“Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real.” –Nora Ephron
Whether we’re listening to an audiobook, paging through a picture book, downing a hefty hardcover or adding just one more title to our e-book-shelves, the books in our lives are a joy to be thankful for, and a meaningful part of end-of-the-year reflections as we think over authors, ideas, and the delights of stories invented and true. PPL staff members share just a few of the many books we’ve been enjoying lately.
Youth Services
Carrie’s Pick
Budding chefs, vegetarians, lovers of food photography rejoice! The Forest Feast For Kids is the lovely companion to The Forest Feast Gatherings and sure to get you cooking in the new year. Full page photographs of ingredients, techniques, recipes and children enjoying the fruits of their labor will inspire you to eat seasonally and cook at home. Techniques are explained thoroughly, and most recipes have but a few ingredients to showcase the beauty of simple food. Not just for vegetarians and great for those looking to lessen the impact of their food choices, The Forest Feast For Kids will get the whole family cooking and eating together.
Freshly baked bread always makes me rejoice and it being the subject of Mo Willems’ newest, hilarious picture book, I’m overjoyed! It’s the first time that Nanette has been given the responsibility to go to the bakery for her mother. Just one baguette is on the list. But so many distractions! And then there’s the problem of getting the warm, yummy smelling baguette home. After reading this, I headed right down to Standard Baking Company to get my own.
Kerry’s Pick
365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Book of Precepts is a collection precepts gathered together by the fictional Thomas Browne, the middle school teacher from R.J. Palacio’s book Wonder. The book is filled with inspirational quotes for every day of the year. I highly recommend reading this book as a way to READjoice and welcome the New Year! There are so many beautiful words to live by in this book. These are some of my favorites:
January 12th – “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” –Anne Frank
February 1st – “It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all of the answers” – James Thurber
March 20th – “Where there is love, there is joy.” – Mother Theresa
June 18th – “When we know how to read our own hearts, we acquire wisdom of the hearts of others.” –Denis Diderot
December 17th – “True wisdom lies in gathering the precious things out of each day as it goes by.” –E.S. Bouton
Adult Nonfiction
Brandie’s Pick
“Just look at us, all of us, quietly doing our thing and trying to matter. The earnestness is inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time.”― Amy Krouse Rosenthal
When I think about books that bring me joy, Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s books spring to mind. She writes great children’s books (Little Pea, Spoon, Duck! Rabbit!), short films (The Beckoning of Lovely, The Money Tree), and grown-up books. My daughter and I have read Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Lifeso many times, our sad paperback copy is finally losing its cover.
This summer she published a new book, Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal, which was equally enjoyable. Using her distinct blend of nonlinear narrative, wistful reflections, and insightful wit, she has created a perfect collection of snippets of life. This interactive (the book literally texts you back!) memoir will have you sighing happily, will move you to tears, and will make you laugh out loud.
Why the title Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal? She responds with:
Because the book is organized into chapters with classic subject headings such as Social Studies, Music, Language Arts, Math, etc.
Because textbook is an expression meaning “quintessential,” as in, Oh, that wordplay and unconventional format is so typical of her, so textbook Amy.
Because for the first time ever, readers can further engage with a book via text messaging.
Because if an author’s previous book has Encyclopedia in the title, following it up with a Textbook would be rather nice.
Sarah’s Pick
Sometimes, when life seems too fragile, scary, hectic or just…hard, I like to stop and think, “What would Bill Murray do?” There’s a quality of honesty to his humor that reminds me of what it is to be human and makes me want to be better. As Bill himself once said,
“This is your life, not a rehearsal. Somewhere there’s a score being kept, so you have an obligation to live life as well as you can, be as engaged as you can. The human condition means that we can zone out and forget what the hell we’re doing. So the secret is to have a sense of yourself, your real self, your unique self. And not just once in a while, or once a day, but all through the day, the week, and life. You know what they say: ‘Ain’t no try, ain’t nothing to it but to do it.'”
This gem is so much more than a parody of the 2014 best-seller by Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.The subtitle says it all: how to stop spending time you don’t have with people you don’t like doing things you don’t want to do.
As someone who spends far too much time wondering if I said the right thing, forever wondering if I am ‘doing enough’ and all of the other ways we beat ourselves up, this book brought me joy. I found it liberating. Truly.
This title challenges YOU to do YOU! It asks you to look at your life and see what stresses you, what your pain points are and to well, not care! As snarky as the title suggests this read might be, the book really gives valid career, relationship and general life advice.
Hamilton: The Revolution (by our hero Lin-Manuel Miranda, who annotates the libretto, and Jeremy McCarter) explores the brainy brilliance of the musical, its creators, and its cast. (I hear the audiobook version is pretty great too; it’s without the book’s photographs and sketches, but Miranda reads and sings some of those annotations). The Table of Contents has already struck a chord, and has me looking forward to the tales this book will tell and the ideas it will espouse: “Giving the history of Ron Chernow, along with remarks on who may play a founding father,” “On the perfect union of actor and role, with allusion to Renée Elise Goldsberry,” and “An account of rapping for the children, who will one day rap for themselves.” I haven’t gotten my hands on it yet—I’m patiently waiting, the book on hold—but this is my pick all the same: hope for a future of sheer lyrical word-wizardry, the kind that might even spark a revolution.
Adult Fiction
Harper’s Pick
Around this time of year, when the winter cold starts settling in, I start longing for the satisfaction of cozying up on the couch under a blanket with a cup of tea and a good dense novel. If you too suffer from this craving and, like me, also enjoy a good dose of magic and fairy tales in your fiction, December might be a good month to pick up Susanna Clarke’s hefty first novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
Set in 19th century England, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell tells the story of two wizards attempting to bring the practice of magic back to its place of prominence in their country. Immensely detailed and written with a sharp and sardonic sense of humor (seriously, rethink your opinion on footnotes — these are well worth reading), Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell feels almost like a fantastical version of an Austen novel. While some readers might find it slow to start, the book is well worth sticking through, and is filled with humorous anecdotes, well-developed side characters, trickster faeries, rewritten history, and magical worlds, and will keep you company throughout many of these coldest nights of the year.
If you really can’t get through it, though, don’t fret—the recently released BBC miniseries is almost as good.
Nate’s Pick
‘Then you forget some of it all, maybe most of it all, almost all of it, in the end, and you work hard at remembering everything now so you won’t ever forget, but you can kill it too even by thinking about it too much, though you can’t help thinking about it nearly all the time.’ -from Break it Down, by Lydia Davis
My introduction to Break it Down was an audio recording of Lydia Davis reading the title story. I was working at the moment, in the middle of processing 50 lbs of potatoes for potato salad as a cook with a catering company in Vermont. As Davis progressed through the first quarter of the story my attention piqued. I found myself standing in the middle of an industrial kitchen, knife in one hand, pile of potatoes in front of me, unable to manage anything but listening. As soon as the recording ended I replayed it again, and then again one more time. I found it both haunting and heartbreaking. I was drawn in by the depth of emotion and honesty conveyed through so few words. What if Davis is telling the truth, what if our relationships can be summed up in hours and dollars? And it is true, romance often culminates in sorrow. So why do we even bother? But regardless of whether the moments that make up a relationship can be ascribed a monetary value, and even knowing that most of them will fail, we will continue to engage in them. I believe Davis’ writing is an attempt to express that the value and the failure are not what is important, the emotions we experience during the course of our lives are what linger, what shape us as human beings, and what we ultimately desire. Within this collection of stories I found Davis’ ability to write about the minutia that makes up a large part of our daily existence in such an enthralling way beautiful. For the month of December I will rejoice in both sparsity and the writing of Lydia Davis.
Meghan’s Pick
Nothing made me quite so happy this last week as picking up the newest Best American Short Stories anthology (edited this year by Junot Diaz) and seeing in the contents list the amazing cast of diverse, American voices. Reading the stories then redoubled this joy—what smart, funny, inventive and crucial writers we have in our midst, and how lucky we are to be Americans with them.
As the cold settles in our staff celebrates relationships with fiber arts, lovely and functional, that draw the eye or keep us warm. Here are helpful, inspirational, and enjoyable resources for those just starting down the knit-and-purl path, for those who’ve memorized a stitch or two, or for any amateur or artist happy to have found a lifetime of fiber projects here in Maine.
Gail’s Pick
It’s a story…it’s a learn-to-knit book…it’s both! Sunny’s Mittens starts with a story about a girl with a hole in her mitten and ends with instructions on how to knit a pair of Swedish Lovikka mittens. The writing and instructions by Robin Hansen are clear and detailed. Recommended for ages 9 through 12 but great for anyone learning to knit.
Mary Jane Mucklestone lives right here in Portland, and she is a colorwork GENIUS. I love these just to look at or as great idea generators. I have used the 200 Fair Isle Motifs volume loads of times.
This is my favorite introductory book, it covers all the basic information about how knitting actually works. From how different weights of yarn knit up differently in terms of math, to pattern interpretation of “finished” measurements vs. “to fit” measurements.
This is a terrific and inspiring book of stitch patterns, the possibilities are endless!
Brandie’s Pick
Oneskein is my go-to book. Each project can be completed quickly and requires only one skein of yarn. I love that there is an entire book devoted to using one skein of yarn because we knitters all have plenty of those lying around! I’ve made the baby hat and the felted bowls many times over the years to give as gifts. And one day, with all my scraps, I will finish the Labyrinth Circle Rug.
Kelley’s Pick
Yoshi’s Wooly World is an adorable, family-friendly video game for the Wii-U where everything is made out of yarn, string, buttons and other sewing materials. I can’t describe it any better than it describes itself:
“Yarn, buttons and other materials combine into fantastical stages for two players to explore as yarn Yoshis. Discover what Yoshi can do by tying enemies in yarn, weaving woolly platforms, or tugging on stray yarn to unravel walls and reveal hidden areas and goodies.Transform into a motorcycle or even become a giant! Toss yarn balls to knit together background elements or tie-up enemies.Tangle, pull, and stitch to explore a wild, woolly world.”
Ellen G’s Picks
I’d like to spotlight Maine author (most recently of Knitlandia) and nationally-recognized knitting blogger, Clara Parkes. Her invaluable Knitter’s Review web site is an encyclopedic review source for all things knitting – yarns, needles and tools, books, etc. Three of her books – The Knitter’s Book of Wool, The Knitter’s Book of Yarn and The Knitter’s Book of Socks should be in every knitter’s personal library and are most definitely popular PPL holdings.
Here’s a few other fiber-related Maine organizations and events:
The New England Textile Arts Network (NETA) SPA happens annually in Freeport in February. Knitters, spinners and fiber vendors from all over New England gather together for 3 days to chase away the winter blues.
Come spring, the Maine Fiber Frolic at the Windsor Fairgrounds is an amazing Maine-centric mini Common Ground Fair for fiber producers of the two- and four-legged kind and lovers of all things fiber.
And most importantly, fiber—its production, processing, tourism and retailing—is a big engine for the Maine economy, so I love to support fiber arts by shopping at local yarn stores in Portland and communities around Maine.
Eileen M’s Picks
I love color. I love texture. I love making practical things out of whimsy and wool.
My mother taught me to knit when I was 5. Knitting was a diversionary tactic deployed when I was at my most “there’s nothing to do…” whiny-annoying, a mother-approved way to spend time with dangerous pointy objects and soft yarn, making wavy-edged serpents of uneven character. In my teens I started knitting in earnest, making things that could be worn or snuggled under. That’s when I stumbled upon a book by Elizabeth Zimmermann, Knitting Without Tears.It introduces Elizabeth in her own words, on her own terms, a blunt pseudo-curmudgeon’s insights rendered in no-nonsense prose. Her rules for the craft are rigid only in her insistence on flexibility. “Of course I am speaking entirely for myself,” she says after firmly asserting how things should work, “if you have valid reason to do otherwise, it’s up to you.” Incoming advice in all areas of life should be so plainly labelled. There are some patterns and practical advice, but it is her attitude that sells it. I love this book.
Continuing my trip back through the misty past, I see an Alice and Jerry Basic Reading Program book, my 4th grade reading text with the happy title Singing Wheels. Its story of pioneer life struck a chord, surprising me by tapping into my creative core. In my memory, the chapter titled “Indigo Blue” begins with of a big bubbling dye pot and culminates in a warm blue cloak; it kicked off my fascination with spinning, dyeing and weaving. (The chapter about slaughtering a pig led to vegetarianism, but that’s another story.)
It took me awhile to jump into the world of wheels and what all, but there were a lot of books to keep me afloat until I was ready and to guide me after I leaped. Among my current favorites: Color in Spinning by Deb Menz feeds the technical appetite for doing things properly in equal measure with the emotional and aesthetic urge to make real the rich colors that live inside our heads and hearts. Carding and combing techniques, color mixing, dyeing methods, spinning with hand spindles and wheels… Menz skillfully blends science with art, and provides a valuable tool for producing the predictable as well as the unexpected. I heartily recommend it to spur your imagination and kick you into gear.
If the idea of weaving floats your boat, point your pick-up stick to The Weaver’s Idea Book: Creative Cloth on a Rigid-Heddle Loom by Jane Patrick. It has inspired me to make honest-to-goodness blankets, for heaven’s sake, full of weft floats and warp floats and colors that shriek at each other and meld into beauty, warming me when I’m cold and easing me into textured dreams come nap time… all this from a deceptively simple loom that hangs on my wall when not in use. Patrick has created a tell-all book that gets you from point A to point Z in no time flat.
It’s quite a rabbit hole, this fiber arts thing is, but I bet it’s a soft landing if you ever reach the bottom. I wouldn’t know, though; I’m still in free-fall.
I also connected with a more recent publication, Sewing Happiness: A Year of Simple Projects for Living Well by Sanae Ishida which is part memoir, part sewing book. Among the 20 seasonal based projects is a well documented tutorial for sashiko (a decorative reinforcement embroidery), but more importantly her story is a reminder of how the act of making can heal us. Which leads me to recommend a book currently tagged in my “for later” shelf, Why We Make Things and Why it Matters which looks to be a good read on how making brings meaning into our lives.
Hope you’ve enjoyed this foray into fiber! For a look at books mentioned in our catalog, as well as a few more recent and classic fiber arts finds, check out the booklist “Wool and Wonder: Fabulous Fiber Arts.”
This month I could not decide on just one book. Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary, by Elizabeth Partridge and We’ve Got A Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March, by Cynthia Levison, work together to tell the story of young peoples’ role in the civil rights movement in America. Both Levison and Partridge use photographs, quotes and original text to show how children stood up alongside, and sometimes in the place of, adults. Children stood up to brutality and hatred with peace and perseverance. Many were beaten and jailed and came back the next day to march again. In times of unrest, children show a keen sense of justice. Both these books do justice to the sacrifices and contributions of countless children. Read them together or by themselves, and share them with the young people in your lives, as beacons of hope and inspiration.
Teen
Elizabeth’s Pick
Author Nick Ripatrazone recently recalled some sage advice, given to him by a writing professor when he was worrying over writing. His teacher wrote to him, simply: Worrying isn’t work. This advice—I note a little ruefully, thinking of some recent worry-warted days—seems widely applicable, above and beyond a writing life. Even just shovel your neighbor’s driveway, a friend said the other day, and chat with them this winter. The spectrum for good and thoughtful work, for reaching out, happily, is huge. You can go small. You can go really, really big. I’d love to shout out to the Maine Public Radio’s Voices of Giving series this month, which has been warming my commute with wonderful stories of local people helping out others here in Maine- seeing a need and working to fill that need. And from the library’s collections? I’ll pick Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History…and Our Future! This beautiful book is powerful and inspiring. Written for youth, featuring brief bios of “agents of change of all kinds,” it shares an alphabet of awesome women who have worked hard in our country. The cut-paper illustrations by Miriam Klein Stahl are bold and active, and each woman—activists, artists, authors, such as Dolores Huerta, Wilma Mankiller, Kate Bornstein, Maya Lin—shines on her page in brilliant black lines and rich color. All the reviewers seem to like the entry for the letter “X,” and I do, too. (See book for details). I plan to pick up a copy of Rad American Women A-Z for my nephews this winter; I’m gladdened by the thought of them growing up in a world where their E stands for Ella Baker, their P for Patti Smith, and their Z for Zora Neale Hurston.
These and many additional tiles appear on an awesome list compiled by the Young Adult Library Services Association blog, The Hub: 20 Books to Inspire Social Change.
I think one of the most heartening things we can do when our future is uncertain and precarious is to take a moment to engage with our past. These documentaries both serve as necessary reminders of the collective power of people and the incredible potential of strong, united communities. Angela Davis’s words ring especially true these days: Freedom is a constant struggle.
Kerry’s Pick
The documentary Lizzie Velasquez: A Brave Heart is the story of Lizzie Velasquez, a motivational speaker and anti-bullying activist. The documentary begins with Lizzie reflecting on her childhood. Lizzie was born with a rare disorder that makes her unable to gain weight. Growing up Lizzie experienced bullying for looking different. She struggled to fit in, but eventually won over many of her classmates. She became an active member of her school. Her life seemed to improve, but then in high school she discovered a terrible YouTube video that would change her life. Someone created a video with Lizzie’s picture titled “World’s Ugliest Woman.” It was filled with hateful comments. Lizzie was devastated, but with the love and support of her family she decided to start speaking out against bullying. The film discusses her journey to becoming a motivational speaker and anti-bullying activist, and then ends with Lizzie traveling to Washington DC to lobby for anti-bullying legislation. The documentary is inspirational, and shows how one person can take personal heartache and turn it into the strength and courage to fight bullying, and to change the world for the better.
Adult Nonfiction
Brandie’s Pick
“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.”
After reading an interview with Bryan Stevenson in the New Yorker I decided to finally read Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, which had been sitting on my nightstand for months. (The thing with buying a book is that there is no due date, so those book languish more than my library books).
Once I started Just Mercy, I couldn’t put it down. Stevenson is an incredible civil rights lawyer but also an incredible writer. He is able to tell these true stories from his clients, all them heart-wrenching, with grace. The stories about children on death row were the hardest to read. Antonio Nuñez, for instance, became the only child in the country known to be sentenced to die in prison for his involvement, at age 14, in a single incident where no one was injured. The collection is an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of justice.
Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he didn’t commit. The book alternates chapters between Walter’s case and several of Stevenson’s other prominent cases. It highlights his personal journey, but at its heart it is about the flaws in America’s criminal justice system.
This is an important work which recommended for any individual concerned with the concepts of justice, compassion, and mercy. If you read Just Mercy and want more by Stevenson, you could watch his Ted Talk or learn more about the work he does with the Equal Justice Initiative.
Laura’s Pick
As founder of The GW Lincoln Society, I think it especially fitting to share the wise words of President Lincoln this month, since he is largely responsible for instituting a nation-wide day of Thanksgiving, which, 153 years after his proclamation, we will celebrate once again this week.
Take time with his words and the story of his life. They will give you hope and inspiration. They will remind you of the power of principle, sacrifice and perseverance.
I close with the lyrical coda of his first Inaugural Address:
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
Choose Civility
Sonya’s Pick
Choose Civility is a PPL initiative that focuses on promoting civil discourse and civic engagement in our community. In addition to reading items from this collection, we hope you will join us for upcoming programs and community conversation. To stay in the loop, please sign up for our CC newsletter.
