kimba's Blog

New Book Club in a Bag Kit

kimba — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:17:06 +0000

The tiger's wife: [kit] a novel by Téa Obreht — Natalia, a young doctor, arrives in a Balkan country on a mission of mercy. By the time she and her lifelong friend Zóra begin to inoculate the children there, she feels age-old superstitions and secrets gathering everywhere around her. But Natalia is also confronting a private mystery of her own: the inexplicable circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather's recent death. After telling her grandmother that he was on his way to meet Natalia, he instead set off for a ramshackle settlement none of their family had ever heard of and died there alone. Why he left home becomes a riddle Natalia is compelled to unravel. Searching for clues, she turns to the stories he told her when she was a child. But the most extraordinary story of all is the one her grandfather never told her, the one Natalia must discover for herself. One winter during the Second World War, his childhood village was snowbound, cut off even from the encroaching German invaders but haunted by another, fierce presence: a tiger who comes ever closer under cover of darkness. "These stories," Natalia comes to understand, "run like secret rivers through all the other stories" of her grandfather's life. And it is ultimately within these rich, luminous narratives that she will find the answer she is looking for.

New Book Club in a Bag Kit

kimba — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:32:02 +0000

Behind the beautiful forevers [kit] by Katherine Boo — In this brilliantly written, fast-paced book, based on three years of uncompromising reporting, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human. Annawadi is a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport, and as India starts to prosper, Annawadians are electric with hope. With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects human beings to one another in an era of tumultuous change, Behind the Beautiful Forevers carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first century's hidden worlds, and into the lives of people impossible to forget.

New Book Club in a Bag Kit

kimba — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:17:54 +0000

The storyteller a novel [kit] Jodi Picoult — At 25, Sage Singer is scarred, both physically and mentally, by the car accident that took her mother's life. A baker who works at night in a New Hampshire shop run by a former nun, Sage shuns almost all human contact, save for her coworkers and her funeral-director boyfriend, Adam, who is married to another woman. Sage ventures out of her comfort zone to befriend Josef Weber, an elderly retired teacher, who throws her world into chaos when he tells her that he's a former SS officer and asks her to help him end his life. Sage, whose grandmother Minka survived the Holocaust, reaches out to the Department of Justice and is connected with Leo Stein, a charismatic attorney and Nazi hunter. Leo travels to New Hampshire to investigate Sage's claims, which leads them to Minka, who shares a surprising connection to Josef.

New Book Club in a Bag Kit

kimba — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:09:17 +0000

I married you for happiness [kit] Lily Tuck — Slender, potent, and engaging, the book unfolds over a single night as Nina sits at the bedside of her husband, Philip, whose sudden death is the reason for her lonely vigil. She remembers defining moments of their long union, beginning with their meeting in Paris. She is an artist, he a mathematician-a collision of two different worlds that merged to form an intricate and passionate love. As we move through select memories-real and imagined-Tuck reveals the intimacies, secrets, and joys that defined Nina and Philip's life together.

Earth Day Events at CPL

kimba — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:08:16 +0000

We're celebrating Earth Day from April 14-27 and want you to join us! There will be events for everyone including:

Biodiversity LIVE! — Sunday, April 14, 2:00-3:00 PM
Meatless Mondays with Door to Door Organics — Monday, April 22, 7:00-8:30 PM
Heart of Michigan - Michigan Made Products — Tuesday, April 23, 7:00-8:30 PM
Rain Gardens and Live Walls — Thursday, April 25, 7:00-8:30 PM
Native American Dancers — Saturday, April 27, 2:00-3:00 PM

Earth Hour March 23, 8:30PM

kimba — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Earth Hour began as a symbolic action of switching off lights for an hour and has grown into a continuous movement attempting to change the world we live in. Earth Hour's mission is "to bring people together through a symbolic hour-long event, galvanize people into taking action beyond the hour and create an interconnected global community sharing the goal of a sustainable future for the planet." You can take part in Earth Hour by simply turning your lights off on March 23 at 8:30pm for an hour or visit their website to find out how you can become more involved including information on their I Will if You Will campaign.

New Book Club in a Bag Kit

kimba — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:45:19 +0000

Lives like loaded guns: Emily Dickinson and her family's feuds [kit] by Lyndall Gordon - In 1882, Emily Dickinson's brother Austin began a passionate love affair with Mabel Todd, a young Amherst faculty wife, setting in motion a series of events that would forever change the lives of the Dickinson family. The feud that erupted as a result has continued for over a century. Lyndall Gordon, tells the riveting story of the Dickinsons, and reveals Emily as a very different woman from the pale, lovelorn recluse that exists in the popular imagination. Gordon digs deep into the life and work of Emily Dickinson, to reveal the secret behind the poet's insistent seclusion, and presents a woman beyond her time who found love, spiritual sustenance, and immortality all on her own terms. An enthralling story of creative genius, filled with illicit passion and betrayal.

Join the HRWC's Stonefly Search on Saturday, January 26

kimba — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 20:40:53 +0000

The Huron River Watershed Council (HRWC) seeks volunteers for its annual Winter Stonefly Search on Saturday, January 26. Interested individuals are invited to come on their own or bring a small team of friends and family for a unique wintertime activity in the Huron River. Children are welcome to attend with an adult. First time volunteers need to fill out a basic information form and a program registration form. Registration closes on Wednesday, January 23.

[Small Winter Stonefly by K.Schneider is licensed by CC BY-NC 2.0]

Watch "Great Lakes Now Connect: Invasive Species"

kimba — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:38:34 +0000

The Nature Conservancy announced a first-of-its-kind television and Web special, designed to convene a discussion on the solutions to the threats posed by dangerous invasive species in the Great Lakes. This special event "Great Lakes Now Connect: Invasive Species" broadcast on January 15, but you can still view it as an archive. For more information on invasive species search CPL's Science in Context database for "invasive species" or "biological invasions."

[Goby by Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory is licensed by CC BY-NC 2.0]

Internet Basics

kimba — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:07:04 +0000

Learn how to search the Web, the library catalog and online databases. Prerequisite: Mouse skills or equivalent experience. Join us Monday, February 11th from 10:00 to 11:30 AM.

2012 Lunch and a Book Picks

kimba — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 19:36:33 +0000

Every year CPL's Lunch and a Book Club picks our favorite reads of the year. These are our favorite reads for 2012. The picks are as eclectic as our group! Feel free to join us. We meet on the second Thursday of every month at noon in CPL's Community Room.

Fiction

Amadeus: a play by Peter Shaffer

Defending Jacob: a novel by William Landay

The dog stars by Peter Heller

Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Fall of giants by Ken Follett

Gone girl: a novel by Gillian Flynn

Heathcote House by Louise Carmichael Howe

The light between oceans: a novel by M.L. Stedman

The Little Snow Girl by Nellie McCaslin

Snobbery with violence: an Edwardian murder mystery by Marion Chesney

The snow child: a novel by Eowyn Ivey

South of superior by Ellen Airgood

The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

The sweet hereafter: a novel by Russell Banks

The thirteenth tale: a novel by Diane Setterfield

Non Fiction

Behind the beautiful forevers by Katherine Boo

Founding gardeners [electronic resource]: the revolutionary generation, nature, and the shaping of the American nation by Andrea Wulf

Half the sky: turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking by Susan Cain

Search inside yourself: the unexpected path to achieving success, happiness, (and World peace) by Chade-Meng Tan; illustrations by Colin Goh

Recycle Your Holiday Lights!

kimba — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:26:20 +0000

Send your old incandescent holiday lights to HolidayLEDs.com and not only will they recycle them for you but they will also send you a coupon for 15% off anything on their website. You can also drop them off at Whole Foods Market in Ann Arbor. For more green holiday ideas, check out "I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas: Gifts, Decorations, and Recipes that Use Less and Mean More" by Anna Getty. [Fairy City Lights by Joseph Nadler is licensed under CC BY 2.0]

Small Business Saturday® is November 24th

kimba — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:10:25 +0000

Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is another day, one dedicated to the businesses that boost the economy and invigorate neighborhoods across the country. It's Small Business Saturday®, and this year it’s happening on November 24th. Remember that while shopping small can help boost the economy, shopping local can also help the environment.

Winter CSA: Locavorious

kimba — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:36:29 +0000

Locavorious has partnered with several small farms in communities around Ann Arbor to offer frozen produce subscriptions. They are similar to shares offered by regular CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) but only available during the winter months. They prepare and package local produce when it is fresh and preserve it in a community freezer to distribute to subscribers during the winter months. You can find more information about local CSAs by visiting CSAFarms.org. Also, check out what the library has on the topics of local foods and organic foods.

Alzheimer's Prevention Resource

kimba — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 20:51:43 +0000

100 simple things you can do to prevent Alzheimer's and age-related memory loss by Jean Carper provides some simple tips that you can add to your everyday routine now that may help prevent dementia in the future. Some tips are basic to all-around good health, but others might surprise, like consuming apple juice and vinegar. Readers young and old will likely feel motivated to make some simple lifestyle changes to help push mental decline even further into the future.