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Staff Picks: Shake Off the Winter Blahs
by lucroe
Winter can, for some, be a time of hibernation, less productivity, and result in sealing yourself off from others. The books here can help open us up to ideas on how to break free of some of the negativity that winter may bring and to gain inspiration in this ‘closed off’ period of time.
Wintering by Katherine May | Request Now
A beautiful and inspirational memoir that provides insights from literature, mythology, and nature to push through the isolation and negativity that can accompany winter. To learn and grow from a self-imposed retreat, to become revitalized from resting, and to embrace the quiet stillness of nature are some bits of nourishment gathered here.
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Staff Picks: Family Movies (that adults enjoy too!)
by emjane
Winter is prime for movie nights, and whether or not you have kiddos in your life, it’s worth picking a flick that everyone can like!
The Mitchells vs. The Machines | Request on DVD | Request on Blu-Ray
Budding filmmaker Katie is ready to head to college and get some space from her kind, but overbearing dad, Rick. When Rick decides at the last minute that the entire family should road-trip to take Katie to school, it seems like it can’t get worse. But then the robots come.
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Staff Picks: More Quirky Fiction: Dysfunctional Family Edition
by emjane
As I’ve said before, Quirky Fiction is my favorite genre, and my favorite sub-variant are books featuring dysfunctional families. There’s a fine line with dysfunction in quirky fiction – for my taste it generally needs to tread heavier on the “makes me laugh” rather than the “makes me want to cry” side of the line. But there’s something about the parent-child and sibling-to-sibling dynamics that keep me reading more.
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson | Request Now
As children, Annie and Buster Fang were forced to participate in their parents’ public performance art. They escaped that world after becoming adults, but when life circumstances bring them both back to the family home, their folks attempt to pull them into their last big performance piece.
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Staff Picks: New Year, New You
by eapearce
Ah, New Year's resolutions. Some of us make them (any maybe break them) every year, some of us do it only occasionally, and some folks skip them altogether. If you’re hoping to make a shift in 2023, some of these recent titles might be just the thing to motivate you to commit and help you with the process along the way.
Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?, by Julie Smith | Request Now
Dr. Julie Smith covers a wide range of topics in this book, all with a general focus on mental health. From emotional pain and grief to motivation to fear, she offers concrete tools and analysis for how to cope with everything life throws at us, even in the most trying of times. Also helpful is that the various chapters and concepts are presented in concise, bite-sized form, making things easy to digest. You can read this one cover-to-cover, or skip around finding the chapters and ideas that resonate with you most or best suit your goals.
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Staff Picks: Best Baking Books!
by emjane
Whether it’s always “Baking Season” in your kitchen (like it is in mine!) or you ramp things up this time of year, a good recipe is the perfect –erm – recipe for a treat! Use your oven to heat up your home, and check out these great books chock-full of recipes you’ll find yourself returning to again and again!
Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book| Request Now
My mom and I often joke about recipes from Cook’s Illustrated: “They’re fussy, but worth it.” And those “fussy” recipes are a great way to learn the ins-and-outs of baking. Often procedures specified in recipes by Cooks can elevate your other go-to bakes as well! This cookbook also does a great job of explaining why you should follow certain steps as you bake. It’s always nice to learn something (and get rewarded for it with sweets at the end!)
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Staff Picks: Long Takes Worth the Watch: Movies 3 hours+
by lucroe
So you say you have some time on your hands, or maybe you’re just stuck in the house for a bit and would love to watch a 3+ hour long movie? Sounds like a lot, but if you have the time in one sitting or more, these movies are well-worth watching. These picks do not include some of the classic long watches like Lawrence of Arabia or Spartacus (which are all excellent options :), but nevertheless deserve the acclaim.
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles | Request Now
Recently voted the greatest film of all time by Sight & Sound magazine’s 2022 poll (in their last poll from 2012 it was 36th) knocking Hitchcock’s Vertigo down a peg. Chantal Akerman is the first female director to make the top ten. An ambitious 1975 film follows the widow, Jeanne through her daily domestic regime, her life with a teenage son, and her sexual activity. With very little dialog, her routine, however mundane to watch, feels ominous and finally reaches an unexpected crescendo in the final act. Some critics call it a ‘study of alienated monotony’, others a ‘depiction of domestic imprisonment’. Avant garde film at its greatest.
Running time : 201 minutes
Blog Post
Staff Picks: Best of 2022 Fiction Titles You May Have Missed
by eapearce
It’s that time when many different outlets are compiling their “best books of the year” lists and it’s always exciting to see what gets named. Sometimes the titles are predictable–it seems like you saw everyone reading a particular book this year, and sometimes they’re surprising–a title you never heard of, or that no one you know has read. Today, we’re highlighting a few of the books that fall into the second category!
Checkout 19, by Claire-Louise Bennett | Request Now (New York Times Book Review Top 10 Book of the Year)
Checkout 19, by the same author that penned the 2016 novel Pond, tells the story of an unnamed British woman in her 40s living in Ireland. Fiercely attached to the written word, she both reads and writes voraciously, scouring books for inspiration and writing down her recollections of her life thus far. Much of her life story revolves around writing and reading, including her earliest attempts as a young woman to write fiction, and the various men–all readers themselves–who influence her worldview and work. This is a complex story that is both a portrait of an artist and a feminist literary critique–it’s not for everyone, but those who delve in will be rewarded with much to think about.
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Best of 2022
by muffy
BookPage’s The Best Books of 2022.
Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best Books 2022
Kirkus Reviews editors’ pick of the Top !00 Fiction Books, and Best 100 Nonfiction of the Year.
2022 Books We Love - Great Reads, Thoughtfully Curated by NPR, especially notable are the 51 titles in Staff Picks (by names we know and trust).
The New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2022. The 10 Best Books of 2022: The staff of The New York Times Book Review choose the year’s standout fiction and nonfiction.
The 2022 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books. This year’s 10 winners are picked by a panel of three expert judges who consider every illustrated children’s book published this year in the United States. A feast for the eye!
There is something for everyone in Publishers’ Weekly Best Books of 2022: Top 10, Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Poetry, Romance, SF/Fantasy/Horror, Comics, Nonfiction, Religion,
Lifestyle, Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult.
Time Magazine’s The 100 Must-Read Books of 2022 (from gripping novels, transporting poetry, to timely nonfiction that asked us to look deeper).
If, like me, you spend a lot of time on the road, and you have blown through the 2022 Audie Awards, you might want to check out The Washington Post’s 10 best audiobooks of 2022, Harper’s Bazaar’s The 44 Best Audiobooks To Make Your Next Road Trip Fly By, and BookPage’s Best Audiobooks of 2022.
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Staff Picks: Stream it on AADL.org
by emjane
Scoot over, Netflix, there’s another streaming option! Did you know that there is a wide assortment of streaming content available to you via your aadl.org catalog? You can browse the whole collection of more than 13,000 videos, or check out some recommended picks below:
Nature Documentaries
There are nature documentary series aplenty available to stream. Why not check out the classic Planet Earth? Or Blue Planet? Frozen Planet? (We’ve got a lot of Planet content!) Only have a little pocket of time but want some cuteness? We’ve got you covered with Andy’s Baby Animals.
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Staff Picks: Indoor Gardening
by lucroe
Whether you are new to taking care of plants, just need some advice on some you already have, or would like suggestions on purchasing some plants for yourself or others, here are some worthwhile reads that can help with the care and upkeep of the indoor garden.
What is my plant telling me? by Emily Hay Hinsdale | Request Now
Why are those leaves browning or yellowing or just dropping off? Will this plant thrive better in a southwest facing window? Low or high light or just a hint? This book covers the care of 50 common houseplants in alpha order A (African violet) to Z (ZZ plant). Great for beginners. Her other book is another great gift for the absolute beginner to indoor gardening called Never Put a Cactus in the Bathroom