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.

National Nurses Week – May 6-12, 2015

May 6, 2015April 30, 2015 / Linda / Leave a comment

Everyone has had some kind of interaction with a nurse – starting from the day you were born! In 1994, May 6-12 (May 12th is Florence Nightingale’s birthday) was officially designated National Nurses Week. It is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on, and appreciate, the vital role that nurses play in our lives. If the opportunity arises, please take the time to thank a nurse for all they do.

Nurses are popular in the literary world too. The library has a great assortment of books and DVDs that feature nurses.

Fiction

The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje

My Name is Mary Sutter – Robin Oliveira

The Carousel – Richard Paul Evans

A Violet Season – Kathy Leonard Czepiel

The Life We Bury – Allen Eskins

Stella Bain – Anita Shreve

Bittersweet – Colleen McCullough

Never Change – Elizabeth Berg

Non-Fiction

The Secret Rescue – an untold story of American nurses and medics behind Nazi lines – Cate Lineberry

The Good Nurse – a true story of medicine, madness and murder – Charles Graeber

Nightingales: the extraordinary upbringing and curious life of Miss Florence Nightingale – Gillian Gill

Children’s

Nurses – Marlene Targ Brill

Florence Nightingale – Demi

Clara and Davie – Patricia Polacco

DVD’s

Nurse Jackie

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

Call The Midwife

China Beach

To see a complete listing of titles about nurses, click here.

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

ART2-D2’s Guide to Folding and Doodling by Tom Angleberger

Darth Vader: a 3-D Reconstruction Log written by Daniel Wallace; illustrated by Chris Trevas and Chris Reiff

The Strange case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

Star Wars: Incredible Cross Sections

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: Incredible Cross-Sections

Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections

Two (More) Reasons to Read Poetry Today

April 27, 2015March 17, 2015 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

While reading and writing poetry is a fantastic pursuit on any given day, today we have two extra reasons to partake! Not only is April National Poetry Month, but April 28th is also Great Poetry Reading Day. So I gathered up some poetry books that could be the perfect choice to enjoy on this literary day. Do not feel limited by this tiny look at our poetry collection either! Come and take a look at our poetry display or the 811’s in our nonfiction collection.

1. The Voice That is Great Within Us: American Poetry of the Twentieth Century edited by Hayden Carruth

2. The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems or Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems by Billy Collins

3. Everyman’s Poetry by Elizabeth Barrett Browning; edited by Colin Graham

4. The Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip-Hop & the Poetry of a New Generation edited by Mark Eleveld

5. The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis selected and introduced by Caroline Kennedy

6. Sunken Garden Poetry, 1992-2011 edited by Brad Davis

7. The Poetry of Robert Frost: the Collected Poems edited by Edward Connery Lathem

8. Anthology of Modern Japanese Poetry Translated & compiled by Edith Marcombe Shiffert & Yūki Sawa

9. Selected Poetry of Ogden Nash: 650 Rhymes, Verses, Lyrics, and Poems

10. The Enlightened Heart: an Anthology of Sacred Poetry edited by Stephen Mitchell

If you are looking for poetry books to interest kids, or adults that simply enjoy reading children’s literature (like myself), then check out this older post; Great Poetry Books to Share with Children.

Or perhaps you would rather an audiobook so you can listen to the poetry? try The Poets Corner: the One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family compiled by John Lithgow, The Storm King: Stories, Narratives, Poems: Spoken Word Set to a World of Music by Pete Seeger, The Voice of the Poet by E. E. Cummings, The Iliad by Homer, The Odyssey by Homer, William Carlos Williams, The Essential Edgar Allan Poe or, A Patriot’s Handbook: Poems, Stories, and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love selected and introduced by Caroline Kennedy.

World Penguin Day – April 25, 2015

April 24, 2015March 17, 2015 / Linda / Leave a comment

World Penguin Day was created by scientists at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica when they noticed a colony of Adelie Penguins returning to the same spot, on the same day, every year. The scientists decided to create a day of celebration for this annual migration and zoos, parks, and conservationists around the world celebrate this day to bring awareness to the health and conservation of these beautiful creatures.

Some facts about penguins (source: Antarctic Ocean Alliance and Ian Somerhalder Foundation):

Penguins may look cute and awkward, but they can adapt to a very harsh environment. They are also very important to the Antarctic ecosystem.
They spend 75% of their lives at sea. They swim underwater at around four to seven miles per hour.
There are 17 species of penguins. They come in a variety of sizes and, although they are all black and white, they each have distinctive patterns and markings.
Most species breed in large colonies for protection, ranging from 200 to hundreds of thousands of birds. Scientists can locate colonies from space by looking for dark stains on the ice from all that penguin poop!
Emperor Penguin
Emperors are the largest species – average height is about 45 inches.
Most penguins forage for food at depths from 150 to 250 metres, but some dives to 565 metres have been recorded. An average dive lasts 3-6 minutes, with the longest recorded dive at 22 minutes.
Penguins can’t fly, but some species get a little airborne when they leap from the water onto the ice. Just before taking flight, they release air bubbles from their feathers. This cuts the drag on their bodies, allowing them to double or triple their swimming speed quickly and launch into the air.
The penguin’s ‘tuxedo’ coloring helps them be camouflaged while swimming. From above, their black backs blend into the dark ocean water. From below, their white bellies match the bright surface lit by sunlight. This helps them avoid predators.