December is a very busy time as we prepare for our respective holidays. But we still need to fit some time into our schedules for some good reads. Here are some of the latest arrivals at the Middlebury Public Library. Happy holidays!
Sophie Kinsella’s latest book is a “shopaholic” adventure, “Shopaholic to the Rescue” (KIN). This time Becky involves her whole family in a quest to find her father, who has disappeared with her best friend’s husband in Los Angeles. This book offers you light but engaging fluff to help you sleep after holiday shopping and baking.
I haven’t yet read Gregory Maguire, but this book may change my mind. He of the “Wicked” series is continuing the Alice in Wonderland tale. “After Alice” (MAG) follows Ada down the rabbit hole to find Alice. There she encounters all our favorite characters from the Lewis Carroll saga. Remember the Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter and March Hare? Maguire adds the Tin Bear and Tin Ballerina and I think a few others – but maybe I just don’t remember some of them from Alice’s original adventure beyond the looking glass!
“Little House Living: The Make-Your-Own Guide to a Frugal, Simple and Self-Sufficient Life” (640 ALI) by Merissa A. Alink was written to define a simpler, healthier existence. The author found herself newly married, short of funds – and allergic to everything in the store. Creating her own soaps and shampoos was one way of coping with her allergies as well as fulfilling a long-held dream and saving money. The start-up list is extensive, but the author breaks down costs to show how you actually do save time and money by creating your own items – with the added benefit of knowing exactly what ingredients are in them. Learn how to make your own non-drying hand sanitizer, healing salve, dish soap and many other household items.
The Kennedys have had their fair share of celebrity as well as an unhealthy dose of notoriety. Patrick J. Kennedy has written of his battles with addiction and mental illness in “A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction” (B KENNEDY, PATRICK J. KEN). This is a candid and intimate look at a man in a very public eye fighting many private demons. Depression, asthma, cocaine addiction, a mother struggling with alcoholism, and who knows what else besets him? What does come through is Kennedy’s honesty and desire to fight for better mental health care and remain in public service.
Are you having trouble finding time to read at this time of year? Daniel Klein has written a little gem of a book, “Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life, They Change It” (128 KLE). Each chapter starts with a quote of a famous philosopher and centers around how the quote is relevant to living our lives today. From Huxley to Emerson, Nietzsche to Sartre, each offers us pearls of wisdom and Klein very wittily and with great humor explains why the quote would still resonate today.
Middlebury Public Library Adult Services Librarian Donna Hine writes Library Lines. If you have a topic you’d like her to cover, contact her at the library at 203-758-2634.
