Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2022 by Decimal Diver
Here is a new DVD list highlighting various titles recently added to the library’s collection.
“The Duke” Website / Reviews
This fictional comedy drama is based on the true story of Kempton Bunton, a 60-year-old taxi driver who stole the Portrait of the Duke of Wellington painting from the National Gallery in London. He sent ransom notes saying that he would return the painting on condition that the government invested more in care for the elderly. What happened next became the stuff of legend. Continue reading “New DVD List: The Duke, The Gilded Age, & More”
Posted on Monday, September 19, 2022 by Reading Addict
Not all challenged books are great literature, but many of them are. Not all challenged books are award-winning books, but many of them are. Not all challenged books are the right book for everyone, but they are almost certainly the right book for someone. And even a bad book can make a good point depending on how it’s approached.
Here are a few of the most notable adult fiction debuts for September. These titles have all received positive reviews in library journals. For a longer list, please visit our catalog.
In the 1970s, Topper and Sanya flee to Miami as political violence consumes their native Kingston. But America, as the couple and their two children learn, is far from the promised land. Excluded from society as Black immigrants, the family pushes on through Hurricane Andrew and later the 2008 recession, living in a house so cursed that the pet fish launches itself out of its own tank rather than stay. But even as things fall apart, the family remains motivated, often to its own detriment, by what their younger son, Trelawny, calls “the exquisite, racking compulsion to survive.”
Masterfully constructed with heart and humor, the linked stories in Jonathan Escoffery’s “If I Survive You” center on Trelawny as he struggles to carve out a place for himself amid financial disaster, racism and flat-out bad luck. After a fight with Topper — himself reckoning with his failures as a parent and his longing for Jamaica — Trelawny claws his way out of homelessness through a series of odd, often hilarious jobs. Meanwhile, his brother, Delano, attempts a disastrous cash grab to get his kids back, and his cousin, Cukie, looks for a father who doesn’t want to be found. As each character searches for a foothold, they never forget the profound danger of climbing without a safety net.
Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2022 by DBRL_Katie
I first got my start with gardening through the generosity of others. Many plant lovers have a propensity for hoarding enthusiastic accrual that knows no end, and the upkeep creates plentitude as well. Between an abundance of seasonal produce, seed saving, dividing perennial bulbs, keeping the sprawling rhizomes in check, rooting eligible cuttings after a good pruning or simply gaining wisdom, plant parents always have something to share. Continue reading “Take a Plant, Leave a Plant”
I received a letter last month from a good friend. We talk frequently on the phone, so I was surprised to find something in my mailbox. Yet, it felt special and I actually re-read it several times. Letter writing and card sending have decreased due to the digital age, but it certainly is fun to receive a letter. And fun to send one. In the spirit of promoting the art of sending letters, we have created a fun activity for this month: pressed flower note cards.
We will supply pressed flowers for you, but pressing them yourself is easy to do. With fall approaching, you will soon have the opportunity to press leaves as well. The library has a collection of books to help you with this and you can easily find instructions on the internet. Along with the flowers, your kit has a notecard and envelope, Mod Podge, paint brush and instructions. If I haven’t convinced you to send a note, try framing it instead.
These kits will be available on September 23 while they last in all of our branches. You may pick them up at the Reference Desk at the Columbia library and near the service desks at our other branches.
Posted on Sunday, September 11, 2022 by Stellan Harris
There’s nothing better for a relaxed gathering of friends than kicking back and enjoying a game, whether it be with cards, a board or any other kind. In recent history, the ways that we play games have changed in significant and fascinating ways. While some classic games are still enjoyed, contemporary options like video games and role-playing games are increasingly popular. The history of these pastimes and what they mean to us is an under-told story. Several fascinating books are trying to change that, and show the path that brought us to the games of today. Continue reading “Literary Links: All Work, No Play”
Getting involved with the Missouri Bumble Bee Atlas survey this year has turned me into a pollinator super fan and wanna-be entomologist. It quickly became apparent that identifying local bumble bees would not be enough to satisfy my addiction. There were so many non-bumble bee insects on the plants in my yard, and everywhere else I looked. I needed to know more.
I put in a request for the library to purchase two new books that had been favorably reviewed in the New York Times. Any Daniel Boone Regional Library cardholder can suggest a book for purchase, and our acquisitions team does their best to fulfill it.
Val Germann, Party With the Stars founder, with a telescope during an eclipse viewing event on May 25th 1994. See the full set of photos on our Community Archives page.
One of the library’s longest-running programs will celebrate its 40th anniversary this autumn: Party with the Stars. Through the decades, with a two-year pause due to Covid in 2020 and 2021, Val Germann and the Central Missouri Astronomical Association (CMAA) have been the driving force behind this collaboration. Party with the Stars has seen a seasonal program (March through October) through nearly every phase of the modern library’s growth.
Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in September. All of the mentioned titles are available to put on hold in our catalog and will also be made available via the library’s Overdrive website on the day of publication in eBook and downloadable audiobook format (as available). For a more extensive list of new nonfiction books coming out this month, check our online catalog.
Top Picks
“What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions” by Randall Munroe (Sep 13)
The millions of people around the world who read and loved “What If?” still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist. Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Randall consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airplane-catapult design to clearly and concisely answer his readers’ questions. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances. Filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall’s signature stick-figure comics, “What If? 2” is sure to be another instant classic adored by inquisitive readers of all ages. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: September 2022”
Fall is right around the corner, and with it comes lots of spooky books. Murder, witches, a curse and at least one ghost? Yes, please! These books are those that library staff from all over the country have read and loved enough to share with us. Read on to discover September’s LibraryReads:
In 16th-century Italy, teen Lucrezia de Medici passes from her father’s control to her husband’s, with neither considering her a person with a right to her own life. O’Farrell’s poetic writing pulls you into this taled on the likely subject of Robert Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess.” For fans of Geraldine Brooks, Isabel Allende, and Hilary Mantel. ~Diana Armstrong, Multnomah County Library, Portland, ORContinue reading “LibraryReads: September 2022”
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I received a letter last month from a good friend. We talk frequently on the phone, so I was surprised to find something in my mailbox. Yet, it felt special and I actually re-read it several times. Letter writing and card sending have decreased due to the digital age, but it certainly is fun to receive a letter. And fun to send one. In the spirit of promoting the art of sending letters, we have created a fun activity for this month: pressed flower note cards.
