We READ, We Talk Book Club Zoom Discussions

OFPL’s Book Club is reading The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones.

The story follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives.

Zoom discussions will be held:

Thursday, March 18th
Starts at 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 27th
Starts at 3:00 p.m.

Email bmartin@gallupnm.gov or call 505-863-1291 for more information.

Virtual Crafts Hangout

Join OFPL on Saturday, February 13th at 12:00 p.m. for an afternoon of chatting and crafting! Virtually chat with other community members to exchange craft ideas, stories, food recipes as we craft together through knitting, crocheting, sewing, and more.

Register HERE to participate in OFPL’s virtual get-together.
Registration Deadline: Friday, February 12th

Email jwhitman@gallupnm.gov or call (505) 863-1291 for more information.

Together We Read

Borrow the featured title ‘Love Lettering” by Kate Clayborn with no waitlists or holds from our digital collection February 10th through 24th by visiting http://nm.lib.overdrive.com or downloading the Libby app

Enjoy this witty romance about Meg, whose hand-lettering skill has made her famous by designing custom journals for her New York City clientele. She has another skill too: reading signs that other people miss. Readers can then participate in the online discussion. OFPL joins nearly 16,000 public libraries and tens of thousands of readers across the United States in offering the latest Together We Read: US digital book club selection. 

Email bmartin@gallupnm.gov or call 505-863-1291 for more information.

We READ, We TALK Book Club – Registration

Register at ofpl.online for a copy of The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones now through February 15th.  The story follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives.

Zoom discussions will be held in March. 

Email bmartin@gallupnm.gov or call 505-863-1291 for more information.

Big Library Read

Borrow the featured title Reverie by Ryan La Sala with no waitlists or holds from our digital collection.

OFPL is connecting their patrons with millions of readers and a compelling young adult ebook during the next Big Library Read, the world’s largest digital book club. From November 2nd through 17th, readers’ secret dreams can become a reality when they borrow and read the debut novel Reverie from their public library.

Cardholders can borrow the ebook or audiobook without waiting by visiting http://nm.lib.overdrive.com or downloading the Libby app.

Brief Synopsis:
Inception meets The Magicians in the most imaginative YA debut of the year!

All Kane Montgomery knows for certain is that the police found him half-dead in the river. He can’t remember how he got there, what happened after, and why his life seems so different now. And it’s not just Kane who’s different, the world feels off, reality itself seems different…MORE

READ THE FULL SYNOPSIS HERE

Reverie.
Publish December 2019.
By Ryan La Sala.

Cardholders can borrow the ebook or audiobook without waiting by visiting http://nm.lib.overdrive.com or downloading the Libby app.

Author Ryan La Sala.
Photo Credit: Lauren Takakjian.
Circa November 2019.

Author Bio:
Ryan La Sala has always lived on the partition between the real and unreal. He writes about surreal things happening to real people, and his stories are almost always queer. His first book, Reverie, focuses on the worlds we build within ourselves—our dreams and our delusions—and how they warp our reality.

Learn More About the Author HERE

Cardholders can borrow the ebook or audiobook without waiting by visiting http://nm.lib.overdrive.com or downloading the Libby app.

Email bmartin@gallupnm.gov or call (505) 863-1291 for more information.

We READ, We TALK Book Club – August

Register at ofpl.online for a copy of The Library Book by Susan Orlean now through August 7th

The story chronicles the Los Angeles Public Library fire and its aftermath.  Get ready for some great conversations and tons of fun as we meet virtually for the first time ever!

Zoom discussions will be held Thursday, August, 20th at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, August 29th at 2:00 p.m.

Email bmartin@gallupnm.gov or call 505-863-1291 for more information.

Creative Corner – Color Theory Basics

Creative Corner features creativity freedom to make their own art from various materials that can be found around their homes and/or are inexpensive to purchase. Art courses are for the inner creative geared towards individuals 15 years of age and older.

Tune in this upcoming Monday, June 6th at 4:00 p.m. for a demonstration on the color wheel and a discussion of Color Theory and terminology. Available through our Facebook page and YouTube channel, search @galluplibrary.

Color Theory, Terminology, & More.

Color Theory Definition

Color theory encompasses a multitude of definitions, concepts and design applications – enough to fill several encyclopedias. Color theories create a logical structure for color. For example, if we have an assortment of fruits and vegetables, we can organize them by color and place them on a circle that shows the colors in relation to each other.

Color Wheel

The Color Wheel A favorite of designers and artists, the wheel makes color relationships easy to see by dividing the spectrum into 12 basic hues: three primary colors, three secondaries, and six tertiaries.

Basic Color Wheel.

Terminology for Review:

Analogous Colors

Any three colors which are side by side on a 12-part color wheel, such as yellow-green, yellow, and yellow-orange. Usually one of the three colors predominates.

Complimentary Colors

Complementary colors are any two colors which are directly opposite each other, such as red and green and red-purple and yellow-green.

Hue

An attribute of a color which makes it unique. Example: Red, Forest Green, Cerulean, Violet, Pink, Magenta, etc.

Primary Colors

In traditional color theory (used in paint and pigments), primary colors are the 3 pigment colors that cannot be mixed or formed by any combination of other colors. All other colors are derived from these 3 hues. 

Example: Red, Blue, and Yellow

Secondary Colors

These are the colors formed by mixing the primary colors.

Example: Green, Orange, and Purple

Shade

Refers to the mixture of a hue with black or any darker color. This mixture reduces the overall color brightness.

Tertiary Colors

These are the colors formed by mixing a primary and a secondary color.

Example: Yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green & yellow-green

Tint

A tint is created when you add white to a hue and lighten it. It is also sometimes called a pastel color.

Tone

In art, the term “tone” describes the quality of color. It has to do with whether a color is perceived as warm or cold, bright or dull, light or dark, and pure or “dirty.” The tone of a piece of art can have a variety of effects, from setting the mood to adding emphasis.

We READ, We TALK Book Club – March

The second and last discussion of The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston will take place at the Main Library on Saturday, March 7th at 2:00 p.m. & Saturday, March 14th at 4:00 p.m.

As a girl, Kingston lives in two confounding worlds: the California to which her parents have immigrated and the China of her mother’s “talk stories.” The fierce and wily women warriors of her mother’s tales clash jarringly with the harsh reality of female oppression out of which they come.

Get ready for some great conversations, good food and tons of fun!

Email bmartin@gallupnm.gov or call 505-863-1291 for more information.

Book Signing with Author

Visiting Author: Jeffrey Hass

Join us at the Main Library on Saturday, February 8th at 4:30 p.m., for a book signing and discussion of The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther by Jeffrey Haas.

Discover Haas’s personal account of how he and People’s Law Office partner Flint Taylor pursued Hampton’s assassins, ultimately prevailing over unlimited government resources and FBI conspiracy.

Email bmartin@gallupnm.gov or call 505-863-1291 for more information.

We READ, We TALK Book Club – February/March

The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts

By Maxine Hong Kingston

An exhilarating blend of autobiography and mythology, of world and self, of hot rage and cool analysis. As a girl, Kingston lives in two confounding worlds: California to which her parents have immigrated and China of her mother’s “talk stories.”

The fierce and wily women warriors of her mother’s tales clash jarringly with the harsh reality of female oppression out of which they come.

Get ready for some great conversations, good food and tons of fun!

Email bmartin@gallupnm.gov or call 505-863-1291 for more information.

MUST BE ABLE TO ATTEND ONE (1) OF THE FOLLOWING BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION MEETINGS:

  • Saturday, February 22nd at 2:00 p.m.
  • Saturday, March 7th at 2:00 p.m.
  • Saturday, March 21st at 2:00 p.m.

Discussion Questions:

  • “The Woman Warrior” opens with the dramatic story of the “no-name woman,” Kingston’s deceased aunt who was shamed and ultimately lost her life, for having a child with a man who wasn’t her husband. What do you think Kingston wants us to take away from this story?
  • Early on, Kingston asks how Chinese-Americans like herself can separate what is peculiar to her own family’s stories vs. what is Chinese. What are some of the other challenges of growing up as a second-generation immigrant?
  • The original title Kingston chose for this book was “Gold Mountain Stories.” What does “Gold Mountain” signify, and why would she have picked that name?
  • ”Women in the old China do not choose,” Kingston writes. What are some of the ways women were oppressed in her parents’ and parents’ parents’ generations? What about her own?
  • What role does disgrace and shame play in the book? Where does it come from?
  • What do you make of Kingston’s mother’s “talk stories,” which are a mix of folk tales and family lore? Do you believe them? Does it matter?
  • Who is Fa Mu Lan? How does Kingston become her, or imagine becoming her?
  • How does the urban renewal that tore down her parents’ laundry business affect their family?
  • Kingston’s mother teaches her that all white people are “ghosts.” What does she mean by this?
  • Why is Kingston’s mother, Brave Orchid, so intent on her sister, Moon Orchid, finding her husband in America and demanding more from him?
  • The last of the book’s five interconnected stories is about speaking and not speaking, and the theme of rebellion. Why do you think Kingston closes the book this way?
  • “The Woman Warrior” was written in 1976. How does it remain timely or relevant today? Does it also feel dated?
  • Since its publication, “The Woman Warrior” has sparked controversy by Asian American scholars who say it presented a distorted view of Chinese culture in its blending of fiction and fact. What do you make of that critique?
  • How was the writing style, and the experience of reading this book, different from other selections in our book club? 

Email bmartin@gallupnm.gov or call 505-863-1291 for more information.