Library Blog

Children’s Librarian, Judy Zimmer, recommends Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall.

Caldecott medalist Sophie Blackall’s picture book Farmhouse brought me back to my childhood. It brought back memories of my grandparents’ farm and the house I grew up in, built at the very end of the 1800s and filled with a boisterous, large family.   

The story and the illustrations in Farmhouse were pieced together from bits and pieces and memories of a family of twelve children who were born and raised in a falling-down farmhouse. Playful rhymes describe the daily life of the family and the illustrations allow a  peek into their lives as if you’re looking inside a dollhouse.

This story reminds us to share our stories with our children and grandchildren so that the stories stay alive long after our children grow up. 

The family’s and the author’s stories merge when she addresses the reader directly telling them how she found the house and created the picture book. Photos of the house and the salvaged materials and more details are revealed on the back pages of the book.  

This story reminds us to share our stories with our children and grandchildren so that the stories stay alive long after our children grow up. 

Find it in Picture Books J EASY BLA here.

The F-15E Strike Eagle in Your Own Back Yard

Collections Manager, Cathy Butterfield, recommends your review of the environmental impact statement for Airspace Optimization for Readiness for Mountain Home Air Force Base.

Many kinds of books land on the donation table at The Community Library, from self-published  to hyperpopular bestsellers, from true SETI science to cryptozoologic memoirs, from first edition James Bond novels to a manual on Practical Lock Picking. However, a triple-taped high priority box from a Colonel in the 366^th Fighter Wing on Gunfighter Avenue in Mountain Home did raise our jaded eyebrow. When the Air Force sends us a study, they like us to pay attention. The library now has on display the final edition of the environmental impact statement (EIS) for Airspace Optimization for Readiness for Mountain Home Air Force Base. And Appendices. Find them here. 

Note: We should pay attention: this is a key opportunity for informed residents to talk back to the government. The Air Force Base at Mountain Home launches training missions that cross a huge amount of wild terrain over much of southern Idaho, northern Nevada, and eastern Oregon. The aim of the Airspace Optimization proposal is to lower the altitude floor for training missions. The EIS is to report on the impacts of lowering flightpaths to as little as 100 feet above ground level for subsonic flights, and as low as 5,000 feet above ground level for supersonic flights. The EIS hardcopy and CD has been made available to libraries around the state of Idaho to inform the citizenry and provide an opportunity for public comment on the proposed changes to training exercises.

We should pay attention: this is a key opportunity for informed residents to talk back to the government. . . The aim of the Airspace Optimization proposal is to lower the altitude floor for training missions. 

The Airspace EIS contains favored and alternate proposals, environmental studies, cultural impact studies, geologic studies, and more. It is governmentspeak, but certain passages can stand out, such as, “Damage to structures from sonic boom overpressures would be possible but unlikely.” The EIS includes studies of wilderness and recreational areas from the Owyhee canyonlands to Jarbidge to the Sawtooth National Forest south hills, including areas harboring bighorn sheep and sage grouse. “There would be potential startle effects from sonic booms.” The study does mention certain areas they will try to avoid to lower impacts, under various alternatives. They do state in the environmental justice resource that lower income residents in Humboldt County and the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation and school system will be directly impacted by lower overflights.

Despite the acronyms and occasionally leaden language, the EIS comparison charts are succinct and informative. I recommend reading the Executive Summary first to get an overview, then locating maps in the main study chapters. I now know that AGL means Above Ground Level, and BASH appropriately means Bird/wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard. If you have an interest in the overall environment of southern Idaho and the northern Great Basin/eastern Oregon plateau, it is worth coming in and paging through the documents, and even submitting comments. The 30-day review period started March 3 and runs through the close of business April 3, 2023. The Final EIS is available for download here.

Children’s Librarian Helen Morgus recommends Ocean Speaks and Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea, both about oceanographer Marie Tharp. 

March is Women’s History Month.  As always, I am directing my cherished reader to the Children’s (Juvenile) Nonfiction section where you can delve as deeply or as superficially as you wish into any subject that pleases you. If you’re tuned in to Women’s History Month, you will find the famous well represented in our Biography section: from Cleopatra to Amelia Earhart to Sacagawea, and so many more.  

But what about the women whose names we don’t know as well? You’ll find many undiscovered treasures on the Biography shelves. And surprise! More gems are tucked into the sections where the women made their contributions to history—civil rights, sports, the arts, cooking, the sciences, etc. One of my favorite subjects of two beautifully illustrated books is Marie Tharp. 

Ocean Speaks, by Jess Keating, is found in the biographies section (J 92 THA). In lyrical prose, Keating tells the story of this woman who mapped the mid-Atlantic ridge in the 1940s and 50s, a discovery that led to the acceptance of the theory of continental drift, which frames geological research today. In Keating’s telling, Tharp immersed herself in an ocean of paper and ink, a substitute for immersion in work at sea. Even in the mid-twentieth century, her male colleagues were afflicted with superstition: women were bad luck at sea. Katie Hickey’s watercolor and pencil illustrations add a dreamlike quality to Keating’s narrative, and contrast Tharp’s spunky character with her male colleagues’ stuffy demeanors.  

Tharp immersed herself in an ocean of paper and ink, a substitute for immersion in work at sea. Even in the mid-twentieth century, her male colleagues were afflicted with superstition: women were bad luck on a ship.

Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea, by Robert Burleigh, is found next to the other books about earth science (J 526.09 BUR). Burleigh chooses to tell Tharp’s story in first person, bringing out more of Tharp’s internal life: her determination and her profound curiosity, as well as her sense of justice. Throughout the story, Tharp questions the lopsided, male-dominated system of making science, and in the end emerges triumphant. Tharp’s lifelong fascination with maps, her methods and data, play a larger part in this telling than in Keating’s, and Raúl Colón’s beautifully textured watercolor and pencil drawings are more precise and representational than Katie Hickey’s. 

Both books make great read-alouds to children in grade school. The illustrations will help keep the younger child interested, while a curious fourth or fifth grader will enjoy the depth of the back matter, and may go on to suggested further reading. And an adult who gets hooked on Marie Tharp can check out Soundings: The Story of the Remarkable Woman Who Mapped the Ocean Floor, by Hali Felt, from the main collection (526.092 FEL). 

And dear reader, PLEASE AND ESPECIALLY, read these books to your boys AND to your girls. Too much of children’s literature is trending toward “girls” books” and “boys’ books.”  These books help break down those stereotypes, for everyone’s benefit. 

If your pump is primed, here are more favorites about unsung women, all with wonderful illustrations and satisfying auxiliary material, found outside the Biography section. Wishing you delight and sparks of curiosity in your reading, this Women’s History Month! 

• Alice Roosevelt: What to do about Alice (J 973.9 KER) 
• Couture designer Anne Lowe: Only the Best (J 746.9 MES) 
• Ruth Wakefield, inventor of the toll house cookie: How the Cookie Crumbled (J 641.5 FOR) 
• Mary Anning, paleontologist: Dinosaur Lady (J 560.92 SKE; also available in ebook) 
• Grace Hopper, Queen of Computer Code (J 359 WAL) 
• Georgia Gilmore, civil rights activist: Pies From Nowhere (J 323 ROM) 
• Ria Thundercloud, native American dancer: Finding My Dance (J 792.8 THU) 
• Eugenie Clark, ichthyologist: Shark Lady (J 597.3 KEA; also available in eaudiobook) 

Susie Bille, Systems Librarian, recommends The Body Knows the Score by Bessel van der Kolk.

After spending years in emergency services, I know how to help mitigate traumatic physical injuries. I also know people can struggle to regain their zest for life long after their bodies are safe and healed. It would be wonderful to understand how trauma affects the body, and how to heal from it.

The Body Knows the Score is a comprehensive and insightful examination of the impact of trauma on the body and mind. The author blends personal anecdotes, scientific research, and clinical case studies to provide a holistic understanding of how trauma affects the brain, the body, and the emotions. This audiobook has been easy to listen to and understand, although suffering is not an easy subject. It helps knowing the people described were able to heal to some extent.

This book focuses on the body’s role in the healing process. Van der Kolk emphasizes the importance of physical therapies, such as yoga and somatic experiencing, in treating trauma. He also delves into the impact of trauma on the brain and explains how different types of therapy can help to rewire the brain and promote healing.

[The author] … delves into the impact of trauma on the brain and explains how different types of therapy can help to rewire the brain and promote healing.

The book also highlights the importance of addressing trauma in a holistic manner, rather than just focusing on the mind. Van der Kolk stresses the need to address the physical, emotional, and social effects of trauma to achieve true healing.

Find it in Audiobook in Libby, here.

Gold Mine Processing Manager, Kelly Noble, recommends The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie.

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie is one of the most controversial novels ever written. The author, translators, and publishers have all been under constant death threats since its publication in 1988. Some, including the author, have been physically attacked. Others in the publishing business have been murdered. Yet the novel is one of Rushdie’s best creative works. It is full of magical realism, funny characters, and many interwoven subplots.

The novel has many underlining themes common in multicultural societies—ideas around personal identity, alienation, rootlessness, non-toleration, police brutality, and conformity. The book is also a critique of not just Islamic religion but religion in general.

Rushdie uses magical realism to craft many sub-plots within the main text. He tells of the early days of Muhammad and his attempts to bring the word of God to Mecca, and he crafts another tale of a young Indian girl leading her village on a pilgrimage to Mecca across the Arabian Sea. These tales show up as dreams the two many characters have throughout the novel. In both cases, Rushdie parodies the human side of religion and it’s reaction to absolute, unquestionable tenets of religious belief.

Rushdie’s storytelling ability and use of the English language are extraordinary. He has crafted a fictional narrative around a historical text, and he has done so extremely well.

The story is entertaining, and I believe most Western readers would take no offense to his portrayal of the silliness and extremism of religion. I will concede that some fringe groups may find the story a bit condescending. Even so, all readers must confront the reality that literature portrays a human existence. Religion does not always look good in the eyes of the faithful especially when God expects inhuman traits in his believers. An example of this occurs when a newborn child is left at a masque. The chief priest calls it a devil child and says it must be killed. So, the faithful stone the baby to death. When some of the villagers question this action, the group leader responds by quoting religious texts saying, “Much will be asked from you.” It is extreme demands like this that may make religion unpalatable and distasteful.

I believe Rushdie has crafted an excellent novel about obscure, historical verses that are not found in the Koran. He bases his story on verses that are discussed only in historical texts. Islamic scholars question whether these texts are authentic to start with-sighting that they are not mentioned at all by Mohammed’s biographers. Rushdie’s storytelling ability and use of the English language are extraordinary. He has crafted a fictional narrative around a historical text, and he has done so extremely well.

Find it in print and eaudiobook here.

Review by Library Assistant Andrea Nelson

The poems are short,
So short you can read the entire book in 40 minutes.
Laid end to end, the sentences of my book reviews
could cross the pond and return with crumpets and tea.
That won’t serve here.

Full disclosure:  I’m a Billy Collins fangirl. It all started on a California beach. I remember sea lions honking and groaning rudely, as if they owned the sun and the glitter it sprinkled on the waves.

Marinated in my sunscreen, I stood witness to an extraordinary exchange of wedding vows. Legal verbiage out of the way, the bride and groom begin reciting the poem, Litany [1] to each other. The first line, lofty and tired, offered little inspiration. That, I soon learned, was exactly what the sly poet intended. The poem quickly twisted into masterful satire mixed with just enough relationship truth to hold everyone spellbound.  The poem’s protagonist trips along for several stanzas, telling his lover exactly what she is–and is not–to him. In the end, he settles into something solid, sweet, humorous, and perfect… like a good marriage.

I remember sea lions honking and groaning rudely, as if they owned the sun and the glitter it sprinkled on the waves.

Since that day, I’ve devoured every line Billy Collins has written.

Not every Collins poem is satire. Like all great poets, he paints with the full spectrum of human emotion. One poem in Musical Tables haunts me. It’s about a house with windows that look out on the woods. Its owner has passed away. Its wording is simple–no sad reminiscence or forced melancholy–just the empty house looking out. Imagery like that stays with me. But I confess, I still like Collins’ satirical poems best. It takes a special kind of insomnia-induced genius to write this:

[2] Hotel Room

Unlike
the breakfast menu,
I had no desire
to be hung
outside
before 2am.

I doubt many critics would call Musical Tables the best of Billy Collins. In the postscript, Collins’ explains that he wrote the collection of short poems to experiment. Each time he picks up a new book of poetry, he flips through, finds the short ones, and reads those first. I have pocketed some of Collins’ petite poems to revisit again and again; others I have already forgotten, but all are worth reading.

It felt like sneaking into a caterer’s kitchen to eat the canopies straight off the butcher block, before they are whisked away on silver trays.

If you are new to Collins’ work, I strongly recommend starting with one of his defining collections. [3] Nine Horses and [4] Sailing Alone Around the Room are both exceptional. You’ll want to spend some time with those. If you’re like me, and you’ve got a long “To Read” list, here’s the thing about Musical Tables: I took it off a shelving cart and read the first poem while walking back to the Circulation Desk. It consisted of—I kid you not— three lines about a hitchhiker who notices an ant walking in the opposite direction. Hooked, I snuck off to read the rest of the tiny, tempting little poems over lunch. It felt like sneaking into a caterer’s kitchen to eat the canopies straight off the butcher block, before they are whisked away on silver trays.

As promised in my opening attempt at mini-poetry, I’ve kept this book review brief. If I haven’t written enough to whet your appetite for Musical Tables, consider investing the (minimal) reading time for bragging rights. After all, Billy Collins is a former U.S. Poet Laureate (2001-2003), and Musical Tables is his latest work. If nothing more, reading it will expand your literary knowledge and impress your friends!

I hope you enjoy it as I did.

---

[1] Collins, Billy. “Litany.” Nine Horses, Random House, New York, 2002, p. 69-70.
[2] Collins, Billy. “Hotel Room.” Musical Tables, Random House, New York, 2022.
[3] Collins, Billy. Nine Horses, Random House, New York, 2002.
[4] Collins, Billy. Sailing Alone Around the Room, Random House, New York,  2001.

Find all the titles in our Collection by Billy Collins here.