Judging Books By Their Covers

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I have a bad habit of doing so! If a cover looks outdated or just doesn’t appeal to me, I probably won’t read the book. I also tend to pick up a lot of books that have very similar covers. For example, if I stumble across a book cover featuring a head silhouette, I’ll probably read it. I’m not even really sure what attracts me to them, but I know I’ve had good luck with them!  Maybe you’ll find some good reads with this type of book cover too!

Here are some of my favorites from the past couple of years:

Little Bee by Chris Cleave is a haunting read about two very different women, one a Nigerian refugee and the other, a British magazine editor. Horror forces their worlds to collide, and the story proceeds from there. I won’t say more as the back cover of the book begs readers not to share too much about the novel. There was a lot of hype surrounding this book a couple of years ago, and for the most part the novel lives up to that hype.

Tara Conklin’s  debut historical novel, The House Girl, tells the story of two women in alternating chapters. The first narrative is that of Josephine, a 17 year old house slave living in the antebellum South, and the other is a present day lawyer named Lina. The two stories merge as Lina conducts research for a class action lawsuit and discovers that Josephine may have been the real artist behind a number of iconic paintings. 

One dark night in 1968, Martha answers a knock at her farmhouse door and discovers two escapees, Lynnie and Homan, from the nearby School for the Incurable and Feebleminded. They have a baby with them, and when they are recaptured Lynnie asks Martha to hide her baby. The Story of Beautiful Girl is a dark but hopeful read that gives insight into what it was like to be institutionalized for having a developmental disability during the 1960s. 

Congratulations Graduates!

Welcome to your future.  Now what? We can help you explore career possibilities at the library. From books to free online tools we have what you need.

              

If you are thinking about going to college but don’t know what you should major in, check out the College Majors Handbook which examines the jobs and earnings you can expect with 50 different college majors.  It also looks at the employment growth rate for different fields.  If you don’t know what you are best suited for, check out this book:  50 Best Jobs for Your Personality.  Research shows that people who connect their work with their personality end up much more satisfied in life.  If you expect to look for a job right away, the library has many books on resumes and interviewing.  A good book for first time job seekers is Knock ‘Em Dead, a series of books which provide all kinds of good tips for anyone looking for a job.

Be sure to check out our library databases, especially these three:

Career Transitions will help you write a resume or a cover letter for your job application

Brainfuse has offers a free resume review service. Upload your resume and get suggestions in 24 hours.

Learning Express will provide you practice tests you might encounter for school or career progression.  In addition, you can practice popular software programs such as Adobe and Microsoft.

       

If you are planning to head off to college in the Fall, here are two books for your summer reading:  College Rules, written by two college professors who provide tips on how to study, avoid stress, and stay motivated and the popular title The Naked Roommate which not only provides expert advice but also sometimes hilarious, but true, stories from real college students across the country.  If you read these books, you will be prepared for whatever comes your way!

2013? Try 1984.

For the last few days, the news has been buzzing with controversy over the NSA’s recently-revealed surveillance program.  Terms like “Big Brother” and “Orwellian” have been popping up in opinion pieces around the country. If you caught those references to George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel 1984, you’re not alone.

Sales of the book have skyrocketed. “As of [Tuesday] morning, Amazon sales of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 had jumped 6,021 percent in just 24 hours, to No. 213 on Amazon’s bestseller list,” reported NPR. Those numbers are still rising. A few hours later, USA Today reported that the book “had jumped from No. 7397 on Amazon.com’s best-seller list to No. 125.” Some reports estimate that the increase in sales has now reached as high as %9500. And no, that last zero is not a typo.

Save yourself the shipping fees (and for that matter, the purchase price) by checking out a copy of 1984 at Kitsap Regional Library.

KRL, like many public libraries and the American Library Association, is dedicated to protecting the privacy of your records. We invite you to read our confidentiality policy.

Great Shorts for Summer

Short stories are perfect for this time of year. I tend to take along a collection of short stories when I’m traveling or lazing on the beach —basically, anywhere I’m likely to be interrupted by a talkative seat partner (on a plane, train or bus), or by my busy eight-year old who wants me to join him in bombing torpedos (involving rocks and floating logs) and building driftwood forts on the sand.

There are some excellent new collections to choose from. Try Karen Russell’s Vampires in the Lemon Grove, featuring stories deftly incorporating magical realism, horror and sci-fi (a masseuse finds she is able to heal a troubled Iraq War vet by manipulating the tattoos on his body, long dead presidents come back to life as horses and young girls are turned into silkworms). Or maybe the writing of National Book Award winner Lily Tuck is more your style, with its elegantly written stories spanning centuries and continents,  which explore the beauty and tragedy of human relationships. If so, try The House at Belle Fontaine, a decade’s worth of Tuck’s best stories.

Whatever your taste, Kitsap Regional Library has a slew of new short story collections for you to enjoy. Happy reading!

       

       

Reading Simple

The fascination with living the simple life of the Amish people seems to be stronger than ever.  Why is this?  Perhaps it is because so many of us are caught up in trying to get a handle on modern technology.  Wasn’t technology supposed to make our life easier?  It’s true we now have access to all kinds of information and communication 24/7.  But it’s increasingly hard to turn it off and escape to some real peace and quiet.  Perhaps we are also a little envious of people who can resist all of our modern commercial temptations.  If you only wear simple clothes, who needs to worry about the latest styles?  If you go to bed early so you can get up on your animals’ schedule, who needs cable or satellite TV?  If your transportation is your feet or a horse and buggy, who needs a new car?

For a look at a different style of life, check out these books:

In My Amish Childhood by Jerry S. Eichler, a bestselling Amish fiction writer provides the true-life background for many of the fictional characters found in his novels.

Almost Amish:  One Woman’s Quest for a Slower, Simpler, More Sustainable Life by Nancy Sleeth is the story of how one woman attempts to get her family back on track by reducing dependence on unnecessary “stuff” , breaking technology dependence and buying locally.  Her message is to slow down and make faith and family your focal points.

Of course the Amish eat and cook well using real food ingredients–though perhaps not following the latest diet recommendations.  For a taste of Amish food, try Treasured Amish and Mennonite Recipes by Alan Giagnocavo  or The Beverly Lewis Amish Heritage Cookbook written by Beverly Lewis, another popular writer of Amish fiction.

And what’s up with Amish fiction?  There are so many novels being set among the Amish, perhaps because readers are looking for characters who are models of love and faith?  Readers who want to avoid graphic violence or bad language also enjoy reading books with Amish settings.

Check out! Amish Fiction at KRL

The world is yours, through KRL.

Summer Reading

I have a secret to share. As a librarian it probably won’t be a very shocking one, but when I was a kid in a small town in Wyoming, I was obsessed with my public library’s summer reading program. I would ride my bike to the seemingly endless public library and spend the afternoon roaming through the stacks. Instead of selecting books on a specific topic for a report or following a reading assignment, I was free to follow my whims and browse, skim, or dive in where I wanted.

I daydreamed with dinosaurs, wild dogs, and orphans from Northeastern Canada until I got dizzy, riding home with a stuffed backpack and squinting at the sun. Little did I know that all of that exploring prepared me for the next year’s school year, but the icing on my nine year old cake? If kept track of those delicious hours, I got to actually keep a book of my choice! I still have that prize book (Astronomy: A New True Book) and can’t believe that a huge part of my job now is to share the joys of this same program with the kids and teens of Kitsap County!

Starting June 1st, youth ages 0-18 are invited to sign up for the Summer Reading Program online or at any of our branches (be sure to check out some of our stellar kick-off parties). After reading or being read to for ten hours, they’ll get to keep a book of their choice, receive a ticket to the County Fair courtesy of the generous folks at the Kitsap County Fair & Stampede (while supplies last), and earn a chance to win a gift card during our end of the summer raffles. To sweeten the deal, our amazing youth librarians have been hard at work creating a phenomenal slate of activities to learn, imagine, and have fun, from the littlest baby disco dancer to the most steadfast CSI fanatic. Be sure to check out our events pages for kids and teens to find dates and detailed information.

And as always, check out our booklists for kids and teens for reading recommendations or better yet, stop by your local branch to chat with your librarians. I’m almost certain that most, if not all are all former summer readers who are enthusiastically ready to encourage your child’s summer daydreams and exploration in the stacks.

Happy Summer Reading!

Road Trip! Are you ready?

More people are hitting the road with their own cars, instead of flying this summer. Flying has become such a pain! Are you one of them? Me too!

Perfect storm – more people are also keeping their cars longer, with this tough economy. Keeping up with car repairs is so expensive at the shop. Years ago, maybe we took our car in for oil changes and pre-trip check-ups, now, not so much. Where is the money?

The library to the rescue! We have a real sleeper of a product that you can use from home that includes some really great tools like Auto IQ and Care & Repair Tips.

Don’t give me a book – show me! Auto IQ is a video about how auto components function, great for DIY or for learning a thing or two before that debate with your auto mechanic.

Care & Repair Tips are short but meaty descriptions putting you “in the know”.

And if you really want to DIY, right from home we can deliver you the right wiring diagrams or how to change your oil or fix something for your particular car, in detail.

Where are we hiding all these goodies? The same place we hide lots of the library’s best kept secrets: go to www.krl.org, select Research & Learn in the green menu bar, then Auto Repair, and choose Auto Repair Reference Center, available from home with your library card, or click here:

http://www.krl.org/repair

And I bet you thought I was going to recommend good road trip books and audiobooks, when you saw that title, didn’t you? Well, we’ve got those, too.

Happy travels and a great summer saving money with your library!