Hilda C. Landers Library & Archives

Summer Reading 2021!

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Summer Reading 2021 Poster

 

It’s back! The SMCM Library Summer Reading Program will begin on June 1 and end on August 20th, 2021.

The Summer Reading program is sponsored by the St. Mary’s College Library, Archives & Media Center and is open to all members of the St. Mary’s Library community including students, staff, faculty, alumni and residents of the Tri-County area (St. Mary’s, Calvert and Charles counties.) You may read anything you like as long as a copy is available at the St. Mary’s College Library (SMCM) or COSMOS, the Southern Maryland Libraries catalog, or the USMAI catalog. You do not need to check the book out of the library. To get points you must post a review on the St. Mary’s College Library Summer Reading blog.

Grand Prize drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card. Open to participants who earn at least 5 points.

For more information visit the Summer Reading Blog.

Summer Reading: Five Reasons to Participate

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Summer reading is off to a running start! From now until August 16, read books and write reviews for a chance to win prizes. Still not convinced? Read our first listicle below for our favorite 5 reasons to participate in summer reading. Find more details here at our summer reading blog!

1. Win prizes!
Need we say more? Up for grabs are library and book-themed water bottles, notebooks, buttons, tote bags, and incredibly cute pins. Our grand prize winner will receive an Amazon gift card! Check out the prizes at our summer reading blog here!

2. Keep your brain engaged…or escape from reality
Learn something new, ponder life’s great mysteries, or sit on the sidelines of intense space fights with lasers. Your call.

3. Be an influencer
To enter to win prizes, all you have to do is submit your book reviews to us. They will be posted on our summer reading blog–and we already have our first review! Better catch up! Your review could inspire others to pick up their next great read, or perhaps your review will go viral (probably not. But maybe).

4. Multi-task
With our eAudiobook collection on OverDrive, you can easily read while you work or lounge lazily on a hammock. I know what I’d rather be doing.

5. Be a long-distance reader
Whether you will be right here in St. Mary’s this summer or elsewhere, you can participate in summer reading! Alumni, students, faculty, and staff are all welcome to join in, even if you no longer live nearby. Just make sure what you’re reading is available at the SMCM library, USMAI, or COSMOS (St. Mary’s County and other Southern Maryland public libraries). You don’t even have to check out your books from these places, though of course we always encourage you to use libraries!

For more information about summer reading, check out our FAQ page here! Happy reading!

Would You Rather?: #bookstofilm

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The Revenant

Michael Punke’s 2002 novel, The Revenant tells the story of frontiersman Hugh Glass as he navigates the wilderness in order to hunt down the man who killed his son. The story follows Glass as he travels the wilderness of Montana and South Dakota, surviving multiple attacks on his life, by both humans and animals. The movie was adapted into a film of the same name directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu in 2015, which was actually the film that Leonardo DiCaprio won his first and only Oscar award for. Would you rather live in the wilderness or live in a major city?

Gone Girl

Gillian Flynn’s 2012 novel Gone Girl is a mystery novel that tracks the tumultuous marriage of Nick and Amy Dunne. On their wedding anniversary Amy goes missing and all the signs point to Nick as the culprit. However, as the story continues it becomes very clear that not all things are as obvious as they seem, as the story is full of unpredictable surprises that leaves the reader hooked on every page. In 2014 director David Fincher directed the movie adaptation for the novel, with the screenplay being written by Flynn. The film visualizes the story into a physiological thriller, and like the novel, it deceives the audience up until the last moment. Would you rather live an unhappy, but safe life in your hometown with your family or would you rather move away to an unknown location and start your life over?

Life of Pi

Yann Martel’s 2002 novel, Life of Pi, is a book that explores the time that character Pi Patel spent shipwrecked with only a tiger named Richard Parker as company. The alternating narrative structure and undertones of spiritually make the novel a unique read. The movie adaptation directed by Ang Lee in 2012, brings the shipwreck to the big screen, giving viewers the visualization of Patel and Richard Parker’s adventure. Would you rather be stranded in the middle of an ocean or would you rather be stranded on a deserted island?

Catch Me If You Can

In the semi-biographical novel Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale, the main character Frank Abagnale is a conman who cashed over $2 million dollars using fraudulent checks and multiple identities. Frank chooses a life of crime in order to live the lavish lifestyle he desired. The movie adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg in 2002, follows the life of Abagnale, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, as he assumes various identities in order to conceal his crimes. Would you rather live lavishly but dishonestly, like Frank Abagnale, or would you rather live plainly but with integrity?

Interview With the Vampire

 Interview with the Vampire, written by Annie Rice in 1976, details the life of vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac. His life is filled with stories of death, betrayal, and love as Louis travels from America to Europe and meets various other vampires, dealing with the issues that come along with immortality. The movie adaptation from 1994 directed by Neil Jordan, stars Brad Pitt as Louis and was nominated for multiple awards. Would you rather live life eternally as a vampire or would you rather live a mortal life as a human?

Crazy Rich Asians

Crazy Rich Asians, written by Kevin Kwan in 2013, is the first book of a trilogy, with a main focus on introducing the Asian culture to the Western audiences. The book surrounds two main characters, Rachel Chu and Nicholas “Nick” Young’s romance relationships and the problems, both culturally and financially,  that they have to face from their parents and grandparents. Those problems presented in both the book and movie corresponds to the family issues that happen in current Chinese families. Would you rather give up your wealth and reputation altogether for love or stay in the comfort zone and do what the family asked?

Summer Reading 2017

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It’s back! The SMCM Library Summer Reading Program will begin on June 1 and end on August 18, 2017.

The Summer Reading program is sponsored by the St. Mary’s College Library, Archives & Media Center and is open to all members of the St. Mary’s Library community including students, staff, faculty, alumni and residents of the Tri-County area (St. Mary’s, Calvert and Charles counties.) You may read anything you like as long as a copy is available at the St. Mary’s College Library (SMCM) or COSMOS, the Southern Maryland Libraries catalog, or the USMAI catalog. You do not need to check the book out of the library. To get points you must post a review on the St. Mary’s College Library Summer Reading blog.

Grand Prize drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card. Open to participants who earn at least 5 points.

Read along with the Library Archives & Media Center Class of ’17 and earn bonus points.

For more information visit the Summer Reading Blog.

Summer Reading 2016: Read Books, Win Prizes!

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Summer Reading 2016 poster

Grand Prize drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card. Open to participants who earn at least 5 points.

The St. Mary’s College of Maryland Library’s Summer Reading Program starts June 1st and ends August 19th, 2016.

The Summer Reading program is open to all members of the St. Mary’s College community including students, staff, faculty, alumni and residents of the Tri-County area (St. Mary’s, Calvert and Charles counties.)

You may read anything you want as long as a copy is available at St. Mary’s College Library, Southern Maryland libraries (COSMOS) or via USMAI. You don’t need to check the book out of the library or be on campus to participate. To get points you must post a review on the blog Use the comment box to post your review.

For more information visit the Summer Reading Blog or email Pamela Mann.

Join Our Summer Reading Program

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Summer Reading 2015

The St. Mary’s Libraries Adult Summer Reading Program starts June 1st and ends August 14th, 2015. This year St. Mary’s College Library is partnering with St. Mary’s County Library to bring you more prizes and new ways to participate. This year’s prizes include a Kindle, a Fit Bit and three $25 gift cards. We also have books, posters, magnets and bags of library swag to give away. This year there are two places to post reviews, on the summer reading blog and for the first time on Goodreads.

The Summer Reading program is open to all members of the St. Mary’s College community including students, staff, faculty, alumni and residents of the Tri-County area (St. Mary’s, Calvert and Charles counties.) Readers may read anything they like as long as a copy is available at St. Mary’s College Library, Southern Maryland libraries (COSMOS) or via USMAI. To earn points you must post a review on the blog or Goodreads Group. Use the comment box to post your review on the blog. Earn bonus points by participating in the Summer Reading Challenge.

You don’t need to check the book out of the library or be on campus to participate so no matter where you are you can read books and win prizes.

For more information visit the Summer Reading Blog.

What We Read This Summer

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Library Summer Reading 2014 was a huge success. Not only were there seventy-eight reviews  submitted and  five readers winning the bag of swag for submitting 10 or more reviews; the mix of books reviewed were the most diverse since library summer reading began. There is something for everyone from beach reads to bestsellers, mysteries, non-fiction, comics & graphic novels and all the dystopias you could want.

And then there are the movies. We have our share of books-to-film including Dark Places, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars and Beautiful Ruins. Read a review of California, the book  Stephan Colbert made famous or Margaret Atwood’s classic, The Handmaid’s Tale (do yourself a favor and skip the film.) Looking for a laugh? Try Hyperbole and a Half or The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Summer Reading 2014 has ended.

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Bag of library swagEverybody wins!

Thanks to all the readers who participated in St. Mary’s Summer Reading. We had a really great mix of reviews and lots of dedicated readers including 5, yes I wrote 5, people who contributed 10 reviews or more and won a bag of library swag.

On campus and local readers can pick up their prizes in the library while alumni should contact Pamela Mann via the comment form.

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

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The InterestingsThe Interestings, a story of six friends who meet at summer camp and become lifelong friends, does indeed live up to its name; though the narration spans nearly half a century and the novel clocks in at almost 500 pages, Wolitzer’s non-chronological storytelling kept me engaged and always wondering what would happen next. The story begins at Spirit-in-the-Woods, a summer camp for the arts where six talented young people form a bond that, for some of them, last their entire lives. The novel focuses on Jules Jacobsen, an ordinary girl who feels more at home at camp than anywhere else; Ash Wolf, a beautiful young girl from a privileged family; her brother Goodman Wolf, a troublemaker much less motivated than his sister; Jonah Bay, son of folk music sensation Susannah Bay; Ethan Figman, a boy from a troubled home with a talent for animation; and Cathy Kiplinger, an aspiring dancer. As the characters grow, some of them find that their early artistic talents serve them well throughout their lives, while some learn that the world of fine arts is not where they belong. After camp ends for all the characters, they all find in some way that when reality sets in, life is no longer the utopia it was at Spirit-in-the-Woods.

Though The Interestings is indeed a lengthy read, I never felt that the novel dragged on unnecessarily; Meg Wolitzer clearly has a talent for moving the plot along and keeping readers captivated. In the beginning, due to the non-chronological telling of the story, it took a while for the various anecdotes to find their path; however, Wolitzer’s clever foreshadowing proved to be a way to show where the novel was going to lead, though not revealing too much about the characters’ journey from adolescence to adulthood. I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a coming-of-age story or a novel about relationships between unique characters.

Availability:  St. Mary’s Library, USMAI and COSMOS
Review Submitted by: Brianna Glase
Rating: Highly Recommended

Burn by Nevada Barr

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BurnThis Nevada Barr murder mystery, in the continuing Anna Pigeon series, delves into a subculture that I pray doesn’t really exist but due to the sick nature of the human species, probably does. It’s child pornography taken to a lower level. I recommend it with reservations because of this. That aside, Nevada Barr provides yet another well written mystery and if you are a fan, you will want to read it. With this book, I’m almost caught up on the series but, sadly, won’t finish in time for the conclusion of the summer reading program. Hopefully people reading reviews of Nevada Barr’s excellent books will read the whole series!

Availability:  COSMOS
Review Submitted by: Tyler Bell
Rating: Recommended with Reservations

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