Rincón Latino: ¡Libros en Español!

,,Nada" de Carmen Laforet


,,Nada es una novela escrita por Carmen Laforet en 1944, que ganó el Premio Nadal el 6 de enero de 1945 Luego, en 1948 obtuvo el Premio Fastenrath de la Real Academia Española. Llamó la atención no solamente por la juventud de la escritora, que por aquel entonces tenía 23 años, sino también porque mostraba la sociedad de aquella época. Hay quien dice que la novela es autobiográfica. Aunque la novela contiene elementos biográficos, la autora misma escribe en su introducción al cuento dentro de la compilación llamada Novelas (Primera edición 1957 Barcelona, Editorial Planeta) lo siguiente: "No es, como ninguna de mis novelas, autobiográfica, aunque el relato de una chica estudiante, como yo fui en Barcelona, e incluso la circunstancia de haberla colocado viviendo en una calle de esta ciudad donde yo misma he vivido, haya planteado esta cuestión más de una vez".
Es una novela de carácter existencialista en la que Carmen Laforet refleja el estancamiento y la pobreza en la que se encontraba la España de la época de la posguerra. La escritora supo transmitir con esta obra, escrita con un estilo literario que supuso una renovación en la prosa de la época, la lenta desaparición de la pequeña burguesía tras la Guerra Civil."

Blue Moons

Last night as I got home from work, the moon was rising. The sky was clear, the air was cold, and the moon was THAT BIG and brilliant! If the sky is clear tonight, we'll be able to see it again. Everyone's calling it a "blue moon" - but is it, really?

Almost everyone will tell you that a "blue moon" is the second full moon in a calendar month. But it hasn't always had that meaning. An earlier agricultural definition states that a blue moon is the third full moon in a season that has four full moons instead of the usual three. ABC News and Associated Press have written similar stories explaining the different meanings of the phrase. The About.com Astronomy site also has a page of links to facts, trivia, and legends about blue moons. Infoplease provides blue moon facts and myths, including an old proverb the Oxford English Dictionary says was first recorded in 1528:

If they say the moon is blue

We must believe that it is true.

What I found missing this year is the story that "Blue Moon" actually was the name of a Dutch trading vessel that returned to port so seldom that the folks named the intervals between port visits "Blue moons". Did I imagine it? Or does that story surface only once in a blue moon?

Just for fun, here's a list of Blue moon reading from the library's catalog - both fact and fiction.

jpstanley's moon photo used with permission

Thoughts from Customer Appreciation Day

Customer Appreciation Day(s) were earlier in the month of December. At Central Library we celebrated with the staff sharing their thoughts of why we love our patrons and greeted our patrons with a cookie and an invitation to share their thoughts about why they loved this library. Below are a few thoughts from each.

Why We Love Our Patrons:

• Hearing kids singing during story time makes my day.
• They ask interesting questions for us to answer at the Reference Desk!
• Sometimes they wear colorful socks.

Why Our Patrons Love the Library:

• Free WiFi&Easy access.
• There are so many art classes.


• I can read free comics.
• The staff is always nice and helpful. We find new resources every time.

Thank you Central Library Patrons!

Christmas in Holis

I was hoping I could all the staff together to sing this song. However, that didn’t happen. So I guess I’ll have to settle for the Run D.M.C. original.



There's always next year...

The Circle Turns: Winter Solstice

It must have seemed to the Ancient Ones that when the sun went below the horizon it might never return. In order to prevent this they first practiced rites that would summon it back. In seeking to capture the light of the sun, fire became of central importance in the majority of these rites. If harbored and protected, fire would remain alive, as a symbol of the hidden sun. Sometimes it was enough to celebrate the return of the sun, at others it was necessary to make sacrifices to the god or goddess who was the source of its light, to insure that he or she returned. It's the legacy of these ancient ceremonies that lies at the heart of our acknowledgement of the solstice. Virtually every festival that was celebrated - or which still takes place today - owes something to these long-forgotten celebrations of the year's turning.

The word solstice itself comes from the Latin sol stetit, literally, "sun stands still," which recognizes that for approximately six days in December and again in June, the sun appears to rise and set at more or less the same point on the horizon, appearing to stand still in the sky.

This year, 2009, in our area the Winter Solstice was celebrated on Monday, December 21st 9:47 am, Pacific Standard Time. We still celebrate the return of the light with song and dance as demonstrated by The California Revels; and your local drumming circle may also have an event planned! Find out more about the Winter Solstice and how you can celebrate at www.religioustolerance.org/winter_solstice.htm and www.schooloftheseasons.com/celsolstice.html.

A splendid collection of winter solstice tales from many cultures is contained in The Return of the Light by Carol McVickar Edwards. An excellent history and folklore of the Christmas tree is: The Solstice Evergreen by Sheryl Ann Karas; and parents and caregivers who want to educate their children about the winter solstice are urged to read The Shortest Day by Wendy Pfeffer . These and other great books on holiday origins can be found on the Sacramento Public Library Catalog.

¡RINCóN LATINO: PELíCULAS EN ESPAÑOL!

,,Amanecer de un Sueño" de Freddy Más Franqueza


,,Amanecer de un Sueño" es una película española la cual trata de un triplete de amigos quienes se parecen a todos nosotros...buscando la felicidad y el significado de la vida. Pascual es un septuagenario propietario de una tienda quien también se dedica a cuidar a un niño huérfano soñador en un pueblo remoto. Dentro de las monstruosas brumas que rodean a la pequeña aldea como un velo de un sueño, un mundo aparte y distinto vive y muere. Dentro de ese mundo, personajes viven sus vidas...comparten sueños y deseos como si fuesen regalos de Navidad. ¡Disfruten esta película y compartenla con alguien especial!

Brittany Murphy, 1977-2009

My favorite Brittany Murphy movie does not happen to be Clueless.

Yes, she was cute in Clueless, and I did love that movie. She was sweet, and a bit tart, playing Tai, the new girl in town who joins the Beverly Hills' under aged in crowd. It wasn't even Happy Feet, though I did watch that film just this past Saturday, much to the dismay of the (male) guests who wanted us ladies to go watch it in the garage so they could watch a football game inside. (Like we were going to pick watching players smash into each other over cute, singing penguins.) Murphy certainly had way more screen/voice time in those vehicles, but my favorite film featuring her happens to be Drop Dead Gorgeous. This movie is horrible in the most gleeful way, poking fun of beauty pageants, small towns, and trying to escape said town, be it via winning a sparkly crown, joining a hockey team, or going to prison. Murphy plays Lisa Swenson, a goofy, giggly necessary after thought younger child. She cheese it up beside future big movie stars Kirsten Dunst, Denise Richards and Amy Adams, explaining of her parents, “You know they only had me because Peter needed a kidney.”

I won't print up here what she yelled at her father at the end of the film. That's because I like having a job.