Et tu, Brutus?

If March makes you think of shamrocks and green beer, you may have forgotten about a very dark day for a certain, famous Roman. The Ides of March ("ides" was the term used for the 15th day of March, May, July and October) is quickly approaching, and if you're curious why March 15th is known for more than just being "two days before St. Patrick's Day," you need to read The Ides: Caesar's Murder and the War for Rome by Stephen Dando-Collins.

Here's a paragraph from the first chapter, describing Caesar's physique seven weeks before his assassination: "Caesar was fifty-four years of age. Tall, well built, with a small chin, sensuous mouth, and large, dark brown eyes, his fair hair now gray, he was a good-looking man, if not handsome. Yet he was vain; because he was balding, "a disfigurement which his enemies harped upon," according to his biographer Suetonius, Caesar brushed his hair forward to cover a large bald spot. To further hide his baldness, on public occasions, he wore the laurel crown to which he was entitled as the winner of a Triumph. According to Suetonius, Caesar's vanity extended to having his body hair removed with tweezers." Too bad Caesar didn't embrace the "bald is beautiful" movement...

Pruning pains

My back hurts. Reason? My husband and I spent the weekend pruning our fruit trees. All 19 of them. It was a lot of work. But it was also pretty great being outdoors in our "spring" weather (almost hate to say the word for fear that winter is gonna smack me for it...) - and despite sore muscles, aching back, bruises caused by large tree limbs, etc., our first major pruning adventure turned out to be a success. Whether you're facing a large or a small pruning project, here are some books that can trim your apprehensions about gardening.

P.S. - I was not the official chainsaw operator for our project, and no, I wasn't auditioning for "Saw VII." But a chainsaw-carrying librarian might dispel some stereotypes...from Cycle Jan to Chainsaw Jan...hmmm...

* The Illustrated Practical Encyclopedia of Pruning, Training & Topiary
* Pruning Made Easy: A Gardener's Visual Guide to When and How to Prune Everything, from Flowers to Trees
* Encyclopedia of Northwest Native Plants for Gardens and Landscapes

and as a recent buyer of property in the "country," I'm going to put this one on hold for sure:
* Five Acres and Independence (independence? certainly not from pruning!)

Hail to the chief...of books?

Just came across a list of the best read US presidents. To find out who had a habit of burning holes in his books, or which president took a speed-reading course, or who published an English translation of a 16th century metallurgy text, check out this entry from The Daily Beast. And if reading this list inspires you to read more about a particular president, be sure to check out the biography section of the library.

New fiction

Do you root for the underdog in a sports game? Do you secretly cheer for the tortoise when he crosses the finish line ahead of the much faster rabbit? Whenever I'm looking at the newest fiction coming into the collection, I admit to having a fondness for lesser-known titles. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for bestsellers, and let's face it, the bestsellers are in high demand. But if you're like me and get a bit weary of hearing the same authors' names again and again, I have a few suggestions to combat bestseller fatigue. These titles have been recently ordered, so you may have to wait a bit for them, but if you put yourself on hold now, you'll probably be at the top of the list - and what's better than that? I'm also providing a couple of keywords for each book as a way to entice readers :0)


Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show - traveling theater, Ireland (this is getting buzz about being a good book club read, so it's popularity may rise)

The Man With Two Arms - baseball, "switch pitcher," obsessive parent

The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson - Dickinson's inner voice, tattooed handyman

The Crimson Rooms - pre-WWI setting, British female lawyer, illegitimate child

Phil Harris

Phil Harris, the captain of the Cornelia Marie on the tv show "Deadliest Catch," passed away this week. I'm a huge fan of this show and was sorry to hear about his death. We have the first four seasons of Deadliest Catch on dvd, and season five will be arriving in the next couple of months.

Eat your veggies

I just saw a new Moosewood cookbook come rolling through our technical services department. The Moosewood Collective produces some fabulous vegetarian recipes, and if you're thinking vegetarian is not your thing, I still urge you to consider taking a look at the newest title: Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health: More Than 200 New Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes for Delicious and Nutrient-Rich Dishes. Some of these enticing recipes just might make you crave a little more veg in your life.

Books go to the movies!

The 2010 Oscar nominations have been announced, and I am delighted to see that four of the ten best picture nominees are adapted from books (I suppose this would have been more impressive in previous years when the best picture nominations topped out at five...but, oh well).

The four films are: The Blind Side, An Education, Precious, and Up in the Air. We are in the process of ordering copies of "An Education" by Lynn Barber - up until very recently her title was only available in a UK edition, but now a US edition is available from the publisher Atlas Books. If you've seen the movie, but didn't know there was a book, or you want to read the book before going to the theater, check us out!

* The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
* Push: A Novel (the inspiration for Precious)
* Up in the Air

MILK EGGS VODKA

Have you ever found someone's old grocery list floating around in the bottom of your shopping cart? Well, there is a whole book of them called Milk Eggs Vodka: grocery lists lost and found. The lists are divided into categories such as Badd Spellrs (ceareal, banans, rost befe), Sad Grocery Lists (prozac, ibuprofen, fibre-all, & sensodyne), and Ye Olde Style (Hominy, P. Towels, eggs, pills). This book will make you laugh as well as properly discard your own lists!