Cookbook varieties

This time of year, cooking is a frequent topic at the library.  Perhaps it is the bounty of the harvest in need of preservation or the cooler weather inviting more activity near a stove.  While handmade Halloween treats have become a rarity outside of family and friends, Ruidoso Public Library has a few cookbooks, entertainment books, and friendly librarians ready to help search for an ideal creation.

Dia de los Muertos offers many cultural staples to cook, from sugar skulls to pan de muerto.  Veterans Day may not have touchstone cuisine yet, but library shelves offer many colorful, detailed windows on history's events.  Thanksgiving plans are a piece of pie with entertainment books, cookbooks, and history, too.

Our shelves offer books for cooking with children, creating science experiments, or step-by-step pictures for the complete kitchen novice.

With ski season around the corner, The Ski House Cookbook caught my eye.

       

Cookbooks cover medical conditions, too.  If you know someone coping with chemotherapy, one book focuses on how to appeal to a waning appetite and unpredictable stomach with food's texture, color, or taste.  Vegetarianism, diabetes, and allergies are topics of other cookbooks on the shelf.

P.S.:  Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend.  Luckily the clocks "Fall" back an hour this time, so sleep in or enjoy an extra hour of your favorite hobby.

P.P.S: Come early Wednesday for the Hawks Aloft presentation as seating may be at a premium.  If you can drop in today or tomorrow, sign up in advance with Sharon at the front desk.

Map your favorite book!

Image from Lucius Beebe Memorial Library on flickr

Have you read a book and wondered what the location really looked like?  In my case, I did not read Tony Hillerman's Jim Chee mysteries until after I had lived south of Gallup and Grants for several months and moved away from the state for a couple of years.  Yet I found having the personal knowledge of the towns, distances, and local quirks contributed depth to my appreciation of the novels.
In my mother's case, when she read Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch books, she wondered how many places were based on a real place.  As luck would have it, another fan of the books shared that thought and made a Google map to answer.

If connecting a story to real places catches your fancy, you might also be interested in the Placing Literature project here: http://placingliterature.wordpress.com/page/2/ .  This project focuses on books set in Duluth, New Haven, and San Francisco (see their site for the reading list).

If you are interested in following walks through well-known towns and titles, Ruidoso Public Library has three: one for Santa Fe, another for Dickensian London, and one on Hemingway's Paris.

Armchair travel connects exotic locales and literature without leaving the comfort of home (or the public computers at the library!).  I found a Google map of St. Petersburg, Russia, including photos of locations from Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment (available online to read or listen to).  Comment below, email the library, or call us if you would like to find a map connecting a specific author, book, or city through literature.

Please check out Abby's introduction to computer stuff

Here at Ruidoso Public Library, we field many questions about computers.  Libraries are about information and connecting visitors with answers to questions, in any format or medium.  The staff are happy to help with your question, whether how to reply to an email or how to find a book.

Available in Ruidoso

If you are curious about computers, there's a new book in town:  Is This Thing On? by Abby Stokes.  If you wish to read a little sample of her style, I suggest this link for a sneak peak: http://abbyandme.com/posts/cracking-the-web-page-code

I would suggest that post for anyone.  From it, I learned phrases to use when teaching someone new to computers--phrases that are free of computer terms.  If you design webpages or have been confused by a webpage (What's a webpage?  Abby's book is for you), Abby's short post reveals tricks that might help you.

If you don't see the book on the shelf at 004.16 Sto, please ask at the front desk.  We can call you when it comes back in, or save a place for you if it becomes popular.

Christian Fiction sampler from New York Public Library

Many of my ideas for posts arise from other blogs and articles in the library "blogosphere," such as today's.  A librarian from New York's Public Library wrote about how to find one popular genre of stories.  I have edited the article and links to reflect the Ruidoso Public Library's collection.

If you have questions about a specific genre or format (such as audio or graphic novels) please ask in the comments below, by email, or phone.

God in the Stacks: The Scoop on Christian Fictionby Jean Harripersaud, Bronx Library CenterMarch 27, 2013

You can say it started in 1678 with the publication of John Bunyan's Pilgrim Progress. Then along came Hall Caine'sThe Christian (1897) and C.S Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia in the 1950s. Fast forward to the 21st century, major news magazines such as Time were talking about the Left Behind series. Yes, my interest was piqued when I read a 2002 Time magazine cover article titled "Apocalypse Now"about the popularity of the series. I checked them out of the library and read each one in order. I was intrigued and fascinated.

I decided to give a little more attention to the genre. My interest intensified over the last few years as I observed the genre really taking off and expanding into many sub-genres. I found various list of authors online and decided I would read at least one book by every author in the genre. It was an ambitious feat and I faced the challenge of new authors being published regularly and also, reading every book published by an author I particularly like.

I also discovered many authors not mentioned on the Internet by doing a keyword search in the catalog on "Christian fiction." ...[F]ound the king of legal thrillers — Robert Whitlow.  We have Jimmy in large print.

Christian Fiction can be defined as follows, according to a Library Journal Book Buzz on Christian Fiction (2009):  

"...Most readers would agree that there is a core of biblically-based attitudes, values, and actions, and likely there would be very little, if any, profanity, sex or violence. Generally, Christian fiction has religious themes infused into a regular genre story. ... Christian fiction gives readers characters and situations that demonstrate the growth of faith, depth and breadth of moral responsibility, the possibility of conversion and redemption, and examples of Christian living for men and women of all ages, races and cultures."

Christian Fiction are books written by primarily Christian authors with one or more of the following characteristics: an overarching Christian theme, embracing Christian values and behavior, characters who have faith in God. The Christy Awards and later on the Carol Awards were established to recognize best fiction published in the genre. Pilgrim Progress is an allegorical work of the journey of a Christian from this world to heaven. In the Chronicles of Narnia, Jesus is Aslan the Lion, the ever present guide. The Left Behind series is a fictional series based on Biblical prophecy and historical facts about events regarding the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus as King.

If you have read and enjoyed faith based fiction, here are some others you may enjoy. You can borrow them from the Ruidoso Public Library with a library card. If you are a digital reader, you can download and read library e-books for free. I have enjoyed many of them on my tablet while waiting for appointments.

Amish Fiction

Beverly Lewis - The Courtship of Nellie Fisher: The Longing, The Parting, The Forbidden
Mary Ellis - Abigail's New Hope

Fiction

Jonathan Cahn - The Harbinger
Karen Kingsbury - The Bailey Flanigan Series: Leaving, Longing, Loving

Historical Fiction

Lynn Austin - Song of Redemption
Kathleen Morgan - A Love Forbidden
Janette Oke - Dana's Valley
Tracie Peterson - Hope Rekindled
Francine Rivers -  A Voice in the Wind

Legal Thriller

John Grisham - The Street Lawyer, The Last Testament
Robert Whitlow - Jimmy

Murder/Mystery/Crime

Davis Bunn - The Amber Room
Ted Dekker - Thr3e

Romance/Romantic Suspense

Colleen Coble - Lonestar Sanctuary
Catherine Palmer - The Happy Room

Supernatural/Science Fiction

Frank Peretti - This Present Darkness, Piercing the Darkness, Monster, and The Visitation

William P. Young - The Shack, Crossroads

Good Day for a Picnic, and other ideas to enjoy the summer

Summer is a great time to connect with your kids and/or the outdoors.  Try these titles to find ideas for foods to pack or how to keep the experience fun.  Enjoy the forest before it closes, or just practice in your backyard.



Good Day for a Picnic   Simple Food that Travels Well


Hungry Monkey: A Food-loving Father's Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater



Camping with Kids



Best Hikes with Children in New Mexico 

For more adventurous hikers:

Trail guide Lincoln National Forest Smokey Bear, Sacramento & Guadalupe Ranger Districts by John W. Stockert ; In cooperation with the staff at Lincoln National Forest.



If it is too hot to hike, these books provide points with purpose for a local road trip.
       
Travel guidebooks of local historical markers

This one was a staple during my childhood here.  It explains the colors, sediments, and geo-history seen staring out the car window.

Roadside Geology of NM

Did I miss one?  Let me know, by email or comment below, if you recommend another library book for picnicking or local tour information.  Thanks in advance!

Free audiobooks this summer!

I hope you recall SYNC from last summer.  If it is new to you, here is a great opportunity to catch up on classics and current titles. I'd love to hear your experiences from the last two summers in the comments below.

As you may have experienced while downloading audiobooks from the library, you usually have only two weeks to listen to it.  The SYNC summer titles are different.  The publishers are giving away open copies.  The hitch is: you can only download that week's title during that week.

Luckily, you can receive a text message (SMS) reminder on your phone to know when each new title becomes available.  Last year I programmed reminders in my email calendar.  This year, I may try the texts.

Last year, I really enjoyed The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud, read by Simon Jones, and Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone, read by Khristine Hvam.

Here's the schedule for this summer, beginning May 30 [which means you still have a day or two to catch the first titles!].

You will need the Overdrive software or app to play the audiobooks.  You may want to download them on a computer in case you want to listen to several of them (again!) later.

Remember, ebooks count for summer reading at Ruidoso Public Library.  Comment below or on this blog's Summer Reading Program page to tell Cheryl and Kari Dawn which books you downloaded to read or listen to.  If you are under 13, ask your parent or guardian to help with an email address.

DIY AR finder (RSVP for April touch screen class)

A few weeks ago, the ladies in Children's mentioned how many parents ask for reading suggestions for their children, but also want to know the Accelerated Reading (AR) score and level.  Cheryl and Kari Dawn are happy to help, but often very busy.  Luckily, another librarian created a 3 minute video explaining the process.  If you have not visited the children's webpage lately, the links are there to the video, the ARbookfinder website, and the blog post where I learned about it.

The AR Bookfinder is not linked to Ruidoso Public Library's catalog of books available on the shelf.  Are you a coder interested in developing an API (code or program) to link them?  Currently, anyone is welcome to look up the book or level you are interested in the bookfinder, then take the title to the library's catalog to see if it is available.  Alternately, find many books that catch your eye at the library, then look each up at the bookfinder website.

Ideally, AR helps motivate reluctantly learners to adopt a lifelong habit of reading.  When this is not the case, there are many more avenues to try.  Audiobooks let active kids hear and learn new vocabulary in context and keep up with their peers' reading level, or multitask homework with chore time, athletic events travel, or just a chance to run around.  Disclaimer: don't cross the street without removing headphones or earbuds, to listen for cross traffic.  Visual learners may revel in graphic novels, such as illustrated classics or a biography of Steve Jobs.


                  

Summer Reading Programs, such as Cheryl's and Kari Dawn's, are a great way to keep up the reading habit between school years.  Students retain more information year-on-year and start learning new material sooner each fall when they participate in Summer Reading Programs.  Keep an eye on the Children's and Teens' pages on our website for details on when and how to sign up, a calendar of events, and this year's grand prizes.  Last year, one reader won an e-reader, several won bicycles, and even a hefty gift certificate.

P.S.  April 16th, at 10 am, Robert Walshe and Jennifer Stubbs will have a beginners' orientation for touch-screen devices.  RSVP by April 9th at 575-258-3704 or by email, or even comment below, with the type and size of device you have.  It's on our calendar, too.  Apples, Androids, Windows 8, smartphones, tablets, and mediaplayers (such as iPod touch or Galaxy) are all welcome.

Speak up for Libraries' Access to Ebooks (and craft requests for Children's Library)

If you have not yet heard, there's a controversy out there.

Many of the newest, most popular books, are not available to libraries as ebooks.  Some that are have prices (to libraries) that might cause your jaw to drop.  Luckily, action is possible now.  Several websites are hosting information or petitions. Facebook has a group.  [Did you know Facebook changed the rules recently on "liking Pages"?  Now you not only have to like the page, but then, on that page, click on the little box with a gear and select "add to list"--and you may need to name that list the first time--in order to ever see that page's posts in your regular news-stream.]

One library advocate made a short video, comparing which titles you are accustomed to seeing in hardback at the library and which are still not available to libraries electronically.  http://youtu.be/l5anyt9jooI or

The blog where this video first posted is:
http://ebooksforlibraries.com/news/libraries-advocacy-and-ebooks-whos-doing-what/
It is one place to keep current with developments on this issue.

One library system is leading the charge.  Here is their specific list of actions to take: http://www.piercecountylibrary.org/books-materials/audiobooks-ebooks/Default.htm#scrooge

Does this affect you? Let us know in the comments or chat with us during your next visit.

P. S.: The Children's department hopes to collect stacks of the following items for this year's Summer Reading Programs crafts:
styrofoam trays (the kind under meats or produce at the store)
oatmeal containers
metal coffee cans (1 to 2 lb and 5 lb)
scrap 2x4s (about 5 inches)
net bags (the orange mesh around fruit and root vegetables)
everlasting flowers, or fresh flowers to dehydrate into everlasting displays
And just as a reminder: the rolls in wrapping paper or paper towels
the lids on juice bottles or milk jugs

Great Resources: Book Spot, Academics Review;School Board Elections; & New Artist on display at the library

When you need a book suggestion at the middle of the night (and the library is closed) BookSpot.com is a place to try.  It has discussion questions, reading lists, and even recommendations on which e-reader to buy.  If you want help finding a new genre, author, or read-a-likes (because you already read everything by your favorite author), this is one place to start.  Other options are GoodReads and Shelfari, which have more social networking and splashier, newer graphics.  While these latter two request a login, you do not need an account to glean ideas for what to read next.

The next place I want to share is Academics Review.  Its mission statement:

"Academics Review is an association of academic professors, researchers, teachers and credentialed authors from around the world who are committed to the unsurpassed value of the peer review in establishing sound science. We stand against falsehoods, half-baked assertions and theories or claims not subjected to this kind of rigorous review. "  

In my opinion, Academics Review is Snopes.com with PhDs and credentials.  Both sites are a great first stop after receiving an email from a friend or a suggestion to watch a movie or read a book that sounds like fear-mongering.  Key phrases in the quote above are "credentialed authors" and "peer review."  When an idea, argument, or proposal--and its author(s)--can withstand the dynamic dialogue of other, widely-recognizable specialists in the same field, the idea gains merit and becomes more worth your while.  If you have checked out the DVD, Genetic Roulette, from the library, you might want to peruse a few responses at Academics Review:
http://academicsreview.org/reviewed-content/genetic-roulette/

Inform yourself from multiple perspectives, especially on these hot button topics.

As a public library, we present many different opinions to minimize the risk of presenting one biased view.  Part of life is learning how to recognize what information to question, when, and how.  If you can, read, or listen to the audio of, Daniel Kahneman's book Thinking Fast and Slow to help attune your brain to bias and spin.  In today's world, the flood of information, through the internet, on television, or radio, requires these new skills.  Librarians specialize in learning them. But more importantly, we specialize in teaching you or guiding you through.  Think of us as Sherpas to the mountain of information.

P.S. School Board Elections are Tuesday, February 5, at the Convention Center.

P.P.S.  Carla Lee Morrow's art is now on display at Ruidoso Public Library.  If you are not able to see her originals at the library, her website is DragonLadyArt.com.  You can view her touring schedule, too.

Books under discussion

Back in October, a local book group met and discussed these books.  Check with us to see when they will meet again.  Titles available in the library are hyperlinked to see if currently available or request your copy.

The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall

Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray

Wild Card Quilt: The Ecology of Home by Janisse Ray

Dr Orloff's Guide to Intuitive Healing 5 Steps to Physical, Emotional, and Sexual Wellness by Judith Orloff, MD

In the Water They Can't See You Cry by Amanda Beard

True Stories of Censorship--Battles in America's Libraries edited by Nye/Borco

Hearts and Hands: Creating Community in Violent Times by Luis Rodriguez

Always Running by Luis Rodriguez

War Brides

Silver like Dust--One Family's Story of America's Japanese Internment by Kimi Cunningham

Book Review: Under the Black Flag

David Cordingly wrote a history of piracy, Under the Black Flag, available as an audio download (MP3 or WMA) or a print book at the library.

Audio cover

Using primary documents (diaries, newsprint, and government records of trials, naval pursuits, and hangings), Cordingly presents the facts in a lively narrative.  Learn about the female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, or the Chinese Queen, Ching Shih, and even the now locally famous Grace O'Malley.  Cordingly explores life on the ship, the original careers of many pirates (willing or unwilling), the typical journey and importance of a navigator, even through the changes in laws, trials, and punishments.  This book sets you straight on the differences between privateers, pirates, corsairs, and buccaneers.

If you enjoyed the special features on the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, specifically the one narrated by David Cordingly, then this book fills in all the holes.

P.S. Our Children's Department is looking for wrapping paper rolls for summer reading programs.  As you wrap gifts this spring, if you remember, please drop off the empty tubes when you visit.

P.P.S.  Cheryl, in Children's, hopes to facilitate a new Tiny Tots program, led by community mothers.  The first planning meeting is Thursday, January 17 (next week) at 10:15 am, downstairs.  Please visit to learn how easy it can be to host one hour's stories and crafts.

Book Review: The Princess of Mars/John Carter Series

Last Spring, I was motivated to look for the book which inspired Disney's movie, John Carter. Before Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Tarzan of the Apes, he wrote a series about Mars.  Beginning with A Princess of Mars, and ending eleven books later with John Carter of Mars, Burroughs' tales have captured imaginations for a century.  Some of the pulp fiction art can be seen here.

QR code to read A Princess of Mars, care of Gutenberg.org

If this square image is new to you, it is called a QR code, for Quick Response.  It is a barcode your smartphone reads with a QR reading app (either already installed or free at an app store, such as these for Android or this for Apple).  The barcode tells your phone where to go online for more information, a clue, a discount or offer, etc.  You may have seen them on bananas, posters, or in magazines.

But I digress.  After reading A Princess of Mars, I saw the movie.  Then I read the second and third books in the series, which explained a lot of the technology and political machinations that added action to the movie, but also added confusion because it was not explained.  I am working on the fourth book now.  They are light entertainment, providing insight into machismo and cultural norms from the turn of the prior century.  Mostly, it reminds me how far my culture has progressed and which characteristics remain valuable and timeless.

P. S. Ruidoso Public Library is open today, New Year's Eve, regular hours, but closed Tuesday, January 1.  We will re-open Wednesday at 9am.

Ruidoso Convention Center, January 16, 8am to 4pm

P.P.S. The Village of Ruidoso is hosting a health fair for all comers.  You may schedule an appointment time for biometric screening, mammograms, Body Age Analysis, or just drop in to learn about the local health resources already available in the community.

Book Review: Ready Player One

I am thrilled to write about Ernest Cline's Ready Player One.  It is available as an ebook (EPUB and Kindle) on Overdrive.  If this review really catches your attention, let us know at the library and we may look into buying an additional print copy if there is enough interest.  My reading experience had an odd irony as it was the first book I read on a smartphone; it just added a layer of mirth to the experience.

One version of the cover art

As with many books I like, there is a not-so-distant-future dystopia.  It is what American might become if inertia holds true, at least in some ways.  Lots of misery and economic divisions, life online overpowers the real world--or does it?  The story teaches the reader to question the obvious and re-evaluate what you really value.

The most enjoyable part of Ready Player One for me was the 1980s nostalgia.  If you enjoyed pop culture from the '80s, or just find it funny to reminisce about, this book could be a treat.  Movies, books, games, and those little things of day-to-day life that create the flavor of a decade--those are tucked away in every chapter and nearly every page.

Several friends (guys) have read this book and really enjoyed it, too.  The cover art is very different, depending on the country and printing.

If you are opening a new-fangled gadget today or tomorrow, you may already be able to download free ebooks and audiobooks from the library website.  Call us when we open Wednesday, or join us for an orientation class on Thursday at 3pm.

Book review: Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Cover from her website

Several friends encouraged me to read this book (from Ruidoso's Book Store, Books Etc.--have you seen their new website?).  I am so glad I finally took their advice.

Written by Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, Let's Pretend This Never Happened is a laugh-til-you-cry-it's-so-funny-because-it's-true series of essays (blogs) on life.  At several chapters I had to put the book down to catch my breath and let my vision clear (of tears) so I could continue.

When I read biographies or memoirs, I find I learn about myself and people in general.  What we are thinking, why those thought chains run as they do, and these help me feel like I can make a little more sense of the world.  Not only do the author and I share a first name (who doesn't these days?), but her family stories help me feel happy about who I am and appreciate how I came to be so.

The creature on the cover is a taxidermy mouse, dressed a la Shakespeare.  It is the most tame story in the book, which explores her childhood with a father who worked in taxidermy, at home, through her years working in Human Resources and moving to the Texas Hill Country.  Whenever I mention this book to others, who have read it, they bring up the 5' metal chicken.

Correction: Tuesday's music begins at 3:30pm, not 4:30pm (Dec 18th).


P.S. Ruidoso Public Library closes Saturday at 2pm and remains closed Monday and Tuesday.  We will open Wednesday morning at 9am.

A re-introduction to our homepage's resources: the Reference tab

I've noticed myself blithely clicking through the library's homepage, hardly noticing what has changed.  As staff at the library, I ought to be acutely aware of the resources at hand.  So, to re-acquaint myself, I will take you, dear reader, with me on a trip through the library's homepage.

Libraries are all about order and sequence, but this time I will hop around the tabs instead of starting on the far left and working to the right.  Or maybe I just want to start with the Reference Tab.  Allons-y!

The bar of tabs on the homepage

When your mouse hovers on the Reference Tab, two options appear: Ancestry and ABE/ESL students.  The Ancestry option works inside the library building; it takes you to our subscription for Ancestry Library Edition, which is similar to Ancestry.com.  Look up a name, learn how to interview a relative to preserve family history, or connect with other potential family.

The ABE/ESL option stands for Adult Basic Education and English as a Second Language.  This tab suggests some fee and a few free sites to support anyone preparing for the US Citizenship Exam, GED, or California's Distance Learning Project.

When you click on the Reference Tab, the screen displays a plethora of link options, in fact 23 groups! Here is a brief overview of the categories:

About Computers (how-to classes from the very basic to the mildly advanced)

Business & Finance (small business beginnings to stock market information)

Consumer Information (Ruidoso's Chamber of Commerce and links to the federal government)

Create Free e-mail (most of these sites require a cell phone with text-messaging to get started anymore)

Education (how to start homeschooling, find money for college, or create a citation for your paper)

Elections (see where your precinct is, where to vote, request an absentee ballot, read the League of Women Voters or Project Vote Smart's interviews with candidates, sample ballots when available)

Fast Facts (what you used to ask the librarian for: statistics, local facts, safety recalls, or almanacs)

Federal Student Aid (guides to the FAFSA--often required for students to work in college)

For Seniors (local health services, NM's Aging & Long-Term Services Dept, and Social Security info)

Health (Doctor Finder, travel updates, and scientific or medical journals)

Jobs (State and Federal job listings and help sites; information for career seekers/changers)

Language (quote dictionaries and dictionaries for all ages)

Legal Forms (Bankruptcy, divorce, contract examples, and basic assistance)

Lincoln County Libraries (find Capitan, Corona, ENMU, public schools, and digital libraries in the county)

New Mexico Facts (Cities, maps, tourism, genealogy and government links)

New Mexico Law Library (more forms, regional court specifics, statutes, and municipal codes)

New Mexico Links (MVD's driver's manual, oral history projects, and fun sites)

People (find people, phone numbers, businesses, or census data)

Reading Suggestions (social networks for book lovers, a database of all mystery books ever, find which book is next in a series, or find a suggestion to try next)

Research (encyclopedia, more genealogy, maps, other municipal codes)

Tax Help (state and federal websites and forms and how to file in other states)

Village Emergency (where to register your physical address with the village or county to hear about evacuations or frozen pipes on your cell phone while you are out of town)

Other (look up ZIP codes, the World Fact Book, and read about jobs and salaries in the Occupational Outlook Handbook from the Dept of Labor)

Was that too much for one blog-post?  Probably.  If you find a broken link, please comment below or send an email to the library.  I check them every year, but that may not be often enough these days.

Part 5: Making Sense of the Stacks, 500s

FYI: Pre-school Story Times resume this week: Wednesdays 10:30 am to 11:15 am.
And New Mexico Legal Aid is available Sept 5 at the Ruidoso Senior Center, from 10 am to 2:30pm, on a first-come basis with a lunch hour at noon.  For more information, please call 1-866-416-1920.  They will help with Social Security, Landlord/tenant, TANF, or unemployment denials.  New Mexico Legal Aid will assess every case for free but cannot guarantee representation.

500s: Natural Sciences & Mathematics

As mentioned last week, topics are squirrelly in the 500s and 600s. If I want a book on squirrels, do I look in 590s for wild animals, 630s for pets, 640s for recipes, or 790s for hunting?

I have mentioned this book before, but it is an example of the primary subject matter putting a book in a different location.  The Crack in the Edge of the World is a history about San Francisco's geology.  The history part explains its location at 979.461, even though the geology topic might lead you to look for it in 550s, Earth Sciences, or the San Francisco topic might suggest 917.94.

If you are interested in brushing up your math skills, the 510s have several titles to practice or introduce math concepts, i.e. Calculus.  However, if you are focused on the PSATs, SATs, ACTs, GED, or GRE, these test preparation books are in 378.

 

If you are looking for books to explore the night sky's constellations or meteor showers, check 520s.

If you are ready to ponder the Big Bang, String Theory, or why the sky is blue, join Stephen Hawking and Brian Greene in Physics, 530s.

When I searched the catalog for Chemistry, the results included a 150 on the psychology of fearing modern chemicals, a 612 for the prescriptions that might make us smarter, and a 644 on the chemistry of sugar in modern American diets.  Luckily, AP Chemistry and an Oxford dictionary on chemicals are waiting in the 540s.

Tim Flannery introduced me to the history of Australia.  Here at Ruidoso Public Library, he shares Earth's natural history in the 550s. 

 Lucy, the book on Australopithecus, is then in the 560s, also known as Paleontology.

Biology and Life sciences are in the 570s, so find Charles Darwin here.

Plants (in nature, not your garden) are in the 580s.

And finally, animals (again, in nature, not on the farm or in your pocket) are in the 590s, including insects.

                                    

How are these posts doing?  Am I helping at all?  Let me know if you prefer the earlier format with fewer pictures or have other suggestions to improve the second half of this series.  Thank you, dear readers!

Several Book Reviews

Book reviews have been popular blog posts in the past, so here are a few more.

Fool by Christopher Moore

What is Shakespeare's play, King Lear, like when told from the court jester's point of view?  That was Moore's goal when he wrote this book with dark humor.  As in Shakespeare, the words are often coarse, the jokes quite lewd, and dialogue is exquisitely crafted.  Unlike the tragic play, this book is definitely a comedy.

Readalikes include Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen.






Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

This is Cashore's third book with Graceling characters. These books may be read in any order--each story will enrich the history of other characters, but no need to fear spoilers.  Why am I drawn to Cashore's books?  I believe it is the diversity of characters and their acceptance/tolerance of diversity.  Perhaps it is more to the point that when I have the chance to escape reality in a book, I really want to leave the mundane behind.

Readalikes: Across the Universe or Hunger Games



Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

If you still doubt the power of a graphic novel, Wonderstruck may convert you.  Brian Selznick presents two separate stories, one in words and another in pictures (referencing the power of silent movies).  But you don't have to take my word for it: see what Abby the Librarian wrote, or read Jeff Kinney's comparison of Wonderstruck and Okay for Now.  Brian Selznick's other novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret became the movie, Hugo, last year.





Neverwhere written and read by Neil Gaiman
Before Gaiman wrote a script for Dr. Who, even before his books, Coraline and Stardust became movies, he wrote about how it feels to disconnect from the world.  Gaiman reads this story himself, and does a wonderful job (though it may not be optimal in a car as the quietest whispers and loudest shouts tend to happen one-after-another).  Neverwhere is a modern fairy-tale, dark, uncomfortable at times, and rich with imagery.  
Read-alikes include: Susanna Clarke, Clive Barker, or Kurt Vonnegut, or Walter Moers

A Crack in the Edge of the World written and read by Simon Winchester

Winchester studied geology at Oxford before becoming a journalist and writer.  A Crack in the Edge of the World came about decades later when an editor asked if geology  had any great stories to tell.  This book covers Winchester's road trip across America's geology, the history of San Francisco's growth, and the impact of the San Andreas Fault today (Alaska pipeline, anyone?).  Winchester's elocution is inspiring and soothing, at least to my ears.  The print version has an amazing fold-out cover (no longer possible to view on the library's copy or any paperback) covering all of Winchester's books.




Where do you go for book suggestions?  Are there books you have heard of, but would like to read more about?