Last week was a mess. I had been out of the library for most of the previous week at a conference and meetings. The first week back in the office is always catch-up time. Make-up work kept me running in place, feeling as if I made no progress at all. That week was also “get ready for Humboldt Area Arts Council’s Art Encore” week. Lots of decorating takes place in the week before the event. I spent a whole rainy afternoon washing muddy pumpkins before they could be decorated for centerpieces.
Demi just stuck her head in my office door and declared “we can still see you”. I truly wasn’t trying to hide behind the piles of books on my desk; they just accumulate on every flat surface around here. By the time you read this, all should be back to normal at the library.
Those books on my desk were the new ones I hadn’t had a chance to look at while I was gone. I like to hold and touch every one before it goes on the shelf. I know that all the wisdom and information those books contain can’t be absorbed by osmosis, but, what do I have to lose?
The Way of Boys: Raising Healthy Boys in a Challenging and Complex World by Anthony Rao, Ph.D. Dr. Rao is a psychologist and expert on boyhood development. He has written a definitive handbook on what to look for and expect in normal growth. This book is a guide to what behavior is normal and what behavior might require a diagnosis and medication. He says “it’s time we stopped trying to ‘fix’ young boys” by understand the wide spectrum for normal boy development. Seems like a good plan to me.
Shake the Devil Off: A True Story of the Murder That Rocked New Orleans by Ethan Brown. Wow! Can’t believe I haven’t heard more about this book. Zackery and Addie were a hard-partying, high-spirited couple. The Iraq veteran and his artist girlfriend lived large in pre-Katrina New Orleans, but in October 2006, he leapt from the rooftop bar of a French Quarter hotel. A note in his pocket directed police to Addie’s body.
The Anatomy Murders: Being the True and Spectacular History of Edinburgh’s Notorious Burk and Hare and the Man of Science Who Abetted Them in the Commission of Their Most Heinous Crimes by Lisa Rosner. In the 1820’s William Burke and William Hare were suspects in the most atrocious murder spree of the century. I confess; I bought this one because my father’s name was William Hare. He was a very kind, engaging man, unlike any serial murderer I’ve ever read about, but could this Scottish William be a relative?
House of Cards: Love, Faith and Other Social Expressions by David Ellis Dickerson. This author landed his dream job as a greeting card writer for Hallmark Cards. He, however, found that as a fundamentalist-raised, twenty-six year old social eccentric, he was wholly unprepared to write the sentiments he was assigned. This story chronicles his bumpy journey to maturity.
In My Father’s Shadow: A Daughter Remembers Orson Welles by Chris Welles Feder. What would it be like to grow up the daughter of such a strange, intense man? Find out here!
Nothing Was The Same: A Memoir by Kay Refield Jamison. Ms Jamison is a psychologist who has battled manic-depressive illness. He husband, Richard, fought his own war against dyslexia to become one of the foremost experts on schizophrenia. This book is the story of their relationship, his death and her struggle with grief.
We Are Our Mother’s Daughters by Cokie Roberts. This book was donated by BPW in memory of Opal Christensen. The author is an Emmy-winning journalist and the daughter of Hale Boggs, a Democratic congressman from Louisiana and his wife, Lindy who replaced Hale in the House when he was killed in an airplane accident. This book reflects upon a number of female achievers who have attracted attention in the last decades including Laura Bush and Nancy Pelosi.
Beyond the Block by Crafty O’l Broads Linda K. Johnson and Jane K. Wells. This amazing book was given to the library by the Honeybee Quilt Guild in memory of member Linda Price. The quilts in this book are a joy to behold. Each is a small treasure, a work of art and a testament to the creativity of today’s quilters.
Whatever might catch your fancy, we’ll help you find it @your library.