It Is Ask a Stupid Question Day!

September 28, 2014September 29, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Did you know that September 28th is Ask a Stupid Question Day? No matter how much we are told that there are no stupid questions, there are times for each of us when we feel like a question that we need to ask might just qualify. Well, today is the day to get any of those questions you have been too afraid or bashful to ask off your mind.

To get things started here are some books that offer unusual facts, crazy questions, and some questions that just about everyone has but are afraid to ask out loud. If none of these books answer your questions, then please ask at the reference desk and we will find you an answer!

1. Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze?: and 114 other Questions from New Scientist

2. Why You Shouldn’t Eat Your Boogers: Gross But True Things you Don’t Want to Know about your Body by Francesca Gould

3. Do Cats Always Land on their Feet?: 101 of the Most Perplexing Questions Answered about Feline Unfathomables, Medical Mysteries & Befuddling Behaviors by Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori

4. You Blink Twelve Times a Minute: and other Freaky Facts about the Human Body by Barbara Seuling

5.Why Do Men Have Nipples?: Hundreds of Questions You’d Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg

6.Because I Said So!: the Truth Behind the Myths, Tales and Warnings Every Generation passes down to its Kids by Ken Jennings

7.Can you Hear a Shout in Space?: Questions and Answers about Space Exploration by Melvin and Gilda Berger

8.Why Does Popcorn Pop? and other Kitchen Questions by Catherine Ripley

9.Do Tornadoes Really Twist?: Questions and Answers about Tornadoes and Hurricanes by Melvin and Gilda Berger ; illustrated by Higgins Bond

10.Do Fishes Get Thirsty? by Dr. Les Kaufman and staff of the New England Aquarium

For even more questions and answers that you might have been afraid to bring up you might want to take a peek at; What Makes an Ocean Wave?: Questions and Answers about Oceans and Ocean Life by Melvin and Gilda Berger, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask by Jack Rollins-Charles H. Joffe and Brodsky, Why is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?: and other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Ask by Jancee Dunn, Why Dogs Eat Poop: and Other Useless or gross Information About the Animal Kingdom by Francesca Gould and David Haviland, Why Feet Smell and other Gross Facts about your Body by Jody Sullivan Rake, Don’t Know Much about History: Everything you Need to Know about American History, but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis, The New York Public Library Amazing Women in American history: a Book of Answers for Kids by Sue Heinemann, Why Do Men Fall Asleep after Sex?: More Questions You’d only Ask a Doctor after Your Third Whiskey Sour by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg

Book Club Picks – It’s All About Love

September 25, 2014September 25, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

The hustle and bustle of summer is over. It’s a great time to settle in with a warm and fuzzy romance. Here are a few to choose from.

Return to Tradd Street by Karen White – Struggling to complete renovations on her house before her baby arrives, single mother and psychic realtor Melanie Middleton seeks help from the man who broke her heart when a series of hauntings plaguing her house turn violent.

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philip Sendker – When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter has any idea where he might be–until they find a love letter he wrote many years before, to a Burmese woman who is unknown to them.

Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts – After suffering through an intense year of public and police scrutiny after being wrongly implicated in his fiancâe’s murder, Boston lawyer Eli Landon takes sanctuary in a centuries-old family home and falls in love with resident housekeeper Abra Walsh, with whom he is entangled in an old, life-threatening mystery.

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham – A struggling actress in 1990s New York City searches for work and the perfect hair product while befriending a rival and resisting her father’s pressure to get a “real” job.

Three Sisters by Susan Mallery – Buying one of the famed Three Sisters Queen Anne houses on Blackberry Island, Dr. Andi Gordon, deciding that both her life and home are in need of some major renovations, forms an unbreakable bond with her neighbors–two very different women who are dealing with their own struggles.

The Summer Girls by Mary Alice Monroe – Summoned by their Charleston society grandmother to a historic family home on Sullivan’s Island, estranged sisters Carson, Eudora and Harper share a summer of healing and forgiveness while exploring the tenacious complexities of sisterhood and friendship.

Hissy Fit by Mary Kay Andrews – Calling off her high-society wedding after discovering her fiancâe’s infidelity, Keely Murdock faces financial ruin before receiving assistance–and an opportunity for revenge–from the new owner of a local bra company.

The Inn At Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber – Jo Marie Rose opens the Rose Harbor Inn bed and breakfast in Cedar Cove in order to start a new life, but the inn and its first guests bring surprises into Jo’s life.

Twelve Times Blessed by Jacquelyn Mitchard – A year in the life of a fortysomething woman reveals the reflections of widow True Dickinson, who has raised a son and built a successful small business while putting off the kind of romance she desperately desires.

War Brides by Helen Bryan – Five women form a bond of friendship in the English village of Crowmarch Priors as they find their lives altered by loss and love during World War II.

On Our Shelves: New Picturebooks

September 23, 2014August 20, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Just in time for back to school, we have been cataloging new books in the children’s area like mad. In the process I have seen some great books, and had to check some out to read for myself and share with my own children. There have even been some that are staff storytime picks. Here are some of my favorite picturebooks that have recently been added to our collection.

The Pigeon Needs a Bath! by Mo Willems. The latest entry in the best-selling series that includes the Caldecott Honor-winning Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! finds a mussy Pigeon refusing to take a bath and insisting he had one a month earlier

Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won. Elevated from a bad mood when he receives an exciting new hat, Elephant cheers up his equally grumpy friend Zebra before marching to the homes of other downcast friends who join them in a fabulous hat parade

Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio and Christian Robinson. After a chance encounter at the park and a switch of places, Antoinette the bulldog and Gaston the
poodle learn that family is about love, not appearances, in an adorable doggy tale from a New York Times best-selling author.

Ninja! by Arree Chung. A little boy flexes his ninja chops in an adventure that finds him silently creeping through his home and overcoming formidable obstacles, like the coffee table, to pounce upon his unsuspecting father’s tummy.

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat. An imaginary friend waits a long time to be imagined by a child and given a special name, and finally does the unimaginable–he sets out on a quest to find his perfect match in the real world.

As usual, I cannot stop there. Here are some more new picturebooks, and a few easy readers thrown in for good measure, as suggestions for some fun and family friendly reading. My New Friend Is So Fun! by Mo Willems, Brimsby’s Hats by Andrew Prahin, Poppy the Pirate Dog’s New Shipmate by Liz Kessler, Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot by Dav Pilkey, Tulip Loves Rex by
Alyssa Satin Capucilli, How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth by Michelle Robinson, Little Big Horse: Where’s my Bike? by Dave Horowitz, and The Loch Mess Monster by Helen Lester.

Everything You Need to Know About Computers

September 21, 2014September 4, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

The Cheshire Library has approximately 80 computers and lately it seems like they’re all acting like cranky two year olds! So if you see an out of order sign, or a frustrated Librarian, please bear with us! Luckily, we have a great Library Technology Coordinator to trouble shoot for us. We also have a great selection of books about computers to help educate our patrons. Do you want to know how to trouble shoot, program or just turn on a computer? Would you like to know a little history, or benefits of computers? Check out our computer section (.004-.006.78) downstairs in the Reference Department.

Here’s a small sample of what you can find:

Computing Before Computers

The Plug-In Drug: television, computers, and family life

Most Human Human: What Talking to Computers Teaches Us About What It Means to be Alive

Dogfight: how Apple and Google went to war and started a revolution

Is This Thing On? : a computer handbook for late bloomers, technophobes, and the kicking & screaming.

Degunking Windows

Ahoy, It’s International Talk Like A Pirate Day Again!

September 19, 2014September 13, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Here is it, September 19 and my favorite holiday, International Talk like a Pirate Day! It is a day that always inspires the wearing of pirate hats and much shouting of ‘Ahoy! Matey’ and ‘Shiver me Timbers’ in my house. Thankfully my kids get into the day along side me, and so do a number of my friends and coworkers.

Last year I created a list of picturebooks and related non-fiction children’s books to celebrate the day. We can revisit that post here. This year I am going to take a different look at pirates, and offer up a selection of adult non-fiction about pirates that will sate your desire for adventure and travel, and perhaps whet your appetite for even more information. If you are still looking for more after reading this post, we do have a display in the lobby, near the adult fiction, of pirate related books that just might catch your eye!

1. The Pirate Hunter: the True Story of Captain Kidd by Richard Zacks