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Mission Statement:
The purpose is to enrich the lives of many in the Amsterdam community
through reading and related activities thereby enhancing literacy and a
sense of community and promoting the Amsterdam Free Library.
Chairman:
JOHN NAPLE
Honorary Chairpersons:
~KEVIN MCCLARY, Recorder Publisher
~BOB CUDMORE, WVTL Radio Personality
~GINA DEROSSI, Amsterdam 3rd Ward Alderwoman
~DANIEL WEAVER, Proprietor of THE BOOK HOUND and editor of UPSTREAM— A
Mohawk Valley Journal
Steering Committee:
Joan Baumler
Bill Blance
Maria Cinquanti
Joan Decker
Laura Falco
Maureen Hand
Gloria Martuscello
Linda Naple
Donna Palczak
Stephanie Persico
Dianne Santos
Ann Sherman |
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HOTEL ON
THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET
by Jamie Ford |
| In 1986, Henry Lee joins a crowd outside the
Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japan Town. It has
been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has
discovered the belongings of Japanese families who were sent to
internment camps during World War 11. Henry, a Chinese American,
remembers a Japanese girl from the 1940’s with whom he had
formed a bond and an innocent love that transcended the
prejudices of their Old World ancestors. Now, forty years later,
Henry explores the hotel’s basement looking for the girl’s
family’s belongings and especially a long-lost object whose
value he cannot even begin to measure. His search will take him
on a journey to revisit the sacrifices he has made for family,
for love, and for country. |
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THE KITCHEN HOUSE
by Kathleen Grissom |
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In 1791, a seven year old Irish girl witnesses the death of her
parents on board their ship bound for America. A wealthy
plantation owner on board the ship takes charge of her and takes
her to his plantation in Southern Virginia. He puts her under
the care of Belle, his illegitimate daughter, who is the “head”
slave in charge of the plantation’s kitchen house. In the
kitchen house, Lavinia bonds with her adopted family even though
her white skin sets her apart from them. Eventually, she is
accepted into the world of the “big house” where the master is
absent and the mistress battles an opium addiction. Lavinia
finds herself torn between two very different worlds and bonds
with the slaves in the kitchen house. When she is forced to make
a choice, loyalties are brought into question and dangerous
truths unfold that put lives at risk. |
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AFFINITY FOR MURDER (A LAKE GEORGE MYSTERY)
by Anne White |
A journalist plans to write a story on Georgia
O’Keefe who spent her summers at Lake George. When she visits an
art critic for background material, she discovers a fire in the
house and a body burned beyond recognition with a knife stuck in
his back. Then a group of paintings hidden in a locked closet
vanish. Are these the missing O’Keefe paintings?
As the journalist researches her O’Keefe story, danger lurks and
a murderer begins to follow her. As well as unraveling the
mystery, this book explores Lake George history and O’Keefe’s
work as well as her history in Lake George. The author offers
sensuous descriptions of O’Keefe’s flower paintings and
discusses the artist’s technique and her relationship with the
famous photographer, Alfred Steiglitz. |
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UNBROKEN
by Laura Hillenbrand |
As a young man, Louis Zampirini
was an angry juvenile delinquent. He broke into
homes and became adept at running from the police.
He learned to release his anger by running and this
talent led him to the Berlin Olympics in 1936. But
then World War 11 erupted and Zampirini enlisted in
the Army Air Corps. In 1943, his plane crashed into
the Pacific Ocean and of the 11 men on board, only
three survived. Zampirini was one of them. They
pulled themselves aboard a life raft and began a
horrific 47 day journey on a treacherous ocean with
sharks and little food or water. One of the men died
on day 33, and on day 46 they spotted land. On day
47, they were captured by the Japanese. As a POW,
Zampirini was subjected to unrelenting forms of
torture. Ultimately the war ended and he came home.
This is a true story of character, fortitude, and
survival.
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THE
GREAT GATSBY
by F. SCOTT
FITZGERALD |
This classic depicts the
decadence and excess of the “roaring twenties.” The first
chapter introduces the readers to Nick Carroway, the narrator of
the novel. He is a cousin to Daisy Buchanan, the heroine and
ex-lover of Jay Gatsby who owns a huge mansion next door to
Nick. Daisy is now married to Tom Buchanan, a playboy polo
player who has a mistress named Myrtle Wilson who also happens
to be married. Much of the novel is spent reflecting on Gatsby’s
past and how he got all his money. Rumors abound. Gatsby holds
lavish parties every Saturday night that are open to anyone who
wants to come. Liquor flows freely at these parties even though
the 18th Amendment had established Prohibition. Bootlegging,
adultery, and murder wind around a love story that is doomed
from the beginning.
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