Spring break! For my family, that usually means a long car trip and a bunch of audiobooks to make the time pass quickly. I tend to listen to a lot of audiobooks anyway, but spring break demands a little more.
The first requirement of a spring break audiobook is an overall appeal for a variety of listeners (minimal girly stuff for the boy and minimal gory stuff for the girl). Luckily, all of our travelers are over the age of 13 so I’m not quite as restrictive as I used to be. Secondly, the narration must be of the highest quality. The last requirement is that the length fit with the time frame of the trip. It’s very frustrating to get to the end of a trip and have half a book left. Continue reading “Spring Break: Hit the Road With Great Audiobooks!”
Do you like to eat well in the sense that you want your food to be delicious and nutritious? I think most people would answer “yes” to that question. Is it challenging to provide meals that fit the delicious/nutritious definition for yourself and/or your family members? Most of us would have to answer “yes,” at least some of the time, because we all know life makes many competing demands of our time. Continue reading “Freezer Meals: Eating Well When Time is Limited (or You Just Need a Break from Cooking)”
The idea of humorless scientists who wear white coats and carry clipboards is a media stereotype that isn’t always accurate. Take a look at these documentaries to see a variety of modern scientists who don’t conform to this typical stereotype as they follow their quests to understand our world.
“Particle Fever” (2013)
Follow six scientists during the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, marking the start-up of the biggest and most expensive experiment in the history of the planet. As they seek to unravel the mysteries of the universe, 10,000 scientists join forces in pursuit of a single goal: to recreate conditions that existed just moments after the Big Bang and find the Higgs boson. Continue reading “White Coats Optional: Docs Featuring Scientists”
In March of 1969 the literary world was changed forever by Mario Puzo’s book “The Godfather.” Gangster stories were not a completely new idea, but Puzo’s take on the story offered a glimpse at life on the inside of a New York City crime family. Readers were enthralled with the drama surrounding the legendary Don Vito Corleone and his sons. The book inspired what many would say is one of the greatest movies of all time, and its influence can be seen more recently in one of the most popular television series of all time. Here are a few mafia-related titles available at the library. Continue reading “Beyond The Godfather: Gangster Fiction at the Library”
With Daylight Saving Time in full swing, you get a whole extra hour of light for your evening reading, and perfect timing, because April’s edition of LibraryReads is ready for your perusal! There are a number of best-selling authors with new books this month, as well as some lesser-known authors. With books ranging the genres, this list is handpicked by librarians across the country.
“A Twist in Time” by Julie McElwain
“Time-traveling FBI Agent Kendra Donovan remains stranded in 1858 England. When her confidante and potential lover, Alec, is accused of murdering his former mistress, Kendra must use her modern investigative skills to work through the list of suspects and clear Alec’s name. Kendra must also decide whether to stay in the past with Alec or to continue to try to find a way back to the present. If she makes it home, what will be waiting for her? Highly recommended to readers of historical romance, romantic suspense, and time travel.”
–Glenda Ramsey, Catawba County Library System, Newton, NC Continue reading “April 2017 LibraryReads: Top Ten Books Librarians Love”
Each year the National Women’s History Project chooses a theme for Women’s History Month. This year’s theme is “Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business.” Over the last century, women saw much change and progress in many areas of their lives, but especially in employment. As men went off to war and women pursued higher education, doors that were previously shut flew open. It was not an easy societal transition, and many women have had to fight for equality in their workplaces. The efforts of these 20th century revolutionaries ended up improving working conditions for everyone and demonstrated that woman can take on any type of job.
Many women entered the U.S. workforce during the 1960s, but they often obtained jobs that offered little or no advancement. In order to reach equality in the workplace with men, some women began turning to the judicial system for help. For example, Lynn Povich’s “The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued Their Bosses and Changed the Workplace” tells the true story of a group of women who lead the first female class action lawsuit against their employer for discrimination in hiring and promotions based on gender. Povich examines the lawsuit and the various repercussions it had on the lives of the women involved. Continue reading “Literary Links: Women’s History in the Work World”
The Oxford Dictionary defines “craft” as “an activity involving skill in making things by hand.” In this day and age when everything is machine made, why should we make anything by hand?
Carrie Barron, MD and Alton Barron, MD, authors of “The Creativity Cure: A Do-It-Yourself Prescription for Happiness” have found that working with our hands and engaging in creative activities can improve our mood, give us a brain boost and help us focus on the present, instead of dwelling on problems in the past. “Making is crucial for happiness, health and mind expansion,” they explain. Continue reading “March Is National Craft Month”
Each month, we host Facebook Friday Recommendations online. You can get personalized recommendations — all you need to do is find our Facebook Friday post and comment with two or three books or authors you like, and we’ll help you find your next great read! Here are the recommendations from March 2017.
Request: Off work today and looking for a good read. I really enjoyed Liane Moriarty’s “Big Little Lies.” What authors like her do you recommend? Thanks!
Recommendation: Hey there! Another author known for her character-driven stories about women’s lives is Elin Hilderbrand. Start with her book “The Blue Bistro.” If you’re in the mood for something historical, give “The Ship of Brides” by Jojo Moyes a try. Another page turner about female relationships you might enjoy is “Sheer Abandon” by Penny Vincenzi. Hopefully one of these authors will strike your fancy! Continue reading “Facebook Friday Archives- March 3, 2017”
“The Sympathizer” by Viet Thanh Nguyen won the Pulitzer Prize and the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author in 2016. He’s clearly trending up from an already lofty perch: in 2017 he’s published an acclaimed collection of short stories (“The Refugees”) and is now officially recommended by a gentleman.
“The Sympathizer” takes the form of a confession by a communist agent embedded in the National Police of South Vietnam. Fortunately for readers, this communist agent has a talent for characterization, narrative building and sentence spinning. Rarely does a paragraph go by, let alone a page, without a sentence that is worthy of applause. While frequent breaks to stand and clap in the direction of the book definitely slow down the reading process, it does afford one the chance to savor the writing, and as the Pulitzer committee recognized (as they sometimes do), this is writing worthy of savoring. It’s also a narrative worthy of that 10-more-minutes style bargaining that inevitably leads to sleep deprivation and calluses caused by excessive clapping. Continue reading “The Gentleman Recommends: Viet Thanh Nguyen”
Book I Read: “The Wonder” by Emma Donoghue
Why I Checked It Out: The author already has one critically-acclaimed book under her belt (“Room”) so I was curious to see if she had created another. The story features a nurse who trained under Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War, so it promised to deliver a strong female protagonist, which is another factor that drew me to it. And lastly, it contained an element of mystery, which I figured would be sure to pull me in. Continue reading “Staff Book Review: The Wonder by Emma Donoghue”
