Maine: More than Just Lobster

by Devon Evans,
LBPH Librarian

Okay, I get it. When people hear “lobster” they automatically think of Maine. Whether I’m in Charlotte, North Carolina or Paris, France, when someone realizes I’m from Maine they say, “Oh, they have really good lobster.” And I’m not going to contest that fact. Maine lobster is amazing. I miss it. Whenever I go up home, my goal is to eat my weight in lobster. But there’s much more to Maine than its delicious crustaceans.

Colonel Joshua Chamberlain was born in Maine in 1828, and as an adult he led the 20th Maine during the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. It is believed that his order to initiate a bayonet charge saved a flank of Union soldiers and captured 101 Confederate soldiers, thereby saving the day at Little Round Top.

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
DB 45457 / BRC 00796
This fictionalized version of the battle of Gettysburg portrays many actual participants, such as Generals Lee, Longstreet, and Meade, as well as fictionalized characters, such as Col. Joshua Chamberlain, whose vivid rhetoric inspires his men. Sequel to Jeff Shaara’s Gods and Generals (DB 43292). Some strong language.

One of my favorite poets, Edna St. Vincent Millay, was born in Maine in 1892 and received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Many of her poems have to do with feminism, nature, and sexuality.

Edna St. Vincent Millay: Selected Poems: The Centenary Edition Edited by Colin Falck
DB 43680 / BR 10997
This gathering of poems begins with “Renascence,” a poem Millay entered in a contest in 1912 and that brought her immediate recognition. The simplicity and accessibility that sometimes prompted critics to pass over her poems is the very skill that also created her appeal and made her work popular for nearly forty years. Her lyricism is discussed in an extensive introduction.

Donna Tartt

by Eric Meisberger,
LBPH Reader Advisor

Donna Tartt is an award winning American novelist (who was most recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2014) that has garnered the attention of lovers of literature all over the world. Her novels are highly regarded and heavily scrutinized, and the latest, The Goldfinch, has a wide breadth of reviews, from being called a literary masterpiece (by author Stephen King in the New York Times), to being soundly panned (by critic James Wood in The New Yorker).

We here at the LBPH have her three novels, so you can read them and decide for yourself. A literary tour de force, or too long and not worth the hype? You be the judge. Be sure to check out:

The Goldfinch
DB 77453 / CL 15372
At the age of thirteen, Theo Decker survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is raised by wealthy family friends. His one connection to his mother–a painting–draws Theo into New York City’s underground art world as he grows older. UNRATED. Commercial audiobook.    2013.

The Little Friend
DB 55856
1960s Mississippi.  Nine-year-old Robin Dufresnes is found hanging from a tree.  Twelve years later, his tomboyish sister Harriet, an infant at the time of the murder, begins to search for the killer.  With the help of her friend Hely, she concentrates on drug dealer Danny Ratliff.  Strong language and some violence.  Bestseller.  2002.

The Secret History
DB 35868
When Richard Papen is accepted at a small Vermont college, he gladly leaves his boring California identity behind. After he makes up an appropriate past, Richard is allowed to join an elite group of students who take all of their classes from one professor. Richard learns that the clique is hiding some odd secrets–and one deadly one. The members trust Richard, but they’re not so sure of one of their own. Strong language and violence. Bestseller. 1992.

One Book, One Community 2015

by Amanda Johnson,
LBPH Reader Advisor

Five Days at Memorial was selected as this year’s One Book, One Community pick by the Allegheny County Library Association. One Book, One Community is an annual reading program that has the simple goal of getting people together to discuss great books. Discussions are happening across Pittsburgh and Allegheny County​ and will continue throughout the year.

The book Five Days at Memorial is an extension of author and Pulitzer Prize winner Sherri Fink’s 2009 New York Times Magazine article, “The Deadly Choices at Memorial”. Faced with dwindling supplies and no electricity, medical staff and volunteers at the Memorial Hospital Building in New Orleans, work around the clock to evacuate patients in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. After days of trying to attract helicopters and coordinate rescues with limited communication abilities and a mandatory evacuation order placed on the city, medical staff conclude that not everyone is going to be able to make it out alive.

Medical staff adopt a loosely discussed triage model for evacuation with the intention of “trying to do the most good for the greatest amount of people.” The questions raised in this book are, “Who should be saved and why?” and “How do we define the most good?” Also, “Should staff members be held liable for the deaths of patients in disaster scenarios?”

Members of the Health Committee for People with Disabilities and the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped are organizing a book discussion on May 6, 2015 from 2-4PM at the Downtown Carnegie Library. The Downtown Carnegie Library is located at 612 Smithfield St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. To participate in the book club with members of HCPD contact Amanda at johnson2@carnegielibrary.org or call 1-800-242-0586.

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm Ravaged Hospital
by Sheri Fink
DB 77656

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist reports on the aftermath of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans. Reconstructs the five days it took to rescue the hospital’s staff and patients and examines the life-and-death decisions made and the lawsuits that followed. 2013.​