Big Library Read: American Sniper by Chris Kyle

Posted on March 18, 2016 | Leave a comment
Big Library Read, OverDrive’s “global book club,” is back once again! Join millions of users around the world reading the same eBook, at the same time, for free. Today through March 31st, American Sniper by Chris Kyle will be available with no wait list.

The #1 New York Times bestselling memoir of U.S. Navy Seal Chris Kyle, and the source for Clint Eastwood’s blockbuster movie which was nominated for six academy awards, including best picture.

From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. His fellow American warriors, whom he protected with deadly precision from rooftops and stealth positions during the Iraq War, called him “The Legend”; meanwhile, the enemy feared him so much they named him al-Shaitan (“the devil”) and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle, who was tragically killed in 2013, writes honestly about the pain of war—including the deaths of two close SEAL teammates—and in moving first-person passages throughout, his wife, Taya, speaks openly about the strains of war on their family, as well as on Chris. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle’s masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time.

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Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collection at
http://e-inc.lib.overdrive.com.  Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

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Resource of the Month: Ancestry Library Edition

Posted on March 11, 2016 | Leave a comment

AncestryGive yourself a gift in honor of Genealogy Day (March 12, according to daysoftheyear.com) by paying a visit to the library!  In addition to the expected family history resources located on shelves, you’ll have access to Ancestry Library Edition at any of the public computers.

You might have seen ads for Ancestry.com or watched “Who Do You Think You Are” on TLC and thought about doing some research of your own.  That used to mean time-consuming — often expensive — trips to courthouses, Register of Deeds offices, churches, and archives, but now much of the legwork can be accomplished virtually, with an internet connection and access to digital collections.

According to its website:  “Ancestry Library Edition provides access to billions of historical documents, millions of historical photos, plus local narratives, oral histories, indexes and other resources in over 30,000 databases that span from the 1500s to the 2000s.”  And it’s free to onsite library visitors!  There are two dedicated Local History and Genealogy computers, but any of our public computers will provide access to the amazing and ever-expanding collection of Ancestry.com.  Library visitors can explore records and research guides at  www.AncestryLibrary.com.

The significant differences between a paid, individual subscription and the Library Edition have to do with personalization, so library visitors cannot upload documents or add to online family trees.  However, patrons are able to search most of the databases, save/email/print information, and take advantage of forms and tips and tutorials.

Staff at the Reference Desk are happy to assist you in getting started with this resource.  We also have genealogy volunteers available every Thursday to assist you with researching your family history.  Call 919-545-8086 for details and to schedule an appointment.

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eBook Friday: Kitchen Hacks by America’s Test Kitchen

Posted on March 11, 2016 | Leave a comment

 

Kitchen Hacks: How Clever Cooks Get Things Done, by America’s Test Kitchen:

Innovative solutions to everyday cooking challenges from our team of test kitchen MacGyvers—the test cooks at Cook’s Illustrated magazine!

A kitchen hack is an unusual, easier, and/or better way of performing a task that often saves money and time or improves the quality of the outcome. In this wacky but eminently useful collection of kitchen hacks, you will learn how to outsmart tricky tasks and face down kitchen challenges (big and small) with innovative and clever ideas from Quick Tips, the most popular feature in Cook’s Illustrated magazine (900,000 circulation). Kitchen Hacks is a beautifully designed guidebook to hacking your kitchen . . . and beyond!

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Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collection at
http://e-inc.lib.overdrive.com.  Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

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eBook Friday: A Year Without Mom by Dasha Tolstikova

Posted on March 4, 2016 | Leave a comment

A Year Without Mom, by Dasha Tolstikova:

A Year Without Mom follows 12-year-old Dasha through a year full of turmoil after her mother leaves for America. It is the early 1990s in Moscow, and political change is in the air. But Dasha is more worried about her own challenges as she negotiates family, friendships and school without her mother. Just as she begins to find her own feet, she gets word that she is to join her mother in America — a place that seems impossibly far from everything and everyone she loves. This gorgeous and subtly illustrated graphic novel signals the emergence of Dasha Tolstikova as a major new talent.

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Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collection at
http://e-inc.lib.overdrive.com.  Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

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I thought all combs were magnetic.

Posted on March 2, 2016 | Leave a comment

March 6 1902 Magnetic Comb

This advertisement, buried at the bottom right of the last page of the March 6, 1902 Chatham Record, reminds me of a magic trick we used to do in elementary school (usually on picture day, when everybody had a comb).

And no, I’m not that old.

Here’s how the trick goes: All you have to do is tear up some paper into little bits, run your comb through your hair, and the static electricity will make the comb lift the paper off the table. Magic!

I couldn’t find any reference to Dr. Oxley’s Magnetic Comb on the web, so I don’t know whether it’s an unwieldy contraption or just a standard comb with “instructions”.

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eBook Friday: The Grownup

Posted on February 26, 2016 | Leave a comment

The Grownup, by Gillian Flynn

A canny young woman is struggling to survive by perpetrating various levels of mostly harmless fraud. On a rainy April morning, she is reading auras at Spiritual Palms when Susan Burke walks in. A keen observer of human behavior, our unnamed narrator immediately diagnoses beautiful, rich Susan as an unhappy woman eager to give her lovely life a drama injection. However, when the psychic visits the eerie Victorian home that has been the source of Susan’s terror and grief, she realizes she may not have to pretend to believe in ghosts anymore. Miles, Susan’s teenage stepson, doesn’t help matters with his disturbing manner and grisly imagination. The three are soon locked in a chilling battle to discover where the evil truly lurks and what, if anything, can be done to escape it.

“The Grownup,” which originally appeared as “What Do You Do?” in George R. R. Martin’s Rogues anthology, proves once again that Gillian Flynn is one of the world’s most original and skilled voices in fiction.

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Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collection at
http://e-inc.lib.overdrive.com.  Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

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eBook Friday: A Man Called Ove

Posted on February 19, 2016 | Leave a comment

A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.

A feel-good story in the spirit of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Fredrik Backman’s novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. “If there was an award for ‘Most Charming Book of the Year,’ this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down” (Booklist, starred review).

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Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collection at
http://e-inc.lib.overdrive.com.  Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

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Look Away to See Better?

Posted on February 12, 2016 | Leave a comment

fatigue of the eye

One of my favorite things about reading old issues of The Chatham Record is coming across articles that explain odd phenomena. This one from November 5, 1896 tells us why stars seem to dim when we look right at them.

 

Fatigue of the Eye

A star appears more distinct if one looks at a point near it than it does when looking at the star itself. This is due to what is called “fatigue” of the retina. When looking at an object we naturally focus that object on the most sensitive part of the retina and keep the image permanently there. Now, in the case of a star, the image is a microscopic point and covers only an infinitesimal portion of the retina, and the great strain on this portion produces immediate “fatigue.” If we look at a point near the star then as they eye moves, the image travels over the retina and successive portions of it are called into play so quickly that “fatigue” is not experienced. It does not do to look at another star near it, for then the eye is kept fixed and “fatigue” at once ensues. To most eyes the Pleiades appear far more distinct when we fix our eyes on a blank space of the heaven near them than when we look at them directly.

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eBook Friday: Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir

Posted on February 12, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir, by Carrie Brownstein

From the New York Times bestselling author and guitarist of the pioneering band Sleater-Kinney, the book Kim Gordon says “everyone has been waiting for” — a candid, funny, and deeply personal look at making a life—and finding yourself—in music.

Before Carrie Brownstein became a music icon, she was a young girl growing up in the Pacific Northwest just as it was becoming the setting for one the most important movements in rock history. Seeking a sense of home and identity, she would discover both while moving from spectator to creator in experiencing the power and mystery of a live performance. With Sleater-Kinney, Brownstein and her bandmates rose to prominence in the burgeoning underground feminist punk-rock movement that would define music and pop culture in the 1990s. They would be cited as “America’s best rock band” by legendary music critic Greil Marcus for their defiant, exuberant brand of punk that resisted labels and limitations, and redefined notions of gender in rock.

HUNGER MAKES ME A MODERN GIRL is an intimate and revealing narrative of her escape from a turbulent family life into a world where music was the means toward self-invention, community, and rescue. Along the way, Brownstein chronicles the excitement and contradictions within the era’s flourishing and fiercely independent music subculture, including experiences that sowed the seeds for the observational satire of the popular television series Portlandia years later.

With deft, lucid prose Brownstein proves herself as formidable on the page as on the stage. Accessibly raw, honest and heartfelt, this book captures the experience of being a young woman, a born performer and an outsider, and ultimately finding one’s true calling through hard work, courage and the intoxicating power of rock and roll.

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Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collection at
http://e-inc.lib.overdrive.com.  Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

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eBook Friday: Paper Towns

Posted on February 5, 2016 | Leave a comment

Paper Towns, by John Green

When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night—dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows her. Margo’s always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she’s always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they’re for Q.

Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers.

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Every Friday, we highlight a title from our collection at
http://e-inc.lib.overdrive.com.  Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here!

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