SJPL's online book club selection for April is Dubliners by James Joyce, and next month the West Valley Book Club will meet to discuss another novel that takes place in San Jose's sister city of Dublin, Ireland. Our book club will meet on Wednesday, May 9 at 6:30pm to discuss bestselling Irish author Maeve Binchy's novel Quentins. Be sure to join us for lively literary conversation!

Is it possible to tell the story of a generation and a city through the history of a restaurant? Ella Brady thinks so. She wants to film a documentary about Quentins that will capture the spirit of Dublin from the 1970s to the present day. And Quentins has a thousand stories to tell: tales of love, of betrayal, of revenge; of times when it looked ready for success and times when it seemed as if it must close in failure. But as Ella uncovers more of what has gone on at Quentins, she begins to wonder whether some secrets should be kept that way... (from Amazon)

An Irish Country Doctor By Patrick Taylor 

This is one of those books which makes you feel as if you personally know the characters and don’t want to let them go.  Fortunately there are several books following it, which will keep the reader happy for a long while.

The setting is in the Northern Ireland village of Ballybucklebo in early 1960’s. Doctor Fingal Flahertie O’Reily is the village doctor, and the young and newly graduated Dr. Laverty joins him as his assistant. Much to Laverty’s surprise, things are handled a lot differently here than what he has learned at school. Dr O’Reily is a great friend and teacher who knows every patient’s name and history (personal and medical) and Kinky is a fine housekeeper and cook. Then there are those wonderful and “unusual” inhabitants of the village which one comes to know and love. These books are simple, wise and funny, just perfect for long winter nights.  

Dublin, Ireland is a sister city to San Jose and this Summer the children of Dublin and San Jose exchanged postcards! It was a great way for the children to tell each other about their cities with words and pictures. Reading these postcards is like going on a sight seeing trip of Dublin! Find out about the Luas, a transport system similar to our Light Rail, the Aviva Stadium where soccer is played plus many other interesting sights. We have enjoyed these postcards and we hope that the children of Dublin enjoyed the ones we sent. If you would like to see all the postcards from Dublin, they are on display in the Children's Room of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library.

Patrick Taylor's book, An Irish Country Doctor, continues to chronicle Taylor's love of the Northern Irish countryside. An Irish Country Village, An Irish Country Girl, and others tell of pastoral life and simple pleasures involving central characters Kinky Kincaid, Barry Laverty, and Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly. With a wonderful ability to capture the essence of a small village goings-on and the landscape that surrounds it, Taylor's book makes for a fast and joyous read.

Dublin Sister City Delegation Visits the Library during Irish Week March 9-12

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library

Thursday, March 10

11:00 a.m.

Free

A delegation from Dublin, Ireland, a sister city of San José, will visit the Library to talk about continued collaboration between the two cities as well as the Dublin 2011 One City/One Book selected novel, Ghost Light by Joseph O'Connor.  This marks the 25th anniversary of the Dublin/San José collaboration. Please join us for remarks by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councilor Gerry Breen; Deputy City Manager of Dublin, Philip Maguire; San José Public Library Director, Jane Light; and San Jose State University Library Dean, Ruth Kifer.

For more information on Irish Week 2011 visit www.sanjosedublin.org

St. Patrick's Day events at the library