On December 13, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a major breakthrough in cold fusion technology. I don’t pretend to understand all the details, but I know there’s a lot of excitement over the possibility for a clean energy future. This seems like an opportune time to focus on books about inventors and inventions.
Humans are by far the most technologically advanced species on Earth, but we often look to nature for inspiration. In “Nature’s Wild Ideas,” Kristy Hamilton explains how the anatomy of lobster eyes provided a blueprint for the design of x-ray telescopes. Similarly, the movement patterns of ants and bees led to innovations in traffic management. And studies of tardigrades — those miniscule masters of survival — have been key in developing better methods of refrigeration. Continue reading “Literary Links: Inventors and Inventions”
Writers often reach into the past to find inspiration and content for their stories. Often an entire event or period is recreated in their books or screenplays or, perhaps, the facts of history simply provide a background for the plots that they weave. The American Civil War captured people’s imaginations even as the muskets and cannons were still being fired. As a pivotal moment in the history of the United States, it is not surprising that the war has found its way into a variety of movies. Continue reading “Hollywood and the American Civil War”
As part of the library’s Winter Reading program “Take Time to Care” we are providing relaxation kits that you can pick up for someone who needs a little TLC. Feel free to pick up one for yourself, too. These kits include yoga for the brain activity cards, links to free relaxation music through the library’s Freegal platform, lavender sachets, adult coloring pages and techniques for meditation, stress reduction, and mindfulness, along with other library resources.
These kits will be available while they last in all of our branches on Friday, February 10. You may pick them up at the second-floor reference desk at the Columbia library and near the service desks at our other branches. You can also try these library resources for more assistance in self-care. We hope this helps you “Take Time to Care.”
Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in February. 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
“The Wise Hours: A Journey Into the Wild and Secret World of Owls” by Miriam Darlington (Feb 7)
Owls have existed for over sixty million years, and in the relatively short time we have shared the planet with these majestic birds they have ignited the human imagination. But even as owls continue to captivate our collective consciousness, celebrated British nature writer Miriam Darlington finds herself struck by all she doesn’t know about the true nature of these enigmatic creatures. Darlington begins her fieldwork in the British Isles with her teenage son, Benji. As her avian fascination grows, she travels to France, Serbia, Spain, Finland, and the frosted Lapland borders of the Arctic for rare encounters with the Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, Long-eared Owl, Pygmy Owl, Snowy Owl and more. But when her son develops a mysterious illness, her quest to understand the elusive nature of owls becomes entangled with her search for finding a cure. In “The Wise Hours,” Darlington watches and listens to the natural world and to the rhythms of her home and family, inviting readers to discover the wonders of owls alongside her while rewilding our imagination with the mystery, fragility and magnificence of all creatures. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: February 2023”
In the summer of 2020, right at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, my daughters and I started volunteering for Loaves and Fishes at Turning Point in Columbia, as people were needed to help serve food there and many volunteers had opted out because of the pandemic. Turning Point, which is housed in the Wilkes Blvd. United Methodist Church, is one of the main day shelters for those experiencing homelessness in the Columbia area. Every evening at 5:30 a meal is served. This act of service was a really great fit for me.
In 2018, I attended Ryan Dowd’s Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness training in Joplin, Missouri. I’ve since become very interested in assisting with unsheltered advocacy in the Mid-Missouri area. Ryan Dowd offers profoundly helpful tools for assisting the unsheltered at the library on a professional level as a public librarian, while on a personal level, he also helped me confront my own biases and to understand how unhoused people perceive the world. One of Dowd’s common refrains is this: empathy is the answer. What many people who have never experienced homelessness don’t realize is that most unsheltered persons come from backgrounds of severe poverty and have experienced serious trauma. Many of us can’t even imagine this place. Continue reading “What Volunteering Means to Me: Loaves and Fishes at Turning Point”
Dianna Borsi O’Brien is a Columbia, MO author whose latest book is “Historic Movie Theaters of Columbia.” The book shares fascinating facts and stories about all 28 movie theaters of Columbia, MO from the 1894 Haden Opera House to today’s Ragtag Cinema. Dianna is a journalist with a passion for local history that she shares on the website CoMoHistoricPlaces.com. Her previous book, “From Melon Fields to Moon Rocks” is a biography of notable local chemist and entrepreneur Charles W. Gehrke. She was kind enough to take the time to be interviewed via email. Continue reading “Q&A With Dianna Borsi O’Brien, Author of “Historic Movie Theaters of Columbia Missouri””
Descriptive audio offers you the opportunity to listen to a movie or TV show with all of the actions and scenery described aloud by a narrator. It’s usually a separate track that you can turn on to hear the purely visual aspects of the video. Listening to this track while watching the primary video track allows blind and visually-impaired people to enjoy the movie just as much as all the other people in the room. Some people say it gives them the feeling that they are listening to an audiobook. It also allowed me to enjoy the silent film “Nosferatu” while I was working at my sewing machine. Continue reading “Descriptive Audio”
Written during the COVID-19 pandemic, Natasha Bowman’s “The Power of One” provides insights and strategies to work toward and/or lead changing unjust systems found in our workplaces, communities and governments through regular, everyday actions no matter what status/job title we have. Using the timely events of the year 2020, this book provides information and motivation, as well as worksheets after each chapter to help guide the reader in this work. I really liked how accessible the information was and how Bowman combined real and sobering facts with encouragement, enthusiasm and compassion.
Three words that describe this book: Leadership, changing, communities
You might want to pick this book up if: You’re looking for motivation to make changes at work, home, your neighborhood, and beyond that bring more humanity, empathy and justice.
-Debbie
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading 2022. We will continue to share these throughout the year.
This month, I am looking at a fascinating collection of recipes, stories, interviews, visual art and essays: “Ghetto Gastro: The Black Power Kitchen” is an amazing book written by three Bronx natives. The text is peppered with wisdom, enlightenment and that Bronx voice. Oh, and some seriously good recipes.
There is so much to like about this book, there’s so much to learn from this book and there’s so much to be inspired by from this book. From the art, the photographs, the interviews, it makes the recipes almost become secondary. In fact, I will inject here that I think the recipes ARE secondary, what I gathered from the text and illustrations was a goal of shifting a mentality. One of those steps is to move away from a meat-based diet. Many of the meals use plant-based options, though there are some items that cannot be replaced, e.g., fish and a very tempting jerk chicken selection. Continue reading “Read the Recipe! Food Is a Weapon”
“The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family” by Ron Howard and Clint Howard is my favorite book of the last year. It’s not a Hollywood tell-all (though there are plenty of interesting stories about their lives in TV and movies), but an homage to their parents and to each other. I particularly enjoyed the format of the book — it alternates between Ron and Clint each bringing forward their own perspective, often serving as a foil to the other in a way that only siblings can. I strongly encourage listening to the audiobook, narrated by the brothers themselves, to fully appreciate the book’s tone and feel. It’s a truly enjoyable memoir.
Three words that describe this book: Heartwarming, candid, comforting
You might want to pick this book up if: You want to read a memoir that’s poignant, funny and heartfelt, or an honest memoir about a remarkable show business family.
-Jeff
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading 2022. We will continue to share these throughout the year.
