2017 – Mentor Public Library

12 29, 2017

MPL Talks: USS Michigan & the Civil War

By admin|2017-12-29T06:00:16-05:00December 29, 2017|

The USS Michigan was one of the Navy’s first iron-hulled ships and it sailed the Great Lakes for more than a century.

It represented the transition between wood to iron and sail to steam. The USS Michigan also played a pivotal role in the Civil War when Confederates attempted to hijack it.

Ted Karle discussed the historic ship during our monthly Civil War program with James A. Garfield National Historic Site.

He discussed:

the USS Michigan’s role in the assassination of James Strang
how it was nearly hijacked during the Civil War by Confederate pirates
how the lauded vessel ended up as scrap metal

Our Civil War series continues at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at our Main Branch. The topic will be General Winfield Scott Hancock. The talk is free and open to all.

If you’re interested in Civil War history, some other previous talks in our Civil War series can be viewed online in their entirety:

12 15, 2017

Cleveland Browns QB Bernie Kosar discusses football, resiliency & ‘Learning to Scramble’

By admin|2017-12-15T06:00:48-05:00December 15, 2017|

Cleveland Browns Quarterback Bernie Kosar—you may have heard of him—visited us on Wednesday to discuss his life, career, and new book, Learning to Scramble.

He talked about:

The process of writing “Learning to Scramble”
His childhood in Youngstown
The importance of resiliency
his experience at the University of Miami
his friendship with Drew Carey
The “Bernie, Bernie” song
his last pass with the Browns
CTE

He also signed more than 200 books for the people who came to here him speak.

We want to thank the Mentor Barnes & Noble, Cleveland Landmarks Press, and, of course, Kosar himself for making this program possible.

See more author interviews at Mentor Public Library

12 9, 2017

Check out new magazines whenever you want with Flipster

By admin|2023-10-25T15:36:09-04:00December 9, 2017|

You can now access dozens of popular magazines whenever you want and for free.

All you need is a smart device—like a tablet, computer or smartphone—a Mentor Public Library card, and the library’s newest digital service, Flipster.

You can check out both new and back issues of 56 different magazines with Flipster, including People, Atlantic, Times, Cosmopolitan, Bon Appetit, Highlights, New Yorker, Money, Redbook, Rolling Stone, US Weekly, Vogue and Teen Vogue, Wired, Runner’s World, Women’s Health, Zoobooks, and Vanity Fair.

There are two ways you can borrow magazines using Flipster:

online. Access it via our website. Go to the front page, scroll down to Digital Resources, and click on Flipster.
via the Flipster app, which is available for free on the Google Play and iTunes App stores. All you’ll need to sign in is your library card number.

Now start browsing. Your favorite magazines are now at your beck and call.

11 25, 2017

Jill Grunenwald talks body image, anxiety & the book she wishes she had written

By admin|2017-11-25T06:00:32-05:00November 25, 2017|

Jill Grunenwald, author of Running with a Police Escort: Tales from the Back of the Pack, visited us during National Novel Writing Month.

While here, she offered her insights on a mélange of topics, including:

the difficulty of honestly discussing weight, body image, anxiety, and mental health
her favorite author that she’s interviewed for her Professional Book Nerd podcast
whether it’s more difficult to run a marathon or write a book

By the way, we’ll conclude National Novel Writing Month with a return visit from award-winning author D.M. Pulley on Thursday, Nov. 30.

First, Pulley will lead a session where writers can share and discuss their stories that they’ve written this month at 6:30 p.m. at our Main Branch. They can also decompress and share war stories from a month’s worth of writing.

Then, directly following, Pulley will read from and discuss her newest novel, “The Unclaimed Victim,” which was inspired by the Cleveland Torso Slayings.

Afterward, Pulley will sign copies of her book, which will be available for purchase.

Both the writing session and Pulley’s reading are free and open to the public. However, registration is required. You can sign up for either or both programs on our event calendar or by calling us at (440) 255-8811 ext. 216.

11 21, 2017

5 writing tips from Paula McLain

By admin|2017-11-21T06:00:42-05:00November 21, 2017|

Bestselling author and spectacular human Paula McLain visited us for National Novel Writing Month.

She discussed finding inspiration for her bestsellers, The Paris Wife and Circling the Sun, in Hadley Richardson and Beryl Markham, respectively. She also mentioned how a dream about Martha Gellhorn—a war correspondent and Ernest Hemingway’s third wife—inspired her newest novel, Love and Ruin.

She also offered some writing advice for aspiring authors, gleaned from her own life.

You have to be open to inspiration. (“There’s an undeniable, not-subtle-at-all experience that happens to me when I find that inspiration. Now I know to pay attention to that feeling; and if I don’t have it, I’m not going to discover it along the way.”)
If something you’re writing is not working, you can’t force it to work. Before writing Circling the Sun, McLain tried to write novels about Georgia O’Keeffe and Marie Curie. No matter how hard she tried, neither worked out—not because there’s anything wrong with the subject matter, but it didn’t resonate with her like Richardson, Markham, or Gellhorn.
Read what you want to write. (“Read in the genre you want to write in. Read in the genre that’s important to you. Read as if your life depended on it.”)
Keep books that inspire you close at hand. While writing The Paris Wife, those books were Colm Tóibín’s The Master and Michael Cunningham’s The Hours for McLain.
Write your face off.

Yearly Archives: 2017

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