Tag Archives: just for fun

Literary Valentines!

 

Sure, we understand that Valentine’s Day is not everyone’s cup of tea. That is very OK with us. However, if you could use a chuckle, we encourage you to check out these articles of assorted literary valentines. And yes, there are so many with library themes!

And if you’re feeling extra festive today, why don’t you send a message to a library stakeholder (a principal/Board Member/legislator, etc) and tell them how much you love your library? If you need suggestions on what to say, we’ve got you covered!

Music Book Mash-Up: February

In this series, we are going to share a fun variety of books about music! Even if you don’t play an instrument you can still absolutely be a music lover. So check back each month for a different collection of books all relating in some way to music! We’ll share fiction and nonfiction titles and try to cover many different genres and time frames. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments! Happy reading (and listening, and playing!)

This picture book had great reviews on Goodreads and shows how deaf people are able to enjoy music, too!

Moses Goes to a Concert by Isaac Millman
Moses and his school friends are deaf, but like most children, they have a lot to say. They communicate in American Sign Language, using visual signs and facial expressions. This is called signing. And even though they can’t hear, they can enjoy many activities through their other senses. Today, Moses and his classmates are going to a concert. Their teacher, Mr. Samuels, has two surprises in store for them, to make this particular concert a special event.

Isaac Millman tells Moses’s story in pictures and written English, and in American Sign Language (ASL), introducing hearing children to the signs for some of the key words and ideas. At the end of the book are two full conversations in sign language and a page showing the hand alphabet.

This YA book definitely has a romance-y vibe which is fun but I really enjoyed reading about Liesl and her classical music composing, and her relationship with her talented brother who plays the violin. 

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
All her life, Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, dangerous Goblin King. They’ve enraptured her mind and spirit and inspired her musical compositions. Now eighteen and helping to run her family’s inn, Liesel can’t help but feel that her musical dreams and childhood fantasies are slipping away.

But when her own sister is taken by the Goblin King, Liesl has no choice but to journey to the Underground to save her. Drawn to the strange, captivating world she finds–and the mysterious man who rules it–she soon faces an impossible decision. With time and the old laws working against her, Liesl must discover who she truly is before her fate is sealed.

And here’s a relatively new book about a musical legend!

Slowhand: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton by Philip Norman
For half a century Eric Clapton has been acknowledged to be one of music’s greatest virtuosos, the unrivaled master of an indispensable tool, the solid-body electric guitar. His career has spanned the history of rock, and often shaped it via the seminal bands with whom he’s played: the Yardbirds, John Mavall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominoes. Winner of 17 Grammys, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame’s only three-time inductee, he is an enduring influence on every other star soloist who ever wielded a pick.

Now, with Clapton’s consent and access to family members and close friends, rock music’s foremost biographer returns to the heroic age of British rock and follows Clapton through his distinctive and scandalous childhood, early life of reckless rock ‘n’ roll excess, and twisting & turning struggle with addiction in the 60s and 70s. Readers will learn about his relationship with Pattie Boyd, wife of Clapton’s own best friend George Harrison, the tragic death of his son, which inspired one of his most famous songs, Tears in Heaven and even the backstories of his most famed, and named, guitars.

The Cool Way This English Department Encourages Kids to Read!

So many of our school libraries are designing fun and unique book displays to get students excited about reading. At this high school in Illinois, the whole English department got into it and decked out their entire hallway!

“When the students of Mundelein High School in Mundelein, Illinois returned to school from winter break there was something different about the hallways of the English department.

Six floor-to-ceiling vinyl prints of book covers had been installed while they were away in the hopes that it would encourage students to talk more about their reading life.”

See the pictures and rest of the article here!

Music Book Mash-Up: January

In this series, we are going to share a fun variety of books about music! Even if you don’t play an instrument (or don’t play an instrument well) you can still absolutely be a music lover. So check back each month for a different collection of books all relating in some way to music! We’ll share fiction and nonfiction titles and try to cover many different genres and time frames. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments! Happy reading (and listening, and playing!)

We’ll start things off with a picture book that looks truly delightful:

Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald by Roxane Orgill, Sean Qualls (Illustrator)

When Ella Fitzgerald danced the Lindy Hop on the streets of 1930s Yonkers, passersby said good-bye to their loose change. But for a girl who was orphaned and hungry, with raggedy clothes and often no place to spend the night, small change was not enough. One amateur night at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Ella made a discovery: the dancing beat in her feet could travel up and out of her mouth in a powerful song —and the feeling of being listened to was like a salve to her heart. With lively prose, Roxane Orgill follows the gutsy Ella from school-girl days to a featured spot with Chick Webb’s band and all the way to her number-one radio hit “A-Tisket, A-Tasket.” Jazzy mixed-media art by illustrator Sean Qualls brings the singer’s indomitable spirit to life.

Next, a book that explores the many contributions of women to the world of country music:

Woman Walk the Line: How the Women in Country Music Changed Our Lives by Holly Gleason (Editor)

Full-tilt, hardcore, down-home, and groundbreaking, the women of country music speak volumes with every song. From Maybelle Carter to Dolly Parton, k.d. lang to Taylor Swift–these artists provided pivot points, truths, and doses of courage for women writers at every stage of their lives. Whether it’s Rosanne Cash eulogizing June Carter Cash or a seventeen-year-old Taylor Swift considering the golden glimmer of another precocious superstar, Brenda Lee, it’s the humanity beneath the music that resonates.

Here are deeply personal essays from award-winning writers on femme fatales, feminists, groundbreakers, and truth tellers.
Part history, part confessional, and part celebration of country, Americana, and bluegrass and the women who make them, Woman Walk the Line is a very personal collection of essays from some of America’s most intriguing women writers. It speaks to the ways in which artists mark our lives at different ages and in various states of grace and imperfection–and ultimately how music transforms not just the person making it, but also the listener.

And finally, a book recommendation that I also found was on many “best of” lists:

Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine by Joe Hagan

A delicious romp through the heyday of rock and roll and a revealing portrait of the man at the helm of the iconic magazine that made it all possible, with candid look backs at the era from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Elton John, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and others.

The story of Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone’s founder, editor, and publisher, and the pioneering era he helped curate is told here for the first time in glittering, glorious detail.

Supplemented by a cache of extraordinary documents and letters from Wenner’s personal archives, Sticky Fingers depicts an ambitious, mercurial, wide-eyed rock and roll fan of who exalts in youth and beauty and learns how to package it, marketing late sixties counterculture as a testament to the power of American youth. The result is a fascinating and complex portrait of man and era, and an irresistible biography of popular culture, celebrity, music, and politics in America.

We Heart MN: Spiders!

In this series, we’ll pick some of our favorite things about Minnesota and share some related book suggestions. (We’re open to your suggestions! Comment below or email us and tell us some of your favorite MN things!)

Usually, in this post, we focus on cheery and delightful things that make our state fantastic. But on this week of Halloween, I thought it would be “fun” to find out more about some creepy-crawly creatures that call Minnesota home: spiders!
According to this article, there have been 19 unique species that have had confirmed sightings in Minnesota. If this interests you, check out this page from the U of M Extension to learn more about types of spiders in Minnesota.
So, if you’re in the mood for spiders this Halloween, here are some books to help:

Spiders of the North Woods by Larry Weber “Which spider spits venom and sticky threads? Why don’t Northerners need to fear the Black Widow? These answers and more are found in Spiders of the North Woods. The easy-to-follow format makes field identification of over 60 species simple and fun.”

 

Kafka’s Uncle and Other Strange Tales by Bruce Taylor “An alternate universe? A different dimension? The “id” of America? Meet Anslenot and his tormentor/confident, a giant tarantula, as they wander through a blasted, desecrated landscape of broken ideals and shattered hopes. ”

 

Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott “Anansi the Spider is one of the great folk heroes of the world. He is a rogue, a mischief maker, and a wise, lovable creature who triumphs over larger foes. In this traditional Ashanti tale, Anansi sets out on a long, difficult journey. Threatened by Fish and Falcon, he is saved from terrible fates by his sons. But which of his sons should Anansi reward? Calling upon Nyame, the God of All Things, Anansi solves his predicament in a touching and highly resourceful fashion.”

Frank the Seven-Legged Spider by Michaele Razi “Frank loves being a spider, especially the part that involves having eight glorious legs. But one morning Frank wakes up missing a leg. One of his friends exclaims, “I barely recognize him!” Another friend asks, “Are you still a spider, Frank?” Is he still a spider? Frank doesn’t know. And so a quest ensues as Frank searches for his leg and the answer to his identity.”

And of course, you can’t go wrong with the classic Charlotte’s Web or Eric Carle’s The Very Busy Spider.