LibraryPoint Blog

Don’t you love the new year’s big events--the Super Bowl, the Oscars, and the American Library Association’s book awards?  

Last week, librarians everywhere eagerly watched this year’s announcements, hoping to hear that their favorites were selected.  Many shouted in exaltation, while others shook their fists at colleagues who didn’t make the choices we preferred.  Although I did a little of both, one announcement was particularly thrilling.  Tamora Pierce, one of my favorite authors, won the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring her significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens.  

The University of Mary Washington's 2013 Chappell Great Lives Lecture Series continues on Thursday, February 7, with a lecture on Brigham Young by John Turner author of Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet:

Brigham Young at age forty lived in western Illinois, was a faithful disciple of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, and had but one wife. He was known for his spiritual fire, collegial leadership, and tireless missionary service. Within ten years, much had changed. By then, Young had led thousands of religious refugees to the Salt Lake Valley, stood at the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was the governor of the newly created Utah Territory, and had been sealed in marriage to fifty-five wives. Young, moreover, had become a very different sort of leader: hyper-sensitive to criticism, vigilant against potential rivals within the church, and violent in his rhetorical responses to everything from criminality to U.S. interference in Utah affairs. In his talk, John Turner will follow Brigham Young from Illinois to Utah, explaining how that transition affected both Young’s personality and the place of his church within American society.

This readalike is in response to a patron's book-match request. If you would like personalized reading recommendations, fill out the book-match form and a librarian will email suggested titles to you. Available for adults, teens, and kids.  You can browse the book matches here.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry: "A love story, an adventure, and an epic of the frontier: Set in the late nineteenth century, Lonesome Dove is the story of a cattle drive from Texas to Montana. Augustus McCrae and W. F. Call are former Texas rangers--partners and friends--who have shared hardship and danger without ever quite understanding each other. Gus is the romantic, a reluctant rancher who has a way with women. Call is driven and demanding, a natural authority figure with no patience for weakness. The two could hardly be more different, but both are tough, redoubtable fighters who have learned to count on each other, if nothing else." 

If you enjoyed this western epic and are looking for similar novels, here are some other titles you may enjoy:

Little Big Man by Thomas Berger
Fictional reminiscences of an 111-year-old man telling of his checkered career as plainsman, Indian scout, and squaw man and of his colorful acquaintances. (worldcat.org)

The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
 A cowboy is unable to prevent three wandering travellers from being unjustly lynched for murder. (worldcat.org)

George Van Sant was well known in the area for his outstanding public service in the Marine Corps, at Mary Washington College, and in local politics.  To many of us, however, he was best known as an advocate for the Central Rappahannock Regional Library.