Gardens, Gardens, Everywhere

May 20, 2015May 13, 2015 / Deborah R. / Leave a comment

For most gardeners, there is no better season than spring. After a long winter, we forget about previous garden disasters (like those darn deer that ate their way through last summer’s flower beds…) and look forward to what will surely be our most fabulous garden ever! As I do every year, I spent part of last winter looking through gardening books and catalogs and planning improvements to my home landscape. One of the many wonderful aspects of working at a library is easy access to all of the best books on any subject, including lots of garden and landscape books. Here are some of my favorites from the last couple of years.

Coffee for roses : …and 70 other misleading myths about backyard gardening Garden “myth-busting” done with wit and style. Save yourself time and money–one of the tips I picked up from this book will save me both.

The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden This simplified approach to perennial gardening uses hardy, attractive plants grown on a 10×14 foot grid. Each of the 62 garden plans combines complementary plants that thrive together and grow as a community and are designed for easy maintenance, the goal of most home gardeners. Even if you don’t switch to this system, you will find some good ideas.

Landscaping Ideas That Work. Your yard should be an extension of your home and this terrific book covers front, back, and side yards and provides strategies for combining elements and creating spaces that work with any home. Some great before and after photos.

Lawn gone! : low-maintenance, sustainable, attractive alternatives for your yard. My husband and I have ongoing “discussions” about our too-large lawn. Every year I drag books like this home in hopes that he will give up the turf war. No luck yet, but I keep hoping!

The Shady Lady’s Guide to Northeast Shade Gardening. This is a great book for those of us whose yards are graced with large shade trees. The Shady Lady identifies best practices, best plants, and best information, specifically designed for the zones of the greater Northeast – and leaves out all the rest. Includes a large yet highly selective illustrated plant gallery that includes all the indispensable perennials, ferns, and bulbs.

Don’t forget magazines! We get many home and garden magazines in paper and downloadable formats, including Better Homes and Gardens, Fine Gardening, Organic Gardening and more.

This year, in addition to my own gardens and a period herb garden I help maintain at the Thankful Arnold House Museum in Haddam, I am assisting with a garden project here at the Cheshire Public Library. Cheshire Garden club member Anupa Simpatico has designed a low-maintenance garden with four-season appeal for the front of the library. This project supports and promotes a healthy environment for birds and pollinating insects and carries out the Cheshire Garden Club’s mission of garden education, civic beautification and the preservation of wildlife. Click here to see the plan and plant list. This project wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Friends of the Library, who are helping fund it with money donated in memory of Margaret Andersen, a long-time member of the Friends and an avid gardener. The Cheshire Town Beautification Committee and several anonymous donors have made generous contributions towards the cost of the plants and shrubs.
The garden will be enjoyed by library visitors as well as countless people who pass by the front of the library in vehicles and on foot. We are looking for volunteers to help plant and maintain the garden. Please contact me at drutter@cheshirelibrary.org if you are interested in helping.

On Our Shelves: New Romance for May 2015

May 18, 2015May 14, 2015 / Linda / Leave a comment

Love is blooming at the Cheshire Library!

Historical

The Harlot Countess – Joanna Shupe

The Scoundrel and the Debutante – Julia London

The Duke and the Lady In Red – Lorraine Heath

The Rake To Reveal Her – Julia Justiss

Lady Sarah’s Sinful Desires – Sophie Barnes

50 Ways to Ruin a Rake – Jake Lee

The Tempting of Thomas Carrick – Stephanie Laurens

The Unlikely Lady – Valerie Bowman

Romantic Suspense

Twisted – Cynthia Eden

Running Fire – Lindsay McKenna

Her Wild Hero – Paige Tyler

Playing Dirty – Helenkay Dimon

Contemporary

Hold Me – Susan Mallery

Ever After At Sweetheart Ranch – Emma Cane

A Midsummer Night’s Romp – Katie MacAlister

Walking On Sunshine – Luann McLane

Crazy for the Cowboy – Vicki Lewis Thompson

Busted – Shiloh Walker

Lawless in Leather – Melanie Scott

Summer on Lovers’ Island – Donna Alward

Sinful – Joan Johnston

Paranormal

Cat’s Lair – Christine Feehan

10 Books We’re Looking Forward to in May

May 15, 2015April 28, 2015 / Louise / Leave a comment

Did you know that May is “Get Caught Reading” Month? And with the terrific roster of books coming out in May, it should be easy get caught reading this month!

Every month, librarians from around the country pick the top ten new books they’d most like to share with readers. The results are published on LibraryReads.org. One of the goals of LibraryReads is to highlight the important role public libraries play in building buzz for new books and new authors. Click through to read more about what new and upcoming books librarians consider buzzworthy this month. The top ten titles for May are:

Uprooted by Naomi Novik
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Knockoff by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza
Early Warning by Jane Smiley
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton

Ten Good Moms from Fiction

May 11, 2015May 14, 2015 / Mary / Leave a comment

I’m not sure how the topic came up, but recently my daughter asked me if I could name the ten best moms from literature.

“What do you mean by best?” I countered. “Best written? Strongest? Nicest?”

“Just the ten best. I tried and couldn’t think of many, and the Internet wasn’t very helpful.”

“Well,” I began, resolved to be a good mom and take a stab at it. “How about Marmee from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women?”

“Yep, I thought of her. That’s one.”

“Caroline Ingalls from the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.”

“That’s two.”

“Molly Weasley from Harry Potter,” I said with a smile, thinking that this would be easy.

“Three.” She watched me.

“Ma Joad from Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. She was the strong one in her family.”

She considered this. “Okay, Four.”

“Um…” I thought. And thought. “Kanga,” I said after a long silence.

“She’s a kangaroo!”

“She’s a mom, the mother of Roo in A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh books. She counts.”

She grinned. “Five. It’s not easy, is it? Shall we include Duchess the cat from The Artistocats?”

I ignored this. “What about that series you liked when you were younger? The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede. Cimorene was a good mother.”

“Yeah, but she wasn’t a mom until the last book.”

“It counts,” I said sternly.

“Six.”

We looked at each other in silence.

“The six best moms of literature doesn’t sound too bad,” I suggested.

“If you write a blog about it, ten would sound better,” she challenged.

So I took my quest in to the library and started asking my colleagues.

“Marmee,” everyone immediately said.

I explained that I had already thought of her, my dilemma in not being able to find ten, and listed the six I had come up with.

“Ramona Quimby’s mom,” the library director, whose name is Ramona, too, promptly said.

Seven.

“The mom in Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor,” one of the children’s librarians suggested. “Because a good mom should be fun, too!”

Eight. I was inching closer to the magic number.

“Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White,” the deputy director offered in an email later that day. “She is one of the best mothers in literature, both to her own future babies (whom she will never see, but provides for all the same) and of course Wilbur. And heroine of one of the best books of all times!”

Nine. One was a kangaroo and one was a spider, but I was not about to be picky.

Where, oh, where was the elusive ten?

It came, ironically, from the one who had started it all. When I went home that evening and listed the nine candidates, my daughter immediately said, “Keladry’s mom in the Protector of the Small series by Tamora Pierce. She was a good mom and could out fight any man. I thought of her after you went to work.”

Ten. The magic ten. I smiled. She smiled. And then she asked, “Are you going to make a list for the ten best fathers, too?”

“Ten best fathers in literature,” I began to muse.

Expect a sequel in June, folks.

Who would you put on a list of the ten best moms in literature? Make a suggestion in the comments!

May the Fourth Be With You, Or Happy Star Wars Day!

May 4, 2015April 28, 2015 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Are you going to celebrate May the 4th with a Star Wars marathon, binge read some great books, introduce the Star Wars universe to the next generation, or some combination of the three? Perhaps you are unaware of the wonders of Star Wars Day. Well, in case you are scratching your head as to why is May the 4th called Star Wars Day? Simply say “May the 4th Be With You” out loud and you’ll hear the pun that triggered the worldwide celebration of the day. Today is the day world over to say “May the Force be with you” and celebrate the beloved Star Wars story that binds our galaxy together.

I am going to celebrate with some great DVD’s and books that pay tribute in some way to the Star Wars legacy. Although, when in doubt it is always best to start with the Original Trilogy and then moving on to the rest.

Movies/Television:

Phineas & Ferb. Star Wars
A couple summers ago in a galaxy far, far away, Phineas & Ferb are happily basking in the glow of Tatooine’s twin suns – until plans for the Death Star accidentally fall into their hands, thrusting them (and Agent P) into a glactic rebellion and an epic struggle of good versus evil. Will Phineas and Ferb be able to resist the Darl Side? Will Stormtrooper Candace finally bust a Rebel? Can Agent P stop Darthenshmirtz from using his Force-powered ‘Sith-Inator

Spaceballs
Science fiction farce in which a space bum struggles to save a princess and keep a ruthless alien race from stealing the air supply from a neighboring planet.

Star Wars, The Clone Wars. The Complete Season One
Jedi knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi battle against evil forces with the help of the clone army.

Lego Star Wars – The Yoda Chronicles
In episode I, Darth Sidious unveils his plan to create a new super-weapon to help him defeat the Republic once and for all. Yoda and his Padawan students must work together and save the galaxy. In episode II, Count Dooku uses his new and improved Clone-a-Matic to create an army of Jek clones. Now substitute teacher Anakin Skywalker must lead Yoda’s Padawan class to victory.

There are more of course, but I wanted to mention the sheer volume of Star Wars related books, even without counting those included in the actual ever expanding Star Wars novel series, easy readers, and Visual Dictionaries. There are unique new looks, and deep study, of the universe that has become such a big part of worldwide culture.

Books:

William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope by Ian Doescher; inspired by the work of George Lucas and William Shakespeare

Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy by James Luceno; consultant, Curtis Saxton; illustrated by Richard Chasemore and Hans Jenssen