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.
On Having Animal Friends
I have almost always lived with animals: furred, feathered, and otherwise. When I was a child, my family always had at least one pet, whether it be a cat or … Continued
All Hands on Tech: Super Science Kits
When you hear or see the word STEM, what are you thinking? We’re betting that you’re thinking of the acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. We suppose … Continued
Mai Der Vang’s Ancestral Ode
I just finished Mai Der Vang’s recently released collection, Afterland, and my ears are still ringing. The residual hum left after reading her haunting poems makes it difficult to let go, even after you put it down.
Best of BARD: June 2017
In the midst of all the action of an audiobook, sometimes we can forget what makes it all possible. Fitting then, that right smack dab in the middle of this … Continued
Why I Devoured Hunger
“Unruly bodies” have been the talk of much cultural criticism these days (even here on Eleventh Stack), as the the body-positive movement gains more traction. The body-positive movement means a lot of things to a lot of different people, but is probably most easily understood as an umbrella term for activism which seeks to celebrate bodily autonomy and accessibility. Body-positivity can apply to small, individual decisions like body hair removal or decisions about wearing makeup, and to larger, more systemic concerns; large wings of the movement are focused on disability activism, awareness for trans rights and fat-activism.
New Locally Produced Title: Juneteenth
LBPH is proud to a share a new locally produced title available for loan or download from BARD. Juneteenth was recorded in partnership with student volunteers from Obama Academy and … Continued
Growing Readers, Growing Leaders
In late June, LBPH hosted the BELL Academy’s 2017 Growing Readers and Growing Leaders program. Short for Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning, the BELL Academy is a program facilitated by the … Continued
Music to Our Ears
Fans of traditional Appalachian folk music are in for a special treat this upcoming Friday, July 14th when the North Carolina two piece House and Land roll into Pittsburgh for a free lunchtime concert.