May book selection — The Discovery of Jeanne Baret

Please join us for our discussion of The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe by Glynis Ridley.

Born in 1740, Jeanne Baret accompanied botanist Philibert Commerson on France’s first expedition to circumnavigate the globe. However… women were forbidden. What did she do? Dress as a man and go! Question is: was she able to fool the 330 other men on the voyage? For three years? Read to find out!

We will meet to discuss this book on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. in The Group Study Room.

If you would like a copy of the book for our discussion, please ask us at The Reference Desk.

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Last night’s discussion of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Last night, the group met to discuss Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard.  We had a really great discussion, and I’ll try to give some of the highlights here:

• The person who had suggested the book to the group noted that he hadn’t re-read the book for a while, and hadn’t remembered it as being as dense as it is.   He remarked that Dillard’s thinking in this book feels in line with his own personal thinking, and liked how she seems to be an “experimental theologian.”
• Another reader tried this book on audio, and wound up not finishing it.  She said that listening to it while on a long drive was a bit sleep-inducing, although she liked how it was read — that the reader had a very conversational tone, which gave the book an added dimension.
• One person noted how much detail the author gave about so many plants and animals, and that she found herself frequently looking up these things, just to get a better understanding of what they were.   Other readers mentioned they did the same thing when reading this book.
• We all remarked that this is a book we felt should be read slowly, not only because of Dillard’s writing style, but because it is somewhat dense, and there is a lot to take in.     Many of us felt more inspired to take nature walks after reading this book, and some of us were reminded of how, as children, we did more exploring in our backyards, parks, creeks, etc.
• One reader said that reading this book made her want to keep a journal, and noted how for Dillard, the journals were obviously not just an observation of her surroundings, but also an observation of her inner self.
• We all wondered about the author, and luckily, someone in the group had looked up some information about her, including some interviews with her.  He gave us some background information, as well as information from these interviews.
• We discussed how Dillard approaches not only religion, but general questions that she raises in this book.  The fact that she doesn’t shy away from questions was something that readers liked.  Readers also seemed to respond to certain things that Dillard wrote about God, especially (for two of us), the same quote: “What if God has the same affectionate disregard for us that we have for barnacles?”   (p. 169, HarperPerennial ed.).   We also discussed how seasoned of a writer Dillard come across as in this book — especially considering that she was in her twenties when she wrote it.   While her writing style, and somewhat convoluted thoughts were occasionally distracting to some readers, many of us enjoyed how poetic her writing is in this book.

Overall, the group really enjoyed this book, and thought it was a good choice.

If you have read this book, and would like to add your thoughts, please do!

Our next book is The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynis Ridley, which we’ll meet to discuss on May 23rd (more information coming soon)

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In anticipation of our discussion of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek —

I thought I’d put up a post with two links, if anyone would like more information about the book or the author, before our book discussion on Wednesday, April 18th.

I found a Wikipedia article about the book and the author, which has some interesting information in it, and I’m also including the link to the author’s official website, if you’d like to learn more about her.

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Lisle Library’s upcoming National Library Week events —

You Belong at Your Library!   Our library is celebrating National Library Week this coming weekend — starting with a all-ages concert on Friday, April 13th at 6:00 p.m.

Come listen to the Old Town School of Folk Music’s own Laura Doherty in concert, enjoy some games and take a crazy picture that tells the world why you belong at your library!

On Saturday, April 14th, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, we’ll have an open house in our meeting rooms, showcasing some of the local groups that meet here at the library.   It’s a great opportunity to see the variety of different groups, and also learn about what Adult Services and Youth Services have for our patrons, as well.

For more information, please visit our home page at http://www.lislelibrary.org, or visit us on Facebook!

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