Winter Solstice

Celebrate the shortest day and the longest night of winter by getting in touch with your inner pagan. Abandon secular, materialistic concerns, (especially the malls), to pay homage to nature and appreciate the authentic roots of this yuletide season.

Pagan Christmas: The Plants, Spirits, and Rituals At the Origins of Yuletide by Christian Ratsch and Claudia Muller-Eberling: translated from the German by Katja Lueders and Rafael Lorenzo

Wiccan Celebration: Inspiration For Living By Nature's Cycle by Silver Elder

A Ceremony For Every Occasion: The Pagan Wheel of the Year and Rites of Passage by Siusaidh Ceanad

The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas by John Matthews with contributions from Caitlin Matthews

The Return of the Light: Twelve Tales From Around the World for the Winter Solstice by Carolyn McVickar Edwards; illustrations by Kathleen Edwards

Celebrate the Solstice: Honoring the Earth's Seasonal Rhythms Through Festival and Ceremony by Richard Heinberg

A Winter's Solstice VI (sound recording, music) a Windham Hill Sampler

Song Of Solstice (sound recording, music): Celtic Music for Midwinter by Jennifer Cutting's Ocean Orchestra

Come to the library for all of your winter festival needs! We can give you a variety of sources to make the most of every celebration from Advent to Boxing Day.

Doomsday Prophecies

Post-apocalyptic is very in right now, as you might imagine from the success of books such as The Hunger Games and The Road, and the accompanying movies (not to mention Mad Max, The Book of Eli, I Am Legend, and more).  The library catalog has 70 items that use the word doomsday in their descriptions, 203 results show up in a keyword search of the word apocalypse, and there are 25 subject headings that include end of the world (with Armageddon, Beast of the Apocalypse, Judgement Day, and Tribulation as secondary suggestions).  We read about it, we write about it, we think about it, and we have December 21, 2012, the end of the Mayan calendar, coming up fast, with the possible end of the world that that implies.

What to think? The SETI Insitute says on their site that there is "widespread and unnecessary fear" about this date and NASA's webpage says "12-21-12 Just Another Day".  If you are fearing for the end of the world, apparently there's a village in France called Bugarach that has been prophesied to be "the only place on earth left standing" after December 21st.  Whatever your beliefs on this topic, there are a lot of items in the library catalog you can study and discuss during the next couple of weeks.  These include:

DVDs

The 2012 Anthology. Disc 1, Doomsday 2012, Mayan Doomsday Prophecy

Nostradamus 2012

2012: Science or Superstition


BOOKS AND eBOOKS

The Order of Days: The Maya World and the Truth about 2012 by David Stuart

The Mystery of 2012: Predictions, Prophecies & Possibilities

2012: Mayan Year of Destiny by Adrian Gilbert

The Source Field Investigations: The Hidden Science and Lost Civilizations Behind the 2012 Prophecies by David Wilcock

The Real History of the End of the World: Apocalyptic Predictions from Revelation and Nostradamus to Y2K and 2012 by Sharan Newman

A Doomsday Reader: Prophets, Predictors, and Hucksters of Salvation edited by Ted Daniels [eBook]


For more items about doomsday prophecies, you can also search  with the subjects Prophecies, Nostradamus, or Mayas - Prophecies. 

The library catalog also features guides to help you in disaster preparedness, such as Extreme Weather: A Guide to Surviving Flash Floods, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Heat Waves, Snowstorms, Tsunamis, and Other Natural Disasters by Bonnie Schneider, Just in Case: How to Be Self-Sufficient When the Unexpected Happens by Kathy Harrison, and Preparedness Now! An Emergency Survival Guide for Civilians and Their Families by Aton Edwards [eBook]. You can find more by searching subject headings such as Emergency Management.

Looking for a few good books?

Do you find yourself frequently checking the New Book shelves of your branch?  Do you like receiving book recommendations from friends?  Are you just looking for something good to read?

If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you may be interested in our NextReads newsletter options.  NextReads sends you an email on a monthly or bimonthly schedule with a book recommendation booklist.  The booklist contains some highlighted new books as well as a section of books on a theme within the subject area you signed up for.  From the booklist, you'll be able to check if the books are currently available at your closest branch or place holds if they are not.  There are 25 different newsletter options, with fiction, non-fiction, kids, teen, and audiobook options.  If you'd like to sign up for one (or many!), you may do so here.

If you don't want your inbox cluttered, you can also look at the current newsletters by going to the sign up page and clicking on the newsletter that you'd like to see.

Family Survival Guide For the Holidays

 

 

Your library is here for you this holiday season, as you connect with your loved ones with empathy, loving detachment, and compassion. Whether your family is endearingly quirky and off beat, or dysfunctional to the extreme, these thoughtful resources can help to keep some perspective and inner peace, along with peace in general.

Coping In a Dysfunctional Family by Raymond M. Jamiolkowski

12,000 Miles In the Nick Of Time : A Semi-Dysfunctional Family Circumnavigates the Globe by Mark Jacobson ; with additional commentary by Rae Jacobson

Awkward Family Pet Photos by Mark Bender

Toxic In-Laws: Loving Strategies For Protecting Your Marriage by Susan Forward with Donna Frazier

What Do You Want From Me? Learning to Get Along With In-Laws by Terri Apter

Crossing the Tracks For Love: What to Do When You and Your Partner Grew Up in Different Worlds by Ruby K. Payne

Healing Your Holiday Grief: 100 Practical Ideas For Blending Mourning and Celebration During the Holiday Season by Alan D. Wolfelt

Simplify the Holidays by Allana Baroni with Vicki Webster; illustrations by John Holm

Facing Codependence: What It Is, Where It Comes From, How It Sabotages Our Lives by Pia Mellody with Andrea Wells Miller and J. Keith Miller

Codependency For Dummies by Darlene Lancer

Boundaries In Marriage by Henry Cloud and John Townsend

Boundaries With Kids: When To Say Yes, When To Say No, To Help Your Children Gain Control Of Their Lives by Henry Cloud and John Townsend

Emotional Sobriety: From Relationship Trauma To Resilience and Balance by Tian Dayton

Christmas, Hannukah, Winter Solstice, and Kwanza may come but once a year, but our families are gifts that keeps on giving.

How to Survive Finals

It’s that time of year again.  The holidays are almost upon us, but before you can kick off your shoes, eat pie, and spend quality time with your friends and family, you have to slough through that annual necessary evil known as FINALS.  Whether you’re writing papers, studying for exams, or working on projects and presentations, you are certainly feeling the pressure to do a lot of quality work in a short period of time.  So how do you keep your sanity while still putting in your best effort?  You’re probably already aware that you should get good sleep, eat healthy food and drink plenty of water (to counteract the dehydration caused by all that caffeine you’re likely consuming), turn off your phone, and avoid Facebook, but what about the actual time you spend with your nose in the books? Here are a few tips to help you make the best of this stressful time:

Choose a Good Work Space
“…[C]ognitive scientists suggest that alternating study spaces is a more effective way to retain information, according to the New York Times. Memory is colored by location, and changing your study locales increases the likelihood of remembering what you’ve learned.”[1]

Make Specific Study Plans

“‘Failing to plan is planning to fail.’ We have all heard and agreed with that old adage, but how many times do we still forget to plan? If you just start studying without a plan, you are likely to overlook important areas and over-study unimportant subjects. Plan your week, plan your day, and plan what to study.”[2]

Mix Up Your Approach
“In keeping with the age-old proverb that values quality over quantity, scientists have found that immersion is not an effective method of study, the New York Times reports. Rather than sticking to one subject and spending hours attempting to master it, you should switch between a few (related) topics. It’s less boring -- and you’ll learn more.”[3]

Take Frequent, Short Breaks

After studying for the time you found was best, you must then take a rest for about five minutes. Do something else not connected with your work. Listen to music, have a snack, refresh yourself - but don't stop thinking about what you were reading. This may be an unusual thing to do in the middle of a study session, but your brain needs that time to sort out the information in your short-term memory. At the end of the rest period, the information you were reading will be much clearer than it was to begin with. [4]

 Avoid Plagiarism, a.k.a. Academic Self-Sabotage

“Since most plagiarism is unintentional, the best way to avoid plagiarism is to develop good habits of scholarship and writing, and to be familiar with the concepts related to plagiarism. Some of the necessary habits of scholarship are simple common sense. When writing a paper:

• give yourself enough time to do a good job. Students who procrastinate are more likely to plagiarize because rushing makes them sloppy. (Being out of time is also the primary incentive for deliberate dishonesty.)
• revise your paper. Significant re-writing can eliminate plagiarized passages.
• proofread for errors. Proofreading can help you find missing citations and quotation marks, as well as other errors.”[5]

Stop Studying When You’re Ready

"How do you know when you've studied enough? It's not when you're tired of studying! And it's not when you've gone through the material one time! You should stop only when you get to the point that you feel confident and ready for whatever will be on the exam—when you're actually eager to see the exam to find out if you guessed its contents correctly."[6]

Hopefully these tips will breathe some new life into your study routine.  In the meantime, here are some books in the library catalog that you also may find helpful:

Meditation Made Easy by Lorin Roche. 158.12 Roche

The Overwhelmed Person's Guide to Time Management by Ronni Eisenberg with Kate Kelly 304.23 Eisenberg

Study Strategies Made Easy by Leslie Davis and Sandi Sirotowitz with Harvey C. Parker. 371.3028 Davis

Strategies for Studying: A Handbook of Study Skills. 378.170281 Strategies

The Freshman Survival Guide: Soulful Advice for Studying, Socializing, and Everything in Between by Nora Bradbury-Haehl and Bill McGarvey 378.198 Bradbury-Haehl

How to Succeed in College (While Really Trying): A Professor's Inside Advice by Jon B. Gould. 378.198 Gould

Up Your Grades: Proven Strategies for Academic Success by Ann Hunt Tufariello. 378.198 Tufariello

The Big Book of Relaxation: Simple Techniques to Control the Excess Stress in Your Life  edited by Larry Blumenfeld. 613.79 Big

Smart Food: Culinary Delights for Optimal Gray Cell Performance by Marlisa Szwillus. 641.5 Szwillus

Successful Time Management for Dummies by Dirk Zeller. 650.11 Zeller

How to Write Successfully in High School and College by Barbara Lenmark Ellis. 808.02 Lenmark-Ellis 2005

Essentials of the Essay: Writing, Reading, and Grammar 808.042 Dean

---

[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/08/study-tips-for-college-_n_709096.html#s136089&title=Alternate_Study_Spaces

 

[2] http://www.debtfreescholar.com/2009/04/10-little-known-ways-to-survive-finals-week/

 

[3] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/08/study-tips-for-college-_n_709096.html#s136116&title=Dont_Immerse_Yourself

 

                               [4] http://www.academictips.org/highschool/ability.html

                     [5] http://library.csusm.edu/plagiarism/howtoavoid/index.htm

 

                     [6] http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/howtostudy.html

Literary Links

Cloud Atlas Author David Mitchell: Adaptation is Translation
Find this book and others by David Mitchell in the library catalog

Read Today's Word at A.Word.A.Day
Find A Word A Day: A Romp Through Some of the Most Unusual and Intriguing Words in English by wordsmith Anu Garg in the library catalog

Downton Abbey 3 premieres on January 6, 2013!
Find Downton Abbey related items in the library catalog here and here and here

The Rumpus Book Club Interviews Jami Attenberg
Place a hold on Attenberg's The Middlesteins in the library catalog

Nerdy Book Club's Top 10 Read Alouds of 2012

Eight Best Bits of John Taylor's Duran Duran Tell-All
Place a hold on In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death, and Duran Duran in the library catalog

Literary Fiction is a Genre: A List

What do you think about "Out of Touch: E-reading Isn't Reading" from Slate.com?

Read "The Eye", a short story from Alice Munro's collection Dear Life
Place a hold on the book in the library catalog

David Foster Wallace on "The Nature of Fun", an excerpt from Both Flesh and Not: Essays
Place a hold on the book in the library catalog

The POTUS Diaries: Books Written by Presidents

"They are international superstars, and yet they are public servants. We are united by the ideal they represent, but we are often divided by the policies they enact. As the 2012 election concludes, take a look beyond the ballots and past the process."
~Robin Rothman, "Penned by Presidents"

Many of our former presidents have written books.  Most are autobiographies, but a few, such as John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter, have written histories, a novel, even poetry.   Some have had their writings collected by editors, such as Harry S. Truman and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Since we just finished election season and with the latest Lincoln biopic currently in theaters (based in part on Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin), we thought this might be a good time to revisit the writings of some of our presidents of recent memory.

#32 Franklin Delano Roosevelt
FDR's Fireside Chats

#33 Harry S. Truman
Where the Buck Stops: The Personal and Private Writings of Harry S. Truman

#34 Dwight D. Eisenhower
Crusade in Europe

#35 John F. Kennedy
Profiles in Courage

#37 Richard M. Nixon
In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal

# 38  Gerald R. Ford
A Time to Heal: The Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford

#39  Jimmy Carter
An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of My Rural Boyhood

#40 Ronald Reagan
An American Life

#41 George H. W. Bush
All the Best, George Bush:  My Life in Letters and Other Writings

#42  Bill Clinton
My Life

#43  George W. Bush
Decision Points

#44  Barack Obama
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance