Nonfiction

Tell Someone to Take a Hike and Join Them!

/ Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

With the arrival of nice weather many of us are looking to get back to walking or hiking and exploring the hidden treasures around us. Did you know that there are some great places to hike right here in Cheshire? Well, we have some small maps available for free at the library with maps of local trails and routes.

We also have some great books about hiking trails in Cheshire, Connecticut, and throughout New England. Here are some of those books that might offer you hiking routes and ideas that you might have forgotten about or simply never knew about.

1. Trails, Cheshire, Connecticut. by the Cheshire Environment Commission and Cheshire Land Trust

2. AMC’s Best Day Hikes in Connecticut: Four-Season Guide to 50 of the Best Day Hikes from the Highlands to the Coast by René Laubach and Charles W.G. Smith.

3. Short Nature Walks in Connecticut by Eugene Keyarts

4. Best Hikes with Kids: Connecticut, Massachusetts & Rhode Island by Cynthia Copeland [Lewis], Thomas J. Lewis, and Emily Kerr

5. Weekend Walks along the New England Coast: Exploring the Coast from Connecticut to Maine by John Gibson

6. Connecticut Walk Book West: the Guide to the Blue-Blazed Hiking Trails of Western Connecticut by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association; edited by Ann T. Colson.

7. Connecticut Walk Book East: the Guide to the Blue-Blazed Hiking Trails of Eastern Connecticut by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association; edited by Ann T. Colson, Cindi D. Pietrzky

8. Hiking Connecticut and Rhode Island by Rhonda and George Ostertag.

9. 100 Classic Hikes in New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut by Jeffrey Romano.

10. Cruising Connecticut with a Picnic Basket by Jan Mann

It’s Star Wars Day – May the Fourth be With You!

/ Louise / Leave a comment

May 4 is unofficially “Star Wars Day.” It’s the one day a year when Star Wars fans are encouraged to REALLY let their devotion to all things Star Wars out to play. Cheshire Library has got you covered, young Jedis – we have Star Wars items in just about every section of our collection. Here’s a very small taste of what you can find in our corner of the galaxy:

ADULT SCIENCE FICTION:

TEENS:

CHILDREN’S FICTION:

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EASY READERS:

NON-FICTION:

DVD:

 

Spring Has Sprung! Thinking About Gardening?

/ Linda / Leave a comment

pruning 2If you enjoy working in your yard, one of the first things to do in Spring is pruning.  But it can be confusing just which plants should be pruned at what time of year.  The  books listed below can help you make the right choices.

Pruning Made Easy

How To Prune

The Pruning Answer Book

gardeningNow is the time to also start planning your garden.  The Cheshire Library has a whole shelving section downstairs in the Reference Department just for Gardening Books.  For those of you who may be new to gardening, here is a selection of titles that will help you get started.  Additional titles can be found in the 635 area of Reference.

Gardening Made Simple

The New Low Maintenance Garden

The New Gardener

Trowel & Error

1001 Ingenious Gardening Ideas

Reader’s Digest Guide To Gardening

Quell the Science Fair Fear with Books for Inspiration!

/ Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Is it Science Fair season or do you have a child in the house that simply loves science and conducting experiments? Regardless of whether the science project is assigned or done for fun, it can be scary supervising a science experiment! It can be even worse if you never enjoyed science. However, it is important to help encourage the curiosity and interest of our children in all sorts of subjects, so we all keep trying to quell the fear and support their work. Here are some great books to help pick a project and that offer instructions that make the whole process much more enjoyable, and less stressful, for everyone involved.

1. Last-Minute Science Fair Projects: When your Bunsen’s not Burning but the Clock’s Really Ticking by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

2. Weather Projects for Young Scientists: Experiments and Science Fair Ideas by Mary Kay Carson

3. The Kid’s Book of Simple Everyday Science by Kelly Doudna

4. First Place Science Fair Projects for Inquisitive Kids by Elizabeth Snoke Harris

5. Water: Green Science Projects for a Sustainable Planet by Robert Gardner

6. Electricity and Magnetism Science Fair Projects: Using Batteries, Balloons, and other Hair-Raising Stuff by Robert Gardner

7. MythBusters Science Fair Book by Samantha Margles

8. Championship Science Fair Projects: 100 Sure-to-Win Experiments by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

9. Goal!: Science Projects with Soccer by Madeline Goodstein

10. Super Sensational Science Fair Projects by Michael A. Dispezio; illustrated by Derek Toye

Did you think I could really stop there? There are plenty of great books to help students, parents, and everyone involved, pick a science experiment or project and get started. Here are some more of the best books on the topic in our collection.

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You might want to check out: Star Wars: Science Fair Book by Samantha Margles, Energy: Green Science Projects About Solar, Wind, and Water Power by Robert Gardner, Science Fair Winners: Crime Scene Science: 20 Projects and Experiments about Clues, Crimes, Criminals, and other Mysterious Things by Karen Romano Young; illustrations by David Goldin, Janice VanCleave’s Machines: Mind-Boggling Experiments You Can Turn into Science Fair Projects, The Complete Handbook of Science Fair Projects by Julianne Blair Bochinski; illustrations by Judy J. Bochinski-DiBiase, Super Science Projects about Earth’s Soil and Water by Robert Gardner; illustrations by Tom Labaff, Bug Science: 20 Projects and Experiments about Arthropods: Insects, Arachnids, Algae, Worms, and Other Small Creatures by Karen Romano Young, Far-Out Science Projects about Earth’s Sun and Moon by Robert Gardner; illustrations by Tom LaBaff, Ace Your Ecology and Environmental Science Project: Great Science Fair Ideas by Robert Gardner, Phyllis J. Perry, and Salvatore Tocci, Yikes! Wow! Yuck!: Fun Experiments for your First Science Fair by Elizabeth Snoke Harris; illustrated by Nora Thompson, Sure-to-Win Science Fair Projects by Joe Rhatigan with Heather Smith, The Everything Kids’ Science Experiments Book: Boil Ice, Float Water, Measure Gravity- Challenge the World Around You! by Tom Robinson, and 100 First-Prize Make-it-Yourself Science Fair Projects by Glen Vecchione.

Doing Time Waiting for Season 2 of “Orange Is The New Black”? Try These Books About Life Behind Bars

/ Louise / Leave a comment

Are you a fan of the critically-acclaimed Netflix series Orange Is The New Black? You may know that it is based on the memoir of the same name by Piper Kerman. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Orange Is the New Black offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison, why it is we lock so many away, and what happens to them when they’re there.

If you like Orange Is The New Black, try some of these other “prison reads” while you’re waiting for Season 2 to be released in June.

Non-Fiction:

Couldn’t Keep it to Myself : Testimonies From Our Imprisoned Sisters by Wally Lamb.

I’ll Fly Away : Further Testimonies From the Women of York Prison by Wally Lamb.

Captive in Iran : a Remarkable True Story of Hope and Triumph Amid the Horror of Tehran’s Brutal Evin Prison by Maryam Rostampour

Prison Baby : a Memoir by Deborah Stein

Women Behind Bars : The Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System by Silja J. A. Talvi

A Prison Diary by Jeffrey Archer

Fiction:

The Session by Judith Kelman

End of Story by Peter Abrahams

Love Her Madly by Mary-Ann Tirone Smith

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

The Green Mile by Stephen King

Pen Pals by Olivia Goldsmith