Home Sweet Home

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I moved into a new home this year.  It’s still a work in progress.  I love watching home improvement shows on TV.   It’s fun to see what other people come up with in tackling various buying, selling, redecorating, or renovating problems.  It’s also fun to look through various ‘home’ magazines for ideas and inspiration.  If you’re looking to do a little work on your home, or just like to look at beautiful pictures, the Cheshire Library offers quite a few magazines that satisfy a variety of styles and tastes.

Architectural Digest

*Better Homes & Gardens

*Country Living

*Dwell

*Family Handyman

*HGTV

*House Beautiful

This Old House

*Traditional Home

Veranda

*Also available on Zinio.

The Cheshire Library also has a wonderful selection of books to help guide you through the process or help inspire you.  Click on the headings below to access our catalog.

Decorating

Home Improvment

Home Decor

 

 

National Nude Day – July 14, 2015

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While doing some research for future blog posts, I came across National Nude Day.  Now, I know what some of you are thinking, but I immediately thought about……. Art.   The human body has always been a fascinating subject for artists.  A recent example was featured on CBS This Morning here.   The Cheshire Library has a wonderful collection of books, DVDs, and magazines on a variety of art subjects, including some of the world’s best known artists famous for their nudes.

A Few Famous Artists

Michelangelo: a life in six masterpieces

Francisco de Goya

Vincent Van Gogh: life and work

The Unknown Matisse

A Life of Picasso

Magazines

American Art Review Magazine

Art In America Magazine

DVDs

Drawing the line: a portrait of Keith Haring

Getting Started With Bob Ross

Vincent Van Gogh: A Stroke of Genius

Vincent – A Dutchman

Andy Warhol

A Model for Matisse     

The Great Masters of the Italian Renaissance

Alex Katz: Five Hours

 

Books – Adult

Lives of  the Great 20th Century Artists

How to Paint Abstracts

Art: over 2,500 works from cave to contemporary

Art: a new history

The Collins Big Book of Art: from cave art to pop art

Introduction to Drawing the Human Body

Books – Children

 A History of Art for Young People

Paul Cezanne

100 Artists Who Changed the World

History of Art for Young People

 

The Children’s Librarians and Reference Librarians will be happy to guide you in finding the perfect title for you.

Now –  for those interested in the actual National Nude Day -” National Nude Day is a way to keep cool on a hot , sticky summer day. Nudist groups around the world celebrate this holiday and take it quite seriously! Nudist’s are not perverts…even though their desire to go “au natural” might be offensive to the conservative population! Nudist’s are individuals who believe the human body is most beautiful in their natural state. Whether or not you agree with them, nudist’s encourage people to strut their stuff. ”  (source:  National Day Calendar)  And, yes, there are a few ‘clothing optional’ resorts in Connecticut.

 

 

Oprah’s Summer Reading – 2015

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O, The Oprah Magazine has listed their favorite books for the upcoming summer season.  Below is the short version.  You can see the full list in the July 2015 issue of the magazine.

Ladies on the move

paris, he saidParis, He Said – Christine Sneed – Aspiring painter Jayne is questioning the choices she has made in the years since college and is struggling to pay her bills in Manhattan when she is given the opportunity to move to Paris with her wealthy lover and benefactor, Laurent Moller, who owns and operates two art galleries.enlightenment of nina

The Enlightenment of Nina Findlay Andrea Gillies – Seeking refuge on a tiny Greek island after an estrangement from two brothers with whom she was in a long-time love triangle, Nina discovers in the wake of an accident the influence of her parents’ marriage on her own.

re janeRe Jane – Patricia Park – Jane Re, a half-Korean, half-American orphan, escapes to Seoul where she reconnects with her family while struggling to learn the ways of modern-day Korea, and wonders if the man she loves is really the man for her as she tries to find balance between two cultures and accept who she really is.

 

Mysteries and Thrillers

the ice twinsThe Ice Twins – S.K. Tremayne – Moving to a tiny Scottish island a year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah are shattered when their surviving daughter claims they have mistaken her identity and that she is actually the twin they believed dead.hyacinth girls

Hyacinth Girls – Lauren Frankel – When her 13-year-old daughter Callie begins receiving suicidal notes from Robyn, the girl she supposedly bullied, Rebecca is determined to save the unbalanced Robyn, refusing to let the school stand in her way, but in doing so, unknowingly places her own daughter’s life in great danger.

jack of spadesJack of Spades – Joyce Carol Oates – Enjoying his successful career and devoted family, a best-selling writer secretly authors a masochist-themed series that threatens his respectable community standing and becomes subject to a plagiarism lawsuit.

 

Biography and Memoir

pawnbrokerThe Pawnbroker’s Daughter – Maxine Kumin – A new collection of work from the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet depicts her childhood during the Depression in Philadelphia, her education at Radcliffe College, her rural New England farm and the changing tone and subject matter of her poetry over her lifetime.my generation

My Generation – William Styron – collection of work spanning the career of the author includes complex pieces on race as well as extracts describing his daily walks with his beloved dog.

something must be doneSomething Must Be Done About Prince Edward County – Kristen Green – A reporter, combining hard-hitting investigative journalism with a sweeping family narrative, exposes a little-known chapter of American History, revealing her hometown’s shameful legacy of refusing to integrate after the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education.

 

Literary Fiction

our souls at nightOur Souls at Night – Kent Haruf – A senior-aged widow and widower forge a loving bond over shared loneliness and respective histories, provoking local gossip and the disapproval of their grown children in ways that are further complicated by an extended visit by a sad young grandchild.death and mr

Death and Mr. Pickwick – Stephen Jarvis – A novel based on the life of artist Robert Seymour describes the birth of “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club,” a series of whimsical sketches by Seymour that were paired with stories by a young Charles Dickens, using the pen name Boz.

sunlit nightThe Sunlit Night – Rebecca Dinerstein – In the barren landscape of the Far North, under the ever-present midnight sun, Frances, who lives in an isolated artist colony, and Yasha, who arrives from Brooklyn to fulfill his beloved father’s last wish, form a bond that offers them solace amidst great uncertainty.

 

 

Happy Summer Reading!

Gardens, Gardens, Everywhere

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.

Jacket.aspxCoffee 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.

Jacket.aspxThe 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.

Jacket.aspxLandscaping 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.

Jacket.aspxLawn 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!

Jacket.aspxThe 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.

 

 

At the Library: Digital Magazines

Zinio Web Button 2How would you like to check out as many issues of your favorite magazines as you like without having to place a hold or worrying about when the magazines are due back at the library?

Wishful thinking, you say? A lovely fantasy? A dream from a reader’s fictional utopian world?

Nope. Welcome to the world of Zinio, online magazines that can be downloaded to your computer or mobile device. For free. Anytime you want. No limits.

You never have to place a hold because all issues and titles are always available. You can download as many as you like and keep them as long as you wish. That’s right. The magazines you download never expire.

The library has over seventy-five titles currently available. The digital magazine collection offers art, entertainment, automotive, home, lifestyle, men’s, news, science & technology, sports, travel, and women’s magazines. Many titles include interactive elements such as audio and video. (Check out National Geographic for a fantastic interactive experience. One of my personal faves.)

New titles at the library include: Apple Magazine, Atlantic, Backpacker, Better Homes & Gardens, Bicycling, Clean Eating, Everyday with Rachel Ray, Fitness, Games, Golf Tips, HGTV, Motor Trend, Natural Health, OK! Magazine, Outside, Saveur, and Star.

To browse the titles simply go to our website cheshirelibrary.org and click the Magazines link at the top of the page. If you need help creating an account for Zinio, take a peek at our handy How to Use Zinio cheat sheet.

For those who need more incentive to try Zinio, it was named the best new database of 2012 by Library Journal, who called the digital magazine collection a “game-changer”.