comes along. Tara gets pregnant in high school and runs away with Aaron and his rap crew. About the time Tara and Aaron’s music takes off and they are on their way to stardom, Sky’s life crashes. Tara attempts to step in and help only to be met with anger and jealousy. The two sisters, along with an interesting collection of other characters, spend the time on the road, and between gigs, trying to understand what it’s like to be the other sister and just what love and family mean.
Home
Toni Morrison
Frank Money is an angry, self-loathing veteran of the Korean War who, after traumatic experiences on the front lines, finds himself back in racist America with more than just physical scars. His home may seem alien to him, but he is shocked out of his crippling apathy by the need to rescue his medically abused younger sister and take her back to the small Georgia town they come from and that he’s hated all his life. As Frank revisits his memories from childhood and the war that have left him questioning his sense of self, he discovers a profound courage he had thought he could never possess again.
Objects of My Affection
Jill Smolinski
Lucy Bloom is broke, freshly dumped by her boyfriend, and forced to sell her house to send her nineteen-year-old son to drug rehab. So when she’s offered a high-paying gig helping clear the clutter from the home of reclusive and eccentric painter Marva Meier Rios, Lucy grabs it. Fueled by a burning desire to get her life back on track, Lucy rolls up her sleeves to take on the mess that fills every room of Marva’s huge home. Lucy soon learns that the real challenge may be taking on Marva, who seems to love the objects in her home too much to let go of any of them. Lucy discovers that Marva isn’t just hoarding, she is also hiding a big secret. The two form an unlikely bond, as each learns from the other that there are those things in life we keep, those we need to let go but it’s not always easy to know the difference.
Money Smart Week
25 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Events Tags: family, finances, kids, life, money, money smart week, teaching
Value of a Dollar:
Teaching Your Kids About Money
Saturday, April 28
2 pm
The Rice Lake Public Library and RCU in Rice Lake want to give parents and grandparents the tools to teach K-8 children important money skills – for life. “Value of a Dollar: Teaching Your Kids About Money” will be presented from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, in the Friendship Room on the library’s lower level. The event is co-sponsored by RCU and is open to the public.
At this program, participants will learn:
- why K-8 children need to learn about money;
- what motivates them to learn about money management;
- how they learn about money;
- how to use goal-setting, budgeting, saving, working and investing as teaching tools; and
- how to use an allowance as a teaching tool.
__________________________________
This event is one of hundreds of free classes, seminars and activities promoting financial education that will take place during Money Smart Week Wisconsin, April 21-28. Money Smart Week is a public awareness campaign designed to help consumers better manage their personal finances. This is achieved through the collaboration and coordinated effort of hundreds of organizations across the country including businesses, financial institutions, schools, libraries, not-for-profits, government agencies and the media. These groups come together once a year to stress the importance of financial literacy, inform consumers about where they can get help and provide free educational seminars and activities throughout the week.
__________________________________
For further information about the library event, stop at Information & Reference on your next visit to the library, call 715-234-4861, or e-mail the library at comments@rlpl.org. To learn more about library programs, check our library events calendar at www.rlpl.org.
If you have a need for a sign language interpreter or other special accommodations, please notify the Rice Lake Public Library (715-234-4861) at least 48 hours before the program.
PageTurners Read “The Samurai’s Garden”
18 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in PageTurners Tags: book club, china, Gail Tsukiyama, historical fiction, Japan, leprosy, PageTurners, review, reviews, romance, Samurai's Garden, war
The Samurai’s Garden
Gail Tsukiyama
The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Japanese father, Tsukiyama uses the Japanese invasion of China during the late 1930s as a somber backdrop for her unusual story about a 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen who is sent to his family’s summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu’s secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight. Matsu is a samurai of the soul, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world, and Stephen is a noble student, learning to appreciate Matsu’s generous and nurturing way of life and to love Matsu’s soulmate, gentle Sachi, a woman afflicted with leprosy.
The PageTurners Book Club met on Thursday, April 12, at 6 pm in the Bottom Shelf Room at the Rice Lake Public Library. Seven people attended the discussion. The general consensus about the book was that it was well written and lyrical. The average score awarded to this book was out of 5 books; the lowest score was a 4 / 5 and the highest score 4.5 / 5.
Click on the book graphic below to see a full recap of book club members’ opinions.
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The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama is available at the Rice Lake Public Library. There over ten copies of this book in the MORE System. Please visit the card catalog website or call us at 234-4861 to reserve a copy today.
The PageTurners Book Club is sponsored by the Friends of the Rice Lake Public Library. It usually meets on the first Thursday of each month at 6 pm at the Rice Lake Public Library. Discussion lasts an hour; everyone is welcome.
New Books of April 2012
11 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in New Books Tags: amnesia, Appalachian, faith, friendship, grief, historical fiction, Korean War, list, marriage, Mormon, new, pioneer, romance, secrets, spiritualism, Titanic, witch, world war I
The House of Velvet and Glass
Katherine Howe
Still reeling from the deaths of her mother and sister on the Titanic, Sibyl Allston is living a life of quiet desperation. Trapped in a world over which she has no control, Sibyl flees for solace to the parlor of a table-turning medium. But when her brother is suddenly kicked out of Harvard under mysterious circumstances and falls under the sway of a strange young woman, Sibyl turns for help to psychology professor Benton Derby. As Benton and Sibyl work together to solve a harrowing mystery, their long-simmering spark flares to life, and they realize that there may be something even more magical between them than a medium’s scrying glass.
The Coldest Night
Robert Olmstead
Henry Childs is just seventeen when he falls into a love affair so intense it nearly consumes him. But when young Mercy’s disapproving father threatens Henry’s life, Henry runs as far as he can—to the other side of the world. The time is 1950, and the Korean War hangs in the balance. Henry enlists in the marines and arrives in Korea on the eve of the brutal seventeen-day battle of the Chosin Reservoir—the turning point of the war—completely unprepared for the forbidding Korean landscape and the unimaginable circumstances of a war well beyond the scope of anything his ancestors ever faced. But the challenges he meets upon his return home, scarred and haunted, are greater by far.
The Song Remains the Same
Allison Winn Scotch
One of only two survivors of a plane crash, Nell Slattery wakes in the hospital with no memory of the horrific experience-or who she is, or was. Now she must piece together both body and mind, with the help of family and friends, who have their own agendas. She filters through photos, art, music, and stories, hoping something will jog her memory, and soon, in tiny bits and pieces, Nell starts remembering. . . . It isn’t long before she learns to question the stories presented by her mother, her sister and business partner, and her husband. In the end, she will discover that forgiving betrayals small and large will be the only true path to healing herself-and to finding happiness.
The Cove
Ron Rash
At the height of World War I, deep in the rugged Appalachians of North Carolina lies the cove, a dark, forbidding place where spirits and fetches wander. Or so the townsfolk of Mars Hill believe–just as they believe that Laurel Shelton, the lonely young woman who lives within its shadows, is a witch. Alone except for her brother, Hank, newly returned from the trenches of France, she aches for her life to begin. Then it happens–a stranger appears, carrying nothing but a beautiful silver flute and a note explaining that his name is Walter, he is mute, and is bound for New York. As the days pass, Walter slips easily into life in the cove and into Laurel’s heart, bringing her the only real happiness she has ever known. But Walter harbors a secret that could destroy everything–and danger is closer than they know.
The Beginner’s Goodbye
Ann Tyler
Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, self-dependent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly he marries her, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage. But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Gradually he discovers, as he works in the family’s vanity-publishing business, turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life, that maybe for this beginner there is a way of saying goodbye.
True Sisters
Sandra Dallas
In a novel based on true events, set in 1856, Mormon converts, encouraged by Brigham Young himself, and outfitted with two-wheeled handcarts, set out on foot from Iowa City to Salt Lake City, the Promised Land. The Martin Handcart Company, a ragtag group of weary families headed for Zion, is the last to leave on this 1,300-mile journey. Three companies that left earlier in the year have completed their trek successfully, but for the Martin Company the trip proves disastrous. This is the story of four women from the British Isles traveling in this group. Four women whose lives will become inextricably linked as they endure unimaginable hardships, each one testing the boundaries of her faith and learning the true meaning of survival and friendship along the way.
We Have Kindles for You to Check Out!
04 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Subject Guide Tags: ads, advertisement, barcode, card catalog, eReaders, kindle, link, nook, QR code
Did you know that the Rice Lake Public Library offers Kindles and Nooks that you can borrow? The library has loaded these eReaders full of books, so you’re almost sure to find something you haven’t read before. You can borrow a library eReader for three weeks! At this time, there is a waiting list for one of these devices. If you would like to reserve one, please call or visit the library Reference Desk. We will need to know your library card number.
In the coming weeks, you might see advertisements, like the picture up above, that will be placed on the bookshelves in the library. They will stick out and act like flags to grab your attention. They are meant to be reminders of the many different eBooks we have available, even when you can’t see them. The part of the flag that will hang off the shelf looks like the picture on the right. It will show a picture of the book cover and the title of the book you could find on one of our eReaders.
If you pull the advertisement off the shelf, you will see something that looks like the picture to the left. This part of the ad has a lot more information for you.
The Rice Lake Public Library logo offers a splash of color in the left corner. A QR code is in the right corner. A QR code is a 2 dimensional barcode that can be scanned by a mobile phone; after being scanned, your device will go to the appropriate website linked to the QR code. 
The QR code on our ads link our patrons back to our card catalog. Under the logo and QR code, we list the shelf location so that it can be placed back on the shelf appropriately. And finally, we include some read-a-like suggestions for the listed book at the bottom of the ad. This is useful for patrons who don’t want to wait for a book or eReader that might be on hold.
We hope you use and enjoy these new signs in our library!
How to Choose the Best eReader for YOU
28 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Subject Guide Tags: books, buying guide, comparisons, ebooks, eReaders, news, reviews
eReaders are wildly popular. According to a poll by Harris Interactive, 28% of adults in the US use an eReader or tablet to read. That’s an impressive increase of 13% since a similar poll was taken in July 2011! (Previously, a total 15% of adults reported doing their reading on an eReader.)¹ So what does this mean for you? You might be in a position to buy an eReader for yourself or as a gift. If so, how do you make that choice?
The answer is unsatisfying, but true : you need to understand the different models available and then buy the eReader that is the best fit for YOU or the recipient of the gift. Just like there are many different genres, there are many different brands and models of eReaders. Readers must understand their own reading habits and budget, and then explore the different options in the eReader market. And the market changes constantly and rapidly.
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If You Like Downton Abbey …
21 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Readalikes Tags: Downton Abbey, Edith Wharton, england, readalikes, WWI
The Masterpiece Theater tv series, Downton Abbey, is a runaway success. Maybe you are one of the thousands of people who watched and loved it. Season Two recently concluded. What are you going to do while you wait for Season Three of Downton Abbey? I suggest catching up with the first two seasons of the show (click on the links below to get the library’s copy) or spend some time with a good book that takes you to times and places similar to Downton Abbey!
Downton Abbey
Masterpiece Theater
Lord Crawley sees his family heritage, especially the grand country home Downton Abbey, as his mission in life. The death of his heir aboard the Titanic means distant cousin Matthew Crawley, a Manchester lawyer, suddenly is next in line and accepts moving onto the vast estate with his even more modernist, socially engaged mother, who clashes with his lordship’s domineering, conservative ma the dowager. Marrying off the daughters is another concern. Meanwile the butler presides over a staff which serves the family but also lead most of their entire lives in the servants quarters, intriguing amongst themselves.
 Season 1 |
 Season 2 |
If You Liked Downton Abbey, Read This!
Howard’s End
by E.M. Forster
The book is about three families in England at the beginning of the 20th century: the Wilcoxes, rich capitalists with a fortune made in the Colonies; the half-German Schlegel siblings (Margaret, Tibby, and Helen), and the Basts, a struggling couple in the lower-middle class. The Schlegel sisters try to help the poor Basts and try to make the Wilcoxes less prejudiced.
The American Heiress
by Daisy Goodwin
Be careful what you wish for. Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts’, suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England. Nothing is quite as it seems, however: Ivo is withdrawn and secretive, and the English social scene is full of traps and betrayals. Money, Cora soon learns, cannot buy everything, as she must decide what is truly worth the price in her life and her marriage.
The House at Riverton
by Kate Morton
Told in flashback, this is the story of Grace Bradley’s youth during the last days of Edwardian aristocratic privilege shattered by war, of the vibrant twenties and the changes she witnessed as an entire way of life vanished forever. Grace went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they — and Grace — know the truth. In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight years old and living out her last days in a nursing home, she is visited by a young director who is making a film about the events of that summer.
New Books of March 2012
14 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in New Books Tags: family, fiction, historical fiction, list, mystery, new, reviews, romance
The O’Briens
Peter Behrens
In a family saga that begins in 1887, we follow Joe O’Brien through a harsh childhood in the Canadian bush, then into the wider world where three siblings enter the religious life, another dabbles in real estate, and Joe builds railroads. On a business trip to Venice, CA, he meets and marries Iseult and brings her back to Canada to live. Over their years together, Joe becomes the wealthy owner of a construction company, occasionally escaping to New York for alcoholic benders, while Iseult dedicates herself to their three children, her photography, and helping the less fortunate. Through births and deaths, love and wars, they struggle to make sense of themselves and their marriage.
The Good Father
Noah Hawley
Paul Allen, a successful Manhattan rheumatologist is completely stunned when two Secret Service agents inform him that his son by his first marriage, 20-year-old Daniel Allen, aka Carter Allen Cash, has killed a rising political star and presidential candidate. Resistant to the idea that his son is the actual assassin, he is taken aback when Daniel pleads guilty. He then becomes obsessed with finding out how his son could commit such a barbaric act. Combing Daniel’s childhood for clues to the one parental misstep that sent him down the path to becoming a killer and poring over documentation of Daniel’s every move in the 18 months prior to the assassination, Paul becomes a haunted figure.
The Dog Who Danced
Susan Wilson
Justine Meade has spent most of her 43 years on the move. She left home young, got in and out of an early marriage, and had a son who, unhappy with her restless life, went to live with his father. When Justine learns that her father is dying, she hitches a cross-country ride with a long-haul trucker from Seattle to Massachusetts, hoping for a resolution to their relationship. Her companion on the journey is Mack, a sheepdog trained to dance. But at a rest stop, her ride drives off, unknowingly taking Mack with him. Later abandoned, Mack is found by an older couple still grieving after their teenager daughter’s suicide years earlier. Meanwhile, Justine reaches her father in time to revisit the fight that sent her away from home. She gets a new perspective on the past while Mack, nearer to Justine than she realizes, helps the old couple heal. When chance reunites Justine and Mack, she decides to get back in touch with her son.
Carry the One –a Novel
Carol Anshaw
The one that must be carried when the Kenney siblings add themselves up is the girl who was hit and killed when two siblings, Nick and Alice, were driving home, stoned and stupid, from their sister Carmen’s wedding. That’s the first chapter: the rest of the novel and the rest of their lives-sex and drugs and prison visits, family parties and divorce, raising teenagers, painting, politics, and addiction-play out with that guilt and loss forever in the background.
Another Piece of My Heart
Jane Green
Andi has spent much of her adult life looking for the perfect man, and at thirty-seven, she’s finally found him. Ethan – divorced with two daughters, Emily and Sophia – is a devoted father and even better husband. Always hoping one day she would be a mother, Andi embraces the girls like they were her own. But in Emily’s eyes, Andi is an obstacle to her father’s love, and Emily will do whatever it takes to break her down. When the dynamics between the two escalate, they threaten everything Andi believes about love, family, and motherhood – leaving both women standing at a crossroad in their lives and in their hearts.
