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May 2019 newsletter

May 2019 calendar

PINE BUSH HISTORIC HOUSE WALKING TOUR

PLEASE JOIN US FOR AN 8-WEEK LECTURE SERIES PRESENTED BY

 JOSEPH BRITTO, ADJUNCT LECTURER SUNY/ORANGE AND PROFESSOR

 EMERITUS SUNY/NEW PALTZ.

Starting May 28th 6:30 pm in the Community Center.

PLEASE REGISTER BY CALLING 744-4265, EXT. 2

SLAVERY AND WORLD HISTORY

In the Children’s Department in the Pine Bush Library we have the first four volumes of The Last

Kids on Earth series. They are the New York Times bestselling series, by Max Brallier and

illustrated copiously by Douglas Holgate. Our books include The Last Kids on Earth and the

same title repeated with And the Zombie Parade (number 2), and the Nightmare King

(number 3), and the Cosmic Beyond (number 4.)

This series is for middle school students, or for younger readers, and includes Parker Middle

School where June Del Toro is hiding out, waiting for her parents to return and find her. The

zombies and other monsters had sprung up out of nowhere one day, just as school was letting

out.

Meanwhile, Our Hero, Jack Sullivan, is living in a tree house which is surrounded by a moat,

which somehow protects him from (you guessed it) the zombie hoard. Jack stumbles upon

June, his old friend, and they also find Quint Baker, Jack’s best friend, and Dirk Savage, the

school bully, who has battled the zombies and decides to stop being a bully, and to join forces

with the other kids.

The books are like a manic video game in which Our Hero must find his friends, enlist allies,

collect a few friendly monsters, and basically save the world. One of the allies is from another

dimension, and resembles Obi-Wan Kenobi. When things start to calm down, new villains

arrive.

Meanwhile, June is no push-over. She grabs Jack by his shirt front and says, “I am NO damsel in

distress,” and you’ve got to believe her. Later she’s up on the roof of the neighbor’s house,

waving a weapon and shrieking, “Hey, Monsterface! Get a life!” and this attracts the monsters

and things get busy.

These books have pictures on every page. They are not graphic novels but they are heavy on

the illustrations and light on the text. So middle school students who don’t like to read will

probably be attracted. There are not so many boring old words to plow through, for people

who don’t normally like books. The illustrator has pulled out all the stops with pictures of

oversized monsters, zombie hoards, and our four heroes. It’s a fast and furious series for kids

from fourth grade on up. Come and check out the series, downstairs in our Children’s

Department.

MAH JONGG

FREE INDIVIDUAL CAREER HELP

DIVIDING PERENNIALS

EASTER BAKE SALE 2019

ANNUAL FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY EASTER BAKE SALE APRIL 20^TH

9:00 am – sold out!

The Pine Bush Area Public Library

Community Center

vegetable gardening

FREE MOHONK PRESERVE PASSES

Available to Patrons of the Pine Bush Area Public Library

Ask For More Information at the Main Library!

ART ON THE LIBRARY WALLS

Exhibiting Artist: Joan Garrison

Paintings by Joan

68 Railroad Avenue

Montgomery, NY 12549

845 457-4205

I started out at Hoboken New Jersey High School with art classes. I ventured in pastels, charcoal drawings and advertising posters. I took oil classes in 1954 – 1956, which was my favorite medium to paint in. Later on, went into acrylic classes for about 5 years doing mainly landscapes of all kinds in Pine Bush, New York. Then took pen and ink, pencil drawings and charcoal classes in Middletown, New York and went back to oil on canvas in Newburgh, New York painting all kinds from flowers, balloons,, seascapes, birds, etc. and my favorite, landscapes.  Painting is very relaxing and rewarding with a personal feeling of accomplishment.

RAVE REVIEWS by Jean E. Eustance

The Black Ascot is the newest Ian Rutledge murder mystery by Charles Todd. We have it in the Pine Bush Area Public Library on the new book shelf, upstairs in the adult’s section.

The first few pages are set in 1910, at the Ascot Racecourse in England. Royal Ascot is when the socially-important horse races are held there, not far from Windsor Castle. (Royal Ascot is still held nowadays.) The 1910 Royal Ascot was called the Black Ascot because everyone was supposed to be in mourning for the late King Edward VII, and everyone was to wear black.

This sets the stage for what happens later. The rest of the book begins in January 1921, and Inspector Ian Rutledge from Scotland Yard is told to look over the cold case file of why a wealthy woman was killed in a motorcar, some miles away from the racetrack in 1910. Her suspected murderer may have slipped back into England, recently.

The Ian Rutledge series of mysteries are interesting in that their hero is written with a twist. He was a detective at Scotland Yard, and then he went to serve on the Western Front in World War I.  He came home, and rejoined the Yard, but brought back a secret that only a few know. Rutledge suffers from shell shock or battle fatigue.  (Nowadays it is called post-traumatic stress disorder.)

He had to order the execution of a man in his unit, when Hamish refused to lead the men “over the top” in another useless attempt to retake a few yards of No Man’s Land. Rutledge had tried to reason with him, but in the end had to have him executed for refusing to obey an order. Hamish is dead, but it is Ian Rutledge who has never recovered. He can hear Hamish talking to him, in his head. He thinks that Hamish is sitting behind him when he drives his car, and he cringes every time two fat Chief Inspectors from Scotland Yard take up the entire back seat. He is afraid to look in the rearview mirror because he thinks he will see Hamish’s anguished face.

Most detectives in novels have a sidekick or assistant. One must talk to someone. One must not talk to one’s self alone. It just isn’t done. Ian Rutledge does not have an assistant or sidekick to share his troubles. He has Hamish, in his head, all the time. Sometimes it is sad, sometimes it is wry, and sometimes it is very funny.

On the cases that Rutledge covers, Hamish tends to have insights which Rutledge doesn’t have. He also says the most embarrassing “asides,” usually something like “Don’t trust that woman!” Hamish sometimes yells “Ware!” meaning “Beware!” when someone is aiming a gun at Rutledge.  The detective has learned to duck when Hamish yells “Ware!”

All the books in the series are intricately detailed, and the detective goes around and talks to all sorts of folk, all of whom come across as real people. If the books were “food,” I would say that they were dense and chewy. This is not light-weight froth, and the reader must be prepared to settle down and read strongly. The books feel real, despite the premise that our hero is hearing a voice in his head.

Charles Todd is the pen name of a mother-son partnership. They have written 21 books about Ian Rutledge, and 10 about his friend Bess Crawford.  Bess occasionally appears in a book about Rutledge.

Pine Bush Area Library has a few of the more recent Ian Rutledge books and about 5 of the Bess Crawford books. Come in and see what we have and settle in for a good read.

AARP SMART DRIVER CLASS

GET A DISCOUNT ON YOUR AUTO INSURANCE AND/OR LOWER POINTS ON YOUR LICENSE!

SIGN UP NOW!!!

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24TH – 9 AM TO 4 PM

PINE BUSH AREA LIBRARY COMMUNITY CENTER

$20 FOR AARP MEMBERS – $25 FOR

NON-AARP MEMBERS

(MUST REGISTER.  CALL 744-4265 ext. 2)

poets-alive2 (1)

ANNUAL FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY EASTER BAKE SALE APRIL 20^TH

9:00 am – sold out!

The Pine Bush Area Public Library

Community Center

Boscobel is a beautifully reassembled 1800’s neoclassical house in Garrison, NY.  There are lush gardens, trails and magnificent Hudson Valley views. We are surveying our patrons to find out how many library cardholders would be interested in obtaining a free pass (for 4 individuals) to visit this historic site. Boscobel is open for tours from April to December 2019. Please call the library at(845) 744-4265 to add your name to the list of patrons who would like to take advantage of this library card benefit!

(You will be responsible for your own transportation to visit Boscobel House)

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