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On Living prompts reflection

by eapearce

During her time as a hospice chaplain, Kerry Egan did more listening than talking and surprisingly, rarely offered prayers or sermons to those taking leave of this world, unless they were specifically requested (“There's no time to preach or teach," says Egan. "You have to use whatever tools that person already has in their spiritual toolbox to help them come to meaning in their lives."). In her new book, On Living, Egan shares with readers some of the amazing stories that she heard from those finding or making meaning of their life during their final days and hours. She listened as patients shared hope, regret, shame, pride, mystery and revelation.

Patients told her about betrayals, unfinished business, secrets left unshared, great achievements, and heartbreak. But the overarching feeling that she took away from her time at patients’ bedsides was that of love: for children and partners, for friends, for hobbies, love that people gave unconditionally or had but didn’t know how to give at all. In an interview with Terry Gross, Egan said, “I [was] constantly reminded of how much love people have for each other, and the love that’s all around us that we just don’t necessarily take a moment to see.” In the beautiful On Living, Egan offers readers the chance to analyze what is truly important in life through hearing what others have been through, and allows us to use their wisdom to make the most of our own still-transforming lives.

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Eccentric Author Writes Brilliant, Odd Short Stories

by mansii

Fair warning: Joy Williams is a quirky personality. Known for eccentricities such as wearing sunglasses at all hours of the day, both inside and out, for not using e-mail, and for driving across a huge chunk of the US just to pick up some giveaway pews and hull them back across the states in her creaky truck--it's no wonder her stories are deliciously odd too.

Her recently released collection: Ninety-Nine Stories of God is full of snippet-length accounts that hit you in the gut with their understated significance and piercing satire. You'll do a double take and then a triple, hanging on every word. Williams' previous works have been nominated for both the Pulitzer and the National Book award and have been appropriately called Kafkaesque. Those who like a good puzzle will meet their match, as well as those who like to be hit with the weight of a story without needing to understand why. The title proposes that the common theme of this collection is God, but it will be up to you to find him in many of these stories. Williams takes every opportunity to poke at what we think we know with her sense of the comedic element in this finite world.

I will leave you with this short story appropriate for the spooky end of October:

"A woman who adored her mother, and had mourned her death every day for years now, came across some postcards in a store that sold antiques and various other bric-a-brac. The postcards were of unexceptional scenes, but she was drawn to them and purchased several of wild beaches and forest roads. When she got home, she experienced an overwhelming need to send a card to her mother.
What she wrote was not important. It was the need that was important.

She put the card in an envelope and sent it to her mother's last earthly address, a modest farmhouse that had long since been sold and probably sold again.

Within a week she received a letter, the writing on the envelope unmistakably her mother's. Even the green ink her mother had favored was the same.
The woman never opened the letter, nor did she send any other postcards to that address.
The letter, in time, though only rumored to be, caused her children, though grown, much worry."

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New Beautiful Fall Picture Books

by manz

I found two cute picture books on the NEW shelf recently and they happen to have the same illustrator. The illustrations are the main reason I grabbed each of these books! The images by Susan Gal are made with charcoal on paper and digital collage and the result is bold colors in broad strokes of oranges and reds that fully illustrate that fall feeling. Looking through these books makes you want to head outside and look all the lush fall colors this October.

Hocus Pocus, It’s Fall! takes the reader on a fall tour and finds things like dried pods, squirrels, red leaves, apples and more fall staples. It’s a darling rhyming story.

With a similar palette, Bella’s Fall Coat is an actual story. Young Bella has a favorite coat, and her Grams urges her throughout the story that it’s time for a new coat, as Bella is getting too big for her old one. “But it’s my favorite,” cries Bella. And out the door she runs to play. As fall turns into winter, it might just be time for a new coat after all, and what should happen to Bella’s old favorite coat? Well, it finds a precious new home. A lovely, lovely book!

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An Encounter with the Elegant and Sensitive Verse of Misuzu Kaneko

by mansii

Early 20th century Japanese poet Misuzu Kaneko inspires wonder and compassion in her writing. Her poems ask questions close to the heart of a child, and step into the slippers of things as plain as the snow under our shoes. The tale of her short life is clouded by hardship, but her poetry brims with a celebration of being alive.

"Snow on top
must feel chilly,
the cold moonlight piercing it.

Snow on the bottom
must feel burdened
by the hundred who tread on it.

Snow in the middle
must feel lonely
with neither earth nor sky to look at."

For the first time, Kaneko's poetry is being made available in North America by a team of translators and journalists passionate about sharing her legacy with the world. Kaneko's work is highly respected in Japan, being standard material in literature classes, and now English speakers have the opportunity to see what is so special about her in the book Are You An Echo?: The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko.

Written at a child's level, this book narrates Kaneko's life story while presenting a whole collection of her poems in translation, with the original Japanese verse alongside. Besides providing an encounter with this lovely woman of words specifically, Are You An Echo? subtly teaches children how to understand and appreciate poetry in general. This is personally one of my favorite publications of the year.

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Short stories from Jojo Moyes: Paris For One

by eapearce

New York Times bestselling author Jojo Moyes, who penned Me Before You and After You, has just published her first short story collection, entitled Paris For One. Fans of Moyes’ charming, irresistible voice won’t want to miss it! In the title story, twenty-six-year-old Nell has never had a romantic getaway anywhere before, let alone to Paris. She’s eagerly anticipating traveling to the City of Love with her boyfriend… but when he doesn’t show up for their vacation she’s forced to make a decision. Should she return home and hole up in bed for the remainder of her time off, or stay alone in the city and prove everyone—including herself—wrong about her ability to be independent and adventurous?

Readers will be happy with the option that she chooses, and will enjoy equally the other eight stories that comprise this collection. In “Love in the Afternoon,” a sexually frustrated man tries to get his wife in the mood by suggesting that they watch “Snakes on a Plane” together. In “A Bird in Hand,” a woman is made even more uncomfortable at a stiff dinner party when she is seated next to a man with whom she had an affair with years before. Overall, the stories tell of transformations and realizations, and remind us all that nobody has it perfect, but we can make do very well with gratitude for what we do have.

Along with Paris For One, Me Before You and After You, Moyes is the author of One Plus One, The Girl You Left Behind, The Ship of Brides, and Silver Bay.

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Bedtime Sleepy Style Stories

by manz

This week at storytime Ms. Amanda told some fun bedtime tales! Not ones to make us fall asleep, but ones that involved bedtime rituals and other such fun.

First we met a little chicken who had the habit of interrupting bedtime stories her dad tried to tell her in Interrupting Chicken. This tale includes other favorite stories like Little Red Riding Hood and Little Red Hen, so it reads as stories within a story.

We then met a scaredy cat cowboy in Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy as he met up with some shadowy figures as he tried to sing a lullaby. It’s such a cute book! Written by author Jan Thomas, who is a preschool crowd favorite.

And we finished ‘er off with Beep Beep Go to Sleep, where a little boy was trying to get little robots to go to sleep, be he kept hearing the beep beep of the little bots who were stalling.

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A Child of Books

by manz

I am a child of books. I come from a world of stories and upon my imagination I float.

That is the first line in a beautiful new picture book, A Child of Books, written by Oliver Jeffers, with Jeffers collaborating with Sam Winston on the illustrations, which are done in watercolor, pencil, and digital collage.

Amid the words that tell the “story” are more words typed and piled up in shapes such as a wave, a mountain, a tunnel, a tree, and a monster. Also in the tiny words are nods to children’s classics – Little Red Riding Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Gulliver’s Travels, and many more.

The book encourages readers to explore and imagine through books and reading, which can take you so many places on so many journeys! It’s a quiet thinker of a book, and will also be adored by adult audiences who enjoy these types of picture books, and who love books and children’s literature. The cool kids' books aren’t just for kids!

Definitely look at the catalog page for this book to check out a preview of the book just at it appears.

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Blog Post

Sashiko Embroidery

by manz

Modern Sashiko embroidery is often used to embellish clothing or is found on decorative pieces such as wall hangings and pillows. The white thread on dark blue fabric pops and looks ever so elegant.

If you’re curious about the Japanese style of embroidery known as Sashiko, then the books on this public list will further inspire you.

You don’t need to use Sashiko needles or thread if you don’t want to. I’ve found that supplies I have on hand, like embroidery floss and an embroidery needle, will work just fine and produces an effect I’m happy with! If you’re looking for a new craft to get you through winter, this might be it.

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New Interactive Kids’ Books

by evelyn

We’ve just received two great interactive books for kids! Storyworlds: Nature will help your little ones tell their own stories. Who Wins? pits historical figures against each other in a text that is as much game as it is book.

Created by Thomas Hegbrook, Storyworlds: Nature, is a wordless book full of gorgeous illustrations of animals in the natural world. The pictures are lovely and related to one another only by layout and color. The multiple panels on each page feature animals moving through time in a single image. In one, an anglerfish is shown luring small fish with her light; in another, a kangaroo joey hops into his mama’s pouch and away they go! The book is designed so that children will be inspired to tell their own stories of what they think the images shows. At the end of the book, text describes what the animals are actually doing in each picture, so children curious to know the science behind the images won’t be disappointed. If your kids like this one, check out one of our other great wordless picture books!

What Who Wins?: 100 Historical Figures go Head to Head and You Decide the Winner! lacks in a snappy title, it makes up for with clever design. By Clay Swartz, with bright, cartoony illustrations by Tom Booth, this book is spiral bound and separated into three independently moving sections. The outer sections feature historical figures, complete with a brief biography, little-known facts, and a ranking of the following characteristics: wealth, fitness, wisdom, bravery, artistry, leadership and intelligence. The middle section has a variety of challenges, including the Indy 500, solving world hunger, and pulling off a bank heist. Moving the three sections results in two historical figures competing to win the challenge. Kids can use logic and biographical information to puzzle out who they think would triumph. This is a great and innovative way for kids to learn about historical figures. For other lovely biographies, take a look here!

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Lettering, Typography, and Design

by manz

There are some books that demonstrate the beauty and how-to of classy and fabulous hand lettering and typography, whether you’re into graphic design or not. Here are a few dandies that are worth a view.

Shadow Type: Classic three-Dimensional Lettering
This book contains a ton of images to peruse and very little text, if at all. Very visually appealing! Fantastic inspiration!

Scripts: Elegant Lettering From Design's Golden Age
By the same author as the above book, this book is done in the same way and features a plethora of images.

In Progress: See Inside a Lettering Artist's Sketchbook and Process, From Pencil to Vector
Switching gears, this book focuses on hand lettering and how it is used in design work. This is a beautiful book with many examples and even some how-to. The author has worked with many big clients, and you'll recognize some of her work!

For more graphic design inspiration for word lovers, here are additional books on typography and lettering that will make you bust out those Micron pens.