Veteran's Day

Pipestone County Star 11-06-2014

I come from a line of veterans.  My grandfather, from Worthington, Minnesota, served in India during World War II as a veterinarian.  My father was a Marine, and though he didn’t serve during a war, he did his patriotic duty.  My husband was in the Army and served in Germany, then Iraq for Operation Desert Storm.  His parents, in turn, were both in the Air Force and met each other in the service.  Veterans Day is a day when we should recognize and celebrate the bravery and sacrifice that soldiers from all branches of the military have made for us.  Our soldiers come in all ages, in both sexes, all religions, and all colors.  They fought to keep our country free and democratic – to make us what we are today.  Make sure to thank them.

Veteran’s Day began as Armistice Day in 1919, the day Woodrow Wilson declared a national holiday to celebrate the end of the first World War.  Germany surrendered at 11 AM on November 11, 1918, so it was fitting that we should honor that day.  In remembrance, moments of silence are observed and many people, even then, wore red poppies to honor the battle fought among those flowers on Flanders Field, a particularly bloody battle in 1914.

In 1954, following the recovery from World War Two, Armistice Day became Veteran’s Day, to honor all the soldiers who have served our country, not just those from World War One.

The library has several movies that have been critically acclaimed for showing how it was for soldiers.  If they interest you, come in and check them out.

Band of Brothers (Vietnam)

This series originally aired on HBO and was hailed as one of the best war series ever made.  It was produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg and the library has the complete, 10-part set.  There is also a disc that includes a documentary on the Easy Company and several other special features.

The Hurt Locker (Iraq – Kathryn Bigelow)

This movie follows an Explosive Ordinance Disposal team through a tour in Iraq and is one of the grittiest, most engrossing war movies I’ve seen in a long time.  It won for both Best Picture and Best Director in the 2010 Academy Awards.  I’ve never seen a movie that portrayed war as a drug, but Bigelow did an excellent job proving that for me.

The War (World War II – Ken Burns)

A quarter of this film centers on the community of Luverne, Minnesota, where the movie was originally screened.  This set contains all seven parts of the documentary, as well as numerous special features.  It lasts for 15 hours and took six years of work.  The object of the documentary was to show how to war affected those left at home and Burns uses four different towns in the United States to paint a picture of life during those years.

Flags of Our Fathers (World War II – Clint Eastwood)

This movie, directed by Academy Award Winner Clint Eastwood and nominated for Oscars itself, show the American side of the Battle of Iwo Jima. 

And if you don’t feel like watching a movie or the television, the library has a huge selection of books, both fiction and non-fiction, depicting the wars this country has fought.  I don’t have space to list them all, but here are two that may spark interest.

The Dardanelles Disaster by Dan Van Der Vat (World War I)

In 1915, the British Navy failed to capture Constantinople and through there, a sea route to Russia.  Van Der Vat is a naval military historian who writes that this failure not only prolonged the war, but led to the Russian Revolution and contributed to the destabilization in the Middle East.  The book is fascinating and enlightening and a must read for any military historian and others interested.

Soul Survivor by Bruce and Andrea Leininger(World War II – and the Present)

This book might be a bit beyond what would normally be considered war-related, but you’ll have to bear with me.  About a year ago, a young man appeared on Oprah with his parents, who had a very odd story to tell.  That story is chronicled in this book and gives rise to questions of reincarnation.  Was James Leininger a reincarnated World War II pilot?  As a toddler, James would say and do things that led his parents to an incredible discovery.

Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand (World War II)

This is one of the most popular books in the library, and is an extraordinary story.  As a young man, Louis Zamperini was a juvenile delinquent who managed to channel himself into running and ran all the way to the Berlin Olympics.  When the war started, Zamperini became and airman.  One May afternoon, his life changed dramatically when his plane went down in the ocean.  Despite all odds, he survived on a life raft, but ahead of him lay thousands of miles of open ocean.  The book is amazing and definitely worth the read.

To all the veterans reading this article, I salute you.  My salute may not be as crisp as my husband’s, my father’s, or my grandfather’s, but I salute you just the same.  From infantryman to general, thank you for serving our country.  We would not be the America we are today without you.

PAFL Update:  Pipestone Area Friends of the Library is looking for members – anyone who is a friend to Meinders Library is welcome to join!  The Friends group works hard to promote the library, raise money for projects, and organize their yearly book sale, in addition to the HUGE amount of support they provide throughout the year.  Call for the date of their next meeting.

If you have questions or have a book you’d like to reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (507) 825-6714.  The hours for Meinders Library are Monday through Thursday from 10 AM – 8 PM, and Friday and Saturday from 10 AM – 5 PM.  Meinders Community Library is located at 1401 7^th Street SW, on the south side of the high school.

New Inspirations

Pipestone County Star 10-09-2014

What is Inspirational Fiction?  Most commonly in the United States, the term refers to fiction that concentrates on the characters’ relationships with the Christian God and has become synonymous with Christian Fiction, though this is not always the case.

The definition of Christian Fiction is very simple - it has at its core biblically-based attitudes.  The books typically have a strong Christian theme with very little profanity, sexual content, or violence.  Christian fiction is often written in series to show that faith can grow over time and they have faith-based conflicts, a concentration on morality, and/or they post religious questions – with or without answers.

We usually try to order one or two new series every few months to keep our readers’ interest.  Over the past month or so, we have gotten the following series into the library:

The Dakota series, Lauraine Snelling

The titles in this series include Dakota Dawn, Dakota Dream, and Dakota Dusk.  There are two more (Dakota December and Dakota Destiny) in the series which will be ordered at a later date.  While this is not a new series, it is one that the library did not own and we felt it would add to the collection.  These books follow the lives of immigrant women moving to North Dakota, and centers around the lives people lead in the small community of Soldahl.  The stories are short, but full of life and the characters who people them will touch your heart.

Chronicles of the Kings, Lynn Austin

This series contains five titles: Gods and Kings, Song of Redemption, The Strength of His Hand, Faith of My Fathers, and Among the Gods.  The story begins with Hezekiah, the second son of King Ahaz, who encounters Yahweh as he struggles with his father’s obsession with the idol Molech.  The saga continues with Hezekiah growing into kingship, struggling with a barren wife (who makes an unforgivable pact with a foreign goddess), and then follows his descendants in their journey of faith.  And it is not an easy journey – there are many pitfalls along the way.  The story is involved and enjoyable, with historical detail that will intrigue the reader. 

Because the shelving section for inspirational fiction is not as large as some bigger libraries (we’re not the only ones with this problem), Meinders has started a rotation with a few other Plum Creek libraries.  We trade about twenty books at a time, including a few complete series, to ensure that our readers get a varied selection.  So far we have done one trade and it worked very well – there are only two books in the rotation left on the shelf!  Soon we will be trading again and will bring more books from different places in – hopefully ones that will open eyes to new authors and new series.

So in this time of gloominess, as summer slowly turns to fall, pick up an inspirational book and transport yourself somewhere more thoughtful and uplifting.

Upcoming Events: October 25^th is a FREE Bus trip to New Ulm, with the bus leaving at 7:15 AM from the overflow parking lot at the high school.  We will be visiting the Wanda Gag House, Schell’s Brewery, the Brown County Historical Society, and perhaps seeing the Glockenspiel before returning back to Pipestone around 5:30.  You must have a library card and you must be over 21.  Call – there may still be space!

PAFL Update:  Pipestone Area Friends of the Library is looking for members – anyone who is a friend to Meinders Library is welcome to join!  The Friends group works hard to promote the library, raise money for projects, and organize their yearly book sale, in addition to the HUGE amount of support they provide throughout the year.  Call us for the date of the next meeting!

If you have questions or have a book you’d like to reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (507) 825-6714.  The hours for Meinders Library are Monday through Thursday from 10 AM – 8 PM, and Friday and Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM.  Meinders Community Library is located at 1401 7^th Street SW, on the south side of the high school.

Fall Into Books

Pipestone County Star 10-23-2014

Autumn has arrived.  The colors have changed, the leaves have made heaps on our lawns.  Mornings are very crisp, evenings even more so, but the stars on clear nights are amazing.  Truth be told, this is my favorite time of year and I do look forward to it, even if I miss my garden.

Here are some books to help get you in the mood, though possibly not in the way you were expecting.  I don’t think any of these books necessarily involve the fall season, but they DO have “fall” in their title.  Oh, and one more catch – they’re all young adult.  Go ahead and read them, though.  We won’t tell everyone that you’re no longer a “young” adult.  We read them, too.

Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver

This is Oliver’s first book and is absolutely amazing.  Samantha Kingston is one of the most popular girls in school and Feburyar12, known as Cupid Day, should be the best day of the year.  Flowers, candy, everything that comes with being the girl at the top.  Or it SHOULD be the best day – Samantha dies in a terrible accident that night.  When she wakes up in the morning (yes, she wakes up), she begins to live that last day over again, learning that even the tiniest changes make a big impact in the outcome.  She proceeds to live that day over seven times.  You’ll have to read it to learn the end.

City of Fallen Angels, Cassandra Clare

This is book four of the Mortal Instruments series and I recommend reading the other three first.  However, this one is quite fun.  Clary is relieved now that the war is over between the Shadowhunters and the Downworlders.  She herself is training to become a Shadowhunter and she can finally refer to the love of her life as her “boyfriend.”  But all is not as peaceful as it seems and pretty soon, Clary becomes aware that something else is going on, something that might cause another war.  And it’s all her fault.

Falling Boy, Allison McGhee

Joseph was paralyzed in a mysterious accident and finds himself living in Minneapolis with his father, working at a bakery during a particularly hot summer.  He makes two good friends, Zap and Enzo, and through them begins to take another look at the events that caused him to end up in a wheelchair.  Enzo wants to believe that he’s a superhero.  Is he? What does it really mean to be a superhero?

Fall for Anything, Courtney Summers

Eddie Reeves loves her father very much.  That is, until he throws himself off a warehouse.  Eddie is left full of questions – Why?  Why did he do it? Why did he leave her and her mother like that? It isn’t long before she meets her father’s student, Culler, and the two develop a relationship that teeters on romantic, but is built from loss.  Together, they try to solve the questions that both of them have, but isn’t it sometimes better to leave some questions unanswered?

Fall of Five, Pittacus Lore

This is also the fourth book in a series that starts with I am Number Four.  At first, I thought this series would be a bit silly (there’s aliens), but it’s actually fantastic and I highly recommend it.  The group of young people known as the Garde are mostly reunited, but they do not have the power yet to overcome their arch enemies, the Mogadoriens.  They need more preparation and more time, which is possibly running out.  And then they get a signal in the form of a crop circle from Number Five.  They really need Five – it could be a tipping point.  But is the signal a trap?

Happy Fall, everyone!! It’s well under way and I hope that it’s treating you well.  Enjoy the season and make sure to eat things flavored with pumpkin.  That seems to be the thing to do this time of year.

Upcoming Events: October 25^th is a FREE Bus trip to New Ulm, with the bus leaving at 7:15 AM from the overflow parking lot at the high school.  We will be visiting the Wanda Gag House, Schell’s Brewery, the Brown County Historical Society, and perhaps seeing the Glockenspiel before returning back to Pipestone around 5:30.  You must have a library card and you must be over 21.  Call – there may still be space!

PAFL Update:  Pipestone Area Friends of the Library is looking for members – anyone who is a friend to Meinders Library is welcome to join!  The Friends group works hard to promote the library, raise money for projects, and organize their yearly book sale, in addition to the HUGE amount of support they provide throughout the year.  Call us for the date of the next meeting!

If you have questions or have a book you’d like to reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (507) 825-6714.  The hours for Meinders Library are Monday through Thursday from 10 AM – 8 PM, and Friday and Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM.  Meinders Community Library is located at 1401 7^th Street SW, on the south side of the high school.