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Chinese Book Discussion at Mid-Manhattan Library 中文书籍讨论会

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染布匠的女儿黄金时代猎虎运动Hitch-hiker’s guide to galaxy池袋系口公园

 

一月十八号的中文书籍讨论会,一共有十个人参加。 有一读者访台北归来,提到在师范大学附近有一很有意思的小书店,老板卖高水准的旧书,书价视读者的身份而订。该读者推荐其书店值得一逛。


 

萧红。 染布匠的女儿 - 萧红短篇小说选。

 

中英对照,葛浩文翻译。

 

王小波。时代四部曲。

 

黄金时代 /  白银时代 /  青铜时代 /   黑铁时代

 

Wise, David.  猎虎运动

 

美国情报机构调查中国间谍在美活动。

 

自我创造。

 

创业行动背后的心态,自我发现,自我创造;为什么世界上1%的人可以躺着赚钱。

 

Adams, Douglas. Hitch-hiker’s guide to galaxy.

 

以幽默的文笔写成的科幻小说。该书内容已拍制成电影。

 

石田衣良。 池袋系口公园。

 

短篇小说集。不同的故事围绕着主人翁“池袋的麻烦解决者”发展,书中描写池袋地区社会底层的生活百态。
 

 

下次的中文书籍讨论会将在二月22号举行。欢迎参加。

 

Special Thanks goes to Hung-yun Chang at Mid-Manhattan Library, for all his help with this blog post.


True Stories of Refugees

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In the nearly six years since protestors in Syria first demonstrated against the four-decade rule of the Assad family, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed and some twelve million people—more than half the country’s pre-war population—have been displaced. (Laub, Zachary. "Syria's War: The Descent Into Horror." The New York Times, December 2016.)

We here in Readers Services recently read two books about the plight of refugees that we would like to recommend.

The Morning they Came for Us

The Morning They Came For Us : Dispatches from Syria by Janine Di Giovanni

These are stories of everyday people living in the brutality of post-Arab Spring Syria.

Di Giovanni is the Middle East editor of Newsweek and has covered wars in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Chechnya, Somalia, Kosovo, Libya and more. She has written an empathetic, vivid, and urgent book about her time in Syria in 2012 just after Assad started cracking down on [peaceful] anti-regime demonstrations.

One stunning realization from reading this is the velocity at which Syria, and other countries before it, declined into full-blown civil war.  One day the police show up to take your daughter to prison, a barrel bomb drops on your village, soldiers raid your house in the middle of the night.  “The water stops, taps run dry, banks go, and a sniper kills your brother,” she writes. 

Particularly heartbreaking are the Syrian children. They hide in their houses all day. They cry out in the night because they are starving.  Di Giovanni repeatedly uses the word “tiny” to describe them. They wear rubber shoes with no socks and slip on the ice. They stand in bread lines in the freezing rain for hours on end and scavenge through garbage looking for food. 

This book will never leave me. It is clearly not for the faint-hearted but should nonetheless be read by every human being, especially those who live in countries with the means to help these and other refugees. —Lynn Lobash

Cast Away

Cast Away : True Stories of Survival from Europe's Refugee Crisis by Charlotte McDonald-Gibson

Veteran reporter McDonald-Gibson traces the stories of five refugees trying to escape civil unrest and enter the European Union. Syria is included in her broad sweep, as well as Nigeria, Eritrea, and Libya.

The book's power stems from the ability McDonald-Gibson has to humanize the vast numbers of people these crises affect. By zooming in close on details of the individuals' stories, she paves the way for readers to zoom out. Seeing the plight of thousands upon thousands of refugees through the eyes of just a few makes the issue personal, devastating, and impossible to ignore. And McDonald-Gibson's epilogue, which hits after you’re shellshocked by the her incredible reporting, is a clear and important call to action. —Gwen Glazer

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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!

2016 International Fiction Bestsellers

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child topped Amazon’s list of 2016’s top-selling new releases, and The Girl on the Train was was NYPL’s most popular checkout of the year. Which fiction titles topped the charts around the world last year? We looked at bestseller lists for 2016 from nine other countries and in most cases found these two international blockbusters alongside popular local authors. 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, is currently available to borrow from NYPL in English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, French, Polish, Italian, and Hebrew, and as an e-book in GermanHarry Potter and the Cursed Child is available at the Library in English and Spanish. Books by international bestselling author Jojo Moyes, who also appears frequently on these lists, are currently available to borrow in RussianSpanish, ChineseKoreanPolish, and Italian, as  well as in English.

 
The Nest

Canada 

The top five fiction titles of 2016 as reported in The Toronto Star:

The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapeña
The Widow by Fiona Barton
 I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh. This title is also available in Chinese and Korean.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was the top title in Children’s and Young Adult.


 

Historia di un canalla

Mexico

Of the the top ten bestselling titles at Amazon Mexico, reported in El economista, four were fiction.

Harry Potter y el legado maldito  / Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Después de ti/ After You by Jojo Moyes
Cinco esquinas[Five corners] by Mario Vargas Llosa (not yet translated into English). The Library has other books by Vargas Llosa to borrow in Spanish, English, Russian, and one or two in other languages.
Historia de un canalla / Story of a Sociopath by Julia Navarro

 

Fille de BrooklynFrance

According to data collected by Edistat, eight of the top ten bestselling books in France in 2016 were fiction titles, including:

Harry Potter et l’enfant maudit / Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Two novels by Guillaume Musso:
L’instant présent; La fille de BrooklynFew of his Musso’s page-turners have been translated into English. The Library has various titles to borrow in the original French, Russian, Korean, Polish, Italian, Arabic, and Spanish.
L’amie prodigieuse / My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. Also available in the original Italian, Spanish, and Polish.  

La fille du train / The Girl on the Train was number nine.

 

Green road

Ireland

The Irish Times reported on Ireland’s bestselling titles of 2016 and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was at the top of the list. The Girl on the Train was noted a big seller, but the list included  2016 releases only. Some other adult fiction titles on the list:
Holding by Graham Norton was Ireland’s most popular novel of 2016. This debut novel by the BBC talk show host has not been published  yet in the U.S.)
Game of Throw-Ins by Ross O’Carroll-Kelly (as told to Paul Howard), the latest in a series of satirical novels featuring a wealthy rugby player.
The Green Road by Anne Enright. Enright’s Man Booker Prize winning novel The Gathering is also available in Spanish.

 

L'altro capo del filoItaly

Of the ten bestselling books of 2016 reported in Il libraio, the top six are:

Harry Potter e la maledizione dell’erede Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
L’altro capo del filo [The Other End of the Line] / by Andrea Camilleri, the 24th title in the Montalbano series, not yet translated into English. Many other novels by Camilleri in the original Italian or translations in English or Spanish
La ragazza del treno / The Girl on the Train
Io prima di te / Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

La paranza dei bambini [The child hit squad] by Gomorrah author Roberto Saviano
L’amica geniale / My Brilliant Friend

 

labewrinto de los espiritusSpain

The bestselling fiction titles at Amazon in Spain as reported by Universia España:

Harry Potter y el legado maldito/ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
El Laberinto de los espíritus [The labyrinth of the spirits] by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of the international bestseller The Shadow of the Wind / La sombra del viento.
Falcó, the latest historical thriller by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Yo antes de ti / Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Los herederos de la tierra [Heirs of the Earth] by Ildefonso Falcones
La chica del tren / The Girl on the Train was number ten.

 

Det som inte dödar oss Sweden

The top five fiction bestseller in Sweden in 2016, reported by Svenk Bokhandel:

Kaninjägaren [Rabbit hunter] by Lars Kepler (#6 in the Joona Linna mystery series)
Min fantastiska väninna / My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Kan man dö två gånger? [Can you die twice?] by Leif G. W. Persson (#4 in the Evert Bäckström series)
Det som inte dödar oss / The Girl in the Spider’s Web, David Lagerkrantz’s continuation of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series. Also available from the Library in SpanishPolish, and Hebrew.

 

One Indian girlIndia

The bestselling fiction books for 2016 at the online retailer Flipkart as reported at India.com included various romances by Indian authors and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child but not The Girl on the Train.

One Indian Girl by Chetan Bhagat
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child 
Everyone Has a Story by Savi Sharma
Our Impossible Love by Durjoy Dutta
Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer was number nine.

 

Truly Madly Guilty

Australia

The New Daily reported in Australia’s bestselling adult fiction titles of 2016 in mid-October based on data from Dymocks booksellers, “putting aside” Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
The Girl on the Trainby Paula Hawkins
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. This title is also available at NYPL in Spanish, Russian, Hebrew,  Korean, and Polish.
Truly Madly Guiltyby Liane Moriarty. Several of Moriarty’s previous novels are available in Spanish, Russian, and Korean.
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

 

Icarus

South Africa

For South Africa I couldn't find a list of the year's bestselling titles, but here are the top five bestselling fiction authors from 2014-2016 as listed in Bookmark Magazine, published by the SA Booksellers Association.

Deon Meyer. Most recent novel: Icarus (2015). Translated from Afrikaans. NYPL has some titles in Russian as well as English.
Wilbur Smith. NYPL also has some titles in Italian, Hungarian, Russian, and Polish..
James Patterson. NYPL has books in more than 30 languages, including Chinese, French, German, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.
E.L. JamesNYPL has the “Grey” novels in many languages, including Spanish, ChineseFrench, Italian, Russian, Japanese, and Hebrew.
Nora Roberts. The Library has a selection of the author’s books in Russian, Spanish, Polish, Hebrew, French, and a few titles in other languages.

Do you check the bestseller lists from any other countries? What have you discovered? Do you have any international authors to recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

This Just In: New Picture Books

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Check out some of the latest picture books to hit children's room shelves at a branch near you.
 

Woodpecker Wants a Waffle

Woodpecker Wants a Waffle  by Steve Breen (Ages 4-8 years)

Per the publisher, "Benny the woodpecker makes a brilliant plan to eat a tasty plate of waffles."

A story that follows a very clever, hungry woodpecker. Nobody will stop him from his waffles!


 

 

A Perfect Mess

A Perfect Mess by Steven Breen (Ages 3-5 years)

Henry McHenry is trying his best to keep clean for his class photo, but his attempts to stay spotless get his classmates messy instead.

This book will leave you smiling by the end. 




 

Where Do They Go?

Where Do They Go?  by Julia Alvarez (ages 3-7 years)

Children wonder what happens to their loved ones after death.

Beautifully addresses the loss of a loved one.

 

 

Who Woke the Baby?

Who Woke the Baby? by Jane Clarke (ages 3-7 years)

It's early morning in the jungle and Little Gorilla is not happy. Someone has woken him up—but who was it?

This is a sweet book featuring fun repetition and the concept of cause and effect. It can also be used creatively as an interactive Read Aloud book.

 

Lucky Lazlo

Lucky Lazlo by Steve Light (ages 3-7 years)

Lazlo chooses a red rose and ventures to the theater to present it to the performer he cherishes, only to have the rose grabbed by a mischievous cat who races around backstage, passing actors dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland.

A short and sweet lovey-dovey story. Perfect for Valentine's Day.

 

Wolf in the Snow

Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell (ages 2-6 years)

Paintings rich with feeling tell this satisfying story of friendship and trust. Here is a book set on a wintry night that will spark imaginations and warm hearts, from Matthew Cordell, author of Trouble Gum and Another Brother.

One-of-a-kind book that only uses sound words. Captivating images and warm story of being lost then found.

 

Before You

 Before You by Rebecca Doughty (ages 4-7 years)

Simple text and whimsical illustrations celebrate how the love of another can change one's life for the better.

Poetic in conveying the concept of appreciation.

 

 

If you've read one of the books mentioned or plan to, feel free to tell us in the comments section below.

Listening Made Easier: Introducing BARD Express

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BARD iconEvery day, staff at the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library have the pleasure of working with a diverse group of patrons who all have something in common: they don’t want to deal with virtual clutter in order to have access to digital books. Fortunately, the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) recently accepted the donation of a computer application for Windows that helps library patrons download braille and talking books and magazines in just a few steps.  
 

What are NLS & BARD?

NLS was established in 1931. It runs the program that loans braille and recorded books and magazines, music scores in both braille and large print, and specially-designed book players at no cost to residents of the United States who are unable to read or use standard print materials because of visual or physical impairment. The National Library Service offers the Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) website, which gives qualified patrons access to the digital catalog of thousands of books and magazines produced by NLS. This is also free of charge.

BARD Express

Sounds good, right? Well, it gets better! In December 2016, NLS unveiled a new tool to make downloading audio and braille books easier than ever. It’s called BARD Express and it is a Windows-based application which simplifies the use of the NLS BARD service. The downloadable software is completely free to NLS patrons, but there are some requirements. You must have an active BARD account and a personal computer running Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, or 10.

Inspired by his wife and son, who are patrons of the NLS braille and talking book program and users of BARD, software developer Kirk Saathoff created BARD Express to streamline the process of accessing BARD materials for patrons who find the website time-consuming or confusing to navigate.

"For years, I watched my wife sometimes become a bit annoyed with her computer, and I know [most] software is designed without regard for people with disabilities," Saathoff said. "My hope in developing this software was that it would allow more people to enjoy books while minimizing the time and frustration involved in accessing them.”

BARD Express aims to make browsing, searching, downloading, and transferring audio materials from the BARD website to a cartridge or USB flash drive a more intuitive experience. It does this via a menu-based interface which makes the moving of books from a PC to a patron's chosen digital device easier, faster, and stress-free.

Don Olson, BARD Operations Manager at NLS said, "BARD Express enables patrons to more easily unzip the books they download from BARD. Gone are the days of having to carry out multiple file management steps in order to place a book or magazine on an NLS cartridge or a USB drive."

NLS director Karen Keninger added, "We hope it will make the thousands of books available on BARD readily accessible to more patrons."

Download Now

So what are you waiting for? Download BARD Express. Once you’ve downloaded BARD Express to your PC, all you’ll have to do is enter your BARD user name and password to log in. If you do not have a BARD account, please contact your regional library or apply for one.

You can check out the BARD Express User Guide, and there is also a comprehensive BARD Express How-To Series.

We wish you many hours of happy and easy listening!

Job and Employment Links for the Week of January 29

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The Borough of Manhattan Community College, Division of Adult and Continuing Education offers no cost (if you qualify) Direct Support Professional Training.  Training starts February 14, 2017.  Attend an Open House and Assessment.

The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is hiring!    This is your opportunity to work at Long Island's premier entertainment destination in Uniondale.  Positiions with Levy Restaurants  include cooks, bartenders, culinary supervisors and more.

Youth Action YouthBuild East Harlem is recruiting for their 9- month free job training program.  This program is for young people 17-24 years old  with an interest in pursuing  a career in construction or  completing  construction projects in the community.

SAGEWorks Employment Assessments on Monday, January 30,  Tuesday, January 31 and Wednesday, February 1, 10:30 am - 12:30 pm.  at The SAGE Center, 305 7th  Avenue, New York, NY 10001. Schedule an appointment  with the SAGEWorks Team for a 30 minute one-on-one session that'll help you re-organize your job search.  By appointment only.  SAGEWorks assists people 40 years and older in learning relevant, cutting-edge job search skills in a LGBT-friendly environment. 

Basic Resume Writing  workshop on Thursday, February 2, 2017, 1:30 - 3 pm at Brooklyn Workforce 1 Career Center, 250 Schermerhorn  Street,  Brooklyn, NY 11201.  Participants will learn the purpose of a resume, chronological and combination resumes and select the appropriate type for their specific needs.

Job Postings at New York City Workforce 1.  Job Search Central

Apprenticeship Opportunities in New York City.

Brooklyn Community  Board 14: Available jobs

The New York City Employment and Training Coalition (NYCE&TC) is an association of 200 community-based organizations, educational institutions, and labor unions that annually provide job training and employment services to over 750,000 New Yorkers, including welfare recipients, unemployed workers, low-wage workers, at-risk youth, the formerly incarcerated, immigrants and the mentally and physically disabled. View NYCE&TC Job Listings.

Digital NYC is the official online hub of the New York City startup and technology ecosystem, bringing together every company, startup, investor, event, job, class, blog, video, workplace, accelerator, incubator, resource, and organization in the five boroughs. Search jobs by category on this site.

St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development provides Free Job Training and Educational Programs in Environmental Response and Remediation Tec (ERRT). Commercial Driver's License, Pest Control Technician Training (PCT), Employment Search and Prep Training and Job Placement, Earn Benefits and Career Path Center. For information and assistance, please visit St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development or call 718-302-2057 ext. 202.

Brooklyn Workforce Innovations helps jobless and working poor New Yorkers establish careers in sectors that offer good wages and opportunities for advancement. Currently, BWI offers free job training programs in four industries: commercial driving, telecommunications cable installation, TV and film production, and skilled woodworking.

CMP (formerly Chinatown Manpower Project) in lower Manhattan is now recruiting for a free training in Quickbooks, Basic Accounting, and Excel. This training is open to anyone who is receiving food stamps but no cash assistance. Class runs for eight weeks, followed by one-on-one meetings with a job developer. CMP also provides Free Home Health Aide Training for bilingual English/Cantonese speakers who are receiving food stamps but no cash assistance. Training runs Mondays through Fridays for six weeks and includes test prep and taking the HHA certification exam. Students learn about direct care techniques such as taking vital signs and assisting with personal hygiene and nutrition. For more information for the above two training programs, email: info@cmpny.org, call 212-571-1690, or visit. CMP also provides tuition-based healthcare and business trainings free to students who are entitled to ACCESS funding.

Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) trains women and places them in careers in the skilled construction, utility, and maintenance trades. It helps women achieve economic independence and a secure future. For information call 212-627-6252 or register online.

Grace Institute provides tuition-free, practical job training in a supportive learning community for underserved New York area women of all ages and from many different backgrounds. For information call 212-832-7605.

Please note this page will be revised when more recruitment events for the week of January 29  become available.

Booktalking "George" by Alex Gino

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george

George loves acting, and she longs to act in the school play, Charlotte's Web. She adores her best friend, Kelly, and she enjoyes looking at teenage magazines. She has a wonderful older brother, Scott, and her parents are there for her, for the most part. However, George is bullied at school, and she feels a need to hide a part of herself that she fears people will not accept.

George is a girl.

Ten-year-old George has known that she is a girl for awhile, but she is stuck in a boy's body. Meanwhile, everyone is under the impression that she is male... or that she should be male.

George loves Seventeen magazines, and she longs for her skin to remain soft and smooth. She yearns for the opportunity to act as a female spider in the play at school. She wants her hair to look girly and her mother to not be ashamed of the magazines that contain girls that George considers to be her friends. 

At least Kelly wants George to be her best girlfriend. And Scott seems to finally understand his younger sibling.

George by Alex Gino, 2015

For more information, check out:

February Author at the Library Program

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Each month, The New York Public Library is proud to offer a curated selection of non-fiction authors discussing their work and answering questions at Mid-Manhattan Library. This February, distinguished scholars and authors will examine everything from punk rock music to the human genome.

Author talks take place at 6:30 PM on the 6th floor of the library, unless otherwise noted. No reservations are required. Seating is first come, first served. You can also request a library copy of the authors' books by using the catalog links below.

 how a community reclaimed and transformed New York City's waterfront

 

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

A History of Brooklyn Bridge Park: How a Community Reclaimed and Transformed New York City's Waterfront with Nancy Webster, executive director of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, and journalist David Shirley.

This illustrated lecture recounts the grassroots, multi-voiced, and contentious effort, beginning in the 1980s, to transform Brooklyn's defunct piers into a beautiful urban oasis.

	 If our bodies could talk

 

Thursday, February 2, 2017

If Our Bodies Could Talk: A Guide to Operating and Maintaining a Human Body with Dr. James Hamblin, a writer and senior editor at The Atlantic magazine.

This lecture explores the human stories behind health questions that never seem to go away—and which tend to be mischaracterized and oversimplified by marketing and news media.  Topics include sleep, aging, diet, and much more.

 more than a century of fiction from the Forward

 

Monday, February 6, 2017

Have I Got a Story for You: More Than a Century of Fiction from the Forward with Ezra Glinter, the Forward’s former deputy culture editor and current critic-at-large.

This illustrated lecture highlights some of the published wartime novellas, avant-garde fiction and satirical sketches about immigrant life from acclaimed Yiddish writers in The Forward's 120-year history.

Love Voltaire Us Apart

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Love Voltaire Us Apart: A Philosopher’s Guide to Relationships with Julia Edelman, a comedy writer.

This illustrated lecture features a hilarious spoof relationship guide with a philosophical edge.

Irena's Children

 

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Irena's Children: The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children from the Warsaw Ghetto with Tilar J. Mazzeo, the New York Times bestselling author of "The Widow Clicquot," "The Secret of Chanel No. 5," and "Hotel on the Place Vendôme."

This illustrated lecture tells  the story of Irena Sendler—the “female Oskar Schindler”—who took staggering risks to save 2,500 children from death and deportation in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II.

 what the social genomics revolution reveals about ourselves, our history, and the future

 

Monday, February 13, 2017

The Genome Factor: What the Social Genomics Revolution Reveals about Ourselves, Our History, and the Future with Dalton Conley, Henry Putnam University Professor of Sociology at Princeton University.

This illustrated lecture describes the astonishing discoveries being made at the scientific frontier where genomics and the social sciences intersect.

 the untold story of American cuisine

 

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisinewith Sarah Lohman, who works with museums and galleries around the country to create public programs focused on food.

This illustrated lecture offers a fascinating look at our past and uses long-forgotten recipes to explain how eight flavors changed how Americans eat.

The women who made New York

 

Thursday, February 16, 2017

The Women Who Made New York with Julie Scelfo, former staff writer for The New York Times, and Hallie Heald, freelance illustrator and stylist.

This talk provides a dynamic introduction to the women behind our great city.

 the octopus, the sea, and the deep origins of consciousness

 

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness with Peter Godfrey-Smith, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York Graduate Center.

This illustrated lecture combines science and philosophy with first-hand accounts of the remarkable intelligence of the octopus and explores how primitive organisms bobbing in the ocean began sending signals to each other and how these early forms of communication gave rise to the advanced nervous systems that permit cephalopods to change colors and human beings to speak.  The author shares from his underwater adventures and sheds new light on the octopus brain, the human brain, and the evolution of consciousness.

Speaking American

 

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Speaking American: How Y’all, Youse , and You Guys Talk: A Visual Guide with Josh Katz, graphics editor at "The New York Times."

This illustrated lecture is a delightful exploration of American language, taking the audience on an extraordinary and beautiful tour through the American vernacular.

 from the rise of the Velvet Underground to the fall of CBGB

 

Thursday, February 23, 2017

New York Rock: From the Rise of The Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB with Steven Blush, music writer and bestselling author of "American Hardcore."

This illustrated lecture explores the rock scene's half-century connection to New York.

 an oral history of African American life in the Bronx from the 1930s to the 1960s

 

Monday, February 27, 2017

Before the Fires: An Oral History of African American Life in the Bronx from the 1930s to the 1960s with Bob Gumbs, an artist, publisher, and author, and Mark Naison, Professor of History and African American Studies at Fordham University.

This illustrated lecture tells the personal stories of seventeen African-American men and women who lived in the South Bronx before the social and economic decline of the area that began in the late 1960s.

MANHATTAN CHURCHES

 

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Manhattan Churches with Richard Panchyk, author of 25 books, including "New York City Skyscrapers," "German New York City," "Catholic New York City," and "New York City History for Kids."

This illustrated lecture celebrates the wonderful diversity of churches in New York City’s oldest borough.

 

As always, we have many interesting and informative films, book discussions, and computer and technology classes on our program calendar. If you enjoy sitting back and listening to a good story, try our Story Time for Grown-ups. This month's theme is African-American Voices to celebrate Black History Month. If you like to share your literary discoveries with other readers, join us on Friday, February 10 for Open Book Night. The theme this month is Ain't Nothin' but a Love Thang. If you'd prefer a book discussion group, we hold a monthly Contemporary Classics Book Discussion. This month's book is The Hairdresser of Harare by Tendai Huchu. We are also excited to present a brand-new series at the library called Mid-Sentence: Writers in Conversation.

All of our programs and classes are free, so why not come and check one out? Hope to see you soon at the library!


African Dance Interview Project Year Two Videos Now Available

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The Jerome Robbins Dance Division is pleased to belatedly announce that the final seven interviews documented with the Mertz Gilmore Foundation grant to record African dancers and choreographers working and teaching in New York are now online.

Project Director Carolyn Webb oversaw the production of these interviews. All seven interviews were recorded in New York City with Mamadou Niang serving as the videographer for the project. Here is a short excerpt reel of all five interviews:

The full interviews are available through either the research catalog or Digital Collections. Click on the call numbers below for the individual interviews.

  • *MGZIDF 4119 Interview with Djoniba Mouflet, conducted by Kewulay Kamara on April 24, 2015

  • *MGZIDF 4120 Interview with Nadia Dieudonne, conducted by Carolyn Webb on May 16, 2015

  • *MGZIDF 4121 Interview with Danys “La Mora” Perez, conducted by C. Daniel Dawson on June 27, 2015

  • *MGZIDF 6171 Interview with Vado Diamonde , conducted by Maguette Camara on August 9, 2015

  • *MGZIDF 6172 Interview with Edward (Ajaibo) Walrond, conducted by Carolyn Webb on August 9, 2015

  • *MGZIDF 6199 Interview with Sidiki Conde, conducted by by Deborah Ross on September 5, 2015

  • *MGZIDF 6202 Interview with Yvette Martinez, conducted by Carolyn Webb on September 12, 2015

Another exciting outcome of African Dance Interview project was a public program co-produced by the Dance Division and Dance/NYC. An Evening with Traditional African Dance Artists in NYC: Conversation, Demonstration and Celebration was held at the Library’s Bruno Walter Auditorium on September 17, 2015. The link above takes you to the streaming video of the event.

The program featured the luminary African Dance teachers/artists who had been interviewed as part of African Dance Interview Project of 2014. The esteemed artists interviewed in this important series were Maguette Camara, Marie Basse-Wiles, Mouminatou Camara, Youssouf Koumbassa, and Ndeye Gueye. Lamine Thiam—who had been interviewed before this initiative began through the Dance Division’s ongoing Oral History Project—also participated in the program. This event—conceived by Jan Schmidt with Carolyn Webb serving as Project Director—was developed to increase community knowledge, awareness, and appreciation of traditional African Dance in NYC. C. Daniel Dawson, a renowned scholar and lecturer on the African diaspora, moderated the evening.

An Evening with Traditional African Dance Artists
Lamine Thiam, Marie Basse-Wiles, C. Daniel Dawson, Maguette Camara,
Mamadou Guisse, and Youssouf Koumbassa. Photo: Ashley Garrett

 

The Jerome Robbins Archive of  Recorded Audio and Moving Image started in 1965 with a gift from Jerome Robbins of five films and has now grown to nearly 25,000 titles, which now includes these twelve interviews and the public program. We are so proud to add to the body of work available for the world's scholars to study.

Curiouser and Curiouser: The World of Wonderland in YA Fiction

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I recently finished reading Heartless by Marissa Meyer, and when I finished the book I didn’t want the story to be over. This novel about how a girl grew up to become the diabolical Red Queen made me want to take a deep dive back into the world of Wonderland.  

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Image ID: 1111800

Heartless made me want to reread Lewis Carroll’s original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderlandand Through the Looking Glassbooks, and dust off my copy of The Annotated Alice. It made me want to rewatch all of the film versions of these classic stories. It made me want to play the American McGee’s Alice video game again. It also made me think about how the world of Wonderland has been reimagined in young adult fiction.  

If you’d like to explore Wonderland with me, here are some highlights from our YA collection to get you started:

 

The Looking Glass Wars

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Princess Alyss Heart knows that she will grow up to become the Queen of Wonderland. But she learns the hard way that her evil aunt Redd has other plans for her. Alyss escapes through the Pool of Tears and finds herself in Victorian London, where she starts a new life as an ordinary girl. And then she meets an author who believes her amazing story and wants to share it with the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Splintered

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Alyssa might be crazy, but she’s doing her best to hide it. She doesn’t want to wind up in an institution like her mother, but based on her family’s history, it looks like madness is in her future. And then Alyssa learns that her ancestor Alice Liddell really did go to a place called Wonderland, and if Wonderland is real that means that the women in her family weren’t crazy after all. In order to save her mother and herself, Alyssa must go to Wonderland, which is a much more dark and dangerous place than she imagined.

 

 

 

 

Heartless

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Lady Catherine has plenty of dreams, both ordinary and amazing. She dreams about a future in which she opens a bakery with her best friend. She dreams about incredible tastes and flavors, and sometimes those dreams turn into reality, like when she wakes to find a lemon tree growing in her bedroom. She also dreams about a beautiful and mysterious boy with yellow eyes. But Catherine has attracted the attention of the King of Hearts, and his dreams for the future are much different than hers.  

 

 

 

 

 

Queen of Hearts

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes

Dinah is princess of Wonderland, and she’s also a girl who wants to please her father, the King of Hearts. She expects to become Queen of Hearts when she turns eighteen, but she discovers that her position is in jeopardy because there is another possible heir to the throne. Little by little, Dinah starts to uncover secrets about her family and about Wonderland that have the power to change her future.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alice in Zombieland

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

This book, the beginning of the White Rabbit Chronicles, tells the story of a girl named Alice whose life falls apart on her sixteenth birthday. That’s the night she realizes that she should have listened to her father, and she should never have gone out at night. Because it’s at night when the zombies rise from their graves.

 

 

RoboTakeover at NYPL!

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Come join us for RoboTakeover at NYPL!

RoboTakeover is a hands-on, robotics workshop series for kids! Over the course of this 4–session program, kids will learn the basics of circuits, conductivity, motor-operation and robot building. We will discuss robots in real life and the different kinds of machines that make our world tick. The program begins in February and runs through April in a branch near you.  Check program listings here.

Here is a reading list for all your little robot enthusiasts:  

Non-Fiction for Background in Robotics (For Lesson Planning)

 

Non-Fiction for other Projects to do at Home

 

 

 

Picture Books for Reading Aloud

 

Fiction Stories for Older Audiences

 

 

Helpful Websites

 

 

 

 

 

 

Podcast #149: George Washington and the Hyper-Partisan Now

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Subscribe on iTunes.

george washington

In 1796, George Washington gave his farewell address as he left the American presidency. His speech warned against the dangers of partisanship and made the case for unity across the country. Recently, New York Times political correspondent Maggie Haberman joined Daily Beast editor-in-chief John Avlon at the Library to discuss his new book, Washington’s Farewell: the Founding Father’s Warning to Future GenerationsFor this week's episode of the New York Public Library Podcast, we're proud to present Avlon and Haberman discussing how Washington's views have held up or proven inadequate within the political context of the present.

Beyond "A League of Their Own"

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Much of my knowledge regarding women's baseball stemmed from watching the classic, A League of Their Own. This movie is actually a fictionalized story based on the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Established during World War II, the AAGPBL was established as a way for baseball to stay in the public eye, while many of Major League Baseball's biggest stars—such as Ted Williams, Bob Feller, and Joe DiMaggio—went overseas to serve. 

Thanks to female baseball pioneers and the AAGBPBL, women are able to thrive in the once male-dominated sport. Check out some of these books on women who have transformed the world of baseball:

Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball

1. Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball edited by Leslie A. Heaphy

Published in 2006, this is likely the be-all-end-all when it comes to the topic of women who were involved with the sport. It organizes the women by their maiden name, and then includes their married name if they did possess one. Plenty of statistics are available for players, as well as a rundown of the teams that the player played for. The cool thing about this book is that it doesn't only cover female baseball players: it's a comprehensive field guide for all of the women who were ever even involved with the sport of baseball. That includes women who once owned major league franchises, like Joan Payson, who was the first female to buy a North American sports team (as opposed to inheriting) when she purchased the Mets in 1962. Other former MLB franchise owners included are Jean Yawkey, Joan Kroc, and the "colorful-to-say-the-least" Marge Schott.
 

Bloomer girls

2. Bloomer Girls: Women Baseball Pioneers by Debra A. Shattuck

A brand new 2017 release! While I haven't gotten my hands on a copy yet, Bloomer Girls appears to be a fascinating look at how baseball became a hit with women in the first place during the 19th century. While baseball has primarily been known as a male sport since that time period, Shattuck does yeoman's work to bring the birth of women's baseball into the limelight. She unearths rehashings from newspapers, as well as "hard-to-find club archives", in order to bring the origin of women in baseball to the world. Women clearly faced many hardships in their attempt to play the game that they loved. With the Women's Rights movements that are happening all over the country in 2017, this book is a must for those who are intrigued by women's history, let alone baseball fans. 
 

Toni Stone

3. Curveball: The Remarkable Story of Toni Stone the First Woman to Play Professional Baseball in the Negro League by Martha Ackmann

I once wrote a blog post entirely about Toni Stone. For those of you who don't know, Toni Stone was the first of three women who played professionally in the Negro Leagues. She was first signed to a contract in 1951 by a promoter named Syd Pollack. The team Pollack promoted for was called the Indianapolis Clowns, who basically were what they claimed to be: clowns! They played credibly enough, but by and large were there to be a spectacle rather than a legitimate baseball force. However, bear in mind that this is the team that gave future Hall of Famer and home run king Hank Aaron his first contract. So, it's not as if this team was entirely about joking around. Irregardless as to whether Stone was recruited as a spectacle or not, she was able to keep her head above water with the men and play some solid baseball, becoming the first female baseball player to be employed by a professional ballclub for a lengthy period of time without having her contract voiced. 
 

Remember My Name

4. Remember My Name: My Story from First Pitch to Game Changer by Mo'ne Davis

This biography follows the life of teenager Mo'ne Davis. Davis became a household name due to her feats in the 2014 Little League World Series. While she is not the first female to take the field in that particular tournament (she's the 18th, Victoria Roche of Belgium was the first in 1984), she did notch many other impressive accomplishments over the course of the 2014 tournament. Out of all the girls to participate in the Little League World Series, Davis is the first of African-American descent. She is also the first female player to earn a win, record a shutout, and is the sixth to collect a hit. Her dominance turned her into a Sports Illustrated cover woman and a role model for female ballplayers everywhere. 

 

 Origins and History of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

5. The Origins and History of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League by Merrie A. Fidler

This book details the history of the inaugural 1943 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), established during World War II. The AAGPBL was a way for baseball to stay in the public eye, while many of Major League Baseball's biggest stars went overseas to serve. The league lasted until 1954.

 

 
 

For more information on women in baseball, please visit our catalog.

Booktalking "Careers in Focus: Politics"

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politics

Careers in Focus: Politics provides a fascinating look at all of the professions that are associated with politics and policy creation in local, state, and federal governments.

Interpreters, translators, lawyers, judges, activists, and public opinion researchers: these are not jobs that I would have previously considered to be political in nature. However, their roles in society are incredibly important.

To be most effective, interpreters and translators need to specialize in certain fields so that they understand and can translate complex vocabulary and jargon. This group includes sign language translators; they can assist by translating speeches and facilitating communication between parties. Translators often work on a global stage, such as at United Nations meetings.

Lawyers and judges can be appointed or elected by constituents to their positions. Some judgeships consist of 14-year terms, which makes them less dependent on re-election. Judges create case law, which shapes how our legal and law enforcement processes work.

Activists or lobbyists are individuals who may be allied with grassroots organizations. They advocate for change in a specific field, such as education or the environment. Lobbyists fight for what they believe is right; they may host and participate in rallies and testify before legislators. They can also submit written testimony to elected officials that are in favor or opposition to particular bills.

Research does not seem like a political field holistically, but some policy analysts and public opinion researchers specialize in researching governmental topics. Their work is of invaluable assistance; they inform elected officials of the data and research on particular issues, which guides their decisions and work towards the best possible solutions to the societal problems that they seek to remedy.

Learn more:

Prisons, Property, and the American Revolution

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Just as soon as they won the Revolution and secured their independence, Americans began incarcerating more people.  In a society founded ostensibly on freedom or liberty, what could be a graver punishment than taking away one’s freedom?  Interestingly, Americans after the country’s founding saw prisons as a progressive innovation in line with revolutionary values. They  believed prisons were both a more humane and a more effective form of punishment. They replaced public corporal punishment and limited the number of crimes punishable by death, a transformation in focus toward rehabilitating people as opposed to exacting retribution from them.  

The transformation of criminal punishment was particularly evident in the urban north—especially Philadelphia and New York City.  Yet even by 1800, fewer than five percent of the United States’ five million people lived in cities of more than 10,000 people.  The changing role of prisons was far less pronounced elsewhere, in rural areas like Albany County, as this post shows, using recently digitized materials from the Abraham Yates, Jr. papers, and the Theodorus Bailey Myers Collection from the Library’s archival collections.

AY1
Robert Livingston, Jr. to Abraham Yates, Jr., Oct. 7, 1754, Abraham Yates, Jr. papers, NYPL

There was a new sheriff in town in 1754.  Not long after Abraham Yates, Jr. took office as the high sheriff of Albany County, he started to hear from powerful men like Robert Livingston, Jr.  Livingston and his family owned tens of thousands of acres—basically all of what is now Columbia County—though they did not work that land. Instead, these manor lords leased small plots to tenant farmers, often for their entire lives. Livingston first wrote Yates to congratulate him on his new appointment.   Tellingly, Livingston also added that “Patrick Magie has served me several times against my obstropolous Tenants,” and requested Yates keep him “in the station he now is in, as jaylkeeper[sic].” Livingston’s main goal was to protect his vast landed empire.  He needed to ensure that the institutions of government and justice served his interests. 

Livingston had reason to expect he might need the jail-keeper, in particular, in his pocket. Tenants got a raw deal.  Proprietors usually exercised a right of first refusal on their tenants’ crops; the tenant farmer could not sell to other parties until the landlord passed on buying them. Similarly, on many manors, tenants had to take their grain to their landlord’s mill for processing, which meant there was no competition and landlords could set prices. In addition to all of this, as part of their lease, most tenants still had to pay the property taxes on their piece of land even though they did not own it. Understandably, tenant frustrations boiled over into outright revolt on the Manors with some regularity.

AY2
Robert Livingston, Jr. to Abraham Yates, Jr., Oct. 21, 1754, Abraham Yates, Jr. papers, NYPL

Livingston, then the Lord of the Manor, had a lot at stake in limiting these conflagrations. He took an interest in Yates because he wanted to ensure Yates would work with him to limit those. But Yates did not bow to the pressure of the powerful manor lord, opting to appoint a different man as his deputy and the jail-keeper. Livingston was enraged. He wrote Yates that he “was sorry to find” the sheriff “under obligations to some of your friends, so very prejudicial to my interest” to such a degree that he would make “a man of an infamous character” the jailkeeper.” It “schagrines[sic] me,” Livingston concluded, “to find that this fellow should have a greater interest & share in your favours than myself.”

AY3
Robert Livingston, Jr. to Abraham Yates, Jr., March 3, 1755, Abraham Yates, Jr. papers, NYPL

But Livingston still needed to work with Yates in order to protect his property holdings. So he cooled off. In 1755, when some of his “manor people” armed New Englanders streaming across the Berkshire Mountains, Livingston wrote Yates that “I hope you’ll keep them in close confinement.” Public corporal punishment only went so far; sometimes, Livingston simply needed troublemakers confined so that the turmoil would have time to abate. Yates did as asked and helped quell the riots.  Even still, Livingston never totally got over Yates’ early independent streak. By the end of the 1750s, Yates was no longer sheriff. Livingston blocked his attempts to gain election to other offices. Livingston needed administration of justice to serve his interest absolutely.  

Manors in the upper Hudson Valley survived the Revolution. The Livingstons and other families managed to maintain much of their pre-revolutionary landholdings. Yet all was not the same. The populace embraced the democratic ideals of the Revolution and grew increasingly assertive in politics.

Oddly enough, one of the first things citizens complained to the Legislature about was the insecurity of their property.  They sounded a bit like the manor lords.  A broad swath of men from the northern reaches of New York—especially Albany—bemoaned that “Felons, Robbers and thieves have of late years Increased and are dayly[sic] Increasing in this Part of the State to an alarming degree.  Inasmuch that your Petitioners are under constant apprehensions for the Safety of their Property and the Peace of orderly Citizens greatly disturbed.” They demanded the state do something to combat this.  

Myers1
Petition to the New York State Legislature from the Citizens of the Northern Part of the State, Theodorus Bailey Myers collection
Petition
Petition to the New York State Legislature from the Citizens of the Northern Part of the State, Theodorus Bailey Myers collection

 

In particular,  the petitioners wanted a prison. Embracing the new revolutionary logic behind prisons, they claimed they were “fully convinced that the recent experience of several Countries in Europe as well as in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, to confine convicted Criminals to hard labour for life or a specific number of years according to the extent of their Crimes has had a most happy tendency by holding up its victims as Standing monuments of Guilt and remorse.”  The state should raise money “sufficient to Build a Commodious House of Correction in the City of Albany and sufficiently large to confine to hard labour all the criminals in the northern Part of this state.” Despite the American Revolution, prisons continued to protect property owners and their social order from the have-nots.

Further Reading:

On changing conceptions of punishment and the rise of prisons in revolutionary America, see Jen Manion, Liberty’s Prisoners: Carceral Culture in Early America(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015); and Michael Meranze,Laboratories of Virtue: Punishment, Revolution, and Authority in Philadelphia, 1760-1835(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996). On the manorial system and land riots in the Upper Hudson Valley, see Thomas J. Humphrey, Land and Liberty: Hudson Valley Riots in the Age of Revolution(DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 2004). Biographical information of many of the petitioners are available through “The People of Colonial Albany,” a database created by Stefan Bielinski as part of the Colonial Albany Social History project that he ran at the New York State Museum. 

About the Early American Manuscripts Project

With support from the The Polonsky Foundation, The New York Public Library is currently digitizing upwards of 50,000 pages of historic early American manuscript material. The Early American Manuscripts Project will allow students, researchers, and the general public to revisit major political events of the era from new perspectives and to explore currents of everyday social, cultural, and economic life in the colonial, revolutionary, and early national periods. The project will present on-line for the first time high quality facsimiles of key documents from America’s Founding, including the papers of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. Drawing on the full breadth of the Library’s manuscript collections, it will also make widely available less well-known manuscript sources, including business papers of Atlantic merchants, diaries of people ranging from elite New York women to Christian Indian preachers, and organizational records of voluntary associations and philanthropic organizations. Over the next two years, this trove of manuscript sources, previously available only at the Library, will be made freely available through nypl.org.


Words that Readers Can’t Say

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You might know the feeling: You’ve read a word a million times, it’s totally familiar, you’re pretty sure what it means… and, because you’ve only ever seen it in print, you have no idea how to actually say it out loud.

English is a difficult and capricious (kah-PRI-shuss) language, and we’ve compiled a huge list of words that our NYPL book experts mispronounced as kids — or still do! — because they’d only seen them in print.

rose
Readers looking at words but not pronouncing them out loud in NYPL's Rose Main Reading Room, ca. 1924.

Before you give our list a read, test your pronunciation skills with our quiz!

 

 

 

Acetaminophen

When I read it really, really slowly, syllable for syllable, I can pronounce the word.  However, when I read it quickly or say it from memory it comes out more like “ah-see-toe-meen-oh-phen-oh-meen-oh-lyn”... Every time it comes out slightly different and ends with more of a mumble. 

It’s the main reason why I became a librarian instead of a doctor.   

Adolescence

I don’t know why but my brain just would not process the word “adolescence” correctly, and whenever I said it it came out more like ‘ad-oss-oh-lens’. No specific book for this one, but I seem to remember thinking about Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events and the way the author would define complex vocabulary by saying “______, a word which here means...”

Annals

An embarrassing memory of mine stems from this happening in a literature class in college (I can’t remember the book, but I do remember that it was an 19th-Century American Romances; I believe it was A Romance of the Republic). We went around the class reading passages aloud, and when it was my turn to read, a sentence contained the word “annals”. It looked very much like another word, and I pronounced it like that other word. Annals is not a word commonly used in conversation, and I’d never come across it outside of books I’d read.

My professor kindly interrupted and reminded the class that the word is “AN-als,” not “AY-nals.” Yikes. 

antigone
A scene from the  1982 New York Shakespeare production of An-TIH-go-nee.

Antigone and Socrates

Zadie Smith, in NW, talks about a character incorrectly pronouncing Socrates with two syllables and Antigone with three... Sock-Rats!

Antimacassar

I had one word in mind: antimacassar (a cover to protect the back or arms of furniture. From macassar, a hair product popular in the 19th c.)

I must have encountered this word in countless Victorian novels and eventually understood the meaning in context, but I sure was pronouncing it wrong in my head. I’ve never needed to say it out loud but finally decided to check the pronunciation when I read the word in a more contemporary novel, Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr:

“From her coat pocket she produced a small lace handkerchief which seemed as improbable in her large, peasant hands as an antimacassar in the hands of Max Schmelling, the boxer, and quite inadequate for the task which lay before it.”

Antiques

I remember being on a family road trip when I was a child and passing a billboard promoting an antique store.  When I asked my mother what “ANTY-KEWS” were, my parents and older brothers all had a good laugh at my expense.

Antithesis

I assumed “antithesis” was pronounced “anti-thesis” until it was thoughtfully pointed out to me (mid-tirade) that I was totally wrong about that. 

Awry

I knew things had gone “awry” when my high school English teacher winced as I mispronounced it in my otherwise perfect rendition of Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy.

brooch
Nineteenth-century brooches! Not broaches.

Brooch

I always pronounce it to rhyme with “pooch,” but it should actually rhyme with “roach.” It can be found in many Henry James novels as the elegant ladies get dressed and put on their jewelry. 

Crinoline

In 6th grade, I was dinged out of a televised spelling bee on “crinoline.” To this day I don’t understand how crinoline could possibly sound how it’s spelled.

Dishabille

Not my own, but ever since a friend confessed she had once thought the French-derived word for “in a state of undress” was pronounced “dis-shabbily,” I’ve never been able to read or speak either “dishabille“ or “déshabillé“ without silently pronouncing it that way. 

Draught

Draught, which I always pronounced as rhyming with “jot.” This line from the infamous “Cetology” chapter of Moby-Dickwould have really tripped me up: “This whole book is but a draught — nay, but the draught of a draught. Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!”

Evangelical

And I went to Catholic school for three years. I start off great, get confused in the middle, and add the end as an afterthought. It was made apparent when reading out loud Meghan Daum‘s essay I Nearly Died, So What?.  

Ewell

I have a VERY specific memory for this one!  I remember having to read To Kill a Mockingbird out loud in class, and everyone laughed because I said “E-well” instead of “YOU-ell.” I know better now, but I think of this whenever I come across the “ew” combination!

Glower

My long-mispronounced word was “glower” as first encountered in Wuthering Heights. It rhymes with “flower” not “lower” and I still get it mixed up from time to time. 

Hermione

I remember when I first read Harry Potter in the 6th grade, Hermione was always pronounced “Her-moyne.”

elephant
Elephants are HUDGE.

Huge

In second grade, we were doing some kind of group practice vocabulary/grammar exercise and there was a question about an adjective that can be used to describe an elephant.  We were looking at the test booklet and It was multiple choice and we had to raise a hand if we wanted to offer an answer to whatever question was next.  For the elephant question, I looked at all four words that were offered and spotted the word, “huge.”  I did not know what this word meant, but, in my mind, I pronounced it “hudge” and I thought, “Well, that sounds like a word that describes something that is really, really big — HUDGE!!!”  So I raised my hand, all set to shout out, “HUDGE!”  Fortunately, another student with her hand raised was chosen by the teacher and she pronounced the word “huge” with accuracy and grace.  I would have been correct in my selection, but I probably would have been mildly humiliated by the experience.

Inchoate x2

A just begun and so not fully formed or developed; rudimentary. It should be voiced as “in-CO-it”, but I still pronounce this in my head as in-CHOAT. I will not budge on this.

I came across this word again recently in Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves:

“But I remember this clearly –waking up each morning and going to sleep each night in a state of inchoate dread. The fact that I didn’t know what I was dreading made it no less dreadful. Arguably, more so.” 

The “inchoate” mail above reminds me of Stephen Donaldson’s writing because he used it frequently in his Thomas Covenant series. Two words I always pronounced incorrectly that he used were surquedry and malign. “Surquedry” (sur-KWEE-dri) is an old one so I’ll give myself a pass on that. “Malign” I kept pronouncing as “malin” because I figured it was like malignant. Whoops.

Macabre

My word is “macabre” and I’d say anything by Edgar Allen Poe fits the bill. 

Meringue

The first time I read Amelia Bedelia, the Lemon Meringue Pie she made was a lovely Lemon “merin-goo” pie.  My family still calls all merignues “merin-goos.”

Misled

I used to think “misle” was a word (pronounced “MIZE-el”).  I believed if something was “misling” then it was confusing or deceiving.  I had read the word in past tense a number of times: “misled” (which I figured was pronouced “MIZE-ld”).  It took me forever to realize the word “misled” was just “mis-LED” - i.e., the past tense of “mislead.”  I would say a lot of “mystery books” are intentionally written to be misling misleading at first. 

Moniker

I always think “monkey-er” when I read “moniker.” It does make reading more entertaining! Oh, and “detritus” always trips me up too.

Penelope (x2!)

Mine were names: Penelope (from the Odyssey) in my mind always rhymed with “cantaloupe” and Honoria was “honor-EE-a.” I could never figure out why someone would want to name their daughter that!

I remember as a brand new NYPL hire, discussing author Penelope Lively with my branch manager and being met with a rather quizzical expression, at which point she then pronounced

“Penelope Lively” correctly and I turned 50 shades of red. 

Picturesque

I can’t tie it to a book, but for years I pronounced picturesque, “pictures Q.” One of my most embarrassing moments is being corrected by my 12th grade English teacher. I think my mispronunciation went on for so long because no one had any idea what I was talking about!

Preface

For a long time, every time I read a book with a “preface”, I would pronounce it as “pre-face.” It does not help that prefaces are found at the beginning, because the “pre” always threw me off.

Rendezvous

When I was young, I knew of the word “rendezvous” but had no idea how it was spelled, so when I saw the book Rendezvous with Rama, I thought it was pronounced entirely differently and was a different word.  I forget how I finally figured it out.

Satin

I always had trouble with the word “satin” when I was a child. I pronounced it like “Satan.”

sean
This dancer's name is SEAN Lavery.

Sean

I keeping with name pronunciation issues, I grew up reading about characters named Sean well before I actually met one.  Imagine my embarrassment when I was corrected and learned that Sean was “Shawn” and not “See-an.” Oh boy.

Sergeant

My second-grade class was reading a story out loud, with various students being given passages to recite.  When it was time for my best friend to read, he came to the word “sergeant” and pronounced it “SIR-gee-ant.” I kind of knew it was not correct, but I didn’t say anything to my friend and, to this day (yes, we are still friends), I have never mentioned it, although I still remember it vividly! 

Sherbet

I still haven’t nailed down the difference between sherbet and sorbet, and I’ve definitely called them both sherbet out loud. If you’re an adventurous home cook and dessert eater, you might enjoy the recipes in Lomelino’s Ice Cream. The author helpfully includes a section of sherbets and sorbets, which, believe it or not, are actually two different things! It’s all delicious to me

Shoulder/soldier

When I was a kid, I had a problem pronouncing “shoulder” and “soldier.”  The word I said out loud would end up sounding like a bizarre blending of the two.  And regarding author names, at least once a year I share this author name pronunciation guide with my teens and we listen to dozens of authors talking about their names. That’s how I learned that Rick Riordan’s last name is pronounced like “rye” bread!

Statistics

I’ll admit to having trouble with a word that is pronounced exactly as written: statistics. I always get stuck and want to stick an extra “s” in there, so it comes out something like “sta-sti-sticks.” At least I am honest about this, not like some who employ the numbers to dishonest ends, telling damned lies with statistics

Terpischore

The Greek muse of Dance?  Terpischore:  pronounced by me as Terp-i-shore rather than Terp-sick-ory. Edith Hamilton’s Mythology!

Vegan

Please don’t laugh, but although I’ve heard the word thousands of times I will never get used to the pronunciation of the spelled word “vegan.” This I know is a quirk, but as the OED says, it is a combination “from vegetarian + -an” so I think of the soft “g” sound when I read the word. We have lots of books in the Library about the lifestyle and the diet, and you’ll also find cookbooks galore for vegans.

Wreath/wrath

In my head they sound the same, and wrong! The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson.

Wriggle

Wriggle! I TRIP UP EVERY TIME. Whenever I did a story time with that word in it, I changed it to wiggle.

wyvern
A wyvern is a super-cool dragon.

Wyvern

This one is particularly egregious because that’s my cat’s name!

Yosemite

Until I was twenty-four years old ... I thought Yosemite was pronounced “Yo-SMITE-ee.” I was nattering on about Yosemite to my parents while they politely stared at me. After several minutes of confusion, they realized I had quite possibly only read the word.

Contributions by NYPL staffers: Alessandra Affinito, Nancy Aravecz, Susen Aufrichtig, Jenny Baum, Adriana Blancarte-Hayward, Crystal Chen, Kathie Coblentz, Frank Collerius, Caitlyn Colman-McGaw, Richard Dowe, Kathleen Fais, Althea Georges, Gregory Huchko, Jeffrey Katz, Melissa Koszer, Ronni Krasnow, Emily Lazio, Christina Lebec, Suzanne Lipkin, Andrea Lipinski, Sherri Machlin, Meredith Mann, Nanyamkah Mars, Kay Menick, Amber Moller, Maura Muller, Katrina Ortega, Joe Pascullo, Emily Pullen, Charlie Radin, Nicole Rosenbluth, Jenny Rosenoff, Wayne Roylance, Susen Shi, Gretchen Smith, Joshua Soule, Brian Stokes, Chantalle Uzan, Elizabeth Waters, Sue Yee

All images from NYPL's Digital Collections.

Can You Correctly Define These Words That James Joyce Made Up?

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James Joyce

On February 2, 1882, legendary modernist writer James Joyce was born in the suburbs of Dublin, Ireland. The author of UlyssesFinnegans Wake, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is best known for his stream-of-consciousness writing style, full of onomatopoeia, playfulness, and some pretty out there made-up words. To celebrate our favorite Dubliner, we put together a little quiz with the weirdest Joyceisms we could find -- see if you can guess the definitions of these crazy Joyceisms below!

 

 

Ep. 62 "It Turns Me On" | Library Stories

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Stop by your local library, and you may find an art exhibition. St. Agnes Library in Manhattan invites area artists like Peter Salwen to display their work for a month at a time, in the gracious stairwell leading to the second floor. "I think there's a sense in which art does have a natural place in the library," Pete says. "It adds the experience of having potentially an audience out there who come by, and look at my work, and find something in it that speaks to them."

Library Stories is a video series from The New York Public Library that shows what the Library means to our users, staff, donors, and communities through moving personal interviews.

Like, share, and watch more Library Stories on Facebook or YouTube.

 

Peter Salwen, artist, at St. Agnes Library

10 African and African American Folktales for Children

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America is a country rich in history and stories. As a melting pot of cultures, our national literature comes from all over the world. One of the best ways to teach our children about other cultures is through books, and in honor of Black History Month, I have put together some of my favorite African and African-American folk tales that are perfect to share with children. These books blend together a rich combination of history, fable, and illustrations that engage and teach children the importance of America's cultural diversity.

African Folktales

A Story, A Story written and illustrated by Gale E. Hayley

Where do stories come from? This African folk tale tells the story of the small, yet tricky spider Anansi, and his quest to get the stories from the Sky God and give them to the children of earth. When the Sky God won't give Anansi the stories, Anansi must figure out a way get them himself.

 

 

Anansi the Spider written and illustrated by Gerald McDermott

Anansi (or depending where you are, Ananse, Kawku Ananse, or even Aunt Nancy) can be found in folklore and stories from all over the world, but he originated in the Ashanti tribe in Ghana. In Anansi the Spider our little hero finds himself in trouble again. He is rescued by his sons, but his problems don't end there. Anansi must decide which son deserves a prize for saving his father's life. 

 

A

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters : An African Tale by John Steptoe

All fairytale princesses have one thing in common -the desire not to be a princess. So it is with Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters. His two bad tempered older daughter will stop at nothing to get a chance to become queens, but his kind and patient youngest daughter wants only to do the right thing. So when Mufaro's daughters hear that the king is looking to marry, they set off to the castle. Although Mufaro's daughters take the same path, they all end up in different places.

 

 

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema ; illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon

When the mosquito unwittingly bothers the iguana, Iguana gets so annoyed that he sticks two sticks in his ears so he won't have to listen to Mosquitoe's talking. This sets off a chain of events that finally answers that age old question: why do mosquitoes buzz in people's ears? 

 

 

Why the Sky is Far Away : a Nigerian Folktale  by Mary-Joan Gerson; pictures by Carla Golembe

Mythology originated with people's need to know why. In this Nigerian story,  "Why the Sky is Far Away", readers learn that the sun and the sky used to live close to earth. People didn't have to plant crops or cook because if they needed something they could reach right into the sky and grab it. But soon they start grabbing more than they need and their wastefulness has consequences.

 

African American Folktales

African-American folktales evolved from the need for African slaves to hold onto their culture in an environment where they weren't allowed to express themselves or keep their old traditions. The stories below are a mix of traditions from both side of the Atlantic, told for a modern audience and accompanied by vibrant illustrations.

 

Sukey and the Mermaid by Robert D. San Souci ; illustrated by Brian Pinkney

Sukey is a young girl who lives with her mother and stepfather. They make her work hard all day. She finds solace in the soft sand and bright waters of the seaside, where she meets a mermaid named Mama Jo. Mama Jo helps Sukey find a better life with her magic and her love. Pinkney's illustrations of Mama Jo's black and green hair, Sukey brown skin, the pink colors of the sunset, and the blue-greys of the sea adds to the mysticism of San Souci's story.

 

 

 Finding the Green Stone by Alice Walker; paintings by Catherine Deeter

This short story by Alice Walker becomes a vibrant children's book with the help of Catherine Deerer's paintings. Everyone in Johnny's town has a bright, shining green stone. But as Johnny begins making bad choices, his stone begins to fade until one day he loses it. The people in Johnny's town come together to help him find his stone, but Johnny is the only person who can find his stone and make it shine bright again. 

 

 

 

Talking Eggs

The Talking Eggs: a folktale from the American South; retold by Robert D. San Souci ; pictures by Jerry Pinkney

Blanche and her mother and older sister live on a small farm in the American south. Blanche is a hard worker and tends the whole farm by herself while her uncaring mother and sister laze about on the porch all day either ignoring or ordering Blanche around. But Blanche's fortunes soon change when she's kind to an old woman she meets in the woods. 

 

 

Mirandy and Brother Wind by William Holden, illustrated by Brian Pinkney

Mirandy needs a partner for her first cake walk dance. Who better to dance with than Brother Wind, who can swoop and dip and turn any way he pleases? But first Mirandy must catch the wind. Is she clever enough to stop Brother Wind in his path?

You can read Mirandy and Brother Wind online using OverDrive.

LES Oral History Project Kick-Off Event

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**This post is written by guest blogger and NYPL Community Oral History Project volunteer, Emma Bonanomi**

Lower East Side resident George Rogoff

“When I moved to this area I finally felt like I could be myself,” George Rogoff told me at the LES Oral History kick-off event on January 19. “There were garden cafeterias back then, where we’d sit and talk. Those were replaced by Barnes and Noble. Now it’s Whole Foods. Times change, but people always need a place where they can just hang out.”

Change is rapid in New York City, and especially the Lower East Side, where the streets are a clash of old and new. That change was the topic of reflection and celebration on January 19, as community members came together to kick off of The New York Public Library’s Lower East Side Oral History Project at the Seward Park Library.

The goal of the neighborhood history project is to collect, document, and archive LES history through the eyes of local residents. The project trains local community members to conduct interviews, and invites longtime residents to share their stories. Email NYPLOralHistory@nypl.org to get involved.

Community members gathered at the Seward Park Library

The festivities began with singer and guitarist Oren Bloedow performing tunes from the Lower East Side, including Elliot Smith’s “Between the Bars,” which the late musician premiered at the LES’s Knitting Factory in the mid-nineties. Community members also heard clips pulled from the 55 interviews already recorded for the project, and watched Yudie, a 1974 16mm film chronicling the life of a Jewish grandmother whose parents immigrated from Russia to the Lower East Side. 

1974 16mm film, Yudie

Following programming, interviewers, storytellers, and neighbors mingled over refreshments. (“This neighborhood is very food centric,” George pointed out.) Here are a few of the stories we overheard:

  • Janet, who had already led six interviews and was planning for her seventh, said the project was helping her dig deeper with longtime friends. In one interview, a friend described the lengthy, racially-charged process she faced when she applied to live in her apartment 36 years ago, catalyzing local activists to take action.
  • Hanna teaches oral history at the New School. She’s excited for her students to learn to help people unlock their stories by honing a simple but valuable skill: showing interest in someone else’s life story.
  • Diane recently interviewed her friend Fran, a writer. To other New Yorkers interested in getting involved in the project, Diane shared: “We’re just regular people sharing what we know. You can both just relax and be yourself. Listen and let her speak.”
  • And finally, George Rogoff told me his reason for coming out was about more than just sharing his story: “I’m retiring in five months. I wanted to come out and do things and be part of this neighborhood. You have to make an effort to make community.”

The project will continue to host local history events every third Thursday from 6-8 pm. The next event is an author talk on February 16. Ada Calhoun will be discussing St. Marks is Dead at the Tompkins Square Library.

About Our Project:

This is a neighborhood oral history project that works to both preserve, document, and celebrate Lower East Side neighborhood history through the stories of people who have experienced it.

This project collects oral histories of people who have lived or worked in the LES neighborhood. Community volunteers are trained to conduct these interviews. Interviews are preserved at The Milstein Division of US History, Local History and Genealogy and accessible through The New York Public Library.

Visit our website to listen to oral histories recorded so far.

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