I have probably exhausted your interest in e-books and ebook readers, so I’ll just add this one comment and move on to a different subject. After reading just one short book on the library’s Kindle, I was smitten. “Real” books are heavy. “Real” books don’t lie open flat when I’m trying to read at mealtime. I ordered my own Kindle. I have been wanting to read the young adult book Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for several years. We have three copies at the library. Twice my name has come to the top of the reserve list, but twice I’ve surrendered it to a young person with a winsome smile. When my very own Kindle arrived the first purchase I made was Hunger Games. I’ll let you know what I think of it when I’ve finished. If you would like to give a Kindle a try, just ask. We have one already loaded and ready to check out.
New on the Library Shelves:
Remember when I was debating about ordering Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow the football player? I’m off the hook. Demi ordered for the Teen Library. If you’d like to read it, I’m sure the teens will share.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo. This one is receiving lots of good press. I went on-line to read some of Boo’s earlier work. No wonder she won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. She’s good.
Kill Shot by Vince Flynn. This author is a favorite of men readers. In Kill Shot CIA trained Mitch Rapp is working his way through a list of men responsible for the Pan Am Lockerbie attack. He’s crossing them off, bullet by bullet.
Left for Dead by J.A. Jance. Jance’s work is appreciated by all readers. This new one is part of the Ali Reynolds series.
Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life by Natalie Dykstra. This is the biography of Clover Adams, the Bostonian wife of American historian Henry Adams. She was much admired and a very accomplished photographer. She ended her life by drinking a chemical developer used in her darkroom. One of the reviewers on the cover says that Clover broke Henry Adam’s heart and this book “will break yours.”
Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail Movement by Suzi Parron. If you appreciate quilts and barns, you’ll like this book. I’m told that in the Iowa chapter there is a photograph of a Humboldt county barn quilt.
Private Games by James Patterson. Patterson barely lets a month go by without producing a new book. This one was written with Mark Sullivan and tells the tale of a murder at the 2012 Olympics.
The House I Loved by Tatiana de Rosnay. Written by the author of Sarah’s Key, it’s a sure bet!
Restless in the Grave by Dana Stabenow. In my opinion, Stabenow is underappreciated. Her books involve Aleut private investigator Kate Shugak and/or Alaska state trooper Liam Campbell. The rugged Alaskan terrain acts almost as another character in her books. Give one a try. You won’t be sorry.
Defending Jacob by William Landay. I’m a sucker for a well told story about families. In Defending Jacob, a shocking crime shatters a suburban Massachusetts town. Jacob, son of assistant district attorney Andy Barber is charged with the crime. Read this one and you will walk a few miles in Andy’s shoes.
Whatever your mood this winter, there’s a book for that at the Humboldt Public Library.

There have been all sorts of studies in the library world concerning what makes a shelf-full of books appealing to the library user. Is it a jam packed shelf? Sparsely filled? Ancient looking old tomes that appear to have been around since the grand opening in 1908? Crisp new books? Most studies have shown that the shelves readers like best are just below shoulder height and about two thirds full of clean, newer looking books.
No one likes to stretch or stoop to reach a shelf. Last week at the grocery story I saw the bread guy having difficulty rising to his feet after filling the bottom shelves. Just about the time I was ready to call for help, he made it up to his feet. He was truly embarrassed. I know just how he feels. Library users and librarians alike have the same concerns. Perhaps we could buy one of those “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” alarms to share with those of a certain age who wish to see the books that are housed at floor level. Think how much larger the library would need to be if all shelves were at easy reach. Twice as big, probably.
Since that isn’t possible, we weed our shelves regularly so that they don’t get so stuffed that no one will want to pull out a book for fear of starting a cartoon-like avalanche. We weed library shelves in the winter usually. On bad weather days there aren’t so many people in the library to see me stooping and stretching and having difficulty rising from the floor.
When we weed, we put the books we no longer need on the “free” shelves on the landing of the north stairs. They are yours for the taking. Check often, we add new stuff almost daily. Take the books home, give them away, we don’t care. If you insist, when you have finished with them, you can bring them back to the free shelf and let them live another life in a new home. One way or another, they are yours, paid for with your tax dollars. You might as well enjoy them. But, don’t be like me. With every book I weed I think about how hard the author must have worked to write it and get it published. I take too many of them home…..it’s a good thing I don’t work in an animal shelter.
We have ordered an additional Kindle. We plan to put all the upcoming books for Humboldt Reads! book club on it. Patrons will be able to check it out and give it a try. See what you think. Some readers just love them and some like the feel of a real, old fashioned book in their hands. I’ve stood firmly on the side of actual, real pages bound into a volume I can both see and feel. However, I just had a thought… Recently a new book arrived that I have waiting to read. It’s a mystery from an author with whom I am unfamiliar. This book has had all kinds of positive reviews and press. I grabbed it from Demi’s cart before she could catalog it or put on the protective cover. Thus, although I took it home, it isn’t actually checked out to me.
Whew! Otherwise I would be afraid to tell you this story. Recently I have become a devotee of Hardee’s Red Burrito nachos. A plateful makes a satisfying and inexpensive workday lunch. I carried this brand new, unnamed book into Hardee’s with me. On the first page or two I noticed a dribble or two of melted cheese had fallen from my lunch onto the book. Along about page fifteen, a blob of guacamole adorned the page I was reading. I wiped each page as well as I could and took the book home that night with me. Since I had eaten such a nutritious and filling lunch, I decided to skip dinner and snack on some popcorn. Can you guess? The popcorn variety that I had on hand at home is the extra delicious “theater style.” Extra buttery goodness. Extra greasy fingers. I was so wrapped up in the book and trying to keep the popcorn bag away from my dogs that I didn’t notice I was fingerprinting each page.
It’s a very engaging story. I’m sorry that I won’t be able to share the details with you. I’ve said too much already!

Librarians have done a lot of thinking and writing and blogging and worrying about ebooks over the last few years. Ebooks are those imaginary books that one may download through the internet (from outer space) into a handheld device such as a Kindle or a Nook. These gismos are larger than a paperback book and smaller than a breadbox.
On a recent flight, a youngish business woman and I were seated on each side of a dignified, elderly gent. Even more elderly than me. He undoubtedly spent his younger years as a bouncer in a biker bar or as a blocker on a football team. His shoulders consumed the width of his seat and at least half of mine. After we reached altitude, the crew reseated the fellow and all three of us breathed a sigh of relief. I pulled my book out of my purse, found my place and settled in to read the miles away. The woman on my row seemed very relieved to be able to stretch out a little. She found her e-reader –thing, pulled her feet up into her seat and began to read. She tilted her reader, readjusted her seat, raised and lowered the window shade. She fidgeted, wiggled and moved both herself and her reader around and around again. My assumption was that she was trying to correct the glare on her reader screen, but when I told this story to a group of librarians, someone suggested that perhaps she consumed too much pre-flight caffeine or just had an itch she couldn’t scratch in public. Meanwhile, I had read a couple of hundred pages and before she truly settled in, we landed at La Guardia.
I don’t know that her experience is typical. One of my daughters owns and adores a Kindle. Almost daily someone will tell us about his/her experience with one or another of these readers. The newest issue of Consumer Reports reviews several types of e-readers. You can come into the library to read our copy or you can use our website. Below I’m going to give you directions for finding Consumer Reports on our website. You might want to cut this out and post on your refrigerator. You never know when you will want to check out microwaves or blenders or leaf blowers. Might as well do it from home. No shirt or shoes required. Or snow boots, mittens or umbrella.
1. Go to www.humboldtpubliclibrary.com
2. Click on EBSCO in the list of brown boxes on the left of screen
3. Click on EBSCO on the next screen
4. Enter our user name, Humboldtr , (note the “r” on the end of Humboldt) and the password, remote.
5. In the next screen, scroll way down and put a check beside MasterFILE Premier
6. Click continue
7. In the Search box type in the product you wish to research (e-reader, lawnmower, whatever)
8. Click on Full Text
9. Un the Publication box type in Consumer Reports
10. Hit Enter on your computer or Search on your screen

Magically (I’m old enough to think the internet is just short of miraculous), you will find a list of the most recent reviews of your chosen machine, service, device, whatever. Click on the one you wish to read and there you go. You are armed with the most up-to-date information available before you go shopping. By the way, while walking myself through the steps for the tutorial, I discovered that I absolutely must change laundry detergents. Mine is way at the bottom of the Consumer Reports list. I apologize if I have offended you with my less than clean wardrobe recently.
The library owns three different e-readers. We have a Nook, a Kindle and an Ipad. You are welcome to drop by anytime to play with them. A staff member will answer questions if time allows. We are planning to offer a program sometime after the New Year to demonstrate these to anyone who is interested. Two other staff members and I agreed to each learn one device so that we can share with you. Guess who hasn’t.
I asked that group of fifteen assorted librarians if they thought that e-readers were a passing fancy. The older of us aren’t certain. The younger ones all are sure that the dedicated, separate device, the e-reader, may not last forever, but that books in an electronic format will grow in popularity. The gismo that we read them on will change, but not the concept. Perhaps it is time for us fossils to hop on board.
Last Christmas stunned librarians everywhere. We had not anticipated that so many of our patrons would receive e-readers as holiday gifts. We weren’t prepared. We didn’t own enough e-books to keep everyone happy. This year I’m almost on my toes. If you have tried to find an e-book to check out on our NEIBORS website, you were probably disappointed in the selection available. You may have been dismayed at the numbers of people waiting for particular books. We share the content in NEIBORS with many other libraries. Annually we all throw in some money to buy the books and keep the website open and running.
Recently our library has added some e-books that are available only to Humboldt patrons. When you log in with your library card number, NEIBORS can determine (by the card number) which library is your home library. When you log in with a Humboldt card, our extra content will show up in your book search. You don’t need to look anywhere special or click any extra boxes. If someone uses an Eagle Grove or Algona card, he/she won’t see those extra copies we’ve bought. As funds allow, we will keep adding books both to the NEIBORS collection as a whole and especially to our Humboldt-only collection.
This is your library, and you are worth it!

As I write this the library roof is undergoing replacement. Be forewarned: This is a noisy project. If your idea of a cozy afternoon involves reading at the library, you will be in for a shock. There have been several surprises along the way. The first surprise required a crane to remove an unusually heavy rooftop air conditioner unit. I can only hope that it will require the services of said crane to restore the unit when the roof is finished.
For your information: the taking of brief naps is permitted in the library. Snoring is forbidden.
Due to the impending arrival of my first grandchild (and my subsequent absence), Kathy, good sport that she is, handled book club this month. I didn’t even read the book and for that I feel guilty. The book was The Outlander. From what I’ve been told, it was a little hard to get into, but well worth the read. We still have copies available, if you are interested.
Now, surprise, surprise! Josephine Pearl Ehlers arrived October 19, 7 lbs. 11 oz. in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is, of course, the country’s most beautiful baby girl. Her parents are wavering on whether to call her Jo or Pearl. I offered up my own childhood copy of Little Women as a bribe to call her Jo, but, I suppose her mama will cast the winning vote. Before she was 12 hours old I had bought every teeny, tiny pink baby outfit in Fort Dodge. Including the cutest little pink suede boots, size 2. I made a similar run-through at Witz End before I left town to meet baby. I’m sure you aren’t surprised to learn that she is my very first grandchild?
Almost as important as deciding what to call baby, is what to call me….Grandma? Gran? Gram? I’m leaning toward Gram at the moment.
Coincidentally, the book for the November Humboldt Reads! book club is March by Geraldine Brooks. It was the 2006 Pulitzer prize winner in the fiction category. This is the story of the Civil War years told through the eyes of March, a Union chaplain. He is the mostly-absent father in Little Women. This book was suggested by a high school English teacher. I’m always a little wary of a book loved by an English teacher. Do I want to read something that’s good for me? Do I want to learn anything? We’ll see. Sometimes those less-loved stories make for the best book discussions. Copies are available now at the library. The discussion will be November 17 at Rustix at 5:30pm. Join us!

A Mixed Bag

Often (every week?) I tell you that the very best part of my job is the opportunity to buy almost any book I’d like to read. Even better than that, I can also buy ones that I want to page through. Books that I won’t read, don’t need, but am curious about. We have a whole bunch of those on the shelves right now.
75 Chinese, Celtic & Ornamental Knots by Laura Williams and Elise Mann. I’ve never needed to know how to tie fancy knots, but this book is beautiful to behold. Even if I didn’t work here, I’d have taken this one home to page through in admiration of the folks who were patient enough to invent these knots and in awe of the ladies who compiled the pages of this book. The knots in this book are designed to be used as jewelry.
Gudrun’s Kitchen: Recipes from a Norwegian Family by Ingeborg Baugh, Irene Sandvold, Edward Sandvold and Quinn Sandvold. I am decidedly not of Norwegian heritage. I never even met anyone who was until I moved to Humboldt. This book made me wish I had a Gudrun of my own. This one didn’t hesitate to take shortcuts…pancake mix for fried chicken batter, canned tomato soup in her chili. One recipe that intrigues me is an orange jello salad with shredded carrots and onions. Carrots with onions?
The Concussion Crisis: Anatomy of a Silent Epidemic by Linda Carroll and David Rosner. With all the evidence in today’s news about the danger of sports-related concussions, it’s a wonder any of us (or our kids) can ever have a cogent thought or a coherent conversation. Nowadays, new parents can’t leave the hospital with their offspring unless he or she is buckled safely into a car seat. Will football helmets be the next requirement?
Can’t: No Such Word by Mervin D. Chantland. This, of course, is a local author. Sweet book full of vignettes from his life.
How To Sell Your Crafts Online by Derrick Sutton. Have you heard about Etsy? It is a gift and craft store operated online. 40,000 sellers use Etsy to peddle their wares. You can find almost anything you can imagine at www. etsy.com. This is the perfect book to make your Etsy “shop” stand out and attract customers.
Beach House Style is also new on our shelves. Pale colors, simple styles and casual, easy living are all part of a new trend in home décor. Page through this one now, and again next winter when we are knee-deep in snow. The rooms are as cozy and relaxed as beach living should be.
Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years of Funny Stuff by Calvin Trillin. He’s a columnist for The New Yorker and just about the funniest guy in print today. This is a collection of his columns. You can read just one or two, or read it cover to cover. It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it sitting out there on the “new non-fiction” shelf.
And, just in time to put you in an appropriate Halloween mood, The Best Horror of the Year edited by Ellen Datlow. This one is a collection of twenty, or so, of the spookiest, most scary horror stories of the year.
The Guardians by Andrew Pyper. This is fiction. It’s one of those trade paperbacks that I’m always encouraging you to try. Usually I have no patience for ghost stories but it lured me in with a plausible story for one hundred pages or so before the spooks crept in. I had a very busy week, so it took me an unreasonably long time to read such a short, well written book. It would go down great on a chilly, fall evening when you’re home alone.

2011 Ehlers Family Christmas BOok

I read lots and lots of mysteries. I’m not choosy. I like police detectives, private detectives, detectives that cater, preach and practice medicine. Give me a book with a big, fat question mark by the end of the first chapter and I’m happy.
I read lots of other novels, too. About those, I am more selective. I want a tightly woven plot. I don’t want lots of characters who come in and out of the story for no apparent purpose. I don’t like books that confuse me with flashbacks or portents of the future. Just tell me a story. Make the characters vulnerable enough that they seem human. Everyone has flaws; so, author, show me where your hero acted less competently, less wisely, just human. If I don’t care about what happens to the characters, I often don’t remember to finish the book. I’ll just put it aside somewhere…..my bedside table, coffee table or car seat and abandon it.
I also like books with good stopping places. Books with chapters fifty pages long don’t fit into my stop-and-go lifestyle. If I’m ready for work early, I may read a few pages before leaving home. I read through my lunch hour. We do have a library staff policy that says if one is within ten pages of the end of a book, the staff member is allowed to finish the book before reporting back to work. I read until I fall asleep at night. I need chapters that have something to say and wrap it up succinctly.
Well, I just read the best book! I was looking for my annual Christmas book. The one that I give all my kids in the hope that they will have fodder for a sane and civil discussion amongst themselves. It’s a hard task to find a book that all my kids will read. My oldest child is about to become a first-time father, the middle two are employed and lead busy lives and my baby just started law school. It must be a truly remarkable book to interest all of them.
Not only does it need to be a book that they will be interested in, it must be something interesting enough to have caught my attention in the first place. About all the five of us (seven, if I add in my daughters-in-law) have in common is a ridiculous love of all canines and shared passion for summer sports. They spent as much time in the bleachers watching one another play baseball and softball as they did on the playing field.
The 2011 Ehlers Family Christmas Book Award goes to The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. It has a baseball thread running throughout to tie all the characters together, but it isn’t about baseball. It is about life. About the challenges each of us faces, about the quirks and foibles we all possess. About parents, children, goals and growing up.
Library staffer Demi and I have vastly different reading tastes. But, we do share a great fondness for a few particular books. I told her that the characters in this book aren’t as miserably messed up as in Memory of Running. Not as magical as in A Prayer for Owen Meany . Nor as innocent as in Boys Life, but they make for just as good a book. It’s one of the handful of books that I will read again every few years.
Give it a try. We ordered extra copies for you at your library.

Once a week I receive an email newsletter from Library Journal called “Prepub Alert.” It consists of brief descriptions of upcoming books that might otherwise slip past a librarian’s attention. The person who produces this newsletter is Barbara Hoffert. At the top of the newsletter is a photo of Barbara curled up on a red sofa with a sleepingdog using Barbara’s bare feet for a pillow. For some inexplicable reason, the dog is wearing a bejeweled crown. I tell you all this, so that you may have some information to judge the gravitas of Barbara’s pronouncements.

This week she made note of a new book to be released in the spring called Cold Light by British author Jenn Ashworth. My friend Barb says that she hopes that we librarians take notice of this book because the whole mystery/thriller book industry is heavily weighted with just a few big-name authors. You know who they are. Somehow they manage to produce at least a book a month apiece. After I read that the average author receives about $3 per hardbound book sold, I began to resent the greedy so-and-sos and I try not to read what they print.

Not only did she want us to give this newish author a chance, she wanted to point out that it will be published in paperback format. Now, remember, we’ve talked about this before. These are not your grandaddy’s paperbacks. Most paperbacks these days are the larger “trade editions.” The pages are about the size of the pages of a hardback book and the print is also standard size. If you can read a newspaper or magazine, you can read a trade edition. Barbara thinks that we should all be thrilled that more and more publishers are issuing these trade editions more frequently and at a price lower than that of a hardback. It gives us a chance to get more books for our bucks. It gives us an opportunity to try out new authors without shelling out $30 for a hardback.

What she doesn’t realize is that it just doesn’t fly in Humboldt. I extol this subject at least once each year. A book in a trade edition gives us a chance to try out an author before the rest of the world jumps on his/her bandwagon. If you, like me, think of yourself as a discriminating reader, someone who can venture a step or two off the mainstream path, give a trade edition a try.
And watch out for Cold Light in March. It’s a story of a teenage suicide pact and the repercussions for years to come. After I read it, it will be available at your library.