Staff Picks - Kalamazoo Public Library http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?blogid=1766 2009-11-21T22:56:29Z en-US Stand the Storm http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24797&blogid=1766 AnnR 2009-11-16T14:54:00Z Gabriel Coats, his mother, Sewing Annie, his fiancée, Mary, and his sister, Ellen buy their freedom after great suffering, and open a tailor shop and laundry in Washington, DC, just before the Civil War. Not surprisingly, their master tries to regain control of his former property and the family is forced to pay for their “freedom” again and again.

Stand the Storm is an uplifting love story of men and women attempting to free themselves from slavery. The strength of the story lies in the character development and the exploration of their relationships with each other during a time when former slaves fought for their lives almost on a daily basis.

I realize I knew little about slaves who had bought their freedom before the Civil War. This is a compelling story of injustice and sadness, yet also with joy and hope.

Book

Stand the Storm
9780316007047
]]> All the World http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24787&blogid=1766 Susan 2009-11-13T14:54:00Z This is the time of year when folks in the book business start thinking about "Best of . .. " lists.  What are the best novels?  Best cookbooks?  Best graphic novels?  Best books to share with your dad?

Here's one from my list of Best Picture Books . .. it's called All the World, written by Elizabeth Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Marla Frazee.  From morning to night, we follow a group of related people in their neighborhood.  Spare, poetic language leaves room for the detailed, softly-colored illustrations. 

Take a look and see if it deserves a place on your "Best of 2009" list.

 

book

All the World
9781416985808
]]> Yes to History, Maybe to Romance http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24786&blogid=1766 I found Gifts of War , Mackenzie Ford’s first novel, an enjoyable historical fiction/romance that combined a World War I history lesson (including an amazing “you are there” description of the “ Christmas Truce ”) with interesting romantic intrigue. It’s a moral tale, exploring unintended consequences without being t

]]> Martha C 2009-11-13T14:54:00Z I found Gifts of War, Mackenzie Ford’s first novel, an enjoyable historical fiction/romance that combined a World War I history lesson (including an amazing “you are there” description of the “Christmas Truce”) with interesting romantic intrigue. It’s a moral tale, exploring unintended consequences without being too preachy.  Ever hear of an “Alice band?” If not, it’s something you’ll be compelled to check out on Wikipedia as you read the book.  I enjoyed the book, but prefer tidy, though not necessarily always happy endings – you’ll understand if you read it. I also found it somewhat difficult to like the main characters. See what you think. I would definitely try another book by this author. Despite my reservations I thought this was an intriguing story.

Book

Gifts of War
9780385528955
]]> It’s an Aardvark-eat-turtle World! http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24785&blogid=1766 It’s amazing how many hot topics  Paula Danziger  brings up in  It’s an Aardvark-eat-turtle World!  This 132 paged easy-to-read teen book is full of social issues such as divorce, remarriage, step-sisterhood/step-parenting, interracial marriage and more. Rosie tells the story of how her mother marr

]]> JudiR 2009-11-13T14:54:00Z It’s amazing how many hot topics Paula Danziger brings up in It’s an Aardvark-eat-turtle World! This 132 paged easy-to-read teen book is full of social issues such as divorce, remarriage, step-sisterhood/step-parenting, interracial marriage and more. Rosie tells the story of how her mother married her best friend’s dad. Exciting, huh? Well, no! From then on Rosie’s and Phoebe’s life is never the same. The two best friends could no longer stand each other. What was cute before becomes a big pain. Rosie sees now when she finally has her “real family” that it’s not her “dream family”. She and Phoebe went from “best friends, best sisters and best roommates” to thinking family and friendship takes too much work. But they later decide that it’s all worth it.

Some of Paula Danziger’s other books at KPL are The Cat Ate My Gymsuit, The Divorce Express, and This Place Has No Atmosphere. 

 It’s an Aardvark-eat-turtle World
0440940281

book

 

]]> When You Reach Me http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24784&blogid=1766 BillC 2009-11-13T14:54:00Z When You Reach Me has it all: great characters, a wonderful puzzle at its core, a great ending, and tons of heart. Twelve-year-old New Yorker Miranda is a latchkey child; a term that Miranda’s mom says “reminds her of dungeons and must have been invited by someone strict and awful with an unlimited childcare budget”. In the evening, Miranda’s mom is practicing to be a contestant on The $20,000 Pyramid. Miranda and her friend Sal have been friends since daycare. Sal stops hanging out with her after he is randomly punched in the gut by a bigger kid on the way home from school. Miranda knows from the mysterious notes she begins to receive that her friend may be in danger.

In kind of the same kind of way that The Higher Power of Lucky references Are You My Mother?, When You Reach Me references A Wrinkle in Time. Both of the books in the books are a bit like characters and are, for a time, like security blankets for the characters that carry them around. And speaking of the Newbery, I wouldn’t be surprised if When You Reach Me walks the hall and snatches the trophy. It’s the story of friendship and much more.

Book

When You Reach Me
9780385906647
]]> The Road Home http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24688&blogid=1766 MaryD 2009-10-23T14:54:00Z The author of Three Day Road, Joseph Boyden, teaches writing at the University of New Orleans, where my brother is also on the faculty. Boyden's Canadian heritage comes through dramatically in this first novel as does his knowledge of World War I trench warfare, acquired through research and his grandfather's first hand accounts of battle. Three Day Road braids the stories of Native Canadian friends, Xavier Bird and Elijah Wiskeyjack, who enlist in the Canadian Army and become snipers on the western front, and an elder aunt, Niska, who retrieves her broken nephew at war's end. The journey by canoe to their northern wilderness village, Moose Factory, is the metaphorical three day road of the title. As the canoe glides through calm waters, Xavier and Niska, a prophetic Cree healer, share their wrenching stories in alternating voices and in stark contrast to the peaceful surroundings.  This book brought to mind other favorite novels of war, All Quiet on the Western Front, Johnny Got His Gun, The Things They Carried, The Captain, and Beach Red. The weaving of rich Native cultural traditions into stark scenes of battle, however, offers a fresh telling of timeless tales. Three Day Road won the Books in Canada First Novel Award in 2005 and was a selection of the Today Show Book Club the same year.  In 2006, it was shortlisted for Canada Reads, a unique literary competition sponsored by the CBC. 

Book

Three Day Road
0143037072
]]> The Help http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24654&blogid=1766 I have always gravitated toward books set in the sixties, specifically those having to do with the  Civil Rights Movement , perhaps because I was at such an impressionable age during that time.  Regardless, I've recently added another to my list of favorites,  The Help , a debut novel by Kathryn Stockett.  Set in Jack

]]> Karen S 2009-10-23T14:54:00Z I have always gravitated toward books set in the sixties, specifically those having to do with the Civil Rights Movement, perhaps because I was at such an impressionable age during that time.  Regardless, I've recently added another to my list of favorites, The Help, a debut novel by Kathryn Stockett.  Set in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962, the story is told in alternating chapters by two African American maids and the young white woman who has decided to write a book that anonymously chronicles their lives along with those of several other black maids in the city at that time.  Central to their story, for instance, is the irony of being entrusted to care for the children of their employers while at the same time being relegated to use a separate bathroom for fear of diseases thought to be carried by black people.  Strong characters, regrettably accurate accounts of race relations in the South at that time, and good pacing made this an especially captivating and fast read.  I look forward to more by this author.   

The Help
9780399155345

Book

]]> No Future http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24640&blogid=1766 After reading a New York Times Book Review  cover story  about the new  Margaret Atwood  novel,  The Year of the Flood , I promptly  placed the title on hold  and then began reading 2003’s  Oryx and Crake  which is related to the new one but not necessarily a continuation. I admit that I have not read much of Atwo

]]> mykyl 2009-10-22T14:54:00Z After reading a New York Times Book Review cover story about the new Margaret Atwood novel, The Year of the Flood, I promptly placed the title on hold and then began reading 2003’s Oryx and Crake which is related to the new one but not necessarily a continuation. I admit that I have not read much of Atwood’s clearly impressive body of work, but I am blown away by the very compelling Oryx and Crake. If you love dystopian/end of the world/speculative fiction as much as I do, or just enjoy first class storytelling, it doesn’t get much better than this environmentally devastated, gene spliced nightmare world that Atwood so vividly imagines.

Book

The Year of the Flood
9780385528771
]]> Female Friendship http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24544&blogid=1766 I just finished reading two books that center around the theme of the importance of friendship in the lives of women. I listened to The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow and read Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan. Girls is nonfiction that follows eleven childhood friends from Iowa as they mature and gro

]]> Wendy W. 2009-10-19T14:54:00Z I just finished reading two books that center around the theme of the importance of friendship in the lives of women. I listened to The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow and read Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan. Girls is nonfiction that follows eleven childhood friends from Iowa as they mature and grow over forty years. Midwesterners will surely relate to the small-town adventures and tribulations the girls face, as well as the strong bonds created by the close-knit community. Commencement (a novel) begins when four very different girls meet their first year of college and remain friends after graduation. The books' approaches are very different but both succeed in illustrating the tight relationships women have with one another.

Book

The Girls from Ames
1592404456
]]> Local Authors Nominated for National Book Award http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24512&blogid=1766 Congratulations and good luck to  National Book Award  finalists  Bonnie Jo Campbell  and  David Small , both of whom  spoke at the library  about their newest works, American Salvage (fiction) and Stitches (Young People’s Literature). Award winners will be announced on November 18th. Book American Salvage 97

]]> RyanG 2009-10-16T14:54:00Z Congratulations and good luck to National Book Award finalists Bonnie Jo Campbell and David Small, both of whom spoke at the library about their newest works, American Salvage (fiction) and Stitches (Young People’s Literature). Award winners will be announced on November 18th.

Book

American Salvage
9780814334126
]]> The Frightened Man http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24496&blogid=1766 London in the early 1900’s is the setting for the first book  in a promising new series by Kenneth Cameron.  Jack Denton, an American in his fifties, is living in England after moving from the United States. He wrote best selling crime novels in the States, and achieved notoriety there after tragic events in his own l

]]> NancyS 2009-10-15T14:54:00Z London in the early 1900’s is the setting for the first book  in a promising new series by Kenneth Cameron.  Jack Denton, an American in his fifties, is living in England after moving from the United States. He wrote best selling crime novels in the States, and achieved notoriety there after tragic events in his own life.

Now in England, Jack is approached by a terrified man who claims to have witnessed a murder by Jack the Ripper.  Jack discounts the tale, until a young woman is discovered murdered, and he begins his own investigation.  Scorned by the police and hampered by them as well, he encounters London’s dark side as he tries to uncover the truth.

Well drawn and quirky characters add much to this story, and so do the descriptions of London as a great city in the midst of industrial growth and change.  You can almost feel you are there, walking down a wet, dimly lit alley….

Book

The Frightened Man
9780312538965

 

 

 

]]> A New Voice from No Man’s Land http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24462&blogid=1766 A refreshingly bold and astute essayist,  Eula Biss’  critical inquiries on race relations, globalization and cultural identity have found their way into her recently published and award-winning  Notes from No Man’s Land: American Essays . Unburdened with academic theorization or political heavy-handedness, these sh

]]> RyanG 2009-10-13T14:54:00Z A refreshingly bold and astute essayist, Eula Biss’ critical inquiries on race relations, globalization and cultural identity have found their way into her recently published and award-winning Notes from No Man’s Land: American Essays. Unburdened with academic theorization or political heavy-handedness, these short yet heady pieces are revelatory for their power to penetrate the opaque surfaces of subjects not often discussed with any kind of attentiveness to nuance within the broader, public discourse. Her prose flows with ease and the way in which she ponders the intersections of American culture and history reminds me of the work of another great ruminator, Joan Didion.

Book

Notes from no man's land : American essays
9781555975180
]]> The Problem of Evil http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24408&blogid=1766 Theistic minded people have wrestled with this question ever since people have started believing in a Deity: why does evil exist? In philosophy, this has been termed the "problem of evil," and formally reads: if a) God is all good, b) God is all powerful, and c) God created the world; then d) why does evil exist in th

]]> MattS 2009-10-12T14:54:00Z Theistic minded people have wrestled with this question ever since people have started believing in a Deity: why does evil exist? In philosophy, this has been termed the "problem of evil," and formally reads: if a) God is all good, b) God is all powerful, and c) God created the world; then d) why does evil exist in the world?

Is this the best of all possible worlds? Is evil necessary for free will? Can we not understand the transcendent ways of a totally transcendant God? In this book not only does Nadler give us three unique answers to the problem of evil, but he wraps these answers nicely into three philosophical gaints of the 17th Century--Leibniz, Malebranche, and Arnauld. We enter not only into a philosophical and theological debate, but into the lives and times of these thinkers.

book

The Best of All Possible Worlds
9780374229986
]]> Rush Home Road http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24272&blogid=1766 Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens follows the progress of healing between Sharla Cody, a neglected five-year-old mixed girl, and Addy Shadd, an 80-year-old woman with her own heart-wrenching history.  Their reluctance toward getting to know each other dwindles when the love both of them long for slowly appears as Addy’s

]]> Valerie O 2009-10-07T14:54:00Z Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens follows the progress of healing between Sharla Cody, a neglected five-year-old mixed girl, and Addy Shadd, an 80-year-old woman with her own heart-wrenching history.  Their reluctance toward getting to know each other dwindles when the love both of them long for slowly appears as Addy’s story unfolds and Sharla’s mother disappears.  Addy turns Sharla from a malnourished, over-weight child into a respectable healthy girl while recalling her past.

Addy grew up in Rusholme, a Canadian border town settled by runaway slaves in the 1800’s, but the story begins in 1978 in a Chatham, Ontario trailer park.  Intimate details remind her of her rape by a close family friend, a young brother who died, her lover, husband, deceased children, and the many people who betrayed her while historic events like the Underground Railroad, and the Pullman Porter Movement, outline her recollection and reflect some of the hardships suffered.  The author beautifully weaves together all these details into a well-crafted and compassionate story.  The words “rush home” will not only ring in Addy’s ears but in our hearts.

book

Rush Home Road
0316069027
]]> Have a Little Faith http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=24140&blogid=1766 Mitch Albom is one of my favorite authors. He is most well-known for his bestseller  Tuesdays with Morrie,  but he has written many other great books as well. My favorite was The  Five People You Meet in Heaven.   Albom is one of those authors who can go from writing fiction to non-fiction with the same great storytel

]]> MarthaL 2009-10-06T14:54:00Z Mitch Albom is one of my favorite authors. He is most well-known for his bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie, but he has written many other great books as well. My favorite was The Five People You Meet in Heaven.  Albom is one of those authors who can go from writing fiction to non-fiction with the same great storytelling skills.

Have a Little Faith: a True Story is the nonfiction account of Albom's attempt to get to know his Rabbi, in order to be ready to give his eulogy someday. Over a period of years Albom travels from his home in Detroit to his Rabbi's home in New York.   At the same time Albom develops a relationship with an innercity Detroit pastor who is a reformed drug dealer and has set up a congregation in a decaying abandoned church. The parallels are heartwarming and touching.

This is a book that leaves you feeling like you know Mitch Albom personally. It's inspiring and a great story at the same time.  The kind of work only a man of Albom's talent and skills can pull off.

book

Have a little faith: a true story
9780786868728

 

]]> The life of Zora Neale Hurston http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23942&blogid=1766 In Jump at the Sun on Audiobook  Kathleen McGhee-Anderson  does an excellent job of conveying the vitality, power and pride of Zora Neale Hurston’s personality. By listening to the audio version I made more of a connection with  Zora Neale Hurston . Through Ms. Anderson’s voice I could almost see Zora’s eagerness

]]> JudiR 2009-09-29T14:54:00Z In Jump at the Sun on Audiobook Kathleen McGhee-Anderson does an excellent job of conveying the vitality, power and pride of Zora Neale Hurston’s personality. By listening to the audio version I made more of a connection with Zora Neale Hurston. Through Ms. Anderson’s voice I could almost see Zora’s eagerness and determination to live her life her way. But Zora was ahead of her time. The heartbreaks and failures did not seem to dim the light in Ms. Anderson’s voice as she communicated Zora’s spunkiness regardless of her adversities. Listening to Zora Neale Hurston’s story it is hard to understand how someone with her talents, gifts and ambitions died broke and unappreciated. A. P. Porter in the book Jump at the Sun said “Being needy didn’t make her humble.” 

Music

Jump at the Sun
LWO58081297A
]]> Crazy For the Storm http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23890&blogid=1766 Norman Ollestad's memoir Crazy For the Storm was the perfect book for my long plane ride over Labor Day weekend, which included seven layover hours.  Ollestad tells the story of how a small charter plane with his dad, his dad's girlfriend, the pilot, and him crashed into the Sierra mountains during a blizzard when

]]> Steve S 2009-09-28T14:54:00Z Norman Ollestad's memoir Crazy For the Storm was the perfect book for my long plane ride over Labor Day weekend, which included seven layover hours.  Ollestad tells the story of how a small charter plane with his dad, his dad's girlfriend, the pilot, and him crashed into the Sierra mountains during a blizzard when he was 11 years old.  He is the only one who survives.  The book alternates between chapters about his harrowing descent of the snow and ice covered mountain and his adventurous life up until that fateful day.  The book is definitely a page-turning thriller, but it is also full of psychological meat, as Ollestad tries to cope with his parents' divorce, his mom's new, sometimes abusive boyfriend, his dad's expectations for him, and being a boy very much thrust into an adult world at an early age. Now come to think of it, maybe reading a book about a plane crash wasn't the perfect thing for a plane ride, but it did keep my interest hour after hour and left me wanting to tell everyone about the book. 

Book

Crazy for the Storm
9780061766725

 

]]> Census 2010 will be Here Soon... http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23856&blogid=1766 I always thought statistics were boring, until I started working on the Central library  Reference  Desk and learned how often people need statistical information.  Our patrons request statistics for such varied reasons as backing up business plans for small business loans, assessing community needs for grant applicat

]]> Christine 2009-09-26T14:54:00Z I always thought statistics were boring, until I started working on the Central library Reference Desk and learned how often people need statistical information.  Our patrons request statistics for such varied reasons as backing up business plans for small business loans, assessing community needs for grant applications, and protesting environmental racism in specific Kalamazoo neighborhoods. 

Some of the helpful resources I’ve discovered include the:

Statistical Abstract of the United States, published annually and detailing nationwide statistics on a wide variety of topics, such as “Out-of-pocket Net prices of Attendance for Undergraduates,” “Number of emergency and transitional beds in homeless assistance systems nationwide,” and “Carbon dioxide emissions;”

County and City Data Book: A Statistical Abstract Supplement, which is useful for identifying local data, and

American FactFinder, an electronic portal to data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.

We can thank the U.S. Census Bureau for the availability of many of the stats we provide at the Reference Desk.  Read more about what data the Census collects and how it is used, then learn how data will be collected in the 2010 Census.

Book

Statistical Abstract of the United States
statistical-abstract-2009-160
www.catalog.kpl.gov/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/5?searchdata1=0081-4741
]]> My Kid Likes it and I Do Too http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23730&blogid=1766 Sometimes, when I’m reading one of the hilarious Horrid Henry  books to my daughter and Horrid Henry does something particularly horrid, I just have to exclaim, “Horrid Henry is so Horrid!” And then my daughter says, “I like him.” She was also captivated by  Rotten Ralph . Rotten Ralph and Horrid Henry have a lot

]]> BillC 2009-09-22T14:54:00Z Sometimes, when I’m reading one of the hilarious Horrid Henry books to my daughter and Horrid Henry does something particularly horrid, I just have to exclaim, “Horrid Henry is so Horrid!” And then my daughter says, “I like him.” She was also captivated by Rotten Ralph. Rotten Ralph and Horrid Henry have a lot in common. They’ve both done their part to foil weddings, for instance. There’s something compelling for children in stories about kids (or cats) who are really really bad. Sometimes it’s the way they compare to "normal" kids. Horrid Henry has a brother named Perfect Peter. Peter is sort of the straight man for Henry’s practical jokes and is himself an exaggeration of a goodie two shoes character. When Perfect Peter, who subscribes to Best Boy magazine, tries to get back at Henry, hilarity ensues. Henry really is horrid and his horridness leads him to do things that are way beyond what most kids would do. And kids love it. With illustrations by Tony Ross, you can’t go wrong. These “blue dot” books are a transition from easy reader style books to chapter books for kids who are reading. Many of the books with the blue dot on the spine at KPL also make great read-alouds.  

Book

Horrid Henry
9781402217753

 

]]> The Graveyard Book http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23476&blogid=1766 As a children’s librarian, I like to read the new award winners.  So when “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman was announced as the Newbery Award winner for 2009, I was curious to read it, since I’d read his “Coraline”.   (which was  made into a film in 2009). Set in modern day Britain, “The Graveyard Book” begins w

]]> NancyS 2009-09-08T14:54:00Z As a children’s librarian, I like to read the new award winners.  So when “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman was announced as the Newbery Award winner for 2009, I was curious to read it, since I’d read his “Coraline”.   (which was  made into a film in 2009).

Set in modern day Britain, “The Graveyard Book” begins with the murder of a toddler’s parents and sister by a methodical killer.  Strong stuff for a children’s book, for certain.  The baby manages to escape, and wanders into a graveyard, where he is taken in by a loving  couple named the Owenses, who have no children.  They are ghosts, and long dead, as are the other inhabitants of the graveyard who help to raise the child over the years.  It turns out that Bod (short for “Nobody”)  was the killer Jack’s  real target, and Jack is still out there, searching.

For older children grades 5 and up, or tween  readers, this is an suspense and action filled story  with ghosts, ghouls, and hints of vampires.

book

The Graveyard Book
9780060530921
]]> I Couldn’t Do It http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23428&blogid=1766 Fahrenheit 451  has to be one my all time favorite books.  The concepts and theories proposed in this novel first published in 1953 are fascinating in that they take on a different twist with each new technological advance that happens in our society. Take the  seashell or thimble radios  presented in the novel, fo

]]> JenniferC 2009-09-04T14:54:00Z Fahrenheit 451 has to be one my all time favorite books.  The concepts and theories proposed in this novel first published in 1953 are fascinating in that they take on a different twist with each new technological advance that happens in our society. Take the seashell or thimble radios presented in the novel, for instance. Who, in the 1950s or even 1960s, would have imagined that MP3 players would have people listening to music, podcasts, and news constantly through earbuds today?! From the irony of Montag’s job to the realities that have come to fruition out of Ray Bradbury’s fiction to Clarisse’s character:  I love this story!

That being said, I thought I’d try the graphic novel version of this story. Never having tried reading a novel presented this way, I figured that trying a story I loved would help me overcome any resistence I had to stories shown as strips of images that resemble comic books. Nope.  Didn’t work. Couldn’t make it through the first 10 pages. I flipped through it a few times but couldn’t manage it. Maybe it was that I chose a story I loved. Or, maybe I just discovered I prefer my own imagination to pre-created pictures instead.

Book

Fahrenheit 451:  The Authorized Adaptation
9780809051014
]]> Renovation DIY http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23420&blogid=1766 As we’re not  Dean Johnson and Robin Hartl , my partner and I required lots of technical advice with our recently completed home renovation. The word “completed” here of course means we’re living with a few loose ends.  Renovation  by  Michael W. Litchfield  continues to be a very, very useful resource as we wrap up

]]> BillC 2009-09-03T14:54:00Z As we’re not Dean Johnson and Robin Hartl, my partner and I required lots of technical advice with our recently completed home renovation. The word “completed” here of course means we’re living with a few loose ends. Renovation by Michael W. Litchfield continues to be a very, very useful resource as we wrap up. Now in its third edition, the book offers information on structural carpentry, masonry, foundations and concrete, electrical wiring and plumbing. While formidable projects involving these subjects are definitely covered in the book, I think they’re best left to the pros. Litchfield, founding editor of Taunton's Fine Homebuilding Magazine also covers drywall, trim carpentry, painting, wall paper, hanging cabinets and more including how to inspect a house. With accessible text and plenty of great photographs of real projects in progress, you get a sense of how complicated a project really is before you jump in. Got a few renovation DIY loose ends around your house? Take a look at more books on “That Old House” in the first floor rotunda this month at the Central Branch library.

Book

Renovation
1561585882
]]> The World Book at Your Fingertips http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23398&blogid=1766 Did you know that KPL subscribes to over 70 databases?  Our databases provide access to information that goes well beyond the walls of the library information about most anything is available, from engine repair to health issues and everything in between.  You can

]]> CaitlinH 2009-09-02T14:54:00Z Did you know that KPL subscribes to over 70 databases?  Our databases provide access to information that goes well beyond the walls of the library; information about most anything is available, from engine repair to health issues and everything in between.  You can use the databases in house, but some can even be used at home if you have internet access and a library card.

One of my favorite databases is World Book Online.  You may be familiar with the print encyclopedia, but the electronic version offers a multimedia experience that print version can’t compete with: interactive maps, primary sources, videos, pathfinders, and even a timeline builder make this database worth checking out.  World Book Online has three different versions: Kids, Info Finder, and Reference Center.  The Kids version includes encyclopedia articles, science project how-to’s, maps, and educational games among many other child-friendly research tools.  World Book Info Finder is designed with middle-to-high school aged students in mind; included is a biography center, videos, world newspapers, and current events.  Reference Center is for the adult user with computer tutorials, a citation builder, government information, and many other research tools.  Take a look at it today; you might be surprised what you can find.


If you would like help navigating our databases, stop in at the reference desk or your neighborhood branch for assistance.

book

World Book
worldbookimage
http://www.kpl.gov/databases/alpha.aspx#worldbook

 

]]> The Family Man http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23388&blogid=1766 Henry Archer answers the phone one day.  That call, from his hysterical ex-wife, leads him to a reluctant involvement in her widowhood, to the coat-check girl at the hair salon, to his ex-stepdaughter (who is the coat-check girl), to movie star shenanigans, and to a new lover.  Complicated?  Yes.  Funny?  Yes.  Also t

]]> Susan 2009-09-01T14:54:00Z Henry Archer answers the phone one day.  That call, from his hysterical ex-wife, leads him to a reluctant involvement in her widowhood, to the coat-check girl at the hair salon, to his ex-stepdaughter (who is the coat-check girl), to movie star shenanigans, and to a new lover.  Complicated?  Yes.  Funny?  Yes.  Also tender and charming.

 

book

The Family Man
9780618644667
]]> The Multitude of Religions http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23308&blogid=1766 Some people say we are living in a "pluralistic age." What does that mean?  Religious pluralism is the view that all religions have some truth to them; that all religions are valid paths to the same transcendent reality. This is one position, among many, to the variety of religious experience. John Hick's Interp

]]> MattS 2009-08-31T14:54:00Z Some people say we are living in a "pluralistic age." What does that mean? Religious pluralism is the view that all religions have some truth to them; that all religions are valid paths to the same transcendent reality. This is one position, among many, to the variety of religious experience.

John Hick's Interpretation of Religion is, in my experience, one of the best arguments for this position. Drawing on a vast knowledge of the major religious traditions and texts, and a relevant philosophical understanding of the distinction between the world of experience and the worldbeyond experience (via Kant), Hick suggests that because religious concepts are beyond experience, it makes sense that they are so different and varied and experienced in different ways.

On a more relevant note, KPL does not have this book; however, KPL does have this book because of the great service we have in MeLCat. See the director Ann's new blog to see how you can stand up for such a crucial service to Michigan libraries.

book

An Interpretation of Religion
0300042485
http://elibrary.mel.org/record=b10484457~S15
]]> This Week in Science History August 26 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23206&blogid=1766 Aug. 24, 79 A.D.  Mount Vesuvius  erupted in Italy. The cities  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  were buried in tons of volcanic ash and pumice, and an estimated 20,000 people perished. The cities remained buried for centuries and were incredible archaeological time capsules when they were discovered. Aug. 24, 2006  Plut

]]> DianeR 2009-08-26T14:54:00Z Aug. 24, 79 A.D. Mount Vesuvius erupted in Italy. The cities Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried in tons of volcanic ash and pumice, and an estimated 20,000 people perished. The cities remained buried for centuries and were incredible archaeological time capsules when they were discovered.

Aug. 24, 2006 Pluto was declassified as a major planet by the International Astronomical Union, the authority on all matter planetary. According to a July 27, 2009 article by Steve Battersby in the NewScientist, after days of arguments at the general assembly of the IAU in Prague delegates voted for a new definition of the term “planet” that excluded Pluto. Pluto was downgraded to a new category of dwarf planet. The decision caused public outrage as astronomers pointed out that only 4 percent of the IAU’s 10,000 members took part in the vote! Many astronomers hope that future discoveries concerning our solar system as well as a better definition of the status of “planet” will bring about greater understanding and a reinstatement of Pluto as a planet.

Aug. 27, 1883 Mount Krakatoa an island volcano in what is now Indonesia erupted. The violent explosions from the eruption destroyed two thirds of the island and huge deadly tsunami waves that swept across the region killing an estimated 36,000 people. The Krakatoa volcanic eruption was one of the largest recorded in history and had a huge global effect. The explosion was heard in Australia and the shock wave was registered by barometers in England. 

Book

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883
0066212855

 

]]> Finger Lickin’ Good (apologies to Kentucky Fried Chicken) http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23176&blogid=1766   Finger Lickin ’ Fifteen , the 15th offering from author  Janet Evanovich  that features the less-than-proficient bond enforcement officer  Stephanie Plum , is laugh-out-loud funny! All of the familiars are back:  Ranger, Lula, Grandma Mazer, Morelli, Connie, and Uncle Vinnie, plus the usual collection of paren

]]> AnnF 2009-08-24T14:54:00Z  Finger Lickin’ Fifteen, the 15th offering from author Janet Evanovich that features the less-than-proficient bond enforcement officer Stephanie Plum, is laugh-out-loud funny!

All of the familiars are back:  Ranger, Lula, Grandma Mazer, Morelli, Connie, and Uncle Vinnie, plus the usual collection of parents, dogs, and others that make up the whirlwind around Stephanie Plum. Evanovich adds more characters, unique to this novel. Stanley Chipotle, of the Chipotle Barbecue Sauce fame, is the first of the unfortunate newbies to lose something important…his head! As in decapitated! Lula witnesses the deed, and becomes a target, a problem that plagues her throughout the story.

With Stanley out of commission, Grandma Mazer, Lula, and Connie band together to “create” their own prize-winning barbecue sauce so that they can enter the contest and WIN a lot of money! Expect the expected: disastrous results with the sauce experiment.  Picture ribs cooked to within an inch of their “lives,” chicken broiled beyond recognition, even to someone with Cajun blackened cooking skills; a blown up barbecue grill…the list goes on!

Some of the review journals think that Evanovich has run her Stephanie Plum character way past her prime. I don’t happen to think so. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen is one of the best Plum tales so far. Be prepared to laugh long and hard at the antics in this one!

Book

Finger Lickin’ Fifteen
9780312383282
]]> Prize-winners abound at KPL! http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23174&blogid=1766 So, summer’s almost over, and you’ve given up on "beach reading," as the weather seems set on staying cool. Now, you say, you’re looking for some deeper, brain-challenging reads to get in the mind-set for “back to school?” Have you noticed that you can access lists of award-winning books from KPL’s catalog? For exa

]]> Christine 2009-08-24T14:54:00Z So, summer’s almost over, and you’ve given up on "beach reading," as the weather seems set on staying cool. Now, you say, you’re looking for some deeper, brain-challenging reads to get in the mind-set for “back to school?”

Have you noticed that you can access lists of award-winning books from KPL’s catalog? For example, you could find the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners, all the way back to The Magnificent Ambersons, by Booth Tarkington, published in 1918 (when this prize was named Pulitzer Prize for the Novel.)  Or choose to place a hold on the most recent winner, Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge.

To find your way to the lists, simply go to the catalog, see the lists of award-winners on the left, under “Recommended Reading,” and choose a category. We have all our holdings posted in reverse chronological order. At the bottom of the lists, you’ll see “More recommended reading lists.” Go ahead, click on it, and see how many more categories of award-winning books you can access at your local library!

Book

Olive Kitteridge
9781400062089

 
]]> Temeraire Series http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23130&blogid=1766 Adventure on the high seas and action galore in the 18 th Century await you.  There is only one catch…Temeraire is a dragon.   Naomi Novik  has created an alternate reality where dragons are real.  His Majesty’s Dragon introduces you to Temeraire and from there you are hooked.  History buffs who enjoy the Napoleonic

]]> Diane S 2009-08-21T14:54:00Z Adventure on the high seas and action galore in the 18th Century await you.  There is only one catch…Temeraire is a dragon.  Naomi Novik has created an alternate reality where dragons are real.  His Majesty’s Dragon introduces you to Temeraire and from there you are hooked.  History buffs who enjoy the Napoleonic wars will love the tight plotting and believable characters with a slight twist – dragons as Air Corps.  I can’t wait for the next in the series due out in October.    The series in order includes:  His Majesty’s Dragon, Throne of Jade, Black Powder War, Empire of Ivory, and Victory of Eagles: a novel of Temeraire.

Book

His Majesty's Dragon
0345481283

 

 
]]> A Truth Seeking Adventure http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23096&blogid=1766 For me,  Siddhartha  is one of those books that had a profound effect on me the first time I read it.  Hesse  is a master of  philosophy  and  religion , both  East  and  West ; a master of putting a world-view into a character; and a master at condensed, meaningful prose--he includes everything essential, and leaves

]]> MattS 2009-08-18T14:54:00Z For me, Siddhartha is one of those books that had a profound effect on me the first time I read it. Hesse is a master of philosophy and religion, both East and West; a master of putting a world-view into a character; and a master at condensed, meaningful prose--he includes everything essential, and leaves out the rest. Siddhartha is the story of a man devoted to seeking truth and wisdom at all costs. He becomes a wanderer. He finds himself contemplating, challenging, and encorporating the eastern philosophy and religion that he is born into; he learns from every mode of life and every person that he comes across. About the human potential, Siddhartha says:

"...the potential Buddha already exists in the sinner; his future is already there. The potential hidden Buddha must be recognized in him, in you, in everybody."

And after all of his searching, we find this lesson:

"Here is a doctrine at which you will laugh. It seems to me, Govinda, that Love is the most important thing in the world. It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. But I think it is only important to love the world, not to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect."

book

Siddhartha
0553208845
]]> Our National Parks http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23082&blogid=1766 Many incredibly unique and special places in the United States have been preserved through our national parks. The Library currently has a great display about our national parks on the first floor to pique your curiosity. Did you know that there are 58 national parks and 333 national monuments and historic sites in th

]]> DianeR 2009-08-18T14:54:00Z Many incredibly unique and special places in the United States have been preserved through our national parks. The Library currently has a great display about our national parks on the first floor to pique your curiosity. Did you know that there are 58 national parks and 333 national monuments and historic sites in the U.S. (wow)? The birth of the idea of our national parks to preserve, manage, and protect these places and the evolution of the parks system is fascinating to read about, and the Library has many wonderful materials and resources available for you to explore. For instance, check out the library catalog for more information on President Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and Gifford Pinchot who were all instrumental in the creation of the national parks. Want some travel information to visit the parks? Check out KPL’s travel collection. Oh, and the Library also has guides and pamphlets for various Michigan National Parks and Forests as well as handbooks and pamphlets for many U.S. National Parks and Forests up in the second floor’s reference shelves. We have the magazine National Parks, too. Maybe once you look into our national parks and reserves, you want to learn more about conservation, environmentalism, or the United States National Parks Service. Yes, we have information on those topics as well. Oh and FYI, well-known film director Ken Burns has completed a documentary on our national parks titled The National Parks: America’s Best Idea which will be airing in September on PBS and the KPL has an order in place for this also. It looks like a fabulous series. Happy Exploring!  

Book

The National Parks: Our American Landscape
1601090455

 

]]> Worlds Deadliest Catch! http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23062&blogid=1766 I'm a big fan of the TV show "World's Deadliest Catch" - about crab fishing in the Bering Sea. I love the show for many reasons, not the least of which is that my son is a salmon fisherman in Alaska, fishing in the Bering Sea!  While salmon fishing is not as hazardous as crab fishing, he has still had his brushes w

]]> MarthaL 2009-08-18T14:54:00Z I'm a big fan of the TV show "World's Deadliest Catch" - about crab fishing in the Bering Sea.

I love the show for many reasons, not the least of which is that my son is a salmon fisherman in Alaska, fishing in the Bering Sea!  While salmon fishing is not as hazardous as crab fishing, he has still had his brushes with death.

Time Bandit: Two brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs  is a fascinating look at the industry from the fisherman of one of the boats profiled on the TV series. If you have watched the show, than you have seen the authors - Andy and Jonathan Hillstrand - at work.

As he says in the book "On the Bering Sea, every fisherman knows what kills. We understand that, for whatever reason, if we enter the water unprotected, we are dead. A crewman will be irretrievably wounded by hypothermia in four or five minutes,,, the cold will numb his extremities....we are not afraid of the sea; we are terrified of the water."

So if you want to live vicariously the life of a Bering Sea fisherman - than delve into this book and enjoy!

book

Time Bandit: Two brothers, the Bering Sea, and one of the worlds deadliest jobs
9780345503725
]]> Any Lost Fans? http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23058&blogid=1766 Fans of the TV series Lost are fanatical not only because the show keeps you constantly guessing and hungry to watch the next episode, but because there are deep philosophical themes  peppered throughout. Who is  John Locke , and how does he relate to the 17th century philosopher that heavily influenced our  constit

]]> MattS 2009-08-17T14:54:00Z Fans of the TV series Lost are fanatical not only because the show keeps you constantly guessing and hungry to watch the next episode, but because there are deep philosophical themes  peppered throughout. Who is John Locke, and how does he relate to the 17th century philosopher that heavily influenced our constitution? And then he becomes Jeremy Bentham, founder of utilitarianism, which makes more sense insofar as the character will do anything that the island demands ("Boone was a sacrifice the island demanded"). My favorite, however, is the character Desmond Hume representing David Hume's idea that the self is nothing but a loose connection of memories and sensations. Further, what does Rousseau have to do with the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau? And of course you can't have an epic drama without the age-old struggle between fate and free will, the relationship between faith and reason, and...smoke monsters coming from the forest.

book

Lost and Philosophy
9781405163156
]]> The Story Sisters http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23048&blogid=1766 Alice Hoffman’s new book,  The Story Sisters , is true to form for the author – mystical and strange with compelling characters and complicated relationships. Their “stories” bump up against reality and the author’s imagery creates a beautiful, haunting, sad tale, but the reader ultimately recognizes the possibility

]]> Martha C 2009-08-14T14:54:00Z Alice Hoffman’s new book, The Story Sisters, is true to form for the author – mystical and strange with compelling characters and complicated relationships. Their “stories” bump up against reality and the author’s imagery creates a beautiful, haunting, sad tale, but the reader ultimately recognizes the possibility of redemption through love. 

Although I found The Story Sisters a little more difficult to read than some of Hoffman’s other books, it was worth the effort. If you are not familiar with her work and want to try her out you might want to read one of her earlier novels first, try Practical Magic (made into a movie in 1998, starring Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock and Stockard Channing) or Turtle Moon. They are also beautifully written and also intriguing with elements of magic, but are not so dark.

Book

Story Sisters
9780307393869
]]> Amazing Little Guys http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=23044&blogid=1766 Each spring I anticipate the arrival of the first “scout” hummingbird at my feeders. They are such amazing little things – they fly incredibly fast, stop dead in mid-air, travel incredible distances when migrating, are beautiful and seem to be totally fearless. Now is when the action is hot and heavy at the various

]]> Martha C 2009-08-14T14:54:00Z Each spring I anticipate the arrival of the first “scout” hummingbird at my feeders. They are such amazing little things – they fly incredibly fast, stop dead in mid-air, travel incredible distances when migrating, are beautiful and seem to be totally fearless.

Now is when the action is hot and heavy at the various feeders (have to provide more than one since they are very territorial) with the addition of the babies who are learning how to survive.

To learn more or see amazing pictures of these little guys, check out our books on hummingbirds, Enjoying Hummingbirds is an especially helpful primer.  If you are intrigued, try visiting Hummingbirds.net. It’s a wonderful website where you can learn how to attract, feed, watch, study and track their migration north in the spring.

Enjoy!

Book

Enjoying Hummingbirds
9780811734219

]]> This Week in Science History August 12 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22944&blogid=1766 Aug. 9, 1896 well-known Swiss psychologist  Jean Piaget  was born.  Piaget  was recognized as incredibly gifted by the time he was 11 and is famous for his theory of the 4 levels of  cognitive development  in children. He believed a child goes through 4 separate stages that are universal to all children and that his/h

]]> DianeR 2009-08-12T14:54:00Z Aug. 9, 1896 well-known Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget was born. Piaget was recognized as incredibly gifted by the time he was 11 and is famous for his theory of the 4 levels of cognitive development in children. He believed a child goes through 4 separate stages that are universal to all children and that his/her understanding of the world changes as a result of age and experience. The focus of his research was consistently “how does knowledge grow” and he influenced many fields of study.

Aug. 10, 1889 American inventor Charles Brace Darrow was born. Darrow developed the popular board game Monopoly. He issued a patent for the game in December 1935 and assigned it to Parker Brothers who successfully marketed it. How many of us have spent countless hours playing this game trying to land on Park Place and pass Go to get that $200?

Aug. 10, 1846 President James K. Polk signed an Act of Congress establishing the Smithsonian Institution.  The generous benefactor, James Smithson a British scientist, drew up his last will and testament and named his nephew as beneficiary. He stipulated that if his nephew died without heirs, which he did, the estate should go to the United States of America, “to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men”. There were 8 years of sometimes heated debate before this Act of Congress was signed by President Polk.

Book

Monopoly: The World's Most Famous Game--And How It Got That Way
0306814897

 

 

]]> Math Mystery http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22896&blogid=1766 If you like math mysteries, you might like The Unknowns . The kids in The Unknowns are not from  Hyde Park . Diaphanta Smith, known as Lady Di, lives right next to a nuclear power plant in a town named only for its location: Adjacent. “Think of hundreds of beat-up mobile homes next to a power plant. A nothing kin

]]> BillC 2009-08-07T14:54:00Z If you like math mysteries, you might like The Unknowns. The kids in The Unknowns are not from Hyde Park. Diaphanta Smith, known as Lady Di, lives right next to a nuclear power plant in a town named only for its location: Adjacent. “Think of hundreds of beat-up mobile homes next to a power plant. A nothing kind of place…” But Lady Di and her best friend Tom Jones dread going off-island to Tri County Middle School in the fall. Kids from Adjacent get teased a lot. They hope something will happen to end the boredom of summer and to take their minds off starting at a new school. Then they discover that their friend, Ms. Clarke, is missing. But Ms. Clarke, who always helped Lady Di and Tom with their math homework, has left behind some clues in her trailer. The clues lead to other clues as the two solve problems along the way. Corrupt power plant operators, a little geometry, some really capable and interesting characters, and lots of action in the hidden tunnels beneath the surface of the island equal a thrilling good read.

Book

The Unknowns
9780810979918
]]> American Salvage http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22888&blogid=1766 Kalamazoo writer  Bonnie Jo Campbell’s  newest book is a collection of short stories titled American Salvage . It’s one of four books published this year by Wayne State University’s new Made in Michigan Writers Series. American Salvage is thoroughly Michigan. Campbell’s stories are set in and around her Coms

]]> LisaW 2009-08-07T14:54:00Z Kalamazoo writer Bonnie Jo Campbell’s newest book is a collection of short stories titled American Salvage. It’s one of four books published this year by Wayne State University’s new Made in Michigan Writers Series.

American Salvage is thoroughly Michigan. Campbell’s stories are set in and around her Comstock stomping ground. The book’s cover art is a moody photograph by Kalamazoo artist Mary Whalen portending that something bad may be about to happen.

And bad things do happen in Campbell’s stories. The beating of a tow truck driver left for dead in the snow is the subject of “King Cole’s American Salvage.” At her KPL appearance on August 5, the author was asked by a guest why she writes about such tough subjects as methamphetamine abuse, alcoholism and criminal behavior when these stories can be hard to read. Another audience member responded that she appreciated how Campbell addressed grim topics because they provide an honest reflection of society.

Campbell said that as a writer “You cannot otherwise digest these things going on around you. I write about what bothers me most.”

To illustrate how a writer might respond to a grim event, Campbell used “King Cole’s American Salvage.”  The story was based on a real incident that occurred in Comstock. Campbell first read an essay that featured the real names and facts of the incident. Then she read from the short story, explaining that it was her way of exploring the motivations and circumstances of the characters. Campbell’s third treatment of the story showed the driver’s beating distilled into a short and vivid poem.

In its starred review of American Salvage, Booklist said “Campbell’s busted-broke, damaged, and discarded people are rich in longing, valor, forgiveness, and love, and readers themselves will feel salvaged and transformed by this gutsy book’s fierce compassion.”

       

book

American Salvage
9780814334126
]]> Now It’s Dark http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22882&blogid=1766 I am a big fan of the filmmaker  David Lynch , whose dark, surreal films are admittedly not everyone’s  cup of coffee , but those who respond to his work almost inevitably become Lynch  completists  and develop a need to know everything they can about where these dark dreamlike works of art come from. So after watchin

]]> mykyl 2009-08-06T14:54:00Z I am a big fan of the filmmaker David Lynch, whose dark, surreal films are admittedly not everyone’s cup of coffee, but those who respond to his work almost inevitably become Lynch completists and develop a need to know everything they can about where these dark dreamlike works of art come from. So after watching Lynch’s latest film, the somewhat baffling INLAND EMPIRE, I was happy to find Greg Olsen’s exhaustive examination of Lynch and his work Beautiful Dark available through MelCat. For nearly 700 pages, Olson satisfies any Lynch fans need to know with great detail about and interpretation of each of Lynch’s film projects. Olson outlines the ties between Lynch’s artistic and personal lives in a way that gives a very complete picture of Lynch and his unique artistic vision.

Book

Beautiful Dark
9780810859173
http://elibrary.mel.org/search~S15?/tbeautiful+dark/tbeautiful+dark/1%2C2%2C2%2CB/frameset&FF=tbeautiful+dark&1%2C1%2C
]]> This Week in Science History August 5 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22826&blogid=1766 August 5, 1930 astronaut  Neil Armstrong  was born. Armstrong was the first U.S.  astronaut  to walk on the moon during the  Apollo 11  mission in July 1969. After serving as a Navy pilot in the Korean War, he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (which later became known as NASA) as a civilian test

]]> DianeR 2009-08-05T14:54:00Z August 5, 1930 astronaut Neil Armstrong was born. Armstrong was the first U.S. astronaut to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969. After serving as a Navy pilot in the Korean War, he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (which later became known as NASA) as a civilian test pilot. After his Gemini 8 mission and Apollo 11 missions, he worked as a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati. Armstrong was also a member of the commission that investigated the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster.

August 6, 1945 the first atomic bomb used in World War II was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb, code-named "Little Boy", was dropped from the U.S. Air Force B-29 bomber, The Enola Gay.

August 7, 1903 archaeologist and anthropologist Louis Leakey was born. Leakey believed that Africa was the most significant area to search for evidence of the origin of humans instead of China or Java.  He and his wife, Mary made many important fossil discoveries during their expeditions to eastern Africa together and were responsible for great advances in the field of anthropology. In 1962, Leakey found fossil remains in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania of Homo habilis which he believed to be the first member of the true human genus as well as the first toolmaker.

Book     

The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
9780791097380

 

 

]]> A Rollicking Adventure http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22760&blogid=1766 Daniel Wallace's  third book, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions , captivated me, as did the film adaptation,  Big Fish , directed by  Tim Burton . So when Daniel Wallace said  Hannah Tinti’s   The Good Thief was the best book he’d read in a very long time, and he wished he had written it, I picked up on t

]]> MaryD 2009-08-01T14:54:00Z Daniel Wallace's third book, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, captivated me, as did the film adaptation, Big Fish, directed by Tim Burton. So when Daniel Wallace said Hannah Tinti’s The Good Thief was the best book he’d read in a very long time, and he wished he had written it, I picked up on the endorsement. In order to appreciate Big Fish, the reader/viewer has to suspend disbelief. Elements of the fantastic, woven into The Good Thief, may have held special appeal for Mr. Wallace, but there are multiple reasons to like this book.

It’s an old fashioned adventure tale set in late 19th century New England. Part coming of age story, part gothic yarn, part Victorian odyssey, The Good Thief sports colorful characters, vivid settings and rollicking escapades. Ren is a one-handed, good but wayward twelve year old. He's plucked from St. Anthony’s orphanage by a man claiming to be his long-lost older brother. When the rescuer’s true intentions emerge, Ren must learn to navigate an underworld of scoundrels and con-artists, while seeking the truth about his mysterious past.

Critics have said the writing is reminiscent of Robert Louis Stevenson. Ideally, I think The Good Thief should be read aloud, around a deep woods campfire, encircled by dark shadows and eerie night sounds.

The Good Thief
9780385337458

Book

]]> Seven Keys for Seven Brothers for Seven Locks http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22694&blogid=1766 Author  Paul Haven’s  second novel for young readers is titled  The Seven Keys of Balabad .   Balabad is a middle-eastern, war-torn nation that is said to have been the birthplace of an international secret society known as the Brotherhood of Arachosia.  Balabad is also the rumored hiding place of the grandest rich

]]> AnnF 2009-07-30T14:54:00Z Author Paul Haven’s second novel for young readers is titled The Seven Keys of Balabad.  Balabad is a middle-eastern, war-torn nation that is said to have been the birthplace of an international secret society known as the Brotherhood of Arachosia.  Balabad is also the rumored hiding place of the grandest riches in the world; grander ones have never been known, heard of, or seen.

Enter Oliver Finch, a New York City kid whose dad is a journalist for a newspaper; whose mom is an art historian/curator; and whose friends are all back in the Big Apple, while Oliver is stuck in this unfamiliar, odd-customed place with no TV, video games, or pizza.

Oliver does make a couple of friends, and they get involved in an international intrigue that involves the seven keys of Balabad, which originally belonged to the good King Agamon, and each of which was given to one of Agamon’s sons.  The sons were long-ago scattered to all corners of the world, where their descendents remain to this day.  The theft of a 500-year-old carpet, the Secret Carpet of Agamon, begins a recall of each of these seven keys.  Agamon’s relatives are not the generous sort, it seems, and they all want whatever the keys unlock for themselves.

A native carpet-seller, Mr. Hagi, and a couple of other people are kidnapped; Oliver and his friends get involved; and the fun begins!

The Seven Keys of Balabad is a quick read with lots of excitement on each page.  Enjoy!

Book

The Seven Keys of Balabad
9780375833502
]]> The World Is a Very Big Place http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22662&blogid=1766 Kalamazoo Public Library has many resources with which to find geographic information. Some of my favorites are the online ones, such as the U.S. Board on Geographic Names site provided by the U.S. Geological Survey. Others are good for finding maps, such as MapBlast and MapQuest. There are also many atlases and maps

]]> David D. 2009-07-29T14:54:00Z Kalamazoo Public Library has many resources with which to find geographic information. Some of my favorites are the online ones, such as the U.S. Board on Geographic Names site provided by the U.S. Geological Survey. Others are good for finding maps, such as MapBlast and MapQuest. There are also many atlases and maps available in print form at the library. One volume I have turned to frequently since learning about it in library school is Merriam-Webster’s Geographic Dictionary, which contains a mass of data on land and water features as well as political entities. When looking for a quick, brief description of a geographic term or place, this dictionary is a good place to start, even at its age of 12 years. I received the second edition of this as a gift in 1973 and still become addicted to it when I pick it up. One entry that recently caught my eye was the one for Lake Char-gog-ga-gogg-man-chaug-gaug-ga-gogg-chau-bu-na-gun-ga-maugg. This is the official name of what is sometimes, and probably more usually called Lake Webster, near Webster in southern Worcester County, Massachusetts.

Book

Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary
0877795460
]]> Who can they tell? http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22660&blogid=1766 Learning to Swim: a memoir  pulled at my heart strings! All of us would prefer not to have to talk about child abuse. But it is something that is eating away at our society and we can not ignore it. The reality is that  child abuse  is a prevailing monster that grows with silence.  Ann Turner  does an excellent

]]> JudiR 2009-07-29T14:54:00Z Learning to Swim: a memoir pulled at my heart strings! All of us would prefer not to have to talk about child abuse. But it is something that is eating away at our society and we can not ignore it.

The reality is that child abuse is a prevailing monster that grows with silence. Ann Turner does an excellent job of conveying a child’s anxiety of wanting to tell and the fear of telling.

This memoir might help a child speak the unspoken words.

Find more info at the Child Molestation Research & Prevention Institute and Childhelp.

Book

Learning to Swim: a memoir
0439153093
]]> This Week in Science History July 29 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22550&blogid=1766 July 28, 1907 American manufacturer and inventor of  Tupperware , Earl S. Tupper was born. Tupper struck out on his own in 1938 after working for a DuPont owned  plastics  plant in Massachusetts. He purchased some used molding machines and tried making products with DuPont’s polyethylene but found it was too rigid for

]]> DianeR 2009-07-29T14:54:00Z July 28, 1907 American manufacturer and inventor of Tupperware, Earl S. Tupper was born. Tupper struck out on his own in 1938 after working for a DuPont owned plastics plant in Massachusetts. He purchased some used molding machines and tried making products with DuPont’s polyethylene but found it was too rigid for his ideas. Using samples without the company’s fillers (because they made the plastic too rigid) and the concept of how a paint can lid works, Tupper created a plastic bowl that “burped” out some of the air in it to provide an airtight and watertight seal. He patented his seal in 1949. He tried selling his products in department stores which didn’t go very well when, Brownie Wise, who had been selling Stanley Home Products at house parties teamed up with him to sell his Tupperware at house parties. It was a very successful venture for both Tupper and Wise. Tupper sold the business in 1958 for $16 million.

July 28, 1858 fingerprints are used as a means of identification for the first time. William James Herschel, a magistrate in Nuddea, India requested that a local businessman make a handprint on the back of a contract. Herschel’s idea with the print was to frighten the businessman from repudiating his signature. He noted after collecting a number of these that the impressions varied and that individual identification could be made with them.

July 30, 1863 American inventor and automobile manufacturer, Henry Ford, was born in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford incorporated the Ford Motor Company in 1903, and by 1908 was manufacturing the reliable economical Model T. He revolutionized the automobile industry with his use of precision manufactured parts designed to be standardized and interchangeable and his use of the continuously moving assembly line. Half of all cars being driven in America by 1918 were Model T’s.

Book

The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century
0375407359

 

 

 

 

]]> The Codes Behind the Craft http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22520&blogid=1766 We know that analysis of many great works of art has revealed they employ what’s known as the “golden mean,” a geometric ratio said to produce aesthetically pleasing results. Well, what ratios lead to delicious results? Michael Ruhlman new book  Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking  uncove

]]> LisaW 2009-07-28T14:54:00Z We know that analysis of many great works of art has revealed they employ what’s known as the “golden mean,” a geometric ratio said to produce aesthetically pleasing results. Well, what ratios lead to delicious results?

Michael Ruhlman new book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking uncovers the relationships that define basic recipes.

The book doesn’t provide do-this-or-else directions, nor does it offer The Ultimate version of anything. Instead, Ratio shows the basic governing relationships of a recipe so that you can see how to go from cake to muffins to crepes, and then wing it.

Each section in Ratio covers a different food group and includes recipes as well as opportunities for variation. Doughs and batters are first. The ratio for pie dough is 3 parts flour :  2 parts fat : 1 part water. The book’s basic pie dough recipe is known as pate brisee, the all-purpose classic. Repeatedly folding and rolling this dough will increase its number of layers and make it perform like puff pastry. Adding sugar and it’s a pate sucree to be used in some sweet pies and tarts.

Other sections are devoted to stocks; meat-related ratios such as sausages, mousseline and brine; fat-based sauces (mayonnaise, vinaigrette, hollandaise); and custards. There’s a recipe for standard mayonnaise as well as an “instant” version using an immersion blender instead of a whisk.

Ruhlman says that “Ratios liberate you — when you know the ratio and some basic techniques, then you can really start to cook.” Though his book contains recipes, he likes to think of it as “an anti-recipe book, a book that teaches you and frees you from the need to follow.”

book

Ratios
9781416566113
]]> The Terminator and Philosophy http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22428&blogid=1766 Many of us loved the  Terminator  series that was recently finished with Terminator: Salvation  (with the possibly exception of  Terminator 3 ). We knew these films had some hints of philosophical themes, especially time travel and artificial intelligence; but what Terminator and Philosophy shows us is that it has

]]> MattS 2009-07-24T14:54:00Z Many of us loved the Terminator series that was recently finished with Terminator: Salvation (with the possibly exception of Terminator 3). We knew these films had some hints of philosophical themes, especially time travel and artificial intelligence; but what Terminator and Philosophy shows us is that it has many more deep issues than we were aware, ranging from morality, marxism, and fate, to Descartes, Camus, Hobbes and Hegel.

What is a person? What makes a person different from other living things?... from machines? Could the machines in Terminator be considered people? From the T101's perspective (Arnauld), he seems just as human as Sara and John Conner. After all, he can do almost anything they can. This resembles a theory of personhood brought forth by Alan Turing, who thought that if a machine could "trick" you into thinking it was a person, then the machine is a person. From Sara's perspective, machines are nothing but soulless fakers that carry out pre-determined commands. This resembles Rene Descartes' idea that a person is defined by having a soul, or "inner principle" of thought, which has private conscious experiences. And John Conner seems to hold a middle position of understanding, shown by his constant attempts at teaching the T101 how to be a person.

Is it right to commit a wrong for the greater good?...or are there some things you simply cannot do? Here we explore the moral theories of Benthem and Mill's utilitarianism and Kant's deontology. Sara, especially in her plot to kill Dyson and Skynet, agrees with utilitarianism that sometimes the "end justifies the means." But John, like a good Kantian, sees that murder is never justified--"you just can't go around killing people!".

Among other themes are the Marxist idea that technology, when only backed by greed and profit, will lead to the conclusion of capitalism and the destruction of our race; and the conflict over fate and free will, and whether the future can actually be changed; and Hegel's idea that history is determined by the unfolding of the "Gist," or mind.

"book"

Terminator and Philosophy
9780470447987
]]> Frankie Landau-Banks http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22404&blogid=1766 Inspired by  P.G. Wodehouse's  love of wordplay and her Cities, Art, and Protest class (where she learned the importance of the concept of a  panopticon ), Frankie shakes the foundation on which her boarding school, Alabaster, is set. Frankie Landau-Banks is the 15-year old main character in a very fun teen novel e

]]> JenniferC 2009-07-23T14:54:00Z Inspired by P.G. Wodehouse's love of wordplay and her Cities, Art, and Protest class (where she learned the importance of the concept of a panopticon), Frankie shakes the foundation on which her boarding school, Alabaster, is set.

Frankie Landau-Banks is the 15-year old main character in a very fun teen novel entitled The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.  Her family calls her Bunny Rabbit which is one of the reasons for her insistence that she can make her own decisions and that she is NOT to be underestimated!  The other is her boyfriend, Matthew Livingston and his friends:  The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. 

Frankie's desire to be one of the "boys"--not in a tomboy sort of way, but in a girls-are-equal-to-boys-and-clubs-should-have-no-exclusionary-rules way--is what gets her mind reeling and her adrenaline flowing.  She's definitely not a glass ceiling type of girl!  But, despite her creativity and determination in breaking the good ol' boy barrier, her teenage emotions for her boyfriend surface.  What results is a wild ride with Frankie and her schemes! 

I'm not sure whether I ended up really, really liking Frankie or being irritated by her.  Admire, maybe?  Envy?  I'm not sure.  Of course, I'm judging her with the eyes of an adult rather than a teenager.  Having read this book 25 years ago would definitely have changed my perspective of her fiesty personality.  But, maybe its a good thing I read it now;  I can't imagine the trouble I might have found for myself with Frankie as a role model!

Book

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
0786838183

 

]]> An interactive cookbook on CD http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22398&blogid=1766 One of the newest  cookbooks  in our collection won’t be found in the second floor stacks, but in our  audiovisual department  on the lower level. Kalamazoo area chef and food historian Channon Mondoux has written Celebration at the Sarayi: Reliving a Feast in the Palace of Suleyman the Magnificent . This electroni

]]> LisaW 2009-07-23T14:54:00Z One of the newest cookbooks in our collection won’t be found in the second floor stacks, but in our audiovisual department on the lower level. Kalamazoo area chef and food historian Channon Mondoux has written Celebration at the Sarayi: Reliving a Feast in the Palace of Suleyman the Magnificent. This electronic cookbook brings to life the beautiful and sumptuous cuisine of 16th century Ottoman Turkey.

Mondoux’s years of research — including an ongoing study of the Turkish language — has resulted in 72 recipes for appetizers, main courses and desserts, including qatlami boregi, a tasty feta-walnut pastry that was popular with guests at the program and book signing on May 21. Video clips enhance some of the recipes. For instance, you can see how to stuff grape leaves with lamb and plums for etli yaprak dolmasi. Audio narration, notes and historic images further enhance the book, making this more of an experience, than merely a collection of recipes.

About the format: This is not an audiobook, nor is it something to load on a Kindle or Sony Reader. The entire book is in Adobe PDF on a CD. All you need is a computer with Adobe Acrobat Reader version 9.0., which is a free download. This will work on Macintosh or Windows platforms.

Here’s a video from Mondoux’s program at KPL on May 21:  

Book

Celebration at the Sarayi: reliving a feast in the palace of Süleyman the Magnificent
celebration-at-the-sarayi-160
http://www.catalog.kpl.gov/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/5?searchdata1=9780981533803
]]> Red and Me: My Coach, My Friend http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22378&blogid=1766  If you’re a basketball fan, you’ll enjoy this inspiring book about the personal relationship and friendship between Bill Russell and his coach Red Auerbach.  Through their thirteen years of building a sports dynasty together, they won eleven championships in thirteen years.  Russell writes how Auerbach produced resul

]]> Valerie O 2009-07-22T14:54:00Z  If you’re a basketball fan, you’ll enjoy this inspiring book about the personal relationship and friendship between Bill Russell and his coach Red Auerbach.  Through their thirteen years of building a sports dynasty together, they won eleven championships in thirteen years.  Russell writes how Auerbach produced results and developed great ball players where each man gave his all, and gained back even more.

Bill Bradley said this about Russell, “Bill Russell knew his personal power and how to use it.  In that sense he was his father’s son, inspired by independence, self-confidence and strength he had observed growing up.  Russell would say that his father always had “a plan,” meaning he was always a step or two ahead of everyone else.  In basketball; Russell demonstrated the same gift and thus reconceptualized the game.  Defense had once been an afterthought; Russell saw it as the key to offense and builder of team morale.”   Russell’s account of his friendship with Auerbach is a lesson in mutual respect and understanding that grew and matured over the years.  I’ve always felt that Bill Russell is a man of great integrity, and after reading this book, my belief is reinforced.

Book

Red and Me: My Coach, My Friend 
9780061766145
 

 
]]> Today in Science History July 21 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22278&blogid=1766  July 19, 1865 surgeon and philanthropist,  Charles Horace Mayo , was born. Mayo was one of the founders of the  Mayo Clinic  which is regarded as one of the foremost medical treatment and research institutions in America. Mayo specialized in surgery of the  thyroid  and  nervous system . The concept of medical specia

]]> DianeR 2009-07-21T14:54:00Z  July 19, 1865 surgeon and philanthropist, Charles Horace Mayo, was born. Mayo was one of the founders of the Mayo Clinic which is regarded as one of the foremost medical treatment and research institutions in America. Mayo specialized in surgery of the thyroid and nervous system. The concept of medical specialization was, in fact, developed by this group of medical pioneers. The private practice of this group became the not-for-profit Mayo clinic in 1919. The Mayo Clinic of today is a not-for-profit medical practice dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of virtually every type of complex illness.
July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. While Michael Collins orbited above, Armstrong and Aldrin established “Tranquility Base” on the moon. Armstrong’s famous proclamation “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” took place at 10:56 ET as he stepped on to the lunar surface. I remember watching this historic event when it took place. Even though it took place late in the evening for my younger brothers and me, our parents let us stay up to watch it because it was such a significant history-in-the-making event for the United States!
July 24, 1897 American aviator Amelia Earhart was born. During World War I, she served in a nursing corps in Canada. Earhart learned to fly in 1921 in an open-cockpit plane in California and became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic alone establishing a new record in the crossing of 13 hours and 30 minutes. She also became the first woman to fly the Pacific Ocean, crossing from Hawaii to California in 1935 and set a speed record flying nonstop from Mexico City to New York City that same year. Sadly, Earhart and her navigator mysteriously disappeared on a June 1937 flight around the world en route from Lae, New Guinea to little Howland Island. The fate of Earhart remains a mystery to this day and makes for exciting reading.

Book

Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon
9780670021031

 

]]> Kant: The Copernicus of Philosophy http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22126&blogid=1766 Immanuel Kant was one of the most influential philosophers of all time. An 18th century thinker, Kant is found in a unique forked path in the history of philosophy, coming after the  Modern period  of  Descartes ,  Locke ,  Berkeley , and Hume; and coming before what would be called the German Idealists of Hegel and F

]]> MattS 2009-07-20T14:54:00Z Immanuel Kant was one of the most influential philosophers of all time. An 18th century thinker, Kant is found in a unique forked path in the history of philosophy, coming after the Modern period of Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume; and coming before what would be called the German Idealists of Hegel and Fitche. Kant's ideas about science, metaphysics, perception, the soul, God, and morality would become revolutionary.

Perhaps his most revolutionary idea, coming from the Critique of Pure Reason, was what he called a Copernican revolution in philosophy. Copernicus shockingly changed our perspective of the universe and our place in it. Likewise, Kant changes our perspective as knowers and perceivers of the world. Instead of our minds having to conform to the world in order to gain knowledge of it, Kant thought that the world had to conform to our minds in order for us to know it. Thus, space and time, and several other organizational concepts, were filters in the human mind--filters that the outside world had to pass through for us to know it.

His ideas about morality were more impressive and practical. He asks: how can morality be objective and universal? He answers: only if it is based in reason (the rational mind) and only if it can be reduced to laws that our own minds can see the truth of. He reduced all moral laws to an abstract version of the golden rule, which reads: only decide to do those things that could be made unversal laws for everyone. If you cannot do this, then what you're about to do is wrong.

I recommend this book with a serious warning. Kant is the hardest philosopher to read due to his technical vocabulary and its awkward tranlation from German to English. If you have little experience with reading philosophers of a similar time period, I recommend Kant: A Very Short Introduction.

book

Basic writings of Kant
0375757333
]]> Walter Cronkite: A Reporter’s Life http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=22116&blogid=1766 Forty years ago this weekend, the world watched together as mankind landed on the surface of the moon for the first time.  And for my own family, and of course millions of others, it was the voice of Walter Cronkite who led us there. As a kid, naturally, I was excited. My father had kept meticulous scrapbooks of all t

]]> Keith 2009-07-18T14:54:00Z Forty years ago this week, the world watched together as mankind landed on the surface of the moon for the first time. And for my own family, and of course millions of others, it was the voice of Walter Cronkite who led us there. As a kid, naturally, I was excited. My father had kept meticulous scrapbooks of all the space program events, and had even taken us on a family vacation to visit (then) Cape Kennedy. I remember watching my father shed tears of disbelief as Cronkite told us that the Eagle had landed. It seemed that a new world of possibilities was opening right before our eyes.

In A Reporter’s Life, Cronkite himself summed it up rather well. “That first landing on the moon was, indeed, the most extraordinary story of our time and almost as remarkable a feat for television as the space flight itself. To see Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles out there, as he took that giant step for mankind onto the moon’s surface, was a thrill beyond all the other thrills of that flight. All those thrills tumbled over each other so quickly that the goose pimples from one merged into the goose pimples from the next.” (The library also stocks an audiobook version of A Reporter’s Life (read by the author), and lots more.)

And as we look back on our first explorations into other worlds, it seems ironic that the very person who took us on that amazing journey and would have perhaps celebrated this anniversary as enthusiastically as anyone, has himself left this world for another.

Plenty has (and will be written) about Cronkite’s professionalism and the personal-ism he brought to his craft. Indeed, television journalism as we know it might have been very different were it not for his pioneering leadership. In a CBS News Saturday Early Show tribute this morning, many of his colleagues remarked that Cronkite insisted the evening news program he first pioneered was to be about accurate reporting rather than celebrity entertainment.

But for me as a kid growing up in rural America and watching the news each evening to see what the rest of the world was doing, it was Cronkite’s enthusiastic optimism that I remember and treasure most. Indeed, there was plenty to be worried (even scared) about during the sixties and seventies, but for me at least, Cronkite’s positive outlook guided our family through it (and even attempted to make sense of it) all.

One of my personal favorites was the Emmy award-winning CBS series The 21st Century (1967-70). In a weekly news magazine format, Walter brought us stories about fascinating inventions and new developments, and provided us with an optimistic glimpse of what the world might look like in what then seemed like the quite distant future. Today, that seemingly distant future is here and many of those fascinating ideas are indeed a reality.

“And that’s the way it is…”

Book

A Reporter's Life
0394578791
]]> This Week in Science History July 15 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=21996&blogid=1766 July 12, 1895 American  inventor , architect and engineer,  Buckminster Fuller , was born. He spent much of the early 20th Century working to improve human shelter. He looked for ways to apply modern technological shelter construction, to make shelter more comfortable and efficient, and more economically available to

]]> DianeR 2009-07-15T14:54:00Z July 12, 1895 American inventor, architect and engineer, Buckminster Fuller, was born. He spent much of the early 20th Century working to improve human shelter. He looked for ways to apply modern technological shelter construction, to make shelter more comfortable and efficient, and more economically available to more people. Fuller developed the geodesic dome, the only large dome that can be set on the ground as a complete structure. Many entertainment complexes and multi-purpose arenas are geodesic domes. Fuller held over 2000 patents and is considered an American visionary. Doing “more with less” was his credo.

July 12, 1861 African-American inventor, agricultural chemist, scientist, and educator, George Washington Carver was born. Carver discovered over 300 uses for peanuts as well as hundreds of uses for soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes. The item list of his recipes for and/or improvements to includes: adhesives, axle grease, bleach, chili sauce, fuel briquettes, buttermilk, ink, instant coffee, linoleum, mayonnaise, meat tenderizer, metal polish, plastic, pavement, shaving cream, shoe polish, synthetic rubber, talcum powder, and wood stain to name a few. He developed a crop rotation method which revolutionized southern agriculture. Carver freely gave his discoveries to mankind and didn’t patent or profit from most of his products. In fact, he only applied for 3 patents. He was an incredibly gifted, generous, and fascinating man to read more about!

July 18, 1635 English physicist, Robert Hooke, was born. Orphaned at the age of 13, Hooke was an important scientist of the 17th Century. He discovered the law of elasticity called Hooke’s Law, invented the balance spring for clocks, and either invented or improved various meteorological instruments such as the barometer, anemometer, and hygrometer. Hooke had a wide scope of research which included physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, geology, architecture, and navel technology. In 1662, he was appointed the Curator of Experiments at the Royal Society, London. In 1666, Hooke served as Chief Surveyor and helped rebuild London after the Great Fire.    

Book 

George Washington Carver
0516236105

 
]]> The Poetry of Trauma and Exile http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=21892&blogid=1766 Simply put, the poetry of  Paul Celan  is not an easy art to grapple with nor should it have been, for Celan was a poet of cultural and geographic exile, victimized by the brutality of the Second World War (losing both parents to prison camps). Celan, a survivor of the Holocaust, wrote some of the most hauntingly powe

]]> RyanG 2009-07-11T14:54:00Z Simply put, the poetry of Paul Celan is not an easy art to grapple with nor should it have been, for Celan was a poet of cultural and geographic exile, victimized by the brutality of the Second World War (losing both parents to prison camps). Celan, a survivor of the Holocaust, wrote some of the most hauntingly powerful verse of post-war Europe, often with the aim of trying to reconcile the psychologically grating problems associated with his use of the German language while retaining his Jewish identity. Celan always felt like an outsider and his poetry reflects his lifelong struggle with the kind of irreconcilable dualities that bestows great poetry with its power to name terror and redeem its voiceless victims. Celan’s poetry echoes many of the kinds of thematic concerns and influences that mark the work of his European contemporaries (Theodor Adorno, E.M Cioran, Maurice Blanchot, Edmond Jabes, Jacques Derrida e.g.), including his fellow Parisian exile, Samuel Beckett.

Widely known for his much anthologized poem Death Fugue, Celan set about crafting a body of work distinct for its cryptic abstraction, monosyllabic gasps, references to Jewish symbolism and themes of trauma and human dislocation. Celan's poetry is heartbreakingly expressive even as it reduces language to its sparest essentials. His influence can be seen in the work of poets working today, including Michael Palmer, Rita Dove, Sharon Olds and Adrienne Rich.

Book

Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan
039304999X
]]> This Week in Science History July 7 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=21660&blogid=1766 July 6, 1885 French scientist  Louis Pasteur  and his colleagues injected the first  rabies  vaccine into a 9 year old boy severely bitten by a rabid dog 2 days earlier. The  immunization  was successful and Pasteur’s rabies immunization procedure was rapidly adopted throughout the world. An interesting side note, the

]]> DianeR 2009-07-07T14:54:00Z July 6, 1885 French scientist Louis Pasteur and his colleagues injected the first rabies vaccine into a 9 year old boy severely bitten by a rabid dog 2 days earlier. The immunization was successful and Pasteur’s rabies immunization procedure was rapidly adopted throughout the world. An interesting side note, the boy, Joseph Meister, grew up and became caretaker of the Pasteur institute until he was 64.

July 7, 1930 construction began on the Boulder Dam later named the Hoover Dam. The Dam located in Boulder City, Nevada was completed in 1935. The Dam is a multipurpose reclamation project on the Colorado River and is used to control floods, store water for irrigation, provide generation of hydroelectric power, and provide fish and wildlife habitat. It has been rated by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as one of America’s seven modern civil engineering wonders.

July 10, 1925 the famous Scopes monkey trial began in Dayton, Tennessee. John Scopes was a local general science school teacher and the focus of the case was on the teaching of evolution in schools. William Jennings Bryan squared off against Clarence Darrow in this well-known court case and the trial ran 12 days with a reported carnival-like atmosphere. The trial ended with a verdict of guilty and Scopes was fined $100. The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Dayton Court 1 year later on a technicality and dismissed the case. The court commented “Nothing is to be gained by prolonging the life of this bizarre case”.

Book

The Hoover Dam
9781604130690
]]> Shanghai Girls http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=21506&blogid=1766 After reading other books by  Lisa See , I was eager to try  Shanghai Girls .  This historical novel, which begins in the 1930s, tells the story of two sisters who are forced into arranged marriages to brothers to compensate for their father's debts.  They leave Shanghai and travel to Los Angeles to meet up with their

]]> Susan 2009-07-02T14:54:00Z After reading other books by Lisa See, I was eager to try Shanghai Girls.  This historical novel, which begins in the 1930s, tells the story of two sisters who are forced into arranged marriages to brothers to compensate for their father's debts.  They leave Shanghai and travel to Los Angeles to meet up with their husbands, who have traveled ahead. 

Not surprisingly, there are tragedies, family secrets, heartbreak and redemption along the way.  At the heart of the book, though, is the unbreakable bond between the sisters.  This is a fascinating look at Shanghai on the verge of war and Los Angeles from the eyes of immigrants. 

Book

Shanghai Girls
9781400067114
]]> The Food of a Younger Land http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=21428&blogid=1766 What we eat says a mouthful about where we come from, who we think we are and even who we want to be. Behind every lesson of who conquered whom are tales of ingredients adopted and utensils borrowed. For every settler’s tale, there was a beloved skillet or a box of seeds — clutched in fear, homesickness and hope —

]]> LisaW 2009-06-30T14:54:00Z What we eat says a mouthful about where we come from, who we think we are and even who we want to be.

Behind every lesson of who conquered whom are tales of ingredients adopted and utensils borrowed. For every settler’s tale, there was a beloved skillet or a box of seeds — clutched in fear, homesickness and hope — that came on the journey.

That’s why I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Mark Kurlansky’s newest book, The Food of a Younger Land. Once upon a time, America did eat local. This book is “a portrait of American food — before the national highway system, before chain restaurants, and before frozen food, when the nation’s food was seasonal, regional and traditional.”

Kurlansky has compiled some of the writings collected through the Federal Writers Project, a federal stimulus program undertaken by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression (the one in the 1930s). For America Eats, writers such as Zora Neale Hurston and Eudora Welty documented in poetry, prose and recipes everyday meals as well as special gatherings. These reports were snapshots of cultural history and economic conditions across the United States. America Eats began in 1939 but was abandoned due to the war and never finished.

The book is divided into the same regions used by the Federal Writers Project: Northeast, South, Middle West (I wish we still used that description), Far West, Southwest.

In the description of a New York Literary Tea, it is pointed out that tea is generally not served. Martinis and Manhattans hold court, with a nod to scotch if absolutely necessary.

New York Soda-Luncheonette Slang and Jargon are decoded in five pages. (Luncheonette: another word gone by the wayside). “Twist it, choke it and make it cackle” refers to a chocolate malted milk with egg.

There is a description for making Hickory Ta-fulla, a Choctaw dish in which corn grits are cooked in a milk made from hickory nuts soaked in water.

Zora Neale Hurston’s heretofore unpublished piece is “Diddy-Wah-Diddy,” describing a mythical place with good food in abundance, particularly barbecue. “Even the dogs can stand flat-footed and lick crumbs off heaven’s tables,” she wrote.

Eudora Welty’s contribution is a pamphlet written for the Mississippi Advertising Commission. “Mississippi Food” is thought to be her only piece of food writing. The recipes and accompanying notes document how to make such things as whole jellied apples, eggs stuffed with spinach, and lye hominy. The ingredients for lye hominy are merely dried corn, oak ashes and salt, but it’s the cooking that is an all day effort, something I witnessed as a child.

From the Far West is “Depression Cake,” an essay about how a young woman’s desperate and resourceful experimentation led to a successful eggless, butterless cake for a July 4 gathering. Except for the bacon drippings, we’d call that cake vegan today.

Filled with descriptive writing and long lost traditions, The Food of a Younger Land is a fine way to rediscover our culinary roots.

book

The Food of a Younger Land
9781594488658
]]> Dolls, Dolls, and More Dolls http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=21352&blogid=1766 I’m not sure if  Mr. Steve  has blogged about these Doll family books before, but I’m going to ladder up on his comments if he has, and if he hasn’t, okey dokey! There are three books about the Doll family (their last name is Doll) that have lived and still live, in a 100-year old Victorian doll house in Kate’s roo

]]> AnnF 2009-06-26T14:54:00Z I’m not sure if Mr. Steve has blogged about these Doll family books before, but I’m going to ladder up on his comments if he has, and if he hasn’t, okey dokey!

There are three books about the Doll family (their last name is Doll) that have lived and still live, in a 100-year old Victorian doll house in Kate’s room at the Palmer’s house in “Anytown USA”.  By this, I mean that their story could happen anywhere and at any time. The Dolls (father, mother, aunt, uncle, nanny, sister, brother, and baby) all are porcelain with cloth bodies.  They are dressed in 100-year old clothes, which are beginning to show wear, as are the Doll family themselves. Titles in the trilogy by author Ann M Martin include The Doll People, The Meanest Doll in the World, and The Runaway Dolls.

To begin at the beginning, these dolls have all taken the “Oath” which requires them to always be on the watch for humans and to avoid PDS (permanent doll state) at all costs. As you might expect, the dolls all talk, think, and walk around; after hours, of course. Annabelle Doll makes friends with the daughter of the Funcraft family that move in to Kate Palmer’s messy little sister’s room (her name is Nora). 

The adventures that follow the Funcrafts’ arrival are exciting, realistic in a fantastical sort of way, funny, and sad all at the same time. Such extraneous characters as Mrs. Robertson, Mean Mimi, The Captain (a lecherous cat that loves to play with dolls), and a couple of human-type children all add in to this mix of wonder for anyone who has dolls/played with dolls or who loves a good fantasy with just the right ingredients mixed together to make a real treat! Especially enjoyable are illustrations by Caldecott Medal winner Brian Selznick.

I couldn’t put the books down once I had started them!

Book

The Runaway Dolls
9780786855841
]]> Maisie Dobbs http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=21228&blogid=1766 One of the most enjoyable series of books I have read in a long time evolve around the character of  Maisie Dobbs . Set in post-WWI England, Maisie is a private investigator/psychologist. Each of the six books chronicles events involving the Great War and how its aftermath plays out in the lives of either Maisie or on

]]> MarthaL 2009-06-24T14:54:00Z One of the most enjoyable series of books I have read in a long time evolve around the character of Maisie Dobbs. Set in post-WWI England, Maisie is a private investigator/psychologist. Each of the six books chronicles events involving the Great War and how its aftermath plays out in the lives of either Maisie or one of the people  she is called upon to investigate.

The books are well written, and include much detail about life in England in the late 1920’s. There is good character development and enough plot to keep you riveted until the end.

One of the best ways to “read” these books is by listening to the audiobook versions. They are narrated by Orlagh Cassidy, who has the ability to project feeling and life into every one of the books characters. In addition her lovely English accent, her calm voice has the ability to transport you into Maisie’s mind and heart.

Titles in this series include: Maisie Dobbs, Birds of a Feather, Pardonable Lies, Messenger of Truth, Among the Mad, and An Incomplete Revenge.

Book

Maisie Dobbs
1569473307
]]> This Week in Science History June 24 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=21192&blogid=1766 June 26, 2000 representatives of  The Human Genome Project  announced it had assembled a working draft of the human genome-the genetic blueprint of human beings. Two major tasks were involved in this accomplishment. Large fragments of  DNA  had to be placed in the proper order to cover all the human chromosomes, and t

]]> DianeR 2009-06-24T14:54:00Z June 26, 2000 representatives of The Human Genome Project announced it had assembled a working draft of the human genome-the genetic blueprint of human beings. Two major tasks were involved in this accomplishment. Large fragments of DNA had to be placed in the proper order to cover all the human chromosomes, and the DNA sequencing of the fragments had to be determined. Although the draft contained some gaps and errors, it represented 95% of all genes. This was a phenomenal accomplishment in the world of genetics.

June 26, 1900 the Yellow Fever Commission was formed by Surgeon-General George M. Sternberg to fight the cause and spread of the deadly disease. Dr. Walter Reed who had previously investigated typhoid and malaria outbreaks was appointed officer-in-charge. While yellow fever is now known to be caused by a virus, it was believed at that time to be spread by direct contact with an infected person or things like the infected person’s clothes.

June 26, 1819 for all the cycling enthusiasts out there, the first U.S. patent for a velocipede, a predecessor of the bicycle, was issued to William K. Clarkson, Jr. of New York.  Unfortunately, fire destroyed the patent record at the Patent Office in 1836 so very little else is known. It was not until 1866 that the first U.S. patent was issued for a bicycle. Check out the Bicycle of America Museum site for a great timeline on the bicycle and an alphabetical index.

Book

Bicycle: The History
0300104189

 

]]> Discovering New Reads http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=21188&blogid=1766 One of the many joys of working in a library is learning about new reads through the books patrons ask about. Not long ago, my co-worker heard about  Wesley the Owl : The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and his Girl   from a patron, and she passed the recommendation along to me, knowing how much I love nature. Stac

]]> Christine 2009-06-23T14:54:00Z One of the many joys of working in a library is learning about new reads through the books patrons ask about. Not long ago, my co-worker heard about Wesley the Owl : The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and his Girl  from a patron, and she passed the recommendation along to me, knowing how much I love nature.

Stacey O’Brien adopted Wesley, an injured barn owl, at the tender age of four days.  Wesley’s wing was so damaged he would be unable to fend for himself in the wild, so O’Brien became his “mother” and lifelong friend. The book reads like a memoir of, and tribute to, the owl’s life. The author provides fascinating details about the biology of barn owls, weaving her own life as a student researcher at Caltech, and beyond, into the story.  The bond between owl and human is so strong that, at one point, O’Brien recounts how keeping Wesley alive saved her life.

Many thanks to our patrons, who keep asking for new reads and inspiring our staff!

Book

Wesley the owl : the remarkable love story of an owl and his girl
9781416551737

 
]]> Rise Up Singing http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=21166&blogid=1766 May Erlewine’s  great song “Rise Up Singing” celebrates the restorative power of singing. Rise Up Singing: The Group Singing Songbook collects words, chords and sources for 1200 songs from many folk traditions as well as the commercial music industry. This venerable print resource is organized by topic from Ameri

]]> BillC 2009-06-23T14:54:00Z May Erlewine’s great song “Rise Up Singing” celebrates the restorative power of singing. Rise Up Singing: The Group Singing Songbook collects words, chords and sources for 1200 songs from many folk traditions as well as the commercial music industry. This venerable print resource is organized by topic from America to Work. My favorite topical section is Play. That’s where you’ll find so many of the songs you’ll remember from childhood. But this songbook isn’t only for kids. There are protest songs as well as sacred rounds and chants from a variety of traditions. Rise Up Singing is easy to use. The songs are indexed by artist, by culture, by holiday, and by subject. The title index includes first lines and alternate titles. And Pete Seeger’s introduction is worth reading even if you go no further. One thing that makes Rise Up Singing different from many other vocal fake books is that, except for the Sacred Rounds and Chants section, there is no musical notation to express the melodies of the songs. That leaves more room for lyrics in this portable book from Sing Out. Because the book is meant for group singing environments, there’s usually someone in the group who knows the tune. If you’re thinking of a popular or folk song, a show tune or kids’ song, it may very well be here.

Book

Rise Up Singing
1881322122
]]> Hardboiled Noir http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=21106&blogid=1766 There is something about the prose of  Raymond Chandler  that I just absolutely love. His gritty,  hardboiled  brand of Los Angeles noir is pitch perfect and seamless in its ability to create unsentimental evocations of the  shadowy streets of 1940’s Hollywood . Chandler’s stories have an effortless flow to them and a

]]> RyanG 2009-06-22T14:54:00Z There is something about the prose of Raymond Chandler that I just absolutely love. His gritty, hardboiled brand of Los Angeles noir is pitch perfect and seamless in its ability to create unsentimental evocations of the shadowy streets of 1940’s Hollywood. Chandler’s stories have an effortless flow to them and are filled with an endless array of period-specific idioms, tough guy-catch phrases and infectious dialogue imbued with timeless black humor. Next to Samuel Beckett and Woody Allen, few writers have given us so many humorous one liners about the darkness of the human condition. 

In his best work, readers will explore the lives of con artists, hardnosed cops, troubled damsels, various forms of organized crime, Hollywood starlets, and of course Chandler’s infamous protagonist, the caustic yet cool private investigator Philip Marlowe. Chandler is the most imitated and influential detective novelist of the twentieth century who along with Dashiell Hammett paved the literary road for the likes of Elmore Leonard, Walter Mosley, Sue Grafton, Michael Connelly and many others who have followed.

Book

Stories and novels, 1933-1942
1883011078
]]> I Love It When You Talk Retro http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20972&blogid=1766 Retrotalk and retroterms. These words are used by Ralph Keyes to describe the subject of his 2009 book I Love It When You Talk Retro. The main point of this volume is to give histories of words and phrases, the full meaning of which cannot be grasped unless one understands their origins. Keyes gives example after ex

]]> David D. 2009-06-17T14:54:00Z Retrotalk and retroterms. These words are used by Ralph Keyes to describe the subject of his 2009 book I Love It When You Talk Retro. The main point of this volume is to give histories of words and phrases, the full meaning of which cannot be grasped unless one understands their origins. Keyes gives example after example, such as Ma Bell as the nickname for the phone company. We still say we answer the phone’s ring, we dial a number, and then hang up when we are finished with the call, even though with modern phones we have actually done none of these things. There’s a section on phrases that have appeared because of their connection to the office environment, such as rubber stamp, red tape, and pink slip. Animals are also a source for language such as a lame duck, a sitting duck, and a dead duck, as well as the goose that laid the golden egg, pecking order, and putting on the dog. For a time of amusement and enlightenment, this one’s a winner.

Book

I Love It When You Talk Retro
9780312340056
]]> This Week in Science History June 17 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20942&blogid=1766 June 16, 1884  Coney Island  began operating the first commercially successful gravity-powered American  roller coaster . Starting at a height of 50 feet on one end, passengers rode a train downhill on undulating tracks over a wooden structure 600 feet long until its momentum died. The ride cost 5 cents. Roller coaste

]]> DianeR 2009-06-17T14:54:00Z June 16, 1884 Coney Island began operating the first commercially successful gravity-powered American roller coaster. Starting at a height of 50 feet on one end, passengers rode a train downhill on undulating tracks over a wooden structure 600 feet long until its momentum died. The ride cost 5 cents. Roller coasters and amusement parks have come a long wild way since that first roller coaster ride.

June 17, 1870 George Cormack, the co-inventor of the breakfast cereal Wheaties, was born. Cormack, a health clinician accidentally invented the cereal in 1921 when he spilled a little of the bran gruel he was making for his patients onto a hot stove and it sizzled into a crispy flake. Being a cereal lover myself, I was fascinated by how Cormack created his cereal. He tested 36 varieties of wheat before he perfected his flakes. Incidentally while we are on the subject of breakfast cereal, Lester Borchardt, of General Mills invented Cheerios June 19, 1941 to provide a more convenient alternative to oatmeal. Originally called Cheeri Oats, this cereal almost didn’t get created.  Borchardt and his team were working on a machine to puff cereal but his boss wanted him to stop work on the machine. Borchardt insisted on continuing and voilà, 2 months later Cheerios were created. He also invented Kix. Borchardt lived until he was 99 and ate Cheerios everyday-hmmm. As the mother of 3, his finger food cereals were a life saver for me when my children went through the toddler stage!

June 17, 1837 Charles Goodyear obtained his first rubber-processing patent (U.S. No. 240). At the time, india-rubber would melt in the summer heat but Goodyear devised a treatment with metallic solutions that resolved this problem. His discovery, which came to be known vulcanization strengthened rubber, vastly improved rubber’s application in a variety of industrial uses, one of which was automobile tires. Although his process revolutionized the rubber industry, he was unable to profit from his discovery and died a poor man.

Book

Roller Coasters: United States and Canada
9780786439102

 

]]> Audiobooks for Kids and Families http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20888&blogid=1766 Summer has arrived, and for some families that means car  trips  with the  kids . The dreaded  question “Are we there yet?” has been asked by generations of young (and not so young) travelers. These  audiobooks  can help make the miles seem shorter, and they’re stories the whole family can enjoy. These selections a

]]> NancyS 2009-06-16T14:54:00Z Summer has arrived, and for some families that means car trips with the kids. The dreaded  question “Are we there yet?” has been asked by generations of young (and not so young) travelers.

These audiobooks can help make the miles seem shorter, and they’re stories the whole family can enjoy. These selections are suitable for all ages of children, though will probably be best enjoyed by school age kids in grades 3 and up.

John Grogan has written a children’s version of his popular story about his dog, Marley. “Marley: a Dog Like No Other” is the tale of yellow Lab Marley from puppyhood to adulthood, a dog with a wonderful personality and boundless energy who tries so hard to be good. Animal lovers will enjoy this one.

elijah-of-buxton-100.jpgIf you and your children like historical novels, a good choice is “Elijah of Buxton” by Christopher Paul Curtis. This Newbery Award winner tells the story of Elijah, born free in Canada’s Buxton Settlement, where his parents landed after escaping from slavery. Elijah journeys across the Detroit River into America on the trail of a thief who has stolen a friend’s money, and witnesses firsthand the treatment his parents fled.

chasing-vermeer-cover-100.jpgMystery, adventure, art,  and puzzles within puzzles await listeners of “Chasing Vermeer” by Blue Balliett. Set in Chicago’s Hyde Park, sixth grade outsiders Petra and Calder become friends as they try to figure out who stole a missing Vermeer painting. That’s the plot in a nutshell, but this story is more than just the sum of its parts - it also encourages thinking about coincidence and possibilities, in a fun way with a good story.

Check out your library for other great listening, for all ages!  We’re happy to make suggestions.

Book

Marley: a Dog Like No Other
0061255092
]]> Debut author thrillers! http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20826&blogid=1766 I'm always on the lookout for new entertaining authors, because I live in fear that I'll run out of good stuff to read. Fortunately, I just found two debut authors who I hope will continue to write the kind of fine thrillers they achieved with their first books.  Running from the devil , by  Jamie Freveletti  featur

]]> CarolF 2009-06-15T14:54:00Z I'm always on the lookout for new entertaining authors, because I live in fear that I'll run out of good stuff to read. Fortunately, I just found two debut authors who I hope will continue to write the kind of fine thrillers they achieved with their first books. Running from the devil, by Jamie Freveletti features a strong female lead character, a chemist named Emma Caldridge, who is trying to right a wrong forced upon her by her company. On the way, her plane is hijacked over Colombia. Sixty-eight of her fellow surviving passengers are kidnapped by guerrillas - only Emma escapes. She silently trails the group, hoping to find a way to contact the American authorities with their whereabouts. The thrilling part of the story is that she has to track the group through the jungle, using her chemical, botanical and athletic skills to stay alive. Her knowledge is amazing, but believable. Moving along to the second book: Even, by Andrew Grant (who by the way is Lee Child's brother - Child is the author of the Jack Reacher series). David Trevellyan is the hero in Grant's book, a member of British naval intelligence. His curiosity about a dead body in a New York City alley leads him to jail as a scapegoat for the murder, where he is confronted by a really big and mean cellmate - who finds out the hard way what it means to cross Trevellyan. The story is a riveting action-adventure in the mode of Jack Reacher. Both of these characters face insurmountable odds, but are triumphant against the bad guys. Please, Ms. Freveletti and Mr. Grant -- write more books!

book

Running from the devil
9780061684227
]]> When I Lay My Isaac Down http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20704&blogid=1766 Have you ever wondered how you would handle a catastrophic family event?  As the mother of five and the grandmother of seven, I have contemplated if I would have the strength to cope with such an occurrence. When I Lay My Isaac Down is the story of how one woman coped with the most devastating news of all – tha

]]> MarthaL 2009-06-15T14:54:00Z Have you ever wondered how you would handle a catastrophic family event?  As the mother of five and the grandmother of seven, I have contemplated if I would have the strength to cope with such an occurrence.

When I Lay My Isaac Down is the story of how one woman coped with the most devastating news of all – that her only child had been accused of cold-blooded murder.

This book was recommended to me by one of our Oshtemo patrons who found it immensely compelling, as did I – not because we expect to have such a tragedy in our families – but because of how eloquently the author shares the process of coping with unspeakable pain, and helps the reader learn how to use resources within themselves and to call upon faith in God who can redeem even the most unspeakable pain.

The author, Carolyn Kent, has gone on to write a follow-up to this book A New Kind of Normal which carries on the theme of how to carry on, when your life has been changed forever.

Book

When I Lay My Isaac Down
1576834743
]]> Listen to Cory Doctorow http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20698&blogid=1766 The smart, funny, and wonderfully thought provoking essays included in  Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future  by  blogger ,  journalist ,  science fiction  author and  copyright critic  Cory Doctorow entertainingly summarize complex issues into an easily understoo

]]> mykyl 2009-06-12T14:54:00Z The smart, funny, and wonderfully thought provoking essays included in Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future by blogger, journalist, science fiction author and copyright critic Cory Doctorow entertainingly summarize complex issues into an easily understood handful of paragraphs that are so well reasoned and argued that it may just change your mind on some of the subjects presented. Addressing subjects as widely scattered as the problems with Digital Rights Management, the finer points of The Singularity, or why Facebook's popularity won't last, Doctorow is brilliant and convincing. No matter what side of the issues discussed you fall on, Cory Doctorow’s understading of the future of the future and his passionate opinions are worth listening to. 

Books

Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future
contentcoverbig
 http://www.catalog.kpl.gov/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/5?searchdata1=Content%3a+Selected+Essays+on+Technology%2c+Creativity%2c+Copyright%2c+and+the+Future+of+the+Future{TI}&library=BRANCHES&language=ANY&format=ANY&item_type=ANY&location=ANY&match_on=KEYWORD&item_1cat=ANY&item_2cat=ANY&sort_by=-PBYR
]]> Georgia On My Mind http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20636&blogid=1766 Georgia O'Keeffe is one of the most recognizable and beloved artists of the 20th Century. An icon of American modernism, her work, like fellow masters  Picasso ,  Matisse , and  Van Gogh , are etched upon our collective consciousness through the ubiquity of her unique imagery. From calendars to stationary, her poetic

]]> RyanG 2009-06-11T14:54:00Z Georgia O'Keeffe is one of the most recognizable and beloved artists of the 20th Century. An icon of American modernism, her work, like fellow masters Picasso, Matisse, and Van Gogh, are etched upon our collective consciousness through the ubiquity of her unique imagery. From calendars to stationary, her poetic and erotically charged depictions of the human body, Southwestern landscapes, and her inimitable floral paintings have struck a visual chord with the general public for almost a century. If you’re fan of her work or simply looking to support a downtown cultural institution, check out the Kalamazoo Institute of Art’s newest exhibit Georgia O’Keeffe and Her Times: American Modernism. Be sure to visit the library afterward and explore our vast collection of art books that detail the rise of America’s embrace of modernist concerns, subjects, forms, and techniques during the early 1920’s. You may also find as a result of the exhibit’s broad and illuminating treatment of O’Keeffe’s contemporaries that there are lesser known artists that appeal to your artistic interests and sensibilities. Find out more about those artists closely associated with O’Keeffe and her New York/New Mexico circle in addition to those from other modernist schools and movements. The following are helpful histories that map the various modernist art movements from 1910 to 1945.

Art in the Modern Era 

Modern Art, 1900-1945: The Age of Avant-Gardes

Modernism: The Lure of Heresy 

Book

Georgia O'Keeffe and New Mexico : a sense of place
0691116598
]]> This Week in Science History June 9 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20576&blogid=1766 June 8, 1955  Tim Berners-Lee , the English computer scientist who invented the  World Wide Web  was born.  Berners-Lee  graduated from Oxford and took up a fellowship in 1984 at CERN the European Particle Physics Laboratory. He proposed a global hypertext project, while there, which would allow people to work togethe

]]> DianeR 2009-06-09T14:54:00Z June 8, 1955 Tim Berners-Lee, the English computer scientist who invented the World Wide Web was born. Berners-Lee graduated from Oxford and took up a fellowship in 1984 at CERN the European Particle Physics Laboratory. He proposed a global hypertext project, while there, which would allow people to work together by sharing knowledge in a web of hypertext documents. The World Wide Web site was made available in August 1991 to the Internet at large. He is currently the Director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) a Web standards organization, whose goal is “to lead the Web to its full potential, ensuring its stability through rapid evolution and revolutionary transformations of its usage”.

June 9, 1913 British scientist Patrick Steptoe was born. Steptoe, with Robert Edwards, perfected in-vitro fertilization of the human egg. Steptoe volunteered as a naval surgeon during WWII and was captured by the Italians when his ship sank. Following the war, he set up a private obstetrics and gynecology practice and pioneered a new fiber-optic device called a laparoscope. He teamed up with Edwards in 1966 to help women with blocked Fallopian tubes, a major cause of infertility, and developed a way to fertilize human eggs in the lab.

June 10, 1943 Laslo Biro received a patent for the ball point pen. Biro invented the pen with quick drying ink in 1938 while he was a journalist in Budapest, Hungary. He escaped the Nazis in 1940 and travelled to Argentina. While there, Henry Martin, an Englishman on a mission for the British government, saw the invention and recognized its value for air crews. Martin acquired the rights and began a small scale production for the Royal Air Force and Biro began commercial production under his patent in 1945 by the Eterpen Company in Buenos Aires. An interesting history of an invention used by millions of people everyday and taken for granted.

June 11, 1910 the famous French oceanographer and marine biologist Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born. Originally, Cousteau was interested in flight school after graduating from college and entering the French Navy. Just before he obtained his wings however, he was in a near-fatal car accident and broke both his arms. To recover his strength, he swam in the Mediterranean Ocean and the path to his well-known career began. Just a few facts about Cousteau that you may not know, he co-invented the aqualung which made SCUBA diving possible. He founded the French Navy’s Undersea Research Group, and he inventively modified a WWII wooden hull minesweeper into his research vessel, Calypso. There are many quotes by Cousteau but one I like in particular is “From birth man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free”.

Book

The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus: Exploring and Conserving Our Natural World
9781596914179

 

]]> Visiting our national parks http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20572&blogid=1766 Since the time of Teddy Roosevelt, our country has been blessed with natural areas being set aside as “national parks” for all the citizens to enjoy. One park, in particular, I have enjoyed visiting since childhood, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I’ve hiked with family and strangers on many of the trails obs

]]> Joanna L 2009-06-09T14:54:00Z Since the time of Teddy Roosevelt, our country has been blessed with natural areas being set aside as “national parks” for all the citizens to enjoy. One park, in particular, I have enjoyed visiting since childhood, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I’ve hiked with family and strangers on many of the trails observing the abundance of wildflowers and wildlife as well as hearing about the sacrifice many families in the area gave to create this wonderful area, the most visited national park. Strangers in high places: the story of the Great Smoky Mountains by Michael Frome tells the story of the creation of the park, its varied terrain, and the people who worked so hard to make privately owned land into a national park. Cades Cove: window to a secret world by Bill Lea is a pictorial look at the cove in the park that people hike, bike and look for deer. It’s a beautiful and serene area. Day and overnight hikes, Great Smoky Mountains National Park lists the hikes and backpacking areas of the park.

The library loans many books and videos about special places in our country, stop at the library or one of the branches and check out our collection before you take that summer vacation.

Book

Day and overnight hikes, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
9780897326629

 
]]> Yes, We Might Have No Bananas! http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20490&blogid=1766 I don't think there has been a time when I've seen any toddler without a banana at snacktime or breakfast.  An easily portable, very nutritious snack, the banana is one fruit many people cannot live without.  Yet, at some point, they may have to. Bananas are unlike other fruits in that they have no seeds.  They are

]]> JenniferC 2009-06-08T14:54:00Z I don't think there has been a time when I've seen any toddler without a banana at snacktime or breakfast.  An easily portable, very nutritious snack, the banana is one fruit many people cannot live without.  Yet, at some point, they may have to.

Bananas are unlike other fruits in that they have no seeds.  They are clones of each other.  (Actually, there are some varieties of bananas in Africa, India, and Asia that have seeds, but our good old Cavendish banana with its sugary goodness is barren.)  So, what that means is that when disease hits, it strikes them all.  The banana as we know it (and we haven't known it for very long--a little over one hundred years in North America or Europe) will soon be no more.  That is, unless the researchers fervently trying to hybridize a new variety of banana that is disease resistant AND tasty can be found.  Biotechnologists are trying their hardest to keep your cereal from losing its best friend.  You don't mind some fish DNA in your morning snack, do you?

In reading Dan Koeppel's book Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World, I was introduced to much more than just banana trivia, although there was plenty of that, too.  (Quiz:  who actually coined the term banana republic?)  In fact, if Shakepeare had bananas during his time, he might have truly written a tragedy about them!  Wars, suicides, corruption, manipulation of a species--you name it, the world of the banana has it all.

So, the next time you peel that little yellow beauty, savor its goodness.  Consider the people that have been killed in the name of it and the scientists working hard to create new fruits.  Then picture the colorful gal with the fruit on her head singing I'm a chiquita banana and I've come to say, Bananas have to ripen in a certain way, When they are fleck'd with brown and have a golden hue...

Book

Banana:  The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
9781594630385

 

]]> The Restless Dreams of Youth http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20474&blogid=1766 “The suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth,” sang Geddy Lee, lead singer of my favorite band Rush when I was a teenager growing up in a Chicago suburb.  This is not the case in Shaun Tan’s new book of mini-surreal masterpieces,  Tales From Outer Suburbia .  In these suburbs, there is a water

]]> Steve S 2009-06-06T14:54:00Z “The suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth,” sang Geddy Lee, lead singer of my favorite band Rush when I was a teenager growing up in a Chicago suburb.  This is not the case in Shaun Tan’s new book of mini-surreal masterpieces, Tales From Outer Suburbia.  In these suburbs, there is a water buffalo that answers questions in an empty lot, a dugong (manatee type creature) that appears on someone’s lawn, ICBMs in everyone’s backyard, and a man wandering around in a diving suit. 

I checked this book out originally for my eleven year old son, Vance.  He rejected it without even reading a word.

I decided to read it because Shaun Tan is making waves in the children’s publishing world with interesting books that have phenomenal illustrations like The Arrival which appeared on numerous “best of” lists.  I found the stories from Tales From Outer Suburbia to be a little too bizarre at first, but my compulsion to finish books that I’ve started carried me through until I slowly became enchanted.  The stories feature physical manifestations of the hopes and fears of the people who live in these suburbs and they wove their way into my psyche and released strong feelings of wonder, healing, and letting go. The strange story lines somehow open you up and leave you thinking about them long after you have read them.  

I especially identified with a story about two brothers who have a map of their suburb and decide to walk to where the map ends to see what is there.  It reminded me of a 10 mile hike my brother and I took to complete the hiking merit badge.  We weren’t going to get “out in nature” anytime soon, so we just decided to walk around our Chicago suburb (which, oddly enough, included a stop at the public library to pick up some 8mm films).  The experience did have a surreal feeling and it completely changed the way I felt about where I lived.  Walking gives you such an intimate connection with your surroundings and it empowered me, as I went to places I had only gone with my parents up to that point. 

I was so struck by the book that I gave Vance another try.  However, this time I asked if I could read him the extremely short stories before he went to bed.  He agreed and loved the stories and I got to have the nice experience of reading aloud to him that I hadn’t had in several years and to talk a little bit about what it is like to have an older brother who is always right.

Book

Tales From Outer Suburbia
9780545055871

 

 

]]> Meet Rex and his evolutionary neighbors! http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20466&blogid=1766 What a fun book! It’s great for reading out loud! It’s great for learning new things about frogs and dinosaurs! It’s full of great sounds and  onomatopoeias  like “ bloop, bloop, bloop ”! The  School Library Journal Review  says that Kurt Cyrus’  Tadpole Rex  is an “exciting blend of science and literature that childr

]]> JudiR 2009-06-05T14:54:00Z What a fun book! It’s great for reading out loud! It’s great for learning new things about frogs and dinosaurs! It’s full of great sounds and onomatopoeias like “bloop, bloop, bloop”! The School Library Journal Review says that Kurt Cyrus’ Tadpole Rex is an “exciting blend of science and literature that children will appreciate”. The pictures are very descriptive and fun to share. In this book Tadpole Rex grows, metamorphosis, hides and survives in the mud.

Read this and see why Kurt Cyrus says a tadpole has an inner tyrannosaur Rex. You will find so much to learn and discuss!

Tadpole Rex
9780152059903

book

 

]]> This Week in Science History June 3 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20278&blogid=1766 June 2, 1930  astronaut   Pete Conrad  was born. Conrad, who joined NASA after serving as a U.S. Navy pilot, was the third man to walk on the moon during the Apollo 12 mission. He was also a crew member for  Gemini 5, Gemini 11 , and Skylab 2 missions as well as the Feb. 1996 record-breaking flight around the worl

]]> DianeR 2009-06-03T14:54:00Z June 2, 1930 astronaut Pete Conrad was born. Conrad, who joined NASA after serving as a U.S. Navy pilot, was the third man to walk on the moon during the Apollo 12 mission. He was also a crew member for Gemini 5, Gemini 11, and Skylab 2 missions as well as the Feb. 1996 record-breaking flight around the world in a Lear jet. Sadly, Conrad died at the age of 69 of injuries from a motorcycle crash. He had a great passion for speed and flying.

June 2, 1889 for the first time, electricity was made available by a hydroelectric power plant to consumers a significant distance away. The Wilamette Falls Electric Power Co. power plant was linked to Portland, Oregon by a 13 mile power line. Although this was not the first hydroelectric power plant, what made this plant unique was its use of alternating current electricity. This made it possible for long-distance transmission of electricity which was a problem with direct current electricity.

June 2, 1928 Kraft Velveeta Cheese was invented. What would we do without this cheesy creation from Kraft? My nacho dip just wouldn’t be the same!

June 3, 1864 Ransom Eli Olds, American inventor and automobile manufacturer was born. Olds designed the three-horsepower, curved-dash Oldsmobile the first commercially successful automobile which was produced by a progressive assembly system. Olds grew up in Lansing, Michigan where he worked in his father’s machine and repair shop, and experimented with small steam engines. He drove Lansing’s first automobile, an experimental steam vehicle, a distance of one block. Olds eventually produced a vehicle that could do 18 miles an hour on level ground and seated four people.  

Book

Rocket Man: Astronaut Pete Conrad's Incredible Ride to the Moon and Beyond
0451215095

 

 

]]> Will Edmondson’s Stones http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20168&blogid=1766 One night in the early 1930’s, Will Edmondson heard God talking to him.  “‘Will, cut that stone, and it better be limstone, too.’ So I found some pieces of limestone—old curbs, sills, steps—things no one wanted. And I began to cut on the stone with an old railroad spike and a chisel and file. I’se just doing the Lord’

]]> Susan 2009-05-29T14:54:00Z One night in the early 1930’s, Will Edmondson heard God talking to him.  “‘Will, cut that stone, and it better be limstone, too.’ So I found some pieces of limestone—old curbs, sills, steps—things no one wanted. And I began to cut on the stone with an old railroad spike and a chisel and file. I’se just doing the Lord’s work. It ain’t got much style.”

Working in his yard in Nashville, Tennessee, William Edmondson worked at carving tombstones, then expanded to sculpting stylized animals and people. Classified as “primitive,” the sculptures are now housed in museums and private collections.

Will’s story is told through a series of 23 poems, four of which are in his own words. The real joy of the book, though, is in the photos (some by Edward Weston and Louise Dahl-Wolfe) of Edmondson and his work. The black and white photos show the power and simplicity of the artist and his art.

Book

I Heard God Talking to Me: William Edmondson and His Stone Carvings
9780374335281
]]> Classic Tales for Children http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20072&blogid=1766 While volunteering at the  Party in the Park  this afternoon, I began to reminisce about the children’s books that I was read to as a toddler. There were several books that stood out and I wondered if the library continued to collect them. Not surprised, many of these timeless classics are still in print and collected

]]> RyanG 2009-05-27T14:54:00Z While volunteering at the Party in the Park this afternoon, I began to reminisce about the children’s books that I was read to as a toddler. There were several books that stood out and I wondered if the library continued to collect them. Not surprised, many of these timeless classics are still in print and collected by libraries everywhere. I’ve moved on to philosophical treatises and exceedingly more daunting books embedded with legalese but I suspect that these books are still as educational and entertaining today as they were in the early nineteen seventies. Remember to read to young children as they will come to recall with great pleasure the books that helped them to engage in the broader world, beyond the walls of home or the classroom. Some of my favorite books as a youngster were:

Book

Richard Scarry's Favorite Storybook Ever
0375825495
]]> This Week in Science History May 27 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20054&blogid=1766 May 25, 1889 Russian-born American pioneer  aircraft  designer  Igor Sikorsky  was born. Sikorsky designed, built, and flew the first successful multiengine airplane in 1913. He also built military aircraft for France and Russia before moving to the U. S. in 1919 and becoming a citizen in 1928. He is best known for hi

]]> DianeR 2009-05-27T14:54:00Z May 25, 1889 Russian-born American pioneer aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky was born. Sikorsky designed, built, and flew the first successful multiengine airplane in 1913. He also built military aircraft for France and Russia before moving to the U. S. in 1919 and becoming a citizen in 1928. He is best known for his development of the first successful helicopter in the Western Hemisphere in the late 1930s.

May 26, 1951 astronaut Sally Ride was born. Ride was the first American woman to orbit the earth as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in June 1983. She served as a mission specialist on a second mission in October 1985 as well. After the January 1986 Challenger accident, she joined the Presidential Commission investigating the accident. Dr. Ride, who obtained her Ph.D. in physics in 1978, has always been an advocate for improved science education and has written a number of science books for children. You can check them out in our Library Catalog! 

May 28, 1897 Jell-o gelatin was introduced in the U.S. Jell-o was created by Pearl B. Wait, a carpenter and cough medicine manufacturer. It was his wife, May Davis Wait, who named the jiggly wiggly dessert “Jell-o”. Although a popular well-known food product now, sales were poor for Wait so he sold the business to his neighbor Orator F. Woodward for $450. Woodward launched an advertising campaign in 1902, in the Ladies Home Journal and his sales eventually reached $250,000

May 28, 1892 the Sierra Club was organized in San Francisco, California. Naturalist and conservationist, John Muir, was elected president and the Sierra Club began with 182 charter members. The Club is America’s oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization and works to protect our communities and the planet.

Book     

Sally Ride:A Space Biography
0894909754

]]> Eleanor, Quiet No More http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=20018&blogid=1766 "Do something every day that scares you."  Those words are on the endpapers of this striking new biography of Eleanor Roosevelt.  For young readers, this beautifully-illustrated book combines Roosevelt's own words with biographical details to show a lonely child who grows into a strong, wise woman.  Don't disregard th

]]> Susan 2009-05-26T14:54:00Z "Do something every day that scares you."  Those words are on the endpapers of this striking new biography of Eleanor Roosevelt.  For young readers, this beautifully-illustrated book combines Roosevelt's own words with biographical details to show a lonely child who grows into a strong, wise woman.  Don't disregard this book because it's shelved in the Children's Room!  It's a lovely piece of writing and artwork.  This thoughtful book ends with Roosevelt's words:  "I have never felt that anything really mattered but knowing that you stood for the things in which you believed and had done the very best you could."

 

Book

Eleanor, Quiet No More: The Life of Eleanor Roosevelt
9780786851416
]]> (Not So) Beautiful Losers http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19976&blogid=1766 Denis Johnson ’s latest fiction title  Nobody Move  stands in stark contrast to his previous effort, the epic and National Book Award winning,  Tree of Smoke . A lean, darkly funny, noir crime story set in contemporary Northern California; Nobody Move is fast paced, violent and full of edgy dialogue from a cast of cr

]]> mykyl 2009-05-22T14:54:00Z Denis Johnson’s latest fiction title Nobody Move stands in stark contrast to his previous effort, the epic and National Book Award winning, Tree of Smoke. A lean, darkly funny, noir crime story set in contemporary Northern California; Nobody Move is fast paced, violent and full of edgy dialogue from a cast of crooks, junkies and perpetual losers. Those familiar with the sprawling and complex Vietnam War story that was Tree of Smoke will quickly see this as a wild departure from that book, yet each title stands on their own as verification of Johnson’s talent and range as a writer.

Book

Nobody Move
9780374222901

 

]]> Islands in the Stream http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19902&blogid=1766 Many of our patrons are surprised to find out that KPL has a very nice selection of printed music. A brief examination of the 780s on the second floor will demonstrate the wide variety of vocal and instrumental music in our inventory. One series I think is very well done is known as the Decade Series, which, as the na

]]> David D. 2009-05-20T14:54:00Z Many of our patrons are surprised to find out that KPL has a very nice selection of printed music. A brief examination of the 780s on the second floor will demonstrate the wide variety of vocal and instrumental music in our inventory. One series I think is very well done is known as the Decade Series, which, as the name implies, includes popular songs from the 1920s, 1930s, etc. These will work for voice, keyboard or piano, guitar, as well as for a variety of other instruments. A bonus is that they are all indexed in the library’s catalog record, making it much easier to find a particular song. Since KPL owns 15 of the volumes in this series, I have taken them home and played them on my keyboard and used them as trial copies to see whether I wanted to purchase them for myself at a store. Anyone needing songs for an anniversary, a high school reunion, a special birthday, or just for entertainment will find plenty of ideas here at KPL.

Book

More songs of the seventies : piano, vocal, guitar
0793530962
]]> This Week in Science History May 20 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19842&blogid=1766  May 18, 1980  Mount St. Helens  erupted in Washington State. Although the  volcano  had been quiet for a period of time, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey report that Mount St. Helens is the most active volcano in the Cascade Mountain Range. The cataclysmic eruption began with a 5.1 magnitude e arthquake  at

]]> DianeR 2009-05-20T14:54:00Z  May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State. Although the volcano had been quiet for a period of time, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey report that Mount St. Helens is the most active volcano in the Cascade Mountain Range. The cataclysmic eruption began with a 5.1 magnitude earthquake at 8:32 a.m. on the 18th, and within 15-20 seconds the largest landslide on earth in recorded history took place as the volcano’s summit and bulge slid away from its top. The eruption blasted ash and gas more than 15 miles up into the atmosphere. 520 million tons of ash were blown eastward across the U. S. by the prevailing winds and the Spokane area experienced complete darkness.

May 19, 1885 Jan Matzeliger began the first mass production of shoes in the U. S. in Lynn, MA. A shoemaker by trade, Matzeliger emigrated from Dutch Guiana (now Suriname) when he was 18 where his father was a white engineer and his mother a black slave. He found a job in a shoe factory in Philadelphia and worked hard to revolutionize the shoe making process. Shoes were tediously hand-made before this, and Matzeliger developed a shoe lasting machine which would attach the sole to the shoe in 1 minute! He had obtained a patent for this machine in 1883.  Sadly, Matzeliger died in 1889 at the young age of 37 from tuberculosis but his invention made shoes available for the first time to ordinary people at a reasonable price and provided more jobs for workers.

May 20, 1990 the Hubble Space Telescope sent its first photograph from space. It was an image of a double star 1,260 light years away. The Hubble was named after American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble and is a large space-based observatory which has revolutionized the area of astronomy and has provided unprecedented clear deep views of the universe for scientists. The Space Telescope is about the size of a large tractor-trailer truck. It has circled the Earth more than 97,000 times and provided more than 4,000 astronomers access to the stars not possible from here on Earth. Coincidentally, the final mission to the Hubble to make much needed repairs and upgrades is currently in the home stretch. The crew will return to Earth Friday May 22 from its successful mission and the Hubble is expected to remain another 5 or more years in space. Check out the NASA website for updates on the mission.  

Book

The Universe in a Mirror:The Saga of the Hubble Telescope and the Visionaries Who Built It
9780691132976
]]> Getting Away From It All http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19836&blogid=1766 Runner is a Thomas Perry book featuring a character, Jane Whitefield, who has been out of print for about 10 years. Well, she's back! This book is in the mystery/detective/pulp fiction genre, with a twist. Jane is more a facilitiator, a protector of those who have a need to disappear and change their identity for ve

]]> Ernie 2009-05-20T14:54:00Z Runner is a Thomas Perry book featuring a character, Jane Whitefield, who has been out of print for about 10 years. Well, she's back! This book is in the mystery/detective/pulp fiction genre, with a twist. Jane is more a facilitiator, a protector of those who have a need to disappear and change their identity for very good reasons. You'll learn everything you've always wanted to know about setting up an alternate identity: what you'll need in the way of falsified documents, credit history, and plastic; also how to handle yourself in terms of personal security and weapons acquisition. Jane takes care of emerging situations and ensures the "Runner" makes a clean getaway. Not for the faint of heart. Jane has a tendency for overkill when it comes to eliminating the pursuit, killing off 8 of the bad guys in the last 6 chapters alone. Admittedly, all that is done to a high standard of inventiveness and sophistication, but be aware at its core Runner is a pretty violent book.

Book

Runner

9780151015283

 

]]> Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19792&blogid=1766 I've heard it said cookbooks are not about recipes. Often, we are more interested in sharing an interest in people and the various cultural aspects food represents in our lives. Reading Morimoto is the next best thing to going out for sushi. This book has some stunning photography. As a woodworker I also admire the

]]> Ernie 2009-05-19T14:54:00Z I've heard it said cookbooks are not about recipes. Often, we are more interested in sharing an interest in people and the various cultural aspects food represents in our lives. Reading Morimoto is the next best thing to going out for sushi. This book has some stunning photography. As a woodworker I also admire the simple pine trays and bento boxes featured in the illustrations. If you like the Japanese influence at all, you'll love this book.

Book

Morimoto: the new art of Japanese cooking
9780756631239
]]> El Sol http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19744&blogid=1766 Chicago based musician Jim Gill closes each and every family play session with his version of the traditional Russian folk song “May There Always Be Sunshine”. Most everyone loves the sun. Molly Bang  and Penny Chisholm’s Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life is a feel good celebration of sunshi

]]> BillC 2009-05-15T14:54:00Z Chicago based musician Jim Gill closes each and every family play session with his version of the traditional Russian folk song “May There Always Be Sunshine”. Most everyone loves the sun. Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm’s Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life is a feel good celebration of sunshine with the science to back it up.

This companion to Bang’s My Light illuminates the way the sun provides the energy that plants need to create food for themselves and – directly or indirectly - for all the food that animals consume. The first person text in the voice of the sun itself explains the wonder of photosynthesis and respiration in kid friendly language to accompany Molly Bang’s radiant illustrations. Bang and Chisholm, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor of Ecology, describe plants’ and animals’ symbiotic exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide and how the food chain links back to photosynthesis and the sun. Plants provide the oxygen we breathe and the food we eat. Animals give back carbon dioxide in trade along with seed distribution. These are fun and fascinating cycle of life concepts to share with young people of nearly any age.

Four pages of notes at the end of the book expand on the brief text in the body of the book for those who want to dig deeper and for parents like me who might struggle to answer questions that come up after sharing this book with a child. I love the way Living Sunlight celebrates sunshine while at the same time providing real science content about the connection between sunlight and life on earth.

Book

Living Sunlight
0545044227
]]> Wallander http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19716&blogid=1766 Masterpiece Theatre  is now showing Wallander , a BBC detective series based on novels by Swedish writer  Henning Mankell . A skillful  Kenneth Branagh  brings depth and subtlety to Kurt Wallander, creating a complex and sympathetic character that offers deep empathy for crime victims as he despairs an increasing

]]> LisaW 2009-05-15T14:54:00Z Masterpiece Theatre is now showing Wallander, a BBC detective series based on novels by Swedish writer Henning Mankell.

A skillful Kenneth Branagh brings depth and subtlety to Kurt Wallander, creating a complex and sympathetic character that offers deep empathy for crime victims as he despairs an increasingly violent world. (Branagh just won a best actor award from the Broadcasting Press Guild Television and Radio Awards.) The BBC is said to hope this character-driven series will become a signature piece like Inspector Morse or Prime Suspect.

KPL has Henning Mankell’s novels in its collection and I’ve added the Wallander series to my list of books to read. If you’ve read them, I’d love to hear what you think.

Firewall

1400031532
]]> Put on Your Cricket Whites http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19682&blogid=1766 Netherland  by Joseph O’Neill echoes the plotline of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s modernist tragedy  The Great Gatsby  but instead of the roaring twenties, Netherland is set mostly in post-9-11 New York City and whereas Fitzgerald’s fated protagonist was a rich and enigmatic entrepreneur of shady repute bent on both lost lo

]]> RyanG 2009-05-14T14:54:00Z Netherland by Joseph O’Neill echoes the plotline of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s modernist tragedy The Great Gatsby but instead of the roaring twenties, Netherland is set mostly in post-9-11 New York City and whereas Fitzgerald’s fated protagonist was a rich and enigmatic entrepreneur of shady repute bent on both lost love and the American Dream, finding only a doomed fate instead, O’Neill’s Jay Gatsby is a Trinidadian obsessed with the game of cricket who meets our story’s narrator, Dutch banker Hans. Hans is holed up in the famous Chelsea Hotel after his British wife and young son return to England after the September 11th attacks. Sullen from the failure of his marriage and feeling estranged from his adopted home of New York City, Hans meets the seductive and charming Chuck Ramkissoon, a man who exudes the sort of idealism and entrepreneurial zeal that only an immigrant can bring to the Big Apple. Where does it all go from there? You’ll just have to find out.

One of the New York Time’s Best Books of 2008, Netherland doesn’t disappoint. I was instantly hooked by the fluid, picturesque prose and O’Neill’s ability to interest me in an uninspiring subject like the game of cricket (which really only serves to connect the life trajectories and events of the characters). This is a novel that touches upon those familiar, universal subjects that meaningful literature seeks to address in one way or another—politics, identity, family. Characterized as a 9-11 novel like so many before and so many to follow, Netherland never tries to be something larger, more self conscious than it is—a great read. I was pleased to learn that President Obama was reading this novel in his spare time.

Book

Netherland 
9780307377043
]]> “We gather together” ...the real Mayflower http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19650&blogid=1766 Nathaniel Philbrick's   Mayflower: a story of courage, community, and war brings to life the many interesting and often temperamental personalities who were an essential part of America's beginning. Miles Standish, the testy military officer of the Pilgrims and the wily Wampanoag leader Massasoit forged a sometime

]]> CarolF 2009-05-14T14:54:00Z Nathaniel Philbrick's Mayflower: a story of courage, community, and war brings to life the many interesting and often temperamental personalities who were an essential part of America's beginning. Miles Standish, the testy military officer of the Pilgrims and the wily Wampanoag leader Massasoit forged a sometimes tenuous working relationship that would contribute to the survival of both of their peoples through the difficult times ahead. Philbrick vividly tells of the combination of optimism and despair the Pilgrims felt after two deadly months at sea as they first gazed upon the starkly beautiful New England coast. His comprehensive and thoughtful portrayal of the sophistication of the Native American cultures first encountered by the Pilgrims provides the reader with an understanding of our history that has too often been overlooked in our history books. Mayflower was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in history.

book

Mayflower: a story of courage, community, and war
0670037605
]]> This Week in Science History May 13 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19620&blogid=1766 Polar bears were a topic of discussion May 11 on NPR's Morning Edition program. U.S. biologists are studying  polar bears  as an environmental barometer concerning the effects of  global warming . The threatened species depends on sea ice for survival, and biologists are studying polar bears living in the Chukchi Sea

]]> DianeR 2009-05-13T14:54:00Z Polar bears were a topic of discussion May 11 on NPR's Morning Edition program. U.S. biologists are studying polar bears as an environmental barometer concerning the effects of global warming. The threatened species depends on sea ice for survival, and biologists are studying polar bears living in the Chukchi Sea a remote part of the ocean between Alaska and Russia. They want to learn as much as they can about the bear population before their habitat disappears. Although many of the bears appear healthy at this time, their habitat is melting at an alarming rate and biologists are trying to figure out how to help the bears deal with the impending climate crisis.    

May 13, 1729 American glassmaker William Henry Steigel was born. Stiegel emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania in 1750 and established iron forges. He saw a need created by the patriotic boycott of British imports. Having already made window glass and bottles, he built a glassworks which was later called American Flint Glassworks and imported Venetian, German, and English glassmakers to produce glass tableware. Although Stiegel’s pieces were not signed, his use of the high-quality colors of blue, green, and purple became his signature. He also produced crystal-clear glassware. 

May 16, 1988 a report was released by U.S. Surgeon-General C. Everett Koop declaring nicotine to be as addictive as heroine or cocaine.  In the tobacco plant, nicotine serves as the plant’s natural defense against insects, and is more poisonous than strychnine or arsenic in its pure form. This natural insecticide’s chemical structure is so amazingly similar to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine that it fits many chemical “locks” in our brains permitting it direct and indirect control over the flow of more that 200 neurochemicals. Nicotine also fits the “locks” in our adrenal system which impact mood and a number of fight or flight neurochemicals. It only takes about eight seconds after the first puff of a cigarette for the nicotine to reach the brain.

Book  

Face to Face With Polar Bears
1426301391

 

 

]]> How Far Would YOU Run? http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19574&blogid=1766  The on-going series “On the Run” by  Gordon Korman  is one of many well-kept secrets in children’s literature.  Currently five books, with one more on the horizon, the series’ titles are Chasing the Falconers ; The Fugitive Factor ; Now You See Them, Now You Don’t ; The   Stowaway Solution ; and Public Enemies .

]]> AnnF 2009-05-12T14:54:00Z  The on-going series “On the Run” by Gordon Korman is one of many well-kept secrets in children’s literature.  Currently five books, with one more on the horizon, the series’ titles are Chasing the Falconers; The Fugitive Factor; Now You See Them, Now You Don’t; The Stowaway Solution; and Public Enemies.

Aiden and Meg Falconer, 15 and 11 years old, are caught in a false arrest situation involving their parents, who are facing life in prison and who are PhD criminologists hired by the CIA to help identify international terrorist sleeper cells, and who get falsely accused of treason.  As minors, Aiden and Meg are sent to a juvenile detention center to await their fate, which is the outcome of their parents’ trial.  A daring escape from the detention center begins the chase…and the running.  Brother and sister flee rural Nebraska and end up running across the country, from state to state, while being chased by the FBI and a horrible criminal named Hairless Joe.

The kids’ adventures are believable, fast-paced, and not entirely legal.  But, how far would YOU run to save your Mom and Dad?

Great reads for ages 9 and up.  Summer’s coming…I hope you will have lots of time to check out your library and READ!

Book


Chasing the Falconers
0439651360
]]> French Two Ways http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19512&blogid=1766 I love French restaurants and could not resist delving into these new cookbooks. Both feature chefs who rose to prominence early in their careers. Joel Robuchon has been called the “Chef of the Century.” His restaurants span the globe and he holds more Michelin stars than any other chef. Robuchon is credited with h

]]> LisaW 2009-05-08T14:54:00Z I love French restaurants and could not resist delving into these new cookbooks. Both feature chefs who rose to prominence early in their careers.

Joel Robuchon has been called the “Chef of the Century.” His restaurants span the globe and he holds more Michelin stars than any other chef. Robuchon is credited with helping French cuisine find itself after a period of nouvelle dalliances known for extravagance as well as excessive minimalism. Robuchon returned focus to France’s heritage, celebrating authenticity, respecting ingredients and honoring regional specialities.

The Complete Robuchon features some 800 recipes designed for the home cook – more like a Joy of Cooking for French Food. The straightforward and unpretentious recipes include not only basic sauces and stocks, soups, meats, fish and fowl, but desserts, jams and preserves. If you’re looking to make famous dishes such as cassoulet or beef bourguignon, you’ll find them here, along with the lesser known pan fried lamb kidneys or roasted strawberries with green peppercorns, pepper cookies, and herbed ice cream (yes, it’s a dessert).

While Robuchon could be called an Impressionist, Jean Francois Piege is more like a mid-career Picasso. In 2004 at the age of 34, Piege took the helm at Les Ambassadeurs in the luxury hotel Crillion. His approach is one of interpreting and reassembling. Piege once said that if he were not a chef, he would be a designer. Piege’s interpretation of an everyday dish — tomato with mozzarella and basil — arrives in the shape of a tomato, with mozzarella filling two half-spheres of slow cooked tomato and tomato sorbet, all drizzled with basil oil. Crillon at Home contains 41 fashion forward recipes from Les Ambassadeurs as well as 41 recipes for comfort food, dishes that Piege says he cooks at home (a mildly spice duck breast in fig leaves, for instance). The gorgeous color photography is necessary because, although the recipes do contain rich detail for the often intricate compositions, you need a photo to know how it should look.

If The Complete Robuchon reacquaints you with French cuisine, then Crillon at Home might cause you to play around in the kitchen. Bon appétit!

book

The Complete Robuchon
9780307267191
]]> Down the Rabbit Hole http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19456&blogid=1766 The Plimpton Prize winning author  Jesse Ball’s  spiraling new novel  The Way Through Doors  is a dizzying piece of literature, yet the authors obvious talent with language and contagious sense of the absurd propel the novel out of the mere experimental and, if you are willing to forgo a linear plot and reality base

]]> mykyl 2009-05-07T14:54:00Z The Plimpton Prize winning author Jesse Ball’s spiraling new novel The Way Through Doors is a dizzying piece of literature, yet the authors obvious talent with language and contagious sense of the absurd propel the novel out of the mere experimental and, if you are willing to forgo a linear plot and reality based fiction, into a truly wonderful reading experience. The novel follows municipal inspector and pamphleteer Selah Morse as he searches for a beautiful amnesiac young woman’s history after witnessing her being run down by a taxi. The book joyfully wanders in and out of interconnecting sections, some allegorical and some just strange, the stories within stories dissolving into one another often before the reader even realizes. This is a clever trick of a novel that I believe overcomes its intentionally confusing style with the strength of the writers skill.

Book

The Way Through Doors
9780307387462
]]> This Week in Science History May 6 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19450&blogid=1766 Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. I hope they pique your interest! May 5, 1847 the  American Medical Association  was organized. Founded by Nathan Smith Davi

]]> DianeR 2009-05-06T14:54:00Z Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. I hope they pique your interest!

May 5, 1847 the American Medical Association was organized. Founded by Nathan Smith Davis, the AMA was the first permanent national U. S. medical society to be organized. Davis established the AMA to “elevate the standard of medical education in the United States”. Its mission is “to promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health”.

May 6, 1856 explorer Robert Peary was born. Peary’s claim to fame is his famous polar expedition which reached the North Pole April 6, 1909.  There is controversy, however, over this claim. Frederick Cook claimed he reached the North Pole in 1908.  Most geographers accept Peary’s claim as the first to arrive, though. Peary is also credited with discovering the largest meteorite during a northern Greenland expedition in 1891.

May 6, 1856 the Austrian father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud was born. Freud revolutionized the field of psychotherapy with his belief that dreams and “mistakes” may have meaning, and his emphasis concerning the role of unconscious and nonrational functioning. Interestingly, Freud took three years longer than normal to complete medical school because he was so engrossed in neurological research that he neglected the prescribed courses. He was an intensely driven scientist/doctor devoted to studying and understanding the area of emotional disorders.

May 6, 1937 while landing at the naval air station in Lakehurst, New Jersey, the dirigible The Hindenburg burst into a terrifying ball of flames. It had departed Frankfurt, Germany 2 ½ days prior and had just crossed the Atlantic Ocean. The giant majestic zepplin filled with hydrogen quickly turned in to an inferno in only 34 seconds. Thirty-five people tragically lost their lives as Herb Morrison a reporter from WLS Radio in Chicago who happened to be covering the event cried out the now famous words, “Oh the Humanity!”.    

Book

Freud the Man: An Intellectual Biography
1590510372

 

]]> How to Be Alone http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19212&blogid=1766 How to Be Alone  is a collection of essays composed by the author of the award-winning novel  The Corrections . These pieces, mostly written and published before  Jonathan Franzen  became a house hold name in 2001 are a varied mixture of concerns, subjects and nagging ruminations that are sutured together by a common

]]> RyanG 2009-04-29T14:54:00Z How to Be Alone is a collection of essays composed by the author of the award-winning novel The Corrections. These pieces, mostly written and published before Jonathan Franzen became a house hold name in 2001 are a varied mixture of concerns, subjects and nagging ruminations that are sutured together by a common thread punctuated by the title’s allusion to the problem of living in our hard-wired, fast-paced, technology-saturated, consumer society. In How to Be Alone’s most talked about essay titled Why Bother?, Franzen asks of us, as though he knows the answer but wants desperately the medium to lament the decline in reading, curiosity, critical thinking and other vital social values and skills, does the social novel have an affective relevance within a culture where it must compete for attention and value with the inane banalities of reality television celebrities, babbling cable news pundits, tabloid sensationalism and a nation of information consumers whose capacity to read beyond headlines or pay close attention for more than a sound byte continues to decline by the power and influence of popular culture, the mass media, television and the internet?

Franzen is an intelligent and engaging novelist who grapples with questions concerning the artist’s role in today’s consumer society and the social meaning and impact of the rapidly eroding borders between private and public life. One of the last essays reflects upon Oprah having selected The Corrections for her book club and the mini controversy that followed. Highly recommended.

Book

How to be alone
0374173273
]]> This Week in Science History Apr. 29 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19144&blogid=1766 Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. I hope they pique your interest! Apr. 27, 1791 American inventor and artist  Samuel F. B. Morse  was born. Morse is famous

]]> DianeR 2009-04-29T14:54:00Z Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. I hope they pique your interest!

Apr. 27, 1791 American inventor and artist Samuel F. B. Morse was born. Morse is famous for developing the world’s first practical telegraph system. Although the New York Herald eulogized Morse as “perhaps the most illustrious American of his age”, he felt his life was a failure. He was an artist, inventor, and art teacher who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York City and Congress. After he developed the Morse Code and perfected the electric telegraph, he battled with domestic and foreign competitors and lawsuits.

Apr. 28, 1947 anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl led a crew of six on a voyage bound for Polynesia on a balsa-wood raft named the Kon Tiki. Heyerdahl believed that Polynesians could have originated in South American and he wanted to utilize the technology and materials of pre-Columbian times to demonstrate that the voyage across the Pacific Ocean was possible. The Kon Tiki, an old name for the Inca sun god, Viracocha, reached the Tuamotu Islands 101 days later.

Apr. 30, 1665 the Great Plague hit London. Also know as the Black Death from the telling lumps in the victim’s body and the inevitable death, the Plague was carried by fleas which lived as parasites on the Black Rats which infested the city. While the disease had existed in Britain since its appearance in 1348, this time it struck swiftly and spread at a horrifyingly fast rate. It ravaged London throughout the summer of 1665 with 8,000 people dying each week by September. It is estimated that between 75,000 and 100,000 died.

May 1, 1931 the Empire State Building was dedicated by President Herbert Hoover. Located New York City at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street, the Empire State Building had 102 stories and was the first skyscraper higher than 1,250 feet. The building was completed in an unbelievably fast one year and 45 days. It was the world’s tallest skyscraper until 1954.   

Book

The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time
0060006927

 

]]> Michigan and the Federal Writers' Program http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=19102&blogid=1766 The  American Guide series  of books about the then 48 states (Alaska and Hawaii weren’t states at the time) was produced by the Federal Writers Project under the Works Progress Administration during the 1930’s and 1940’s. The travel guides, from Michigan to  Missouri  and New York to California, cover history, geogra

]]> Joanna L 2009-04-28T14:54:00Z The American Guide series of books about the then 48 states (Alaska and Hawaii weren’t states at the time) was produced by the Federal Writers Project under the Works Progress Administration during the 1930’s and 1940’s. The travel guides, from Michigan to Missouri and New York to California, cover history, geography and culture of each state. The idea for the project was to employ writers such as Saul Bellow, John Cheever and Richard Wright to compose articles about the states. The set of books have historic value and although older, contain information that is current today. A complete set may be found in the Reference collection and some titles are in the circulating collection of the Central Library in the travel area.

The Michigan volume highlights many of the cities including Kalamazoo: “The two main business streets are exceptionally wide. The downtown area, centered at Main and Burdick Streets, is composed mainly of two- and three-story structures. The one ‘skyscraper,’ a 15-story bank building, looks down on peddlers hawking celery and peanuts—a sight peculiar to Kalamazoo.” Oh for some crisp celery and hot peanuts today! This history continues and may elicit a chuckle from readers but is invaluable information that should be appreciated by today’s readers as well as future readers.

Book

Missouri
1883982235

 
]]> The Bellini Card: a novel http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18994&blogid=1766 This is the third in a series by an Edgar winning author, and it does not disappoint. The novel begins in  Istanbul in the 1840’s. Yashim, the eunuch detective from the previous novels, is charged by the Ottoman sultan to travel to Venice to find  a missing portrait by the artist Bellini. However, Yashim devises a pla

]]> NancyS 2009-04-24T14:54:00Z This is the third in a series by an Edgar winning author, and it does not disappoint. The novel begins in  Istanbul in the 1840’s. Yashim, the eunuch detective from the previous novels, is charged by the Ottoman sultan to travel to Venice to find  a missing portrait by the artist Bellini. However, Yashim devises a plan so that  his  friend, the irrepressible Polish ambassador  Pawleski, goes instead. Disguised as a rich American art connoisseur, Pawleski  finds his life in danger as he attempts to untangle the web surrounding the portrait. Wonderfully evocative, Venice in the mid 1800’s  comes to life, along with the richly drawn characters. The first two novels, “The Janissary Tree”  and  “The Snake Stone,” are also well worth reading.

book

The Bellini Card: a novel
9780374110390
]]> Behind the Books http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18986&blogid=1766 You may never have heard of  Barney Rosset  but his mark on 20th century literature is an indelible one in large part because of his courageous stand against the censorship of books and his unwavering championing of the works of some of literature’s most important writers. Rosset is best known for his owning and opera

]]> RyanG 2009-04-24T14:54:00Z You may never have heard of Barney Rosset but his mark on 20th century literature is an indelible one in large part because of his courageous stand against the censorship of books and his unwavering championing of the works of some of literature’s most important writers. Rosset is best known for his owning and operating of Grove Press, an important publisher during the 1950’s and 60’s of some of literature’s greatest avant garde pioneers, including the work of Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot), Jean Genet, Eugene Ionesco, Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter, and Kenzaburo Oe. In 1957 Rosset launched the influential magazine Evergreen Review which brought to the attention of readers those involved with the Beat Movement (Jack Kerouac, Hubert Selby Jr., Allen Ginsberg e.g.) and the emerging counterculture of the 1960’s. Aware of the importance of literature as a galvanizing force to bring about new ideas and creative experimentation by way of the First Amendment, Rosset famously fought several cases of censorship (notably the work of Henry Miller and D.H. Lawrence) during his time as publisher. Rosset was recently recognized for his work as a leader in publishing by the National Book Foundation and appeared as the subject of a recent NPR piece discussing his long career.

Book

Last Exit to Brooklyn
0802131379
]]> Holocaust Remembrance: A Trio of Books http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18944&blogid=1766 Tuesday, April 19 was Holocaust Remembrance Day. The period of World War II has always interested me. I didn’t experience it, but I can read nonfiction works by and about people who did, or I can read novels that introduce me to new situations, people and emotions, all helping me understand, even a little, what it mus

]]> LisaW 2009-04-23T14:54:00Z Tuesday, April 19 was Holocaust Remembrance Day. The period of World War II has always interested me. I didn’t experience it, but I can read nonfiction works by and about people who did, or I can read novels that introduce me to new situations, people and emotions, all helping me understand, even a little, what it must have been like.

In the last year, I read a handful of books set during the Holocaust. I shared them with friends who enjoy good writing; these friends shared the titles with other friends. Now I’d like to offer three of them to you.

Suite Francaise
About the author Irene Nemirovosky, a New York Times reviewer said, “She wrote what may be the first work of fiction about what we now call World War II. She also wrote, for all to read at last, some of the greatest, most humane and incisive fiction that conflict has produced.”

This is a book that almost wasn’t published. Irene Nemirovsky was a Ukrainian Jew who had lived in France since 1919. She was arrested on July 13, 1942 by French policemen enforcing German race laws. Her crime was being a “stateless person of Jewish descent.” She was taken to Auschwitz where she died. Her husband Michael Epstein worked for her release from prison, but was shortly sent to Auschwitz where he died, too. Their daughter Denise was hidden and survived, along with a manuscript that she did not so much as read until the late 1990s.

Published in 2007, Suite Francaise features two novellas along with biographical information, including some correspondence by Michael Epstein as he sought information on his wife's whereabouts. It also includes Nemirovsky's plans for two other novellas which never were written.

What is chilling about this book is that so much of what Nemirovsky wrote must have been from first-hand observation. “Storm in June” recounts the experiences of a few people fleeing Paris as the Germans invade. She captures a full range of human responses — how, really, might you and your neighbors react to such circumstances? Sometimes it's not pretty. “Dolce” tells about the uneasy adjustments taking place in a small village under German control.

Knowing what happened to the author and her husband makes them all the more compelling.

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
The fairy tale of a brother and sister lost in the forest is re-told with Poland as the backdrop. It’s near the end of the War. A Jewish brother and sister, renamed Hansel and Gretel by their parents, are hastily dropped off in a dense forest as their parents are being chased by the Nazis. The children wander around and happen upon the hut of an old woman (“the witch” she is called by the villagers). Magda takes them in, but is she a good witch, or a bad witch? I won’t divulge any more because I hope you’ll read it for yourself. As with all fairy tales, this story contains moments of beauty and horror.

The Book Thief
Australian Markus Zusak has written a highly imaginative story about a little girl growing up in Germany during the war. The book’s title refers to a nickname given to Liesel by her foster father. Though illiterate at the beginning of the story, Liesel is fascinated with books and her father teaches her to read. Liesel finds comfort in her books and gives comfort to the townspeople as she reads to them in a bomb shelter. She also gives comfort to Max, a young Jewish man her foster parents are protecting, with whom she forms a deep friendship. Zusak’s vivid writing shows the best and worst of humans, but this book really is heartwarming. It’s a sweet portrait of a little girl who keeps moving forward as everything around her falls apart.

 Suite Francaise
1400044731
]]> Let's Take a Trip http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18898&blogid=1766 Lately, I seem to discover poetry and other commentaries about literature and/or books and how important each is to us. The April 2009 issue of Bookbird , a magazine published by the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) folks, contains a short poem by  J. Patrick Lewis , a poet from Westerville OH. He

]]> AnnF 2009-04-22T14:54:00Z Lately, I seem to discover poetry and other commentaries about literature and/or books and how important each is to us. The April 2009 issue of Bookbird, a magazine published by the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) folks, contains a short poem by J. Patrick Lewis, a poet from Westerville OH. Here it is:

     Books are thieves of hours.
They kidnap the mind;
The body is left behind.
But books are always
Caught read-handed
And released
After serving many
Arresting sentences.

What a tribute to books! And, to literature. Imagine yourself on a journey, taken vicariously through a favorite book. See yourself caught up in the moment, and forgetting such everyday things as eating and showering. See yourself in a far-away place, returning home after a glorious journey that would not have been possible without the trip taken with a book!

The Library has many books by J. Patrick Lewis, including The Bookworm’s Feast: a Potluck of Poems and Please Bury Me in the Library. These may be found in the Children’s collection, along with Mr. Lewis’ other titles.

Drop by soon and enjoy your feast or journey with these and other delectable choices from the poetry collections in Children’s, Teen, and Adult areas.

Book

The Bookworm's Feast: a Potluck of Poems
0803716923
]]> Cutting for Stone http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18864&blogid=1766 Every once in a while, you find a book with the power to transport you to another place and time.  Cutting for Stone is just such a book.  The characters are fully developed and fascinating.  The plot is full of human joy, as well as grief and suffering.  The time frame covers a period of more than 30 years, allowi

]]> MarthaL 2009-04-22T14:54:00Z Every once in a while, you find a book with the power to transport you to another place and time.  Cutting for Stone is just such a book. 

The characters are fully developed and fascinating.  The plot is full of human joy, as well as grief and suffering.  The time frame covers a period of more than 30 years, allowing the reader to see the characters as they grow and change and confront the confluences of historical upheavels and  their own personal destiny.

The author, Abraham Verghese is a doctor, and the plot of this book revolves around an English doctor in Ethiopia, who becomes the father of twin boys who grow up to become doctors. It’s the story of their birth, his rejection of them, and the lives they all weave separately, and eventually intersect,  that captures you from the first paragraph.

 As someone who prefers a good nonfiction book, I have to admit that this fiction account is so well written and developed that it goes on my list of all-time favorite reads.  You will not be disappointed.

 

Book

Cutting for Stone
9780375414497

 

]]> Compost! http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18812&blogid=1766 I’m determined to have a healthy, abundant garden this year, and due to my two  beagles  running around the yard, I want to leave chemicals out of the equation.  Trying to learn all the secrets of  organic gardening  at first seemed overwhelming to me, but I decided to start slowly and explore topics one at a time.  C

]]> Caitlin H. 2009-04-22T14:54:00Z I’m determined to have a healthy, abundant garden this year, and due to my two beagles running around the yard, I want to leave chemicals out of the equation.  Trying to learn all the secrets of organic gardening at first seemed overwhelming to me, but I decided to start slowly and explore topics one at a time.  Composting was the first organic gardening topic on my list.  The aptly named Compost by Clare Foster is a simple beginner’s guide to understanding the compost pile.  The book gives a brief description of the science behind decomposition and then delves into all the materials suitable for the process.  Foster details various techniques for achieving the best, least-smelly compost pile possible, and does so in a clear, concise manner perfect for a beginner.  I’m confident my garden will benefit from this book, not to mention the fact that I look forward to making fewer trips to the garbage can!

book

compost
1844034054
]]> This Week in Science History Apr. 21 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18780&blogid=1766 Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. I hope they pique your interest! Apr. 20, 1928 British astronomer  Gerald Hawkins  was born. Hawkins was an established  as

]]> DianeR 2009-04-21T14:54:00Z Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. I hope they pique your interest!

Apr. 20, 1928 British astronomer Gerald Hawkins was born. Hawkins was an established astronomer at Boston University and the Harvard-Smithsonian Observatory who determined that Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain in Southern England was a sophisticated ancient astronomical computer. Although others had speculated on the importance of Stonehenge, Hawkins performed an intense study which he published in the journal Nature in 1963. He found astronomical alignments among 165 points of Stonehenge purely associated with the sun and moon. He used a computer to show that a pattern of alignments with twelve major lunar and solar events existed. Whether you consider Stonehenge an ancient observatory, astronomical calendar or calculator, the construction of it was an impressive engineering feat and it is shrouded in mystery!

Apr. 21, 1902 Marie and Pierre Curie successfully isolated one gram of radioactive radium in the laboratory in Paris. Marie and Pierre shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in physics with French scientist A. Henri Becquerel for their groundbreaking investigations in radioactivity. Marie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. The scientific partnership of Marie and Pierre achieved world renown and Marie would go on to win a second Nobel Prize. More about Marie at a later date she is a science topic all her own!

Apr. 22, 1970 the first Earth Day was celebrated in the U.S. to encourage environmental awareness and responsibility. Its mission is to safeguard the nation’s water, air and soil from pollution. The global theme for Earth Day 2009 is “The Green Generation”. The first Earth Day in 1970 is considered by many to be the birth of the modern environmental movement.

Book

Earth Day
9781416955351

]]> As indoor as indoor photography gets... http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18622&blogid=1766 ...and if you think the puppy photo on the cover is amazing, wait until you see the fetal elephant!  In the womb: animals by  Michael Sims  takes you on the journey of baby animals you normally don't get to see -- in the womb, from conception to birth.  This book is based on a  National Geographic program  that us

]]> KristenL 2009-04-16T14:54:00Z ...and if you think the puppy photo on the cover is amazing, wait until you see the fetal elephant!  In the womb: animals by Michael Sims takes you on the journey of baby animals you normally don't get to see -- in the womb, from conception to birth.  This book is based on a National Geographic program that used 3-D and 4-D ultrasound on animals for the first time on television.  Animals highlighted are: dog, kangaroo, elephant, dolphin, penguin, wasp and shark. Plenty of interesting text accompanies the extraordinary photographs, highlighting each animal's unique prenatal path and including facts like "the fetal sand tiger shark will fight to the death in the womb."  To find out what enemy the fetal sand tiger shark must fight off from within the womb, read the section called Domestic violence. 

Book

In the womb
1426201753
]]> This Week in Science History Apr. 15 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18584&blogid=1766 Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. I hope they pique your interest! Apr. 14, 1828 American inventor and businessman James Plimpton was born in Massachusetts.

]]> DianeR 2009-04-15T14:54:00Z Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. I hope they pique your interest!

Apr. 14, 1828 American inventor and businessman James Plimpton was born in Massachusetts. Although the concept of the roller skate comes from Europe and had been around for awhile, Plimpton designed the basic concept for the quad roller skates in 1858 which are still in use today. His “rocking skates” were the first to allow a smooth arc turning ability which made skating much easier and more popular. Plimpton opened some of the earliest roller skating rinks in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island where gentlemen would skate to impress the ladies.

Apr. 15, 1452 Leonardo da Vinci was born. Although many know da Vinci as a great artist, he was a serious scientist as well. Da Vinci’s wide scope of scientific investigations included anatomy, zoology, geology, optics, aerodynamics, and hydrodynamics. His approach to science, to observe closely and ask deceptively simple scientific questions of how and why, was startling at that time. No matter what he studied, he always used the same method of scientific inquiry: close observation, repeated testing of his observations, and precise illustration with brief explanatory notes. He was a true Renaissance Man and is fascinating to read about!

Apr. 15, 1817 the Erie Canal was authorized. Proposed in 1808 and completed in 1825, the Canal offered the opportunity for settlers to open the country west of the Appalachian Mountains and a safe and cheap way to transport goods to market. The Erie Canal was often sarcastically referred to as “Clinton’s Big Ditch” (for New York Governor Dewitt Clinton the driving force behind it) but when it was completed, it was the engineering marvel of its day. The story of the Canal represents a very interesting part of our country’s history.

Apr. 18, 1906 the San Francisco area was devastated by one of the most significant earthquakes of all time. The great earthquake occurred just after 5:00 a.m. with the epicenter near San Francisco. It was felt from southern Oregon to the south of Los Angeles and inland as far as central Nevada. Just as infamous is the fire which was ignited by the quake and caused the greatest destruction. The loss of life was tremendous. Although it lasted only one minute, it is considered the worst natural disaster in our nation’s history.  

Book

The Science of Leonardo: Inside The Mind of The Great Genius of The Renaisssance
9780385513906

 

]]> The Great Chinese Treasure Fleets http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18500&blogid=1766 We all know that Ferdinand Magellan organized and commanded the first expedition to sail completely around the world - right? Well … maybe not. After reading  Gavin Menzies'   1434: the year a magnificent Chinese fleet sailed to Italy and ignited the Renaissance , I wonder. The author presents compelling historical

]]> CarolF 2009-04-14T14:54:00Z We all know that Ferdinand Magellan organized and commanded the first expedition to sail completely around the world - right? Well … maybe not. After reading Gavin Menzies' 1434: the year a magnificent Chinese fleet sailed to Italy and ignited the Renaissance, I wonder. The author presents compelling historical and archaeological information which suggests that Christopher Columbus' "discovery" of America in 1492 and Magellan's voyage in 1520-21 may have followed great exploratory treasure fleets of China's Middle Kingdom - in 1434! While speculative - many scholars say this thesis is just wrong - still, it's really interesting to think about. There really were great Chinese fleets which sailed long distances and were able to use longitude to help in navigation. What if the Chinese emperor had not decided it would be better to stop exploration and have the ships burned? What if the Chinese had continued to sail, explore, and possibly even colonize areas in the new world? Our history would have been so different. If you like this book, try Menzies' 1421: the year China discovered America.

book

1434 : the year a magnificent Chinese fleet sailed to Italy and ignited the Renaissance
9780061492174
]]> Serendipitous Spring Break http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18492&blogid=1766 I wanted to take my three boys who are in school on a little trip for Spring Break this year.  I wanted warmer weather, something I could get to in six hours or less, and to see something spectacular.  What interesting hiking territory is there in Indiana or Ohio?  Well, I turned to the travel section of the library a

]]> Steve S 2009-04-13T14:54:00Z I wanted to take my three boys who are in school on a little trip for Spring Break this year.  I wanted warmer weather, something I could get to in six hours or less, and to see something spectacular.  What interesting hiking territory is there in Indiana or Ohio?  Well, I turned to the travel section of the library and checked out a few books about Ohio and Indiana.  In Natural Wonders of Ohio I found the perfect place:  Hocking Hills State Park. 

     “‘Am I still in Ohio?’ ask wide-eyed visitors as they see the dramatic sandstone and shale, cliffs and canyons, caves and waterfalls.”

This was the line that drew me in. 

I also used the library to check out dvds and books for the trip, including a multi-volume compilation of the graphic novel Bone by Jeff Smith for my middle schooler, Vance.  While down in Hocking Hills State Park, after hiking to Old Man’s Cave, Vance told us that the characters in Bone just went to a place called Old Man’s Cave and it looked like where we just were.  What a coincidence, but there must be dozens of Old Man’s Caves, right?  The next day on our way to Conkle’s Hollow, imagine our surprise when Vance announced that the characters were now in Conkle’s Hollow.  Could the setting of the book be the place we were visiting?  At the back of the book in the section about the author, we found out that he lives in Columbus, Ohio just 45 minutes north of Hocking Hills State Park.  That was enough evidence for us.

I didn’t get warmer weather, but the Park was only five and a half hours away and I did see something spectacular.  I highly recommend a visit to Hocking Hills State Park and that you take Bone along if you have any middle schoolers or use the library’s travel section to dream up your own trip.   

Book

Natural Wonders of Ohio
1566262011
]]> This one puts a crick in the pump handle! http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18480&blogid=1766 As might be expected, KPL owns a wide range of English language dictionaries, including the esteemed Oxford English Dictionary, the Random House, and the American Heritage. What many may not know is that we also have many specialized sources for word information. One of my favorites is NTC’S Dictionary of Folksy, R

]]> David D. 2009-04-09T14:54:00Z As might be expected, KPL owns a wide range of English language dictionaries, including the esteemed Oxford English Dictionary, the Random House, and the American Heritage. What many may not know is that we also have many specialized sources for word information. One of my favorites is NTC’S Dictionary of Folksy, Regional, and Rural Sayings, edited by Anne Bertram. The purpose of this volume is to catalog and provide examples of usage of words, expressions, and idioms not likely to be found in the standard repertoire of sources that one usually consults. Here are some of the entries: buffalo chip, take a look-see, like tryin’ to scratch your ear with your elbow, I’ll eat my hat, thisaway, think a heap of, sorry-lookin,’ boughten, tarnation, prolly, your eyes are bigger than your stomach, it’s raining pitchforks, get shed of it, etc. etc. Maybe it’s because my family lived for many years in the rural parts of Iowa and Michigan when they first came to this country that many phrases in this book sound very familiar to me. Or, possibly when the editor included the word “regional” in the title she also meant the Midwest! This unique work nicely fills a niche in the documentation of American speech and dialect. [Please note that I had this all written and ready to go before the review of the Strunk volume appeared!]

Book

NTC's dictionary of folksy, regional, and rural sayings
0844258334
]]> Sunny with a LOT of Laughs http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18452&blogid=1766 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs , by Judi and Ron  Barrett , has been around since 1978, but the land of Chewandswallow, where the sky rains breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, is still captivating to my favorite five year old. Of course the plot (or soup) thickens when the weather spins out of control with, n

]]> Martha C 2009-04-08T14:54:00Z Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi and Ron Barrett, has been around since 1978, but the land of Chewandswallow, where the sky rains breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, is still captivating to my favorite five year old. Of course the plot (or soup) thickens when the weather spins out of control with, naturally, giant meatballs crashing all over town. What could be more fun than a child giggling over a book, except maybe an adult giggling along with him?

This book offers lots of opportunity for young imaginations. What kind of food would YOU like to have fall from the sky? What really does fall from the sky? What would YOU do if a giant pancake fell on YOUR school??

And good news for all you film buffs: Sony Pictures Animation is scheduled to release a 3-D film based on the book on September 18, 2009. It is both homage to and send up of disaster movies. Voices include Anna Faris, Andy Samberg, and Tracy Morgan. Just click on their names to see videos in KPL’s collection that feature these stars.

Ready to giggle?

Book

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
0689306474
]]> This Week in Science History Apr. 8 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18448&blogid=1766 Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog.  I hope they pique your interest! Apr. 6, 1928 American geneticist and biophysicist  James Dewey Watson  was born. Watson a

]]> DianeR 2009-04-08T14:54:00Z Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog.  I hope they pique your interest!

Apr. 6, 1928 American geneticist and biophysicist James Dewey Watson was born. Watson and fellow scientist, Francis Crick published a ground-breaking paper on the double-helical structure of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the journal Nature on April 2, 1953. Then in 1962, Watson and Crick along with Maurice Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of “the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material”. As a native Hoosier, I also would like to share that Watson received his Ph.D. in Zoology from Indiana University, Bloomington where he was deeply influenced by geneticists Muller and Sonneborn and microbiologist Luria. Watson's biography on the website nobelprize.org reports that his favorite recreations are bird-watching and walking.

I must also share that pioneer molecular biologist, Rosalind Franklin, performed a great amount of the research and discovery work that led to the DNA structure. She sadly died, though, at age 37 from ovarian cancer four years before Watson, Crick, and Wilkins won the Nobel Prize. There is much controversy surrounding her life and work that question had she lived, would she have also received the credit she was due in these discoveries? DNA, genetics, and these great scientists are well-worth reading more about!

April 6, 1930 bakery executive, James Dewar, invented the well-known snack food Hostess Twinkies. Everyone has heard of Twinkies and most have eaten at least one Twinkie in his/her lifetime. If I had a dime for every Twinkie I ate as a kid (ok and I confess as an adult), and I had invested it….well let’s just say I would have a nice little investment.

Apr. 11, 1959 NASA announced the astronauts selected for Project Mercury. Out of 110 astronauts, seven were selected: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Donald Slayton. Project Mercury was NASA’s first high profile program to discover if humans could survive in space. These trail blazers accomplished some incredible feats for the space program.

Apr. 11, 1755 British physician and amateur paleontologist, James Parkinson, was born. Parkinson, who took over his father’s general medicine practice, was the first to recognize a burst appendix as a cause of death. He was also the first to describe the neuromuscular disease that is known by his name, Parkinson’s disease. Symptoms of the disease include tremors, slowness of motion, muscle rigidity, balance issues, depression, low blood pressure, and temperature sensitivity.   

Book

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA
074321630X
]]> The Glass Castle http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18404&blogid=1766  Several years ago, my mother and I enjoyed a memoir-writing  Elderhostel  program on the central Oregon coast.  The natural beauty of the Pacific Ocean and the surrounding area provided the perfect backdrop for searching my past to discover some of my own interesting stories.  Indeed, that’s all memoirs are: extraord

]]> Karen S 2009-04-06T14:54:00Z  Several years ago, my mother and I enjoyed a memoir-writing Elderhostel program on the central Oregon coast.  The natural beauty of the Pacific Ocean and the surrounding area provided the perfect backdrop for searching my past to discover some of my own interesting stories.  Indeed, that’s all memoirs are: extraordinary stories in the lives of seemingly ordinary people.  One such account I recently read is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.  Now a columnist for MSNBC.com, Walls’ childhood was filled with more transience and uncertainty than most.  As a result, it was one of great poverty and hardship.  Throughout the book, however, I was impressed by the spirit of two parents who, despite their own difficulties—with alcohol, parenting, and just grasping reality sometimes—never gave up hope and somehow managed to instill in their children the drive to move on when things just got too unbearable.  In the best way possible, Walls’ stories are some that have stayed with me for a long time after finishing the book.

If you’re interested in memoirs too, you might enjoy the Reading Together Memoir Writing program coming up on April 8 at the Powell branch.

The Glass Castle
0743247531

Book

]]> Lowboy http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18372&blogid=1766 Lowboy by  John Wray  is a wonderful novel by an up-and-coming writer whose books have generally been commercially ignored but critically praised for their depth and storytelling prowess. The literary journal  Granta  selected Wray as one of their Best Young American Novelists in 2007. Lowboy  is a riveting and co

]]> RyanG 2009-04-03T14:54:00Z Lowboy by John Wray is a wonderful novel by an up-and-coming writer whose books have generally been commercially ignored but critically praised for their depth and storytelling prowess. The literary journal Granta selected Wray as one of their Best Young American Novelists in 2007.

Lowboy is a riveting and consuming story about a Holden Caulfield-like protagonist who suffers from schizophrenia. Only in his teens, Lowboy (Will Heller) finds himself wandering throughout the New York City subway system after having escaped from an institutional facility for those suffering from mental illness. Off his meds, Lowboy seeks to reconnect with his former girlfriend Emily, who he once pushed onto the subway tracks, resulting in his being institutionalized. Lowboy’s description of the world in which he inhabits is hypnotic and altogether horrifying. Wry's moving depiction of someone suffering from schizophrenia grabs ahold of the reader and hurls them violently into a tortured yet beautiful mind organized around the murmur of “callings”, chattering voices and terrifying hallucinations that govern Will’s actions and propel him toward potential disaster.

A parallel narrative takes the reader along with the Detective (Ali Lateef) assigned to locate Will. Along with Lateef is Will’s mother Violet, a wonderfully sympathetic character whose inability to help her son contributes to the novel's most tender and affecting scenes. As Lateef hurries to locate Will before he injures someone or becomes injured himself, the reader is witness to the interiors of subway cars, the bustling and vibrant Manhattan streets and dank, underground transport tunnels buried beneath the city streets.

Lowboy is a compassionately wrought book sketched with both raw and gorgeous prose (Will’s description of the hospital is a heart wrenching yet lyrical stream of consciousness) that should garner the kind of attention that Wray’s talent deserves.

Book

Lowboy
9780374194161
]]> My Team and I http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18366&blogid=1766 I heard it this morning on  NPR  as I was getting ready for work. I spit and I sputtered when I heard President Obama utter the phrase “me and my team.” Me and my team! That from a constitutional scholar.   I emailed my husband who replied, “He did it on purpose. He was told he appears aloof, so he’s trying to cou

]]> LisaW 2009-04-03T14:54:00Z I heard it this morning on NPR as I was getting ready for work. I spit and I sputtered when I heard President Obama utter the phrase “me and my team.” Me and my team! That from a constitutional scholar.
 
I emailed my husband who replied, “He did it on purpose. He was told he appears aloof, so he’s trying to counteract that.” To that, I accused him of being an apologist.

For the last eight years, I heard many of the colorful verbal missteps by President Bush. I cringed every time W. pronounced nuclear as “nuke-you-ler” (although I’ve come to know a few Yankees who do the same thing). But I also felt a good bit of pity for him. As a Southerner who sometimes puts away her vernacular and tries to speak Standard American English, I know it is often difficult to avoid verbal mistakes, especially when you’re being interviewed or you’re nervous. Mr. Obama is not from the South. Maybe he was weary from the weighty matters of the G20.

Patron Services team We can see that even the leader of the free world needs a little help now and then. There are teams, there are advisers and there are books. I’d like to suggest a very helpful team of advisers. They are William J. Strunk & E.B. White, whose small but concise book The Elements of Style is still in good fashion. Or Fowler’s Modern English Usage by H.W. Fowler.
 
Last year, we in the Patron Services department posed holding favorite books. I’m the one with Strunk & White.

Book

The Elements of Style
020530902X
]]> The Elephant in the Room http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18344&blogid=1766 If you are interested in understanding the in’s and out’s of the looming elephant in the room, rarely named by the press, but who has largely been at the wheel dictating this nation’s economic and political trajectory for better or for worse since the emergence of the hegemonic,  multinational corporation  ( The Gilde

]]> RyanG 2009-04-02T14:54:00Z If you are interested in understanding the in’s and out’s of the looming elephant in the room, rarely named by the press, but who has largely been at the wheel dictating this nation’s economic and political trajectory for better or for worse since the emergence of the hegemonic, multinational corporation (The Gilded Age), free market fundamentalism’s triumphalist victory over Keynesian stimulation--hastened during the 1970’s and 1980’s, the spectral ascent of supra-secretive, internationally-based business-friendly cartels (World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, World Bank e.g.) molded to compliment free trade legislation (NAFTA), and the accelerated concentration of wealth and power into the hands of a small but influential plutocracy (2% of the world owns over 50% of global wealth)--then I encourage you to delve into the various books, thinkers, and multiple perspectives that have attempted to grapple intellectually with this mighty beast called CAPITALISM for a full and nuanced understanding of this important subject. 

Why you ask? Well, the big “C” has its fingerprint or at the very least, a contributing portion of it, on the subprime mortgage industry, global conflicts, stock market crashes, political campaigns and lobbyists, the decline in power of labor unions, war profiteering, ethical standards and the consequences of greed, environmental sustainability issues, and many other aspects of contemporary society, from the news you watch to the air you breathe. Nobody wakes up in the United States without absorbing the pervasive influence of this nation’s economic policies, practices and ideologies so why not understand that which governs the macro and microcosms of our daily life.

Book

The soul of capitalism
0684862190
]]> Celebrate Spring http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18324&blogid=1766 Spring has arrived in Michigan!  How do I know?  The pussy willow bushes are in bloom.  I love them and I love sharing them with preschoolers.  I found the perfect book to use for an early spring storytime -  Meow Monday  by  Phyllis Root .  It is a delightful story of Bonnie Bumble's pussy willow bush which has bur

]]> nancyds 2009-04-02T14:54:00Z Spring has arrived in Michigan!  How do I know?  The pussy willow bushes are in bloom.  I love them and I love sharing them with preschoolers.  I found the perfect book to use for an early spring storytime - Meow Monday by Phyllis Root.  It is a delightful story of Bonnie Bumble's pussy willow bush which has burst into bloom.  The little blooms cause such a ruckus on the farm that Bonnie has to try cat calming techniques - cat food, catnip and more.  But what those little ones needed was milk from the milkweed by the barn - purr, purr, purr.  All is well until the dogwood starts to bloom.  Helen Craig's illustrations couldn't be more child pleasing as she shows Bonnie trying to settle down the pussy willows.

Extend the story with your children by doing a simple craft together.  Draw a branch and together glue puffed cereal on the branches.  Easy and fun....

Celebrate Spring!

Book

Meow Monday
0763608327
]]> Powell staff picks http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18308&blogid=1766 This month the Staff Picks display will highlight selections from the  Alma Powell Branch Library , 1000 W. Paterson. The books are located on the top shelf of the display at the Central Library.  One staff member recommends  Piece of Cake  by Cupcake Brown about an unhappy child torn from the only family she has know

]]> Joanna L 2009-04-01T14:54:00Z This month the Staff Picks display will highlight selections from the Alma Powell Branch Library, 1000 W. Paterson. The books are located on the top shelf of the display at the Central Library.  One staff member recommends Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown about an unhappy child torn from the only family she has known and faces a world of drugs and prostitution. She turns her life around and becomes a lawyer. Another staff member likes Too Many Toys by David Shannon. Spencer has too many toys and mother says he has to get rid of some. What’s a boy to do? One person recommends By the grace of God by Keshia Dawn. Gracie has everything going for her, a good neighborhood, owning her own business, engaged to a wonder man, until he leaves her as he suffers from a life threatening disease. 

When you are visiting the downtown library, stop by and choose a staff pick.

Book

Piece a cake
1400052289
]]> This Week in Science History April 1 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18306&blogid=1766 Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog.  I hope they pique your interest! Mar. 31, 1791 Alexander Hamilton contracted with John McComb, Jr. to build the first  lig

]]> DianeR 2009-04-01T14:54:00Z Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog.  I hope they pique your interest!

Mar. 31, 1791 Alexander Hamilton contracted with John McComb, Jr. to build the first lighthouse after American independence, Cape Henry. The contract called for an octagonal structure rising 72 feet above the water table with three windows in the side and four windows in the west. The Cape Henry lighthouse helped make the Chesapeake Bay more navigable and safe for trade and commerce on the Virginia and Maryland coasts.

Apr. 2, 1978 the ever useful product “Velcro” was released. Velcro was invented by Swiss engineer George de Mestral, who noticed how thistle burrs clung to his clothes while on a hike in the mountains. He examined the burrs under a microscope and discovered their unique hook-like shape. Working with a weaver from a textile plant in France, de Mestral developed his hook and loop fastener which was actually patented in 1955. The name Velcro is a combination of the words velour and crochet. 

Apr. 3, 1934 British ethnologist, Jane Goodall, was born. Goodall is well-known for her extensive research on the chimpanzees of the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. Her insightful work changed and enriched the field of primatology. It is fascinating to read about. When she began her research in 1960, it was unheard of for a woman to venture in to the wilds of the African forest!

This is for all the coffee lovers out there. Apr. 3, 1829 James Carrington of Wallingford Conn. patented his coffee mill. There have been many coffee making and coffee milling machines/devices invented throughout history. What would mankind have done without it I ask? So many kinds of coffee, so many flavors, so many ways to brew it, so many recipes to use it in…..

Books

I Love Coffee!: Over 100 Easy and Delicious Coffee Drinks
9780740763779

 

]]> Mighty Queens http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18260&blogid=1766 They don't always look particularly regal, but most of us can name our own "Mighty Queens" . . . those women who have been our mentors, supporters, and prodders in life. Despite the fact that Amy Dickinson writes a daily, syndicated advice column and is a regular guest on NPR's "Wait,  Wait, Don't Tell Me" radio game

]]> Susan 2009-03-31T14:54:00Z They don't always look particularly regal, but most of us can name our own "Mighty Queens" . . . those women who have been our mentors, supporters, and prodders in life. Despite the fact that Amy Dickinson writes a daily, syndicated advice column and is a regular guest on NPR's "Wait,  Wait, Don't Tell Me" radio game show, she says, "I'm surrounded by people who are not impressed by me."  Freeville, New York is the place Dickinson left behind and the place to which she has now returned . . . the place where the Mighty Queens still rule.  Even if you're not an NPR fan or a seeker of advice, give this engaging memoir a try.

 

book

The Mighty Queens of Freeville
9781401322854
]]> Still there after all these years http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18202&blogid=1766 On March 24, Tuesday as I was reading the afternoon Kalamazoo Gazette, I saw a picture which brought me up short.......A United States Marine on patrol in what the caption said was "near the demilitarized zone in South Korea".  I guess I knew we were still there, but seeing the picture of an American young man in unif

]]> LindaC 2009-03-27T14:54:00Z On March 24, Tuesday as I was reading the afternoon Kalamazoo Gazette, I saw a picture which brought me up short.......A United States Marine on patrol in what the caption said was "near the demilitarized zone in South Korea".  I guess I knew we were still there, but seeing the picture of an American young man in uniform, carrying a gun really brought the idea home. We have been a military presence in Korea for a very long time. My further thought was along the lines that we should not rush into any conflict in any country unless we are prepared to stay for another very long time and are prepared for our presence to alter both that country and ourselves.

Last year when I was laid up recovering from a very dicey surgery I ran into a series of books which the Kalamazoo Public Library does not own, but which can be obtained through MelCat if anyone wants to read them.  They are five books by a Hispanic American writer named Martin Limon and they are about two plain-clothes investigators in the Army's Criminal Investigation Division named Ernie Bascom and George Sueno. The setting is South Korea, and the time is the 1970's during the Vietnam War. Both George and Ernie have been in Korea so long that it is home to them and the home that is America is just a distant dream. Ernie and George work out of a base near Seoul but their favorite hanging place is a red light district know as the "Ville", the people they hang with are not the cream of the Korean society, but Ernie and George like them well enough and they understand them well enough and the language well enough that very few of their cases remain in the "open" file. Below is a list of George and Ernie titles in chronological order:

     Jade Lady Burning, c1992

     Slicky Boys, c1997

     Buddha's Money, c1998

     The Door to Bitterness, c2005

     The Wandering Ghost, c2007

            The author, Martin Limon is retired from military service after 20 years in the U.S. Army,  including a total of ten years in Korea. He returned home with a Korean bride. He and his wife live in Seattle. He is the father of three.

 

book

Jade Lady Burning
9781569470206
]]> This Week in Science History Mar. 24 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18054&blogid=1766 Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog.  I hope they pique your interest! Mar. 23, 1937 American scientist  Robert C. Gallo  was born. Gallo co-discovered the huma

]]> DianeR 2009-03-24T14:54:00Z Here are some highlights from this week in science history. To learn more about these intriguing science topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog.  I hope they pique your interest!

Mar. 23, 1937 American scientist Robert C. Gallo was born. Gallo co-discovered the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) responsible for AIDS in 1984. He also developed the HIV blood test. AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. His continued research discovered the natural compound, chemokines, which can block the HIV virus and slow the progression of AIDS. Gallo worked for the National Cancer Institute for 30 years and also was the head of the Institute of Virology.

Mar. 24, 1882 Robert Koch reported that he had discovered the bacillus responsible for tuberculosis to the Berlin Physiological Society. The German scientist published two articles about tuberculosis both titled The Etiology of Tuberculosis. In his second article published in 1884, he explained “Koch’s postulates” which have become basic to the studies all diseases.

Mar. 28, 1793 American explorer and ethnologist Henry Rowe Schoolcraft was born. Schoolcraft is recognized for discovering the source of the Mississippi River in a Northern Minnesota lake he named Lake Itasca. He led a geological survey expedition, was a map-maker and a government agent on the Northwest Frontier (near Lake Superior). Schoolcraft also developed a great interest in Native Americans and wrote many studies about their lives, beliefs, culture and history.

Mar. 28, 1979 the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island nuclear plant took place near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The accident, a result of human and mechanical error, involved cooling system malfunction which permitted a partial meltdown of the reactor’s core. Although major disaster was averted and no evacuation was ordered, thousands of people fled the area. Cleanup began in August 1979 and officially ended in December 1993 with a cost around 975 million dollars.

Book

Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective
0520239407

 

]]> Cooking for Baby http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18052&blogid=1766 One of my friends just gave birth and another is due this summer. Both are excellent cooks who enjoy creating tasty and healthy dishes. I think they’d both like to read  Cooking for Baby: Wholesome, homemade, delicious foods for 6 to 18 months . The author, Lisa Barnes, is founder of Petit Appetit, an in-home cooking

]]> LisaW 2009-03-24T14:54:00Z One of my friends just gave birth and another is due this summer. Both are excellent cooks who enjoy creating tasty and healthy dishes. I think they’d both like to read Cooking for Baby: Wholesome, homemade, delicious foods for 6 to 18 months. The author, Lisa Barnes, is founder of Petit Appetit, an in-home cooking school that teaches parents how to make healthy meals for their children.

Barnes says that “if you feed your baby only bland, processed jarred baby food and cereal, your baby will become accustomed to bland, processed food.” If baby is given a variety of flavors, then he or she will be more accustomed to the good habit of eating healthy foods. Food safety and saving money are other reasons for making your own baby food. Barnes encourages cooks to choose organic ingredients whenever possible.

The recipes and color photographs are organized according to age groups: 6 months, 7 to 8 months, 9 to 11 months, 12 to 18 months. Each recipe includes directions for preparation as well as storage, including freezing. Barnes includes a list of foods that are usually agreeable with babies starting out on real food, a list of foods that may make gassiness worse, and a list of foods that are more likely to cause allergic reactions.

Little ones just starting out will enjoy a variety of purees. As baby gets older, her meals will have  more texture and flavors. By the time baby is 12 to 18 months, she (and her parents) can feast on such tasty-sounding dishes as chicken and mango quesadillas, lentil burgers with mint-yogurt sauce, and buckwheat crepes.

Perhaps my friends will invite me over to dinner.

book

Cooking for Baby
9781416599180

 
]]> Breakfast at Sally's http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18032&blogid=1766 In mid 2002, Richard LeMieux , the author of  Breakfast at Sally’s , embarks on an 18-month journey discovering what it’s like to be a  homeless person . No this is not a young author deciding to pose as a homeless person during the day, and then return to his real home at night, just to write a expose on this topic. 

]]> MarybethS 2009-03-23T14:54:00Z In mid 2002,Richard LeMieux, the author of Breakfast at Sally’s, embarks on an 18-month journey discovering what it’s like to be a homeless person. No this is not a young author deciding to pose as a homeless person during the day, and then return to his real home at night, just to write a expose on this topic.  It is in fact a memoir of an older man, once affluent and “living the good life”, finding his business collapsing and losing it all including family, friends and all the connections he ever had as a wealthy individual.

LeMieux’s only companion during this period is his dog who lives with him in a beat up van and at times is his only reason for living, even when depression sets in and he considers jumping off a bridge and ending his struggle. 

Along the way he encounters many unique people, some homeless like himself, and some compassionate and caring , who both give meaning to his life and enrich him beyond what he could ever imagine.  This is a must read book for those interested in seeing how many live, and especially during our current hard economic times.

Book

Breakfast at Sally's
9781602392939
]]> The Sisters 8 Ate Chocolate Chip Pancakes http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=18004&blogid=1766 Fans of the Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket unite! Something new has hit the publishing world!  It’s called The Sisters 8 and centers around octuplets, all girls, who find themselves alone on New Year’s Eve of the year they are to turn eight years old.  Written by  Lauren Baratz-Logsted , the a

]]> AnnF 2009-03-20T14:54:00Z Fans of the Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket unite!
Something new has hit the publishing world!  It’s called The Sisters 8 and centers around octuplets, all girls, who find themselves alone on New Year’s Eve of the year they are to turn eight years old.  Written by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, the adventures of Annie, Durinda, Georgia, Jackie, Marcia, Petal, Rebecca and Zinnia and their eight cats (named Anthrax, Dandruff, Greatorex, Jaguar, Minx, Precious, Rambunctious and Zither) will draw you in almost before you finish the Prologue of the first, and of all the other (“The story always begins the same.” p. v, Annie’s Adventures) stories.

Left to their own devices, or almost, the sisters 8 begin to really explore what might have happened to their mother and father, who mysteriously went missing as previously stated, on New Year’s Eve the year the girls were 7 and about to turn 8 years old.  Someone leaves notes behind a stone in the wall of the great room, notes that indicate that each girl has both a power and a gift, and she must discover for herself what her gift/power is. 

Dealing with everyday tasks (cooking, cleaning cat litter boxes, paying bills, driving, school, etc.) proves accomplishable for “the eights”, but arouses suspicions, as the reader would figure it might.  Eight girls and no visible adults?

Keep your hopes up though, for the author has said that there will be a story for each girl, and so far, it’s Annie and Durinda who have come to the surface, and who have begun to help solve the mystery of the disappearing parents.  Boys should not despair, because even though there are 8 girls in these stories, “girls can be just as grubby as boys—you just have to give them half a chance” (Prologue, Annie’s Adventures, p. vi), and who knows but you will enjoy them too, if you give them half a chance!

Book

Annie's Adventures
9780547053387
]]> ...but I know what I like. http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17924&blogid=1766 Sarah Thorton ’s amusing  Seven Days in the Art World  leads its reader on a voyeuristic trip through seven distinct but interwoven sectors of the contemporary art world. An art world insider herself, Thorton is a New Yorker and ArtForum.com contributor, the author’s status allows her access to the upper ec

]]> mykyl 2009-03-19T14:54:00Z Sarah Thorton’s amusing Seven Days in the Art World leads its reader on a voyeuristic trip through seven distinct but interwoven sectors of the contemporary art world. An art world insider herself, Thorton is a New Yorker and ArtForum.com contributor, the author’s status allows her access to the upper echelons of the modern art world. The inner workings of a Christie’s auction, a critiquing session at the California Institute of Arts, the corporate like studio’s of the artist Takashi Murakami, and more are seperate chapters in which Thorton presents just the right mix of detail (In the hyper status-aware world of modern art, I think it does matter what the people are wearing and Thornton lets you know),  subjectivity, and straight reporting. Weather you consider contemporary art worthy of the attention, and exorbitant prices, it commands or hold to the “a child could do that!” school of thought, you won’t find anything in the book that will sway your opinion either way. But no matter what side of the argument you fall, you will surely be entertained by Thorton's conversational style and the fascinating, absurd, and rich world she describes. For more insight into the contemporary art world see Donald Thompson’s The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art.

Book

Seven Days in the Art World
9780393067224

 

]]> This Week in Science History Mar. 18 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17848&blogid=1766 Here are some highlights from this week in science history. For further reading on these intriguing topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. Happy reading! Mar. 16, 1750 astronomer  Caroline Herschel  was born. Caroline, the sister of  Sir William Herschel , went to li

]]> DianeR 2009-03-18T14:54:00Z Here are some highlights from this week in science history. For further reading on these intriguing topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. Happy reading!

Mar. 16, 1750 astronomer Caroline Herschel was born. Caroline, the sister of Sir William Herschel, went to live with Sir William at the age of 22 and served as his apprentice in his work in astronomy and making telescopes. Sir William is famous for discovering the planet Uranus which I talked about last week. Caroline helped him develop the modern mathematical approach to astronomy. She also made some discoveries of her own documenting eight comets (1786-97) and three nebulae (1783). She was the first woman to discover a comet! Caroline catalogued every discovery they made and two of her astronomical catalogues are still used today. On her 96th birthday she was awarded the Gold Medal of Science by the King of Prussia. It is interesting to note that Caroline was struck with typhus at the age of ten and remained frail throughout her life never growing taller than 4’3”. An intriguing woman of science!

Mar. 16, 1819 as we head into spring this week and another hay fever season, I thought you might like to know that the first clinical description of the allergy, hay fever, was delivered by Dr. John Bostock to a meeting of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society in London on this day. Hay fever was referred to as “Bostock’s catarrh” for many years. The main causes of this type of allergy are pollens of grasses, weeds and trees and many of us are miserably affected by it. 

Mar. 20, 1904 American psychologist B. F. Skinner was born. Skinner’s pioneering work centers around the concept of behaviorism and operant conditioning. He is famous for his 1930 experiments using the “Skinner box” in which he observed animal behavior. Animals placed in the box learned to activate a simple lever which would reward them with food/water or to ignore the lever when it did not reward them. The reward of food or water acted as a primary reinforcer of the behavior. Skinner extended his theories to the behavior of humans and verbal behavior as well. If you have never studied his work, it is well worth your time to check it out!

Mar. 21, 1859 the Charter establishing the first Zoological Society was approved and signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Due to the Civil War, though, it was another fifteen years before the zoo was opened on July 1, 1874. More than 3000 visitors attended with admission .25 for adults and .10 for children. Thezoo had 813 animals. Dr. William Carmac, a prominent Philadelphia physician, is credited as the zoo’s founding father in taking the lead to make the zoo a reality.

Book

The Georgian Star: How William and Caroline Herschel Revolutionized Our Understanding of the Cosmos
9780393065749

 

]]> Staff Picks favorites http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17838&blogid=1766  This month’s Staff Picks display at Central Library is featuring favorite books by the Oshtemo/bookmobile staff. One staff member recommends  Where the wild things are  by Maurice Sendak “My dad and I always loved this book. I would have him read this at least once a week when I was growing up. Any kid would love the

]]> Joanna L 2009-03-17T14:54:00Z  This month’s Staff Picks display at Central Library is featuring favorite books by the Oshtemo/bookmobile staff. One staff member recommends Where the wild things are by Maurice Sendak “My dad and I always loved this book. I would have him read this at least once a week when I was growing up. Any kid would love the artwork and adventures Max goes on.” Peter Jenkins Looking for Alaska was chosen by a staff member who regularly visits relatives in Alaska: “The author travels across Alaska experiencing various modes of travel from float planes to dog sledding.” This staff member liked Anatomy of a murder by Robert Traver: “I like this book because it is a mystery story that takes place in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and involves courtroom drama. This story was made into a movie. It is based on a true crime.”

Next month’s Staff Picks will showcase choices by the Alma Powell branch staff.

Book

anatomy of a murder
0312033567

 

]]> Life is So Good http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17812&blogid=1766 In 1996, a literacy volunteer knocked on Mr. Dawson's door and told him adult education courses were being taught a few blocks away. Mr. Dawson responded eagerly, "Wait, I'll get my coat." "I agreed to take it on temporarily, and in walks this 98-year-old man wanting to read," his teacher Carl Henry, retired head

]]> MarthaL 2009-03-16T14:54:00Z In 1996, a literacy volunteer knocked on Mr. Dawson's door and told him adult education courses were being taught a few blocks away. Mr. Dawson responded eagerly, "Wait, I'll get my coat."

"I agreed to take it on temporarily, and in walks this 98-year-old man wanting to read," his teacher Carl Henry, retired head of the music program for the Dallas schools, recalled.

George Dawson never learned to read or write, but in this biography, we get a real glimpse of what life was like for the son of a sharecropper in  the Jim Crow era. From his early life, when he was sent away to work because his family was so poor, to the time he finally began to accomplish his life-long desire to read, we get a glimpse of a peaceful, grateful man who is an inspiration to read about.

When writing this book, Dawson told people that he felt he had been granted a long life, so he could tell his story:

“I am a witness to the truth. That's why I am still here. I can't let the truth die with me.”

 Dawson died in 2001 at the age of 103.  Life was so good.

Book

Life is So Good
037550396X

 

]]> I'm hungry for more books like this! http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17694&blogid=1766 If you like historical fiction with a bit of suspense and the added benefit of an emphasis on food, you'll love The book of unholy mischief , by  Elle Newmark . This debut novel captured my attention at once and kept me quickly reading because of the main character, Luciano, an orphan in 1498 Venice. He is raised b

]]> CarolF 2009-03-13T14:54:00Z If you like historical fiction with a bit of suspense and the added benefit of an emphasis on food, you'll love The book of unholy mischief, by Elle Newmark. This debut novel captured my attention at once and kept me quickly reading because of the main character, Luciano, an orphan in 1498 Venice. He is raised by a kindly cook/laundress in a brothel, but she dies when he is a young boy and he's kicked out to the streets. Reading about the hardships of those times, it's amazing that humanity continued to exist in those days - but Luciano has a hopeful attitude and the reader is on his side immediately. He becomes a worker in the kitchen of the doge, and the chef there introduces him to knowledge which at the time was heretical or otherwise dangerous, but vastly interesting to the modern reader (Gnostic gospels, alchemy, the Inquisition, the New World, etc.). The descriptions of food preparation are usually mouthwatering (sometimes not!) -- but with the kindly chef, supporting characters, Luciano, the secrets contained in a hidden book, food, and the ambiance of Renaissance Venice, how could this book go wrong? This is 367 pages of fast-reading drama.

 

Other great books with a food theme are: The food of love and The wedding officer, both by Anthony Capella. Both of these books take place in Italy, and are quite romantic. And the food …!

 

book

The book of unholy mischief
9781416590545
]]> Education & Poverty http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17664&blogid=1766 If you are interested in ideas about how to lift children out of poverty through education, you need to read Paul Tough's book,  Whatever it Takes , about Geoffrey Canada's radical approach to this issue.  While working for and leading several nonprofit organizations that work with low income families, Canada grew f

]]> Steve S 2009-03-12T14:54:00Z If you are interested in ideas about how to lift children out of poverty through education, you need to read Paul Tough's book, Whatever it Takes, about Geoffrey Canada's radical approach to this issue.  While working for and leading several nonprofit organizations that work with low income families, Canada grew frustrated with the fact that kids who were succeeding in the programs would often fall back behind once they were out of the programs.  He also grew disenchanted with the small number of successes the programs were having, wanting to improve the lives of thousands of children at a time. He decided that he had to weave together a large network of programs that would help the child succeed from birth up to entering college.  Anyone who is working on building a Pathway to the Promise here in Kalamazoo would benefit from reading Tough's book; for its brief history of government policy concerning poverty and education, its fascinating story about Canada's quest to close the achievement gap for every child in a 97 block area of Harlem, and Canada's infectious ambition to really make a large scale difference in the lives of children trapped in poverty everywhere. 

Book 

Whatever it Takes
9780618569892
]]> A Father's Law http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17660&blogid=1766 Richard Wright, acclaimed author of Native Son, was working on A Father’s Law during a six-week period near the end of his life.  After his death in 1960, his daughter Julia Wright found the unfinished novel under his bed.  The book was published in 2008 on the centennial of his death with the help of Julia Wright

]]> Valerie O 2009-03-12T14:54:00Z Richard Wright, acclaimed author of Native Son, was working on A Father’s Law during a six-week period near the end of his life.  After his death in 1960, his daughter Julia Wright found the unfinished novel under his bed.  The book was published in 2008 on the centennial of his death with the help of Julia Wright and literary executor.  

The main character is Rudolph “Ruddy” Turner, a black man who’s a captain in the Chicago police force.  Ruddy plans to retire in a matter of months, but learns that his is being named chief of police in Brentwood Park, a suburban community filled with rich and powerful whites.  A series of mysterious murders have been taking place and the current chief of Brentwood has recently been slain.  The novel explores the inner conflicts and challenges faced by black Americans as they make their way through a society dominated by white privilege in the late 1950’s.

Book

A Fathers Law
9780061349164
]]> This is Not a Blog http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17658&blogid=1766 David Markson’s This is Not a Novel is indeed a novel, albeit an ingenious one that like its predecessor Reader’s Block and the several books that have followed (Vanishing Point, The Last Novel), deconstructs the traditional novel’s framework (eliminating plot, characters, setting) by assembling a book comprised of

]]> RyanG 2009-03-12T14:54:00Z David Markson’s This is Not a Novel is indeed a novel, albeit an ingenious one that like its predecessor Reader’s Block and the several books that have followed (Vanishing Point, The Last Novel), deconstructs the traditional novel’s framework (eliminating plot, characters, setting) by assembling a book comprised of nothing more than a muddled listing of seemingly unrelated historical allusions and biographical factoids (mostly of authors, philosophers and artists). But don’t be put off by the book’s unsettling format, for if you are, you’ll surely miss out on what makes Markson’s books so intriguing and unique. Markson’s project is to raise questions about the nature of the novel, what a novel is and what it isn’t, how they are created, and what they should accomplish, if anything. He asks of us The Reader, in the most seductive and impish of ways, to look beyond the disjointed nature of his Writer’s texts so as to locate coherence and unity of meaning even if none is intended. We receive in return, subtlety woven, lonely laments of an underappreciated cult writer whose work not only reflects enormous erudition but who ultimately accomplishes what great writers do—push us onward to read another page.
 
Playful and self-conscious, his endeavor in and of itself is not a particularly new one(see: Postmodern Literature). But he may well be the most daring of his generation’s fiction writers (William Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Coover, Kurt Vonnegut, Don Dellilo to name a few) and accordingly, the least well known. His books are not for everyone, traditionalists beware. For those who enjoyed the meta-film Adaptation and what it tells us about the creative act, give This is Not a Novel a try.

Book

This is not a novel
1582431337
]]> This Week in Science History Mar. 11 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17558&blogid=1766 Here are some highlights from this week in science history. For further reading on these intriguing topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. Happy reading! Mar. 10, 1977 the rings of  Uranus  were discovered by stellar occultation experiments. A total of eleven were di

]]> DianeR 2009-03-11T14:54:00Z Here are some highlights from this week in science history. For further reading on these intriguing topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. Happy reading!

Mar. 10, 1977 the rings of Uranus were discovered by stellar occultation experiments. A total of eleven were discovered. Most of the rings are not quite circular and most are not exactly in the plane of the equator. Uranus is the third largest planet in the solar system. Discovered by William Herschel in 1781, it is the seventh planet from the sun. 

Mar. 11, 105, A.D. inventor Tsai Lun, an official of the Imperial Court reported his invention of paper making to the Chinese Emperor. Although 105, A.D. is the often cited date of the birth of paper making, recent archaeological investigations place the invention of paper making some 200 years earlier. Tsai Lun made his paper from a suspension of hemp, tree bark and rags in water.

Mar. 12, 1929 soft drink manufacturer, Asa Griggs Candler died. Candler obtained the very well-kept secret formula for Coca-Cola from pharmacist John “Doc” Pemberton. He is famous for expanding the marketing of Coca-Cola and devoted $50,000 a year to advertising, which was unheard of at that time. His goal was to make the drink a national product. Candler’s product and his advertising blitz influenced many aspects of people’s lives, even the perspective of Santa Claus.

Mar. 14, 1879 German-American physicist Albert Einstein was born. Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 “for his services to Theoretical Physics and especially for his discovery of the law of photoelectric effect”. Well-known for his theories of relativity and gravitation, he revolutionized scientific and philosophic inquiry. His life and discoveries are fascinating to read about. Happy Birthday Mr. E!

Book

Einstein: A Biography
9780374146641
]]> Rita Dove http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17538&blogid=1766 This post may come a little early—April is  National Poetry Month —but I couldn’t wait to blog about my favorite poet,  Rita Dove .  I first discovered the former U.S. Poet Laureate in a writing class at WMU, where I was quickly wowed by her collection of poems called Mother Love .  In  Mother Love , Dove uses the an

]]> Caitlin H. 2009-03-10T14:54:00Z This post may come a little early—April is National Poetry Month—but I couldn’t wait to blog about my favorite poet, Rita Dove.  I first discovered the former U.S. Poet Laureate in a writing class at WMU, where I was quickly wowed by her collection of poems called Mother Love.  In Mother Love, Dove uses the ancient Greek myth about Demeter and Persephone to explore mother-daughter relationships and does it with the grace and insight only a poet has.  I highly recommend it, along with Dove’s American Smooth which celebrates America’s diverse cultural heritage using dance metaphors.

Book

Rita Dove
0393059871
]]> Amazing Baby: The Amazing Story of the First Two Years of Life http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17508&blogid=1766 Remember the  swimming baby  on the cover of  Nirvana’s Nevermind ? Amazing Baby explains infants’ swimming ability along with lots of other amazing baby facts in this really readable book loaded with pictures of lots of incredibly cute babies. Several of the gorgeous full-page color images are paired with semi-tr

]]> BillC 2009-03-09T14:54:00Z Remember the swimming baby on the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind? Amazing Baby explains infants’ swimming ability along with lots of other amazing baby facts in this really readable book loaded with pictures of lots of incredibly cute babies. Several of the gorgeous full-page color images are paired with semi-transparent overlays depicting anatomical systems at baby scale. On the topic of communication, Amazing Baby presents a holistic view of language development from first cries and the uniquely human anatomy that facilitates speech to the immensely important role that caregiver interaction incorporating stories, fingerplays, and nursery rhymes plays in language acquisition: “The more time these companions can give to patient conversation, the quicker a toddler becomes fluent in his spoken language.” The take away message from Amazing Baby: Babies are amazingly complex little beings and the first two years of life are crucially important for healthy development. If you’re expecting a new little person or if your amazing baby has already arrived, check out KPL’s great Baby Storytime programs just for caregivers and their babies from birth to two years old. And don't miss Family Storytime with Mr. Steve and Friends - it's fun for all ages!

Book

Amazing Baby
9781554074198
]]> Latest Woodend story brings a new beginning! http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17506&blogid=1766 A young “colored” girl’s body is found with her throat slit. In spite of her bloodstained red cocktail dress  Charlie Woodend  saw her innocence, character and intellect, and even though everyone else scoffed “Cloggin Charlie” wanted to find her killer. Charlie had to go it alone against threats, slurs, gangster thugs

]]> JudiR 2009-03-09T14:54:00Z A young “colored” girl’s body is found with her throat slit. In spite of her bloodstained red cocktail dress Charlie Woodend saw her innocence, character and intellect, and even though everyone else scoffed “Cloggin Charlie” wanted to find her killer. Charlie had to go it alone against threats, slurs, gangster thugs and direct commands to back off. “What had Pearl been doing?” “Why would a star pupil at the top of her class in a renowned private school hang out in bars?” Sally Spencer has Charlie solving this “Fatal Quest” to send Charlie from a detective sergeant to a chief inspector. If you like Charlie Woodend’s mysteries you won’t want to see this one end because it is where it all began!

 
9780727866820

Book

]]> I Read This Book About Thirty Years Ago... http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17466&blogid=1766 Every month, I read Horn Book magazine.  In the March-April 2009 issue, I came across a wonderful selection by Michael Joseph that pretty much sums up a good many of "do you have this book" type requests that we get from patrons.  Here it is: "We have a patron who is looking for a book she read as a child.  She

]]> AnnF 2009-03-07T14:54:00Z Every month, I read Horn Book magazine.  In the March-April 2009 issue, I came across a wonderful selection by Michael Joseph that pretty much sums up a good many of "do you have this book" type requests that we get from patrons.  Here it is:

"We have a patron who is looking for a book
she read as a child.  She can’t remember
the title.  All she knows is,
there were lots of strange characters
who were large.  They were shaped like flowers or clouds.
They had mouths like apple sections, they smiled a lot
and wore feathers, which implied something, but she isn’t sure
if it had illustrations:  this is just the way the characters were,
she says.  Sometimes they were part of the plot
and sometimes the plot was a part of them.
They moved around in subtle, circular ways, but she can’t
recall names, or any dialogue, and she can’t even say
if the book had a central theme, although maybe it was
There’s no place like home, or All you need is love;
but when we suggest that these sound
too much like the lyrics to songs, she nods her head.
She agrees but can’t recall if the book was green
or how long it took to read it.

While being read, it was part of everything and seemed to move
around a lot.  It traveled with the characters: 
Sometimes they carried it to the mountains or to the lake.
Sometimes the characters were clouds and floated on the lake,

they read to her out of the book that read to them,
and the trout splashed near the boat to listen closer.
The fat lazy bees hovered over sweet honeysuckle.
And all the spooky reeds leaned over to take a look.
Maybe the book has no title or author; but she
would like very, very much to know if p0ossible
here she can find a copy,
or another exactly like it,
for her granddaughter."

While the above may sound a little sarcastic, we CAN and HAVE found books for patrons with less information than this "poem" suggests.  If there is a book that you fondly remember from your childhood, don't hesitate to ask the library staff at any service desk to help you find it.  Chances are it did exist as you remember it, and chances are that we can find it for you!

Book?

I Read This Book About Thirty Year Ago
  

 

]]> Visiting author--Francine Prose http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17460&blogid=1766   Francine Prose  will be visiting the Central Library on Thursday, March 12, 2009 from 8pm-9pm as part of the Gwen Frostic Reading Series, co-sponsored with WMU. Francine is the author of fifteen books of fiction including  A Changed Man , which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her newest book,  Goldengrov

]]> Joanna L 2009-03-06T14:54:00Z  Francine Prose will be visiting the Central Library on Thursday, March 12, 2009 from 8pm-9pm as part of the Gwen Frostic Reading Series, co-sponsored with WMU. Francine is the author of fifteen books of fiction including A Changed Man, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her newest book, Goldengrove, is about a thirteen-year-old girl who must face the loss of a sister, parents who are grieving themselves and her sister’s enigmatic boyfriend. Her novel has been acclaimed as “among the great novels of adolescence."

Please join us.

Book

Changed man
0060196742
]]> Women's History Month http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17450&blogid=1766  March is  National Women’s History Month  with a display on the first floor focusing on women the world over and their accomplishments. This year’s theme is, “Women taking the lead to save our planet”. The Kalamazoo Public Library has many books written by and about women. A recent addition is  Know your Power: a mes

]]> Joanna L 2009-03-06T14:54:00Z  March is National Women’s History Month with a display on the first floor focusing on women the world over and their accomplishments. This year’s theme is, “Women taking the lead to save our planet”. The Kalamazoo Public Library has many books written by and about women. A recent addition is Know your Power: a message to America's daughters by Nancy Pelosi. History of women and the women’s movement can be found in the 301.412’s. There are many biographies which share stories from nurturing and teaching to scientific discoveries. These can be found in the 921’s under the persons last name.

Stop in and check out our display and many more books about women.

Book

Know your power
9780385525862
]]> Looking for your favorite author? http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17404&blogid=1766  Looking for your favorite author’s newest book? The Kalamazoo Library offers a service for resident borrowers called “Book my Favorites” which automatically reserves books for patrons from a long list of authors. One of those authors for me is  Diane Mott Davidson’s  Goldy Bear mysteries set in Colorado. She is a cat

]]> Joanna L 2009-03-05T14:54:00Z  Looking for your favorite author’s newest book? The Kalamazoo Library offers a service for resident borrowers called “Book my Favorites” which automatically reserves books for patrons from a long list of authors. One of those authors for me is Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldy Bear mysteries set in Colorado. She is a caterer with a teenage son and a policeman husband. A lot of murders happen in that small town but Goldy and her friend, Marla, are quick to search for clues and solve the mystery. He latest mystery is Dark Tort.

Book

Dark tort
0060527315
]]> This Week in Science History Mar. 3 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17336&blogid=1766 Here are some highlights from this week in science history. For further reading on these intriguing topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. Happy reading! Mar. 3, 1847 Scottish inventor,  Alexander Graham Bell , was born. Bell, who invented the  telephone  in 1876 and

]]> DianeR 2009-03-03T14:54:00Z Here are some highlights from this week in science history. For further reading on these intriguing topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. Happy reading!

Mar. 3, 1847 Scottish inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, was born. Bell, who invented the telephone in 1876 and formed the Bell Telephone Company in 1877, explored many other fields of science. He worked in the area of flight, invented the forerunner of the iron lung, studied the heredity of deafness and wrote about the education of deaf children to name just a few. He considered the “photophone”, a device which transmitted sound on a beam of light, to be his greatest invention. His life story and incredibly gifted family are fascinating to read about!

Mar. 6, 1879 American forester and “father of the Appalachian Trail”, Benton MacKaye was born. He proposed the trail in an October 1921 article which envisioned a trail through the mountains from the highest point in New England to the highest point in the South. MacKaye was also the founder of the Regional Planning Association of America and a co-founder of The Wilderness Society. The Appalachian Trail, a long and complex project, is the nation’s longest foot path at approximately 2,175 miles long, crosses fourteen states, and touches six national parks.

Mar. 6, 1930 the first individually packaged frozen foods were put on sale by General Foods. This experiment tested the market to see how consumers would react to the idea of frozen food products. Clarence Birdseye got the original idea for his “Birdseye Frosted Foods” from watching Canadians thaw and eat naturally frozen fish.

Mar. 6, 1899 Felix Hoffman patented a pain reliever called “aspirin”. His creation of a chemically pure and stable form of acetylsalicylic acid improved on the earlier impure form derived by French chemist Charles Frederic Gerhardt in 1853. What a miracle creation!

Mar. 6, 1913 physicist, Niels Bohr, wrote his first paper describing his new ideas on atomic structure. Bohr, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1922 for his work on the structure of atoms, escaped Denmark during WWII and spent the last two years of the war associated with the Atomic Energy Project. From an extremely intellectually gifted family, Bohrs devoted his work in later years to political problems surrounding the development of atomic weapons and the peaceful application of atomic physics.

Books

Reluctant Genius: Alexander Graham Bell And The Passion For Invention
1559708093

]]> The Buzz About Small Biz http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=17014&blogid=1766 As the local and national economy struggles and job markets shrink, many have decided to pursue their aspiration of owning and running a small business. Such an enterprise is not an easy endeavor nor is it for everyone. But one of the best things a person interested in actualizing their entrepreneurial dream can do, i

]]> RyanG 2009-02-26T14:54:00Z As the local and national economy struggles and job markets shrink, many have decided to pursue their aspiration of owning and running a small business. Such an enterprise is not an easy endeavor nor is it for everyone. But one of the best things a person interested in actualizing their entrepreneurial dream can do, is to empower themselves with fundamental knowledge of practices and procedures involved in the formation and growth of a small business. Accessing information is vital for successful business owners, both for those looking to start a business and for those already up and running. If you’re a small business owner or investigating whether or not you want to invest your time and money into becoming one, stop by the library and browse our Small Business Collection, located on the second floor. You’ll find books (legal structures, accounting, business planning, financing, marketing strategies, demographic data, tax guides, e.g.) reference materials, magazines, databases, and information about community and library programs that support local entrepreneurs with skills and knowledge training.

Book

The small business start-up kit
9781413307566
]]> Crossbearer: A Memoir of Faith http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=16996&blogid=1766 Joe Eszterhas  is well known for his provocative screenwriting, from Basic Instinct to Flashdance and Showgirls. He has written equally edgy books, such as Hollywood Animal and American Rhapsody . But his latest endeavor must be his most surprising yet – the story of his journey from sinner to “ crossbearer ”

]]> MarthaL 2009-02-25T14:54:00Z Joe Eszterhas is well known for his provocative screenwriting, from Basic Instinct to Flashdance and Showgirls. He has written equally edgy books, such as Hollywood Animal and American Rhapsody. But his latest endeavor must be his most surprising yet – the story of his journey from sinner to “crossbearer” on Sunday as he faithfully processes into church, having rediscovered and embraced his Catholic faith.

This book is down to earth, even gritty as he talks about his life, but Eszterhas comes across as sincere and truly inspired to turn his life around and redeem himself from addictions, guilt, and an empty life.

I found the book mesmerizing – and even a little humorous as Eszterhas relates how no one was more surprised than him when he felt God’s call in his life.

I love books that inspire, and this is definitely one of them.

Book

Crossbearer: A Memoir of Faith
9780312385965
]]> How to be a Good Customer http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=16994&blogid=1766 I seem to have a penchant for bloggers turned book writers. My latest discovery is “The Waiter.” The Waiter blogged anonymously about life in a high-end NYC restaurant and the Big Apple.  He still blogs, but he’s moved on to other topics.  One of his readers, Barb, comments, “Each of your blogs is an adventure into t

]]> Christine 2009-02-25T14:54:00Z I seem to have a penchant for bloggers turned book writers. My latest discovery is “The Waiter.” The Waiter blogged anonymously about life in a high-end NYC restaurant and the Big Apple.  He still blogs, but he’s moved on to other topics.  One of his readers, Barb, comments, “Each of your blogs is an adventure into the human condition,” and I agree.

In Waiter Rant, we get a close-up view of “fine dining” from a server’s perspective, and the frustrating, annoying aspects of dealing with a hungry, finicky public. But the Waiter offers much more: profound observations of human nature; reflections on the importance of pursuing a livelihood that feeds your soul; practical tips on how to “how to be a good customer.” 

In his ranting, the anonymous author wonders often when he’ll find a “real job” and figure out what he wants to do when he grows up.  Well, I think he’s found his right livelihood, and I, for one, hope he’ll keep writing when he grows up.

Book

Waiter rant : thanks for the tip--confessions of a cynical waiter
9780061256684
]]> This Week in Science History Feb. 25 http://www.kpl.gov/blog/Default.aspx?id=16992&blogid=1766 Here are some highlights from this week in science history. For further reading on these intriguing topics, just click on the underlined words in blue print to access the library catalog. Happy reading! Feb. 23, 1954 the Salk vaccine was used in the first mass inoculation of children against  polio  in Pittsburgh,

]]> DianeR 2009-02-25T14:54:00Z Here are some highlights from this week in science history. For further r