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Now that the One City, One Book programs for 2007 are over, it's time to talk about books other than Zorro.

Here at the Nashua Public Library we subscribe to a professional magazine named, appropriately enough, Public Libraries. Each article includes a short bio of the author, but what I especially like is that the authors also tell you what they are currently reading. This not only exposes me to interesting titles but also makes me feel like I know a bit more about them personally.

So what are you reading, now that (I hope) you've already read Zorro? Click the Comments link right below this blog entry and let us know. Don't forget to tell us what you think of the books!

Last Thursday night Dr. Amanda Wunder from the University of New Hampshire gave a lecture here at the Nashua Public Library entitled "Spain in the Time of Zorro." She talked about the history of Spain in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the time during which the novel "Zorro" takes place. She cleverly illustrated her talk with slides of works by the Spanish painter Goya, including portraits of members of the royal families of Spain at the time, depictions of war, and an interesting portrait named "The Clothed Maja."

Take a look at "The Clothed Maja." As Dr. Wunder pointed out, Isabel Allende's description of the character Julianna, with her white dress and watermelon sash, bears a striking resemblance to the model in the painting. Was the author looking at the works of Goya as she wrote? That's what Dr. Wunder thinks.

If you view other Goya paintings, such as "The Family of Charles IV," you'll get a pretty good idea of what some of the other clothing worn by the aristocrats in the book may have looked like. (French novelist Theòphile Gautier is said to have declared that this painting looked like the corner baker and his wife after winning the lottery.)

Goya also painted a number of graphic, violent scenes of the battles and bloodshed of the fight between Spain and France during this period. Particularly famous are his paintings "The Second of May 1808" and "The Third of May 1808," which can be seen here.

Do you have a favorite character in Zorro? At library discussions of the book, people agreed that most of Allende's characters in the novel are likable in spite of their faults. The one exception was Rafael Moncada, the man with whom Diego duels (over Moncada's insults to Bernardo) and who competes with Diego for the attentions of Juliana. As one participant said, a novel like this one needs a pure villain, if only to make the hero appear all the more heroic.

Isabel, people felt, was a girl ahead of her time, and far more interesting than her sister, Juliana.

Even Eulalia, who believes that everyone has "his place" in society (and hers is at the top), is appealing to me. With her business trading in chocolates, her material wealth, and her corpulence, she is an amusing caricature of a lady of leisure, spending her time pampering herself and eating bonbons.

What do you think of Tomas de Romeu, Isabel and Juliana's father and a man with progressive if sometimes hypocritical ideas? To post your comments, click on the Comments button below this paragraph.

The five-part course on Zorro, sponsored by the library and the Rivier Institute for Senior Education, began last week with 30 people attending. I wasn't able to attend the first session, but discussion was lively at the second one on Tuesday, where we discussed parts one and two of the book.

Not everyone loves the novel (Penny preferred Paula, a memoir by the same author), but the general reaction seemed to be that people are enjoying it much more than they expected to. Some readers said they would prefer to read about historical events in nonfiction, where they didn't have to sort out what's true from what's not. But others said that they like having the story of Diego, Bernardo, Regina, White Owl, and the others, as a vehicle for stimulating their interest in the history. What do you think?

(By the way, you can get some of these historical questions answered by coming to "Spain in the Time of Zorro," a lecture on the history of Spain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It will be held on Tuesday, March 27, at 7 pm at the library.)

If you're free during the day, try to come to the next discussion on Tuesday, March 6, at 10:45 am in the library theater. If you aren't, maybe the discussion on Thursday, March 22, at 7 pm, also in the library theater, will work better for you.

I was captivated by the Zorro story as presented on television by Walt Disney in 1957 as many other girls and boys were I'm sure. I could hardly wait for 8:00 on Sunday night.

Allende's book was a chance to relive those death defying feats and foxy tricks played by Zorro. Never a fan of adventure books myself, I found myself following the action in the sword fight passages with interest as the masked man, a combination of Superman, the Lone Ranger, and Robin Hood, outwits the villain(s) with his almost magical acrobatics and swordsmanship.

I love how he plays possum and how, through his loyal accomplices, seems to be everywhere. This book, part adventure, part romance and part historical fiction, is exciting and fun.--Margaret

The Nashua Public Library invites you to participate in the fifth annual One City, One Book program. For 2007, as you may have heard, the book is Zorro by Isabel Allende. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this swashbuckling adventure story that reveals how Diego de la Vega became the masked man we all know so well.

As of February 2, over 150 Nashuans had checked a copy of Zorro out of the library. Are you one of them? If not, reserve it now; read it; talk about it with your friends, coworkers, and neighbors; and then attend the book discussions and other programs planned at the library relating to the story.

We hope that sharing our impressions on a common book will once again help to strengthen our community.

From now until the end of April, visit this blog to join the discussion of the book. Just be aware that some of our comments might reveal the ending of the book.

To get the discussion going, let's talk about Diego's and Bernardo, his "milk brother." Why do you think they are drawn to one another? How do you think they are able to maintain their relationship, which flies in the face of societal attitudes about class and race?

Just a couple of things that may interest you all, as booklovers: The One City: One Book: Nashua Reads title for 2007 has been chosen, and will be announced on Tuesday, December 12, at 7:30 pm by Mayor Streeter at the beginning of that night's aldermanic meeting. You can hop down to City Hall and attend, or watch it on Channel 16 to find out what everyone in town will be reading this winter. In March and April, discussions and other programs relating to the book will be held around town.

This is the fifth year we've done a One City, One Book program. Past titles have included In the Heart of the Sea, The Kite Runner, Travels With Charley, and Empire Falls.

I'm not going to tell you what next year's title is. Okay, I'll give you a clue: it's about someone who seeks justice for all who cannot fight for it themselves. It combines adventure and romance and history and theatrics and humor. When it was nominated, I did not expect to even finish the book, then suddenly I found I'd read 50 pages and was hungry for more.

So you'll just have to stay tuned until December 12 to find out what the selection is!

I also wanted to mention that the next library book discussion will feature A Theory of Relativity by Jacquelyn Mitchard. This will be a live discussion, in the Music/Art/Media Wing of the library, on January 23, at 7 pm. I'll be getting copies of the book in a few weeks. If you want to be notified when they arrive, email me and I'll put you on the book discussion mailing list.

A Theory of Relativity is a novel about a custody battle that ensues when a 24-year-old man attempts to adopt his niece, who is orphaned after the tragic death of her parents.

While this discussion of The Namesake was officially scheduled to take place during November, you're free to keep posting comments at any time. Thanks to Diana for her insightful comments to the previous two posts.

On the right side of the screen you'll see the heading "Recent Posts." Those are the discussion topics; click on the ones that interest you, read the posts, and then post your own comments.

I also would love to hear your opinion on the blogging process for this book discussion. Was there anything confusing about how to participate? Did you feel comfortable offering your opinions?

Another characteristic of the writing in The Namesake is its prolific use of detail and description.

For instance, over the course of four pages (150 to 154), Lahiri tells us about Gogol and Maxine's drive to her parents' cabin in New Hampshire, how they live ("There are exposed pipes in the bathrooms, wire stapled over doorsills, nails protruding from beams"), eat, and pass their days there ("Gerald spends most of his time in his vegetable garden, his nails permanently blackened from his careful cultivation of lettuce and herbs"), using maybe one sentence of dialogue on each page, buried within descriptions of the dirt road to the cabin, how Gerald and Lydia are dressed, the furnishings, etc. But aside from some swimming, runs around the lake, antiquing, and such, there's little action. And the minor events that do occur don't contribute much to the plot.

One reviewer, in Publishers Weekly, said that the author "offers a number of beautiful and moving tableaux, but these fail to coalesce into something more than a modest family saga." Kirkus Reviews said that "Many scenes cry out for dialogue" (especially the one later in the book where Maxine and Gogol break up).

There certainly is not a lot of action in these pages. Was the descriptive writing style the author used successful in maintaining your interest? Do you think it succeeds in revealing the personality and motivations of the characters, or does she need to have them do more, talk more?