Free Weekend Event: Explore the Library of Congress National Book Fesitval



If you are in D.C. for the Fiesta, you can also consider visiting The 13^th Annual Library of Congress National Book Festival which will be held Saturday-Sunday, September 21-22, on the National Mall. 

President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are honorary chairs for the event. The festival will This year's festival will feature authors, poets and illustrators in several pavilions. Festival-goers can meet and hear firsthand from their favorite poets and authors, get books signed, hear special entertainment, have photos taken with storybook characters and participate in a variety of activities. Please visit this link for a list of authors and the genres they represent.  The event will be held, rain or shine on Saturday from 10:00-5:30 pm and from 12:00-5:30 pm on Sunday and is free to the public. 

 

 

February is Black History Month

In celebration of this important period of history, ELI is giving away copies of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. If you are an ELI student or faculty member who would like a free copy of the book, please send an email, including your student number, ELISuccess@nvcc.edu. 

This book was the last book read by the ELI’s Book & Cinema Club.  If you wish to become a member of the book club, please send an email to ELILearn@nvcc.edu.  The club’s current book is Argo.   If you recall, “Argo “won Best Picture at the Gold Globe Awards!  As a bonus, members will be able to watch the movie at the end of February!   

For an overview of the award winning book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, visit author Rebecca Skloot’s  narration of the book’s overview.  See the video here!

Reading Great Novels: A Submission from an ELI Counselor

Several years ago I decided I wanted to read some truly thought-provoking novels.  I was tired of reading fluffy books in my leisure time.  I know, I know; who has time for leisurely reading – with so much reading required for your ELI courses?!?  But if you’d like to explore the world’s cultures, and if you can manage to squeeze a few minutes out of each day’s schedule, here are some books I’d highly recommend (in alphabetical order by author’s last name).  By the way, it took me a few years to read all of these great books, but the effort was well worth the time invested!

Richard Adams ~ Watership Down

Alex Haley ~ Roots: Roots: The Saga of an American Family

Ernest Hemingway ~ The Old Man and the Sea

Khaled Husseini ~ The Kite Runner

John Irving ~ A Prayer for Owen Meany

C.S. Lewis ~ The Chronicles of Narnia

James Michener  ~ Alaska and Centennial and Chesapeake

John Steinbeck ~ Of Mice and Men

Harriet Beecher Stowe ~ Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Leo Tolstoy ~ War and Peace

Mark Twain ~ The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn