Nonfiction

On Our (virtual) Shelves: New E-Books

/ cheshirelib / Leave a comment

There are lots of new titles to choose from in our E-Book collection. If you’re a Cheshire Library cardholder, check out our Connect Downloadable Catalog for more ebooks and audiobooks. Here’s a sample of what’s new…

New Fiction

The Hero by Robin Carr. In a moment of desperation, Devon McAllister takes her daughter and flees a place where they should have been safe and secure. She thought she wanted to hide from the world, but in Thunder Point, you find bravery where you least expect it…and sometimes, you find a hero.

Big Brother by Lionel Shriver. From the acclaimed author of the National Book Award finalist So Much for That and the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin comes a striking new novel about siblings, marriage, and obesity.

New Non-Fiction

The Library Book by various authors. From Alan Bennett’s Baffled at a Bookcase, to Lucy Mangan’s Library Rules, famous writers tell us all about how libraries are used and why they’re important.

Between Man and Beast by Monte Reel. The adventure of an unlikely young explorer who emerged from the jungles of Africa with evidence of a mysterious, still mythical beast–the gorilla–only to stumble straight into the center of the biggest debate of the day: Darwin’s theory of evolution.

New for Teens

Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. James Patterson returns to the genre that made him famous with a thrilling teen detective series about the mysterious and magnificently wealthy Angel family . . . and the dark secrets they’re keeping…

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley. Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she’s going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He’s out there somewhere–spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night. and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for…

New for Kids

Oddkins by Dean Koontz. Blockbuster author Dean Koontz’s first novel for young readers, a beautifully illustrated and visually stunning story about a magical band of living toys who learn to overcome the fears we all face in the dark.

My Name is Mina by David Almond. Award-winning author David Almond reintroduces readers to the perceptive, sensitive Mina before the events of Skellig in this lyrical and fantastical work.

10 Books we’re looking forward to in October

/ Louise / Leave a comment

LibraryReads.org is a new online endeavor designed to let librarians spread the word about the books they’re most excited about. Each month librarians from around the country nominate new and upcoming titles they’d most like to share with readers. Who better to recommend your next read?

One of the goals of LibraryReads is to highlight the important role public libraries play in building buzz for new books and new authors. So click through to read more about what new and upcoming books librarians consider buzzworthy this month…

  1. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

  2. Longbourn  by Jo Baker

  3. The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

  4. Cartwheel by Jennifer duBois

  5. Hawthorn & Child by Keith Ridgeway

  6. The Stop: How the Fight for Good Food Transformed a Community and Inspired a Movement by Nick Saul & Andrea Curtis

  7. We Are Water by Wally Lamb

  8. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

  9. The Tilted World by Tom Franklin & Beth Ann Fennell

  10. Hunting Season: Immigration and Murder in an All-American Town by Mirta Ojito

Summer Left Behind- Top 20 Books Left Behind in Hotel Rooms

/ Linda / Leave a comment

summerIt’s the last day of summer, your vacation’s  just a memory.  But did you leave something behind in your hotel room?

Travelodge has released its list of the top 20 books left behind in their rooms.

  1. Fifty Shades Freed by EL James
  2. Bared to You by Sylvia Day
  3. The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst
  4. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  5. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
  6. Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James
  7. Reflected in You by Sylvia Day
  8. My Time by Bradley Wiggins
  9. Entwined with You by Sylvia Day
  10. Fifty Shades Darker by EL James
  11. Cheryl: My Story by Cheryl COle
  12. The Marriage Trap by Jennifer Probast
  13. Camp David by David Walliams
  14. The Midwife by Jennifer Worth
  15. Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson
  16. The Marriage Mistake by Jennifer Probst
  17. The Racketeer by John Grisham
  18. The Carrier by Sophie Hannah
  19. Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French
  20. The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald

A total of 22,648 books were left behind – 1,209 were Fifty Shades Freed!  No surprise that many of the top 20 are sizzling romance novels!

It’s National Talk Like Pirate Day, Celebrate with Picturebooks!

/ Sharon Tyler / 1 Comment

Today is National Talk Like Pirate Day! Celebrate this fun day with us by enjoying some great pirate themed picturebooks! Everyone loves a great pirate tale, and these are fun stories that you can share with the whole family while getting into the spirit of a silly holiday.

Pirate Pete’s Talk Like a Pirate by Kim Kennedy
In search of a crew, Pirate Pete and his parrot look for “stanky scallywags” who possess certain conversational skills.

The Pirate Princess by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
Tired of the royal life, Princess Bea boards a pirate ship and sets out for adventure on the high seas but soon finds she is not good at swabbing decks, cooking in the galley, or keeping watch from the crow’s nest.

Small Saul by Ashley Spires
Small Saul is a different kind of pirate. Will Small Saul be able to prove his worth as a pirate or will he be thrown overboard?

Henry & the Buccaneer Bunnies by Carolyn Crim
Captain Barnacle Black Ear, baddest of the Buccaneer Bunnies, is ashamed of his book-loving son, Henry, until the day a great storm approaches.

You might also want to check out  The Pirates Next Door: Starring the Jolley-Rogers by Jonny Duddle, Pirate vs. Pirate: the Terrific Tale of a Big Blustery Maritime Match by Mary Quattlebaum, The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup, The No-Good Do-Good Pirates by Jim Kraft, or Henry & the Crazed Chicken Pirates by Carolyn Crimi.

Would you prefer to learn about real pirates instead of reading picturebooks, or to follow up a fun tale with factual adventures? Then check out these children’s nonfiction books that they whole family can enjoy.

The Pirate Queen by Emily Arnold McCully, Women of the Sea: Ten Pirate Stories by Myra Weatherly, Blackbeard, the Pirate King: Several Yarns Detailing the Legends, Myths, and Real-life Adventures of History’s Most Notorious Seaman: Told in Verse by J. Patrick Lewis, Pirates: Facts, Things to Make, Activities by Rachel Wright, I Wonder Why Pirates Wore Earrings: and Other Questions about Piracy by Pat Jacobs, Pirates by Peter Chrisp, Real Pirates the Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship by Barry Clifford, Pirates : Robbers of the High Seas by Gail Gibbons, and Sea Queens: Women Pirates around the World by Jane Yolen.

No Meat Please: Vegetarian Cookbooks

/ Jenn / Leave a comment

October 1st is World Vegetarian Day, and I get to celebrate it this year! In March my husband and I decided to become vegetarians, for a variety of reasons, and we haven’t looked back since. I get asked all the time, “So how IS it being a vegetarian???” Let me tell you, my carnivorous friends, it’s really not that bad. I thought I would crave burgers and chicken, but not really. The only thing I really miss is… bacon! It’s my trigger word.

When we made the decision to go veggie, I took out a LOT of vegetarian cookbooks and looked through them. Many of them have rather unusual, and frankly weird ingredients that my husband and I just aren’t ready for (some of these things you need to ease into). And tofu will never be a part of our diet. No matter how it’s prepared, it always tastes like a pencil eraser to me. But to each their own.

Whether you decided to be, or already are a vegetarian, or just like meatless cooking options, here are a few vegetarian cookbooks we have added to our collection this year:

Small Planet, Small Plates

  1. Small Planet, Small Plates: Earth-Friendly Vegetarian Recipes by Troth Wells. There are over 100 recipes from all around the world in this cookbook, dishes ranging from Africa, Latin-America, and the Middle East. Wells is a firm believer in low-impact eating and moving towards a vegetable-based diet as a sustainable method for our planet to survive. Picture with each recipe.

    French Market Cookbook

  2. The French Market Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes From My Parisian Kitchen by Clotide Dusoulier. Dusoulier is the blogger behind the popular blog ChocolateandZucchini.com and is not a vegetarian. But like a lot of people, she has chosen to eat fewer meat dishes. She includes 82 recipes using fresh, in season, and ripe ingredients that do not have a lot of cheeses, creams, or dairy.

    Meatless

  3. Meatless: More Than 200 Of the Very Best Vegetarian Recipes by Martha Stewart. Meatless has over 200 recipes, all with pictures, that are for the vegetarian and meat-eater alike. What is cool about this book is a guide on how to stock a vegetarian pantry, with essentials like beans, vegetable stock, and pastas.

    Simply Satisfying

  4. Simply Satisfying: Over 200 Vegetarian Recipes You’ll Want To Make Again and Again by Jeanne Lemlin. This is a reinvention of Lemlin’s first cookbook, published more than 25 years ago as Vegetarian Pleasures: A Menu Cookbook. In this new cookbook, Lemlin’s first in more than 10 years, she uses fresh, easily available (key in my book), and robust flavors. One recipes that sounds to die for is fragrant vegetable stew with corn dumplings. YUM!

    Welcome To Claire’s

  5. Welcome to Claire’s: 35 Years of Recipes and Reflections From the Landmark Vegetarian Restaurant by Claire Criscuolo. We are lucky enough to live within a half and hour of Claire’s Corner Copia and hope to make it there soon. If you’ve been to Claire’s before, you’ve likely tried her Lithuanian Coffee Cake. The recipe is included here!

See you in the stacks,

Jenn