Winter Is Coming So Help Build a Snowman

The Lansing Community Library kicks off its first ever Winter Reading Program Saturday, November 19, 2016 from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. There will be games and refreshments for the kick-off. The theme for the Winter Reading Program is DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN?

The program provides challenges for all ages (two through adult), with a chance to qualify for prize drawings. You’ll have until January 7, 2017 to complete all nine challenges in your age group. Patrons may sign up online (see detailed how-to instructions below) or at the library during the kickoff party.

Fun & Games

The kickoff party will feature several hands on games for children, including pin the nose on the snowman, building a snowman, magic color scratch snowmen and a story time. Healthy snacks as well as a hot chocolate bar will round out the fun.

Tic-Tac-Toe

The Tic-Tac-Toe challenge sheets may be picked up at the library. Each age group – 2-7 years, 8-12 years, 13-19 years and adults – may complete up to nine (9) challenges. Patrons who complete 1-2 challenges are entered into the drawing for a Freddy’s gift card. Complete 3-5 challenges to be entered into the drawing for a $25 AMC gift card. Complete 6-8 challenges to be entered into the drawing for a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card. Complete all nine (9) challenges to be eligible for the grand prize drawing for a Kindle e-Reader. There are additional drawings in two age groups (8-12 and 13-19 years) for LEGO kits.

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Recipe Review: Cranberry Spinach Salad ~ 5 Stars

Cranberry Spinach Salad

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered
1 pound spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons minced onion
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook and stir almonds in butter until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and let cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, onion, paprika, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, and vegetable oil. Toss with spinach just before serving.
In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the toasted almonds and cranberries.

My Thoughts

My husband and I have made this salad several times for ourselves and family members. I discovered spinach later in life and now it’s my favorite leafy indulgence. The dressing perfectly compliments spinach and the cranberries and almonds add tartness and texture.

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Eclectic Adventures in Adult Group Reading

The Lansing Community Library Adult Book Group recently celebrated their first anniversary. Since last year’s banned book celebration in September 2015, we’ve read a variety of fiction and non-fiction, classics, essays, award-winning fiction, graphic novels and touched most genres.

This month we try to solve the mystery of A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George. We’ll meet to discuss this book on Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. at the Library in Lansing, Kansas.

About A Great Deliverance

To this day, the low, thin wail of an infant can be heard in Keldale’s lush green valleys. Three hundred years ago, as legend goes, the frightened Yorkshire villagers smothered a crying babe in Keldale Abbey, where they’d hidden to escape the ravages of Cromwell’s raiders.

Now into Keldale’s pastoral web of old houses and older secrets comes Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton. Along with the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley has been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the peaceful countryside. For fat, unlovely Roberta Teys has been found in her best dress, an axe in her lap, seated in the old stone barn beside her father’s headless corpse. Her first and last words were “I did it. And I’m not sorry.”

Yet as Lynley and Havers wind their way through Keldale’s dark labyrinth of secret scandals and appalling crimes, they uncover a shattering series of revelations that will reverberate through this tranquil English valley—and in their own lives as well.

And Then What?

The continuing mystery of any book group is always what to read next. And this time of year we start to see the ‘best of’ lists or, in the case of GoodReads, the annual Choice Awards (voting ongoing). We’re scheduled through May 2017, so we’ve got some time to fill up the rest of 2017.

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Book Review: Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck ~ 4.5 Stars

Of Mice and Men

by John Steinbeck

Read by Gary Sinise

Listened to late Oct/early Nov 2016

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis (via GoodReads): Of Mice and Men was John Steinbeck’s first masterpiece. Originally published in 1937, it’s the timeless story of George Milton and Lennie Small, ranch hands who drift from job to job, always one step ahead of the law and a few dollars from the poorhouse. George is small, wiry, sharp-tongued and quick-tempered; slow witted Lennie is his opposite—an immense man, brutishly strong but naturally docile, a giant with the mind of a child. Despite their difference, George and Lennie are bound together by a shared vision: their own small farm, where they’ll raise cows, pigs, chickens, and rabbits, where they’ll be their own bosses and live off the fat of the land.

My Thoughts

This review is a follow-up to my previous post on challenged books for 2016 (click here to refresh your memory) . Of Mice and Men is my first Steinbeck. I must admit I’m impressed.

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November Novel Noteables

I spent a couple of hours last Saturday volunteering at my local library. You can find me most Saturday afternoons helping out behind the front desk. About halfway through my scheduled shift, I realized that the stack end cap across from me had changed since the last time I’d been in (see photo right). This time of year, the last two months, and the first month or so of the upcoming year, breeds lists, especially of the ‘best of’ variety. Until I saw this end cap, I didn’t realize the State Library of Kansas had been producing a curated list annually for the past ten years:

The Kansas Notable Books List is the annual recognition of 15 outstanding titles either written by Kansans or about a Kansas related topic. The Kansas Notable Book List highlights our lively contemporary writing community and encourages readers to enjoy some of the best writing of the authors among us.

A committee of academics, librarians, and authors of previous Notable Books identifies quality titles from among those published the previous year, and the State Librarian makes the selection for the final List. A medal awards ceremony honors the books and their authors.

Kansas Notable Books is a project of the Kansas Center for the Book, a program of the State Library. Throughout the award year, the State Library promotes and encourages the promotion of all the titles on that year’s list at literary events, and among librarians and booksellers.

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Backyard Observing

20161021_175740 — Friday evening setup: tarp (to catch falling bits and pieces in the dark) and the base.

All last week, I looked forward to the weekend as a chance to get some astronomical observing accomplished. The weather forecast seemed too good to be true: Sunny and clear, highs in the mid 70s and lows in the 50s, with dew points in the upper 40s and lower 50s. My astronomy club hosted a club star party, but I did not want to lug the scope to Louisburg and share the observing grounds with a previously scheduled private party. Continue reading “Backyard Observing”

Series Review: Human Target (2010 – Season 1) Four Stars

Human Target

Season One Aired: 2010

Watched via Netflix DVD: Fall 2016

Synopsis (from Wikipedia): The series follows the life of San Francisco-based Christopher Chance (Mark Valley), a unique private contractor, bodyguard and security expert hired to protect his clients. Rather than taking on the target’s identity himself (as in the comic book version), he protects his clients by completely integrating himself into their lives, to become a “human target”. Chance is accompanied by his business partner, Winston (Chi McBride), and hired gun, Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley). Continue reading “Series Review: Human Target (2010 – Season 1) Four Stars”

Banned Book Bonanza

Libraries around the country celebrate “Banned Book” week during the final week of September (or the first full week of Fall). My local library, the Lansing Community Library (LCL), decided to extend this celebration of reading freedom through the end of October, to give patrons a longer window of opportunity to explore this year’s top challenged books.

Interview with a Librarian

I asked Emily Stratton, one of LCL’s Youth Services Librarians, a few questions that I had about banned or challenged books and with her permission I’m sharing her answers here:

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became a librarian?

I’ve always been a reader. Growing up as a military brat, reading was always something fun to do when we hadn’t made new friends yet or had our house items delivered to our new home. Though I received my bachelor’s degree in photography, I never stopped enjoying reading. I applied for an opening at Lansing Community Library after graduating college and began working there as a Circulation Technician in January of 2015 and fell in love with the job. A year and a half later, I’m now the Youth Services Librarian and plan on starting my Masters in Library Science next year.

What are your hopes for the program?

With our display and Banned Books Week, we’re hoping to get others excited celebrate their freedom to read and access to information. So many are surprised to find that their favorite book or a classic novel they read in high school has been challenged to be removed from an educational environment. Hopefully the displays we’ll keep up will spark conversations about why these are challenged and whether or not they agree. Maybe it will even introduce some new books to someone!

How long will the display remain up at the library?

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Best Home Alarm System: Man’s Best Friend

In my search for different and interesting ‘small screen’ series to sample, I stumbled upon a couple of good ones recently: Human Target (from 2010 but cancelled after second season) and The Fall (from 2013 with three seasons to date). I’m still watching Limitless, pausing briefly after watching the pilot to watch the movie that spawned the series, but otherwise continuing with 2-3 episodes per week.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d3/Human_Target_2010_Intertitle.png

Terry and I have finished two of three DVDs for the first season of Human Target. I was hooked after the first episode, and not just because Christopher Chance’s pet was a Rottweiler named Carmine. This show packs a lot of punches into a scant hour of programming and each episode is something completely different. It’s fun to watch and even has me looking for the original graphic novels to read, but libraries are totally not up to speed in that area. Continue reading “Best Home Alarm System: Man’s Best Friend”

Movie Review: Shaolin (2011) ~ 4 Stars

Shaolin

Released: 2011

Watched: late September 2016 via Netflix streaming

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Directed by: Benny Chan

Starring: Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse with an appearance by Jackie Chan

Short Synopsis (via IMDb.com): After ambushing and killing his rival, losing everything in the process, dispirited warlord Hou Jie turns to a Shaolin monastery seeking salvation.

My Thoughts

My husband caught part of this movie on our Dish Network DVR, but was unable to find another airing of it to re-record the whole movie. Neither was it available On Demond from Dish Network. I did find it, however, available via Netflix streaming. We streamed it on a lazy Sunday evening. We’d spent much of the day being lazy thanks to a gentle fall rain which ended in a spectacular sunset:

I didn’t realize until after finishing the movie that this was a remake of Jet Li’s classic Shaolin Temple (1982), which I have not seen (or don’t remember watching) but will remedy that lack in the near future.

While I enjoyed the story and the martial arts in Shaolin, what struck me most was the performance by Andy Lau. I’ve now added at least four more of his recent and highest rated films to my Netflix queue. Many of the supporting actors turned in good performances as well.

Many of the themes resonate with my Christian upbringing and lead me to further research and reading into Buddhism. I need to foster tolerance and understanding, embrace our similarities and understand our differences. Knowledge is power and tempered with love and compassion, can make the world a better place.