I used the pipe cleaner to attach the two embroidery hoops together. Then, I wrapped the shorter piece of ribbon around that area to hide the screws and pipe cleaner. I used the longer ribbon to make the bow/scarf.
Welcome to Week 1 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Bourne Identity.
The Online Book Club, if you’ve never joined us before, is a book discussion group that takes place entirely online. Each week, I write a new blog post that talks about different aspects of the book, and you can interact directly with me and other readers by leaving your comments. Check back each week and see what new topics we’re talking about.
In The Bourne Identity, a man washes onshore with absolutely no memory. He doesn’t know who he is or where he came from. All his rescuers know is that he seems to have an affinity for fighting, his face has been altered by plastic surgery, and he has a microfilm implanted in his hip. Who is this man and why does it seem like people are looking for him? What dangerous things are hidden in his past? This book is incredibly exciting and action packed! I know you’ll love reading it!
If you want to follow along with us but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the movie version starring Matt Damon. Check out the trailer above if you want to get a feel for the how the story plays out on screen. Feel free to still leave comments on the blog posts, even if you’re only watching the series and not reading the book.
We’ll be reading the first twelve chapters for next week, so make sure to check those out before reading the next blog post!
Welcome to Week 3 of December’s discussion of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, covering Parts 4 and 5.
Part 4
Anna and Karenin are estranged, living in the same household but barely interacting. Karenin is so concerned with the optics of their household and relationship that he is willing to remain married to Anna as long as she and Vronsky don’t humiliate him with making their affair obvious in society and their household staff. Anna disregards Karenin’s wishes and invites Vronsky over to their home when she knows Karenin will be at work, but he returns early and runs into Vronsky.
An infuriated Karenin decides to proceed with getting a divorce on grounds of infidelity, but his lawyer convinces him to go the easier route that will not involve the church and could end up not going in Karenin’s favor. He sees Anna’s brother Stiva at a party he and Dolly are throwing, alerting Stiva (who is giddy about his new affair with a ballerina) about the divorce.
What are your opinions of Karenin? Can you understand where he’s coming from, or is his reasoning weak? As I read the novel my opinions about him change, but I’m at the point where I don’t have any empathy for him.
Vronsky struggles during a difficult week having to entertain a foreign dignitary, and Anna beings to show her jealousy with him for one of the first times, as she dislikes him being away with other people along with the possibility of being around other women. She is unwell during her pregnancy and announces she’s had a dream where she was told she would die during childbirth.
Anna’s mood and character begins to obviously change here; we see little charm in her interactions and she makes two references to her own death. Do you think it’s the pregnancy, mental illness, or the stress of her marriage and affair?
While away, Karenin learns Anna’s given birth to a girl also named Anna and is expected to die of a fever. When they’re reunited at her bedside, Vronsky comes over and Anna begs Karenin to forgive both her and Vronsky, which he does. Vronsky is so upset that he attempts to shoot himself when he returns home, but a servant finds him in time and sends for doctors who help save him. When Anna makes a miraculous recovery she and Vronsky leave together for the countryside.
As someone who loves reading about drama and is really enjoying this book, even I am starting to get tired of the back-and-forth divorce conversations concerning Anna and Karenin. To me, it’s a big stretch that Karenin is so moved by Anna’s recovery that he once again tells her he’s okay with their affair if she wants to continue seeing Vronsky. I don’t see forgiveness having that big of an impact on these characters. What do you think?
Lenin and Kitty are reunited at Stiva and Dolly’s party and they still have feelings for each other!! In the midst of the party they begin to play a word game on a chalkboard and it is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated romantic scenes in literature. They open themselves up to be vulnerable with each other explaining their past mistakes and reasoning, ending with Levin again asking Kitty to marry him. She says yes, and fireworks in the shape of hearts burst from our book pages.
The next morning Levin returns to Kitty’s home to finalize their engagement and alert her parents to the news. He also wants to be honest with her and shares the journals he’s kept, telling her the fact that he is not religious as she is and had not been chaste. While upsetting to Kitty, she forgives him and remains engaged.
These scenes with Levin and Kitty are some of my favorites in the whole novel. The people around Levin are so happy for him they want to be the one to drive him to Kitty’s home and hear all about it. Kitty has shown how much she’s matured since she and Levin last met, and they’ve formed a quick bond of love and understanding with each other.
Part 5:
Anna and Vronsky are living together in the countryside and Anna’s mood appears to be back to normal; she is happy away from Russia and being free to be with Vronsky in public. (Girl, why won’t accept Karenin’s divorce offer and get it over with?!) However, now Vronsky is the one struggling. He seems to be unhappy now that he has everything he’s wanted. He begins painting again, painting a portait of Anna, and she whisks them off to go see a famous painter in the area. When Vronsky sees his work, he abandons his own portrait of her and hires him to do it.
With Vronsky hating their life in Italy, the two eventually make their way back to St. Petersburg but are not met with open arms from their former friends in society. Anna sneaks into Karenin’s home to see her son on the morning of his birthday, which is possibly the saddest scene in the novel. She and Karenin run into each other, and Anna is left in another downward spiral as she begins to resent her daughter and Vronsky for her life ending up this way.
Though Vronsky begs her not to go, Anna insists on attending the opera that evening with her elderly aunt. He understands that Anna will be ridiculed if she goes, and that’s exactly what happens. Distraught, Anna pleads to leave again.
Do you think Anna has parental love for her son? She is brought to tears when she visits him, but she’s also choosing to live away from him by running off with Vronsky and her daughter.
Levin and Kitty get married and leave for Levin’s home in the countryside. Kitty begins to invest all of her time and effort into housekeeping duties, and Levin begins to show more of himself below the surface with her, becoming agitated and, at times, quick to anger. When he learns of his brother Nikolai being on his deathbed, Levin is annoyed at Kitty’s insistence on traveling with him. However, when they arrive, Levin admires her even more when he sees how kind and selfless she is when taking care of his brother. Levin sees his own personal failings compared to Kitty’s strength, and his love for her grows even more. Which is good, because we find out Kitty is pregnant!
What I liked about reading these parts were the comparisons between the “honeymoons” of both sets of characters. While Anna and Vronsky aren’t married, they escape to glamorous and luxurious Italy when their relationship is renewed after both survived near-death experiences. Levin and Kitty’s wedding is followed by a trip back to a much more modest and humble home than Kitty is used to, but she instantly takes on the role as the head of the house. While Anna is constantly running away from something, Kitty is taking the next steps to the rest of her life with confidence and with Levin.
Come back next week when we’ll be around the final third of the book and discussing Parts 6 and 7!
Welcome to Week 2 of December’s discussion of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, covering Parts 1, 2, and 3.
Part 1:
This novel has two great opening lines. The epigraph pulls from both Deuteronomy and Romans verses “Vengeance is mine. I will repay.” We turn the page to chapter one and are hit with one of the most famous opening lines in all of literature, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” And BAM! In only 20 words we know we’re in for a bumpy ride.
Did you already know the story and ending of Anna Karenina before you read it for the first time? No spoilers! It’s one of the most famous stories in the world, but I’m a true believer that a story can still be enjoyed even if its main plot or events have been spoiled through pop culture.
The novel opens with Anna’s bother Stiva (Stepan) waking up the day after his affair with the family’s governess had been discovered by his wife Dolly. We spend a good deal of time with Stiva, as he’s the character who introduces us to the novel’s second protagonist Levin.
How do you feel about Tolstoy’s choice to open the novel with Stiva rather than his sister and main protagonist Anna? Do we learn anything about her through learning Stiva?
Stiva travels to the train station to meet Anna arriving from St. Petersburg, and Count Vronsky is there to meet his mother. On her journey there Anna has been sitting with Count Vronsky’s mother who is enamored with her, and Vronsky is immediately drawn to, and struck by, Anna’s beauty. And so it begins!
The novel’s other protagonist, Levin, is in for a bumpy ride of his own. Russia is beginning to leave behind some traditions like arranged marriages; Kitty’s mother has difficulty with this but has a preference of Vronsky over Levin, her father prefers Levin. He’s returned to town and is somewhat hesitant to propose to Kitty after hearing she’s been close with Count Vronsky while he’s been away. At Stiva’s encouragement, Levin is more hopeful and goes to meet with Kitty; later arriving at her home to catch her alone and make the proposal… and be turned down. Were you at all shocked Kitty refused the proposal?
Let’s talk about The Ball Scene. Leading up to the ball, Kitty has just turned down Levin but is excited to meet Vronsky there; so excited that she even tells Anna Karenina to wear a lilac dress to coordinate with her. Anna does not wear lilac, but black! It’s not the dress, though, that makes Anna irresistible. When Vronsky sees her again the dress is described as merely a frame to highlight her elegance, beauty, and charm. Though he danced with Kitty, Vronsky and Anna make a statement when they danced a waltz and the final dance of the evening together, leaving Kitty without a partner. It’s in this moment of high-drama that Kitty realizes she’s lost Vronsky’s interest to someone she admired and cared deeply for. Later at home with the Oblonsky’s, Kitty claims she has a headache to miss dinner with her parents and Anna, and Anna claims she believes Vronsky will still pursue Kitty. Soon after, she leaves town to return to her husband and son. She looks out at the first train stop and spots Vronsky at the station. He has followed her. (!!!!!)
In St. Petersburg, Vronsky has the audacity to introduce himself to Anna’s husband and knows she doesn’t love him. At the end of Part 1 we know that this is just the beginning of a long, dramatic love affair.
Part 2:
Kitty is down bad in Part 2. She’s depressed and heartbroken over the turn of events that changed her life in a short window of time; rejecting Levin’s proposal and being snubbed by Vronsky for another woman. Stiva makes a visit to Levin and mentions how Kitty has been ill this whole time, and Levin finds a kind of satisfaction in hearing this. Kitty’s family takes her to Germany to stay at a spa to work on her health, and she’s introduced to Madam Stahl and a lovely young woman Varenka. Their kindness and charm eventually inspires Kitty to move beyond her heartbreak and begin to think of doing good deeds for others, but when Kitty’s father visits he makes Kitty realize that Madam Stahl is a vain woman, not a charitable angel.
It’s at this point in the novel I think Kitty realizes she often acts as she’s expected to by others, or is inspired by others, but doesn’t act as her true self. She’s a young woman who has gone through a fairly traumatic experience and is now able to mature and grow through these experiences.
In St. Petersburg, Anna’s husband quickly understands something has shifted with her since she returned from Moscow and puts together the pieces that she and Vronsky have feelings for each other, urging Anna to keep some things locked inside and not act on them. Nice try, Karenin! Time jumps forward in this section to a year or so later and we find Anna and Vronsky are now officially Having An Affair. However, Anna is not overjoyed when we find out, she is crying and says she’s lost everything while gaining everything she wanted. How do you feel about Anna in this moment? Do you have any empathy for how she’s feeling?
At this point, everyone in St. Petersburg knows what’s going on between Anna and Vronsky and society is changing how they treat her. Vronsky buys a new horse, Frou Frou, and is preparing for a race when Anna tells him she’s pregnant and won’t leave her husband to be with him. This racing scene is about as dramatic as Part 1’s scene in the ball, with Vronsky and Frou Frou both agitated and confused, leading to a fall in the race that breaks the horse’s back.
During this time, Karenin and Anna are practically living separate lives in separate homes and he sees how Anna reacts during the horse race while not knowing if Vronsky is okay. Anna finally admits she loves Vronsky and hates Karenin, whose reaction is repression and methodical, telling her to keep up appearances.
Part 3:
Levin works hard in the countryside to work through life’s troubles, as labor makes him feel like he’s a part of something greater with a feeling close to Enlightenment. While feeling connected to the land, his attitude about farming changes and he becomes frustrated that the peasants aren’t flexible to work with him on new ideas of agriculture and technology – something that takes up much of Part 3. He receives a letter and learns that Dolly, Stiva’s wife and Kitty’s sister, is staying nearby to save on expenses. When Levin visits her she brings up Kitty, letting him know she believes there’s still a chance of them being together. Levin begins to get angry, saying it could never happen. The next day he spots Kitty passing in a carriage and his heart is light again, open to loving her.
Why do you think Levin’s feelings changed so quickly when he saw Kitty? Did he really stop having feelings for her before, or do you think it was more about his pride? Are you someone who likes to keep busy and do chores when there are other things on your mind like Levin?
Karenin and Anna’s marriage is in a bad state. Karenin wants Anna to suffer and is refusing a divorce, and he’s beginning to resent their son while also using him against her. They eventually meet again and Karenin essentially tells Anna he’ll tolerate her affair as long as Vronsky doesn’t go into their home… which Anna can’t uphold.
There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to Anna and Karenin’s son; I felt so badly for him through the entire novel. Do you think either of his parents are worse for their behavior toward him, or are they equally bad parents? Anna talks about how much she loves and misses her son, but she also chose to continue her affair with Vronsky and leave her life behind knowing she was leaving her son. Karenin uses his son against Anna and doesn’t provide much, or any, affection.
That’s it for Parts 1-3! Come back next week where we’ll be discussing Parts 4and 5.
Winter is a fantastic time to celebrate with family, friends, and community! We are excited to celebrate with you!
We have Merry & Bright programming every day at your Library with cookie decorating, live music and performances, seasonal crafts, and more. We are honored we’ve been invited to share our communities’ own celebrations through our Hometown for the Holidays Series: come out to these amazing events and let’s celebrate together!
Winter is the perfect time for a warm blanket and a fireside, and our great digital collections will make sure you’ve the perfect read, show, movie, audiobook to enjoy as you stay warm. Drop by Hoopla and Libby anytime to see all we have to offer.
Trace your piece of wood onto your scrapbook paper and cut out.
Use mod podge or glue to glue the paper to your piece of wood.
(Optional) if you want to give your gnome a more rustic look, sand down the edges of the triangle and scuff up the paper around the edges.
Trim the beard down so that it covers only the bottom third (approximately) of the triangle. I suggest trimming from the top of the beard (the straight edge, not the curved edge).
Use hot glue to attach the beard and the nose to your gnome.
Trim off excess beard to make it your desired length. Give it a little brush too!
Welcome to December’s online book club! This month we’ll be discussingAnna Kareninaby Leo Tolstoy. If you have read the book and would also like to talk about it in person, the Xenia Community Library’s Classics Book Club will be discussing the entire novel this Saturday, December 6th, from 3pm-4pm.
To a lot of readers, Anna Karenina doesn’t immediately scream “holiday read!”, but this long book is full of wintery scenes perfect to read during long winter nights. We’re supposed to be getting snow tonight and tomorrow, so it’s perfect timing to stay in and read about the drama of other people’s lives. Taking place in imperial Russia in the 1870’s, Anna Karenina is a tale of passion, betrayal, faith, and societal expectations.
If this is more of a film season than reading season for you, the book has been adapted into a film starring Keira Knightly, Jude Law, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Join me next week where I’ll be discussing Parts 1, 2, and 3 of the novel. Looking forward to discussing it with you in the comments! You can watch the trailer below:
Do you want to create something but feel stuck on where to start? Do you have great ideas but aren’t sure how to implement them? Don’t worry, we are here to help!
Finding Inspiration
Great places to ignite your creativity include local craft fairs and shops. You can also explore websites that sell unique homemade goods. Other excellent resources for inspiration and design files are:
Once your idea is sparked, what happens next? While this depends on your specific project, you will generally need to know what materials are required and what files are needed to operate the equipment.
We’ve provided some basic information here on our website, but Makerspace Specialists are just a call away! We are always happy to hear your ideas and help direct you to the best equipment for the job. We are also available to walk you through getting started on your project.
Key Things to Remember on Your DIY Journey
Embarking on a making journey takes patience and perseverance. Keep these important points in mind:
Embrace Iteration: DIY starts with an idea and often takes several tries to get right. The final product may not be exactly what you first imagined, and that’s perfectly okay!
Pace Yourself: Learning new skills takes time. It may require several appointments to complete your project.
Finishing Touches at Home: Finishing steps like painting, assembling, or staining may need to be completed at home.
Start with Design: Most of the making in our space requires that you begin with a computer-generated design. We are happy to help you get started learning various design software, but being comfortable with computers is helpful.
Ready to bring your new idea to life? Call us at 937-736-7092 to make an appointment. We can’t wait to see what you create here at Spark Place!
It is great to write to you all again and tell you about the awesome things we have coming up this holiday season and into the new year. Our librarians have been working hard to give you some amazing things to help start and continue those traditions with your families each year. First and foremost, I want to thank you all for being such great patrons to our library. We are grateful to be able to serve you.
We have an amazing December coming up. Our biggest event is Winter Welcome on December 12th from 5-8. This happens at Wartinger Park and is the highlight of the season. There will be Santa and one of his reindeer ready to meet everyone, along with Booker T. Fox from the library. Go on a tour of the different houses and find surprises inside like cookies, crafts and games. It truly is a wonderful night. I will see you all there!
Our other December events include, the 3rd annual Winter Craft-stravaganza on December 13, Holiday Crafts and Stories with Mr. Tim on December 15th, and Scary and Bright laser tag with Ms. Julie on December 20th.
In January, we have Wolf Moon Howl on the 3rd, Blue Ribbon Kitchen for our adults on the 14th, and Disgusting Critters Book Club on the 17th.
This is just a taste of all the programs we have here in Beavercreek during the holiday season. Please click here to see them all.
How is it December already? The elves at Winters-Bellbrook Community Library have been working hard to bring you some holiday cheer! Take a look at all of the big-sized programs we are fitting into our tiny-sized library!
December 11th is our biggest Adult event – the Christmas Concert at The Bellbrook Presbyterian Church! This annual tradition has been a sell-out for at least 5 years now. Beavercreek Brass presents holiday songs in new inventive ways, while sharing some of the stories behind their creation. Even though it’s an evening event, it’s appropriate for all ages and families are welcome!
December 12th is our new after-hours Grinch Interactive Movie that is sure to ‘Stink, Stank, Stunk!’ Who will be the grinchiest?
December 16th is a fun time for families as we present our second annual Winters Wonderland. Think of it as a holiday party in a family friendly time slot. From 3:30-4:30 we will have games, treats, crafts, activities, and Travelling Tom’s Truck will provide hot chocolate or mocha coffees to the first 50 attendees. Then our headliner, Lafferty Pike, is back again with traditional songs from all over the world.
December 19th the teens will enjoy an after-hours Teen Movie Night featuring Elf! Come hang out, enjoy treats and hang with your friends!
And don’t worry because there are always plenty of holiday crafts for all ages too, but register today because these programs sell out fast!
Looking forward, teens will not want to miss our Silent Disco at our Noon-Year’s Eve Celebration in the parks. For the crafty, don’t forget to register for our annual Tiny Art Show in January for the contest in February, and if you have long been looking to learn how to crochet, we have a very special Learn to Crochet series for the absolute beginner!
When do we ever rest? Never when it comes to putting together amazing programs for our patrons! We hope to see you soon and wish you a magical holiday and a very Happy New Year!
Great places to ignite your creativity include local craft fairs and shops. You can also explore websites that sell unique homemade goods. Other excellent resources for inspiration and design files are:
