Saturday, December 21 from 12-6 a.m. access to library services will be intermittently unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. All library locations will be closed December 24 & 25 as well as December 31 & January 1.
From my readings on social media, I’ve learned that a number of us are acquiring sewing machines in December. People are excited about the opportunities and asking advice, talking about first projects and worrying about machine settings.
There is also a bit of worry about running your thumb under the needle (ouch!). Sorry to say that none of these books will protect you from what is a very rare accident, but the books in this article absolutely will give you more information than your manual provides. For those of us who adopt used machines, the manual will possibly be long-gone. Continue reading “You and Your New Sewing Machine”
Posted on Wednesday, December 18, 2024 by Decimal Diver
Here is a new DVD list highlighting various titles recently added to the library’s collection.
“Godzilla Minus One” – Website / Reviews An Oscar winner for visual effects, this Japanese sci-fi/action film takes place in post-war Japan as traumatized survivors must fight off a giant, devastating monster.
“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” – Website / Reviews
With the format of a mockumentary, this quirky and heartwarming comedy portrays the life of Marcel, a small sea snail (animated in stop motion) who lives with his grandmother.
“Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger” – Website / Reviews
In this documentary, director Martin Scorsese reflects on filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, whose decades-long collaboration led to a series of classics in of British cinema.
“Moonflower Murders” – Season 1 – Website / Reviews Based on the bestselling book, this series follows editor-turned sleuth Susan Ryeland who must solve a disappearance by investigating the truth behind a real-life murder detailed in a novel.
CreativeBug has classes on Eco-Friendly gift wrapping, furoshiki, and making your own holiday decorations.
Co-written by Max Carmony and Maggie M.
Getting ready to celebrate the winter holiday season? Some simple changes can make your holiday more sustainable.
Instead of buying rolls of wrapping paper, try wrapping gifts with re-purposed materials. Newspaper, magazines, paper bags and the kraft paper that often comes as packing material in boxes all make excellent wrapping materials. CreativeBug has multiple classes on eco-friendly gift wrapping, making your own wrapping paper and making holiday decorations.
Furoshiki — the Japanese art of wrapping gifts in cloth — is a beautiful and easily re-useable way to wrap gifts too. We have several books that demonstrate Furoshiki methods and CreativeBug has classes on it as well.
Ditch tape and use glue to secure your gifts or tie wrappings closed with twine, yarn or paper ribbon — it’s best to avoid the plastic or nylon ribbon which won’t decompose and can become a hazard for wildlife.
When I heard that “Hello Stranger” by Katherine Center was going to be the next First Thursday book, I had my doubts about how much there would be to discuss. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good romance novel, but it’s not what I usually expect to read for a book club. If that’s your concern too, you can stop worrying.
Center is a smart and thoughtful writer, and while her books pivot around a central theme of love, there are more layers to be found — and discussed.
Among the layers in this particular book, are the ideas of cognitive bias and confirmation bias. If you don’t know what these are are, read “Hello Stranger.” I can’t imagine a more enjoyable introduction to the concepts. If you’re already familiar with them, read “Hello Stranger” and enjoy watching the concepts in action.
Other themes include living with an invisible disability, surviving grief and loss, and a dash of neuropsychology.
Perhaps the biggest source of discussion could be the confirmation bias (or pre-judgements) about the romance genre. Take a moment to check the bias you may be bringing to this book and this genre before you read it. Join us Thursday, January 2nd at noon to share your thoughts.
Posted on Wednesday, December 11, 2024 by Decimal Diver
Mollie Jackman is a Columbia, MO author whose debut book is “Ornithomancy.” The book offers poetry and illustrations that explore loss and how we get through it. Jackman is a graduate of Lindenwood University with an MFA in writing who runs a freelance business as a writer/editor and has a job as a full-time copywriter. She was kind enough to take the time to be interviewed via email. Continue reading “Q&A With Mollie Jackman, Author of “Ornithomancy””
2024, what a year, huh? It feels both like forever ago and just last week when I started the Read Harder Challenge. For anyone following along, or anyone who read the blog title, you might think, “this is it! Michael is going to share their last four books of the challenge!”, and dear reader, I failed. I came very close to finishing the challenge, and I stumbled at the very end, which I knew was going to be the most difficult part.
From the Book Riot website, “the challenge is made up of 24 tasks (an average of two per month) that invite readers to explore formats, genres, and perspectives that might go beyond their reading comfort zones. How you approach Read Harder is up to you: you can read one book per task or count one book for multiple tasks. The point of the challenge isn’t to do the thing one particular way but to push yourself to diversify your TBR.” My goal was to read 24 different books that met the tasks, and review them, sharing my first attempt at reading harder, and I managed to read and review 21 books! As it turns out though, starting the challenge a full month into the year, and then plotting out what to read when and leaving two 500+ page books for the last two months of the year, while also taking multiple graduate school classes is uhhhh, not a good idea! And we find ourselves thus. Continue reading “Reading Harder in 2024: The Finale!”
December is a busy time, filled with lots of get togethers and sharing and celebration. But it can also serve as a time for reflection as we face the reality of another year come and just about gone. For some, it’s ending on a high note, while others find themselves in a season of despair. Let’s check out some books on endings as we bring another year to a close.
“The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On” by Franny Choi is a collection of poetry that presents a sharp, but often tender look at the multiple ways the world has ended and yet manages to continue on. Her writing delves into the challenges humanity, particularly those on the margins, has faced. This includes living (and dying) through a global pandemic, the painful legacy of racism in this country, which the Black Lives Matter movement has illuminated and the far-ranging horrors of the atomic bomb dropped long ago in Hiroshima. Though heavy with the despairs we face, Choi’s poems help lighten the emotional load with glimpses of hope: the life that emerges from a landscape decimated by an atomic bomb and the powerful legacies left by those taking collective action. Continue reading “Literary Links: Thinking About Endings”
Posted on Friday, December 6, 2024 by The Biblio-Buckaroo
What does it mean to be a good neighbor? In a literal sense, it could mean checking in on a person who lives near you. You might offer to bring them some soup if they are feeling poorly, or you might mow their lawn if they are not able. In a community sense, it could mean that you help at a school bake sale or join a local organization like City of Refuge, CoMo Preservation or Room at the Inn CoMo. On a bigger scale, you can be a good neighbor by voting, practicing environmental stewardship, using good manners online (and in person) or sharing a talent or skill with the world. The library has a wide range of books to inspire you to be the best neighbor you can be.
In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General put out an advisory on the healing effects of social connection and connectivity, saying, “Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling — it harms both individual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death.” The following books offer helpful advice for increasing social connectivity and decreasing loneliness. Being a good neighbor can actually save your life! Continue reading “Good Neighbors”
If Sally Rooney has a million readers, then I am one of them. If Sally Rooney has one reader, then I am that one. If Sally Rooney has no readers, then I do not exist. If Sally Rooney… you get it.
What I’m trying to say is, I am honored to present you with my review of “Intermezzo”—Sally Rooney’s recent, gorgeous offering to the world of contemporary fiction, in which her celebrity already looms large. (I am honored, really, to have read it at all.)
Returning Rooney readers will find familiarity here: Elegant, intelligent characters, thrillingly plain conversation, sudden tenderness at every turn, bonds that seem to originate from the soul. A woman who is very ill, vulnerable always to pain; a man tortured by the movements of his heart, acting with both extreme sensitivity and destructive force. A wealth of worthy quotes:
Nights he no longer has to spend trapped in claustrophobic solitude, self-medicated, panic attack or am I dying how to tell. Instead the deep replenishing reservoir of her presence.
Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in December. All of the mentioned titles are available to put on hold in our catalog and will also be made available via the library’s Overdrive website on the day of publication in eBook and downloadable audiobook format (as available). For a more extensive list of new nonfiction books coming out this month, check our online catalog.
Top Picks
“Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter” by Clare Mulley (Dec 3)
During World War II, Elzbieta Zawacka — the WWII female resistance fighter known as Agent Zo — was the only woman to reach London as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command. In Britain, she became the only woman to join the Polish elite Special Forces, known as the “Silent Unseen.” She was secretly trained in the British countryside, and then she was the only female member of these forces to be parachuted back behind enemy lines to Nazi-occupied Poland. There, while being hunted by the Gestapo (who arrested her entire family), she took a leading role in the Warsaw Uprising and the liberation of Poland. After the war, she was discharged as one of the most highly decorated women in Polish history. Yet the Soviet-backed post-war Communist regime not only imprisoned (and tortured) her, but also ensured that her remarkable story remained hidden for over 40 years. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: December 2024”
Here is a new DVD list highlighting various titles recently added to the library’s collection.
