GARDENING

Spring is here!  Now that Spring has officially arrived, it is time to start thinking about your gardens. 
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plans.  You may have a garden full of ornamental plants that contains flowers and other plants for their visual appearance, or a garden full of useful plants that you have planted with the purpose of eating.  No matter your preference, gardens are everywhere!

Whether you are new to gardening or an old pro, you will find some great books in this week's post.  We have a few picture books to share with the children in your lives, nonfiction gardening books, and cookbooks to help you use the fruits and vegetables in your garden.

Children's Picture Books

In Our Garden by Pat Zietlow Miller

Thank You, Garden by Liz Garton Scanlon

In the Garden by Emma Giuliani

Nonfiction Gardening Books

Unearthing the Secret Garden by Marta McDowell

My Wild Garden by Meir Shalev

The Little Gardner: Helping Children Connect with Nature by Julie Cerny

Regrow Your Veggies by Melissa Raupach

A Year In My Garden by Jacqueline van der Kloet

The Lifelong Gardner by Toni Gattone

The Flower-Powered Garden by Andy Vernon

Container Gardening Complete by Jessica Walliser

Plant, Sow, Make, and Grow by Esther Coomles

Native Plants of the Midwest by Alan Branhagen

Niki Jabbour's Veggie Garden Remix by Niki Jabbour

Cookbooks

How to Grill Vegetables by Steven Raichlen

The Farmer's Daughter Bakes by Kelsey Siemens

Around the World in 120 Salads by Katei Caldesi

Veggies and Fish by Bart Van Olphen

The Weekday Vegetarians by Jenny Rosenstrach

Martha Stewart's Fruit Desserts by Martha Stewart

Fresh from Poland by Michal Korkosz

The Complete Summer Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen

Pictures from https://ent.sharelibraries.info/client/en_US/evansint/?dt=list

SHERLOCK SPINOFFS

Are you a fan of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries?  Then, this is the blog post for you!  

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective that was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Holmes is best known for his abilities of observation, deduction, and reasoning that he utilizes while solving cases.  Numerous movie and TV adaptations of been made based off the original works.  If you have already read the original works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (or watched some of the television shows and movies), you may be interested in some of these spinoffs and retellings.

Adult Fiction:

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas
Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabar
Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz
Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye
The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson
The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes by Leonard Goldberg
A Study in Pink by Steven Moffat
The Baker Street Four by Jean-Blaise Djian

Nonfiction:
Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova
Mrs. Sherlock Holmes: The True Story of New York's Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case That Captivated a Nation by Brad Ricca 

From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon by Mattias Bostrom 

Children's Fiction:
Sherlock Holmes and the Disappearing Diamonds by Sam Hearn 

The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer 

Pictures from https://ent.sharelibraries.info/client/en_US/evansint/?dt=list

BOOK MADNESS 2022

Selection Sunday is over, and the NCAA basketball tournament seeds have been settled.  That means it's time for our Book Madness Tournament!  

Each year we compile a list of the top circulating titles in Rock County from the previous year.  That list is used to create our own tournament that runs alongside the college basketball tournament.  This week's blog post will feature the titles that were lucky enough to draw seeds 1-4. 

Interested in the full list?  Stop by the library's Book Madness display to pick up a copy of the book list, look over the bracket, and/or take home one of the books on display.

#1 Seeds

• Dog Man by Dav Pilkey
• The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
• 21st Birthday by James Patterson
• Fortune and Glory by Janet Evanovich

#2 Seeds

• The Return by Nicholas Sparks
• The Red Book by James Patterson
• A Gambling Man by David Baldacci
• Dog Man: Grime and Punishment by Dav Pilkey

#3 Seeds

• Sooley by John Grisham
• The Russian by James Patterson
• Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood by Alexandra Cassel Schwartz
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

#4 Seeds

• A Time for Mercy by John Grisham
• Cat Kid Comic Club by Dav Pilkey
• The Bounty by Janet Evanovich
• Baby Sitters Little Sister by Katy Farina

Pictures from https://ent.sharelibraries.info/client/en_US/evansint/?dt=list

HISTORICAL FICTION

This month, Mixed Bag Book Club is reading historical fiction.  Participants can read any book they want (as long as it's historical fiction) for our meeting on Thursday, March 24.  

Historical fiction is a genre that focuses on telling stories of the past.  These works of fiction are typically written at least 30 years after the event or time period.  Most of the time, the novel's ideas, settings, descriptions, etc. come from the author's research.  The time period of the book and/or the real historical events that occurred during the time play an important role in the story just as the characters and plot do.  Most historical fiction novels are realistic in nature.  However, you can find some that also have elements of fantasy or magical realism.  

New to historical fiction, or looking for some new authors to read?  Give one of these titles a try!

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

The Ides of April by Lindsey Davis

The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George

Violeta by Isabel Allende

The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict

Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Pictures from https://ent.sharelibraries.info/client/en_US/evansint/?dt=list

Korean Culture Club

 

Are you curious about Korean culture? Teens are invited to join us for some short videos, Korean games and snacks, and a K-pop dance off at the K-Culture Club event on March 26!  Do you have a favorite manga or manhwa (Korean comics)?  The library recently was awarded a grant that allowed us to purchase a number of Korean graphic novels and K-pop music CDs, take a peek at all the new offerings! If you’re a K-pop fan, you won’t want to miss all the great freebies at this event!

EFPL is also offering a book discussion that provides insight into Korean culture. Under the Same Sky is an autobiography and a pretty amazing survival story.  Copies are available at the check-out desk for the discussion on Monday, March 21st, 4 pm.

In the picture book arena, a Korean title worth checking out is: Where's Halmoni by Julie Kim. Two grandchildren are worried when their grandma is missing and follow animal tracks to a fantasy world where they must battle a tiger and outwit clever rabbits and hungry dokkebi to get home safely.

Are you wondering how Korean culture has become so big in the US lately?  Here's a timeline of the Korean Wave of pop culture that has hit the U.S. in a big way:

2012: Gangnam Style song and dance by Psy goes viral

2012: Moon embracing the Sun, a Korean TV drama debuts in the US, wins Best Drama, Best Actor, and Drama of the Year.

2013: Boy band BTS debuts, reaching U.S. audiences in 2017. They went platinum in 2018, and was one of the first bands since the Beatles to earn 4 U.S. #1 albums in 2 years.

2010-2020 YouTube videos on mukbang (excessive eating) become very popular.  Korean noodles, seaweed products, and kimchee become more widely available in US grocery stores.

2019: the movie Parasite debuts, winning  Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards.

2020-22: Due largely to social media influencers, Korean cosmetics (Missha, Cosrx) enjoy a wave of popularity.

2021: Squid Games becomes Netflix’s most watched series.

2021: K-pop band BlackPink coordinates with Starbucks to raise funds to help the Red Cross in highly hit pandemic areas.

Censorship, Intellectual Freedom, and I am Jazz

 

With so many censorship challenges raging in the country right now and the anniversary of the “I am Jazz” challenge coming up, we thought it was a good time to reflect on intellectual freedom and censorship. Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to research information from all points of view without restriction.  Considered an essential component of a democratic society, it is also the underlying philosophy that guides libraries. Where things usually get tricky is with children and young adults.  While libraries subscribe to the belief that a parent is the best person to decide what their child reads or doesn’t read, some parents think that some books should be banned for all children/teens based on their own moral or religious codes. (LGBTQ+ and books with racially diverse characters are a common target.) When one person tries to decide what is available for a community to be able to read, that is considered censorship.

 

 If you’re not familiar with the “I am Jazz” challenge, here’s a quick recap: in 2015, the Mount Horeb School District planned a reading of the picture book I am Jazz to help a transitioning transgender student feel welcome. A conservative group in Florida challenged the decision, but the community rallied together to support the reading.

 

BASE (Building a Safer Evansville) will be hosting an online reading of the book on Feb. 24, starting at 6pm on their facebook page as part of a nation-wide commemoration.  In the week leading up to the event, the Eager Free Public Library will have “Jazz and Friends” activity packets available at the craft table in the lower level. We hope you’ll pick one up and tune in on Feb. 24! 

 

If you’re curious about other recent challenges, one that has been in the news recently is Maus, a graphic novel about the Holocaust, that was recently banned by a school district in Tennessee. A Pulitzer-prize winning novel based on experiences by the author’s parents, there is worry that anti-Semitic sentiment is behind the censorship. When there is more concern about mild profanity than the genocide that is the book’s focus, it does seem like an odd choice to target, especially when this book makes a hard topic more easily accessible for a younger audience. 

 

Commissioners in Llano County, Texas are taking an even more controversial approach: removing access to the ebook platform Overdrive altogether and closing the library for 3 days to conduct a “thorough review” of every children’s book in the library and assess their content.* School libraries in central Texas are under similar surveillance.  I wish we could say these incidents are isolated, but groups targeting specific books and the philosophy of intellectual freedom have become more organized and the attacks more frequent in the past year.  Libraries are lucky to have the support of the American Library Association and the ACLU, but we also need the support of our communities when challenges arise.  

How can you help? The BookRiot website has some great suggestions, such as supporting local journalism, voting, correcting misinformation when you see it, serving on a board, know where to find minutes from local meetings, show up to meetings, write letters, etc. (https://bookriot.com/how-to-fight-book-bans-and-challenges/) We hope you'll stand with us in defending the right to read.

*Texas book censorship targeting LGBTQ+ and race.

Rom-Coms, Valentine Crafts, and Happiness Bubbles

 

Happy Valentine’s Day! To celebrate, we have a few valentine-themed crafts for kids at the Craft Table this week: a Ladybug Heart Craft and Multimedia Wall Hanging.  We also have a Happiness Bubbles board in the lower level for all ages where we’re asking, “What makes you happy?”  Fill out a bubble to add to the board and see what others have added! 

Have you seen our rotating quilt display? They can be seen in the side entrance foyer as you walk in, hanging from the upper banister. This month, we are featuring one we thought perfect for Valentine's Day: a wedding quilt created by Rebecca's mother. (It also has the embroidered names of places like Cooksville and Rutland!) The heart quilt in the middle also has a personal connection as it was made by staff member Stephanie. We still have a few quilt squares left if you'd like to add to our Community Quilt Project! 

We've been in the mood for romantic comedies lately, both in books and movies…  Do you have a favorite romance book?  Can you name a book character who embodies what you’d love to find in a partner?  Here are a few books and movies that we love:

Movies

Cutting Edge

A spoiled figure skater is desperate for a skating partner and her coach pairs her with a macho hockey player with no background in figure skating. Sparks, ice shards, and stinging dialogue flies.

Ridicule

A French film about a lord who wants to persuade King Louis the XVI about a land project, but learns he must sharpen his verbal wit and parry attacks in order to be heard. Caught between a predatory Countess and a sweet young thing, his only weapon and defense are his words. 

10 Things I Hate About You

Cameron would love to ask Bianca out on a date, but her father has said she isn’t allowed to date until her older sister does. Cameron hatches a plan to pay a pretty boy/jerk/model to ask out the older sister… How badly could things go wrong? (Fabulous lines, great chemistry, and based on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew.)

Bride and Prejudice

A Bollywood film that highlights the misunderstandings, scheming, lies, and wrong turns when two mothers meddle in their daughters’ love lives.

 

Books

Austenland (both a book and a movie!) by Shannon Hale

Jane is obsessed with the novel Pride and Prejudice, to the point where all romantic interests seem to pale next to Mr. Darcy.  When a relative buys her a ticket to Austenland, her fantasies suddenly become reality…

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

I’m usually not a fan of vampire books, but heard so much about this one, I thought I’d try out a page or two…  A very addictive series with one of the most appealing male love interests I have seen…

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

A young art student in Prague leads a double life collecting rare teeth for her adoptive father, a monster who can turn teeth into wishes. Raised in a demon world, she does not remember a previous life. When an angel named Akiva claims they were lovers, she starts to fall for him without realizing the consequences and their past history.

What if it’s us? By Albertalli and Silvera

Ben meets Arthur at the post office while mailing back his ex-boyfriend’s things. Were they destined to meet or is the universe tearing them apart? In a series of missed connections, mistakes, and sparks that fly, two guys try to figure out if they were meant to be.