GDA Library Blog

It has been a fun year of blogging, but I must report that the GDA Library Blog will be no more. As our school name changes, so will our library blog name. We will now be known as "The Pesky Library Blog" you can find us at http://thepeskylibrary.blogspot.com/ . We look forward to bringing you a whole new year of blogging and we will be reporting on our Moodlemoot conference happening on campus during the last week of June. We look forward to your visits to the new Governor's Academy, Pesky Library Blog.

Happy Summer and Happy Reading.

Best wishes to the Class of ’06. We will miss seeing you in the library. As you travel new paths, we hope you find new libraries to make your own!

The summer months have now arrived and many of us are thinking of what those lazy, hazy days will bring. We hope you will find some fun, enjoyable, and inspiring stories to read in your free time. Along with the books you may have already chosen, below is the list of Required Summer Reading by department and grade.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Freshman
Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of The Dog In the Night-Time (FIC HAD)

Sophomores
Larry Watson, Montana 1948 (FIC WAT)

Juniors
Truman Capote, In Cold Blood (364.15 CAP)

(Juniors, read the book, then watch the movie by the same name as well as see the film, “Capote.” You will be fascinated how print gets translated onto the screen. Also, in the movie, “In Cold Blood,” the character of Perry Smith is played by Robert Blake. Is something dark going on here?)

Seniors
Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City (FIC MCI)



HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Freshmen
Art Spiegelman, Maus a Survivors Tale: My Father Bleeds History (940.5315 SPI)

Sophomores
Bertolt Brecht, Galileo (808.82 BRE)

Juniors
David McCullough, 1776 (973.3 MCC)

Seniors
Thomas L. Friedman, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century(303.48 FRI)


AP ART
Alfred Nemeczek, Van Gogh in Arles (759.947 NEM)



MATHEMATICS and SCIENCE DEPARTMENTS

All Students
Colin Bruce, Conned Again, Watson (511.3 BRU)


Foreign Language Reading, please refer to the list given out at the end of the year.

To all students, faculty, staff, and families, we wish you a wonderful summer break and look forward to seeing you in September.

Happy Reading,
JB

Have you ever felt you have missed out on reading some great books, titles that may have gone by you? Here is your chance to catch up. The New York Times has collected “the single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years”, by asking writers, critics and editors for their choices. Take a look and see what you may have missed out on. Thank you Mrs. Blondin for pointing out this article!

For those of you who cannot remember the endless list of books you have read, there is a wonderful resource out there on the web that will catalog your books for you. Library Thing is like having your own library catalog that can be referred to at any time to view the books you have read in the past. It is also a great way to see what other people are reading and to find recommendations for books. If you are an avid reader, Library Thing will help you out the next time someone asks “Have you read anything good lately?” Try it out and you will get hooked!

Speaking of good reads, here are some more recommendations that might strike your fancy before summer comes around:

Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett (921 PAT). A captivating look at the friendship between Ann Patchett (Bel Canto) and Lucy Greeley (Autobiography of a Face). It offers wonderful insight into the lives of authors trying to get that first break, and the joys and pains of friendship.

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Greeley (362.19 GRE). “At age nine, Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with a potentially terminal cancer. When she returned to school with a third of her jaw removed, she faced the cruel taunts of classmates. In this strikingly candid memoir, Grealy tells her story of great suffering and remarkable strength without sentimentality and with considerable wit.” (Amazon.com)

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (FIC PAT), (Beginning to see the pattern?) In an unnamed South American country, a world-renowned soprano sings at a birthday party in honor of a visiting Japanese industrial titan. Alas, in the opening sequence, just as the accompanist kisses the soprano, a ragtag band of 18 terrorists enters the vice-presidential mansion through the air conditioning ducts. (Amazon.com) Patchett gathers together a group that spans nationalities, professions and class and reveals the hidden depths, sometimes in a few short pages, through their interactions with each other. (Amazon review J. Marren).

We are back again after a brief hiatus and ready to wind the year down with a plethora of book titles and suggestions. Highlights from the collection, favorite titles, best book sites on the web, will all be brought into our blog for the month of May.
There are a select number of books that come out each year that seem to grasp the general public’s attention. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (FIC BRO), was one such title. With the release of the movie slated for next week, and Brown’s legal battles over the content of the book, the interest continues. For those who loved the Da Vinci Code here is a booklist for you:

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (FIC BRO). A prequel to the Da Vinci Code.

The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell (FIC CAL)

The Genesis Code by John Case (FIC CAS)

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (FIC ECO)

Ex-Libris by Ross King (FIC KIN)

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (FIC KOS)

The Eight by Katherine Neville (FIC NEV)

An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears (FIC PEA)

Map of Bones by James Rollins (FIC ROL)

Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code: a historian reveals what we really know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Constantine by Bart Ehrman (813.54 EHR)

The Code Book: the evolution of secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh (652.8 SIN)

A & E DVD – Beyond the Da Vinci Code (DVD 232.9BEY)

Stop by the library to find out more about these titles and start your own summer reading list, or look up the titles in our catalog beforehand.

Fooling Around with Words is a website by PBS capturing the TV special with Bill Moyers at America’s largest Poetry festival . “The Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival is the largest poetry event in North America. The Festival, held every other year, was inaugurated in 1986 by the Dodge Foundation to help poetry assume its rightful place in the center of our imaginative and emotional lives." The site includes a listing of poets who attended the festival, readings and interviews. The interviews with each individual poet are well worth the visit to this site. Enjoy!

There is still time to take a look at the library's Pop Art display put together by Mrs. Healey. Andy Warhol was one of the true innovators of this twentieth century art form that reflects “popular culture.” Read more about this art movement in Pop Art: a critical history (709.73 POP), or POPism the Warhol ‘60’s (700.92 WAR).