Sampling the Rich History of Poetry: Part 1
People have been composing poems for thousands of years. As with fiction, the variety is huge, and if you don’t know much about it, it can be intimidating. Where do you start if you want to dip your toe in the poetry pool? I’ve always enjoyed a good poem, but my interest has increased in the last few years. So I thought it would be fun to do a series of posts highlighting some of my favorites.
New Locally Produced Title: Here’s What You Do
LBPH is proud to a share a new locally produced title available for loan or download from BARD. Here’s What You Do When You Can’t Find Your Shoe was recorded in … Continued
A New Story From Middle-Earth
The tale of Beren and Luthien is part of the legends and history that make up J.R.R Tolkien’s beautiful world Middle-Earth. Tolkien’s son, Christopher, has removed the story of the lovers from the original work and, along with his understanding of his father’ work and his own work he did editing The Silmarillion, has reconstructed the tale of the two lovers.
Museum Musings
In 1967, Elaine Lobl Konigsburg published her classic children’s book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and introduced readers to Claudia and Jamie Kinkaid, siblings who decide … Continued
#PGHReads: Moonglow by Michael Chabon
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Pittsburgh-native Michael Chabon’s latest novel is an absorbing fictional memoir that is based in large part based on a dying man’s recollections to his writer-grandson as he looks back on his life. Inspired by Chabon’s own deathbed visit to his grandfather in Oakland, California in the 1980s, the author blurs the line between autobiography and outlandish fiction so successfully that the reader has no idea what is true and what’s pure fantasy (although we can hazard a guess at times).
The Magic of Love and Cooking in Like Water for Chocolate
What’s better than a good love story? How about a book about recipes? Or a book that takes you to a specific time or place in history? What about a book with magic and humor?
Every Child Ready to Read: Reading Tips
Last week, a teenager walked into the Library and asked me for books that would teach their three year-old sibling to read. Apparently, the summer project they had been charged … Continued
People’s History
The saying goes that “history is written by the winners.” Indeed, most history books are still written by the winners. Howard Zinn, the son of immigrant workers in New York, … Continued
Discover Historic Bookbinding: Marbled Endsheets
Back in the good ‘ol days of the 19th and 20th century, we decorated the inside covers of our beloved books with wildly colorful papers. Swirls, speckles, wavy lines and crinkled patterns were all used by book binders to ease the transition of a reader’s eyes from the cover of the book to the meat of the book, the textblock. This transition sometimes was decorated, relative to the context of the book. A book about trains might have had some engines merrily chugging across the flyleaf. Other books might have had plain white endsheets, and others wild, splashy, psychedelic colorful swirls.
Summer Reading is Serious Business
First of all, I’d like to go on the record as saying that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a good beach book. If you want curl up with the latest by John Grisham or Danielle Steel or Paula Hawkins, by all means go for it! Everyone should feel free to read what makes them happy. But tastes vary, and the things that make you happy may not be the things that make me happy. And the things that make me happy are kinda different. So if you’d like to try reading something different this summer, here are a few nonfiction books that are Serious Business.