ADULT PROGRAMS
Mayor's Book Club 2010 Recommended Reads
Texas History
Thursday, March 25th @ 7:00 pm
Hill College @ Burleson
The Burleson Public Library, in conjunction with Hill College and Texas Wesleyan University, is pleased to welcome author James L. Haley to Burleson. This year's featured book is Haley's Sam Houston.
Haley writes about Houston from a personal angle, from
Houston’s Native American dealings to his rise and fall in Tennessee politics
and his many roles in Texas.
Houston was governor of two states – Tennessee and Texas – president of the
Republic of Texas, a United States senator and a military hero. He joined the
Army and served under Andrew Jackson in the Creek Wars. Houston was elected
attorney general for Nashville, served two terms in Congress, and was elected
governor of Tennessee in 1823.
Houston spent time with the Cherokee Indians both as a youth and later when he
married a Cherokee woman and adopted Cherokee citizenship. He served as a
trader, advisor and special envoy for the tribe. Houston came to Texas (which
was then under Mexican rule) in 1832 to secure a land grant for the tribe, then
moved to Texas in 1835. Houston led the Texas army to victory over Santa Anna in
the Battle of San Jacinto. He then served as the first elected president of the
new Republic. He served a second term as president, 1841-1844. After Texas was
annexed by the United States in 1845, Houston successfully ran for governor as
an independent Unionist, in 1859. When the people of Texas voted to secede and
join the Confederacy, Houston resigned as governor in March 1861 because he
refused to sign a loyalty oath to the Confederacy. He died at his home in
Huntsville in July 1863, at the age of 70. The City of Houston was named in
honor of the governor.
Copies of Sam Houston are available for checkout at the library.
Click here to request a copy.
UFOs
(Un-Finished Objects)
Are you still needing to finish Aunt Edna's winter scarf?
Work on your needlepoint,
quilting, knitting, crocheting, or other project while chatting with others,
snacking on refreshments, and listening to our librarians read funny, touching
or sometimes wacky short stories.
Third Thursday of the month.
Thursday, March 18th @ 11:30am and 6:30pm
Book Discussion Group
Monday, March 22nd @ 6:30pm
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an
idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For
generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog
whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong
friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal
uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home. When Edgar's father
dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm--and into
Edgar's mother's affections.
Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his
father's death, but his plan backfires--spectacularly. Forced to flee into the
vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting
for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his
need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn
Edgar ever homeward.
David Wroblewski is a master storyteller, and his breathtaking scenes--the
elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful
vision rendered in the falling rain--create a riveting family saga, a brilliant
exploration of the limits of language, and a compulsively readable modern
classic.
Request a copy of the book