Friday, July 26, 2013

Nonfiction Friday: BBQs and Ice Cream

July is National Hot Dog Month and National Ice Cream Month, so we've selected a few titles from our special EZ Access Food Collection that embrace the spirit of summer. Enjoy!

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer.
Call number: FOOD 641.862 BAUER

With 100 recipes and lots of tips, this ice cream cookbook is delectably cool.







Making Artisan Gelato by Torrance Kopfer.
Call number: FOOD 641.862 KOPFER

Yes, we know gelato isn't technically ice cream, but it's cold and delicious, so we don't care! This book delivers 45 delicious artisanal gelato and sorbet recipes.






Bobby Flay's Barbecue Addiction by Bobby Flay.
Call number: FOOD 641.5784 FLAY

The latest offering from the modern master of BBQ.







Italian Grill by Mario Batali.
Call number: FOOD 641.5945 BATALI

Batali weighs in with his own book of molto bene grill recipes.







Bonus for the veggie lovers:
The Gardener and the Grill by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig.
Call number: FOOD 641.76 ADLER

Herbivores and omnivores rejoice! These homegrown grill recipes make delicious sides that can hold their own on a plate.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Book Light ON "The Ocean at the End of the Lane"

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

I've been a truly obsessed Gaiman fan since I read American Gods (and promptly read every other possible thing he has ever written or even associated himself with), so the minute this book was published, it promptly bumped every other book from my To-Be-Read queue and consumed my life for a day and a half.

True to Gaiman's style, it's part sci-fi supernatural thriller, part bone-chilling horror story, which makes it wholly awesome. The story begins in the present day where the nameless narrator is attending a family funeral and decides, during a break and totally impulsively, to visit his family's old (now demolished) home. He's reminded during his journey of a friend he had who lived down the lane, a girl a little older than him named Lettie Hempstock, and wondering what ever had become of her, he visits her family's farm. Stepping onto the Hempstock property, his memories of Lettie's pond—which she in her adorably provincial way referred to as her ocean—trickle into his consciousness until he's flooded with his memory of the suicide of a diamond miner, the catalyst for the narrator and Lettie becoming fast friends, as well as their encounter with a strange, paranormal creature that can't resist using its powers on Earth.

Though the narrator begins a skeptic, he quickly remembers walking hand-in-hand with Lettie through the Hempstock property into a parallel world where they confront a hideous beast who grotesquely bores her way into the narrator's body and is transported like a virus into his world. Soon the beast has infiltrated his family, causing unrest and seeking the whole time to do the narrator endless harm. The book quickly escalates, as the beast's destruction of everything good introduces a slew of even more harmful, ravenous "varmints," and does this all at a nightmare-inducing pace that makes it impossible to put the book down lest the young narrator and Lettie come to more danger because you're not reading them to safety.

It's a short read, well worth the time invested, and not without its moments of bittersweet realities. When you as a reader take a dip in the eponymous ocean at the end of the lane with Lettie and the narrator, you'll want to jump in just as much as I did to see how those improbable waters change you. Needless to say, this is one I will gladly re-read (I can go slower now that I know the ending is at least not UNhappy). The Ocean at the End of the Lane is available throughout the CAFÉ system in print and audiobook.

-Abby, Reference Librarian

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction & Nonfiction 2013

The winners of the Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were announced June 30th at the American Library Association conference in Chicago. Anyone interested in reading something deemed truly excellent should pick up one (or all!) of these titles.

Fiction


Winner
Canada by Richard Ford. (FORD R CANADA).

Nominees
The Round House by Louise Erdrich. (ERDRICH L ROUND). Also available in audiobook format.
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz. (CDBOOK DIAZ J THIS IS). Available in print throughout the CAFÉ system.



Nonfiction

Winner
Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan. (770.92 CURTIS E EGAN).

Nominees
The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death by Jill Lepore. Available throughout the CAFÉ system.
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen. Available in print throughout the CAFÉ system.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Library Closed for Independence Day


The library will be closed tomorrow, July 4th, in honor of Independence Day. Celebrate safely and come see us Friday — we'll be here with plenty of patriotic recommendations on hand!