2017 was a tough year for cooking magazines. First we saw the discontinuation of Vegetarian Times (briefly known as Vegetarian Today), and if that wasn't bad enough it was followed by the folding of Lucky Peach, the wonderful San Francisco based publication. But fortunately we're starting 2018 off right with...
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BOOKS
FICTION
Jane Hamilton The excellent Lombards
Charles Portis Masters of Atlantis
David Szalay London & the south-east
Aliya Whiteley The beauty
Steve Yarbrough...
With the welcoming of a new year, we often are motivated by the feeling of a fresh start and set new goals such as exercising more or eating more healthfully. Whether it’s learning to take better care of yourself or read a hundred books this year, our collection has plenty of audio books to help with your New Year’s Resolution. In just a few hours of listening, you can discover how to deal with stress, manage your money and more! Ok, it'll take some follow up effort too but these picks should...
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BOOKS
FICTION
Naima Coster Halsey Street
Robin MacArthur Heart spring mountain
Lucy Hughes-Hallett Peculiar ground
Ali Smith Winter
Chloe Benjamin...
BOOKS
FICTION
Sonali Dev A distant heart
Neel Mukherjee A state of freedom
Julie Murphy Dumplin'
Sam Graham-Felsen Green
William H. Gass O...
Want to get your year in books off to a great start? Consider a novella – a short novel (or a long story) under 200 pages. While a lot of books these days clock in around a hefty 300-400 pages, in decades past a book under 200 pages was more the rule than the exception. Consider some of the classics – John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome, and Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea can be read in a day. In addition to the classics novellas are having a bit of a renaissance at t...
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BOOKS
FICTION
Daniel A. Olivas The king of lighting fixtures
Daniel Suarez Change agent
Daniel Keyes Flowers for Algernon
Mystery, Suspense, Espionage & Intrigue
Sue Ann Jaffarian...
My family has only been in the United States for 3 generations and I’ve been able to find a lot of information on them in U.S. census records, county vital statistics and other records. However, when it comes to going back to records in Italy, I often am challenged finding records that will provide birth, marriage and death records due to the flowery writing of the 19th century, records that were destroyed in WWII, or other issues.
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As 2017 comes to a close, I've been getting a lot of reading inspiration from "best of" book lists. My favorites this year feature some action-packed debuts, new volumes from favorite series, and a couple of thought-provoking non-fiction reads:
10. Not a Sound by Heather Gudenkauf. In this modern thriller, a deaf woman (with the help of her adorable hearing dog, Stitch) tries to solve the murder of her best friend, a...
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What is art house cinema? Picture a small, independent theater. In your mind’s eye, you’re probably not imagining the latest action movie or Summer blockbuster on the marquee. Instead, you may envision foreign, independent, or art films not intended for the mass-market. Many films that started out in art houses are now found in the collection at Mechanics’ Institute. Below are staff recommendations from the 2nd Floor DVD and Blu-ray display.
Heather says:
I’m still pining for...
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