Katrina Swanson reading list

"These are the eight books that have influenced the way I live my life." - Katrina+

Scanned Books

Much in the news and arousing much controversy of late are plans by Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to scan millions of books and make them searchable and in many cases viewable online. To get an idea of what this might look like, take a look at the Open Library. The books in the Open Library can be viewed online, downloaded or listened to, all for free. This is how thay're doing it.

I often hear folk say they could never read a book online. That may be true for many of us, but I predict that our children will be comfortable with doing just that. I'm currently reading Jane Eyre out loud to Susan. If you look at the web pages you'll notice that the print is quite small. It's way too small for me to read comfortably.

No problem!. I hit Ctrl+ a couple of time's and I have myself large print. I don't much like the font. View/Style/No Style (in Firefox, the standard browser at the 'Bary) and I've got a font that's much easier on my eyes. An additional benefit: no mildew.

I'm not advocating that we get rid of all our books. Anyone who's seen the insides of our garage will trust me on this. I like a beautiful book as much as the next person. But the world is changing. It's important for the library to be part of those changes.

Sarah Orne Jewett One Woman Show

At the 'Bary 7pm Thursday 3 November, Betty Jean Steinshouer will present Maine's Master Smart Woman, a one-woman show about Maine author Sarah Orne Jewett.
Steinshouer as Sarah Orne Jewett
A suggestion - especially for the Book Worms: read a little something by Sarah Orne Jewett before coming to the show. How about "A White Heron"? It's a short story you can find either at the library or online.

Magnanimous: Metamorphosis

The 'Bary is proud to publish Ezra T. Schreiber-MacQuaid's fantasy novel Magnanimous: Metamorphosis on-line. New chapters will appear weekly. The first chapter, "Good and Evil" is here:

It was a bright, sunny day. The sunlight streamed into Zenith Magnanimous’s room. It hurt his eyes, so he turned away. But…there was something about the morning that made it seem like, this was not how it was supposed to be. He opened his eyes and looked over at his window. He was lying in bed with the blankets strewn everywhere. He realized he was sweating. Then he remembered something about what he had been dreaming before the sun woke him up. There had been a giant wolf,

Continued here....

Area Libraries