An Embarrassment of Riches animals humor james_herriot nicola's_picks nonfiction vets | Read | Friday November 20, 2009 | By alisonk

No one writes like James Herriot... …except, of course, James Herriot himself, who passed away in 1995. If you're looking for more good animal stories, there are some recent ones out there that you may enjoy reading. Nick Trout ’s Tell Me Where it...

Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You emily-jane food food_insecurity hunger nutrition poverty | General | Thursday November 19, 2009 | By ejd

The U. S. Department of Agriculture released a study this week which reported that one in every seven American families struggled to get enough food on the table last year , and that overall, 49 million Americans suffered from "food insecurity,"...

An Embarrassment of Riches civic_engagement helen's_picks inspirational northwest | Read | Friday November 13, 2009 | By alisonk

The colorful cover catches your eye -- a group of smiling grandmothers in vivid costume from many count ries of the world have joined hands. The sparkling gold stars and slimness of the book are attractive. The story is simple - two grandmothers stand in the...

Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You berlin berlin_wall cold_war communism david_hasselhoff germany jennifer politics | General | Wednesday November 11, 2009 | By jennifem

What were you doing 20 years ago?  I was in high school and I can clearly remember coming home from basketball practice and seeing people on the T.V. standing on top of this well-graffitied wall, arm-in-arm, celebrating like I'd never seen before.  I...

An Embarrassment of Riches jen's_picks | Read | Tuesday November 10, 2009 | By alisonk

Joseph Conrad 's "whited sepulchre" in Heart of Darkness may have been Brussels, but mine is a refrigerator. Every time I open it, I journey into a composting culinary darkness that makes me shiver. What evil lurks deep in the dark of forgotten...

Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You environment geography matthew | General | Saturday November 07, 2009 | By matthewy

Bellingham biologist Bert Webber is closing in on accomplishing his goal of unifying Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia under the name he first coined in 1988, The Salish Sea . On October 30th the Washington State Board of...

An Embarrassment of Riches black_and_white classics humor movies steve's_picks | Watch | Friday November 06, 2009 | By alisonk

I wasn't having a very good evening. I was tired from work, and dinner was mediocre. The entertainment I had lined up was an old black and white movie that I had checked out ages ago, but never managed to watch. Now it was on hold and I just HAD to watch it...

An Embarrassment of Riches adventure drama felicia's_picks films movies | Watch | Tuesday November 03, 2009 | By alisonk

If you remember my last post of movie recommendations, you know that I like flicks that are little off-center. Well, this list isn’t as eccentric, but they are definitely films that I really enjoy and highly recommend. So I’ll start with Atonement . I...

Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You art cats kate monkeys painting spiders | General | Saturday October 31, 2009 | By kates

Last year, a spider built her web at our house in a very lucky spot: on one of the widows of our glassed in porch, affording her a smorgasboard of small insects drawn to our porch light. We watched her grow over the weeks and repair her web, a thing of beauty...

An Embarrassment of Riches alison's_picks halloween horror movies scary | General | Friday October 30, 2009 | By alisonk

Some Hal loween thoughts for things that we lend  while waiting for all of those young costumed friends. What's not to like in weird combinations Of reg ency style and zombie nations? While waiting for ghosties and ghoulies arrival Peruse our...

An Embarrassment of Riches historical_fiction revolutionary_war ruth's_picks teen_books | Read | Tuesday October 27, 2009 | By alisonk

Sometimes there are classics to be read over and over, and sometimes there are older books from which we just need to move on. Now, I'm not saying that Johnny Tremain is a bad book or that, to quote my favorite teen literature blog, Reading Rants ,...

An Embarrassment of Riches helen's_picks murder mystery what_we're_reading | Read | Friday October 23, 2009 | By alisonk

Wife murdered, Complex spiderweb plot; Husband speaks not. Helen is reading Old City Hall , by Robert Rotenberg . Helen is a library assistant at the Central Library.

An Embarrassment of Riches clip_art laurals_picks micro_publishers zines | Read | Wednesday October 21, 2009 | By alisonk

To Zine or not to Zine? That is the question. I first wrote for a zine in high school back in the 80’s about a band called Squad 51. After college I made chap books or zines with my poetry in them. In grad school I started a zine with three other grad...

Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You celebrity emily-jane fame hollywood miley_cyrus movie_stars noteriety | General | Monday October 19, 2009 | By ejd

Miley Cyrus has had it with Twitter . I knew it would come to this eventually – if not for Ms. Cyrus, then for some other tweeting celebrity. There is no doubt that for stars, the intensive connectedness of social media leads inexorably to a total lack of...

An Embarrassment of Riches ruby's_picks television tv_series | Watch | Thursday October 15, 2009 | By alisonk

I'm too cheap to get cable. My teeth start to clench at the prospect of seeing yet another set of wire ganglia wending their way through my home. As a result, I've come to depend on the kindness of my public library to fill in any TV culture deficits by...

Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You constitution emily-jane guns second_amendment weapons | General | Sunday October 11, 2009 | By ejd

Last Thursday’s Tigard/Tualatin Times reported that Oregonians are more into guns than ever . Local gun club memberships are on the rise, and local and national sales of guns, holsters, and other gun-related equipment are increasing as well. The article...

An Embarrassment of Riches aboriginals alison's_picks canada comic-strips first_nations graphic_novel history | Read | Saturday October 10, 2009 | By alisonk

Comic books are full of charismatic leaders locked in desperate struggles, but a vast majority of these are fictional. It's perspective-changing when comics are used to tell stories of real people. One such book is Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography , by ...

MCL Teens Teen stuff | Wednesday October 07, 2009 | By hls

Teen Council Meeting: October 7, 2009     ·        Molly could not make it.   ·        Began meeting with getting to...

An Embarrassment of Riches graphic_novel jen's_picks manga sea | Read | Wednesday October 07, 2009 | By alisonk

One of the features of the library catalog I love most is when it tries to re-spell whatever it is I've just typed. The greatest potential substitution I've had yet came recently when I tried to type "Scooby Doo" without a hyphen.   "Did...

Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You emily-jane haiku literature oregon poems poetry poetry_slam | General | Tuesday October 06, 2009 | By ejd

Many months ago on February 14th, Oregon had its 150th birthday. But when you're 150 years old, your birthday party lasts longer than a single day – all year, all around the state, folks have enjoyed celebrating our state's history, reflecting on its future,...

Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You business candy chocolate cigarettes kate memoirs | General | Monday October 05, 2009 | By kates

Several weeks ago, a friend brought a case of candy cigarettes to a party and passed them around to the delight of all of us who remembered them from childhood. They still had the poorly-applied red dye at the tip to give the impression of a lit cigarette and...

An Embarrassment of Riches character-based felicia's_picks mysteries | Read | Saturday October 03, 2009 | By alisonk

I love a good mystery. You know, one that draws you in from page one and keeps you guessing until the end. I have a few authors that I follow faithfully. These are a few of my favorites: Michael Connelly ’s Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch character really interests...

An Embarrassment of Riches angela's_picks mexico translations what_we're_reading | Read | Wednesday September 30, 2009 | By alisonk

Angela is reading 2666 by Roberto Bolaño . It's the story of four strangers who come together in a small town haunted by the disappearance and murder of many of its young women. Angela is a supervisor at the Central library.

Furthermore: Where the Headlines Take You alcatraz jennifer prison prisoners the_rock | General | Monday September 28, 2009 | By jennifem

Last week on NPR's Morning Edition they did a fascinating story on the only unsolved prison escape from Alcatraz .  On June 12, 1962, Frank Morris, and the brothers John and Clarence Anglin, escaped from the Rock never to be seen or heard from...