Hello and welcome to Episode Twenty Two of Page Turn: the Largo Public Library Podcast. I’m your host, Hannah!
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The Spanish Language Book Review begins at 11:37 and ends 18:03 at
The English Language Transcript can be found below
But as always we start with Reader’s Advisory!
The Reader’s Advisory for Episode Twenty Two is The Cuckoo’s Egg by Clifford Stoll. If you like The Cuckoo’s Egg you should also check out: The Bourne Initiative by Eric van Lustbader, Warriors by Ted Bell, and Citadel of Fear by Don Pendleton.
My personal favorite Goodreads list The Cuckoo’s Egg is on is Nests, Dens, Lairs, Holes, Lodges, Setts.
Today’s Library Tidbit focuses on the One Year Anniversary of the Bookmobile.
Michael came on the podcast to talk about the success of the first year of the bookmobile, as well as, to give us a look into future bookmobile projects!
We hope to see you at the one year anniversary party on January 13th!
And now it’s time for Book Traveler, with Victor:
Intro: Welcome to a new edition of Book Traveler. My name is Victor and I am the Community Outreach Librarian here at the Largo Public Library. In this segment I am going to talk about a book we have in the Spanish collection. It is a fiction title entitled The Lido by Libby Page.
Synopsis: A tender, joyous debut novel about a cub reporter and her eighty-six-year-old subject—and the unlikely and life-changing friendship that develops between them.
Kate is a twenty-six-year-old riddled with anxiety and panic attacks who works for a local paper in Brixton, London, covering forgettably small stories. When she’s assigned to write about the closing of the local lido (an outdoor pool and recreation center), she meets Rosemary, an eighty-six-year-old widow who has swum at the lido daily since it opened its doors when she was a child. It was here Rosemary fell in love with her husband, George; here that she’s found communion during her marriage and since George’s death. The lido has been a cornerstone in nearly every part of Rosemary’s life.
But when a local developer attempts to buy the lido for a posh new apartment complex, Rosemary’s fond memories and sense of community are under threat.
As Kate dives deeper into the lido’s history—with the help of a charming photographer—she pieces together a portrait of the pool, and a portrait of a singular woman, Rosemary. What begins as a simple local interest story for Kate soon blossoms into a beautiful friendship that provides sustenance to both women as they galvanize the community to fight the lido’s closure. Meanwhile, Rosemary slowly, finally, begins to open up to Kate, transforming them both in ways they never knew possible.
In the tradition of Fredrik Backman, The Lido is a charming, feel-good novel that captures the heart and spirit of a community across generations—an irresistible tale of love, loss, aging, and friendship.
Opinion: When I chose this book, I was aware that it had nothing to do with the genres I usually read. The novels of everyday life are not my thing. For me, this story is not one of those that attract attention for its synopsis. However, I wanted to try something different and The Lido was an opportunity to read realistic stories that had nothing to do with the romantic genre, so I decided to give it a try. Also, the cover was cute.
Kate is a young journalist who has recently moved to London, a city that is big but sometimes feels like it suffocates her. She works in a local newspaper and her day-to-day life consists of surviving, writing unimportant articles, feeding on precooked food and interacting as little as possible with her neighbors. That situation changes when the newspaper offers her to write an article about the closure of the municipal swimming pool. The city council has received a juicy offer from the Paradise Living company about building a luxury sports complex for the new apartments it will build in Brixton. Rosemary, 86, has been the one who has distributed information leaflets about the closure because she does not want that important place for the community and for her to disappear. So Kate gets down to work, eager to write about something other than missing dogs and cats. In this way, and without knowing it, the life of these two women will be intertwined and Kate will find for the first time people to call friends in London.
The plot revolves entirely around Brockwell’s pool. Moreover, the pool could actually be considered the true protagonist. The novel is divided into two voices, on the one hand we have the point of view of Kate and on the other that of Rosemary, although sometimes they are mixed. The pool has been with Rosemary for a lifetime. Rosemary is afraid that, if the pool disappears, much of its history disappears. Therefore, in a desperate attempt, she decides to make some brochures and distribute them to warn of the dangers of the pool closing. However, it will not be until she meets Kate that she will begin to realize that, perhaps, there is some chance of saving the pool. On the other hand, when meeting Rosemary, Kate will find in her a true friend and a real support and will end up being personally involved in the closing of the pool.
The book has a few valuable lesson, but the plot itself is no big deal. Another negative about this book, it’s how Kate’s anxiety (or panic, as she calls it) has been treated. The impression Page gives when describing Kate’s mental state and how it develops is that you only need to get friends and feel accepted for the anxiety to disappear or mitigate. That, in fact, writing articles about the pool and meeting all the people involved in the topic is enough for Kate’s anxiety to disappear. Finally, the outcome of the story is what the reader expects, beautiful and emotional.
Outro: That is all for today. Until the next edition of Book Traveler. Goodbye.
Thanks everyone for listening some upcoming library events to keep track of:
February 3rd All That Jazz! At 1:00pm in the Children’s Program Room
February 3rd Florida Talks: The African Roots of Southern Cooking at 6:30pm in the Jenkins Wing
-Registration is Required
February 4th Photo Memory Collages at 3:00pm in Jenkins Room A
February 5th Eastern European Research at 1:00pm in the Local History Room
February 7th I-Spy Sensory Bag at 1:00pm in the Children’s Program Room
-Registration is Required
February 11th Family STEAM Challenge at 4:00pm in the Children’s Program Room
-Registration is Required
February 11th African Sadza Batik at 6:00pm in Jenkins Room A
-Registration is Required
February 15th English Language Learning Tutor Orientation & Training at 10:00am in Jenkins Room A
February 15th Three Next Steps for Your DNA Test Results & PGS Salute to Volunteers at 11:00am in Jenkins Room B
February 18th What Country Do I Live In Today? At 1:00pm in the Local History Room
February 19th Painting with the Florida Highwaymen at 6:00pm in Jenkins Room A
-Registration is Required
February 20th Paper Roses & Iris Frames at 10:30am in Jenkins Room A
-Registration is Required
February 24th Mardi Gras Madness at 1:00pm in the Children’s Program Room
February 25th Keep Largo Beautiful at 6:00pm in Jenkins Room B
February 26th Fundamentals of English and Welsh Family History at 10:00am in the Local History Room
Have a great day everyone we hope to talk to you again soon!
For everyone interested our intro music is by Break the Bans and the outro music is by Jahzzar, both artists can be found on Free Music Archive.
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