Recent news headlines claiming that NASA’s Kepler spacecraft had identified 100 earth-like planets outside our solar system were incorrect, the space agency has reported.  Since its launch in 2009, Kepler has sent back data which indicates the existence of over 700 extrasolar planets, or exoplanets.

The data must be tested using “extensive follow-up observations” in order to confirm whether these planets in the Milky Way Galaxy are truly earth-like.  It is thought that such small and rocky planets, and not large and gassy ones like Jupiter, would be potentially capable of sustaining life.

Library resources: Extrasolar planets

Harvey Pekar, who chronicled his depressive, obsessive-compulsive life in the comic book series “American Splendor,” died yesterday in Cleveland at age 70.  A retired VA hospital file clerk, Pekar began writing strips in 1972, his first being illustrated by underground comic book artist R. Crumb, whom he cited as a strong influence.

Pekar, who also wrote short stories and jazz reviews, was best known for his autobiographical portrait in comics form.  He said his work was about the “series of day-after-day activities that have more influence on a person than any spectacular or traumatic events.  It’s the 99 percent of life that nobody ever writes about.”

Library Resources: books written and illustrated by Harvey Pekar, the movie “American Splendor”

In case you need further suggestions for summer reading, the July issue of O, The Oprah Magazine has a list of 20 titles, with reviews, and in some cases reading guides.

The titles in the following list link to our catalog or to other sources:

Kings of the Earth

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

Someone Knows My Name

Words That Matter

Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It

If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This

My Name Is Mary Sutter

The Madonnas of Echo Park

Parrot & Olivier in America

Dombey and Son

Elizabeth Street

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

The Hundred-Foot Journey

What Is Left the Daughter

Father of the Rain

The Passage

American Music

The Summer We Read Gatsby

Someone Will Be with You Shortly: Notes from a Perfectly Imperfect Life

How Did You Get This Number

Marooned in an African village in 1871, most of his expedition deserting him or dead, explorer David Livingstone penned a despairing letter to a friend in England.  Written with improvised ink on pages from newspapers and books, the letter was indecipherable until now.

19^th century journalism portrayed Livingstone as a fearless hero, an intrepid icon of the Victorian era.  Using such tools as spectral imaging, a research team’s work “makes [Livingstone] human,” a “politically incorrect” man at the low point of his career, but who nonetheless “never gave up.”

Library resources: Dr. David Livingstone

Librarian of Congress James Billington yesterday announced the appointment of W.S. Merwin as the 17^th Poet Laureate of the United States.  In a career spanning six decades, Merwin has published more than 30 books of poetry and prose.

In a statement announcing the appointment, Billington cited Merwin’s profound yet accessible poetry: “He leads us upstream from the flow of everyday things in life to half-hidden headwaters of wisdom about life itself.”  Merwin and his wife live on Maui, where he often finds inspiration for his writing.

Library resources: Merwin’s poetry and prose

Summer at the Peninsula Center Library was kicked off with a performance by the Isami Taiko Group of Gardena Buddhist Church and Koshin Taiko of Venice Beach.  The enthusiastic group met with an equally enthusiastic reception from an appreciative audience.

Portugal’s Nobel Prize winner José Saramago died last Friday at age 87.  His remains were cremated Sunday following a funeral service in Lisbon.  In 1993, his novel The Gospel According to Jesus Christ prompted the Portuguese government to remove his name from consideration for the European Literature Prize.  From then until his death, Saramago had lived in self-imposed exile in the Canary Islands.

In a 60 year career, Saramago published more than 30 works, including novels, poetry, essays and plays.  His novel Blindness, adapted for film and directed by Fernando Meirelles, was released in 2008 to mixed reviews.  On Sunday, the Vatican newspaper l’Osservatore Romano called Saramago, who was a communist and atheist, a “populist extremist” and “an anti-religious idealogue.”

Library resources: books by Saramago

American writer Barbara Kingsolver was announced last week as winner of the 15th Orange Prize for Fiction for The Lacuna.  The Orange Prize is awarded for the best novel in English by a female author.  Kingsolver beat out the favorite, Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, for the award.

 The Lacuna, Kingsolver’s sixth novel, moves between Mexico and cold-war United States, and features such real-life personalities as muralist Diego Rivera, his wife painter Frida Kahlo, and Russian exile Leon Trotsky.  While the book received mixed reviews, the Orange Prize jury cited its “breathtaking scale and shattering moments of poignancy.”

Other books on the shortlist were:

Rosie Alison, The Very Thought of You

Attica Locke, Black Water Rising

Lorrie Moore, A Gate at the Stairs

Monique Roffey, The White Woman on the Green Bicycle

The prize jury also presents an Award for New Writers, to recognize first works of fiction.  This year’s winner was Irene Sabatini, for her novel The Boy Next Door, a love story/mystery set in post-colonial Zimbabwe.

Join Palos Verdes Library District’s

Adult Summer Reading Program

To travel with us, simply obtain a “passport” application at the Reference Desk at any branch of our library system, beginning June 14.

Then read from our wide selection of “destination” titles (click here) or any book you wish.  The titles are linked to our catalog, so you can check availability and reserve books.  For fiction and nonfiction specifically focused on the experience of immigrants to America, click here.

Bring your completed application to the Reference Desk when you finish your first book.  For each additional book read, your passport will be stamped and you’ll receive an entry for a weekly prize drawing.  Winners will be drawn each Thursday and notified by phone.

Participants are automatically entered into a grand prize drawing held September 25 at the Lisa See author event - don’t miss it!

EVENTS INCLUDE:

Radio host Tom Schnabel,  July 17, 3 pm, presents “Rhythm Planet: The Past, Present and Future of World Music,” Pen Center Library Community Room

Living Library, August 21, 1 -4 pm – What’s it like to be an American by choice?  “Check out” one of our amazing living books and find out!  Pen Center Library Community Room

Lisa See, September 25, 7:30 pm – author of On Gold Mountain and Shanghai Girls, our ”One Book, One Peninsula” selection, Pen Center Library Rooftop

and . . . Taiko Drummers, Cooking Classes & more!

Check our calendar for more information, or call 310-377-9584, x 601

Have a great trip!

Nicolaus Copernicus, 16^th century Polish astronomer and Catholic priest, was given a hero’s burial on May 22^nd in the cathedral where he served as canon.  His remains, kept in an unmarked grave for nearly 500 years, were recently authenticated through DNA testing.

A local bishop had spearheaded the efforts to honor Copernicus, a man little known in his lifetime.  He is recognized as the founder of the heliocentric theory, which posited that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system.  The theory, forcefully attacked by the Church during the Reformation, became the basis for the Scientific Revolution.

Library resources: Copernicus and his revolution