Happy New Year!

MCMPL Newsletter

Mary C. Moore Public Library

January 2020

Announcements & Events About Us

Hours

Happy New Year! Monday-Thursday 10am-8pm Friday Book Club: For our February 4 meeting we are reading Circe by Madeline Miller, “a bold 10am-5pm and subversive retelling of the goddess's story, both epic and intimate in its scope, recasting the Saturday most infamous female figure from the Odyssey as a hero in her own right.” 10am-5pm Sunday & Stat Holidays Four Eyes Film Series: Wednesday, January 15, 7pm at Lacombe City Cinemas: Il Pleuvait Closed de Oiseaux (And the Birds Rained Down, directed by Louise Archambault. Tickets will be available at the library January 4 through 14. See next page for all the details! Library Services Armchair Travel: Tuesday, January 14, 7pm in the LMC: Ireland, presented by Janet Hall. Free Wi-Fi Local History: Thursday, January 23, 7pm in the LMC: Deep Roots Farm, presented by Free public computer use Marc Visscher. Printing Genealogy Club: The library provides a time and space on the second Tuesday of the Faxing month at 4:30pm, for family history enthusiasts to convene and share tips, advice and stories. Everyone is welcome to attend drop-in meetings -- no registration required. The club meets the Scan-to-email second Tuesday of each month. Ancestry.ca is now available for public use, in the library or via Photocopying the library Wifi only. ** The January 14 meeting will take place in the Rotary board room in the LMC. Reference Questions Adult Craft Programs: Check out our website for information about our regular and special eBook/Audio downloads craft programming for adults. Card making, jewellery nights, knitting and more! Children’s Programs: Registration for winter/spring children’s programs begins Monday, Regular Programs January 6 at 10am. Phone us or register in person at the library -- NO voicemails or emails, please. Classes fill very quickly (usually within the first 45 minutes), so register early to avoid Children’s Programs disappointment. Classes run January 14 through February 21, March 3 through April 10 and Monthly Book Club April 21 through May 29. Children will be registered for the entire session. There is a one-time fee of $5 per family, or a craft supply donation. Knitting Club Adult Craft Programs Independent Film Series Local History Presentations Armchair Travel Presentations

Mary C. Moore Public Library 101-5214 50 Ave. Lacombe, AB T4L 0B6 403-782-3433 [email protected] lacombelibrary.com facebook: /MCMPL twitter: @MCM_PubLibrary Four Eyes Film Series Independent Film Series

Independent, International, Illuminating, Imaginative Four Eyes Film Series screens notable independent and world films not typically available to film lovers in Lacombe and area. Films are shown on the third Wednesday of each month (except July and August), 7pm at Lacombe City Cinemas. The film series is organized by a group of staff at Mary C. Moore Public Library. We acknowledge and appreciate our partnership with Toronto international Film Festival Film Circuit and Lacombe City Cinemas. Tickets Advance tickets $9 each, available at the library at the beginning of the month, until 8pm on the Tuesday before the film. On the day of the film, tickets are only available at the door, $10 each, cash only and subject to availability. All tickets are final sale. Box office opens at 6:15pm in the lobby of Lacombe City Cinemas. All ticket proceeds to the library. Concession available! JAN 15~IL PLEUVAIT DES OISEAUX (And the Birds Rained Down) Directed by Louise Archambault

Three elderly hermits live deep in the woods, cut off from the rest of the world. While wildfires threaten the region, their quiet life is about to be shaken by the arrival of two women... A luminous octogenarian, unjustly institutionalized her whole life, and a young photographer charged with interviewing survivors of the region's deadliest forest fire. And The Birds Rained Down is the story of intertwined destinies, where love can happen at any age and new life emerges in unexpected places. A poignant meditation on the possibilities of living outside modernity.

Canada // 127 min // French with English subtitles // Rated: PG Rated 88% Fresh by critics on rottentomatoes.com

See the full Four Eyes line-up, with film trailers, on our website: lacombelibrary.com/film New Book Spotlight A selection of our recent acquisitions

Crocuses Hatch from Snow by Jaime Burnet When Ada falls for a body piercer named Pan, her grandmother, Mattie, says she looks like a caught trout with all those hooks in her mouth. But Mattie is caught too. It isn’t her Alzheimer’s, or the secret vibrator Ada’s mother Joan is convinced she has stashed in her room. Mattie is in love with a ghost. When Joan buys a house in Halifax's north end, the three generations move in next door to Ken, the man at the reins of the machine that tore down their old one. Ken and his family aren’t thrilled about their new neighbours, who are driving up the rent and helping history to repeat itself. While Ada’s obsession with Pan is written on her body, the story of Mattie’s love for Edith, a Mi’kmaw survivor of the Shubenacadie Residential School, unfurls. Next door, Ken grieves his late wife Leona, a powerful Black community organizer, and tries to inspire his disillusioned young son. Meanwhile, his daughter Kiah works to live up to her mother’s magic. A story of luminous love, the frustrations of family, violence mapped onto land and skin, and slender stems that grow thick enough to hatch from snow.

Older Brother by Mahir Guven, translated by Tina Kover Older Brother is the poignant story of a Franco-Syrian family whose father and two sons try to integrate themselves into a society that doesn’t offer them many opportunities. The father, an atheist communist who moved from Syria to France for his studies and stayed for love, has worked for decades driving a taxi to support his family. The eldest son is a driver for an app-based car service, which comically puts him at odds with his father, whose very livelihood is threatened by this new generation of disruptors. The younger son, shy and seri- ous, works as a nurse in a French hospital. Jaded by the regular rejections he encounters in French society, he decides to join a Muslim humanitarian organization to help wounded civilians in the war in Syria. But when he stops sending news home, the silence begins to eat away at his father and brother who wonder what his real motivations were. When younger brother returns home, he has changed. Guven alternates between an ironic take on contemporary society and the gravity of terrorist threats. He explores with equal poignancy the lives of “Uberized” workers and actors in the global jihad.

The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising #1) by Kiersten White There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl. Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom's borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution--send in Guinevere to be Arthur's wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king's idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere's real name--and her true identity--is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot. To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old--including Arthur's own family--demand things continue as they have been, and the new--those drawn by the dream of Camelot--fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur's knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free. Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Be- cause when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself? The first book in an exciting new trilogy.

The Sacrament by Olaf Olafsson A young nun is sent by the Vatican to investigate allegations of misconduct at a Catholic school in Iceland. During her time there, on a gray winter’s day, a young student at the school watches the school’s headmaster, Father August Franz, fall to his death from the church tower. Two decades later, the child—now a grown man, haunted by the past—calls the nun back to the scene of the crime. Seeking peace and calm in her twilight years at a convent in France, she has no choice to make a trip to Iceland again, a trip that brings her former visit, as well as her years as a young woman in Paris, powerfully and sometimes painfully to life. In Paris, she met an Icelandic girl who she has not seen since, but whose acquaintance changed her life, a relationship she relives all while reckoning with the mystery of August Franz’s death and the abuses of power that may have brought it on. In The Sacrament, critically acclaimed novelist Olaf Olafsson looks deeply at the complexity of our past lives and selves; the faulty nature of memory; and the indelible mark left by the joys and traumas of youth. Affecting and beautifully observed, The Sacrament is both propulsively told and poignantly written—tinged with the tragedy of life’s regrets but also moved by the possibilities of redemption, a new work from a novelist who consistently surprises and challenges.

Coming Soon! The following titles are currently on order. Place your request today online, or in person at the Library

Fiction Ann B. Ross - Miss Julia Knows a Thing or Two Veronica Roth - Chosen Ones Anne Bishop - The Queen’s Bargain Matt Ruff - 88 Names William Boyle - City of Margins Alexis Schaitin - Saint X Karma Brown - Recipe for a Perfect Wife Anika Scott - The German Heiress Serena Burdick - The Girls With No Names Stephanie Scott - What’s Left of Me is Yours Sarah Louise Butler - The Wild Heavens Julia Spencer-Fleming - Hid from Our Eyes Megan Campisi - Sin Eater Mickey Spillane - Hot Lead, Cold Justice Maxine Mei-Fung Chang - The Eighth Girl Dennis E. Staples - This Town Sleeps Luca D’Andrea - Sanctuary Catherine Steadman - Mr. Nobody Abi Dare - The Girl with the Louding Voice Olen Steinhuer - The Last Tourist Alena Dillon - Mercy House Madeleine St. John - The Women in Black Lian Dolan - The Sweeney Sisters John Straley - What is Time to a Pig? Marina Dyachenko - Daughter from the Dark Douglas Stuart - Shuggie Bain Arjun Ray Gaind - The Missing Memsahib Caroline Stevermer - The Glass Magician Carol Goodman - The Sea of Lost Girls Maryla Szymiczkowa - Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing Karen Harper - The Queen’s Secret Victoria Thompson - Murder on Pleasant Avenue Sarah Hogel - You Deserve Eachother Charles Todd - A Divided Loyalty Zora Neale Hurston - Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Danielle Trussoni - The Ancestor Stick Anne Tyler - Redhead by the Side of the Road Alma Katsu - The Deep Paul Vidich - The Coldest Warrior Julia Kelly - The Whispers of War Martin Walker - The Shooting at Chateau Rock Thomas Kenneally - The Book of Science and Antiquities Alison Weir - Katheryn Howard Marian Keyes - Grown-Ups Kathleen West - Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes Katharine Kerr - Sword of Fire Jess Kidd - Things in Jars Non-Fiction Thomas King - The Obsidian Murders Mary Kubica - The Other Mrs. A House in the Mountains: The Women Who Liberated Italy Camilla Lackberg - The Guilded Cage from Fascism by Caroline Moorehead A.K. Larkwood - The Unspoken Name I Want You to Know We're Still Here: A Post-Holocaust Donna Leon - Trace Elements Memoir by Esther Safran Foer Celia Laskey - Under the Rainbow When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father's War and Mary Pauline Lowry - The Roxy Letters Andrew David MacDonald - When We Were Vikings What Remains by Ariana Neumann Sarah J. Maas - House of Earth and Blood A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt Susan Elia MacNeal - The King’s Justice House of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth- Nguyen Phan Que Mai - The Mountains Sing Century Jewish Family by Hadley Freeman Phillip Margolin - A Reasonable Doubt Ride the Devil's Herd: Wyatt Earp's Epic Battle Against the Hilary Mantel - Mirror and the Light West's Biggest Outlaw Gang by John Boessenecker Colum McCann - Apeirogon When My Time Comes: Conversations about Whether Those Ian McGuire - The Abstainer Who Are Dying Should Have the Right to Determine When Seanan McGuire - Come Tumbling Down Life Should End by Diane Rehm Kate Milliken - Kept Animals The Devil's Trick: How Canada Fought the Vietnam War by Jess Montgomery - The Hollows John Boyko Beth Morrey - The Love Story of Missy Carmichael On Vanishing: Mortality, Dementia, and What It Means to Caitlin Mullen - Please See Us Disappear by Lynn Casteel Harper Olaf Olafsson - The Sacrement I Overcame My Autism And All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Mary Paulson-Ellis - The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing Disorder by Sarah Kurchak Sarah Perry - After Me Comes the Flood The Vegetarian Kitchen by Prue Leith Ingrid Persaud - Love After Love 150 Nature Hot Spots in Canada The Best Parks, Conservation Ann Perry - One Fatal Flaw Areas and Wild Places by Debbie Olsen Thomas Perry - A Small Town The Adventurer's Son by Roman Dial Arthur Phillips - The King at the Edge of the World Borderline Shine: A Memoir of Complex Trauma and Recovery Douglas Preston & Lee Child - Crooked River by Connie Greshner Natasha Pulley - The Lost Future of Pepperharrow Kathy Reichs - A Conspiracy of Bones Kelly Rimmer - Truths I Never Told You Karen Rose - Into the Dark

Jennifer Rosner - The Yellow Bird Sings On the same page Discover new books & authors

Michael Crummey’s Favourite Books About Newfoundland

Michael Crummey (born November 18, 1965) is a Canadian poet and a writer of historical fiction. His writing often draws on the history and landscape of Newfoundland and Labrador. His 2019 novel The Innocents was shortlisted for the 2019 Giller Prize.

Come Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant A delightfully offbeat story that features an opinionated tortoise and an IQ-challenged narrator who find themselves in the middle of a life-changing mystery. Audrey (a.k.a. Oddly) Flowers is living quietly in Oregon with Winnifred, her tortoise, when she finds out her dear father has been knocked into a coma back in Newfoundland. Despite her fear of flying, she goes to him, but not before she reluctantly dumps Winnifred with her unreliable friends. Poor Winnifred. When Audrey disarms an Air Marshal en route to St. John’s we begin to realize there’s something, well, odd about her. And we soon know that Audrey’s quest to discover who her father really was – and reunite with Winnifred – will be an adventure like no other.

Baltimore’s Mansion by Wayne Johnston In this loving memoir Wayne Johnston returns to Newfoundland-the people, the place, the politics-and illuminates his family's story with all the power and drama he brought to his magnificent novel, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. Descendents of the Irish who settled in Ferryland, Lord Baltimore's Catholic colony in Newfoundland, the Johnstons "went from being sea-fearing farmers to sea- faring fishermen." Each generation resolves to escape the hardships of life at sea, but their connection to this fantastically beautiful but harsh land is as eternal as the rugged shoreline, and the separations that result between generations may be as inevitable as the winters they endure. Unfulfilled dreams haunt this family history and make Baltimore's Mansion a thrilling and captivating book.

We’ll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night by Joel Hynes Scrappy tough guy and three-time loser Johnny Keough is going a little stir-crazy awaiting trial for an alleged assault charge involv- ing his girlfriend, Madonna, and a teapot. Facing three to five years in a maximum-security prison, Johnny knows this might just be the end of the road. But when Madonna doesn’t show up for court due to a fatal accident, shell-shocked Johnny seizes his unexpected “clean slate” as a sign from above and embarks on an epic hitchhiking journey across Canada to deliver her ashes to a fabled beach on the outskirts of Vancouver. Johnny’s wanderings see him propelled in and out of the driver’s seat of stolen cars, knocking heads with cagey cops, nearly decapitated by a moose, coming face-to-face with his incarcerated biological father in a Kingston jail, and finding surprising connections with strangers on the lonely road west. But most of all, he revisits the choices and mistakes of his past—his relationships with his adoptive father and a cousin who meant the world to him, and his first real chance at love with the woman who is now lost to him. We'll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night is the story of one man’s kicking-and-screaming at- tempt to recuperate from a life of petty crime and shattered relationships, and somehow accept and maybe even like the new man emerging from within, the one he so desperately needs to become.

Sweetland by Michael Crummey From the award-winning, bestselling author of Galore comes another unforgettable novel. By turns darkly comic and heartbreaking- ly sad, Sweetland is a deeply suspenseful story about one man's struggles against the forces of nature and the ruins of memory. For twelve generations, when the fish were plentiful and when they all-but disappeared, the inhabitants of this remote island in New- foundland have lived and died together. Now, in the second decade of the 21st century, they are facing resettlement, and each has been offered a generous compensation package to leave. But the money is offered with a proviso: everyone has to go; the government won't be responsible for one crazy coot who chooses to stay alone on an island. That coot is Moses Sweetland. Motivated in part by a sense of history and belonging, haunted by memories of the short and lonely time he spent away from his home as a younger man, and concerned that his somewhat eccentric great-nephew will wilt on the mainland, Moses refuses to leave. But in the face of determined, sometimes violent, opposition from his family and his friends, Sweetland is eventually swayed to sign on to the government's plan. Then a tragic accident prompts him to fake his own death and stay on the deserted island. As he manages a desperately diminishing food supply, and battles against the ravages of weather, Sweetland finds himself in the company of the vibrant ghosts of the former islanders, whose porch lights still seem to turn on at night.

What We’re Reading Staff Picks Amy Many Rivers to Cross by Peter Robinson When the body of a teenage boy is found stuffed into a wheely bin on the East Side Estate, Banks and Annie have a homegrown murder case to solve. But Banks's attention is also on Zelda, who in helping him track down his old enemy, has put herself in danger and alerted the stonecold Eastern European sex traffickers who brought her to the UK.

Carol The Purchase by Linda Spalding In 1798, Daniel Dickinson, a young Quaker father and widower, leaves his home in Pennsylvania to establish a new life. He sets out with two horses, a wagonful of belongings, his five children, a 15-year-old orphan wife, and a few land warrants for his future homestead. When Daniel suddenly trades a horse for a young slave, Onesimus, it sets in motion a struggle in his conscience that will taint his life forever, and sets in motion a chain of events that lead to two murders and the family's strange relationship with a runaway slave named Bett. Stripped down and as hard-edged as the realities of pioneer life, Spalding's writing is nothing short of stunning, as it instantly envelops the reader in the world and time of the novel, and follows the lives of unforgettable characters. Inspired by stories of the author's own ancestors, The Purchase is a resonant, powerful and timeless novel.

Jack The Testaments by Margaret Atwood n this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades. When the van door slammed on Offred's future at the end of The Handmaid's Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her--freedom, prison or death. With The Testaments, the wait is over. Margaret Atwood's sequel picks up the story more than fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead. "Dear Readers: Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in." --Margaret Atwood

Julie One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence In January 1986, fifteen-year-old boy-genius Nick Hayes discovers he’s dying. And it isn’t even the strangest thing to happen to him that week. Nick and his Dungeons & Dragons-playing friends are used to living in their imaginations. But when a new girl, Mia, joins the group and reality becomes weirder than the fantasy world they visit in their weekly games, none of them are prepared for what comes next. A strange—yet curiously familiar—man is following Nick, with abilities that just shouldn’t exist. And this man bears a cryptic message: Mia’s in grave danger, though she doesn’t know it yet. She needs Nick’s help—now. He finds himself in a race against time to unravel an impossible mystery and save the girl. And all that stands in his way is a probably terminal dis- ease, a knife-wielding maniac and the laws of physics. Challenge accepted. .

Kirstin Adventures with Waffles by Maria Parr, illustrated by Kate Forrester, translated by Guy Puzey Hardly a day passes without Trille and Lena inventing some kind of adventure that often ends in trouble. Whether it’s coaxing a cow onto a boat or sledding down the steepest and iciest hill with a chicken, there is always a thrill—and sometimes an injury—to be had. Trille loves to share everything with Lena, even Auntie Granny’s waffles. But when Lena has to move away and Auntie Granny leaves the world, it sometimes seems like nothing will ever be right again. The warmth of friendship and the support of family suffuse this lightly illustrated novel, proving that when times are tough, a little taste of sweetness can make all the differ- ence.

Mary Circe by Madeline Miller In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Me- dea, and, of course, wily Odysseus. But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love. Melvyn The Beaver Manifesto by Glynnis Hood Beavers are the great comeback story—a keystone species that survived ice ages, major droughts, the fur trade, urbanization and near extinction. Their ability to create and maintain aquatic habitats has endeared them to conservationists, but puts the beavers at odds with urban and industrial expansion. These conflicts reflect a dichotomy within our national identity. We place environment and our concept of wilderness as a key touchstone for promotion and celebration, while devoting significant financial and personal resources to combating the beaver problem. We need to rethink our approach to environmental conflict in general, and our approach to species- specific conflicts in particular. Our history often celebrates our integration of environment into our identity, but our actions often re- veal an exploitation of environment and celebration of its subjugation. The beaver is one of the few species that refuses to play by our rules and continues to modify environments to meet its own needs and the betterment of so many other species, while at the same time showing humans that complete dominion over nature is not necessarily achievable, nor desirable.

Miranda We Are the Weather by Jonathan Safran Foer Some people reject the fact, overwhelmingly supported by scientists, that our planet is warming because of human activity. But do those of us who accept the reality of human-caused climate change truly believe it? If we did, surely we would be roused to act on what we know. Will future generations distinguish between those who didn’t believe in the science of global warming and those who said they accepted the science but failed to change their lives in response? In We Are the Weather, Jonathan Safran Foer explores the central global dilemma of our time in a surprising, deeply personal, and urgent new way. The task of saving the planet will involve a great reckoning with ourselves—with our all-too-human reluctance to sacrifice immediate comfort for the sake of the future. We have, he reveals, turned our planet into a farm for growing animal products, and the consequences are catastrophic. Only collective action will save our home and way of life. And it all starts with what we eat—and don’t eat—for breakfast.

Sharon Belfast Gate by Tony MacAulay It’s Belfast in 2019 and despite more than twenty years of peace, scores of so-called peace walls continue to separate Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods. Jean Beattie’s grief turns to anger when police refuse to open the peace gate at the end of her street to allow her best friend’s funeral procession through to her church on the other side of the peace wall. The gate remains closed because local youths, led by Sam on one side and Seamie on the other, are recreational rioting. Comforted by her friends Roberta, Bridget and Patricia from the cross-community pensioners’ club, Jean vows the gate will be opened. On the fiftieth anniversary of the erection of the peace walls, in the era of Brexit and Trump’s border wall, the themes in Tony Macaulay’s laugh-out-loud novel resonate far beyond Northern Ireland. .

Victoria Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden. Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from ille- gal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loy- alties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service. When his friend inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life—and soon both heretics and books will burn… .

William Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel Set in the days of civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity. One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time—from the actor's early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains—this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor's first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet.

he New Lady Julie had a lovely Year blew Christmas with her chil- into the dren and of course her T kingdom in The Library Ladies faithful canine compan- great gusts ion. The weather had co- and the weather wizards operated for some excel- enjoyed flying their kites lent walks. Trivia: There in the snow. The Royal are two seasonal diver- Library was back to nor- sions that can ease the bite mal hours and the staff of winter. One is the Jan- were busy with the return uary thaw. The other is of all the Christmas the seed catalogue.-Hal books. Borland.

Lady Christina had en- Lady Carol had enjoyed a joyed her Christmas and wonderful holiday travel- the New Year promised to ling back and forth and bring new challenges to enjoying the company of the Royal Library. Trivia: January is named after the Roman her family. There had been a talent show and trips down god Janus who was always shown as having two heads. He memory lane. A true Christmas. Trivia: In 1622, January 1 looked back on the last year and forward to the new one. became the start of the “New Year”. (It was March 25 for a long time prior.) Lady Sharon spent Christmas with her son and granddaughter and had a touch of the plague but not enough to stop her from Sir Jack had worked the last day before the Christmas break having a good holiday. Trivia: Leap years excluded, January and this scribe has not seen him since so I’m just assuming he always begins on the same day as October. In leap years Janu- had a great holiday. Trivia: According to some Facebook ary always begins on the same day as April and July. (I users, January is “Change Your Profile Picture to a Muppet” know. Extremely interesting right?) month.

Lady Mary had made it through the holiday season and was Sir William would soon be hitting the books again as the next looking forward to a restful planning time at work. She looked term of college begins. I’m sure he enjoyed his rest from his forward to a new session with the Royal Children. Triv- intense schedule. Trivia: In January, 1714- The world’s first ia: January is national book month and family literacy month. patent for a “Machine for Transcribing Letters” was granted in England by Queen Anne to Henry Mill. Unfortunately, this Lady Miranda had an excellent holiday culminating with an typewriter was never actually produced. amazing sledding party! An eight person sled provided great entertainment. Trivia: January is the calendar’s ingrown hair. January is a very long month so come to the Royal Library and -Stewart Stafford browse the shelves. You may find another favourite author.

Wizard Melvyn had kept the Royal Children amused through December by adding different pictures to the mural in the Children’s Program Room. Trivia: On January 1, 1818 Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein was published (anonymously) in London. (500 copies were made)

Lady Victoria had returned safely from her trip to Winnipeg Happy New Year! since this scribe had halted her vehicle to let her safely cross the street just this morning. One would hope she enjoyed her stay. Trivia: On January 1, 1910, the Hydrox “biscuit bon- bon”, a chocolate sandwich cookie with cream filling was in- troduced. Oreos came out in 1912.

Lady Kirstin had worked the Saturday after Christmas and she and Sir William had done an excellent job of shelving the Written by your loyal scribe, backlog of books from the days the library was closed. Triv- ia: January 1, 1908-The New Year’s Eve ball drops for the first time in Times Square, NYC.

Lady Amy was taking some well-deserved time off after the Lady Miss Mary holidays. More next month. Trivia: January 1, 1788- The Times of London newspaper began publication.