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Consumer Reports Online

by lucroe

Consumer Reports database is now available to search online at the library or wherever you have access to the Internet, you just login to your online account. You can read reviews and ratings on products, cars, and various services as well as articles from current and past magazine issues (starting in 2012, located at the bottom of the page). So when you are in the market to buy a new washing machine, for example, just type that term in the search box at the top of the page and press enter. You will get ratings, recommendations, a buying guide, and a comparison of the top rated products.

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Jazz Record Collectors Journal

by iralax

Followers of early 20th century American jazz in Ann Arbor have been very fortunate since the 2009 closing of the Firefly Club to hear live music from that era at Kerrytown Concert House and Zal Gaz Grotto on Stadium, which convenes every Sunday (Phil Ogilvie’s Rhythm Kings), Monday (Paul Keller Orchestra) and Tuesday (Paul Klinger’s Easy St. Jazz Band). The Ann Arbor District Library now subscribes to The IAJRC Journal, the Quarterly magazine of the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors.

Its 100-page black & white format offers a lot of substance with very little gloss. The Spring 2016 issue with Benny Goodman and Loren Schoenberg on the cover, contains articles on recordings by Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Rudy Williams, The Deep River Boys. It also has regular features like CD, DVD & Book Reviews, Worldwide Jazz News, Big Band Quiz and lots of photos. So for those interested in the back-story with details of the heyday of early and modern jazz recordings, dig what IAJRC Journal has to offer. AADL also subscribes to Down Beat and several other music related magazines.

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Ready, Set, BAKE!

by Sara W

Have you gotten hooked on The Great British Baking Show yet? Whether you are watching on Netflix or catching it on PBS, it's adorable and addictive, and will send you searching for a Victoria sponge recipe that uses American measurements.

Here are some ways AADL can foster your newly-awakened baking obsession:

Bakers looking to stretch their skill sets will find the recipes and instruction they need in The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: All-Purpose Baking Cookbook, which covers everything from A (apple pie) to Y (yeast breads), and probably something that starts with Z, too. Along with helpful technique tips, this cookbook provides ingredient and equipment advice helpful to bakers at all levels.

Dorie Greenspan's Baking: from my home to yours is a gem - Greenspan is a true expert and offers recipes ranging from easy to ambitious, but she provides plenty of illustrations and guidance along the way. Her World Peace cookies are not to be missed.

There's also The Cook's Illustrated Baking Book: baking demystified with 450 recipes from America's most trusted food magazine, or Baking Illustrated: a best recipe classic, both produced by the team at Cook's Illustrated, and which are heavily tested and laboriously detailed. As the founder of Cook's Illustrated, Christopher Kimball has cemented his reputation as a provider of precise instruction, and he's built a dedicated fanbase through hosting PBS' America's Test Kitchen and his appearances on public radio's The Splendid Table.

If bread is more your cup of tea than sweet desserts, try Flour Water Salt Yeast: the fundamentals of artisan bread and pizza by Portland, OR-based Ken Forkish. Bakers who are serious about bread will find both excellent recipes and the reasons why they work in this bread-baking bible. For bread-lovers who do have a sweet tooth, Beard on Bread by the inimitable James Beard is a good fit. Like all of Beard's work, it is eminently readable, but the recipes within are a little sweeter and softer than bakers interested in a more artisan-approach may desire.

True disciples of The Great British Baking Show may have to check out Mary Berry & Lucy Young Cook Up a Feast just to satiate their Mary Berry fixation. She's a good-hearted master home baker who provides tried-and-true methods for foolproof recipes, and instructions for getting things done ahead of time so you can properly enjoy an event for which you are baking.

Fiction lovers might enjoy The Art of Baking Blind by Sarah Vaughn, a story about contestants in a baking competition who learn a thing or two about attempting to leave their real-life struggles behind and aiming for culinary perfection. There's also Simply From Scratch by Alicia Bessette, about a widow who enters a baking contest to shake off her grief, and ends up finding a friend in a motherless neighbor girl who came for the desserts, but finds more benefit in the companionship.

Knead any more proof of AADL's baking resources? No? How about another baking pun? No again? Well, happy baking, friends!

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Blog Post

Magazines at AADL

by iralax

AADL Reference and Magazine collections at the Downtown Library have recently relocated to the third floor, along with brand new carpeting, comfortable reading chairs and several large tables with chairs. This is a great time to view the new space and browse the classic glossies and some eye-popping newer magazines. Awaiting you are treasures like The Intelligent Optimist, Interweave Knits, Hyphen, The Instrumentalist, ARTNEWS, American Archeology and Howler. Or The Advocate, The Black Scholar, Latina or Michigan Gardener might pique your interest. So if you want to see what's new in periodicals, visit AADL soon. All but the current issue may be checked out for two weeks, and you can put a copy on hold for pick-up at any branch through your AADL My Account.

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Bookmarks

by ballybeg

If you are the kind of book-lover whose reading pleasure includes reading about books, and if you are always looking for your next read but want a fresh source for ideas, then look at our magazine Bookmarks, found in the Periodicals Department of the Downtown library. Published six times a year, it includes a panoply of features for the bibliophile which are informative and fun. Every issue highlights the profile of a real-life book group, readers’ personal “Have you read…?” lists, biography/interviews with outstanding authors, bibliographies of reading around a specific theme (such as native cultures, the immigrant experience or nature and the environment), award winners and ‘best books of the year’ lists. The book selections for each issue are reviewed with their own carefully honed evaluations, as well as excerpts of reviews from many other sources. The last page is always a feature called “The Year in Books” where all the best-sellers, award winners and notable books from a past year are remembered. (It was 1983 when The Color Purple won the Pulitzer and the National Book Award!) Lots of ideas here to keep you in books, with plenty of lists to tantalize for years to come, Bookmarks is for "everyone who hasn't read everything".

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Blog Post

New Years' Intention

by Sunny29

Truth be told, I’m not big on New Years Resolutions. The holiday hype and excitement tend to make me feel exhausted and inadequate before February finishes. Instead, I prefer to set an intention for the year, as I have found that this is a much more successful and forgiving way to make long term and consistent improvements. Like many, my intention for this next year is to eat better. More specifically, my goal is to learn how to nourish myself rather than just feed myself, and examine how certain foods add or detract from my well being. Ayurveda is the foundation of this type of thought.

Ayurveda is the ancient yogic study of the effect of food on your physical constitution, while factoring in one’s emotional nature and individual spiritual outlook. Sanskrit texts dating back 5,000 years teach of the three body types, or “doshas,” and how to best balance your whole being. One good place to start is with Suhas Kshirsagar’s “Hot Belly Diet”. Here you’ll learn the basics on how to determine your dosha, and create the optimum diet to improve overall health, balance hormone levels, and kick start your digestive ‘fire.’ Whether you suffer from chronic disease or acute ailments, deciphering your own ‘diet code’ is crucial to creating a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

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Winter work arounds

by Sunny29

Michigan winters can be tough, especially when it comes to staying in shape. So why not develop a good at-home practice before we get snowed in?! Yoga is the perfect solution for combating the winter blues, keeping your energy levels up and extra pounds off the scale!

The AADL collection has options for everyone; monthly magazine selections, reading materials to develop and deepen your practice, and DVD’s for those looking to work on flexibility, strength or improve your sense of self. You can even experience yoga IN your library! Keep an eye on the events calendar for future programs, and be sure to join us next week at the Pittsfield branch for a children's yoga class!

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Muse: The Magazine of Life, the Universe, and Pie Throwing

by annevm

Currently one of the most popular magazines at AADL is Muse: The magazine of life, the universe, and pie throwing. Although the magazine is published for kids ages 9-14, many adults enjoy reading it, too. Check out the excellent articles on science, history and the arts, plus plenty of humor to keep things in the right perspective. Muse magazine won a 2013 Parents' Choice Gold Award.

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Permaculture: Practical solutions for self-reliance

by annevm

One of our newer magazine subscriptions at the library is to Permaculture: Practical solutions for self-reliance">Permaculture. This magazine is a "bestselling international green-environmental magazine (with) inspiring articles written by leading experts alongside the readers' own tips and solutions," their website states. More from the website: "Published quarterly, this pioneering magazine is full of money-saving ideas for your home, garden and community. It features thought provoking articles on organic gardening; food and drink; renewable technology and green building; education, health and economics; transition towns and ecovillages; personal and community development; and sustainable agriculture and agro-forestry." Permaculture magazine also runs reviews of new books, DVDs, tools, courses, and access to contacts. Sounds like a good one!

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Click Magazine: At the Library

by krayla

The new February issue of Click Magazine for kids has a ton of fascinating information about libraries and books! Read the text of an interview with David Shannon, author of No, David! and Alice the Fairy, learn about the history of books and making paper, and how to ask a librarian for help. You can also see photos of different libraries around the world, including biblioburros, bookmobiles, portable libraries on elephants and trailers, and even libraries hidden inside telephone booths. You can learn how to make your own book (even one with flaps and pockets!) and photocopy and use the story starter game in the back. Feeling too snowed in to come to the library?

Visit the Click Magazine website to hear audio recordings of magazine features, watch a video on block printing, or play a Sort the Books game.

Click here to find more magazines for kids at AADL!