There are currently over 6 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease. According to the CDC, “Dementia is not a specific disease but is rather a general term for the impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions that interferes with doing everyday activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. Though dementia mostly affects older adults, it is not a part of normal aging.” The Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Missouri is a local resource for anyone seeking information about Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association says there are many conditions that can cause symptoms of dementia, including some that are reversible, such as thyroid problems and vitamin deficiencies. Alzheimer’s Disease is currently not curable. However, there are some medications and therapies that can slow cognitive decline or help with symptoms. It is good to weigh any medication’s benefits with its side effects. Continue reading “Literary Links: Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia”
Most of us learned something about haiku in school. It’s the tiny poem that packs a big punch. “Many think haiku is strictly a 5-7-5 syllable pattern ending in a 17-syllable poem, and it can be that, but more important is the image. A haiku is the fewest words, one to three lines, that appeal to the senses and focus on nature.” This explanation of the form comes from Missouri Poet Laureate, Maryfrances Wagner, who in conjunction with the Missouri Arts Council, is spearheading the Missouri Haiku Project. “I’m inviting all Missourians to create haiku poems that reflect nature in Missouri and share them, read them or turn them into art,” Wagner says.
The project runs through May 23, with events occurring throughout the state, including “Tea and Haiku” in the Columbia Public Library Friends Room, Tuesday, April 11 at 7-8 p.m. Haiku enthusiast Christine Boyle will be your guide for a fun and relaxed hour of writing and sharing short poems over tea. A selection of your poetry will be displayed in the library following the event! Tea and writing materials will be provided. This program is a part of the Missouri Poet Laureate Haiku Project and is for adults and teens. No registration is required and all skill levels are welcome.
For more haiku joy, take a look at one or more the following titles: Continue reading “Tea & Haiku: Missouri Haiku Project”
Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in April. 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
“A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them” by Timothy Egan (Apr 4)
A historical thriller by the Pulitzer and National Book Award-winning author that tells the riveting story of the Klan’s rise to power in the 1920s, the cunning con man who drove that rise, and the woman who stopped them. The Roaring Twenties — the Jazz Age — has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson. Stephenson was a magnetic presence whose life story changed with every telling. Within two years of his arrival in Indiana, he’d become the Grand Dragon of the state and the architect of the strategy that brought the group out of the shadows — their message endorsed from the pulpits of local churches, spread at family picnics and town celebrations. Judges, prosecutors, ministers, governors and senators across the country all proudly proclaimed their membership. But at the peak of his influence, it was a seemingly powerless woman — Madge Oberholtzer — who would reveal his secret cruelties, and whose deathbed testimony finally brought the Klan to their knees. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: April 2023”
You know the saying “if you’ve met one…” whoever? Well, if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person. Not to say that autistic people are snowflakes, but every one has a very unique set of lived experiences. While representation is improving, the common or popular image of an autistic person (or a person with autism, depending on where you stand with that debate) is usually defined by misrepresentations, oversimplifications or inaccurate portrayals by the media — often representing autistic adults as childlike or a “savant” which is exceedingly rare, even in the autistic community. Also, much that we know about autistic life comes from those neurotypical people that support or interact with neurodivergent people showing autism through the lens of the hardship that it places on caregivers and family rather than how it feels to actually be autistic. Through that lens, autism is seen as an inconvenience to the world rather than how the world affects the person on the autism spectrum.
It’s so important to have representation from many different people of what the autism experience actually feels like for them. Having a diversity of autistic characters in media means that autism will be better understood in society at large. A better understanding of autism means it is safer for autistic people to acknowledge their autism. And when autistic people can live authentically autistic lives, they can flourish. There is currently a paradigm shift happening in the autism community to center people with the hashtag #ActuallyAutistic. Continue reading “#ActuallyAutistic: April is Autism Acceptance Month”
This month, I would like to look at “Greenfeast: Spring, Summer.” This completes the coverage of seasons started in “Greenfeast: Autumn, Winter ” which I wrote about previously.
As you may guess, in this volume author Nigel Slater gives dishes that are generally lighter, fresher and visually brighter.
One of my favorite parts of this collection is that the time commitment seems to be quite short; who wants to spend hours in a hot kitchen during summer? Simple dishes and small ingredient lists make for quick dinners. Eating fresh, plant-based dishes also gives you an excuse to visit the farmer’s market, by the way.
The recipes are mostly vegetarian-friendly and can be made to even vegan standards (with slight modifications), if necessary. Each dish is given a ridiculously brief name, mainly because the recipes are simple. The only issue I can see is some ingredients can be a bit difficult to find, but I like to think that gives me the freedom to make it my own.
Recipes are sectioned by time of day, or an indication of how it is prepared or how it is served. A couple that caught my eye: Mustard Guacamole, Mozzarella, Bagel looks like a great breakfast sandwich. Pasta, Tomatoes (see what I mean about ridiculously brief names) could be scaled up to create a nice dinner with lunch leftovers.
As a companion to “Autumn, Winter” I think this succeeds in finishing the task set by the author. Enjoy!
We spend plenty of time learning how to talk. It’s how you get the job; how you win people over; how you lead someone where you want them to go. But what about the other side of communication — the rich, endless, less popular art of listening?
Life often demands that we view conversations as opportunities to impress or unload. But what happens if we approach every conversation as a shared adventure — a chance to go somewhere new, together? Here are some books to get you thinking about your relationships as plants and your conversations as water. Continue reading “March Literary Links: Nurturing Your Relationships”
“Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories,” is the theme for Women’s History Month this year, and I don’t think they could have picked a better theme.
At our core, humans are creatures of stories. Long before the written word, we used oral storytelling to convey important information and ideas and most importantly, meaning. Whether you write advertising copy, political speeches, novels or text books, effective communicators know that people learn best through stories. To resonate with people you have to have a compelling narrative. This is why it is vital to have women’s voices in all corners of our society. This includes, but isn’t limited to, books. So let’s start with women authors. Continue reading “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories”
Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in March. 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
“Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult: A Memoir” by Michelle Dowd (Mar 7)
As a child, Michelle Dowd grew up on a mountain in the Angeles National Forest. She was born into an ultra-religious cult — or the Field as they called it — started in the 1930s by her grandfather, a mercurial, domineering, and charismatic man who convinced generations of young male followers that he would live 500 years and ascend to the heavens when doomsday came. Comfort and care are sins, Michelle is told. As a result, she was forced to learn the skills necessary to battle hunger, thirst, and cold; she learned to trust animals more than humans; and most importantly, she learned how to survive in the natural world. At the Field, a young Michelle lives a life of abuse, poverty, and isolation, as she obeys her family’s rigorous religious and patriarchal rules — which are so extreme that Michelle is convinced her mother would sacrifice her, like Abraham and Isaac, if instructed by God. She often wears the same clothes for months at a time; she is often ill and always hungry for both love and food. She is taught not to trust Outsiders, and especially not Quitters, nor her own body and its warnings. But as Michelle gets older, she realizes she has the strength to break free. Focus on what will sustain, not satiate you, she tells herself. Use everything. Waste nothing. Get to know the intricacies of the land, like the intricacies of your body. And so she does. Using stories of individual edible plants and their uses to anchor each chapter, “Forager” is both a searing coming-of-age story and a meditation on the ways in which understanding nature can lead to freedom, even joy. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: March 2023”
Here are just a select few of the many promising debut titles coming out in March 2023. These have all received multiple positive reviews from library journals. If you’re interested in seeing a longer list of titles, please visit our catalog.
“Weyward” by Emilia Hart
I am a Weyward, and wild inside.
2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great-aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch hunts of the 17th century.
1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.
1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family’s grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives — and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word “weyward” scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.
Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart’s “Weyward“ is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world. Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: March 2023”
I can admit it: I’m slow to adopt new trends, but I have recently (finally?) become enthralled with podcasts. I have always just had so many books I wanted to read that it was really hard for podcasts to break through to my awareness. Although, in my defense, I was actually listening to podcasts before they were called podcasts on NPR with shows like “This American Life,” “Radiolab” and “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.” A lot of podcasts remind me of my favorite books of conversational essays. The podcasts I have recently found have been highly entertaining and engaging — like sitting with a friend and enjoying a cup of coffee while catching up on interesting tidbits. Some of the podcasts follow true crime cases. Some take a deeper look at cultural moments or things we may not remember fully (or correctly) from history. And some just talk of random things. Continue reading “Books That Read Like a Podcast”
