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Celebrate the Season with a New Book 2022

December can be daunting - holidays, family gatherings, cooking and decorating are exhilarating but they can also result in exhaustion and sensory overload.  Add on the psychological impact of early sunsets and you have a perfect storm for stress.  How to decompress? Escape into a good book, the ideal way to reboot your psyche and re-center your soul.  What to read?

Native American Heritage Month - November 2022

November is Native American Heritage Month, also known as  American Indian Heritage Month.  While the annual month-long celebration has only been in existence for 31 years, efforts to honor America’s indigenous peoples go back more than a hundred years to “American Indian Day,” which was declared a holiday by the Governor of New York State in 1916 and celebrated on the second Saturday in May.  Fast forward to 1986, when Congress declared the week of November 23-30 as “American Indian Week.” This weeklong commemorati

October Thrills and Chills - 2022

Who doesn’t love October? The blaze of color, the brisk, bold weather, the brief, bright  interlude between summer and winter - for many, October is the highlight of the year.  Of course, October culminates with Halloween, notable for pranks, clanging door bells, costumes and too much candy.

Hilary Mantel, July 6, 1952 - September 22, 2022

Hilary Mantel, who became a household name with the publication of her second novel, Wolf Hall in 2009, died on September 22, 2022.  The 70 year old author had twice won the esteemed Booker Prize, for Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, both part of a trilogy based on the life of Thomas Cromwell.  Regarded by critics as one of the greatest English writers of this century, Mantel had published 17 books and had been working on a screenplay and various other works at the time of her death.  Click on the

Dog Days of Summer - 2022

Welcome to the “Dog Days,” the time of year synonymous with the “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.” The name conjures up images of dappled dogs dozing in the sun but have you ever wondered where the term originated and what it actually means?  The “Dog Days,” which officially begin on July 3 and end on August 11, coincide with Sirius, the Dog Star, rising and setting with the sun. Known as the Dog Star because it is part of the constellation Canis Major, Latin for “Greater Dog,” Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame 2022

Have you ever wondered why baseball is referred to as our national pastime?  Even the  poet Walt Whitman called it ‘‘America’s game.” Although baseball comes in a distant third to football and basketball in television ratings, the game remains our national sport because it resonates more deeply in America’s heart than any other sport, inciting fierce  loyalties that span generations.

Beach Reads 2022

There’s no better vacation - or staycation - companion than a good book, a real page turner that you absolutely cannot put down. The books pictured below encompass a wide variety of styles and themes; the one thing they have in common is their ability to transport.  Click on a book jacket to be taken to a catalog link.  

“One benefit of Summer was that each day we had more light to read by.” Jeannette Walls

Independence Day - July 4, 2022

The Fourth of July, aka Independence Day, is surely the most iconic of American holidays.  The official birthday of the United States has long been celebrated with fireworks and family gatherings but the day did not officially become a paid holiday for federal employees until 1941. A bit of background: on July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence from Great Britain and two days later delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, which was drafted by Thomas Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams.

National Audiobook Appreciation Month - June 2022

June is National Audiobook Appreciation Month, a celebration created by the Audio Publishers Association (APA) to acknowledge the significant role of audiobooks not only in the lives of busy people needing to multitask but also as an indispensable tool for the vision impaired and to advance literacy.

Father's Day - June 19, 2022

While many of us think of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day as twin holidays, the two celebrations had very different historical trajectories. Mother’s Day became a national holiday only seven years after it was first celebrated on May 10, 1907, in Grafton, West Virginia.

Juneteenth - June 19, 2022

Juneteenth - a term combining June and nineteenth - is our newest  national holiday and the first new federal holiday since the establishment of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day almost forty years ago.

National Poetry Month - April 2022

Billy Collins, U. S. Poet Laureate and the “most popular poet in America,” according to New York Times columnist Bruce Weber, wrote: “I’m a great believer in poetry out of the classroom, in public places, on subways, trains, on cocktail napkins. I’d rather have my poems on the subway than around the seminar table at an MFA program.” His argument that poetry is everywhere and that it is accessible to everyone is one of the reasons this literary form will always be an integral part of our lives and culture.