Solving the Meal or Snacktime Blues

January 21, 2016January 14, 2016 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

If you are anything like me, you spent the start of the school year determined to pack healthy lunches and have healthier snack options available for the kids, and most likely yourself. Even if you do not have kids, at some point you have had the urge to jazz up your own meals, make cooler appetizers for some function, or just eat better. Maybe you want to sneak some extra vegetables into dinner, or even dessert, or new dietary restrictions have you trying new combinations and ways to make everything taste great while still being reasonably good for you. snack

I started off the school year with fresh baked muffins (with pureed vegetables hidden inside), plenty of fruit and whole grains in the snazzy bento box style containers for each of my kiddos. I had a snack box in the refrigerator and one in the pantry with pre portioned healthy snacks to fulfill requests. And now? Well, lets just say that the lunches are not nearly as well planned and motivation to keep everything healthy and organized is waning.

I have one young picky eater in the house, and a husband that dislikes casseroles, crock pot cooking, and vegetables in general. It is easy to fall into a rut of making the same the few meals over and over, and picking meals that seem to be the easiest to make even when there are better options. I have found that I regularly need motivation, ideas, and more to keep things healthy and tasty- as well as eaten by the whole crew. Getting everyone involved in the meal planning, shopping, or cooking is a big help. If they get to pick the food, or help in preparing it, they are all much more likely to eat, or at least try, what is on their plate.

Here are some books that I have recently found (some just moved into the Parenting section in the children’s room) to help inspire and re motivate myself and anyone else struggling with healthy meals, healthy snacks, and fun foods that are tasty and healthy.

Stealth Health Lunches Kids Love: Irresistible and Nutritious Gluten-Free Sandwiches, Wraps and Other Easy Eats by Tracy Griffith

So Easy: Luscious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week by Ellie Krieger

Best Lunch Box Ever: Ideas and Recipes for School Lunches Kids Will Love by Katie Sullivan Morford

Weelicious Lunches: Think Outside the Lunchbox with More than 160 Happier Meals by Catherine McCord

ChopChop: the Kids’ Guide to Cooking Real Food with your Family by Sally Sampson

The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals by Missy Chase Lapine

Regular readers know by now that I can never stop with just a few recommended books. So, if those listed above are already checked out or you are looking for more you might want to try: Beating the Lunch Box Blues: Fresh Ideas for Lunches on the Go! by J. M. Hirsch, Insanewiches: 101 Ways to Think Outside the Lunchbox by Adrian Fiorino,Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld, The Cleaner Plate Club by Beth Bader & Ali Benjamin, Double Delicious! : Good, Simple Food for Busy, Complicated Lives by Jessica Seinfeld, and The Dinnertime Survival Cookbook: Delicious, Inspiring Meals for Busy Families by Debra Ponzek.

What’s Trending at Cheshire Public Library

January 15, 2016January 20, 2016 / Linda / Leave a comment

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Do you ever wonder what your fellow patrons are reading? Or what’s getting checked out the most? Well, welcome to our new What’s Trending feature! We’re starting off with authors: the top 10 most popular during the previous month and how many times their books circulated. Click the author’s name for a list of their books.

James Patterson – 145 circulations. In 2011, it was estimated that one-in-four of all hardcover suspense/thriller novels sold were written by James Patterson. He is the first author to achieve ten million ebook sales, and he holds the Guinness record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers of any author. And his success isn’t based solely on thrillers like the perennially popular Alex Cross, Women’s Murder Club, and Michael Bennett series. Patterson is now also the current bestselling author in the young adult and middle grade categories.

Mary Higgins Clark – 52 circulations. An author of over thirty-five suspense novels and four collections of short stories, each one of her books has been a best seller and many of them have been made into feature films or TV movies. She has sold over 100 million copies and has eighteen honorary doctorates!

Janet Evanovich – 49 circulations. Although she started out as a Romance author, she now known for her contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum. She also writes the Lizzy and Diesel series, the Alexandra Barnaby novels, as well as the Fox and O’Hare series with co-author Lee Goldberg. Note: Go read her bio on her website. It’s hysterical.

David Baldacci – 47 circulations. A best-selling author who writes thrilling suspense books. He has carried over the suspense theme into several children’s books as well. Several of his titles have been adapted for film and television. He has over one hundred and ten million books in print.

Nora Roberts – 46 circulations. This prolific author writes several genres within the Romance genre. She also writes Mysteries under the pen name of J. D. Robb. Her books are consistently on the top seller lists. She was the first author inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. See a previous post here.

Debbie Macomber – 44 circulations. She is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of today’s most popular writers with more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide. In her novels, she brings to life compelling relationships that embrace family and enduring friendships, uplifting her readers with stories of connection and hope.

John Grisham – 43 circulations. A former lawyer, he began his writing career as a hobby after hearing about a court case in 1984. His hobby quickly became his career after he sold the film rights of his book, The Firm. He started writing legal thrillers for children ages 9-12 in 2010.

Danielle Steel – 39 circulations. She’s currently the best selling author alive and the fourth bestselling author of all time, with over 800 million copies sold. Her formula is fairly consistent, often involving rich families facing a crisis, threatened by dark elements such as jail, fraud, blackmail and suicide.

Robert B. Parker – 37 circulations. Long acknowledged as the dean of American crime fiction, he was named Grand Master of the Edgar Awards in 2002 by the Mystery Writers of America. He was renowned for his Spenser novels, featuring the wise-cracking, street-smart Boston private-eye, which was turned into the television series, Spencer: For Hire. He wrote 9 novels based on the character Jesse Stone and 6 novels based on the character Sunny Randall.

Clive Cussler – 35 circulations. An adventure novelist and underwater explorer, his thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than 20 times.

How’s this list stack up against what you’ve checked out recently? Any of your favorite authors here? Let us know who your favorite author is.

Books Coming to the Big Screen in the 2016

January 11, 2016December 11, 2015 / Sharon Tyler / 2 Comments

Books adaptations have been big hits in the movie theaters over the last few years, so is it any wonder that the number of books heading to the big screen seem to be on the rise? There are a number of great books making their way to the big screen again this year, some of which I am very excited to see. Here are some of the books-to-movies I am most excited about for 2016. I have included the current scheduled release date for each film, which is subject to change.

You might want to put the books on hold now if you want to beat the rush to read them (or watch previous versions of favorites) before watching the new releases in the theater! I have linked each title to the available versions that our library currently owns.

Children
Alice Through the Looking Glass (May 27, 2016)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (November 18, 2016)
The Jungle Book (April 15, 2016)
The BFG (July 1, 2016)
The Little Prince (March 18, 2016)
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (October 7, 2016)
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson (February 16, 2016)

Young Adult
Allegiant (March 18, 2016)
The 5th Wave (January 15, 2016)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (December 25, 2016)
Delirium (September 30, 2016)
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (October 14, 2016)
Let It Snow by John Green (December 9, 2016)

Adult
The Finest Hours (January 29, 2016)
The Girl on the Train (October 7, 2016)
The Shack (August 12, 2016)
Tarzan (July 1, 2016)
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (February 5, 2016)
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (October 21, 2016)
The Lost City of Z by David Grann (No Date Given 2016)

New Years Challenge: Tackle the To Be Read Pile

January 1, 2016December 26, 2015 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

If you are like me, you have piles and/or lists of books you want to read and just have not gotten to yet. I have a full Kindle and lists of books that I have every intention of reading, that is until a different book (or binge watching Netflix) grabs my attention. It is not helped by the fact that I review books for my own book blog and often get books before they are released, though in all honesty by the time some get read and reviewed they are well past the publication date, or by the fact that I work in a library with a wide variety of books crossing my path every day.

I have tried using Goodreads, a written list, and a spreadsheet to stop this but thus far I still have my head turned when a book I had forgotten about or did not know existed crosses my path. So, this year my New Years resolution is to read one book that has been neglected for every two other books that I read.

Would you like to join me in reading some of the books that I had fully intended to read in 2015 and never quite got to? Some were published last year, some are older books. It is a wide variety of children’s, teen, and adult books so there should be something for everyone. Here is a small sampling of the books that are in my pile.

Nightbird by Alice Hoffman
Twig is practically ignored by classmates and townspeople, but gets along with her mother and brother, whose presence must be kept secret, until descendants of the witch who cursed her family move in next door and want to be friends.

Saint Odd : an Odd Thomas Novel by Dean Koontz
A conclusion to the best-selling series finds psychic fry cook Odd Thomas returning to his home town while preparing to confront an evil force that tests his friendships, reveals his purpose and reunites him with a lost love.

Winger by Andrew Smith
Younger than his classmates at a boarding school, Ryan Dean West grapples with living in the dorm for troublemakers, falling for his friend who thinks of him as just a kid, and playing wing on the Varsity rugby team.

Let’s Pretend this Never Happened: (a Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson
In an illustrated memoir, the creator of the Bloggess blog shares humorous stories from her life, including her awkward upbringing in Texas and her relationship with her husband.

Yes, yes, of course there are more. I have heard about and seen some many fantastic books but have not had time to read all, or even most of them. Here are some more titles that I will read, some day: Bossypants by Tina Fey, Necromancing the Stone by Lish McBride, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes with Joe Layden, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Rock On: a Story of Guitars, Gigs, Girls, and a Brother (Not Necessarily in that Order) by Denise Vega, Scorch by Gina Damico, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, and I am Malala: the Girl Who Stood up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai.

What is on your list that you are eager to read, but just have not gotten to yet?

I Love Snow

December 21, 2015December 15, 2015 / Linda / 1 Comment

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I love snow. Yes, love it! I know, I’m in the minority – most people tend to complain about snow. We live in New England. Snow is a way of life. Sure, I’m not thrilled with having to scrape the frost and snow off my car, dig the car out, deal with a dead battery, but still, I love snow. It always makes me smile when I see the flakes falling. No matter my mood, snow lifts me up. Out of curiosity, I typed ‘snow’ in the search box of our catalog and 1,224 items came up! There are children’s books, movies, adult fiction and non-fiction. Below are a few adult titles that might be of interest. If nothing appeals to you, take a look at our catalog. There is sure to be something out of the 1,224 titles that you might want to check out.

The Snow Bride – Debbie Macomber – While journeying to Alaska to marry a man she met on the Internet, Jenna Walsh is kidnapped by Reed Kenner, a fellow passenger, who will do anything to prove that she is making the biggest mistake of her life.

Snow in August – Pete Hamill – An unlikely friendship between an eleven-year-old Irish Catholic boy and a lonely rabbi from Prague in 1947 Brooklyn has the two opening new windows of understanding with each other but still fighting the prejudices of the day.

Waiting for Snow in Havana – Carlos Eire – A survivor of the Cuban Revolution recounts his pre-war childhood as the religiously devout son of a judge,and describes the conflict’s violent and irrevocable impact on his friends, family, and native land.

The Snow Queen – Michael Cunningham – A heartbroken man turns to religion after seeing a vision in the sky above Central Park, while his musician brother takes drugs he thinks will help him compose a ballad for his seriously ill wife.

Last Snow – Eric Van Lustbader – In the aftermath of an American senator’s death on a political trip, presidential Special Advisor Jack McClure is dispatched to investigate a perilous trail throughout Eastern Europe, an assignment that is complicated by his efforts to protect two unlikely companions.

Mercy Snow – Tiffany Baker – A tragic bus accident has devastating repercussions for two families from opposite sides of the tracks of a tiny New England paper milling town.

Sisters of Heart and Snow – Margaret Dilloway – Two estranged sisters reconnect when they return to their childhood home in response to their mother’s dementia diagnosis and one of the pair takes on her mother’s power of attorney.

Whiter Than Snow – Sandra Dallas – When a devastating avalanche traps nine children walking home from school in 1920, the disaster has life-changing effects on the people who live in the small Colorado town where it occurs.