Tag Archives: Saturdays@South

Saturdays @ the South: Reading Rules

June 18, 2016 peaadmin

dog-734689_640 — There really weren’t any pictures that encompassed “reading rules,” so here’s a picture of a stern looking dog reading, instead.

Recently on the library’s Facebook page, our excellent Archivist posted an article from blog favorite Book Riot about reading rules. This wasn’t a recent article from Book Riot, but it was new to me and so I read it with the usual alacrity I give to things bookish (i.e. a lot). While I didn’t find it to reveal a great deal about the personality of the writer, or myself (as indicated in the title), it did get me thinking about my own reading rules.

I definitely have reading rules. I always have, even though they’ve changed somewhat as I’ve grown and changed with my books. When I was a kid, I was a voracious reader (OK, that much hasn’t changed) but I was a fan of purchasing books nearly to the point of being a book hoarder. The library was always a part of my life, but it was mostly for research and standalone books. If a new book came out in a series I was reading (particularly The Baby Sitter’s Club) I was there, allowance money in hand, only to go home and read it in 2 hours and carefully place it on my shelf with the others. Now that the library is a larger part of my life, and since my reading tastes are so varied I couldn’t possibly purchase even a fraction of the books on my to-read list, I’m definitely more of a book-borrower than a book-buyer. A few other of my reading rules have changed, but for now, here are my own personal reading rules:

reading-498103_640 — I have no rules about reading outside. Clearly this cat doesn’t, either.

1) Always document reading. This is particularly important rule for me now that most of what I read isn’t purchased, which means I don’t have the luxury of wandering through my bookshelves to reminisce about the story, characters, etc. This is also gives me recourse when I read a plot summary of something that sounds vaguely familiar; I can check to see if I’ve read it before. Book journals and lists have helped me in the past, but as I’ve mentioned here before, I’m a pretty aggressive user of Goodreads to track what I’ve read and what I want to read. While the book journals are comforting and often adorable, there’s something to be said for a searchable book database that can tell you not only what you’ve read, but when you read it as well.

2) Books must remain pristine. This is one with which I’m sure many people won’t agree with me. I’m not a dog-earer (though I was in a past reading life) and I’ve never been a spine-breaker. For me, books are a totem, items that aren’t necessarily sacred, but deserve an exorbitant amount of respect. I have paperbacks I’ve read multiple times that look, at least from the outside, as though they’ve never been read. For me, a well-loved book doesn’t have to look that way (another reason not to judge a book by it’s cover). I know in my heart (and on my reading list) that the book is well-loved and that’s good enough for me.

3) Certain bookmarks for certain reading. I agree with the Book Rioter about this rule. Some bookmarks just seem made for certain books. I’ve previously mentioned my “Travel by Book” bookmark. This is used specifically for the travel memoirs that I love reading. I have a “Celebrate the Season” bookmark with some adorable cartoon penguins that is reserved solely for the reading of Christmas books. Library books get an embroidered bookmark I purchased as a kit in a London gift shop as it’s thick enough for me to notice when it’s still in the book, so I don’t accidentally return it to the library.

4) My books and books that are not mine remain separate at all times. It’s not that I’m some sort of purist about my books versus other books and never the twain shall meet. I’m just very persnickety about making sure that books end up back with their rightful owners, be it the library, a friend who was kind enough to loan something to me or books that I’m weeding from my personal collection and are going to donate. My library books have their very own spot next to my bed, and unless I’m currently reading one of them, that’s where they stay until they go back to the library. You get the idea…

Perhaps you have your own rules about reading. Reading Rainbow has delightful rules about reading that I think are worthy of everyone following. Or, perhaps you feel I take my books too seriously. (I am a librarian, after all!) I suspect, however, that if you’re a reader of this blog, you have some of your own rules about reading and whether or not they agree with mine, they deserve to be followed. And for your reading pleasure, here are some books about and/or written by people who tend to take books as seriously as I do:

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

I utterly adored this novel, largely because the author had so many beautiful passages about books as objects and books as portals to the soul. The story itself, about a woman who is personally invited to take down the memoirs of a well-known author who is gravely ill and the secrets she reveals, is gripping in its own right and has a beautiful, Gothic tone that makes the book lovely and atmospheric. The main character also works in an antiquarian bookshop. This book is essentially a Meta book-about-books and what the process of writing and reading means to different people. I have no doubt that both of the primary characters have their own rules about reading.

So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading by Sara Nelson

This book isn’t so much about reading rules as it is about rediscovering a passion for reading. Nelson sets out with a 52-week plan to read a book a week for the entire year and record her experiences with those books. What results is a deeply personal account of the intersection of books with our lives and relationships. Warning: her bookish enthusiasm will likely increase your to-read list substantially.

Into the Looking-Glass Wood: Essays on Books, Reading and the World by Alberto Manguel

Novelist Manguel puts down his thoughts on books and reading and how they have affected him in crucial points in his life. His essays talk about childhood reading experiences, how his world is shaped around language and how it’s used (he’s multi-lingual) and how reading affects his humanity. These essays are deep, lovely and utterly delightful. They gripped me as much as any plot-driven novel simply because there was so much thought and feeling behind them.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

This is a book about reading, the pursuits of a lifetime passion and how they can engage our lives in unusual, unexpected ways. This book has literature, details about typeface (put together in an interesting way one would have previously thought impossible) and a global conspiracy that integrates the technological world with more traditional forms of reading in a way that shows how both can be necessary and enlightening. (Oh, and many of the covers glow in the dark!)

Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way through Great Books by Cara Nicolietti

This book puts together two of my favorite things, books and food, and in a passionate, delightful way. Nicoletti has a deep-rooted understanding of how books and food can bring people closer or enliven them and seeks her own adventures as such by cooking the dishes that appear in the literature she’s read. From Emma’s soft-boiled egg, to brown butter crepes from Gone Girl to a clam chowder inspired by Moby Dick, nothing is off-limits so long as it involves both food and books. This is my kind of read! (And no, I don’t have a reading rule against eating while reading.)

Till next week, dear readers, I hope your reading, whatever rules you may apply to it, gives you pleasure and comfort. Happy reading!

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Saturdays @ the South: Bookish Podcasts

June 11, 2016 peaadmin

I hope our faithful readers of this blog (and even the occasional passers-by) understand how much we love helping patrons here at the library. Let’s face it, you’re all why we’re here in the first place. We love helping you find just the right title you’re looking for or turning you onto something new. Sometimes, though, we love helping you help yourselves. We try to be as diverse as we can here at the library and I know sometimes our enthusiasm may seem superhuman, but we are just people after all and we simply can’t keep up with absolutely everything in the ever-expanding world of books. (I know, say it isn’t so! But it’s true…) The good news is there are some awesome resources out there to help you keep up with the world of books and help you explore it much in the way we would: with bookish enthusiasm and occasional, random bursts of excitement. Today, I thought I’d share with you one of my favorite ways to keep up with bookish news and upcoming titles: podcasts. The world of books and the world of podcasts intersect a surprising amount with some fantastic offerings by both publishers and independent sources.

For the uninitiated, a podcast is like a cross between a radio broadcast and a blog post; it is in audio format accessible through the Internet on-demand, and is an opportunity for hosts to share information about which they are particularly knowledgeable or enthusiastic. Most podcasts have a specific theme or topic and publish a new episode weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, with some posting multiple times each week. Podcasts can be downloaded onto media players like tablets, smartphones and iPods, but they can also simply be listened to on a computer. Downloading can be done through iTunes (which is free software), but can also be done through the podcasts’ individual website. The podcast’s website will allow you to listen on your computer, without any special equipment. You also have the luxury of subscribing to podcasts you particularly enjoy so you won’t miss an episode. However, if yo do miss an episode, you can often find scads of backlist episodes for your listening pleasure. There are hundreds of topics to choose from and, fortunately for us, there are some amazing bookish podcasts that offer current, relevant information and insights into the bookish world.

A word about sponsors: Many of the podcasts that have the best production value need money in order to keep their quality standards high. (This isn’t something the public library generally encounters because our funding largely comes from the City and donations like those received on behalf of the Friends of the Peabody Institute Libraries or the Peabody Library Foundation.) As a result, podcasts may briefly be interrupted by “commercials”, in which the podcast presenter talks about who has sponsored the show. This doesn’t necessarily make the podcast less reliable in terms of information. In the case of most podcasts I’ve listened to, the sponsors are at least tangentially related to the podcast content and hosts do not seem to introduce a sponsor that they are not familiar with or comfortable recommending. The appearance of sponsors does not seem to affect the content of the podcast. That said, most podcasts have an “advance 15 second” feature so you can skip through the sponsor notices like fast-forwarding through a commercial. Please know that any sponsors mentioned in the podcasts listed below are in no way affiliated with or recommended by the Library. As in most things, you should use your own best judgement.

All the Books – This podcast is a lively bundle of enthusiasm that allows you to keep up with the newest books coming out each week. Run by blog favorite Book Riot, each week the hosts, known as the “Well Redheads” run through their favorite books that have come out that week, offering brief plot summaries and the reasons why they are mentioning those particular books out of the very many books that come out each week. You’re unlikely to find the newest James Patterson or Danielle Steel book mentioned here as the hosts prefer to give love to some of the lesser known books that they feel deserve attention. That said, many of the books they talk about end up on bestseller lists or other popular book lists, like Library Reads, so you won’t be getting a list of obscure books you can’t find in the library here. Just good reads.

Get Booked – This is a readers’ advisory podcast in which the hosts take readers’ questions about what they should read next. The podcast started off as a bi-weekly program, but was so popular and the hosts wanted to accommodate the flood of questions that came in, they’re now posting a new podcast weekly. This is also a Book Riot podcast, which pretty much guarantees that the presenters will love what they do and have an absolute blast doing it. This is a great podcast to learn about new genres as they sometimes have themed shows and it’s a great resource to hear about books that might not be new, but might be just to your liking.

New York Public Library Podcast – If you want to get to know the stories behind the stories, this is the podcast for you. This podcast is filled with author interviews, critic interviews, culture and art talks and more, often in front of a live audience, all of which allow you to delve deeper into the world of books and culture. The podcasts are widely varied in topic so there’s something for everyone here.

What Should I Read Next? – Blogger Ann Bogel (known in the blogosphere as Modern Mrs. Darcy) is an inherent bookworm who loves making reading recommendations. Each week, she has a guest on the show and the guest tells her what he/she is reading now, two books they love, one book they hate and if there’s anything they want to change in their reading lives (ex. I want to read books my more people of color, I want to read more nonfiction, etc.). With that information, she makes 3 suggestions for what the guest should read next. She recently had a “what did they read?” follow-up episode and it sounds like her suggestions were right up her guests’ alley. It’s a fun, non-fussy approach to readers’ advisory and you can get some fantastic recommendations from Bogel.

Publishers are also offering some pretty interesting podcasts that, while the publishers are likely hoping to boost sales for their individual titles by addition additional content, still offer some interesting background into books, book news and authors. Author interviews and audiobook previews (perfect for June, which is Audiobook Month!) are often included content. News outlets are offering similar podcasts and while they may not be as wildly enthusiastic as the more independent podcasts who are doing it mostly for a love of books, they have undeniable access to big-names that smaller, more independent outfits simply wouldn’t have. Some of these podcasts include: Harper Audio Presents, Slate’s Audio Book Club and The Guardian Books Podcast.

After the Funeral – In the “timely coincidence” category, we have this serialized podcast that is broadcasting a full reading of Agatha’ Christie’s After the Funeral. This podcast is presented by Sophie Hannah, who is the only author to have received authorization from the Christie estate to write new Hercule Poirot novels The Monogram Murders and the upcoming Closed Casket. It is read by Hugh Fraser. This is one of those publisher-presented podcasts; in this case it’s part of Harper Audio Presents.

That’s one of the cool things about podcasts. You can also find original, fictional, serialized content that can be pretty addictive. I have not personally listened to, but have heard many wonderful things about the podcast “Welcome to Night Vale” which gained such momentum that it was turned into a novel. Currently there’s “Alice Isn’t Dead,” a creepy, bi-weekly podcast about a woman following her missing wife’s trail by taking a job with a tractor-trailer company and crisscrossing across the US, encountering some very strange people and events. It’s like listening to an audiobook in small doses.

I hope this post has offered you some options for discovering new books or other things in the wonderful bookish world for yourself. Don’t forget, though, the Library is always here for you, whether you want to find those cool books that you just heard about through a podcast, or if you’d like recommendations a more traditional or personal way. We’re always happy to help! Till next week, dear readers, keep your ear to the ground for new bookish news. If you hear something you like, tell us! We always love to hear about new discoveries.

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Saturdays @ the South: Getting Cozy

June 4, 2016 peaadmin

Allow me to start with sincerest apologies for the lack of Saturdays @ the South last week. It is the first time since this column’s beginning over a year ago that it hasn’t appeared and I certainly hope it will be the last. In the meantime, let’s move forward with this week’s content (and, hopefully, your forgiveness…).

I’ve noticed that television seems to be getting mighty cozy lately. I don’t necessarily mean that TVs have gotten smaller (if anything TVs have gotten bigger…) or that they’ve gotten warmer, but they are showing more cozy mysteries. What exactly is a “cozy mystery,” and how is it different from any other mystery you might ask? A cozy mystery is a book that’s generally defined as a mystery where the person following the clues and solving the puzzle is an amateur sleuth (as opposed to a police detective or private investigator who do such things professionally). Another characteristic of the cozy mystery is that they consist mostly of “offstage” violence, meaning that even though a murder (or sometimes several) take place, the action of the murder doesn’t take place on the page. It’s referred to or stumbled upon, but not “seen” by the characters and, therefore, not by the reader, either. Lastly a cozy mystery usually involves an insular community where people usually know each other, either a small town or a specific neighborhood in a large town, so the murder is often considered more shocking or potent.

If any of these characteristics are ringing a bell to you, it could be because television gave us over a decade of a classic (though not derived from a book) cozy mystery: Murder She Wrote. Those who didn’t settle in after 60 Minutes on a Sunday night in the late ’80s and early ’90s are people unknown to me. Murder She Wrote has all the makings of a classic cozy mystery: an amateur sleuth (the inimitable and ever-classy Jessica Fletcher), offstage violence and an insular small town (the fictional Cabot Cove, ME, inspired by real-life inlet in Kennebunkport, but actually filmed on the wrong coast in Mendocino, CA), though Jessica had to travel far and wide to keep solving crimes for 12 seasons. In many cases, cozy mysteries found on television or film are often based on books (as we shall see), but in this case, such was the love for Jessica Fletcher that the TV series inspired a still-running series of books which can be found both in paper copies and in Overdrive as e-books.

It is usually the other way around, however, in which a book (or usually in the case of cozy mysteries, a series of books) inspires a TV series. Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple mysteries are generally considered the birth of the cozy (and has had several iterations on television), but the genre has exploded into a massive number of sub-genres (including pet cozies, culinary cozies- with recipes!, crafting cozies, paranormal cozies, historical cozies and so. much. more), so there are *plenty* of cozies to choose from when it comes to adapting television scripts. If you’d like to get a sense of the variety of the cozy-mystery world, I highly recommend you check out http://www.cozy-mystery.com/, which in my opinion is THE source for all things cozy. While I find the pseudonymous Erin Martin who runs the site to have a broader definition of a cozy than traditionally used (she includes some gentler police procedurals like the South Branch favorite Death in Paradise, in her cozy TV roundup), there is no denying that she has created a comprehensive resource that is regularly updated and broken down in many searchable ways.

Cozies have graced the screen easily since the late 1970s, early 1980s when Murder She Wrote was in good company with the likes of Miss Marple, Father Brown based on G.K. Chesterton’s series, Lord Peter Wimsy based on Dorothy L. Sayers’s mysteries and many more, but lately, I’ve been seeing somewhat a resurgence. Perhaps it’s just that I’m noticing them more on television or maybe there’s a genuine uptick in production (is there a grant out there that will allow us to research this?), but I’ve found several book-to-TV cozies out there that I thought would be fun to share with you all.

Grantchester

This is a British import brought to our TV screens by PBS but was inspired by James Runcie’s Sidney Chambers mystery series. I am familiar only with the TV series (it was only until I was actually paying attention to the credits that I noticed they were based on books) but Grantchester is a delightful series that takes its 1950s setting and uses it to discuss some of the more pertinent issues of today (abortion, racism, domestic violence). Lest you think a cozy get too heavy, it is also about the Sidney Chambers, the local vicar who has a kindly nature, helps the locals and has a rewarding friendship with the town’s detective, but battles his own personal flaws as well, making him a more complex character than can often be seen in a genre that can, at times, feel cookie-cutter.

Photo Credit: Katie Yu/Crown Media - as used on http://www.soapoperanetwork.com — Photo Credit: Katie Yu/Crown Media – as used on http://www.soapoperanetwork.com

Murder She Baked

This is a Hallmark Movies and Mystery channel offering of several movies. Murder She Baked is based on Joanne Fluke’s bestselling Hannah Swenson mysteries in which a baker in a small town in Minnesota occasionally solves murders in her hometown. The series is fairy true to the text when it comes to adapting the books (so far: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, Plum Pudding Murder and Peach Cobbler Murder with a new special A Deadly Recipe, based on the Fudge Cupcake Murder, on June 19th). This is a great way to see characters from a beloved series come alive and it has a great twist on the amateur sleuth angle. While Swenson is very capable in tracking down clues because she’s such an integral part of the town, the police investigators are not the bumbling screw-ups that one often finds such books. They are smart and capable and are often one step ahead of Hannah, she just happens to uncover one or two clues that the townspeople are otherwise unwilling to reveal to the police.

Death Comes to Pemberley

This is another British export brought stateside by PBS, this miniseries is taken from PD James’s book of the same name. James (and the miniseries) takes the beloved characters from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and transports them six years after the action of Austen’s novel takes place. When Elizabeth’s disgraced sister Lydia returns crying that her husband has been murdered. it is Elizabeth Darcy (nee Bennett) who must look into the clues to prevent an execution. As someone who utterly adores Pride and Prejudice, I was hesitant to like this series, but the stellar acting and genuinely intriguing plot left me in suspense in all the right ways with a satisfying, but not too easy solution.

Aurora Teagarden Mysteries

This is another TV movie series put on by the Hallmark Movies and Mystery channel. what was surprising about this series is not that it was adapted from books, but from who wrote these cozy mysteries. Charlaine Harris writes the Aurora Teagarden series, but she is better known for her other, considerably less-cozy paranormal Sookie Stackhouse mysteries that inspired the HBO series True Blood. Harris certainly proves that authors are in no way limited by their creativity and imaginations. In this series, Aurora Teagarden is a member of the Real Murders Club, in which amateurs study famous crimes, often gets herself involved in real murders taking place in her small town.

I hope this look into cozy mysteries currently or recently on TV has whet your whistle for the expansive genre both on TV and in books. There’s plenty more to choose from, so feel free to stop by the South Branch anytime to chat cozies! There are so many out there, you’re bound to find one that suits your tastes. Till next week, dear readers, whether you’re staying in and getting cozy or enjoying the beautiful weather, never forget the library is here to recommend books and much more!

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Saturdays @ the South: On Wanderlust

May 21, 2016 peaadmin

When the spring weather starts to turn warm and sunny (a little later this year than most), my feet start to itch. Not so much literally (though in the Italian folklore in which I was raised, a literal foot-itch would mean the same thing), but in the sense of me wanting to get away. For me, the springtime brings on a serious case of wanderlust. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been able to appease this wanderlust with a small handful of European destinations over the years, but sometimes, as it is for many people, a far-flung trip just isn’t possible.

So what’s a person to do when they have itchy feet and no place to go? Well, I might be a bit biased, but I say go to the library, of course! One of the best ways to cure (or at least quell for a little bit) a case of wanderlust is to read a book that can take you someplace. Whether it’s a work of fiction that has such a good sense of place it can transport you, not only into the story, but to the setting of the book, or following in someone’s footsteps as you vicariously experience the travels of someone who was thoughtful enough to put their experiences on paper; you can “travel by book” anytime with a good, old-fashioned library card.

We’re no stranger to wanderlust here on the blog and you can find a few city-specific reading lists already in our illustrious pages. We here at the South Branch recognize that the need for wanderlust is often so strong you not only can’t help but read something to ease the pangs, but sometimes, you even want to talk about your armchair (or bed, or blanket fort) travels with others blighted with similar symptoms. Enter, the Wanderlust Book Discussion Group, a monthly group that will meet here at the South Branch, gathering precisely those people. Each month, starting June 9th @ 7PM, we will travel by a different book and meet to discuss that month’s selection. All are welcome to join in person if you want to talk bookish travel in person, or in spirit if you’d just like to follow along with the selections. You’ll find the Wanderlust Book Group each month on the South Branch’s events calendar with that month’s selection posted.

If all this talk of traveling by book has given you the wanderlust bug, here are a few selections that might help:

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

This was a natural choice as it’s the first selection of the Wanderlust book Group. If you laughed along with Bryson in A Walk in the Woods, imagine how much trouble he can get into when a surprising proportion of the flora and fauna of an entire subcontinent has the potential to kill him? Follow Bryson’s exploits and misadventures in a better planned, but still curmudgeonly delightful trip to Australia with plenty of history and snark thrown in for good measure.

The Falls by Ian Rankin

This is a work of fiction, but given that Rankin lives, works and frequents several of the pubs in Edinburgh, it feels real enough. While all of Rankin’s books give Edinburgh their due, making the city almost a character in his books, this book in particular gives readers a sense of Edinburgh. The 12th in his Inspector Rebus series, Rebus tries to track down a missing young woman who may or may not be the victim of a serial killer but following clues left scavenger-hunt style throughout the city. Rankin is a master of both plot and place; you may come for the mystery, but you’ll stay to feel like an Edinburgh native.

French Milk by Lucy Knisley

Knisely is a graphic memoirist who gives life to her stories by illustrating them. Don’t let the cartoon-like drawings fool you; the simple style belies the heart and insight in her stories. This one is a delightful exploration of Paris (and her love of the rich, dense, unpasteurized milk that simply doesn’t compare to what you can find in the States) as she spends a month in the City of Light with her mother. They hit landmarks, wonderful restaurants and occasionally binge on Netflix when the city seems overwhelming. This book is also punctuated with photos taken during that time that ground the narrative in both place and time. (Also, as detailed as it was, her drawing of her Paris-acquired coat didn’t do that lovely article of clothing justice; you just have to see in in the photographs.)

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Who says that when you travel by book you have to go someplace attainable? Our love for Pratchett’s Discworld series is fairly well-established on the blog, but that’s no reason not to evangelize this great series in a slightly different context. This hysterical novel satirizes the tourist experience as Twoflower, Discworld’s first tourist, voyages to Ankh-Morpork, where he doesn’t speak the language, has no concept of their currency or customs and is blindly trusting of anyone who seems willing to help him. If you’ve ever felt adrift in an unfamiliar place, desired luggage that can’t get lost, or if you simply want to have a laugh at an “ugly tourist’s” expense, this book will instantly strike a chord. If you want to get a solid feel of Discworld, in particular its capital city, then this book is sure to convince you that Discworld is no less real than those places to which you can actually travel.

Tell next week, dear readers, whatever gives you your best sense of place, feel free to enjoy it! You’re never far from adventure when you travel by book.

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Saturdays @ the South: Gettin’ Crafty

May 14, 2016 peaadmin

There’s a poorly-kept but still little-known secret here at the South Branch. We have a knitting group. It was started a few months ago in the most wonderful way for a library program to start: organically and based on patron needs. A wonderful patron who enjoys knitting and wanted to share that joy with others and came to me about starting a group. Now she comes in one Saturday a month and guides a small group that uses our community room to knit and chat.

In case this group wasn’t a clue, we at the South Branch love crafters and have a few crafters on staff, including yours truly. (As an example, this foxy little crochet cozy helps keeps my tea warm and gives my desk a bit of always-welcome whimsy.) We love chatting crafts as well and have a combination of knitting, crocheting, quilting, sewing and other skills that patrons are always welcome to talk to us about! While we’re a couple of months after National Craft month (apparently created by the Craft and Hobby Association in 1994), for which the South Branch did a display of craft books and crafty fiction in March, there’s never a bad time to get out the knitting needles, crochet hooks, felt, yarn, beads, glitter, glue sticks and more! We love offering craft-based programs for kids and adults at all the library locations to help keep the community’s creative juices flowing.

Since the blog turned 1-year old this past Thursday and 1 year is a paper anniversary, I thought it would be appropriate to combine crafting with the paper anniversary and share this tutorial on how to make origami books:

this one to make an origami bookcase to put your origami mini books:

and this intricate origami cat bookmark (because who couldn’t use another bookmark!) for those of you ready for a challenge:

As further celebration of things crafty, here are some books that can teach you some great crafts start-to-finish, whether you’re just exploring a new hobby or are an experienced crafter:

The Knowledgeable Knitter by Margaret Radcliffe

This wonderful, illustrated compendium is great for new knitters and experienced. This book will teach you the basics of pattern reading, yarn weights and how to purchase knitting needles and accessories through several projects and adding borders, embellishments and more. This is not a pattern book, you’ll have to find those elsewhere, but Radcliffe will show you techniques that even an experienced knitter might not be familiar with step-by-step instructions and helpful, guiding illustrations. what’s more, she even put an appendix with an illustrated glossary of terms for quick reference. This is one book that can be easily digested in bites to learn one or two new techniques or might need to be renewed several times to give yourself a complete knitting course.

The Embroidered Garden by Kazuko Aoki

This lovely, unique book has fanciful patterns inspired by nature and gardening. In an untraditional format, Aoki starts with showing the reader the finished projects to give a sense of the variety of stitches, ideas and projects one can achieve. The projects are arranged by their seasonal inspirations so the reader gets four sections with an array of project possibilities including card-making, coordinated sewing sets and more traditional samplers. She follows with a section on gaining real-life inspiration by going out into nature to see what inspires you. After the reader is fully inspired and eager to start, she offers the more traditional how-to section with stitch glossaries and pattern guides. This book has such pretty patterns, it may just make any nature-lover take up a needle and thread!

Crochet Ever After by Brenda K. B. Anderson

This book is a delightful collection wearable fairy tales to make. From adult “Bad Apple” fingerless mitts to a unicorn hoodie for kids, these patterns are all inspired by fairy tales, some literal, some fanciful, all adorable and infinitely wearable. Make no mistake, these are not all patterns for children. There are some lovely, sophisticated and whimsical adult patterns in here as well. This book is for anyone looking to take a more fanciful approach to their crocheting. (I’ve got my sights set on the dragon neckwarmer featured on the cover, myself….)

Stamp Stencil Paint by Anna Joyce

I had to add this book to the collection because the concept was just so cool. Joyce encourages the crafter to take patterns to a whole new level and with a bunch of new media in unexpected ways. Starting with basic instructions on sizing, scale and mixing colors and supplies, she then takes the reader on a discovery of patterns that can be applied to virtually anything. She offers templates and step-by-step instructions along with project ideas that are unexpected, but amazing. In combination with the gorgeous photos that accompany each project, this book is well worth browsing through, just to get inspired.

Freeform Wire Art Jewelry by Gayle Bird

This book somehow manages to be both basic and comprehensive in this slim, but heavily-illustrated volume that could take anyone from novice to jewelry-maker in short order. Bird talks to the reader about tools, wire, color theory to ensure that the designs can be complementary and step-by-step techniques. She then follows with a series of patterns and instructions for jewelry that is both classy and modern and is easily adaptable to tastes and personal style. I tend to stick to more traditional needle-work myself, but after exploring this book and seeing a few patterns that I’d love to make, I might just become a jewelry-making convert…

I want to congratulate Free For All for one year of bookish wonderfulness and our awesome head-blogger Arabella for her wonderful work, tireless devotion to the blanket-fort cause and letting me play around in this sandbox to reach out to our great patrons and chat about the fun things at the South Branch. Till next week, dear readers, here’s to more years of bookish adventures together!

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Saturdays @ the South: Easing some book anxiety

May 7, 2016 peaadmin

We’ve all been there. You order a book, wait for your hold to come in and you *finally* get the e-mail (or call or text) that says your book has arrived and is ready for pickup! You bring your hurried anticipation to the library and take the book home with you to curl up and read (possibly in your blanket fort) and then…. deja vu. The words seem awfully familiar, character names are starting to ring a bell. Suddenly you realize…. you’ve read this book before! Cursing mildly you think: How could this have happened? Was the cover different? Shouldn’t you have recognized the title? And suddenly, mournfully, you’re left lacking your expected reading material. Yes, you could read this book again (rereading is always an option) but not necessarily when you’ve had your heart set on a new reading experience, wanting to introduce yourself to new characters or re-discovering favorite characters in new situations. Very simply, you’re not in the mood to read this particular book again and you’re left disappointed and suddenly anxious about whether or not this will happen again.

We’ve discussed book anxiety here on the blog a bit these past couple of weeks, ensuring that people know that book anxiety can be a normal part of being a reader. We talked about peeking at endings as a way to ease some reading anxiety (a technique that has long worked for yours truly), but there are also ways to ease the anxiety of wondering if you’re going to unexpectedly get a book you’ve already read before.

There are external options. Several of our wonderful patrons here at the South keep notebooks with lists of books they’ve read, keeping particular track of series so that they read them in order. When it comes to to series books, the KDL What’s Next database is a fantastic resource for knowing not only what authors have written in a series, but keeping them in order so you don’t accidentally give yourself spoilers when you’re not expecting to (almost as bad as getting a book you’ve already read!). They have a printer-friendly version so you can print out a list of series books without having to transfer them to your notebook.

For those more digitally-inclined, there is the option of Goodreads (which I’ve mentioned on the blog before), which is my go-to source for keeping track of books that I’ve read, want to read, enjoyed, and didn’t enjoy so much. The ability to “tag” books into categories makes it easy to find books when I’m in the mood for something in particular and it also allows me to keep track of books that I’ve read for my book club or other purposes, like professional books to help make myself a better librarian for my awesome patrons. This site also has the handy resource of showing different covers and editions for the same book so you don’t get a book you’ve already read that was repackaged by the publisher (and sometimes even republished under a different title! This happened to me. The pictures below are the same Bill Bryson text, but with different covers- title and all! ).

Some people, however, prefer not to add their information onto a massive social media site that asks even a few personal questions. This is perfectly acceptable as privacy is paramount here at the library (more on that in a bit) and we don’t want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. There is good news, however, because Evergreen, our handy checkin/checkout system allows you to keep track of the books you’ve checked out of the library! If you manage your account online (and we recommend that you do, particularly if you want to suspend holds for yourself) you can keep track of your books; you just need to tell your account to do do it for you. Here’s how:

Log into your account from the library’s website:

Once you’re in your account, click on the “Account Preference” tab, then on the “Search and History Preferences” tab. Check the box that says “Keep history of checked out items?”:

history check — That note on the bottom about making sure your e-mail is valid is a helpful one! You can check and update your e-mail address in the “Personal Information” tab.

Make sure you hit the “Save” button at the bottom of the screen! You might have to scroll to get to it, but it’s important!:

Now you can go back into your account and everything you return to the library from the moment you’ve saved these new preferences, will be recorded in your history. Unfortunately, it won’t backdate your history to everything you’ve checked out on your card, but it will note everything going forward. To access it, you only need to click on the “Items Checked Out” tab, then the “Check-out History” tab.

A couple of words about privacy (again). First, I used my account in order to show you how the history works and give you an example of the checked out history screen. I gave the library explicit permission to do this, otherwise something like this would never have appeared anywhere, let alone such a public forum. Second, the wonderful people behind the desk who check out your books will NOT be able to see your history, even if your account is set to save it (and even if you ask them to). Your checkout history is accessible to you and you alone, because what you choose to read is your personal business and we consider your privacy to be the most important feature to using the library.

I hope this post has given some of you the opportunity to ease your anxiety about checking out a book you’ve already read unexpectedly. Until next week, dear patrons, may you never run out of new things to read. (That’s what the library here for, after all!)

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Saturdays @ the South: Much Ado about BISAC

April 30, 2016 peaadmin

We try to make things easy for our patrons here at the library, and that generally doesn’t involve using lots of crazy acronyms. I got used to it when the college I went to for undergrad used acronyms as their own, private language and it was either learn it or never figure out where my classes were. But I remember how exacerbating it was coming in as a freshman to decipher all those letters that seemingly meant nothing. So why on earth would I head my post today with an acronym? Well, it’s less about the acronym and more about the great new system we’re starting to implement t the South Branch. The South is following in the West Branch’s footsteps by implementing the BISAC system.

s_tPv0A44PP5daodyQZDAYXXXL4j3HpexhjNOf_P3YmryPKwJ94QGRtDb3Sbc6KY — An artistic, visual representation of BISAC

BISAC (which stands for Book Industry Standard and Communications) is an alternative way to organize non-fiction books. It’s most commonly used by bookstores, largely because the format is inherently browsable, allowing people to find things more intuitively rather than deciphering Dewey or Library of Congress call numbers. Instead of substituting a topic with a number or a letter, the topic itself is used to identify the item. For example: If you’re looking for a book on the history of colonial times in America, you will be able to find it in History / United States / Colonial. For another example, check out what Erik Larson’s latest book, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania looks like in the catalog under BISAC:

The hope is that by adopting this system, the non-fiction sections at the West and South will be a more pleasant experience for patrons to find what they’re looking for. This is not to say that the Library of Congress system, which is what the Peabody Libraries have been using, or the Dewey Decimal System, which many other NOBLE libraries use, don’t have their merits. The systems were based on logic and organizational principles that have been honed and adapted for years. They are honored library traditions, but sometimes traditions need to be changed or adjusted to meet people’s needs and we here at the branches felt that meeting patron needs didn’t quite fit with the more traditional versions of library classification. (And this is from someone who misses the card catalog dearly!)

What does this mean for you? Well, right now, you can see the BISAC system in action for yourself in the West Branch’s adult non-fiction section. I’ve seen it for myself and it’s pretty darn cool. Over the coming weeks, you’ll be able to see it implemented in the kids’ nonfiction sections at the South and West branches. This fall/winter, the South will be adopting BISAC for our adult nonfiction section as well. Right now at the South, we’re in a bit of a transition, so our kids’ nonfiction books are in their BISAC categories, but aren’t labeled in the catalog or on the book spines yet. That process will be taking place very soon. In the meantime, you are welcome to ask us to help you find books (always!) or you can stop by just to browse the newly organized section to get a feel for what it will look like.

The South Branch very excited about this new development and sharing it with you, our wonderful patrons, so feel free to tell us what you think, or suggest other ways we can improve the library for you! And thank you for your patience this week while I’ve been moving books around instead of writing a more book-centric blog post. Till next week, dear readers, remember that it never hurts to re-think something you’ve been doing for a long time; it might just lead to something exciting .

Free for All

Tag Archives: Saturdays@South

Saturdays @ the South: Reading Rules

Saturdays @ the South: Bookish Podcasts

Saturdays @ the South: Getting Cozy

Saturdays @ the South: On Wanderlust

Saturdays @ the South: Gettin’ Crafty

Saturdays @ the South: Easing some book anxiety

Saturdays @ the South: Much Ado about BISAC

"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." ~Frederick Douglass