Shelf Scene

Check out the new library blog

2009-07-10T09:41:00.008-04:00

The library has a new blog that features
reading recommendations from various library staffers
on a variety of genres and topics.

Check out the new blog,
Fauquier County Book Notes
and sign up there to be automatically updated by email
for each new post.

This will be be last post from Shelf Scene.

Family Ties

2009-06-04T11:26:00.021-04:00

Wrong about Japan : a father's journey with his son by Peter Carey
The Booker Prize-winning author describes how his shy young son's fascination with Japanese manga and anime led father and son on an odyssey to Tokyo, where they discover the intricacies of modern-day Japanese culture, from shitamachi and the Internet tokabuki and the samurai.

The beautiful struggle : a father, a son, and an unlikely road to manhood by Ta-Nehisi Coates
An exceptional father-son story about the reality that tests us, the myths that sustain us, and the love that saves us.
An evocative memoir of family and growing up in the tough, violent world of Baltimore in the 1980s chronicles the relationship between the author and his father, a Vietnam vet and Black Panther affiliate, and his steadfast, if sometimes eccentric, campaign to keep his sons from falling victim to the seductive temptations of the streets.

Soccer dad : a father, a son, and a magic season by W.D. Wetherell
Traces a year during which the author, an avid soccer fan, enthusiastically watched his high-school senior son play a winning season, which was also marked by thoughts on his own role as a father and the disparities between his son's awareness of life as compared to the realities of the adult world.

Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick
When the mothers of four sixth-grade girls with very different personalities pressure them into forming a book club, they find, as they read and discuss "Little Women," that they have much more in common than they could have imagined.

Wisdom of our fathers : lessons and letters from daughters and sons [collected by] Tim Russert
Sheds new light on fatherhood and the relationship between parent and child, discussing what we can learn from our fathers about humor, discipline, values, tradition, pride, loss, and love, tenderness, strength, honor, discipline, and occasional eccentricity. Most of these daughters and sons were eager to express the gratitude they had carried with them through the years. Others wanted to share lessons and memories and, most important, pass them down to their own children. This book is for all fathers, young or old, who can learn from the men in these pages how to get it right, and to understand that sometimes it is the little gestures that can make the big difference for your child.

Mother-Daughter Wisdom: creating a legacy of physical and emotional health by Christiane Northrup
Mother-Daughter Wisdom introduces an entirely new map of female development, exploring the “five facets of feminine power,” which range from the basics of physical self-care to the discovery of passion and purpose in life. This blueprint allows any woman—whether or not she has children—–to repair the gaps in her own upbringing and create a better adult relationship with her mother. If she has her own daughter, it will help her be the mother she has always wanted to be.

You're wearing that? Understanding mothers and daughters in conversation by Deborah TannenWhy do daughters complain that their mothers always criticize, while mothers feel hurt that their daughters shut them out? Why do mothers and daughters critique each other on the Big Three–hair, clothes, and weight–while longing for approval and understanding? And why do they scrutinize each other for reflections of themselves?

The Mighty Queens of Freeville: a mother, a daughter, and the town that raised them by Amy Dickinson
The humorist and advice columnist for "Ask Amy" describes her inspirational, haphazard experiences with divorce, traveling throughout the country, and resettling in her hometown, where her extended family helped her to raise her daughter.

Plainsong by Kent Haruf
From the unsettled lives of a small-town teacher struggling to raise two boys alone in the face of their mother's retreat from life, a pregnant teenage girl with nowhere to go, and two elderly bachelor farmers emerges a new vision of life and family as their diverse destinies intertwine. "From simple elements, Haruf achieves a novel of wisdom and grace--a narrative that builds in strength and feeling until, as in a choral chant, the voices in the book surround, transport, and lift the reader off the ground."-FROM THE CITATION FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

Life on the refrigerator door : notes between a mother and daughter : a novel in notes by Alice Kuipers
Told through a series of notes, the story of fifteen-year-old Claire and her single mother follows their correspondence during busy times in their respective lives, in a tale marked by Claire's school interactions, her mother's job, and a momentous change that redefines their relationship.

Poems of your own, and some others too

2009-03-31T18:50:00.013-04:00

The ode less travelled : unlocking the poet within by Stephen Fry
I have a dark and dreadful secret. I write poetry... I believe poetry is a primal impulse within all of us. I believe we are all capable of it and furthermore that a small, often ignored corner of us positively yearns to try it. —Stephen Fry, The Ode Less Travelled

Stephen Fry believes that if one can speak and read English, one can write poetry. Many of us have never been taught to read or write poetry and think of it as a mysterious and intimidating form. Or, if we have been taught, we remember uncomfortable silence when an English teacher invited the class to "respond" to a poem. In The Ode Less Travelled, Fry sets out to correct this problem by giving aspiring poets the tools and confidence they need to write poetry for pleasure.

The discovery of poetry : a field guide to reading and writing poems by Frances Mayes
Before she fell in love with Tuscany, Frances Mayes fell in love with verse. After publishing five books of poetry and teaching creative writing for more than twenty-five years, Mayes is no stranger to the subject. In The Discovery of Poetry, an accessible "field guide" to reading and writing poetry, she shares her passion with readers. Beginning with basic terminology and techniques, from texture and sound to rhyme and repetition, Mayes shows how focusing on one aspect of a poem can help you to better understand, appreciate, and enjoy the reading and writing experience.

Poet's market : where & how to publish your poetry
The prosaic side of poetry. Provides poets with information on more than one thousand commercial and literary markets for their work, details of payments and submission guidelines, interviews with poets, publishers, and editors.

A few titles for inspiration...

The poets corner : the one-and-only poetry book for the whole family selected by John Lithgow
From listening to his grandmother recite epic poems from memory to curling up in bed while his father read funny verses, award-winning actor John Lithgow grew up with poetry. Ever since, John has been an enthusiastic seeker of poetic experience, whether reading, reciting, or listening to great poems.

Speaking to the heart : favorite poems chosen and introduced by Wendy Beckett
From ‘Longing,' ‘Wonder,' ‘Beauty,' and ‘Love' to ‘Grief,' ‘Vanity,' and ‘Pride,' Sister Wendy Beckett collects and comments on the poems and lines from poems that move her most and speak directly to her and our hearts. Speaking to the Heart: 100 Favorite Poems includes her thoughts and meditations on the different themes that organize the book, and her comments illuminate the poetry and describe the lives of the poets.

The moments, the minutes, the hours : the poetry of Jill Scott
Writing poems and keeping journal since 1991, singer and actress Jill Scott now shares her personal poetry collection in The Moments, the Minutes, the Hours. Praised for her earthy, soulful and very real lyrics, Jill Scott explores all the flavors of life, love, and self.

Of her music, Jill offers: "It's music. It's experiences. It's vulnerability. It's honesty. It's being a woman---an African American woman. Being a daughter, a sister, a grandchild and a Godmother. It's life. It's deeper than what I know. It's bigger than what I can see. I guess it's a dive into the human spirit."

Museum Reading

2009-01-29T15:29:00.029-05:00

Fighting cabin fever?
Thinking about visiting a museum?

Here are some good reads to get you in the museum mood:

Frida by Barbara Wood.
A historical novel centered around the life of Frido Kahlo--the colorful, contentious Mexican painter who married Diego Rivera--introduces readers to Mexico in the first half of the twentieth century and the characters that shaped Kahlo's life.

The Wayward Muse
Fictionally explores important real-life participants in the Pre-Raphaelite and Arts and Crafts movements.
Raised in the slums of Oxford with a certainty of her own homeliness, seventeen-year-old stableman's daughter Jane Burden is discovered by the charismatic and irreverent painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, with whom she falls madly in love before circumstances prompt her marriage to the shy craftsman William Morris.

The Painted Kiss
Vienna in 1886 was a city of elegant cafés, grand opera houses, and a thriving and adventurous artistic community. It was there that twelve-year-old Emilie Flöge met the con-troversial libertine and painter Gustav Klimt. When Klimt is hired by Emilie's bourgeois father to give her some basic drawing lessons, he introduces her to a subculture of dissolute artists, wanton models, and decadent patrons that both terrifies and fascinates her.
It is a world overflowing with the greatest artists, composers, and writers of the era, and yet doomed by the imminent collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Two by Karen Essex:

Leonardo's Swans
Two sisters compete for supremacy to be the model in one of Leonard's paintings in the illustrious courts of Europe.

Stealing Athena
The complex history of the Elgin Marbles is viewed through the lives of two women--Aspasia, an ancient Greek female philosopher, and Mary Nisbet, wife of the Earl of Elgin, who played a key role in bringing the sculptures to England.
Currently on permanent display at the British Museum in London.

Caravaggio by Christopher Peachment presents a fictionalized portrait of the sixteenth-century Italian artist, beginning with his apprenticeship in Venice, his move to Rome, and his subsequent flight to Malta after he kills a man in a fight.

The Lost Diaries of Franz Hals
When ancient notebooks turn up in a Long Island garage, Peter Van Overloop, a Columbia graduate student, sets to translating them, and finds himself immersed in the life and times of the Dutch painter Frans Hals. for the notebooks seem to be Hal's diaries, and they contain a fascinating portrait of a man living in the age of Rembrandt and Descartes, and bursting with a lust for the world that surrounds him. Emerging as a thoroughly funny, charming man, Hals reaches out from centuries past to touch and change Peter's life forever.

Lust for Life: a novel of Vincent Van Gogh by Irving Stone.
Tells the heartbreaking, turbulent life of Vincent, his loving brother Theo, and Vincent's search for meaning through religion and art.

Also by Irving Stone-
The Agony and the Ecstasy: a novel of Michelangelo
From his boyhood apprenticeships through the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

The Moon and the Sixpence by M. Somerset Maugham.
Closely following the real life of Paul Gaughin, this is the fictional story of Charles Strickland, a London stockbroker who undergoes a mid-life crisis, and takes off to Tahiti to paint. Written by a great British author, it presents a psychological study of the conflict between creative desires and maintaining a conventional life.

Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper by Harriet Scott Chessman.
The life of Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt is skillfully fictionalized in this powerful novel about art and passion, narrated by the artist's sister, Lydia.

The Golden Tulip by Rosalind Laker. While more of a historical romance, it is set in Holland during the time of Rembrandt and Vermeer.

Tracy Chevalier:
The Lady and the Unicorn
Interweaves historical fact with fiction to explore the mystery behind the creation of the remarkable Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, woven at the end of the fifteenth century, which today hang in the Cluny Museum in Paris.

The Girl with the Pearl Earring
A poor seventeenth-century servant girl knows her place in the household of the painter Johannes Vermeer, but when he begins to paint her, nasty whispers and rumors circulate throughout the town,

Four by Susan Vreeland:
The Luncheon of the Boating Party Auguste Renoir is inspired to paint "Luncheon of the boating party" when his other work is criticized by Emile Zola, and while doing so is drawn into lives of the thirteen people featured in it as they enjoy a Parisian summer during the late 1800s.
See Renoir's painting at
The Philips Collection.

The Girl in Hyacinth Blue The mysterious Vermeer again provides background for an imaginary painting by him, and the interwoven stories of the families who owned the painting in a chronicle going backward in time over several hundred years.

The Forest Lover
Canadian artist, Emily Carr, who died in 1945, is the focus of this biographical fiction about her efforts to translate through paintings the Totem Poles and traditional art of the Indian Tribes of British Columbia.

In The Passion of Artemisia Post-Renaissance Italy is the backdrop for a female artist's life.

The Painting by Nina Schuyler.
Set outside the new capital of Tokyo during the Meiji Restoration and in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War, The Painting is a richly imagined story of four characters whose lives are delicately and powerfully entwined: Ayoshi, the painter, pines for her lover as she dutifully attends to her husband; Ayoshi's husband, Hayashi, a government official who's been disfigured in a deadly fire, has his own well of secret yearnings; Jorgen, wounded by the war and by life, buries himself in work at the Paris shop; and the shop owner's sister, Natalia, who shows Jorgen the true message of the painting.

Fresh Starts, New Beginnings

2008-12-30T17:15:00.029-05:00

A Year of exploring interests, ways to change your life, cures for what ails...

A year of reading : a month-by-month guide to classics and crowd-pleasers by H. Elisabeth Ellington and Jane Freimiller
A reading guide, organized around the calendar year, offers descriptions of each book, discussion questions, information about the authors.

A Year of Reading Proust: a memoir in real time by Phyllis Rose
The author describes how Proust's novels led her to understand the art of writing an autobiography, and recounts her experiences as an author, a woman, and a person in midlife.

Ten Poems to Change Your Life by Roger Housden
Draws on the words of wisdom from ten distinguished poets to explore such themes as the wisdom of dreams, the awakening of wonder, the longing for love, and the courage to live an authentic life.

Weekend to Change Your Life:find your authentic self after a lifetime of being all things to all people by Joan Anderson.
After years of focusing on the needs of others as a wife and mother, Anderson devoted a year to rediscovering herself and reinvigorating her dreams. The questions she asked herself and the insights she gained became the core of the popular weekend workshops she developed to help others like her. This book brings Anderson's techniques to women everywhere, providing a step-by-step path readers can follow at their own pace. Drawing on her own life and the experiences of the women she meets at her workshops, Anderson shows women how to move beyond the roles they play in relationship to others and reclaim their individuality.

Change your thoughts, change your life: living the wisdom of the Tao by Wayne Dyer
Presents eighty-one essays discussing how to apply each verse of the Tao Te Ching to life in the twenty-first century.

Good design can change your life : beautiful rooms, inspiring stories by Ty Pennington
Shares practical design tips and inspirational behind-the-scenes stories from "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," counseling readers on how to evaluate their houses from a fresh perspective and implement lasting improvements.

Take a nap! Change your life : the scientific plan to make you smarter, healthier, more productive by Sara C. Mednick with Mark Ehrman
Imagine a product that increases alertness, boosts creativity, reduces stress, improves perception, stamina, motor skills, and accuracy, enhances your sex life, helps you make better decisions, keeps you looking younger, aids in weight loss, reduces the risk of heart attack, elevates your mood, and strengthens memory. Now imagine that this product is nontoxic, has no dangerous side effects, and, best of all, is absolutely free.
This miracle drug is, in fact, nothing more than the nap: the right nap at the right time.

What you wear can change your life by Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine
Offers advice for dressing to correct physical flaws and boost self-esteem, discussing such topics as makeup, accessories, and looking one's best while pregnant.

The time paradox : the new psychology of time that will change your life by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd
Reveals how your individual time perspective shapes your life and is shaped by the world around you, interacting to create national cultures, economics, and personal destinies. Calling Dr. Who...

The light of conscience : how a simple act can change your life by Bill Shore
An inspirational meditation on the broader effects of good deeds demonstrates how small acts of conscience or kindness can ultimately shift the balance between good and evil, discussing such topics as parenting, service-related careers, and the personal rewards of good acts.

The Dewey Color System : choose your colors, change your life by Dewey Sadka
What motivates you? What’s your favorite color? Believe it or not, these two questions are inherently linked. And using the groundbreaking, fun, and remarkably accurate personality test in this book, you’ll learn to fine-tune your career goals, improve your communication skills, and deepen your relationships with romantic partners, friends, family members, and coworkers—all based on your color choices.

The Core Program : fifteen minutes a day that can change your life by Peggy W. Brill with Gerald S. Couzens
Outlines an exercise program for women designed to develop and strengthen the body's core muscles, including the back, hip, and abdominal muscles; and to achieve general well-being.

Write it down, make it happen : knowing what you want-- and getting it! by Henriette Anne Klauser
Write It Down, Make It Happen, Henriette Anne Klauser, Ph.D., explains how simply writing down your goals in life is the first step toward achieving them. Writing can even help you understand what you want. In this book, you will read stories about ordinary people who witnessed miracles large and small unfold in their lives after they performed the basic act of putting their dreams on paper. Klauser's down-to-earth tips and easy exercises are sure to get your creative juices flowing.

How Proust can change your life : not a novel by Alain de Botton
Presents a study of Marcel Proust that combines elements of literary biography, textual analysis, and self-help manual as it examines the French writer's thoughts on true love, vacations, dating, and other issues.

Stories of forgiveness and healing

2008-12-12T13:47:00.035-05:00

The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg Laura Bartone anticipates her annual family reunion in Minnesota with a mixture of excitement and wariness. Yet this year’s gathering will prove to be much more trying than either she or her siblings imagined. As soon as she arrives, Laura realizes that something is not right with her sister. Forever wrapped up in events of long ago, Caroline is the family’s restless black sheep. When Caroline confronts Laura and their brother, Steve, with devastating allegations about their mother, the three have a difficult time reconciling their varying experiences in the same house. But a sudden misfortune will lead them all to face the past, their own culpability, and their common need for love and forgiveness.

Big Fish a Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace Edward Bloom is dying, and his son William does not truly know him, until William arrives at Edward's deathbed, but since Edward shows no interest in talking to him, William makes up stories that recreate his father's life in heroic proportions.

The Chosen by Chaim Potok It is the now-classic story of two fathers and two sons and the pressures on all of them to pursue the religion they share in the way that is best suited to each. And as the boys grow into young men, they discover in the other a lost spiritual brother, and a link to an unexplored world that neither had ever considered before. In effect, they exchange places, and find the peace that neither will ever retreat from again.

The Gift by Richard Paul Evans Nathan Hurst hated Christmas. For the rest of the world it was a day of joy and celebration; for Nathan it was simply a reminder of the event that destroyed his childhood until a snowstorm, a cancelled flight, and an unexpected meeting with a young mother and her very special son would show him that Christmas is indeed the season of miracles.

Miracle by Danielle Steel It is New Year’s Eve when the storm of the century hits northern California. In a quiet neighborhood in San Francisco, amid the chaos of fallen trees and damaged homes, the lives of three strangers are about to collide. For Quinn Thompson, what happens in the storm’s wake will bring down a barrier he has built around himself since his wife’s death. For neighbor Maggie Dartman, it will spark friendship at a time when she needs it most. And for Jack Adams, a carpenter who will repair Quinn’s and Maggie’s homes, the storm brings an opportunity: to help two people and to be repaid with the greatest gift of all.

Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde Trevor McKinney, a twelve-year-old boy in a small California town accepts the challenge that his teacher gives his class, a chance to earn extra credit by coming up with a plan to change the world for the better -- and to put that plan into action.
The idea that Trevor comes up with is so simple and so naïve that when others learn of it they are dismissive. Even Trevor himself begins to doubt when his "pay it forward" plan seems to founder on a combination of bad luck and the worst of human nature.
What is his idea? Trevor chooses three people for whom he will do a favor, and then when those people thank him and ask how they might pay him back, he will tell them that instead of paying him back, they should each "pay it forward" by choosing three people for whom they can do favors, and in turn telling those people to pay it forward. It's nothing less than a human chain letter of kindness and good will.

The present : the gift that makes you happy and successful at work and in life by Spencer Johnson The Present is an engaging story of a young man’s journey to adulthood, and his search for The Present, a mysterious and elusive gift he first hears about from a great old man. This Present, according to the old man, is “the best present a person can receive.”
Later, when the young boy becomes a young man, disillusioned with his work and his life, he returns to ask the old man, once again, to help him find The Present. The old man responds, “Only you have the power to find The Present for yourself.”

Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler In 1965, the happy Bedloe family is living an ideal, apple-pie existence in Baltimore. Then, in the blink of an eye, a single tragic event occurs that will transform their lives forever--particularly that of seventeen-year-old Ian Bedloe, the youngest son, who blames himself for the sudden "accidental" death of his older brother.
Depressed and depleted, Ian is almost crushed under the weight of an unbearable, secret guilt. Then one crisp January evening, he catches sight of a window with glowing yellow neon, the CHURCH OF THE SECOND CHANCE. He enters and soon discovers that forgiveness must be earned, through a bit of sacrifice and a lot of love...A New York Times Notable Book

This Far by Faith Three tales of complicated mother-daughter relationships.
LaShun Tillman's many blessings haven't eased her pain at being abandoned as a baby. Fate has given her an opportunity to reveal to the world that her birth mother, former supermodel Sariah Langston, has an ugly past. But revenge is never simple—and neither is the truth.
Aspiring actress Jessica Drake lands a bit part in Broadway diva Diana Edmonds's latest show, only to find that her idol has feet of clay—plus a monumental ego. But their strained relationship is changed utterly when a reporter discovers that Jessica is really the daughter Diana thought had died long ago.
Beautiful Sienna St. James has spent her life being pushed into beauty pageants by her domineering, controlling mother, Sable. Now her blossoming relationship with a thoughtful young doctor has inspired her to live her life as she sees fit, even if it means losing everything she's known.

Family Traditions--Presents that are kept and given away

2008-12-04T11:47:00.021-05:00

Jackie's Nine: Jackie Robinson's Values to Live By

The daughter of baseball's great Jackie Robinson guides readers through the nine heart-felt, hard-won values that helped him achieve his goals: courage, determination, commitment, persistence, integrity, justice, teamwork, citizenship, and excellence.

Seventeen Traditions by Ralph Nader

One of America's most influential people reflects upon his upbringing in a small town in Connecticut, covering the seventeen "traditions" instilled in him and his siblings by loving but firm parents, which include listening, discipline, and civic duty.

Letters to Sam: a grandfather's lessons on love, loss, and the gifts of life by Daniel Gottlieb
When his grandson was born, Daniel Gottlieb began to write a series of heartfelt letters that he hoped Sam would read later in life. He planned to cover all the important topics—dealing with your parents, handling bullies, falling in love, coping with death—and what motivated him was the fear that he might not live long enough to see Sam reach adulthood. You see, Daniel Gottlieb is a quadriplegic—the result of a near-fatal automobile accident that occurred two decades ago—and he knows enough not to take anything for granted.
Then, when Sam was only 14 months old, he was diagnosed with Pervasive Develop-mental Disability, a form of autism, and suddenly everything changed. Now the grandfather and grandson were bound by something more: a disability—and Daniel Gottlieb’s special understanding of what that means became invaluable.
This lovingly written, emotionally gripping book offers unique—and universal—insights into what it means to be human.

10 Conversations You Need to Have with Your Children by Shmuley Boteach
In this compelling book, Shmuley Boteach, passionate social commentator and outspoken relationship guru, walks you through the critical conversations, including: cherishing childhood; developing intellectual curiosity; knowing who you are and what you want to become; learning to forgive; realizing the importance of family and tradition; being fearless and courageous. As a father of eight, Rabbi Shmuley speaks from a wealth of experience.

Wisdom of our fathers : lessons and letters from daughters and sons [collected by] Tim Russert
After the publication of journalist Russert's book about his father, he received thousands of letters from people who wanted to tell him about their own fathers, ordinary men who were remembered and cherished for some of their best moments-of advice, tenderness, strength, honor, discipline, and occasional eccentricity. Most of these daughters and sons were eager to express the gratitude they had carried with them through the years. Others wanted to share lessons and memories and, most important, pass them down to their own children. This book is for all fathers, young or old, who can learn from the men in these pages how to get it right, and to understand that sometimes it is the little gestures that can make the big difference for your child.

The treehouse : eccentric wisdom from my father on how to live, love, and see by Naomi Wolf

The book begins when Naomi asks Leonard to help build a treehouse for his granddaughter. Inspired by his dedication to her daughter's imaginative world, Naomi asks her father to walk her through the lessons of his popular poetry class and show her how he teaches people to liberate their creative selves. Drawn from Leonard's handwritten lecture notes, the chapters of The Treehouse remind us to "Be Still and Listen," "Use Your Imagination," "Do Nothing Without Passion," and that "Your Only Wage Will Be Joy," and "Mistakes Are Part of the Draft." More than an education in poetry writing, this is a journey of self-discovery in which the creative endeavor is paramount.

What Mama Taught Me by Tony Brown
Accrediting his mother's teaching through his own individual life lessons, the author introduces seven core values designed as a personal guide to achieving success, obtaining happiness, and enjoying prosperity.

Tales from the kitchen

2008-11-21T10:49:00.027-05:00

"No matter what happens in the kitchen, never apologize
—Julia Child, in Fitch, Appetite for Life, p. 142

With Thanksgiving upon us, some people are happily planning menus and reviving their specialty recipes to share -
while others are cringing in memory of disastrous episodes such as exploding potatoes or turkeys cooked with the additional "parts package" still inside (or worse.)

Nevertheless, tales of kitchen triumphs and culinary catastrophes continue to amuse and amaze, or console and comfort, while public cooking nightmares are even more enthralling.

Here are some tales from chefs, restaurant reviewers, and other witnesses, with a few recipes thrown in along the way:

Don't try this at home : culinary catastrophes from the world's greatest chefs edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Andrew Friedman
Forty of the world's greatest chefs relate outrageous true tales from their kitchens. From hiring a blind line cook to flooding the room with meringue to being terrorized by a French owl, these behind-the-scenes accounts are as entertaining as they are revealing. A reminder that even the chefs we most admire aren't always perfect.

The tenth muse : my life in food by Judith Jones
A cookbook editor and culinary authority discusses her lifelong love affair with food, her publication of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," and the influence of James Beard, Madhur Jaffrey, and other great cooks on American cuisine.

Tender at the bone : growing up at the table by Ruth Reichl
First of her three (so far) memoirs about how she grew up to become a New York Times Food Critic. Beginning with Reichl's mother, the notorious food-poisoner known as the Queen of Mold, Reichl introduces us to the fascinating characters who shaped her world and her tastes.
Followed by Comfort me with apples: more adventures at the table which describes her odyssey from chef to food writer, traces her journey through restaurants from Bangkok to Paris to Los Angeles, and offers colorful anecdotes about her life and encounters with great food, and Garlic and Sapphires:the secret life of a critic in disguise Gone on to become the editor-in-chief of "Gourmet", Reichl recounts her visits to some of the world's most acclaimed restaurants, both as herself and as an anonymous diner in disguise, to offer insight into the differences in her dining experiences.

Kitchen Confidential: adventures in the culinary underbelly by bad boy Anthony Bourdain gave away secrets of the New York restaurants trade in his wickedly funny, inspiring memoir expose and went on to become an international celebrity and food writer. This was followed up by A cook's tour : in search of a perfect meal to Japan where he eats traditional fugu, a poisonous blowfish that can only be prepared by specially licensed chefs, to a delectable snack in the Mecong Delta, follows the author as he embarks on a quest around the world to find the ultimate meal, to his latest, No reservations : around the world on an empty stomach wherein he provides a behind-the-scenes account of his global culinary adventures, from New Jersey to New Zealand, offering commentary on food in every corner of the globe.

All the presidents' pastries : twenty-five years in the White House : a memoir by Roland Mesnier with Christian Malard
Combining intimate details about life behind the scenes at the White House and the members of the First Families, the White House pastry chef describes his personal journey from rural France to the power heights of Washington, D.C., and includes detailed recipes for the favorite desserts of presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

Heat an amateur's adventures as kitchen slave, line cook, pasta-maker, and apprentice to a Dante-quoting butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford
The author offers an account of his entry into the world of a professional cook-in-training, documenting his experiences in the kitchen of Mario Batali's restaurant Babbo and his apprenticeships in Italy with Batali's former teachers.
The Apprentice:my life in the kitchen byJacques Pepin
The Emmy Award-winning television cooking show host traces his rise from an intimidated thirteen-year-old apprentice to a famous chef, recounting such events as his work under prestigious teachers, his journey to America, and his experiences with contemporaries.

Julie and Julia : 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen by Julie Powell
What began as a blog, keeping record of her efforts to cook every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in her tiny Queens apartment in the span one year, which became a smash book as her bleaders (blog readers)vicariously followed her demented efforts.

To find more blogs about cooking, check out this blog directory, which even categorizes the food blogs:
Cooking Blog Directory

True Adoption Tales

2008-11-06T16:25:00.025-05:00

November is National Adoption Month
Here are some amazing family stories and resources on the process of adoption.

Who are the DeBolts and Why Do They Have 19 Kids? Award-winning DVD
Not only do parents Bob and Dorothy have six kids of their own, they have also opened up their hearts and their home to thirteen disadvantage and handicapped children. What results is an amazing mix of diversity. The multi ethnic kids are heroes who belie the typical stereotype of being handicapped. They go to school, do chores, and "hang out" while simultaneously navigating the difficulties of their disabilities.

The Family Nobody Wanted
Helen Doss's charming, touching, and at times hilarious chronicle tells how each of the children, representing white, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Mexican, and Native American backgrounds, came to her and husband Carl, a Methodist minister. She writes of the way the "unwanted" feeling was erased with devoted love and understanding and how the children united into one happy family. Her account reads like a novel, with scenes of hard times and triumphs described in vivid prose.

The Family Nobody Wanted, which inspired two films, opened doors for other adoptive families and was a popular favorite among parents, young adults, and children for more than thirty years. Now this edition will introduce the classic to a new generation of readers. An epilogue by Helen Doss that updates the family's progress since 1954 will delight the book's loyal legion of fans around the world.

Are those kids yours? American families with children adopted from other countries
The mother of two Korean-born daughters discusses intercultural and interracial adoption, addressing the special problems and social considerations.

Love in the Driest Season
Foreign correspondent Neely Tucker and his wife, Vita, arrived in Zimbabwe in 1997. After witnessing firsthand the devastating consequences of AIDS on the population, especially the children, the couple started volunteering at an orphanage that was desperately underfunded and short-staffed. One afternoon, a critically ill infant was brought to the orphanage from a village outside the city. She’d been left to die in a field on the day she was born, abandoned in the tall brown grass that covers the highlands of Zimbabwe in the dry season. After a near-death hospital stay, and under strict doctor’s orders, the ailing child was entrusted to the care of Tucker and Vita. Within weeks Chipo, the girl-child whose name means gift, would come to mean everything to them.

Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child : From Your First Hours Together Through the Teen Years
With the proliferation of international adoptions, a specialized guide looks at the special challenges of parenting youngsters adopted from a foreign country, addressing such issues as how to help children deal with the adoption, bond with new parents, become an integral part of the family, and develop a positive self image that combines an American identity and ethnic origins.

The Post-Adoption Blues: Overcoming the Unforeseen Challenges of Adoption
Where do parents turn when the waited-for bonding with their adopted child is slow to form? When they find themselves grieving over the birth child they couldn't have? When the child they so eagerly welcomed into their home arrives with major, unexpected needs? Until now, adoptive parents have had to struggle silently with their feelings, which can range from flutters of anxiety to unbearable sadness.

At last, Karen J. Foli, a registered nurse, and her husband, John R. Thompson, a psychiatrist, lift the curtain of secrecy from "Post Adoption Depression Syndrome" (PADS). Drawing on their own experience as adoptive parents as well as interviews with dozens of adoptive families and experts in the field, the couple offers parents the understanding, support, and concrete solutions they need to overcome post-adoption blues-and open their hearts to the joy adoption can bring.

Adoptive Families Magazine
The library has the current 2 years of this practical periodical which address trends and issues related to adoption.

Many more resources are available at the library.

For additional information about adoption in Virginia, see also:
http://virginia.adoption.com/

Wishbone to the Rescue!

2008-10-22T14:04:00.008-04:00

The Jack Russell Terrier who goes where no dog has gone before-into the pages of Robin Hood, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Don Quixote, and on a Journey to the Center of the Earth!

Join Wishbone in 4 classic literary adventures:
Paw Prints of Thieves

Joe nearly gets suspended when he helps the school lunch lady donate leftover food to a local shelter. Wishbone is reminded of Robin Hood, who risks arrest when he robs from the rich to give to the poor.

The Impawssible Dream
Joe's "impossible dream" of making it into the Encyclopedia of World Records for basketball free throws, inspires Wishbone's imagination. He remembers the story of Don Quixote de la Mancha and his dream to conquer giants and knights to win the kingdom.

The Hunchdog of Notre Dame
During a roller hockey game, Wishbone is reminded of the tale about the famous hunchback of Notre Dame cathedral. Imagining himself as the deformed bell ringer, Quasimodo, Wishbone gets involved in a life-and-death struggle with his evil master, Frollo.

Hot Diggety Dawg
While helping Wanda dig, Wishbone finds a mysterious treasure. This reminds him of Professor Liedenbrock, who digs his way to the mystery that lies at the center of the Earth in Jules Verne's 'A Journey to the Center of the Earth.'

Bibliomaniacs

2008-10-08T15:14:00.023-04:00

In honor of National Book Month in October, we list here
tales true and not so true about people whose love of books, and quest for finding rarities leads them to mayhem, mystery and much musing.

Memoirs of a book snake : 40 years of seeking and saving old books by David Meyer.
Anecdotes from the life of a book scout, or "book snake," a mistaken term for book worm that a friend of his used once. Tales from a life devoted to seeking out the rare find among dusty bins and auction boxes, and where they take him around the country.

Sixpence House: lost in a town of books by Paul Collins
Paul Collins and his family abandoned the hills of San Francisco to move to the Welsh countryside-to move, in fact, to the little cobblestone village of Hay-on-Wye, the 'Town of Books' that boasts fifteen hundred inhabitants-and forty bookstores. Antiquarian bookstores, no less.

Hay's newest citizens accordingly take up residence in a sixteenth-century apartment over a bookstore, meeting the village's large population of misfits and bibliomaniacs by working for world-class eccentric Richard Booth-the self-declared King of Hay, owner of the local castle, and proprietor of the world's largest and most chaotic used book warren. A useless clerk, Paul delights in shifting dusty stacks of books around and sifting them for ancient gems like Robinson Crusoe in Words of One Syllable, Confessions of an Author's Wife, and I Was Hitler's Maid. He also duly fulfills his new duty as a citizen by simultaneously applying to be a Peer in the House of Lords and attempting to buy Sixpence House, a beautiful and neglected old tumbledown pub for sale in the town's center.

Books : a memoir by Larry McMurtry
Yes, that Larry McMurtry, Pulitzer Prize winning and bestselling author, whose books have been turned into films, like Lonesome Dove, and Terms of Endearment, the Last Picture Show.
In this work of extraordinary charm, grace, and good humor, McMurtry recounts his life as both a reader and a writer, how the countless books he has read worked to form his literary tastes, while giving us a lively look at the eccentrics who collect, sell, or simply lust after rare volumes. Books: A Memoir is like the best kind of diary -- full of McMurtry's wonderful anecdotes, amazing characters, engaging gossip, and shrewd observations about authors, book people, literature, and the author himself. At once chatty, revealing, and deeply satisfying, Books is, like McMurtry, erudite, life loving, and filled with excellent stories. It is a book to be savored and enjoyed again and again.

Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen: reflections at 60 and beyond is his musing from 10 years earlier about similar topics.

The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel
Inspired by the process of creating a library for his fifteenth-century home near the Loire, in France, Alberto Manguel, the acclaimed writer on books and reading, has taken up the subject of libraries. “Libraries,” he says, “have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as I can remember I’ve been seduced by their labyrinthine logic.” In this personal, deliberately unsystematic, and wide-ranging book, he offers a captivating meditation on the meaning of libraries.

Manguel, a guide of irrepressible enthusiasm, conducts a unique library tour that extends from his childhood bookshelves to the “complete” libraries of the Internet, from Ancient Egypt and Greece to the Arab world, from China and Rome to Google. He ponders the doomed library of Alexandria as well as the personal libraries of Charles Dickens, Jorge Luis Borges, and others. He recounts stories of people who have struggled against tyranny to preserve freedom of thought—the Polish librarian who smuggled books to safety as the Nazis began their destruction of Jewish libraries; the Afghani bookseller who kept his store open through decades of unrest. Oral “memory libraries” kept alive by prisoners, libraries of banned books, the imaginary library of Count Dracula, the library of books never written—Manguel illuminates the mysteries of libraries as no other writer could. With scores of wonderful images throughout, The Library at Night is a fascinating voyage through Manguel’s mind, memory, and vast knowledge of books and civilizations.

84, Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff
An oldie but a goodie.
In 1949,(before the Internet) this tells the saga of a 20-year correspondence between a New Yorker seeking obscure titles and a London antiquarian bookseller. It covers the post-war years in England and the coronation of the Queen, and what was happening with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
It was eventually turned into a play and later a movie with the same title, starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins.

The Big Read on Audio CD

2008-09-24T10:11:00.018-04:00

The library recently received a wonderful donation of audio CDs from the National Endowment for the Arts.

This collection highlights 14 novels (so far) that are considered classics, such as The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit 451, and contemporary and multicultural titles such as Bless Me Ultima, Their Eyes Watching God, and The Joy Luck Club.

Designed to be used in conjunction with book group or classroom discussions, these audio CDs contain 1 disc per title, providing an introduction to the work. They include excerpts and critical analysis featuring well-known actors, authors, and commentators, such as Ed Harris, Robert Redford, Amy Tan, Ray Bradbury, Walter Mosley, Scott Simon and Kurt Anderson.

Dana Gioia, Chairmen of the NEA, narrates many of the excerpts on the CDs.
He states:
"The purpose of The Big Read, like the purpose of literature itself, is pleasure. Not necessarily an easy pleasure, but a deliciously rich and complex one. A great book combines enlightenment with enchantment. It awakens our imagination and enlarges our humanity. It can even offer harrowing insights that somehow console and comfort us."

Each branch has a complete set.

For a catalog listing of books included, please see:

The Big Read

Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15-October 15

2008-09-17T10:25:00.027-04:00

In recognition of the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the United States and to celebrate Hispanic heritage and culture, this observance was originally signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 first as a weekly commemoration, and under President Reagan, in 1988 expanded to a full month.

This year, 2008, celebrates both a 40-year anniversary and a 20-year anniversary.
Here are some of the resources available at Fauquier Library about Hispanic life, culture and contributions to American society:

Latina magazine
People en español magazine
are both available at the Bealeton and Marshall Branch libraries.

Hispanic American Scientists and Hispanic American Writers illustrate the lives of prominent Hispanic Americans and their contributions to those fields.

Los Hispanos en Hollywood : celebrando 100 años en el cine y la televisión by Luis Reyes y Peter Rubie discusses the popular culture contributions and growing acclaim of Hispanic actors in Hollywood.

Hispanic Firsts: 500 years of extraordinary achievement by Nicolás Kanellos discusses many different areas of contribution by Hispanic Americans over the centuries.

Finding Your Hispanic Roots assists genealogical research for those whose ancestors came from Spain, Portugal, and Latin America.

The Other Face of America by Jorge Ramos describes the hopes and fears of immigrants to the United States from Mexico and other Latin American countries, and discusses their experiences in the United States, racism, linguistic change, and future developments.

The library has several other books in Spanish by Jorge Ramos the popular Univision anchor.

Once upon a quinceañera Coming of Age in the USA by Julia Alvarez gives a cultural exploration of the Latina fifteenth birthday celebration traces the experiences of a Queens teen preparing for her quinceañera, in an account that documents the history of the celebration's traditions as well as its growing popularity.

Something to Declare.
In her first book of nonfiction, Julia Alvarez takes us behind the scenes and shares the lessons she's learned on her way to becoming an internationally acclaimed novelist. In 1960, when Alvarez was ten years old, her family fled the Dominican Republic. Her father participated in a failed coup attempt against the dictator Rafael Trujillo, and exile to the United States was the only way to save his life. The family settled in New York City, where Dr. Alvarez set up a medical practice in the Bronx while his wife and four daughters set about the business of assimilation--a lifelong struggle. Loss of her native land, language, culture, and extended family formed the thematic basis for two of Julia Alvarez's three best-selling novels.

Crossing Over: a Mexican family on the migrant trail by Ruben Martinez A powerful account of migrant culture traces the Chavez family as they leave their southern-Mexican town and embark on a perilous journey through the underground railroad to the tomato farms of Missouri, the strawberry fields of California, and the slaughterhouses of Wisconsin.

Bella Based on the award winning film, this novel version by Lisa Sampson tells the story of Jose, an international soccer star, who is on his way to sign a multi-million dollar contract when a series of events brings his career to a halt. Nina, a struggling waitress trying to make it in New York City, discovers something about herself she's unprepared for. In one irreversible moment, their lives are turned inside out - until a simple gesture of kindness brings them together, turning an ordinary day into an extraordinary experience.

United States History -a musical and more!

2008-09-12T10:28:00.037-04:00

The drama! the significance! the arguments!

Yes, it's all here in this musical celebration of the founding fathers of the United States, at the Second Continental Congress, writing the Declaration of Independence, prelude to the writing of the United States Constitution.

The cast includes William Daniels as John Adams, Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson, Blythe Danner as Martha Jefferson, Howard da Silva as Benjamin Franklin.

Click here for some memorable dialogue and debate lines from the film and play.

The musical was conceived by a history teacher, and many of the lines were real quotes. The conversations between John and Abigail Adams are based on their letters to each other. However, while it is based on real history, and much of it is correct, the historical accuracy is discussed in a wikipedia article about the film and play.

Other resources at the library about the establishment of our republic, and the role of the constitution include:

Our Constitution [DVD] : a conversation- A project of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands
United States Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephen Breyer talk about the Constitution with high school students and discuss why we have and need a constitution, what federalism is, how implicit and explicit rights are defined, and how separation of powers ensures that no one branch of government obtains too much power.

A conversation on the Constitution [DVD] : judicial independence- A project of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands
U.S. Supreme Court Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Anthony Kennedy, and Sandra Day O'Connor fielded questions in Washington Tuesday, May 16, 2006 from 50 high school students from the Philadelphia and Los Angeles areas. The students and justices discussed the significance of the judiciary and the ways that independence is protected by the Constitution.

Key Constitutional concepts [DVD] : a conversation
This documentary begins by introducing the Constitution and why it was created. It then examines key Constitutional concepts -- separation of powers and individual rights -- by focusing on two landmark cases: Youngstown v. Sawyer, a challenge to President Truman's decision to put the steel mills under government control, and Gideon v. Wainwright, in which the Supreme Court establishes the right to be represented by an attorney.

1776 : excerpts from the acclaimed history, with letters, maps, and seminal artwork by David McCullough
This includes reproductions of original letters, maps, and other illustrations.

The genius of America : how the Constitution saved our country--and why it can again by Eric Lane and Michael Oreskes.
Traces the history of the Constitution and how it came into being, exploring how it has weathered past crises, how it effectively helps us govern our nation, and the current threats to the constitutional process.
The Genius of America looks at the Constitution’s history relative to this current crisis. Starting with the eleven years between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution’s adoption, they show how our near failure to create a loosely knit nation led the framers to devise a system that takes human nature into account. The Genius of America reminds us the Constitution is our national glue.

For additional resources, search the library's catalog
under the subject headings:
United States Constitution

United States Constitutional Convention

September is National Preparedness Month

2008-09-05T15:00:00.023-04:00

With news of hurricanes, severe weather and possible power outages,
here are some resources that can help you develop a plan for your family,
prepare supplies, and learn more about how to respond:

Just in Case: how to be self-sufficient when the unexpected happens
Author Kathy Harrison guides readers through the empowering process of setting up such a home system with her OAR method — Organize existing supplies, Acquire additional necessities, Rotate everything for freshness. Her comprehensive coverage of emergency preparedness includes food storage, alternative heating sources, personal supplies for every family member, entertainment ideas, toiletry and proper clothing, pet supplies, emergency family communication plans, and neighborhood cooperatives.

In addition to preparing the home for extended periods without electricity, Harrison also discusses evacuation plans — where to go, how to meet up with family, what to pack, and how best to protect all that’s being left behind. Self-sufficiency at home or in a temporary safe haven takes away much of the fear and helplessness associated with disasters.

Essentials in Emergency Management: including the all-hazards approach by Brian J. Gallant
This book takes a broader approach, covering the history of emergency management, the National Incident Management System (NIMS), natural and technological hazards, how to handle pets in an emergency, the role of volunteers for emergency support functions particularly in the aftermath and recovery process, as well as useful charts and checklists for supply kits, an emergency response plan, and a severe weather manager's checklist.

Be alert, be aware, have a plan : the complete guide to protecting yourself, your home, your family by Neal Rawls with Sue Kovach
Being prepared means being in control. Here is hard-won advice from a veteran security expert for people who want to protect themselves and their families in any situation, including personal security, crime prevention, workplace safety, as well as natural disasters, and other concerns.

For more information, go to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and also Virginia's Ready Campaign website for an online supply kit checklist, family emergency plans and other useful tips.

Latest from the Teaching Company and Modern Scholars Audio and DVD Series

2008-08-27T10:28:00.016-04:00

School is now in session --
here are a few highlights from the new DVD and Audio CD collection for courses that you may not have taken when you were in school!

Classics of Russian Literature a three-part series that explores the background and context of a country whose literature has been described as focusing on the "depths of the human soul".
Among the 40 works of novels, stories, plays and poems by Russian authors are War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, Dr. Zhivago, and The Seagull and ends with Solzhenitsyn's writings.

How the Earth Works an eight part DVD series discusses the making of our planet from the Big Bang theory to the formation of the solar system,to the subsequent evolution of Earth, including plate tectonics, glaciers, earthquakes and all things geological.

An Introduction to Number Theory is four-part DVD class which provides an overview of high-level number concepts, with step-by-step explanations, anecdotes and demonstrations covering geometric progression, the Binet Formula, prime numbers, cryptography, and Fermat's Last Theorem, among other theories.

Visions of Utopia: philosophy and the perfect society is explored on audio CD through the Modern Scholars Series. Included are Plato's Republic, Thomas Moore's Utopia, and Rousseau's The Social Contract.

The Hebrew Bible discusses what is known as the Tanakh, or how the Old Testament came to be, and how it has been passed down and interpreted through the ages.

Take me out to the ballgame: a history of baseball in America covers the origins and fundamentals of the game, starting in the 19th century, with detailed decade coverage of the 20th century.

Summertime, and the living is Green

2008-07-29T16:04:00.021-04:00

Looking for ways to live closer to nature, and eliminate chemicals, pesticides, and other worrisome elements from your home, food and yard?
And what about those light bulbs?

Here are some titles to explore:

Easy Green Living
A definitive guide to an eco-friendly lifestyle shares sensible suggestions for using an array of "green" home, garden, and beauty products and routines, with recommendations on safe, affordable options for renewable energy solutions, allergen-free textiles, cleaning products, and other ways to eliminate toxins, enhance personal health, reduce waste, and promote environmental awareness.

Everything Green Living Book
Provides information on ways to live a "green" lifestyle. Covers such topics as building a green house, using nontoxic cleaning supplies, eating organic foods, recycling, ecotourism, and transporation.

Building green : a complete how-to guide to alternative building methods : earth, plaster, straw bale, cordwood, cob, living roofs
Helps environmentally conscious readers build a home with the health of the planet as a primary concern, offering advice on design, siting, and construction of various types of sustainable buildings.

Farewell my Subaru: an epic adventure in local living
Like many Americans, Doug Fine enjoys his creature comforts, but he also knows full well they keep him addicted to oil. So he wonders: Is it possible to keep his Netflix and his car, his Wi-Fi and his subwoofers, and still reduce his carbon footprint? Inan attempt to find out, Fine moves to a remote ranch in New Mexico, where he brazenly vows to grow his own food, use sunlight to power his world, and drive on restaurant grease. Never mind that he has no farming, mechanical or electrical skills. Whether installing solar panels, defending goats he found on Craigslist against coyotes, or co-opting waste oil from a local restaurant to fill the tank in his Ridiculously Oversized American Truck, Fine's undertaking makes one thing clear: It ain't easy being green. In fact, his journey uncovers a slew of surprising facts about alternative energy, organic and locally grown food, and climate change.

Your naturally healthy home
Discusses home renovation, improvement and construction.

The Organic lawn care manual: a natural, low-maintenance system for a beautiful, safe lawn
Explains how to make a lawn safe and environmentally friendly using organic methods, and how to pick the best grass for each climate and sunlight situation.

Solar Living Source Book
30th Anniversary Edition, and still going strong.

Diet for a small planet
The book that started the trend toward less meat, more veggies.
Encourages making changes in dietary patterns by explaining the ways in which plant protein compares favorably with meats and providing numerous recipes for inexpensive, meatless meals.

Non-toxic home and office by Debra Dadd-Redalia
Or any of the several books by this author, which all focus on how to live as chemical-free as possible.

Natural Home magazine provides on-going tips and suggestions, with beautiful pictures, of how people across the country have implemented a "green" lifestyle.

Visit phantom Great Britain from your armchair

2008-07-18T14:05:00.023-04:00

Scotland-
Lochdubh, the sleepy Highlands town of P.C. Hamish MacBeth, has the usual petty small village crimes of poaching, and disturbing the peace. But there's also an unusually high murder rate, which he finds really annoying, since he doesn't want to work too hard, and would rather go fishing, or have a pint.
Death of a Gossip is the first in the series, which has improved with age. The most recent in the series, which is up to #24, is Death of a Gentle Lady.
Hamish MacBeth's character became the genesis of a popular BBC TV series, starring Robert Carlyle, that was filmed in the real town of Plockton.

Wales
Llanfair, in mountainous North Wales, is home of P.C. Evan Evans (yep-not a typo),
who comes there seeking a peaceful existence after a personal trauma.
Evans Above is the first of 10 titles in the series, which is on hiatus as the author, Rhys Bowen, concentrates on other series.

England
Somewhere in the Cotswolds, former London advertising executive, Agatha Raisin, retires and buys a cottage. She pays someone else to decorate it. She doesn't like to garden or cook, either. She's got lots of money, and lots of time on her hands.
Somehow, she just can't get the hang of village life.
Used to competitive corporate ways, she tries to cheat her way into acceptance by winning a food contest at the annual fair in Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death. Agatha takes a lot of lumps over the course of 17 mysteries so far, as she learns, or rather, unlearns, how to live. She also discovers lots of dead bodies, and makes a lot of enemies along the way. But Agatha is a survivor. She's also determined to have a man in her life. Agatha, off-putting and maddening, has a lot of fans.

Tilling, Sussex a small coastal town, is the setting for the fiercely funny episodes of the (ahem) ladies, Mapp and Lucia, who vie for social prominence as they one-up each other at fests and dinner parties. Penned by E. F. Benson in the 1930's, these were also made into a BBC series in the 1980's. Social snobbery at it's finest.

Miss Read is the author of two series that occur in the small villages of Thrush Green and Fairacre. The unmarried school teacher of the village, named "Miss Read" becomes involved in the lives of the villagers through her students. Gentle reads of life long past, these timeless tales are said to have influenced Jan Karon, among others. More relaxing than a vacation in a cabin on the lake.

Before there were any of these series, Anthony Trollope created the Chronicles of Barsetshire, a fictitious Cathedral town in 6 novels tracing the manners and maneuvers of the gentry in 19th century England. Barchester Chronicles on DVD, starring a very young Alan Rickman, incorporates the first two novels by Trollope. Parts of this were filmed in the beautiful cathedral town of Peterborough.

Cranford, based on three novels by Elizabeth Gaskell,is a market town in northwest England in 1842. It is a place governed by etiquette, custom and above all, an intricate network of ladies. It seems that life has always been conducted according to their social rules. For spinsters Deborah Jenkyns, the arbiter of correctness, and Matty, her demurring sister, the town is a hub of intrigue. Handsome new doctor Frank Harrison has arrived from London; a retired Captain and his daughters move in across the street and preparations for Lady Ludlow's garden party are underway. The town has some secrets which are about to be revealed. But news comes that shakes the town, a railway line from Manchester is coming to Cranford.

On staycation? Visit some imaginary places in the United States

2008-07-02T14:49:00.015-04:00

The Ladies of Covington send their love from their new home in Covington, North Carolina.
Follow Grace, Amelia and Hannah as they decide that the last thing they want to do is live out their lives in a group home. To the dismay of their children, they pool their resources and move to Covington, North Carolina, and new lives. This is the first title in a series of seven so far by Joan Medlicott.

Not so far away from Covington is the beloved town of Mitford, home of Father Tim, Cynthia, Dooley, Barnabus the dog, and Violet the cat.
At home in Mitford introduces the main characters. After 9 books in Mitford, Father Tim returns to his childhood past in Home to Holly Springs (a real place in Mississippi.)

Lumby is somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.
Mark and Pam Walker, a vacationing couple from the East Coast, arrive in the tiny Pacific Northwest town of Lumby, planning to restore the village's dilapidated Montis Abbey and turn it into an inn. It takes a while for the quirky locals to warm up to the idea and to the newcomers, especially irascible William Beezer, owner of the local newspaper The Lumby Lines.
To date, author Gail Grady has penned 3 in this series in which Lumby has seen a new B& B established, investigated an art theft, and hosted a hot air balloon festival.

In the fictional small town of Harmony, Indiana, Sam Gardner becomes the pastor of his hometown church, Harmony Friends Meeting. In this delightful, first-person novel, Sam describes in a warm, down-home style the moving and humorous adventures he encounters his first year, Home to Harmony.

Maggody, AK
Ozarks small town sheriff, Arly Hanks has dealt with a citizens revolt against a new supermarket, a Hollywood production company come to town, returning country music superstars, Confederate gold rumors, crop circles and tabloid reports and militia groups, along with murder, mayhem and just plain goofy citizens.
Malice in Maggody is the first in this long-running series by Joan Hess.

Lake Wobegon, Minnesota
The episodic novels of Garrison Keillor, recounting the citizens and woes of Lake Wobegon, include
Pontoon, and
Wobegon Boy among other tales.

Moose County, Maine
Home of Jim Qwilleran, and his brilliant Siamese cat, Koko, later joined by Yum Yum, and assorted odd-ball characters in the territory.
The Cat who could read backwards is the first in this long popular series.

Cape Light on the coast of New England introduces a hamlet populated by colorful inhabitants who share a strong sense of community and caring for their neighbors.

Waterford, PA is home to Elm Creek Manor.
When Sarah McClure and her husband, Matt, move to the small town of Waterford, Pennsylvania, to get a fresh start, Sarah struggles to find a fulfilling job. Disheartened by failed interviews, she reluctantly accepts a temporary position at Elm Creek Manor helping seventy-five-year-old Sylvia Compson prepare her family estate for sale after the recent death of Sylvia's estranged sister. As part of her compensation, Sarah is taught how to quilt by this reclusive, cantankerous master quilter. The Quilter's Apprentice is the first in this ever-growing series, featuring quilting patterns.

Next posting: imaginary villages in Great Britain.

Floods of the Past

2008-06-23T11:01:00.010-04:00

Rising tide : the great Mississippi flood of 1927 and how it changed America by John M. Barry

An American epic of science, politics, race, honor, high society, and the Mississippi River, Rising Tide tells the riveting and nearly forgotten story of the greatest natural disaster this country has ever known -- the Mississippi flood of 1927. The river inundated the homes of nearly one million people, helped elect Huey Long governor and made Herbert Hoover president, drove hundreds of thousands of blacks north, and transformed American society and politics forever. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, winner of the Southern Book Critics Circle Award and the Lillian Smith Award.

The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
At the end of the last century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hard-working families striving for a piece of the nation's burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity: among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. Despite repeated warnings of possible danger, nothing was done about the dam. Then came May 31, 1889, when the dam burst, sending a wall of water thundering down the mountain, smashing through Johnstown, and killing more than 2,000 townspeople. It was a tragedy that became a national scandal. From research in the voluminous records, diaries, letters, interviews with numbers of survivors, and a rare, previously unknown transcript of a private investigation conducted by the Pennsylvania Railroad, David McCullough vividly re-creates the chain of events that led to the catastrophe, and then unfolds the incredible story of the flood itself and its aftermath. Graced by David McCullough's remarkable gift for writing richly textured, sympathetic social history, The Johnstown Flood is an absorbing, classic portrait of life in 19th-century America, of overweening confidence, energy, and tragedy. It also offers a powerful historical lesson for our century and all times: the danger of assuming that because people are in positions of responsibility they are necessarily behaving responsibly.

In sunlight, in a beautiful garden by Kathleen Cambor
A love story set in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, before and after the 1889 dam disaster that took more than two thousand lives chronicles the greed and abuse of power in post-Civil War America.

Julie by Catherine Marshall
Her last novel was inspired by research on the Johnstown flood,and is partly based on autobiographical experiences of the author. A struggling, small-town newspaper, and steel-mill strikes also play important roles in the drama.

Isaac's storm : a man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history by Erik Larsen
Meticulously researched and vividly written, Isaac's Storm is based on Isaac Cline's own letters, telegrams, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the hows and whys of great storms. Ultimately, however, it is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets nature's last great uncontrollable force. As such, Isaac's Storm carries a warning for our time.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, a great confidence suffused America. Isaac Cline was one of the era's new men, a scientist who believed he knew all there was to know about the motion of clouds and the behavior of storms. The idea that a hurricane could damage the city of Galveston, Texas, where he was based, was to him preposterous, "an absurd delusion." It was 1900, a year when America felt bigger and stronger than ever before. Nothing in nature could hobble the gleaming city of Galveston, then a magical place that seemed destined to become the New York of the Gulf.

That August, a strange, prolonged heat wave gripped the nation and killed scores of people in New York and Chicago. Odd things seemed to happen everywhere: A plague of crickets engulfed Waco. The Bering Glacier began to shrink. Rain fell on Galveston with greater intensity than anyone could remember. Far away, in Africa, immense thunderstorms blossomed over the city of Dakar, and great currents of wind converged. A wave of atmospheric turbulence slipped from the coast of western Africa. Most such waves faded quickly. This one did not.

In Galveston, reassured by Cline's belief that no hurricane could seriously damage the city, there was celebration. Children played in the rising water. Hundreds of people gathered at the beach to marvel at the fantastically tall waves and gorgeous pink sky, until the surf began ripping the city's beloved beachfront apart. Within the next few hours Galveston would endure a hurricane that to this day remains the nation's deadliest natural disaster. In Galveston alone at least 6,000 people, possibly as many as 10,000, would lose their lives, a number far greater than the combined death toll of the Johnstown Flood and 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

And Isaac Cline would experience his own unbearable loss.

Living on flood plains and wetlands : a homeowner's high water handbook by Maureen Gilmer
Offers some practical advice for homeowners.

Railroading Resources

2008-06-12T10:28:00.014-04:00

If you are a train buff, for real or model railroading,
a recently added collection of over 60 books may be right up your track.

The Bernard S. Logan Collection, housed at the Bealeton Branch Library focuses on the history of steam, diesel and electric locomotives, with a special interest in the B&O, C&O, N&W and the Southern Railway lines. Most of these are older books from the 60's and 70's.

Wonderful photographs including interiors of passenger cars, dining cars, night trains, the whole gamut of train travel is covered.

Additionally, the Bealeton Branch also receives these magazine titles:
Model Railroader
Piedmont Local (also available at Warrenton)

These resources are part of a growing collection of train materials at the branch in relation to the restoration of the Bealeton Depot.
Depot renovations are being funded in large part by corporate donations and a Transportation Enhancement Act of the Twenty-First Century (TEA-21) grant.
The 820-square-foot depot will eventually serve as a program room for the library and as a community meeting space.

Remedies for Car Trips

2008-06-02T17:33:00.014-04:00

Q. Car trips - Help!

How can I make a long trip this summer go faster, and keep everyone in a good mood?

A. Try some of these CDs-

Remember
Fractured Fairy Tales from the classic Rocky and Bullwinkle Show?
Ugly princes, fibbing fairy godmothers, and knights who prefer clown suits to suits of armor--these clearly aren't your ordinary fairy tales with inimitable narration from Jay Ward.

Car Talk Classics
Four all-time favorite episodes from the irrepressible Click and Clack Tapper Brothers-don't drive like my brother

Follow up with Tom and Ray x 2
Car talk: the greatest stories ever told: once upon a car fire includes these automotive tales (and miscellaneous topics: Plywoood aerodynamics , Priiiiiii-vate Maaaaaag-leeee-o-zee!, Catch this, you little twerp!, A nice juicy pizza, Power to the people, My own son, How many engineers does it take to screw in a light bulb? , I trust you, Joanne, Don't drive like my brother (x2), It could be nothing, or it could be a brrrain tumorrr, Subway fugitive, The great Montreal hotel fire.

John Cleese at the Beeb Includes extracts from The Frost report, At last the 1948 show, Fawlty Towers, Families and how to survive them, I'm sorry I'll read that again, and Monty Python, including commentaries and introductions by John Cleese.

Prairie Home Companion 10th anniversary Join Garrison Keillor and guests for news from Lake Wobegon, and other classics from 1984! on 2 discs.

Some other Keillor classics include:
Never better: stories from Lake Wobegon
Prairie Home Companion commercial radio: words from our so-called sponsors
Pretty Good Bits includes Guy Noir, private eye
A life in comedy recorded live at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

Libraries are Life-Changing!

2008-04-18T10:21:00.008-04:00

As we come to the close of National Library Week,

here are a few titles about the importance of books in peoples lives:

You've got to read this book! 55 people tell the story of the book that changed their life
We all have memories of a book that stirred mind and soul; that became more resonant over time. When a book sweeps us away, we remember and tell people. Sharing the experience is a double gift: it reveals us meaningfully while extending the possibility of pleasure and insight to others.

YOU'VE GOT TO READ THIS BOOK! is just such a double gift. In it, some of today's most interesting and prominent people share the books that have been transformational to them, and why. Readers will encounter well–known names in personal motivation, business, entertainment, and more, such as Malachy McCourt, Christiane Northrup, M.D., Dave Barry, Stephen Covey, Mark Victor Hansen, and John Gray, among others, as well as Canfield and Hendricks themselves. These essays will inspire, inform, and motivate readers to recall and pursue their own transforming experiences with books, charting a path to a more resonant life.

1001 books you must read before you die
Handpicked by a team of international critics and literary luminaries, a treasure trove of book reviews from around the world covers a century of memorable writing and offers authoritative critical essays describing the importance and influence of each entry with its publishing history and career details about the author.

Book smart : your essential reading list for becoming a literary genius in 365 days
Like taking a private class with an engaging literature professor, Book Smart is your ticket for literary enlightenment all year long and for the rest of your life. Whether you're a passionate turner of pages or you aspire to be better-read, Book Smart expands your knowledge and enjoyment with a month-by-month plan that tackles 120 of the most compelling books of all time.

Throughout the year, each book comes alive with historical notes, highlights on key themes and characters, and advice on how to approach reading. Here is a sampling of what you can expect:

January: Make a fresh start with classics like Beowulf and Dante's Inferno
April: Welcome spring in the company of strong women like Jane Eyre, Anna Karenina, and Vanity Fair's Becky Sharpe
August: Bring a breath of fresh air to summer's heat with comedic works from Kingsley Amis and Oscar Wilde
October: Get back to school with young people struggling to grow up in classics like Little Women and recent bestsellers such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
December: Celebrate year's end with big prizewinners such as The Remains of the Day and Leaves of Grass

The Polysyllabric Spree
For those who prefer an edgier approach to reading, Nick Hornby,
the author of High Fidelity and About a Boy shares samples from his "Stuff I've Been Reading" columns in The Believer, focusing on various books he has found interesting, in a volume that includes selected passages from the novels, poetry, biographies, and comics discussed.

Walking a literary labyrinth : a spirituality of reading
Draws from authors including Franz Kafka, Saint Augustine, and Margaret Atwood and ranging in subject from childhood reading to erotic literature to examine how reading affects self and identity.

Author Kathleen Odean has compiled a series of recommended reading for children ages 3 to 14, for toddlers, for boys, and for girls, such as
Great books for girls : more than 600 books to inspire today's girls and tomorrow's women
A unique guide for parents and teachers contains more than six hundred annotated listings of a variety of books for girls, from toddlers to adolescents, that feature female protagonists who solve problems and shape their own destiny.

There's also more recommended reading for youth in
Spirited minds : African American books for our sons and our brothers

How to get your child to love reading : a parents guide
Offers advice and guidelines on how to expand a child's world through books and reading, introducing three thousand teacher-recommended book titles, craft ideas, projects, recipes, and reading club tips.

and, a novel to ponder the role of libraries in an exotic manifestation:

The Camel Bookmobile
A novel about establishing a bookmobile in a destitute Kenya village, well-intentioned Fiona Sweeny inadvertently renews a decades-old tribal feud involving a camel-powered bookmobile and prior efforts to promote local education.

Libraries are weirdly wonderful

2008-04-17T09:49:00.021-04:00

Sometimes, strange things happen in libraries.....

A Gentle Madness: bibliophiles, bibliomanes, and the eternal passion for books
True stories about bibliomania, and bibliophiles, this book was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist.
A history of book lore, book culture, and book lovers begins in Alexandria more than 2,500 years ago and passes through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the present, offering special emphasis on collecting in Great Britain and North America.

Followed by:

Patience and Fortitude: a roving chronicle of book people, book places, and book culture which explores the history and continuing relevance of books, introducing readers to librarians, readers, writers, scholars, bookbinders, and booksellers around the world.

Library : an unquiet history
Provides an intriguing historical study of libraries and books, their preservation, and destruction, from the U.S. to Europe and Asia, from medieval monasteries and Vatican collections to the ever-changing information highway of today

The Grand Complication
Confronted by both professional and personal crises, reference librarian Alexander Short gains a new lease on life when he meets Henry James Jesson III, a collector who shares a number of Alexander's unconventional interests and who hires him for some after-hours research into an enigmatic eighteenth-century inventor.

Oh Pure and Radiant Heart
When a shy librarian in Santa Fe sees Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Leo Szilard, she risks her career and relationships to follow them, building a cult following comprised of hippies, bikers, anthropologists, and survivors of the atom bomb to mount a massive march on Washington.

Time Traveler's Wife
Passionately in love, Clare and her librarian husband Henry vow to hold onto each other and their marriage as they struggle with the effects of Chrono-Displacement Disorder, a condition that casts Henry involuntarily into the world of time travel.

The Ice Queen
After a small town librarian survives a lightning strike, she seeks out a fellow survivor in a quest for meaning, only to begin an obsessive love affair between two opposites joined by a single common thread.

The Name of the Rose
In 1327, Brother William of Baskerville is sent to investigate charges of heresy against Franciscan monks at a wealthy Italian abbey but finds his mission overshadowed by seven bizarre murders.

Stones from the River
Follows Trudi Montag, a dwarf who serves as her town's librarian, unofficial historian, and recorder of the secret stories of her people, in a novel that charts the course of German history in the first half of the twentieth century.

The Giant's House
Befriending an adolescent boy who is ostracized for his unusual height, bereft Cape Cod librarian Peggy Cort finds a soul mate in James and comes to love him as he grows into a man of eight feet.

Libraries are Romantic

2008-04-16T10:08:00.011-04:00

Romance can be found in anywhere--
Montana, Oregon, Denver, Seattle, Sicily, Philadelphia, New York, and yes, even libraries.

Dewey Decimal System of Love
Forty-year-old librarian Alison Sheffield finds her proper, staid, and quiet life turned upside down when she falls head over heels in love.

La Cucina: a novel of rapture
In a novel set in modern Sicily, a librarian who has recently suffered heartbreak is drawn to a charismatic chef through their shared love of cooking.

Drive Me Crazy
When Miss Alex Forrest, a prim and proper librarian, and sexy big-city art professor Duncan Forbes team up to investigate a bizarre case involving murder, missing masterpieces, family secrets, dangerous desire, and death threats, the town of Swiftcurrent, Oregon will never be the same.

Die for Love
Librarian Jacqueline Kirby poses as a romance author, to attend a conference on Historical Romance Writers in New York, as a tax-deductible vacation.
What follows is a hilarious send-up of the romance field, plus some dead bodies and lots of romantic confusion, entanglements and suspense.

Island of Dreams Haunted by a lifetime of unusual memory lapses, Ana begins a new life as librarian of a Denver girls' school, until an encounter with Pierce Rourke brings her face to face with the man who can free her from the past.

Perfect Partners
Midwestern librarian Letitia Thornquist didn't have the right stuff to run Thornquist Gear, Inc. That was the bottom-line opinion of Joel Blackstone, the seasoned CEO who had built the small Seattle sporting goods store into an industry giant. But Letty's rich Uncle Charlie willed her the company, and now she was bubbling with enthusiasm to have Joel, a perfect mentor, show her the ropes.

Silver Bells
Troubled by haunting memories of the past, a rugged Christmas tree farmer from Nova Scotia and a reclusive young librarian from New York City come together amid the holiday magic of a glittering city.

Morning Comes Softly
A shy Louisian librarian, Mary Warner fears she'll always be alone -- so she answers a personals ad from a rancher in Montana," a guardian of three orphaned children who agrees to marry the mysterious Southern woman sight unseen.

Libraries are Thrilling!

2008-04-15T10:18:00.006-04:00

The Rover by Mel Odom Follow the hobbitlike librarian, Wick, in this Tolkienesque fantasy series of 4 books, as he is captured by pirates, sold into slavery, and adopted by a gang of thieves. Forced into battle with a dragon that could hold the fate of the entire world in his claw. Wick soon finds himself with more adventures than even a halfling librarian can imagine.
Rival gangs, goblin marauders, evil wizards, and monstrous dragons are soon after the wee adventurer and his newfound allies in a tale of treasures and treachery, magic and mystery, where even a little guy can rise to the occasion and save the day.

The Librarian by Larry Beinhart The author of American Hero (later made into the film Wag the Dog) follows university librarian David Goldberg as he begins a side job as a conservative activist, a position that lands him in hot water with a conspiratorial clique of wealthy right-wingers who want him gone.

Open Season by Linda Howard Plain, small-town librarian Daisy Minor is tired of not having a life and sets out to transform herself, but her plans go awry when she witnesses a deadly crime and becomes the target of a killer who will do anything to stop her from revealing her secrets.

Ex-Libris by Ross King Hired to restore a once-magnificent library that had been ravaged during the English Civil War, London bookseller Isaac Inchbold becomes embroiled in the search for a missing manuscript and a conspiracy of spies, smugglers, and forgery

The Seventh Sinner by Elizabeth Peters
Introducing Jacqueline Kirby, "Jake" to her friends, on an art history/archaeological excavation tour in Rome, a dead body is found at the Temple of Mithras. First is of 4 books featuring librarian Kirby, these include the Peters trademark elements of suspense, humor and a little romance. Followed by Murders of Richard III,
Die for Love, and Naked Once More

Libraries are mysterious

2008-04-14T11:02:00.012-04:00

Libraries are the unexpected setting for mysteries-places of order, quiet and intellectual activity, suddenly disrupted by mayhem and murder. And librarian and rare book sleuths are detail-oriented, persistent, and researchers -hence, natural investigators.
Sometimes, they are also nosy.

Here are some mysteries involving libraries, librarians, rare books, archivists,
and all manner of mysteries related to the bibliography world.

Real Murders First in the Aurora "Roe" Teagarden mystery series. Petite librarian Roe Teagarden joins forces with police detective Arthur Smith and mystery writer Robin Crusoe to investigate a series of killings in which the victims are slain in the fashion of famous historical murders

Miss Zukas and the library murders First in a series, Meet Miss Zukas . . . the very proper, exceedingly conscientious, and relentlessly curious local librarian of tiny Bellehaven, Washington—and one heck of an amateur sleuth!

The Bellehaven police are baffled when a dead body turns up right in the middle of the library's fiction stacks. But Miss Helma Zukas—who never fails to make note of the slightest deviation from the norm of everyday life—is not willing to let this rather nasty disruption stand. Her precious literary sanctuary has been violated, and if the local law cannot get to the bottom of this case, Miss Zukas certainly intends to—with the help of her not-so-proper best friend, Ruth, a six-foot-tall bohemian artist with a nose for gossip and a penchant for getting into trouble. But their research project is bringing them a little too close to a killer . . . who'd like nothing better than to write Helma and Ruth out of the story completely!

Murder by the Book
When librarian Megan Clark keeps stumbling upon dead bodies, she becomes the number one suspect and must match wits with a clever killer who has read too many Agatha Christie novels to prove her innocence.

Stolen Blue
New Mexico rare books librarian, Claire Reynier, is hired to work with a collection of valuable southwest books at an isolated ranch. The owner, her former lover, dies and she is left to work with the dysfunctional family and missing masterpieces.

Dewey Decimated
Someone is whispering that the rare Gutenberg Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Werner-Bok rare books library are forgeries-could these be a cause for murder?

Case of the Missing Books Israel Armstrong is a passionate soul, lured to Ireland by the promise of an exciting new career. Alas, the job that awaits him is not quite what he had in mind. Still, Israel is not one to dwell on disappointment, as he prepares to drive a mobile library around a small, damp Irish town. After all, the scenery is lovely, the people are charming—but where are the books? The rolling library's 15,000 volumes have mysteriously gone missing, and it's up to Israel to discover who would steal them . . . and why. And perhaps, after that, he will tackle other bizarre and perplexing local mysteries—like, where does one go to find a proper cappuccino and a decent newspaper?

Murder at the Library of Congress Commissioned by the Library of Congress' magazine, "Civilization," to write an article on a recently discovered, supposed diary of Christopher Columbus, Annabel Smith finds herself matching wits with a ruthless wealthy bibliophile, an ambitious TV journalist, and a killer to complete her assignment

Booked to Die First in the series. Denver homicide detective Cliff Janeway may not always play by the book, but he's an avid collector of rare and first editions. After a local bookscout is killed on his turf, Janeway would like nothing better than to rearrange the suspect's spine. But the suspect, sleazeball Jackie Newton, is a master at eluding murder convictions. Unfortunately for Janeway, his swift form of off-duty justice costs him his badge.

Turning to his lifelong passion, Janeway opens a bookshop -- all the while searching for evidence to put Newton away. But when prized volumes in a highly sought-after collection begin to appear, so do dead bodies. Now Janeway's life is about to change in profound and shocking ways as he attempts to find out who's dealing death along with vintage Chandlers and Twains.

For more titles, see Murder in the library at the Encyclopedia Britannica Blog Part 1 and Part 2

Spring Surprises

2008-04-03T14:07:00.009-04:00

Rivers and Tides
Follows Andy Goldsworthy's bohemian free spirit on this DVD as he travels all over the world to demonstrate and open up about his creative process. From his long-winding rock walls and icicle sculptures to his interlocking leaf chains and multi-colored pools of flowers. Goldsworthy's painstakingly intricate masterpieces are made entirely of materials found in Mother Nature - who threatens and often succeeds in destroying his art, sometime before it is even finished.

A trail through leaves : the journal as a path to place An exquisitely illustrated guide to cultivating intimacy with the natural world through journal-keeping explores the things we usually overlook and helps readers claim their senses through the creative disciplines of writing and drawing.

Cultivating delight : a natural history of my garden Diane Ackerman delights in her garden through all the seasons. Whether she is deadheading flowers or glorying in the profusion of roses, offering sugar water to a hummingbird or studying the slug, she welcomes the unexpected drama and extravagance as well as the sanctuary her garden offers. She chronicles instances of violence in nature but also intuits loneliness and desire in the clamor of male crickets in the spring. And there is wonderment and marvel as she happens upon a tiny frog asleep inside the petals of a tulip. Visitors to her garden range from botanical explorers of earlier centuries to the nature mystic John Muir to the brilliant British garden writer Gertrude Jekyll. The author's garden nourishes its creator, who imaginatively returns the favor and seizes privileged moments to leap from science and metaphor to meditation on the human condition. Written in sensuous, lyrical prose, Cultivating Delight is a hymn to nature and to the pleasure we take in it.

The Virginia naturalist A collection of essays by John Trott which were originally printed in the Fauquier Times Democrat.
Compiled and produced by the Virginia Native Plant Society and the Middleburg Garden Club

Beautiful madness : one man's journey through other people's gardens Accounts of the Philadelphia Flower Show and the Chelsea Garden Show reveal what the author learned about some of the Western world's most influential gardens and gardeners and describe some of the more exotic plants presented at the shows.

Herbal Treasures: inspiring month-by-month projects for gardening, cooking, and crafts
A compendium of the best herb crafts, recipes, and gardening ideas.

Death at the Spring Plant Sale
Hoping to get some good deals at the Bethesda Garden Club's spring plant sale, Louise Eldridge, Host of "Gardening with Nature," finds herself cultivating a murder investigation instead when the club president is murdered.

Virginia Festival of the Book March 26-30

2008-03-18T15:58:00.006-04:00

"Five Days, Hundreds of Authors"
Plus, Tuesday, March 25 is the Pre-festival day.

The annual event is sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

Walter Mosely, Adriana Trigiani, Margaret Coal, Jacqueline Winspear, Homer Hickman, David Ignatius, and many others will be participating this year.

For a complete listing of the schedule of events, go to
vabook.org

The Festival Luncheon with Jan Karon has already been sold out, but not to worry,
Virginia Public Television (WVPT) will record the luncheon and broadcast it on Wednesday, April 16, at 7:30 pm and again Sunday, April 20th at 1:30 pm
For more information about their schedule see
WVPT

Also sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities is
The Big Read
The title selected for 2008 is To Kill a Mockingbird.

The library has many copies of the book, including DVD and audio versions.

Check out the recent biography about Harper Lee, Mockingbird

Women in History

2008-03-12T15:56:00.015-04:00

Four queens : the Provençal sisters who ruled Europe by Nancy Goldstone
Traces the lives of the four daughters of the count of Provence who eventually became the queens of France, England, Germany, and Sicily, from Marguerite's cultural clashes within the Palais du Roi and Eleanor's civil-war-provoking political aspirations to Sanchia's lonely life and Beatrice's life-risking ambitions.

Born to rule : five reigning consorts, granddaughters of Queen Victoria by Julia P. Gelardi
Traces the stories of five of Queen Victoria's most famous and powerful granddaughters, drawing on unpublished letters, memoirs, diplomatic documents, and interviews to reveal how their life events and marriages to reigning European monarchs directly influenced history

Bess of Hardwick : empire builder by Mary S. Lovell
Chronicles the life of a sixteenth-century impoverished nobleman's daughter who rose to become one of England's most wealthy and powerful women, in an account that describes her four marriages, witness to four monarchies, and building of the great house at Chatsworth

The Pirate Queen: the story of Grace O'Malley, Irish pirate by Alan Gold
A meticulously detailed, fictional portrait of the legendary Irish pirate describes how Grace O'Malley built a powerful empire that became the terror of the English on the high seas and chronicles her daring exploits in defiance of English rule during the Elizabethan era.

Patriot hearts : a novel of the founding mothers by Barbara Hambly
The triumphs and turmoil of early America are revealed through fictional portraits of four women--Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Sally Hemings, and Dolley Madison--who played key roles during four presidential administrations

The Peabody sisters : three women who ignited American romanticism by Megan Marshall
Elizabeth, Mary, and Sophia Peabody were in many ways our American Brontes. The story of these remarkable sisters — and their central role in shaping the thinking of their day — has never before been fully told. Twenty years in the making, Megan Marshall's monumental biograpy brings the era of creative ferment known as American Romanticism to new life.
Elizabeth, the oldest sister, was a mind-on-fire thinker. A powerful influence on the great writers of the era — Emerson, Hawthorne, and Thoreau among them — she also published some of their earliest works. It was Elizabeth who prodded these newly minted Transcendentalists away from Emerson's individualism and toward a greater connection to others. Mary was a determined and passionate reformer who finally found her soul mate in the great educator Horace Mann. The frail Sophia was a painter who won the admiration of the preeminent society artists of the day. She married Nathaniel Hawthorne — but not before Hawthorne threw the delicate dynamics among the sisters into disarray.
Marshall focuses on the moment when the Peabody sisters made their indelible mark on history

Inspiring African American women of Virginia by Veronica A. Davis Includes Jennie Dean, founder of the Manassas School, Bessie Thorpe (Tharps), physician, Maggie Lena Walker, bank president and Virginia Florence, first African American female librarian, singer Roberta Flack and poet Rita Dove among many familiar and not so familiar names.

Biography finalists from National Book Critics Circle

2008-03-10T10:17:00.007-04:00

Five Important Biographies according to the National Book Critics Circle:

Stanley: The Impossible Life Of Africa's Greatest Explorer by Tim Jeal Selected as the winner by the National Book Critics Circle
Many think of Stanley as a cruel imperialist who connived with King Leopold II of Belgium in horrific crimes against the people of the Congo--and the journalist who conducted the most legendary celebrity interview in history, opening with, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" But these perceptions are not quite true, as biographer Jeal shows. With access to previously closed Stanley family archives, Jeal reveals the extent to which Stanley's career and life have been misunderstood and undervalued. Few have started life as disadvantaged as Stanley. Rejected by both parents and consigned to a Welsh workhouse, he emigrated to America as a penniless eighteen-year-old. Jeal re-creates Stanley's rise to success, his friendships and romantic relationships, and his life-changing decision to assume an American identity. Stanley's epic but unfairly forgotten African journeys are described, establishing the explorer as the greatest to set foot on the continent

Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee A critical biography of one of America's greatest writers describes Wharton's adventure-filled travels in Europe, the literary and artistic circles in which she lived and worked, her heroism during World War I, and the evolution of her writing.

Ralph Ellison by Arnold Ramersad The definitive biography of an important American cultural intellectual of the twentieth century--Ralph Ellison, author of the masterpiece Invisible Man. In 1953, Ellison's explosive story of a young black man's search for truth and identity catapulted him to national prominence. Ellison earned many honors, but his failure to publish a second novel, despite years of striving, haunted him for the rest of his life. Rampersad, the first scholar given complete access to Ellison's papers, provides a complex portrait of an unusual artist and human being. This biography describes a man of magnetic personality who counted Saul Bellow, Langston Hughes, Robert Penn Warren, Richard Wright, Richard Wilbur, Albert Murray, and John Cheever among his closest friends; aman whose life and art were shaped mainly by his unyielding desire to produce magnificent art and by his resilient faith in the moral and cultural strength of America.

The Life Of Picasso: The Triumphant Years, 1917-1932 by John Richardson
The third volume of a major study of the artist.

Thomas Hardy by Claire Tomalin A seminal portrait of the enigmatic nineteenth-century novelist and poet, written by the Whitbread Book of the Year-winning author of Samuel Pepys, discusses his humble origins, rise through the London literary scene, and efforts to challenge the sexual and religious conventions of his time.

Tim Jeal's book on Stanley was selected as the winner this year, as announced on March 6.

Great Bird Count Feb. 15-18

2008-02-14T11:16:00.021-05:00

The 11th annual Great Backyard Bird Count begins February 15 and continues over
President's Day Weekend.

This free, fun event is sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. For more information,
http://www.birdcount.org/

For all kinds of information about birding,
BirdCentral covers information about 600+ birds commonly found.

For more resources, the library has a variety of books and dvds, such as
National Geographic birding essentials : all the tools, techniques, and tips you need to begin and become a better birder by Jonathan Alderfer and Jon L. Dunn

Audubon videoguide to 505 birds of North America which includes two DVDs that describe each of 505 species that reliably breed in North America north of Mexico. The VideoGuide provides a voice or other sound from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology for each species that makes a sound of any consequence. The bird calls are combined with striking, close-up moving footage and informative still photographs showing the birds in their natural habitats. A narrated description provides detailed identification information and computer-drawn maps clearly communicate breeding and wintering ranges. Naturalist Michael Godfrey filmed, directed and narrated the VideoGuide, which he wrote with renowned nature writer Kenn Kaufamn, who also created the range maps.

There are also number bird guides available in the collection, by browsing
in the call number section 598.2 and following.

Notable Black Virginians and more

2008-02-06T15:21:00.000-05:00

The Library of Virginia has selected 8 new honorees as
Notable Black Virginians

In addition to biographical information about the honorees, there is a link to suggested classroom activities, and links to last years honorees including Arthur Ashe.

At the Fauquier County Library, additional resources about black Virginians and their role in Virginia history includes:

My Confederate kinfolk : a twenty-first century freedwoman confronts her roots by Thulani Davis

Israel on the Appomattox : a southern experiment in Black freedom from the 1790s through the Civil War by Melvin Patrick Ely

Inspiring African American women of Virginia by Veronica A. Davis

Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in Civil War Virginia by Ervin L. Jordan, Jr

Best New Science Books of 2007-Part 2

2008-01-25T13:23:00.000-05:00

Titles on this list were selected in http://www.edge.org/
Third Culture Holiday Reading 2007 list
(annotations from the Fauquier Library Catalog and/or publisher descriptions)

Endless Universe: Beyond the Big BangThe Big Bang theory--the leading explanation for the origin of the universe--posits that space and time sprang into being about 14 billion years ago in a hot, expanding fireball of nearly infinite density. Over the last three decades, the theory has repeatedly had to be revised to address such issues as how galaxies and stars first formed and why the expansion of the universe is speeding up--let alone what caused the Big Bang in the first place. This book presents a bold new cosmology: Steinhardt and Turok recount remarkable developments in astronomy, particle physics, and superstring theory that together form the basis of their groundbreaking "Cyclic Universe" theory. According to this picture, the Big Bang was not the beginning of time, but the bridge to a past filled with endlessly repeating cycles, each accompanied by the creation of new matter and the formation of new galaxies, stars, and planets.

Why Beauty is Truth: a history of symmetry Mathematics, physics and the universe.

The Black Swan: the impact of the highly improbable Examines the role of the unexpected, discussing why improbable events are not anticipated or understood properly, and how humans rationalize the black swan phenomenon to make it appear less random.

Good calories, bad calories Argues that refined carbohydrates are the ultimate cause of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer; that overeating and sedentary behavior are side effects of increased insulin; and that removing these carbohydrates from one's diet is the only way to lose weight.

Death by black hole: and other cosmic quandaries A collection of favorite essays on the cosmos, written by a well-known American Museum of Natural History astrophysicist and author of Origins, includes the title essay, "Holy Wars," "The Search for Life in the Universe," and "Hollywood Nights."

Avoid boring people: lessons from a life in science by James Watson A scientific memoir by the co-discoverer of DNA describes a life devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, offering valuable lessons about how to get the most out of college, select a career, manage others, and keep one's work relevant.

The World without us
You've watched it on TV, now read what would happen to Earth if the human presence was removed, from the objects that would vanish without human intervention to those that would become long-lasting remnants of humankind.

Evolution for Everyone: how Darwin's theory can change the way we think about our lives
What is the biological reason for gossip?
For laughter? For the creation of art?
Why do dogs have curly tails?
What can microbes tell us about morality?

These and many other questions are tackled by renowned evolutionist David Sloan Wilson in this witty and groundbreaking new book. With stories that entertain as much as they inform, Wilson outlines the basic principles of evolution and shows how, properly understood, they can illuminate the length and breadth of creation, from the origin of life to the nature of religion. Now everyone can move beyond the sterile debates about creationism and intelligent design to share Darwin’s panoramic view of animal and human life, seamlessly connected to each other.

Evolution, as Wilson explains, is not just about dinosaurs and human origins, but about why all species behave as they do—from beetles that devour their own young, to bees that function as a collective brain, to dogs that are smarter in some respects than our closest ape relatives. And basic evolutionary principles are also the foundation for humanity’s capacity for symbolic thought, culture, and morality.

In example after example, Wilson sheds new light on Darwin’s grand theory and how it can be applied to daily life. By turns thoughtful, provocative, and daringly funny, Evolution for Everyone addresses some of the deepest philosophical and social issues of this or any age. In helping us come to a deeper understanding of human beings and our place in the world, it might also help us to improve that world.

Proust and the squid: the story and science of the reading brain A developmental psychologist evaluates the ways in which reading and writing have transformed the human brain, in an anecdotal study that reveals the significant changes in evolutionary brain physiology throughout history.

The Lucifer effect: understanding how good people turn evil What makes good people do bad things? How can moral people be seduced to act immorally? Where is the line separating good from evil, and who is in danger of crossing it?

Renowned social psychologist Philip Zimbardo has the answers, and in The Lucifer Effect he explains how–and the myriad reasons why–we are all susceptible to the lure of “the dark side.” Drawing on examples from history as well as his own trailblazing research, Zimbardo details how situational forces and group dynamics can work in concert to make monsters out of decent men and women.

Zimbardo is perhaps best known as the creator of the Stanford Prison Experiment. Here, for the first time and in detail, he tells the full story of this landmark study, in which a group of college-student volunteers was randomly divided into “guards” and “inmates” and then placed in a mock prison environment. Within a week the study was abandoned, as ordinary college students were transformed into either brutal, sadistic guards or emotionally broken prisoners.

By illuminating the psychological causes behind such disturbing metamorphoses, Zimbardo enables us to better understand a variety of harrowing phenomena, from corporate malfeasance to organized genocide to how once upstanding American soldiers came to abuse and torture Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib. He replaces the long-held notion of the “bad apple” with that of the “bad barrel”–the idea that the social setting and the system contaminate the individual, rather than the other way around.

Best New Science Books from 2007-Part 1

2008-01-23T14:25:00.000-05:00

The Canon: a whirligig tour of the beautiful basics of science Award-winning science journalist Angier takes us on a "guided twirligig through the scientific canon." She draws on conversations with hundreds of the world's top scientists, and her own work as a reporter for the New York Times, to create an entertaining guide to scientific literacy--a joyride through the major scientific disciplines: physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and astronomy. It's for anyone who wants to understand the great issues of our time--from stem cells and bird flu to evolution and global warming. It's also one of those rare books that reignites our childhood delight in figuring out how things work: we learn what's actually happening when our ice cream melts or our coffee gets cold, what our liver cells do when we eat a caramel, how the horse shows evolution at work, and that we really are all made of stardust.
("we are star dust...we are golden " Joni Mitchell)

Super Crunchers: How thinking by numbers is the new way to be smart Touting the benefits of detailed statistical analysis, an economist explains how sorting through mass quantities of easily stored information can offer greater insight into human behavior for businesses, governments, and consumers.
(we were half a million strong)

Musicophilia: tales of music and the brain Drawing on the individual experiences of patients, musicians, composers, and ordinary people, the author explores the complex human response to music, and how music can affect those suffering from a variety of ailments.
(just join in a rock and roll band)

The Genetic Strand: Exploring a family history through DNA Chronicles the author's personal experience with DNA testing and research into his own family, in an anecdotal study that traces his genealogical investigation into his paternal ancestry.
(we are a billion year old carbon)

Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the ridden rivalries that ignited the space age Describes how the fierce political battles of the Cold War spawned the space race, discussing the implications of the 1957 launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik in terms of the battle between the two superpowers to put a man on the moon.

A ball, a dog and a monkey: 1957: the space race begins An account of the first year of the space race describes the dramatic rivalry between the U.S. and the Soviet Union and how it was marked by such contributing factors as UFO sightings, intelligence gathering, and fierce nationalism.
(and I dreamed I saw the bomber death planes riding shotgun in the sky)

The Language of God: a scientist present evidence for belief A head of the Human Genome Project and former atheist presents a scientific argument for the existence of God, revealing how science can support faith by citing the areas of nature that can and cannot be fully explained by Darwinian evolution.
(I came upon a child of God, walking down the road)

Cosmic Jackpot: why our universe is just right for life Looks at cutting-edge scientific discoveries to explore why the fundamental features of the physical universe seem tailor-made to produce life, offering a study of the radical multiverse theory and its implications in terms of reality, time, life, and the cosmos.
(and we've got to get back to the garden)

I am a strange loop
Argues that the key to understanding ourselves and consciousness is the "strange loop," a special kind of abstract feedback loop that inhabits the brain. By the author of Godel, Escher, Bach.
(I feel like I'm a cog in something turning round and round)

Einstein: his life and universe A narrative portrait based on the complete body of Einstein's papers offers insight into his contributions to science, in an account that describes the influence of his discoveries on his personal views about morality, politics, and tolerance.

The Stuff of Thought: language as a window into human nature Presents a study of the relationship between language and human nature, explaining how everything from swearing and innuendo to prepositions and baby names reveals facts about key human concepts, emotions, and relationships.
(but life is for learning)

Rethinking thin: the new science of weight loss-and the myths and realities of dieting Analyzes the psychological and cultural factors that cause many people to be obsessed with attaining unrealistically slender physical proportions.
(we just got caught up in some devil's bargain)

Proust was a neuroscientist Details the contributions of an unlikely group of artists--including artist Paul Cézanne, chef Auguste Escoffier, writer Gertrude Stein, and novelist Marcel Proust--to an understanding of the inner workings of the human brain.
(everywhere you look there was a song and a hope and a celebration)

Ghost: a novel by Alan Lightman Three months after being unexpectedly fired from his banking job, David takes a temporary position at a local mortuary, where he experiences an inexplicable encounter with the unknown that transforms his relationships with everyone around him. The author is a physicist and novelist, who teaches at MIT, and frequently combines scientific explorations with his novels.

Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the struggle for the soul of science An analysis of the uncertainty principle, first introduced by German physicist Werner Heisenberg in 1927 and discusses the birth, evolution, and impact of this important idea.
(get back to the land and set my soul free)

Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics and the battle over global warming Uses scientific evidence from the 2006 hurricane season to study the link between global warming and the ferocity of hurricanes and explores the influence of the media and politicians on commonly held ideas about climate change.

Terra: our 100 million year old ecosystem-and the threats that now put it at risk An analytical synthesis of evolutionary biology, paleontology, and environmental science shows how all three branches of science can help us understand how human behavior endangers the entire global ecosystem and how we can prevent a mass extinction event.
(Can I walk beside you? I've come here to lose the smog)

Titles on this list were selected from http://www.edge.org/
Third Culture Holiday Reading 2007 list.
(annotations from the Fauquier Library Catalog)
my apologies to Joni Mitchell

New Magazine Titles added to Collection

2008-01-08T10:17:00.000-05:00

ATV Illustrated
For the all terrain vehicle enthusiast

Cooking with Paula Deen
Popular Food Network star whose magazine accentuates the positive in entertaining with southern flair and hospitality.

Inventor's Digest
"The Magazine for Idea People", focuses on practical information to make your inventions become a reality

National Geographic Little Kids
This newly developed magazine is for children ages 3-6.
Small format size for small hands; lots of photos with stories and games.

Numismatic News
published weekly, it calls itself "the complete information source for coin collectors" and focuses on current news and events in the coin collecting world.
The library also subscribes to:
Coins
a monthly publication for coin collectors.

Shonen Jump
This monthly publication provides serialization of many popular manga titles before they are in graphic novel format. Issues are available for checkout as part of the Young Adult collection.

Please note: in order to improve accessibility to past issues of popular magazines, the Warrenton branch back copy magazines are now shelved on a stack at the end of the reference collection, near the adult non-fiction.
All those periodicals are available to be checked out.

See PERIODICALS for a complete list of adult magazine titles available at the library.

See CHILDREN"S PERIODICALS for a complete list of children's titles

Wintry Tales

2007-12-17T15:30:00.000-05:00

Doctor Zhivago Originally released as a motion picture in 1965 (remember the first glimpse of the enchanting Ice Palace?) This DVD features: audio commentary, an introduction by Omar Sharif, 30th-anniversary documentary Doctor Zhivago: The making of a Russian epic, 10vintage documentaries, music-only audio track, vintage audio track interviews,and the December 1965 New York premiere coverage.

Silent Night: the story of the World War I Christmas Truce. It happened in spite of orders to the contrary by superiors; it happened in spite of language barriers. And it still stands as the only time in history that peace spontaneously arose from the lower ranks in a major conflict, bubbling up to the officers and temporarily turning sworn enemies into friends. In December 1914 the great war was still young, and the men who suddenly threw down their arms and came together across the front lines, to sing carols, exchange gifts and letters, eat and drink and even play friendly games of soccer, naively hoped that the war would be short-lived, and that they were fraternizing with future friends. It began when German soldiers lit candles on small Christmas trees, and British, French, Belgian and German troops serenaded each other on Christmas Eve. Soon they were gathering and burying the dead, in an age-old custom of truces. But as the power of Christmas grew among them, they broke bread, exchanged addresses and letters and expressed deep admiration for one another. When angry superiors ordered them to recommence the shooting, many men aimed harmlessly high overhead. Sometimes the greatest beauty emerges from deep tragedy. Surely the forgotten Christmas truce was one of history's most beautiful moments, made all the more beautiful in light of the carnage that followed it.

Smilla's sense of snow by Peter Hoeg An international bestseller, the main character is a woman who is an authority on ice classification. Set in Denmark and Greenland, this literary thiller explores the conspiracy behind a young boy's death.

Novels & Stories by Jack London Includes Call of the Wild, Klondike, White Fang and other stories set in Alaska. Classic tales of conflict and survival, battling the elements and human nature as well.

Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
In a large, neglected estate house near the Scottish fishing town of Creagan,
on the shortest day of the year, the lives of five people will come together and be forever changed. Winter Solstice is a novel of love, loyalty and rebirth.

The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs When a devastating house fire reveals a rare treasure among her grandfather's belongings, leading her on a search for the truth, Jenny Majesky returns to the only place she feels safe, The Winter Lodge, where she finds an ally in the local police chief who makes her feel safe--and loved. Second tale set among the Lakeshore Chronicles. Preceded by Summer at Willow Lake

Parrots, Penguins and Pale Male, the red-tailed hawk

2007-12-07T17:34:00.000-05:00

Availabe as both books and DVD's in the library collections are these three tales of "birds" and the diverse places they inhabit.

New York City is home to the Pale Male, a red-tail hawk caring for his offspring, after his mate meets an untimely death. His predicament and how he raises the babies, nesting in a ledge of an apartment complex, is a point of fascination to the worldly New Yorkers who flock to Central Park to view the progress of this apartment-dwelling bird and family. The DVD is narrated by Joanne Woodward, and originally aired on PBS.

San Francisco is one of the homes of a colony of Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill . Follow the ups and downs of a flock of wild urban parrots within the green niches of San Francisco. Along the way meet unforgettable characters like Picasso and Sophie, the inseparable parrot lovers, and Connor, the lovable outcast of the flock. And the humans involved in have their own stories too. Read about Mark Bittner's experiences in The wild parrots of Telegraph Hill : a love story ... with wings

From the United States to Antarctica, the award-winning documentary
March of the Penguins on DVD includes special features: "Crittercam: Emperor penguins" documentary; "Of men and penguins" documentary; "8 ball Bunny": a classic WB animation short with Bugs Bunny and a penguin.
The official children's companion to the documentary, March of the Penguins
is available at all library locations.

Making a difference

2007-11-29T17:28:00.000-05:00

Bill Clinton's new book, Giving has people talking and thinking about how they can make the world a better place.

Here are some other people who've thought about making life better for other people:

Me to We: finding meaning in a material world

Three cups of tea: one man's mission to fight terrorism and build nations-- one school at a time

Heaven on Earth: 15 minute miracles to change the world

The cathedral within : transforming your life by giving something back

A Kid's guide to giving

A place to go, a place to grow : simple things that make a difference for at-risk kids / Lou Dantzler, with Kathleen Felesina ; foreword by Magic Johnson

Toy Train Layout ideas

2007-11-09T16:18:00.000-05:00

In conjunction with the Piedmont Model Railroaders exhibit coming up
here are some resources to inspire your own efforts:

Tracks ahead. Great model train layouts Visit some of the most amazing model train layouts across America on this DVD from the producers of the award-winning public television series Tracks Ahead. Filmed in high-definition, this program visits famous model train sites around the country: New Jersey's Northlandz, Florida's Cypress Gardens model railroad, the Decoster Garden layout of Connecticut, the Lash layout, Washington DC, The Baldwin layout, Georgia, the Robinson layout, Pennsylvania, the Watson layout, Wisconsin, the Zane layout and the Strong layout, Maryland.

Great toy train layouts of America Over five-hours full of great train action. See sleek Lionel diesels, powerful steamers puffing smoke, switchers with backup lights, passenger trains with their lights shining brightly, log and coal loaders, illuminated stations, powerful magnetic cranes, hills and rivers, cities and towns filled with little folk--all the enchantment and thrills that toy train layouts have provided five generations of kids, dads, and granddads. 14 layouts from around the country--from Ward Kimball's multi-gauge layout, to Chuck Brasher's Standard Gauge, Stan Roy's 32-train O gauge, Paul Nelson's outstanding S-gauge, and many more--all capturing the history romance, and fun of toy trains. Includes interviews with the layout builders, tips on building, and more toy trains in action than you'll find anywhere. This series, originally released in 1987, was the first to show classic toy trains in action, and contributed significantly to the dramatic growth of this hobby in the nineties.

A Century of Lionel Trains This DVD, narrated by Tom Snyder, covers the history of the famous train line.

How to build realistic model railroad scenery Covers backdrops, foregrounds, water, rocks, and changing seasons.

Playing with trains : the unexpected world of model railroading A former Grand Prize racer and Emmy Award-winning sportswriter examines the human love affair with model railroading, detailing his own panoramic layout, a model based on the historic Colorado Midland, and describing how his hobby has led to unexpected friendships, its impact on personal and family relationships, and the lost world of the steam engine.

Model Railroader Magazine Available at Bealeton Branch library, along with many other specialized model railroading titles.

A Posse of turkeys, a scourge of mosquitos...

2007-10-25T12:18:00.000-04:00

A mob of kangaroos and other intriguing, sometimes humorous names, for groups of animals (and some bugs) can be found at
Ask the Experts from Oxford University

Among frequently asked questions,
you'll find the answers to improve your scrabble and crossword puzzle skills
with
-words that end in -gry
-the longest word in the English Language
-the always handy list of words with a "q" that are not followed by a "u".

For more on word origins and meanings, you can access the
Oxford English Dictionary online by entering your Fauquier County Public Library Card barcode number.

If phrases pique your curiosity,

check out these books available in the library:

Word spy : the word lover's guide to modern culture

Where Queen Elizabeth slept & what the butler saw : historical terms from the sixteenth century to the present

Loose cannons & red herrings : a book of lost metaphors

Heavens to Betsy! and other curious sayings

A Dictionary of Cliches

Why do bad things seem to happen at class reunions

2007-10-25T11:00:00.000-04:00

Or at least in novels about them?

Here are some misfortunate reunions for consideration before or consolation after attendance at any of your own-
with a few heartwarming ones as well...

Reunion by Alan Lightman
Attending his thirtieth college reunion, Charles, now a middle-aged professor, recalls his senior year, when he had an affair with a beautiful young dancer amidst the turbulent social and political upheaval of the 1960s.

The Class by Erich Segal The ethos and glamour of Harvard resonate throughout this story of five men--Andrew Eliot, Daniel Rossi, Ted Lambros, Jason Gilbert, and George Keller--from their first days at Harvard through their twenty-fifth class reunion.

Die Dreaming by Terence Faherty "Metaphysical detective" Owen Keane learned at his ten-year high school reunion that his old friends share a sinister secret, and now, ten years later at the next reunion, he discovers just how sinister that secret really is.

Outer Banks by Anne Rivers Siddons Reunited with her beloved college chums after years of separation, Kate Abrams, now a successful interior designer, must face the many bitter truths of her own past.

Circle of Grace by Penelope Stokes Having remained in touch through a shared journal since college, friends Grace Liz, Tess, and Amanda meet for an unplanned reunion after a personal crisis leads to the discovery that Grace's colorful life is a fabrication.

Delta Belles by Penelope Stokes Twenty-five years after breaking up, a bitter, widowed Delta Ballou is reunited with her old friends and fellow members of the popular 1960s musical group, the Delta Belles, when they are asked to get together to perform at their college reunion.

Immediate Family by Eileen GoudgeWhen best friends Jay, Franny, Emerson, and Stevie reunite at their fifteen year college reunion, they catch up on their accomplishments and goals and learn the importance of friendship and acceptance.

The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King Every two years, a tight-knit group of Southern women, friends since college, come together for a reunion to renew their relationships with one another, each of them having an incredible story to tell about the course their lives have taken

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers One of the classic reunion nightmares, with a semi-happy ending-Attending a college reunion at Oxford, Harriet Vane receives mysterious messages that call her a murderer.

The Wyndham Case by Jill Paton Walsh St. Agatha's College in Cambridge, England, provides the setting for nurse Imogen Quy's investigation into a series of deaths connected to the special library called the Wyndham Case, which has a strange and possibly violent legacy

Xeriscaping -what's that?*

2007-10-18T10:54:00.000-04:00

If this year's drought has made a shambles of your yard,
consider xeriscaping by planning a new type of garden, with less lawn, and more drought-resistant plants.

Taylor's guide to water-saving gardening This book provides the answers to such questions as, Which plants will thrive without much water? Different varieties of flowers, ground covers, shrubs, and trees are all discussed. Helpful gardening techniques are provided for the 260 plants featured, including effective irrigation and soil improvement.

Waterwise Gardening Describes hundreds of trees, shrubs, vines, and plants that require less water, and shows how to plan cottage, prairie, rock, herb, and desert gardens

Xeriscape Gardening: Water Conservation for the American Landscape Discusses planning and design, soil analysis and improvement, appropriate plant selection, efficient irrigation, mulching, and maintenance

Less Lawn This website provides helpful hints on how to shrink your lawn, low-maintenance lawns, lawnless landscapes and useful plants.

* Definition of Xeriscape

Earth, Sea and Sky

2007-10-04T17:21:00.000-04:00

Planet Earth on DVD is now available at all library locations.
Narrated by David Attenborough, this is a
stunning 11-part series that captures rare action, impossible locations, and intimate moments with our planet's best-loved, wildest, and most elusive creatures.
In addition to the series, the DVD's include these
special features: 110 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage - one 10-minute behind the scenes program for each episode; "Planet Earth: the future" 3-part, 2 1/2 hour documentary.

Blue Planet
Again, the familiar voice of David Attenborough narrates this exploration of the earth's oceans featuring incredible undersea videography on 4 discs, including eight behind the scenes featurettes, interviews, compelling exploration of men's impact on the oceans, photo galleries, fact files, trailers

Winged Migration Follows bird migrations flying over the seven continents: from one pole to the other, from the seas to snowcapped mountains, from the canopy of heaven to mangroves and swamps-shot over the course of three years, exhilarating footage includes the Himalayas, with an acclaimed soundtrack.

Music mags, tabs, midi and more

2007-09-20T10:29:00.000-04:00

Reading about music sounds weird in a way,
but we remain fascinated with those who create, record and perform music
of all types.

Magazines available at the library for musicians and those who wannabe include:

Guitar Player
Keyboard
Rolling Stone

A few titles about rock history:
Rolling Stone: the illustrated portraits which includes interviews with the subjects and the artists accompany an assortment of portrait paintings, caricatures, and drawings of Bob Dylan, Kurt Cobain, Patty Hearst, and other notable figures who have graced the pages of Rolling Stone.

The Best of Rolling Stone: 25 years of journalism on the edge A twenty-fifth anniversary collection features some of the most influential articles from the magazine that redefined journalism, with works by Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, Chet Flippo, Ellen Hopkins, and others.

Trouble Girls: the Rolling Stone book of women in rock Essays by leading music critics look at the most important female rock musicians, singers, and groups, with profiles of Bonnie Raitt, Carol King, Tina Turner, Janis Joplin, Madonna, and many others plus stunning close-up portrait photographs,chronicle the role and history of women in rock music

The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll Compiles discographies, personnel changes, biographical information, and reviews of rock, hip-hop, electronica, and pop musicians

Ready to make your own music?--Try some of these sites:

MIDI 101 by Tweakheadz Lab
Easychord
Chordie Guitar Tabs
Cyberfretbass
How to play drums

Magazines for parents too busy to read books

2007-08-28T14:32:00.000-04:00

Are you an adoptive parent or a prospective adopter?
Adoptive Families magazine covers current adoption issues and has articles by adoption lawyers and doctors about medical and legal questions, plus international adoption information and many other parenting topics.
www.adoptivefamilies.com

Are you a new parent?
American Baby covers all the basics for expectant and new parents. Health, development, product evaluations, behavior advice and nutrition are covered.
http://www.americanbaby.com/

Are you the parent of a child or teen with special needs?
Exceptional Parent: the magazine for families and professionals caring for people with special needs covers autism, accessibility, mobility, assistive devices, and much more.
www.eparent.com

Do you homeschool your children?
Home Education is a standard title for homeschooling families, and winner of a Parents' Choice award.
http://www.homeedmag.com/

Looking for some new ideas for family time?
FamilyFun Magazine can help spark creative togetherness - it's main focus is family activities.
http://www.familyfun.go.com/

Interested in helping your preschool child learn?
Parent & Child from Scholastic focuses on the learning link between home and school, with an emphasis on early learning.
Parent & Child website

Other popular parenting magazines available include:
Parents
Parenting

All these magazines are available at the library and back issues (other than the current issue) can be checked out for 3 weeks.

Items available at one branch can be requested for delivery to another.

For Literary Types

2007-08-15T12:25:00.000-04:00

The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) has a blog which features prominent contemporary writers writing about prominent contemporary writers (and some not so contemporary).

If you look forward each year to the announcement of the
National Book Award winners, then this blog is for you:
Critical Mass

The New York Review of Books also has a blog that was started slightly less than a year ago:
A Different Stripe

And here's a link to their regular publication:
New York Review of Books

To keep up with what's happening across the Pond,
check out the Times Literary Supplement

For the more esoteric reads,
try the LitBlog Co-Op, an effort to "unite the leading literary weblogs for the purpose of drawing attention to the best of contemporary fiction, authors and presses that are struggling to be noticed in a flooded marketplace."

Recently added eAudiobooks

2007-08-14T09:43:00.000-04:00

Here are some adult, teen and children's titles now available to download:

Ivy + Bean by Annie Barrows.

Death of a scriptwriter by M.C. Beaton.

The Flamenco Academy by Sarah Bird.

Freddy and the Ignormus by Walter R. Brooks.

Go put your strengths to work : 6 powerful steps to achieve outstanding performance / Marcus Buckingham.

The secret by Rhonda Byrne.

Since you're leaving anyway, take out the trash by Dixie Cash.

Curiosity killed the cat sitter by Blaize Clement.

Summer of light by W. Dale Cramer.

Get organized the clear & simple way : reclaim your home, your office, your life / Marla Dee.

Forbidden fruit : love stories from the Underground Railroad / by Betty DeRamus.

A meeting in the ladies' room by Anita Doreen Diggs.

Understanding the holocaust by David Engel

Grave surprise by Charlaine Harris.

Invisible by Pete Hautman.

Infamous by Virginia Henley.

Renovating Becky Miller by Sharon Hinck.

Far North by Will Hobbs.

Where have all the leaders gone? by Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney.

Betrayal of the mountain man by William W. Johnstone with J.A. Johnstone.

Deepwater by Matthew F. Jones.

The treasure of Jericho Mountain by Cameron Judd.

Dog days : dispaces from Bedlam Farm by Jon Katz.

Justice Hall by Laurie R. King.

Rules by Cynthia Lord.

The Spellman files by Lisa Lutz.

Living an empowered life! : techniques for creating clarity, confidence, optimism, and wealth! by Denise Lynch.

Christianity at the crossroads : the Reformations of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by Thomas F. Madden.

The year of secret assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty.

Dark sky by Carla Neggers.

In search of Eden by Linda Nichols.

Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson.

Rant : an oral biography of Buster Casey / by Chuck Palahniuk.

The Cupid chronicles by Coleen Murtagh Paratore.

The wedding planner's daughter by Coleen Murtagh Paratore.

Miss Julia strikes back by Ann B. Ross.

Invisible prey by John Sandford.

The lady in blue by Javier Sierra ;translated by James Graham..

Dear Mr. Jefferson : letters from a Nantucket gardener / by Laura Simon.

For more information about downloadable audiobooks, see
NetLibrary on the library's website.

For a list of compatible playing devices, see Supported Portable Listening Devices

Cheesemaking and Bread baking

2007-08-02T11:41:00.000-04:00

Artisanal cheeses are coming into their own as the next big local resource.

The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese includes a listing by state of specialty cheese producers,
plus indexes by types of cheese: cow, goat, sheep, water buffalo, raw milk and organic.

For learning about how cheeses are made, the The Cheese Nun on DVD provides a fascinating and delightful personal journey as Sister Noella Marcilleno becomes a champion for artisanal cheesemakers on both sides of the Atlantic.

If you're ready to try it on your own, Home Cheese Making: recipes for 75 homemade cheeses will get you started.

For general information about all types of cheese, check out
The Cheese Primer by Steve Jenkins which discusses the principles of cheesemaking and describes the cheeses of Europe and North America.

To accompany your cheese, some resources on bread baking include:
Video Bread Series.
This is a very non-threatening set of 8 DVDs, good for a complete novice, on all aspects of bread baking: kneading, rising, punching down, etc., plus tips on pizza making, muffins, sweet rolls, pie crusts, and how to really get some use out of your dusty bread machine.

If you're more comfortable with the bread baking process, check out Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads which offers over 600 pages of bread baking recipes. It covers more than just bread, and is very thorough in approach.
America's best-loved bread-baking authority returns with the 30th anniversary edition of the New Complete Book of Breads, the definitive version of this baking classic.

Space Sounds

2007-07-20T15:34:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wondered what sounds are made by the planets, and the galaxy?

Through Space Sounds you can experience many different sounds from space, such as the Rings of Saturn, Jupiter's Magnetosphere, the Heartbeat of the Sun.

Explore images taken from the Hubble Telescope in the Picture Albums of galaxies, the solar system, nebulae, stars,
and the universe. or take an image tour which will explain terms and facts about specific planets, galaxies and nebulae.

Visit the Hubble Reference desk, see the Top 10 most frequently asked questions, a glossary, charts, and more.

For some fun reading try:
Breaking the time barrier: the race to build the first time machine

The physics of Star Trek

This new ocean: the story of the space age

Swashbucklers, Buccaneers, Pirates and Privateers

2007-07-13T10:20:00.000-04:00

In Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini, Dr. Peter Blood is arrested and sentenced to hang for treating a wounded rebel. Instead of death, he is sent to Barbados as a slave. When the Spanish attack the port city of Bridgetown, he and his fellow slaves capture the Spanish ship and set out to sea, where he becomes the notorious pirate, Captain Blood. With its battles on sea and land, daring escapes, sword duels to the death, a touch of romance, this greatest pirate story of them all is a swashbuckling adventure on a grand scale. Also available as an audio CD, with fantastic performances by the Colonial Radio Theater on the Air, and on DVD with Errol Flynn.

Sabatini also wrote The Sea Hawk.

L. L. Chaikin's Buccaneer Trilogy focuses on romance in the Caribbean.

Another Caribbean tale is Johanna Lindsey's Captive of my desires , which follows Gabrielle, the daughter of a pirate, trying to find a suitable husband.

The Brethren of the Coast series by James Nelson, features Thomas Marlowe, a former pirate who has gone legit and now owns a Virginia plantation. He finds himself charged with defending the colony from the all too familiar pirate menace infesting the waterways.

In Dewey Lambdin's naval adventure series with Captain Alan Lewrie, he runs afoul of pirates off the waters of New Orleans in The Captain's Vengeance

Shipwrecked on the coast of North Carolina, his companions killed, Tatton Chantry is alone—and ready for action. In the old world he fought wars, skirmishes, duels. Now, in the wilderness of America, this swashbuckling hero takes up against pirates, Spanish fortune seekers, savage Indians. Aided by a beautiful Peruvian woman, he braves the fierce challenges of the New World—always, like a true Chantry, with his expert hand on the hilt on his faithful silver sword, in Louis L'amour's Fair blows the wind

See Under the black flag: the romance and reality of life among the pirates for some gruesome facts about life on the sea.

Also, The Pirate Hunter: the true story of Captain Kidd which traces the career of buccaneer William Kidd, a New York sea captain hired to chase pirates, from his early voyages through his death on the gallows, and discusses the role played by Robert Culliford, a rogue and mutineer, in Kidd's downfall.

For the musical pirate, there's always The Pirates of Penzance on DVD starring Kevin Kline in Gilbert and Sullivan's raucous and comedic operatic tale of Frederic, a 'slave to duty' pirate, and the lowly band of 'orphaned' pirates.

Fun Food Fiction

2007-07-06T14:17:00.000-04:00

Deck dining, picnics, cook-outs, tailgate parties, vegetable gardens-

this time of year, fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables evoke the elemental memories of past summer repasts.

As Lewis Grizzard reminds us,

"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato."

Here are some light summer reads to accompany your menu:

Cooking for Harry

Food of Love

Friendship Cake

Girl Cook

La Cucina

Last Bite

Last Chinese Chef

Recipes for a perfect marriage

Potluck Club series

Second Thyme around

Blue Bistro

By Bread alone

Pastries: a novel of desserts and discoveries

Pomegranate Soup

Whole World Over

Bread Alone and its sequel The Baker's Apprentice

Barbecue mystique (or is that mesquite?)

2007-06-29T10:29:00.000-04:00

The big book of outdoor cooking and entertaining : spirited recipes and expert tips for barbecuing, charcoal and gas grilling, rotisserie roasting, smoking, deep-frying, and making merry / Cheryl and Bill Jamison
Presents the essentials of outdoor cookery, introducing more than eight hundred recipes, an array of appetizers, main courses, side dishes, drinks, and desserts, and practical advice on equipment and utensils, menu planning, and entertaining

Raichlen's indoor! grilling / by Steven Raichlen
In case it rains...
Features an array of recipes for appetizers, beef, pork, lamb, burgers, poultry, seafood, breads and sandwiches, vegetables and sides, and desserts to be cooked on grill pans, indoor smokers, built-ins, and the fireplace

A man, a can, a grill : 50 no-sweat meals you can fire up fast / by David Joachim and the editors of Men'shealth
Offers fifty simple recipes that use no more than five main ingredients and includes tips on everything from shopping and preparation to grilling and presentation

How to grill / by Steven Raichlen
A full-color, photograph-by-photograph, step-by-step technique book, "How to Grill" gets to the core of the grilling experience by showing and telling exactly how it's done. From how to set up a three-tiered fire to how to grill a prime rib, a porterhouse, a pork tenderloin, or a chicken breast. There are techniques for smoking ribs, cooking the perfect burger, rotisserieing a whole chicken, barbecuing a fish; for grilling pizza, shellfish, vegetables, tofu, fruit, and s'mores. Bringing the techniques to life are over 100 all-new recipes

Barbecue bible : sauces, rubs, and marinades, bastes, butters & glazes / by Steven Raichlen

Shellfish on the grill : more than 80 easy and delectable recipes for lobster, shrimp, scampi, scallops, oysters, clams, mussels, crab, and more

Book Club Reads

2007-06-22T17:56:00.000-04:00

Is your group taking a summer hiatus?
Thinking about joining or forming one?
Here are some "inspirational" titles and some practical ones.

And Ladies of the Club
Before there were "book clubs" there were Women's Literary Societies. This chronicles several generations of the Waynesboro Ohio Women's Club, from just a few years after the Civil War to 1932.
At over 1000 pages, it can keep you reading all summer.The book caused a great stir when it was published 25 years ago, written by an octogenarian. The grandmother of today's book club books, it was on the 1984 bestseller for a long time.

The story behind the book is that Helen Santmyer began the novel at the age of 38, to counter the image of small town life given in Sinclair Lewis's Main Street. She completed it decades later.

The Book Class
Louis Auchincloss' novel is told through the eyes of Christopher Gates, the male narrator, who reveals the secrets and stories of the 12 women of his mother's "book class", begun by them as debutantes in 1908, and meeting every month for over 60 years.

The Jane Austen Book Club
As six Californians get together to form a book club to discuss the novels of Jane Austen, their lives are turned upside down by troubled marriages, illicit affairs, changing relationships, and love, in a comedy of contemporary manners.

Angry Housewives Eating Bonbons
From the initial formation of The Freesia Court Book Club and over the course of the next thirty years, five women in small-town Minnesota share the events, triumphs, tragedies, hardships, joys, and sorrows of their lives.

Dinner with Anna Karenina
Six Manhattan women gather for a year to discuss great literature with great meals. But they find that the novels open up paths for discussion about the deepest and most difficult aspects of their own lives.

The Year of reading Proust: a memoir in real time A non-fiction work by Phyllis Rose describes how Proust's novels led her to understand the art of writing an autobiography, and recounts her experiences as an author, a woman, and a person in midlife.

A year of reading classics: a month by month guide to classics and crowd pleasers is a reading guide, organized around the calendar year, offers descriptions of each book, discussion questions, information about the authors, and lists of video, Internet, and bibliographical resources.

Vintage Reading: From Plato to Bradbury a personal tour of some of the world's best books Discusses eighty essential books, including literary classics, controversial books, influential works, best sellers, and writings on art, science, politics, and psychology

Recovering your story: Proust, Joyce, Woolf, Faulkner, MorrisonAn illuminating study explores the ways in which the works of some of the twentieth century's seminal writers helps readers understand the texture, shape, and evolution of human consciousness and the nature of our inner lives, offering critical analyses of outstanding works by Marcel Proust, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, and Toni Morrison.

Reading to heal: how to use bibliotherapy to improve your life

Thirteen Ways of looking at the novel by Jane SmileyThe author celebrates the art of fiction as she looks at one hundred very different examples of the novel, ranging from the classics to little-known gems, and discusses the evolution of the novel and the practice of novel-writing

Readers' Choice:200 book club favorites

Read it and eat from irresistible beach reads to timeless classics a month-by-month guide to scintillating book club selections and mouthwatering menus.

"Biography is the only true history"...

2007-06-18T11:00:00.000-04:00

according to Thomas Carlyle.

Similarly, Ralph Waldo Emerson stated "There is properly no history; only biography."

More recently, writer Mark Feeney stated, "Once the implicit aim of biography was to uplift now it is to unveil."

If reading about people's lives is one of your passions, and you are looking for something else to read while waiting for a copy of the Diana Chronicles, there is a new resource that will keep you posted about all aspects of biography, through a monthly e-newsletter.

The Biographer's Craft provides news about upcoming biographies, both subjects and their authors, reviews of biographical books, and articles related to the fine art of biography.
You can view their newsletters, starting from March 2007, in the archives on the website to decide if you want to subscribe.

The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography this year is:
The Most Famous man in America: the biography of Henry Ward Beecher by Debby Applegate

To see a complete list of Pulitzer Prize-winning biographies:
Pulizter Prize for Biography or Autobiography

To find out about new biographies available at the library, check out the
New to the Collection List on the catalog's home page. List # 5 is for recently added biographies.

If you prefer to browse the biographies at the library, the latest additions can be found in the "New Book" section at each branch, or the full collection in the separate "Biography" collection in the adult non-fiction area.

Biographies are indicated with a "B" as the call number, and shelved according to the
person the book is about, so, for example, all the biographies about Franklin Roosevelt would be shelved together under B ROO.

Garden Reads

2007-06-14T17:54:00.000-04:00

If gardening and nursery catalogs are some of your favority reading materials,

consider branching out to some tales of fiction, mystery, and real life, about other people and their gardens:

Consider the Lily by Elizabeth Buchan
Wild Designs by Katie Fforde
Night Gardening by E. L. Swann

Garden Club Mystery by Graham Landrum
Garden Club by Muriel Resnick Jackson
Gardening Mystery series by Ann Ripley
English Garden Mysteries by Anthony Eglin
Bretta Solomon mysteries by Janis Harrison

Onward and Upward in the Garden by Katherine White
Around the house and in the garden by Dominique Browning
Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul

Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air

2007-06-13T11:53:00.000-04:00

Some of you may be familiar with the "Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air" broadcast on XM satellite radio, now newly joining up with i-tunes, and Imagination Theater.

Many of their quality productions are also becoming available for purchase on audio CD format.
Some are classics like

Captain Blood ,

some are original productions, such as Powder River.

Powder River is a western adventure series, set in the Wyoming frontier.

Join former lawman turned rancher Britt MacMasters and his son Chad as they begin a new life for themselves in Clearmont, Wyoming, but Britt's past returns to haunt him, as one of the toughest outlaw gangs in the west is headed towards Clearmont for revenge. A rousing 15 episode western adventure series that keeps true to its roots. Currently the library has Season 1 and Season 2. from this series.

For a list of Fauquier library holdings, see Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air as an author entry.
The library will continue to add titles from their productions as
they are made available.

For more information about the Colonial Theatre on the Air, and their schedule,
see http://www.colonialradio.com/

Literary Thrillers-Dante, Bronte, Byron, Poe, Rossetti et cetera

2007-06-12T17:52:00.000-04:00

For those who like a more cerebral chase,

some of these are more literary, some are more thriller:

Rossetti Letter by Christi Phillips
Fearing that her research will be rendered useless if a Cambridge professor proves his theory about seventeenth-century Venetian courtesan Alessandra Rossetti, Ph.D. candidate Claire Donovan agrees to chaperone a troubled teen in order to gain passage to the professor's presentation in Venice.

Possession by A.S. Byatt
This tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets became a huge bookseller favorite, and then on to national bestellerdom. Winner of England's Booker Prize, a coast-to-coast bestseller, and the literary sensation of the year, Possession is a novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and a triumphant love story.

Harvard Yard by William Martin
Harvard historian Peter Fallon investigates a university legend about an original Shakespeare manuscript that may have survived the Harvard Hall fire of 1764
In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches
The discovery of an original manuscript of Dante's "Inferno" in the Vatican archives finds writer Nick Tosches heading for Rome to authenticate the find.
Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
When her health begins failing, the mysterious author Vida Winter decides to let Margaret Lea, a biographer, write the truth about her life, but Margaret needs to verify the facts since Vida has a history of telling outlandish tales
Lord Byron's Novel: the Evening Land by John Crowley
A work spanning three centuries follows the stories of a lost Lord Byron novel, the writer's daughter's efforts to save the manuscript, and a woman who discovers the daughter's secret.
Bronte Project: by Jennifer Vandever
Abandoned by her fiance, Sara Frost finds herself beginning to question everything from her love life to her life's work, as she stumbles into a world populated by an amoral Frenchman, two New York eccentrics, and a Hollywood producer.
Rule of Four
Trying to decipher an ancient text that weaves a mathematical labyrinth within a love story, two researchers obtain a diary that may contain the key to the code, but when a fellow researcher is killed, they realize that the book contains a dangerous secret.
Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
In 1865, the preparations of the Dante Club--led by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes--to release the first translation of Dante's "The Divine Comedy" are threatened by a series of murders that re-create episodes from "Inferno."
Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl
In 1849 Baltimore, following the death of Edgar Allan Poe, Quentin Clark discovers that Poe's final days had been marked by a series of bizarre, unanswered questions and launches his own investigation to resolve the mystery of Poe's death.

Virginia is for music, hiking, history, weekend walks...

2007-05-17T13:20:00.000-04:00

A guide to the Crooked Road: Virginia's heritage music trail
follows 250 miles through southwestern Virginia, introducing the various sources of its rich musical traditions in bluegrass, old-timey music, African influences, the fiddle and the banjo, "luthiers" (stringed instrument makers), and where to find the best music along the trail.

Highlights include the Blue Ridge Music Center, the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance Museum and the Ralph Stanley Museum, and the Carter Family homestead. The trail crosses along 10 counties. Chapters feature annual festivals, concerts, live radio shows and informal jam sessions. Accompanied by CD with sample sounds.

For more information and upcoming music events, visit also: www.thecrookedroad.org

Blue Ridge Roadways: a Virginia field guide to cultural sites follows five self-guided auto loop tours along the Blue Ridge region of Virginia.

Historic buildings, parks, museums, and natural features are highlighted along the way.

Leonard Adkins has written a number of regional travel guides. Two of his most recent focus on hikes in Virginia.
50 Hikes in Northern Virgina covers from the Allegheny Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay.

50 Hikes in Southern Virginiacovers from the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean.

Going over to the Eastern Shore, you can take along Weekend walks on the Delmarva Peninsula

Closer to home is
Weekend walks in the historic Washington DC region:38 self-guided walking tours in the capital and five surrounding states, also features Williamsburg, Gettysburg, Harper's Ferry, Baltimore and Annapolis.

I suspect Agatha Christie in the library, with a compact disc

2007-05-11T17:38:00.001-04:00

Although they've always been mystery fan favorites,
for a time it was difficult to find Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot stories.

Now, the BBC radio collection full-cast dramatizations of
The Complete Miss Marple Collection and Hercule Poirot's Greatest Cases are available on compact disc at the library.

The Miss Marple collection features June Whitfield as the village sleuth in all 12 of her intriguing cases, based on the novels.

The Hercule Poirot collection stars John Moffatt, with a full cast radio dramatization of 14 novels.

In addition to the audio versions, and of course, the actual books themselves,
these books are available at the library:

The Agatha Christie Companion: the complete guide to Agatha Christie's life and work

In the Footsteps of Agatha Christie

Come, tell me how you live an early autobiographical work by Agatha Christie, on her adventures with one of her husbands, while on an archaelogical excavation in the Middle East.

A Talent to deceive: an appreciation of Agatha Christie by Robert Barnard, another mystery master.

The Bedside, bathtub and armchair companion to Agatha Christie

The Life and Times of Hercule Poirot

Factoid: The actor Michael Caine purchased and renovated one of Agatha Christie's houses.

For additional information about Agatha Christie, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, check out these websites:
http://www.poirot.us/

http://us.agathachristie.com/site/home/

Miss Marple

Hercule Poirot

Queen Elizabeth to Visit Virginia this Week

2007-04-30T11:45:00.000-04:00

Fifty years ago, Queen Elizabeth visited Virginia, and she's coming back this week.
In association with this historic event, scheduled to co-incide with the 400th Anniversary of Jamestown, Williamsburg has two exhibits recalling her previous visit.

Jamestown Memories includes accounts of those who were there in 1957 for the Queen's first visit, with a web version from the Williamsburg Regional Library.

The Queen's Visit 1957 is an online photographic version of the exhibit at Swem Library at the College of William and Mary.

For more information, see
Newsletter of the Collection of William and Mary

The Fauquier County library has numerous biographies about the Queen and the Royal Family.

Here are a few titles: Queen Elizabeth II

Reading Rainbow on DVD

2007-04-30T11:31:00.000-04:00

The library has recently added new DVDs in the Reading Rainbow Series at all three branches.

Click here for a list of titles:
Reading Rainbow DVDs

Bible Experience

2007-04-12T12:57:00.000-04:00

Some of you may have seen Denzel Washington on CBS Sunday Morning discussing his participation in recording the Bible Experience, with over 80 other African-American actors, such as Angela Bassett, and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Winner of an AudioFile Earphones award in 2007, this dramatic recreation , with music and sound effects, tells the story of the New Testament, in Today's New International Version, on
19 CD's.

The best-selling audiobook is now available at the library:

The Bible Experience

Wired for Books

2007-04-09T11:03:00.000-04:00

Ohio University has created a fantastic online resource for author interviews, plus other literature audio resources, through its radio, television and web accessible station WOUB http://www.wiredforbooks.org/

Recent additions to the site include Don Swaim's CBS Radio Book Beat interviews with authors of the 20th century. Although the original radio program only broadcast about 2 minutes of the interviews, the full interviews, typically 30-45 minutes in length, are now available online.
Edward Abbey, Russell Baker, Janet Daily, Allen Ginsberg, Anne Rice, John Updike, Amy Tan are just a few of the wide range of authors interviewed over 10 years of the show.

Kids Corner features the tales of Beatrix Potter in both text and audio, and other children's classics such as Alice in Wonderland, Rudyard Kipling's Just So stories, interviews about Beatrix Potter, Mr. Fred Rogers, and more.

Poetry readings, with contemporary poets Robert Pinsky and Sharon Olds reading their own works, and now classic poetry such as Walt Whitmans' Leaves of Grass and the poems of Emily Dickinson read by others are found here.

Hear the Iliad, Book 1 read aloud in ancient Greek, and the Aeneid, Book IV, declaimed in Latin.

These various audio resources use either RealPlayer or RealAudio, available for downloading on the site. Some of the interviews are available for MP3 format.

Spring Cleaning

2007-04-05T15:44:00.000-04:00

Looking for inspiration to jump start the cleaning/organization/simplification of your home and life?

Here are some great resources available at the library:

Clutter

Simplicity

House Cleaning

Home Economics

Some useful websites:

Simple Living Network

Organized Home

Cheap Cooking

Life Organizers

New Magazines for Teens and Children

2007-03-22T18:09:00.000-04:00

Recently added titles to the teen collection include:

Justine
While featuring clothes and makeup tips, this is geared beyond celebrity gossip,
to focus on profiles of real teens and young adults who are making a difference in the world. Also, a DIY monthly feature for crafts and activities.
http://www.justinemagazine.com/

Teen Ink
Written by teens for teens.
http://teenink.com

New to the children's collection:
Boy's Quest
for boys ages 6-12.
Focuses on activities, adventure, projects, and humor.

Virginia Festival of the Book

2007-03-16T13:17:00.000-04:00

Five Days,
Hundreds of mostly free author events
Wednesday, March 21-Sunday, March 25
Charlottesville, VA
For more information, visit
www.vabook.org

Virginia Wildflower of the Year

2007-03-13T19:07:00.000-04:00

The Jamestown (Atamasco) Lily has just been named by the Virginia Native Plant Society as the 2007 Virginia Wildflower of the Year. This was among the early native plants noticed by Jamestown colonists in the Tidewater region.
It is found in southern Virginia, most commonly in the southeastern coastal plain and blooms in April/May.
For more information about this plant and many other native Virginia plants, visit the
Virginia Native Plant Society

Related resources available at the library include:
Virginia Naturalist by John Trott, which was co-published by the Virginia Native Plant Society and the Middleburg Garden Club. It contains essays originally written for John Trott's column in the Fauquier Times-Democrat. He was a naturalist and worked with the Mediera School. The essays cover plants, wildlife and seasonal ruminations.

Spring Wildflowers of the Mid-Atlantic Region is a DVD produced for the Foundation for the Flora of Virginia Project, with Marion Lobstein, John DeMary and Suzanne Lohr. More than 100 common spring wildflowers, shrubs and vines are identified.

Yes, we have Opera

2007-03-06T17:03:00.000-05:00

A new series for opera buffs, and those who would like to learn more about opera, is now available on Audio CD.

Black Dog Opera has released 6 classic titles, featuring Beverly Sills, Birgit Nilsson, Renata Scotto and Leontyne Price as leads.

Each opera "set" includes an introductory disc with background information, and synopses of each act and scene, plus biographical information about the lead vocalists.
Currently, the collection includes:
Aida, The Barber of Seville, Carmen, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, and Il Trovatore.
For more details on the orchestras and performers, see
Black Dog Opera

Opera News Magazine is available at the Warrenton Branch.
For some opera fiction, check out these titles: Opera Novels

To watch opera performances, the library has a substantial collection on VHS.
(sorry, no DVD yet)
Operas on Video

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera is available for reference and research at the Warrenton branch. This four volume work is considered by many to be one of the best resources on Opera in English.

Operamania is a great place to start online.

Narrators of the Year

2007-02-27T17:22:00.000-05:00

Publisher's Weekly has proclaimed Scott Brick as Narrator of the Year for their Best Audio Awards 2006. Brick, who has narrated over 300 audiobooks, was acclaimed for his performance on "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote.

The library has over 80 books narrated by Scott Brick in the collection, including an audio cassette version of the Capote classic. He also narrated many of the Dune Series plus works by Nelson DeMille, Orson Scott Card and Brad Meltzer.

For a complete list of titles available narrated by Scott Brick, in both audio cassette and audio CD formats, see Scott Brick

Tim Curry was awarded the Children's Narrator of the Year,for narration of the Series of Unfortunate Events #13: The End by Lemony Snicket, in 2006, among other titles.

For a list of 30 titles narrated by him , check
Tim Curry in the catalog.

For more information, go to www.publishersweekly.com/bestaudio2006

Twilight Zone Stories to creep you out

2007-02-22T16:33:00.000-05:00

With full cast, music and sound effects, these radio dramas capture the eerieness of the classic Twilight Zone shows of Rod Serling.
Based on original scripts from the 1959-1965 television series, Stacy Keach takes on the role of introducting the stories.
Each volume includes 10 nightmarish, amusing, or just plain weird tales, presented for your consideration by familiar celebrity voices such as Jason Alexander, Jane Seymour, Lou Diamond Phillips, Blair Underwood and Bruno Kirby among others. Copies are available at both the Warrenton and Bealeton branches.

For more information, click Twilight Zone Radio Dramas

New Magazines now at the library

2007-02-08T15:28:00.000-05:00

The library has over 250 magazines available for browsing, with back issues that can be checked out.

New to the collection in 2007:

The Bark
Contemporary dog culture, focusing on the human-canine bond. Available at the Bealeton and Marshall branches.
www.bark.com

Consumer Reports on Health
Newletter format, features up-to-date information on nutrition, medicine , diet and health care. Available at the Warrenton branch.
www.consumerreports.org/oh/index.htm

Everyday with Rachel Ray
Monthly menu plans, travel features, home design and Rachel's popular 30-minute recipes.
Available at all three branches.
www.rachaelraymag.com

Fantasy and Science Fiction
Short stories and novellas, reviews of new and upcoming fantasy and SF fiction. Available at the Bealeton branch.
www.fsfmag.com

GRIT: American life & traditions
Accounts of life on the farm, in the woods. Features on raising animals. A magazine for families with a positive viewpoint. Available at the Bealeton branch.
www.grit.com

InStyle
Celebrity profiles, fashion and beauty advice, home design features.
Available at the Bealeton branch.
www.instyle.com/instyle/

PC Photo
Focuses on amateur digital photography and the latest technologies. Provides equipment reviews, how-to articles. Available at the Bealeton branch.
www.pcphotomag.com

Tropical Fish Hobbyist
The title says it all. Available at the Warrenton branch.
www.tfhmagazine.com/

New downloadable audio titles

2007-01-16T13:44:00.000-05:00

Over 30 new titles are added each month to this fast-growing and popular collection.

Among the most recently available are:

Plain truth by Jodi Picoult
Remember me by Mary Higgins Clark
Cat on the scent by Rita Mae Brown
Club sandwich by Lisa Samson
Trust me by Jayne Ann Krentz
Point to point navigation by Gore Vidal

There's now many more children and teen titles available for downloading, including Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean and Crispin at the edge of the world by Avi.

Also, the entire Bible is now available for listening on e-audio. It's read by many different narrators, in a plain English version.

For more titles added this past month, please check the link to the right under New Titles Added and scroll down to New downloadable audio books

Brush up your Shakespeare

2007-01-11T15:01:00.001-05:00

Washington is celebrating Shakespeare with a six-month festival, featuring his legacy through plays, dance, music, museums, and online discussions.
See the Washington Post Sunday, January 7, 2007 Arts Section for more details.
Also, check out these websites for a list of events and ticket information:
www.washingtonpost.com/Shakespeare
www.shakespeareinwashington.org

For those who want to explore aspects of Shakespeare in anticipation of attending a performance, or afterwards, the library offers many different ways to become more familiar with Shakespeare's life, work, and enduring fascination to actors, historians, philosophers, and sleuths.

Firstly, the Plays:
The Complete Dramatic Works of Shakespeare on DVD
available at Warrenton and Bealeton branches.
Additionally, there are copies of the plays on VHS as well at both locations.

Secondly, about Shakespeare the writer:
Peter Saccio, a noted lecturer on Shakespeare"s works has several courses available through the Teaching Company, on audio cassette and CD.

Thirdly, about Shakespeare the man:
In Search of Shakespeare" on DVD with Michael Wood and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Over the course of 4 hours, he explores the documentary evidence available to provide an intimate and illuminating portrait of Shakespeare's world.

For more information about individual plays, browse in the call number
822.33 SHA
For his sonnets, see that number plus 821. 3 SHA

If you are doing more academic research, in addition to the many print works in the library's collection, there's also the Bloom's Literary Reference Online an online collection available to any Fauquier County library cardholder, that provides in-depth literary criticism on specific works, by Shakespeare and many other authors.

This is just a small sampling of the many diverse resources available at the library about Shakespeare.

Virginia Officers who fought in the Revolutionary War tell their stories...

2006-12-08T17:01:00.000-05:00

As part of his love of Virginia history, regional author and teacher Michael Cecere became involved in Revolutionary War re-enactments. Through original research for his "characters" who were real soldiers, he has written 5 books that tell their stories.

They Behaved like soldiers: Captain John Chilton and the Third Virginia Regiment 1775-1778
This includes a transcript of Chilton's diary and letters. Captain Chilton's regiment included notable Virginians such as James Monroe and William Washington. It provides invaluable
insights of the 3rd Virginia Regiment's routine and hardships, as they served in Trenton, and Brandywine during the war.

An Officer of very extraordinary merit: Charles Porterfield and the American War for Independence 1775-1780
The title comes from a quote of George Washington about Porterfield's service.
In this examination of numerous first person accounts, spanning from Boston and Quebec, through NJ, and down to South Carolina, the reader learns of the distinguished soldier's bravery as he endured blizzards, marches through Maine's wilderness, and action in many battles. John Marshall, future Supreme Court Justice, served as a lieutenant in the rifle unit commanded by Col. Daniel Morgan of Winchester, wherein Porterfield served as well.

Captain Thomas Posey and the 7th Virginia Regiment
Posey was with the battalion that played a prominent role in driving Lord Dunmore and the loyalist forces off Gwynn's Island and out of Virginia. His experience with his rifle company provides accounts of the Virginia forces at Saratoga, Whitemarsh , Valley Forge and Stony Point.

They are indeed a very useful corps, American riflemen in the Revolutionary War
The riflemen were formed in 1775 during the beginning of the Revolutionary War. This book includes eyewitness accounts of Benedict Arnold's attack on Quebec, and many battles in New York and NJ, including Trenton, Princeton, Harlem Heights and Throg's Neck. Southern Battles include King's Mountain and Cowpens.

In this time of extreme danger: Northern Virginia in the American Revolution
The role Northern Virginia played during the war, including political and social aspects as well as military maneuvers are highlighted in this book.

These books are available at the three branches of the library system.

Rabbit Ear Tales

2006-10-23T13:38:00.000-04:00

Recently released on Audio CD are some famous people telling beloved stories, in three different series--American Tall Tales, Bible Stories and Storybook Classics.

Garrison Keillor retells "Johnny Appleseed" and Angelica Houston narrates "Rip Van Winkle"
in some fall tall tales.
American Tall Tales vol.1

Amy Grant and Kelly McGillis retell the story of the creation and Noah's Ark in
Bible Stories vol. 1

There are two volumes of Storybook Classics on CD.
In vol. 1, Glenn Close tells "The Emperor and the Nightingale" and Kelly McGillis reads "Thumbelina".
Storybook Classics vol. 1

In the second Storybook Classics, Cher shares "The Ugly Duckling" and Holly Hunter tells about "The Three Little Pigs" and "The Three Billygoats Gruff".
Storybook Classics vol.2

All titles are available at Warrenton, Bealeton and Marshall in the children's audiobook section.

The series will continue to release new editions several times a year.

More Modern Scholars

2006-10-11T11:56:00.000-04:00

Baffled by the Brothers K? Do you find Tolstoy turgid?
Giants of Russian Literature: Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov explores the rich tradition of these great writers.
Professor Liza Knapp, who was the online "literary expert" for Anna Karenina, with Oprah's book club, explains how these works wrestle with the universal questions of love, death and the human condition.

The Search for the Holy Grail is timeless.
Eternal Chalice: the Grail in Literature and Legend
Professor Monica Brzezinski Potkay from the College of William and Mary, explores this theme.

A Way with Words: Writing, Rhetoric and the Art of Persuasion
From formal speeches to cocktail party banter, the role of rhetoric is pervasive in how we persuade and are persuaded. A History of the English Language focuses on how language defines people, and how the English language evolved.
Professor Michael D.C. Drout, who is the lecturer for both of these courses, is one of the founding editors of the Tolkien Studies Journal and has won numerous awards for his teaching lectures and scholarship.

Your Library Card-a virtual library in a pocket

2006-09-26T17:57:00.001-04:00

If you have a Fauquier County Library Card,
you can use encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, find magazine and newspaper articles,
get literary criticism through the Bloom's Literary Reference Online for reports, download Legal Forms, take college test preparation previews, learn about the college application process through the Testing and Education Resource Center, and research your ancestors from the convenience of your home, any time, day or night.

From the library's website, just click on Databases and Links from the menu on the left side,
click on any of the databases listed, enter your card number and you have your own research library in your computer.

This includes the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, the World Book Encyclopedia, the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, thousands of magazine and newspaper articles through FinditVa Periodical and Newspaper Indexes, going back for many years, and HeritageQuest census data for genealogy research.

If you don't have a Fauquier Library card, and you live or work in Fauquier County, own property or attend school here, you can apply online for one right here:
Application info

PS: September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month

Local Area Magazines

2006-08-31T14:50:00.000-04:00

The Library has a number of regional journal subscriptions, including:

Blue Ridge Country
Northern Virginia (new)
Soul of Virginia
Southern Accents
Southern Living
Virginia Business
Virginia Capitol Connections
Virginia Forests
Virginia Home Educator
Virginia Review: journal of Virginia Government
Virginia Wildlife
Washington Business Journal
Washington Consumer Checkbook
Washingtonian

Please check our online catalog for locations and availability:
Fauquier Library Catalog

New eAudiobook Titles for August

2006-08-18T09:28:00.000-04:00

August eAudiobook Titles

Phantom Waltz by Catherine Anderson

Plain Brown Wrapper by Karen Grigsby Bates

Windward West by Matt Braun

Solitary Envoy by T. Davis Bunn

Pegasus Descending by James Lee Burke

Crisis by Robin Cook

First Impressions by Jude Deveraux

DiMaggio: The Last American Knight by Joseph Durso

Getting to Yes by William Fisher

Drinking Life by Pete Hamill

King of Lies by John Hart

Betrayed by David Hosp

Trouble Man by Travis Hunter

Slim and None by Dan Jenkins

Le Mariage by Diane Johnson

Preacher’s Daughter by Beverly Lewis

Up Jumps the Devil by Margaret Maron

Within the Shadows by Brandon Massey

Automatic Wealth: The Six Steps to Financial Independence
by Michael Masterson

Sins of the Wolf by Anne Perry

Guilt Trip by Ben Rehder

Lying Awake by Mark Salzman

Espresso Tales by Alexander McCall Smith

First Salute by Barbara Tuchman

Forgotten by Elie Wiesel

Lone Star Café by Lisa Wingate

Complete New Yorker on DVD

2006-07-31T14:46:00.000-04:00

A treasure-trove of American literature, humor, and social history from the famed weekly is now available for use in the Warrenton Branch reference collection.

Every cover, cartoon, illustration, article and advertisement in the New Yorker magazine from February 1925-February 2005 is included on 8 DVD-ROM discs (for computer use only), plus a booklet describing highlights of the magazine's history. That's over 4,000 issues and half a million pages.

James Thurber, E.B. White, Joseph Mitchell, Truman Capote, Roger Angell, James Baldwin, Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Garrison Keillor, John Updike, Vladamir Nabokov are just some of the names which appeared regularly over the years.

Searching for those obscure J. D. Salinger short stories that weren't in his published anthologies? You'll find them here, plus poems by Sylvia Plath, Dorothy Parker, Seamus Heaney, cartoons by Charles Addams, George Booth, columns from Calvin Trillin, and fifty years of letters from Paris by Janet Flanner.

Theatre, dance, and film reviews from 1925 onward; a horse-racing column, The Race Track, that ran from 1926-1978; and "Talk of the Town" gossip provide an overview of the
culture, sophisticated and popular, through the decades.

Quite a few books began as published articles in the pages of the New Yorker, including reportage from Jonathan Schell, Neil Sheehan, Rachel Carson, and Seymour Hersh.

The New Yorker's weekly slice of life from the Roaring 20's through the disco 80's into the 21st century is distinctive, distinguished, and entertaining.
Complete New Yorker