New Item Tuesday

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Staff Review: Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar

First, a pop-quiz question: Who or what was the Bloomsbury Group?

Answer: The Bloomsbury Group was a collection of early twentieth-century artists, writers, and other intellectuals who lived crazy, artsy, unconventional lives in the then-unfashionable (and shockingly bohemian!) London neighborhood of Bloomsbury. The most famous Bloomsbury members were the writers Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster, along with the influential economist John Maynard Keynes, but the group’s core included seven others.

Priya Parmar’s novel Vanessa and Her Sister recreates the Bloomsbury Group’s world and, wow, does she do a bang-up job of it. The New York Times Book Review called her novel "an uncanny achievement" and it is. Presented entirely in fictionalized letters, telegrams, and journal entries composed by multiple characters, Vanessa and Her Sister doesn’t hit a false note. It’s truly a remarkable accomplishment.

The compelling focus of the story, which takes place between 1905 and 1912, is Virginia Woolf’s relationship with her sister Vanessa, a talented painter. Both women are in their twenties as the novel opens and living with their bright Cambridge-educated brothers in a free-form household that attracts the best and brightest to its co-ed “at-homes”: literary salons, art evenings, and dinner parties, where drinks flow, conversations shock, and no one staggers home before daylight.

Vanessa is the family’s rudder and she is forced to navigate turbulent waters, for Virginia -- beautiful, brilliant, mesmerizing Virginia, who strikes me as something of a spoiled brat -- is apt to go raving mad at any moment and has already spent time in an asylum. (Famously, 35 years later, the oft-published and successful Virginia Woolf will load her pockets with rocks and walk into the River Ouse for good.) Trying to maintain Virginia’s equilibrium takes up a good portion of Vanessa’s days.

Household waters grow more turbulent still when Clive Bell, an art critic and Bloomsbury Group member, sets his sights on Vanessa and resolves to make her his wife (in an open-marriage, of course). Virginia cannot handle it – she cannot abide anyone appropriating the attention of Vanessa, her lifeline (and, some might say, enabler). In an unhinged reaction to her own rabid jealousy, Virginia promptly attempts to win Clive for herself.

The plot is definitely something of a potboiler, but it’s based on fact and it plays out in a fairly civilized way. The Bloomsbury Group did live at a perpetual simmer and conducted themselves in the most unorthodox and incestuous ways: affairs and adulteries abounded, partners were swapped, sexual preference was rarely static, jealousies and intrigues were the order of the day, yet through the years the group remained largely intact. They were a brilliant, lively, and dynamic bunch, though a tad too gossipy, as Parmar illustrates, for my tastes.

They also traveled a lot (money doesn’t seem to be a big consideration for many of them) and the novel follows its characters all over Europe and farther afield. It’s a delight to read and even better to listen to, for the audiobook is narrated by a cast of great British actors whose faces you’d recognize right away from PBS’s Masterpiece Theater and Mystery. With their fine acting talent and oh-so-elegant accents, they do a superb job of bringing the Bloomsbury Group and this fine novel to life.

~Ann, Adult Services

Tech Thursday: Hacking a Typewriter

It took some time, but a computer scientist turned his old typewriter into a printer that also plays percusssion! Follow this link to get more information and hear the typewriter play along to "Typewriter Symphony".


Interested in hacking or repurposing something old into something new? Take a look at these books.

The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun: Cool Hacks, Cutting-Edge Games, and More Awesome Projects for the Whole Family by Ken Denmead

Remake It Clothes: The Essential Guide to Resourceful Fashion: With Over 500 Tricks, Tips and Inspirational Designs by Henrietta Thompson and Neal Whittington

The Repurposed Library: 33 Craft Projects That Give Old Books New Life by Lisa Occhipinti

Upcycling: Create Beautiful Things with the Stuff You Already Have by Danny Seo and Jennifer Lévy

New Item Tuesday

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Staff Review: Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona, & Jacob Wyatt

Heroes and heroism are at the center of the 2015 summer reading program, when the library challenges readers of all ages to read something new. We do offer rewards to readers who meet or exceed the challenge, so be sure to check out the details for the Adult Summer Reading Program if you haven't yet.

At various points in our lives, we all look to a variety of people and professions for our heroes, but who is more obvious than a superhero? They might not be real, but they can provide inspiration to people of all ages. I'm still fairly new to the world of superheroes, but I have my favorites, including Kamala Khan, the new Ms. Marvel.

Written by G. Willow Wilson, and illustrated by Adrian Alphona and Jacob Wyatt, Ms. Marvel is both entertaining and inspiring. This is the sort of comic book I wish I could give to my teenage self to read because she would've loved it. There will be some spoilers from this point forward, so be warned!

Kamala, a normal teenage girl, suddenly gains superpowers that allow her to save people just like her hero, Captain Marvel. Unfortunately, she gained them after sneaking out of her house to attend a party her parents specifically forbade her to attend. And that's the charm of this series, in between superpowered battles, Kamala faces challenges and questions familiar to most teens and young adults. Everyone has to learn how to balance the expectations of family, friends, and society at large, while still being true to the person you are inside. Kamala is exploring not just what it means to be a hero, but how she can be a hero and a good daughter to her parents who moved from Pakistan to New Jersey to give their children a chance at a better life.

Not that Ms. Marvel is 100% serious all the time, this is absolutely a fun series. Seriously, if I were limited to one word it would be fun. Kamala's shapechanging abilities are versatile, unstable, and used to great effect. The art is both detailed, with interesting backgrounds that make the setting a real part of the larger story, while still colorful and cartoony. The book does assume you have a basic familiarity with superheroes, but you don't need to get any of the references to other series or characters to thoroughly enjoy this series on its own.

There are currently two volumes of this series available, with the third to be released later this summer:
Ms. Marvel volume 1: No Normal
Ms. Marvel volume 2: Generation Y
Ms. Marvel volume 3: Crushed*

~Sarah, Adult Services

*Volume 3 is on order and will appear in the library's catalog for holds by the end of the July.

Science Friday: Underwater Greenhouses

Off the coast of Italy, a company has created underwater greenhouses, using the sea to grow plants like basil and strawberries. Read more about it here, see the livestream of the garden here, and check out some books that can help you think of creative ways to live in an environmentally-friendly way.

Aquaponic Gardening: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Vegetables and Fish Together by Sylvia Bernstein

The Conscious Kitchen: The New Way to Buy and Cook Food-- to Protect the Earth, Improve Your Health, and Eat Deliciously by Alexandra Zissu

The Locavore's Handbook: The Busy Person's Guide to Eating Local on a Budget by Leda Meredith

Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World by Mark Frauenfelder

Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Woginrich

The Plundered Planet: Why We Must, and How We Can, Manage Nature for Global Prosperity by Paul Collier

Shift Your Habit: Easy Ways to Save Your Money, Simplify Your Life, and Save the Planet by Elizabeth Rogers and Colleen Howell

Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living by Rachel Kaplan and Ruby K. Blume