NEWSLETTER MARCH 2013

       The Friends of the           Anglophone Library

NEWSLETTER MARCH 2013

A SMASH HIT

The play reading of « Love Letters » was a smash hit. We had a full house, almost 50 people came to enjoy the talents of Katharine Claringbull and Lawrence McGuire. Many thanks to the organisers, Philippe Marchand, Caroline DiMiceli and Phil Claringbull.

 We have another event coming up on 12th April ; SHARDS OF LIGHT,a festive medley of recitals, readings and song. Dialogues and monologues, short extracts from fiction, poems old and modern and period songs presented by as many as ten voices should provide a miscellany to make you smile, reflect, relax and laugh.

Date  12 April at 6pm     Venue: Martin Luther King Annex, 27 Boulevard Louis Blanc   Montpellier

There will be a small charge of 5 euros which will also entitle you to drinks and nibbles. Please prepare an envelope with 5 euros per person inside to hand in when you arrive. This small sum covers the drinks and nibbles, anything left over goes to buy new books.

Please send an email to foal@dbmail.com before 6^th April to let us know if you plan to attend so that we can organise quantities. This event is open to all.

MAGAZINES

Thanks to members who subscribe to various magazines we have a good choice of

publications

The Economist                          The Week (a compilation of world news)

London Review of Books          The Spectator   (political comment and culture)

Intelligent Life (a cultural magazine published by the Economist Group)

The Oldie (culture and fun for older members!)                Time              

NEW BOOKS

The new books have arrived, another excellent choice which should ensure some happy reading for all tastes. We keep very much up to date with new literature but obviously we have to make choices given our limited funds and need to remain pretty mainstream.

There are some good books in the permanent Book Sale, some of which we may donate to the library on the beach in Carnon in the summer for tourists in exchange for some publicity

DATE FOR YOUR DIARIES

Foal members can pencil in June 20th 6pm for the Annual General Meeting, this will be confirmed in the next Newsletter

January 2013 Newsletter

NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2013

Now that the Christmas festivities are over we shall be able to get back to some serious reading. You will have seen the list of books on order for January, there are some interesting choices. As you know, we are in temporary premises and we are only able to open three times a month which means we are pretty flexible about the number of books you can take out and for how long. We want you to enjoy your reading.

On January 11th we had the Book Quiz, the new format, which enabled everyone to participate, was much appreciated. Thank you to the organisers who did so much to make the event such a success. Unfortunately we don’t have any photos but we will rectify that error at the NEXT EVENT which takes place on 15th February, the day after St Valentine’s day.

Very appropriately we are offering a play reading called Love Letters, written by A R Gurney. The play involves just two characters who exchange letters over a span of 50 years. One correspondent is eager to write, the other more diffident and the result is a correspondence that is pithy, exhilarating and funny, and well as wise, wistful and tinged with in-your-face reality, love and sadness. Don’t miss this special play-reading production.

Date  15 February at 6pm     Venue: Martin Luther King Annex, 27 Boulevard Louis Blanc

There will be a small charge of 5 euros which will also entitle you to drinks and nibbles. Please send an email to foal@dbmail.com before 5^th February to let us know if you plan to attend so that we can organise quantities. This event is open to all.

Book Chat continues to be very popular, the meetings are now held at the library venue.

Membership remains stable, we have lost some people by the wayside but we have gained new members, all we need now are permanent premises. We have put in an application at the Town Hall but if anyone has a suggestion, write to foal@dbmail.com at once! The shelves are almost full and we need to expand. There are some good books in the permanent Book Sale, selling the books allows us to buy more new books and make space. At the moment we are obliged to say “no” to offers of books for lack of space.

We have made contact with the British Council in Marseille who is interested in our project, we should be meeting with a representative soon and hope to get some form of support.

FOAL IS GOING STRONG, THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR CONTINUING SUPPORT

BOOKS ON ORDER JANUARY 2013

Another diverse selection, some well-known authors, others less well-known. In the thriller department we have some staples : Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, and an author who is new to us, Gillian Flynn « Gone girl » Another author new to us is Jojo Moyes , if we like this one, we will also buy her previous book.

 

Paul Auster                                       Winter Journal

Michael Chambon                           Telegraph Avenue

Jennie Field                                      The Age of Desire

Alice Munro                                     The Sense of an Ending

Shalom Auslander                           Hope : A Tragedy

Lawrence Osborne                          The Forgiven

Julian Barnes                                   Through the Window

Susan Hill                                          A Question of Identity

Ian Rankin                                       Standing in another man’s Grave

Val McDermid                                 The Vanishing Point

Aravind Adiga                                 Last Man in Tower

Gillian Flynn                                    Gone Girl

Jojo Moyes                                        The Girl you left behind

Rose Tremain                                   Merivel : a Man of his Time

November Newsletter

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

New books

The new books have arrived, you will have seen the list in the last Newsletter, we really do have a very good selection now of literature for all tastes. We have added the latest J K Rowling “A Casual Vacancy”

Library opening hours

The schedule for January through June will be out soon. We will not be open on Wednesday 26^th December, Boxing Day. Members may take out more books over the holiday period.

Upcoming events

Play in English, “Tomorrow’s Parties” at the Domaine d’O on 6^th December, we have had a very good response and hope it will be an enjoyable evening. The play starts at 7pm. Your tickets will be at the “accueil” in envelopes with your names on. There will be a meeting with the actors after the play, Foal will be helping to lead the debate and, if necessary, with the interpretation although the Domaine d’O will be providing a translator. The play lasts about 1h20 and the meeting with the actors about 30 minutes.

Christmas Party on Saturday 15^th December at 2 Place de la Chapelle Neuve at 6pm for FOAL members. You are invited to bring some finger-food, the members of the Board will be providing the drinks. Please let us know before 5^th December if you will be attending: send an email to kath1977@gmail.com  to tell her what you plan to bring, she will be organising the finger-food so that we have a selection of sweet and savoury. Do come along with your significant other half

Book Quiz   Philip  Claringbull has agreed to be quiz master and to ensure a rapid, quick-fire exchange of questions and answers. The same range of questions as before will be asked on fiction before and since 1900, on well-known non-fiction titles, on drama and poetry, on books that were made into films and on well-loved whodunnit titles. The format will be changed, there will be four teams competing and everyone in the audience will be able to participate.

Date  11 January at 6pm   Venue: Martin Luther King Annex, 27 Boulevard Louis Blanc

There will be a small charge of 5 euros which will also entitle you to drinks and nibbles. Please send an email to foal@dbmail.com before 5^th January to let us know if you plan to attend so that we can organise quantities. This event is open to all.

Play Reading  The day after St Valentines day, very appropriately, we  are offering a play reading called Love Letters, written by A R Gurney, which has been performed in theatres, humble and noble, tens, if not hundreds, of times since Gurney first wrote it in 1988. Liz Taylor once featured in a benefit one-night production of the play for an AIDS charity. The play involves just two characters who exchange letters over a span of 50 years. One correspondent is eager to write, the other more diffident and the result is a correspondence that is pithy, exhilarating and funny, and well as wise, wistful and tinged with in-your-face reality, love and sadness. Don’t miss this special play-reading production.

Date  15 February at 6pm     Venue: Martin Luther King Annex, 27 Boulevard Louis Blanc

There will be a small charge of 5 euros which will also entitle you to drinks and nibbles. Please send an email to foal@dbmail.com before 5^th February to let us know if you plan to attend so that we can organise quantities. This event is open to all.

In April FOAL will be organising another event called “Shards of Light”, we shall give you more details later on.

For those of you who might be interested, the Domaine d’O is organising a showing of Robert Altman’s film “Short Cuts” based on short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver at the Utopia cinema on Wednesday 16 January at 2pm. We don’t know yet if there will be a discussion afterwards. The Domaine d’O is also putting on a play about Carver (in French) from Wednesday 30 January to Friday 1^st February.

New books on order September 2012 and donation

 

BOOKS ON ORDER SEPTEMBER 2012

The end of the wasp season                        Denise Mina

Bones are forever                                        Kathy Reichs

The Girl on the Stairs                                  Louise Welsh

Tom-all-alone’s                                            Lynn Shepherd  (Corsaire)

Vengeance in mind                                      N J Cooper

The Kingmaker’s daughter                        Philippa Gregory

Winter of the World                                    Ken Follett

Sweet Tooth                                                 Ian McEwan

The Song of Achilles                                               Madeline Miller

San Miguel                                                   T C Boyle

Tigers in red weather                                  Lisa Klaussmann

In One person                                               John Irving

The Dinner                                                   Herman Koch

The Best of me                                             Nicolas Sparks

 

We have also received a large donation from one of our members, the following books are already in the library

We have received a large donation from one of our members and have started processing the books. You will find below some interesting « oldies » that have been incorporated into the collection

General Fiction

T.C.Boyle                                          Inner Circle

T.C.Boyle                                          Water Music

A Brookner                                        Falling slowly

J Franzen                                            The Corrections

D Baldacci                                         The Christmas train

F McCourt                                         Tis

J Winterson                                        Lighthousekeeping

S Faulks                                             Engleby

R Seiffert                                           The Dark room

H Mantel                                            An Experiment in love

M Amis                                              Yellow Dogs

M Bragg                                             Crossing the lines

M Atwood                                         Alias Grace

T Parsons                                           Man and Wife

A Mathews                                        Apothecary’s House

A Brink                                              The other side of silence

A Soeuif                                            The Map of Love

K Follett                                            A Dangerous Fortune

W Lamb                                             The Hour I first believed

P Auster                                             New York Trilogy

Potok Chaim                                      The gift of Asher Lev

D Leavitt                                           The page turner

D Leavitt                                           The Indian Clerk

C McCann                                         Songdogs

 

Mystery/Dectective

 

H Mankell                                          Before the Frost

H Mankell                                          Depths

N French                                            Catch me when I fall

N French                                            Death in a strange country

PD James                                           The Murder room

PD James                                           Shroud for a Nightingale

B Vine                                                           The Blood Doctor

E George                                            With no one as witness

E George                                            A Traitor to memory 

E George                                            A Place of Hiding

I Rankin                                             Simisola

I Rankin                                             Watchman

Reginald Hill                                     The Lake of Darkness

Reginald Hill                                     The Woodcutter (this is his most recent book and it is an 

                                                            exceptionally good crime novel, an absolute page turner)

I Rankin                                             Dead Souls

M Walters                                          The shape of snakes

M Walters                                          The Devil’s feather

Q Jardine                                           Skinner’s Trail

D Leon                                               Death at La Fenice

D Leon                                               Memory Game

Non Fiction

A Beevor                                           The Mystery of Olga Chekhova

 

September Newsletter

SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

Hope everyone had a good summer and that you did not suffer too much from the heat !

We held a Board Meeting on 6th September and we have lots of exciting events to tell you about.

BOOKS

The library is going strong in spite of the fact that we are still in our temporary premises, you will find below two lists ; some books from a recent donation which are already in the library, and the other, new books on order. Our policy at the library is to keep abreast of recent publications and to stay at the cutting edge of literary actuality. On the other hand, we are quite inundated with donations from kind donators (too many given our current situation), remember, there is a Permanent Book Sale at the library and we hope to hold another Book Sale before Christmas.

EVENTS

We have quite a lot of events in the works

The first is the Play in English at the Domaine d’O (same place as the Christopher Crimes talk). After the play which lasts 1 hour and twenty minutes we will meet the actors for a debate. The company is very well-known and was at Avignon this summer. This event will take place on Thursday 6th December at 7pm. A wonderful opportunity for those of us who are deprived of theatre in English ! Foal will be leading the discussion with the actors in partnership with the Domaine d’O team. There is a special price of 8 euros for Foal members and supporters. If you wish to come, please send a cheque for 8 euros to : Victoria Metherell 31bis Avenue St Lazare Bât O 34000 Montpellier, made out to FOAL before 15th November. I will centralise the cheques and get the tickets. For those of you who came to the Christopher Crimes talk last year you will remember there is a bar at the theatre….

Forced Entertainment presents

TOMORROW’S PARTIES

Forced Entertainment’s latest performance explores ideas and clichés of hope. Writing and collecting future scenarios as well as small narratives concerning optimism and despair, the company investigates the speculative nature of anticipation and the myriad possibilities the future holds in store. Tomorrow’s Parties draws on ideas of utopian and dystopian projections, the optimistic stories we tell ourselves and on the pleasures of invention that arise as the work twists and turns in performance. From these conjectures, day dreams and gripping but well-worn narratives the piece will move out in different directions to other kinds of speculations – the realistic, the personal and the evidently fantastical. Tomorrow’s Parties is Forced Entertainment in intimate and comical mode - a playful, poignant and at times delirious look forwards to futures both possible and impossible.

Forced Entertainment

Since forming the company in 1984, the six core members of the group have sustained a unique artistic partnership for quarter of a century, confirming their position as trailblazers in contemporary theatre. The company’s substantial canon of work reflects an interest in the mechanics of performance, the role of the audience and the machinations of contemporary urban life. The work is distinctive and provocative, delighting in disrupting the conventions of theatre and the expectations of audiences. Forced Entertainment’s trademark collaborative process – devising work as a group through improvisation, experimentation and debate – has made them pioneers of British avant-garde theatre and earned them an international reputation.

The next event is a Christmas Party for members of Foal. We thought it would be a good idea to have a party for all our members and their spouses. The Claringbulls have kindly offered to hold the “aperitif dinatoire” at the library, Place de la Chapelle Neuve on 15^th December at 6pm. You are invited to bring some finger food, the members of the Board will be providing the drinks. Please let us know nearer the time if you are coming: send an email to foal@dbmail.com

Next we come to the Literary Quiz, this will be held again in January with a rather different formula, members of the public who wish to, can be part of one of the four teams, the organisers feel that more people would like to participate. This event will be held at the Martin Luther King venue.

In February we plan a Play Evening, a performance of A.R.Gurney’s Love Letters and later next spring an evening’s entertainment by members of BookChat, more about those events nearer the time.

We are very lucky to have such a dynamic and motivated Board, the library has problems at the moment but FOAL is alive and kicking. This is also thanks to your support which we need to survive.

Thank you all for your support, if you haven’t signed up yet  you can  send a cheque made out to Foal to : Sunshine Erickson Mas de Calage, Chemin de Calage, 34130 St Aunès

(active member 25 euros  benefactor 40 euros  student 15 euros)

Annual General Meeting

We held our Annual General Meeting in June. Our accounts should be healthy for the coming year thanks to a grant we have received from the Mairie. As you will know if you follow the blog, there has been quite a lot of activity since our last AGM. Foal has organised the Christopher Crimes talk, the Literary Quiz which was a great success and which will become an annual event, we have enhanced the collection with the "100 Best Novels of the XX century" and we add recent literature to the collection on a regular basis. We had a successful partnership with the Mairie at the Comédie du Livre and enjoyed our talks with two of the visiting authors. We held a Book Sale before our move to our temporary premises and there is a permanent book sale at the library. The new opening hours are on the first Saturday of every month from 10-12.30 and the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 3-6pm at Place de la Chapelle Neuve in Montpellier.
The regular Book Chat meetings are very popular. There are one or two events in the works and you will be informed in due time. Our next objective is to find permanent premises, if you have any suggestions, please contact us at foal@dbmail.com

                                                        Photos taken at the AGM

Membership is down, probably because some people joined in the first flush to show support for our efforts, we still need you so don't hesitate to ask us for information about how to join. Even if you are not a great bibliophile, you can participate in our events, happily we have a very active Board and we do try hard to keep up the good work.