On Our Shelves: Cozy Mysteries

cozy up

Grab your hot chocolate or hot tea, a blanket and curl up in your favorite chair with the latest cozy mysteries.

A Gala Event ( An Orchard Mystery) – Sheila Connolly
The Fall harvest may be over, but orchard owner Meg Corey is busier than ever planning her wedding to Seth Chapin. And even though the happy couple has invited most of Granford, Massachusetts, to the ceremony, they might have to make room for one more guest…Ex-con Aaron Eastman has unexpectedly reappeared, searching for answers to the tragic fire in his family’s past that put him behind bars twenty-five years ago. Moved by his sincerity, Meg vows to do everything she can to help him solve the cold case.

Floral Depravity  ( A Bridal Bouquet Shop Mystery) – Beverly Allen
The daughter of a local historian is getting married in a medieval-themed, hand-fasting ceremony, and Audrey, co-owner of the Rose in Bloom Flower Shop, is responsible for providing period-accurate blooms. But making sure she gets her roses right turns out to be the least of Audrey’s problems. Shortly after the vows are exchanged, the father of the groom suddenly drops dead. When Audrey discovers the man’s death stems from monkshood poisoning, it’s a clear-cut case of murder.

Bread of the Dead ( A Santa Fe Cafe Mystery) – Ann Myers
Life couldn’t be sweeter for Tres Amigas Cafe chef Rita Lafitte, decorating sugar skulls and taste-testing rich, buttery pan de muerto in anticipation of Santa Fe’s Day of the Dead bread-baking contest. That is, until her friendly landlord, Victor, is found dead next door. Although the police deem Victor’s death a suicide, Rita knows something is amiss. To uncover the truth, she teams up with her octogenarian boss, Flori, the town’s most celebrated snoop.

Ghost of a Potion ( A Magic Potion Mystery) – Heather Blake
When her boyfriend’s mother is accused of killing architect Haywood Dodd during a costume ball, shop owner Carly Beth Hartwell employs her keen skills of detection to clear her name while dealing with a group of ghosts who need her help, including the deceased.

Death, Taxes and Chocolate Cannoli (A Tara Holloway Novel) – Diane Kelly
True crime doesn’t pay… taxes. IRS Special Agent Tara Holloway has risked her life to take down drug cartels and other dangerous tax frauds. But going after the mob is one offer she can’t refuse.

Faux Paw (A Magical Cats Mystery) – Sofie Kelly
Painted into a corner after stumbling upon the body of a visiting curator, librarian Kathleen Paulson, her detective boyfriend, Marcus, and her magical cats, Owen and Hercules, must track down a murderous art thief before someone else has a brush with death.

Flipped for Murder (A Country Store Mystery) – Maddie Day
Robbie Jordan is trading in her life on the West Coast for the rolling hills of southern Indiana. After paying a visit to her Aunt Adele, she fell in love with the tiny town of South Lick. And when she spots a For Sale sign on a rundown country store, she decides to snap it up and put her skills as a cook and a carpenter to use. Everyone in town shows up for the grand re-opening of Pans ‘n Pancakes, but when the mayor’s disagreeable assistant is found dead, Robbie realizes that not all press is good press.

Florist Grump (A Flower Shop Mystery) – Kate Collins
Stopping to smell the roses should be a must for flower shop owner Abby Knight, but stress has turned her into a major grump. While their house is under construction, Abby and her new husband, Marco, are living with her parents, who are driving her nuts. Not to mention that everyone has babies on the brain, and Marco’s mother is dropping hints that she expects a new sprout from Abby and her son—as soon as possible! But things get even thornier after a flashy former banker pushes up daisies.

The Silence of the Chihuahuas (A Barking Detective Mystery) – Waverly Curtis
Pepe, aspiring P.I. Geri Sullivan’s muy clever Chihuahua, has stopped talking. But why now, with Geri’s best friend Brad missing and her ditzy sister in grave danger? Geri’s lost without Pepe’s dogged detective work, especially when a client of Brad’s expires under very murky circumstances. Luckily, Pepe turns out to be an excelente blogger, and his nose for clues soon has the detective duo chasing down leads.

Happy Birthday to Neil Gaiman! (November 10)

gaimanhimselfAs of November 10, 2015 Neil Gaiman is 55 years old. He is a supporter of libraries, the arts, and is everything that this librarian could want in an author. Neil is the author of books from a wide range of genre’s, and for every age group. His body of work is extensive, and includes many groundbreaking volumes. He is also the father of three children from his first marriage, now grown adults, and a new baby just born on September 16 with his wife Amanda Palmer who is a singer, song writer, performance artist, and author. To make him even cooler in my eyes, he is also good friends with singer/songwriter Tori Amos and godfather of her daughter. I am admittedly a bit of a fangirl.

gaiman5Gaiman began his writing career in England as a journalist. His first book was a Duran Duran biography that took him three months to write, and his second was a biography of Douglas Adams, Don’t Panic: The Official Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Companion. Soon afterward he collaborated or creating in graphic novels such as Violent Cases, Black Orchid, and Sandman. Over the years he has added picturebooks, children’s fiction, adult fiction, television, film, and theater to his body of work. This includes writing for one of my favorite shows, Doctor Who. He also does the narration for most, if not all, of the audiobook versions of his work.

Neil and his works have won many nominations and awards over the year. A few of the awards include: Kurt Vonnegut Jr Award For Literature, Boston Public Library Literary Lights For Children, CBLDF Defender of Liberty, The “Galaxy” Award (China) for Most Popular Foreign Author, Horn Book Honors, Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Books, ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth, Hugo Award, IndieBound Award, and many, many more.

gaiman1Here is a sampling of his works, though far from comprehensive. They are in no particular order.
Picturebooks:
Chu’s Day
Chu’s First Day of School
Chu’s Day at the Beach
The Wolves in the Walls
Blueberry Girl
Crazy Hairgaiman2
Instructions: Everything you’ll Need to Know on your Journey

Children’s and Young Adult Books:
Fortunately, the Milk
M is for Magic
The Graveyard Book
Coraline
Hansel & Gretel: a Toon Graphic
Odd and the Frost Giants
Interworld
The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountainsgaiman3
The Books of Magic
Marvel 1602

Adult Books:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Make Good Art Speech
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbancesgaiman4
Anansi Boys
American Gods
Stardust
Good Omens
Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions
Neil Gaiman’s Lady Justice. Vol. 1

November is Aviation History Month

aviationConnecticut is rich in history when it comes to aviation.  Some of the biggest aviation manufacturers are located in Connecticut including: Sikorsky, United Technologies, sikorskyLockheed Martin, and Pratt & Whitney.  There are dozens of smaller companies that supply all sorts of parts and support to the aviation industry.  Connecticut is not only home to Bradley airportInternational Airport, but to many small local air fields as well.  There is Candlelight Farms Airport in New Milford, Groton-New London Airport, Markham Municipal Airport in Meriden, Ripley Field Airport in Litchfield  to name a few, along with many heliports throughout the state.  Most of the larger hospitals have heliports, and many companies also have their own heliports.

new englandConnecticut is fortunate to have a wonderful air musuem – The New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks.   And the Cheshire Library is fortunate to offer a pass for reduced admission to this museum, courtesy of the Friends of the Cheshire Public Library.  For more information on this pass, click here.

The library also offers an extensive collection of materials about aviation.  For a list of titles, click here.  Below is a tiny sampling:

Chasing Icarus

Area 51 Black Jets

Fly By Wire: the geese, the glide, the miracle on the Hudson

Birdmen: the Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss and the right to control the skies

The Aviator’s Wife Melanie Benjamin (Fiction)

Fly By Night – Ward Larson (Fiction)

Against Wind and Tide – Anne Morrow Lindbergh (Biography)

The Aviator   (DVD)

If you are interested in building paper airplanes, the library offers these titles.

  

 

My Most Frequently Recommended Children’s Authors

One of my favorite things about working in the library is getting the chance to do favsalanna-the-first-adventurereader’s advisory. This is librarian jargon for answering questions about what book a patron (or their child) might enjoy reading next. On our part it involves discovering what the reader is most interested in, and what kind of books they usually enjoy most. While I might occasionally get stumped in the adult fiction category, when it comes to books for children (or teens) I could go on for hours. We all have our favorites, particularly if given free reign to mention any genre of book we enjoyed, or when we find a patron that has enjoyed some of the same books that we loved as well.

faviconThere are several authors that most parents, librarians, and parents think of first and fondly, such as E.B. White, Beverly Cleary, C.S. Lewis, Judy Blume, Lemony Snicket, Roald Dahl, Kate DiCamilloand more. Once the typical go to books have been read, or dismissed by the young reader since the parents suggested them, I have several of my own go to authors that I usually favssisters-grimmrecommend. Here is my “short” list.

Tamora Pierce has several series, all connected by the fantasy world they are set in and some overlapping events and characters. You do not have to read all of the series to enjoy the others. The first series is Song of the Lioness, about a young girl who defies all the odds to become a knight. She has books in both the children’s and young adult sections of the library. Other series include Beka Copper, the Daughter of the Lioness or Trickster series, Circle of Magic, and  Protector of the Small.

favsnerdsMichael Buckley has one stand alone novel (Undertow) for young adults and two wonderful series for children. The Sisters Grimm is a mystery series about orphaned sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm who are sent to live with an eccentric grandmother, who just happens to live in a town with a variety of fairy-tale characters. NERDS is a series that combines all the excitement of international espionage and all the awkwardness of elementary school. The series features a group of unpopular students who run a spy network from inside their school. With the help of cutting-edge science, their nerdy qualities are enhanced and transformed into incredible abilities!

Tom Angleberger has a selection of fun and fast paced books that are great for favsmustashreluctant readers. There is Fake Mustache, the Origami Yoda series, the Qwikpick Papers series, and Horton Halfpott.  All of his books have silly humor, illustrations, and realistic characters in less believable situations.

E.D. Baker tends to writes books that take our assumptions about princesses, magic, and fairy tales and makes us look at them with new eyes. First came The Frog Princess which started a series. Soon after came The Wide-Awake Princess and its follow ups. There is also the stand alone (at least so far) A Question of Magic and the start to another series with The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker.

favsfrogOther great authors, that rarely disappoint readers willing to give them a chance include Avi, Shannon Hale, Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Stroud, Gail Carson Levine, Ben Hatke, Jennifer Holm, Vivian Velde Vande, Holly Black, Matt Christopher, Diana Wynne Jones, Lois Lowry, Louis Sachar, Jerry Spinelli, Andrew Clements, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Cornelia Funke, and so many more. Still looking for suggestions, or need a specific recommendation for you or your child? Swing by the Children’s Room and any of us will be glad to help and share our favorites!

Mindfulness, Meditation, and More

Looking into ourselves using meditation and mindfulness is the big new trend. However, I know many people that use other things to center themselves and meditate. I know people who use  yoga, running, cooking, painting, photography, gardening, knitting, or other endeavors. Anything can be meditation, if done in a way that makes you more aware of yourself and soothes you.

mindfultop1I crochet to meditate. There is something about the rhythm, the textures of the yarn, counting, and so on that help me center myself and slow my mind down after a busy day, or to get me ready to face a busy day. The simple act of using a hook to shape yarn to create something soothes me in a way that can only be matched with how lost I can get in a fantastic book or singing a song that I know so well I do not need to actually think about the notes or words anymore.

mindfultopI have also tried traditional meditation and guided mindfulness exercises. While some have served to soothe and calm my mind, I much prefer using a tactile focus rather than sound or breathing based techniques. I think it is important for everyone to find a way to meditate; whether it with with the expected breathing and mental focus of meditation and mindfulness exercises, the rhythm of running or working with yarn, or the process of sifting flour and kneading dough for the perfect bread. There have been recent studies about how coloring is a wonderful form of meditation.

mindful2Here are some of the best books that have come my way that might come in handy if you are looking to learn about meditation, or to turn one of your favorite activities into a form of mediation or mindfulness.

How to Train a Wild Elephant: and Other Adventures in Mindfulness by Jan Chozen Bays

One Zentangle a Day: a 6-Week mindful3Course in Creative Drawing for Relaxation, Inspiration, and Fun by Beckah Krahula

Moving into Meditation: a 12-Week Mindfulness Program for Yoga Practitioners by Anne Cushman

The Mindful Mandala Coloring Book: Inspiring Designs for Contemplation, Meditation and Healing by Lisa Tenzin-Dolmamindful1

Crochet Master Class: Lessons and Projects from Today’s Top Crocheters by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss

In Search of the Perfect Loaf: a Home Baker’s Odyssey by Samuel Fromartz

Turning the Mind into an Ally by Sakyong Miphammindful

Wherever you Go, There You are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Take a Deep Breath: the Haiku Way to Inner Peace by Sylvia Forges-Ryan, Edward Ryan

Meditation for Dummies by Stephen Bodian

If you would like a free class in mindfulness come to our Hypnosis Works! Hypnosis for Stress Reduction & Relaxation program on November 5th at 6:30pm.