New & Novel: New Mexico Travel & Adventure

New Mexico, where everyone from artists, hippies, cowboys, poets, misfits, refugees and tourists of every political stripe have interpreted the promise of its gorgeous, wide-open spaces and the freedom that it offers in their own, very different ways. New Mexico is an enchanted land, where people are largely free to create their own world.
~Anthony Bourdain

For those of you not doing any traveling this summer, how about a bit of staycation reading? In the spirit of "Love The One You're With", we give you some books that we hope will make you "love the state you're in"...from local history to travel guides. Where is your favorite place to visit in New Mexico?  White Sands National Monument? Visiting hot springs in T or C? The Lavender and Garlic in the Village Festival in Los Ranchos? Ski resorts? Scuba diving in Santa Rosa's Blue Hole? The Festival of the Cranes in Bosque del Apache?  The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array? Let us know in the comments! And don't forget Roswell's upcoming UFO Festival!


Roadside New Mexico: A Guide to Historic Markers by David Pike

Hiking Four Corners: A Guide to the Areas' Greatest Hiking Adventures by J. D. Tanner and Emily Ressler-Tanner

Birding Hot Spots of Santa Fe, Taos, and Northern New Mexico by Judy Liddell and Barbara Hussey

The Turquoise Trail by Dawn-Marie Lopez and Raul Lopez Ponce

The Lost World of the Old Ones: Discoveries in the Ancient Southwest by David Roberts

New Mexico's High Peaks: A Photographic Celebration by Mike Butterfield      

New Mexico's Pueblo Baseball League by James D. Baker, Herbert Howell and Marie A. Cordero

Visualizing Albuquerque: Art of Central New Mexico by Joseph Traugott

Best Bike Rides Albuquerque and Santa Fe: A Guide to the Greatest Recreational Rides in the Area by J. D. Tanner, Emily Ressler-Tanner, and Shey Lambert

Ask About Santa Fe: 464 Essential Questions and Their Answers About This City and the State of New Mexico by James J. Raciti

New Mexican Folk Music: Treasures of a People = Cancionero del folklor Nuevomexicano: el tesoro del pueblo by Cipriano Frederico Vigil 

Links

New Mexico True

Visit Albuquerque - Free Travel Guide

New Mexico Travel Guide [Fodor's]

Ten New Mexico Summer Adventures  [Cowboys & Indians]

 

Passionate Quests

A quest is a journey in the course of which one advances spiritually and mentally, as well as physically travelling miles. The quester leaves the familiar for the unknown. The nature of the goal may not be clear at first and may only become fully apparent at the end of the quest.
~Robert Irwin
 
There are a lot of reasons to undertake a quest.  The thirst for knowledge and/or experience. Traveling in the footsteps of someone you admire. For spiritual advancement. To push yourself to your limits - to find out what your limits are. Discovery, or self-discovery.  Obsession, plain and simple.

The following are a list of books by and about ordinary people, explorers, naturalists, and adventurers who have pursued their dreams to the ends of the earth, and sometimes to the end of the line.

Meet Me in Atlantis: My Quest to Find the 2,500-Year-Old Sunken City by Mark Adams

Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific By Raft by Thor Heyerdahl

The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

Planetwalker by John Francis

South With the Sun: Roald Amundsen, His Polar Explorations, and the Quest for Discovery by Lynne Cox

Imperial Dreams: Tracking the Imperial Woodpecker Through the Wild Sierra Madre by Tim Gallagher

Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery - the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick

Called Again: A Story of Love and Triumph by Jennifer Pharr Davis

Kingbird Highway: The Story of a Natural Obsession That Got a Little Out of Hand by Kenn Kaufman

Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before by Tony Horwitz

The Will to Climb: Obsession and Commitment and the Quest to Climb Annapurna--The World's Deadliest Peak by Ed Viesturs, with David Roberts

Travels With a Tangerine: A Journey in the Footnotes of Ibn Battutah by Tim Mackintosh-Smith

Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron

Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier

The Places In Between by Rory Stewart

Adventure Divas: Searching the Globe For a New Kind of Heroine by Holly Morris

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander

In Search of King Solomon's Mines by Tahir Shah

Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson

Off the Map: Tales of Endurance and Exploration as told by Fergus Fleming   

Links

11 Books About Obsessive Searches [New York Times]      

If You Loved 'Wild", Try Reading These 9 Books, Too [Bustle]

 

Every Hero Has a Story!/¡Cada Heroé Tiene Una Historia!

Our Summer Reading Program begins on Saturday, May 30th, and runs until July 25th! There will be kick-off parties at many branches on the 30th - check our Summer Reading events tab for listings or call your local branch.

Even if you miss the kick-off, all ages can still sign up for Summer Reading any time during the program and get a reading log, collect weekly prizes, attend events, and fill out a "library passport" (visit different library branches and get entered to win a fantastic family prize).

Summer Reading is for everyone! Click on the links below for lists of events, prizes, and more.

• Babies/Kids
• Tweens 
• Teens
• Adults

In a nutshell, babies and kids, tweens and teens will receive a weekly incentive when they bring in their reading logs. Teens and tweens can earn grand prize drawing entries by attending special events held at library branches. Adults bring in their completed 10-hour logs to be entered in weekly prize drawings, and will be eligible to win one of the grand prizes at the end of the summer. Visit our Summer Reading guide for more information.

It's going to be a great summer! Please join us!

New and Novel: Shakespeare

The phrase "there is nothing new under the sun" comes from the Bible, but if it didn't, it might have come from the brain of William Shakespeare (or whomever you believe wrote Shakespeare's works) - he coined many words we use today and the plays are a minefield of turns of phrase that you'll recognize from other sources, because everybody quotes Shakespeare!

At any rate, there are some new things under the sun, because there are new books about Shakespeare and his world to be found in the library catalog, as well as some recent DVDs about his plays and/or performances of his works.  In April 2016, there will be a tribute to the poet and playwright on the event of his 400th death anniversary - interesting, in light of the fact that many prestigious U.S. universities no longer require English majors to study the Bard's works.

What do you think of Shakespeare? Do you have a favorite play, or sonnet? Does Shakespeare still deserve all the veneration he was once given?

Read

The Shakespeare Book edited by Stanley Wells

Whether you are new to the poetry and prose of Shakespeare, and in need of a guide through the complex plots and unfamiliar language, or looking for a fresh perspective on his much-loved plays and sonnets, this book will shed light on the work of one of world literature's greatest figures.  The Science of Shakespeare: A New Look at the Playwright's Universe by Dan Falk   William Shakespeare lived at a remarkable time--a period we now recognize as the first phase of the Scientific Revolution. New ideas were transforming Western thought, the medieval was giving way to the modern, and the work of a few key figures hinted at the brave new world to come: The methodical and rational Galileo, the skeptical Montaigne, and--as Falk convincingly argues--Shakespeare, who observed human nature just as intently as the astronomers who studied the night sky.  The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer  ... this popular history explores daily life in Queen Elizabeth's England, taking us inside the homes and minds of ordinary citizens as well as luminaries of the period, including Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir Francis Drake. Organized as a travel guide for the time-hopping tourist, Mortimer relates in delightful (and occasionally disturbing) detail everything from the sounds and smells of sixteenth-century England to the complex and contradictory Elizabethan attitudes toward violence, class, sex, and religion. Shakespeare's Restless World: A Portrait of an Era in Twenty Objects by Neil MacGregor  In this work of historical reconstruction Neil MacGregor and his team at the British Museum, working together in a landmark collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the BBC, bring us twenty objects that capture the essence of Shakespeare's universe and the Tudor era of Elizabeth I. How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig Outlines an engaging way to instill an understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare's classic works in children, outlining a family-friendly method that incorporates the history of Shakespearean theater and society.  Ideas of Order: A Close Reading of Shakespeare's Sonnets by Neil L. Rudenstine  An approachable and indispensable guide to Shakespeare's sonnets Shakespeare's sonnets are the greatest single work of lyric poetry in English, as passionate, daring, intimate, and moving as any love poems we may encounter.Along with his expert critical narrative, Ideas of Order includes all of Shakespeare's sonnets. This enlightening book is an invaluable companion for Shakespeare neophytes and experienced readers alike.   Shakespeare Insult Generator: Mix and Match More Than 150,000 Insults in the Bard's Own Words by Barry Kraft      Watch   Shakespeare Uncovered, Season 1 and Season 2  Romeo & Juliet   Cymbeline  The Hollow Crown   Much Ado About Nothing  Coriolanus   *all descriptions are taken from the library catalog   

Great First Lines: Middle Grade Edition

The Summer Reading Program is coming, and one of my favorite things about this time of year is visiting elementary schools and talking to the students about books and reading. I love having elementary school students judge books by their covers and first lines. A couple of weeks ago, I did a post on great first lines in young adult fiction; today, I'm sharing the great first lines from the books I took to my elementary school visits, along with the students' reactions.

"The calendar said early March, but the smell in the air said late October."
--The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

Not surprisingly, the kids didn't love that first line, but they did love the cover of the book.

"The way I see it, I stopped being a kid on April 12, 1951."
--Catch You Later, Traitor by Avi

This was another first line they didn't love, but the students asked me to keep reading, and by the time we got through the first four (short) paragraphs, they were hooked.

"There were so many dead bodies stuffed into Gram's freezer chest that it was kind of like wandering through a cryonics lab."
--Turn Left at the Cow by Lisa Bullard

The kids loved this line so much that they asked me to read it a second time.

"'Stay out of trouble.' Kids hear that all the time, and most of the time, we barely pay attention. But when an FBI agent says it, and it's the fourth time in two weeks that you've been to the federal building in Boston? You listen."
--Ollie and the Science of Treasure Hunting by Erin Dionne

This was actually the first three paragraphs of the book, and this was one book that had a variety of reactions. Some kids liked it, some didn't, and most were undecided.

"Rye and her two friends had never intended to steal the banned book from the Angry Poet--they'd just hoped to read it."
--The Luck Uglies by Paul Durham

Most of the kids liked this line, and why not? I'm intrigued enough by characters stealing a banned book from an angry poet, and the kids were, too.

"I was on my tippy-toes, bouncing up and down on the first step of the bus, stuck behind my second cousin, Danisha, and her melon-sized butt."
--Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie T. Lamana

This line got a ton of laughs, which was what I was going for. One class had me read it a second time just because they thought it was hilarious.

"Of all the items that can clog your plumbing, an overweight Arctic mammal is probably the worst."
--Timmy Failure: Now Look What You've Done by Stephan Pastis

Some of the kids liked this line, but most didn't, which surprised me.

"In the shadow of our apple tree, looking out across a river at a city full of glass and whispers, I take my dad's hand and watch our enemy fly toward us."
--The Dark Wild by Piers Torday

Everyone loved this line, which wasn't a surprise.

"'Elliot von Doppler, you come down here right now or I swear, I'll boil you in soup and serve you to your father'!"
--The Creature Department by Robert Paul Weston

I've used this book two years in a row at these events, and each time, almost everyone loved it.

What are your favorite first lines in middle grade fiction? Let us know in the comments!

Jewish American Heritage Month

President Bush proclaimed May to be Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) in 2006. In 2013, President Obama echoed the first proclamation, declaring that

Jewish immigrants from all over the world wove new threads into our cultural fabric with rich traditions and indomitable faith, and their descendants pioneered incredible advances in science and the arts. Teachings from the Torah lit the way toward a more perfect Union, from women's rights to workers' rights to the end of segregation... More than 350 years have passed since Jewish refugees first made landfall on American shores. We take this month to celebrate the progress that followed, and the bright future that lies ahead.

You can read more about New Mexico's Jewish heritage at the City of Albuquerque site,  and New Mexico is featured in 50 States/50 Stories, a collection of  "colorful, enlightening, and surprising stories about the accomplishments and contributions of American Jewish men and women who have helped to weave the fabric of American history, culture, and society."

Here are a few items on Jewish American heritage to consider:


To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico by Stanley M. Hordes

A History of the Jews in New Mexico by Henry J. Tobias

It's a Scream How Levine Does the Rhumba: The Latin-Jewish Musical Story - 1940s-1980s [CD]

Little Failure: A Memoir by Gary Shteyngart 

The Jewish Americans: Three Centuries of Jewish Voices in America by Beth S. Wenger 

MetaMaus by Art Spiegelman

Speaking of Jews: Rabbis, Intellectuals, and the Creation of an American Public Identity by Lila Corwin Berman [eBook]

Jewish Women Pioneering the Frontier Trail: A History in the American West by Jeanne E. Abrams [eBook]
 

Links

What To Read During Jewish American Heritage Month [Book Riot]

Essential Readings in American Jewish History [American Jewish Historical Society]

Jewish American Heritage Month 
Portal of the JAHM Coalition, convened by convened by United Jewish Communities (now The Jewish Federations of North America), The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (AJA) and the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS).

Jewish American Heritage Month [.gov]
 This Web portal is a collaborative project of the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Abq Jew
Your guide to Jewish Life in Albuquerque and beyond.

Make a Beautiful Mess!

Because I have trouble cutting a straight line with scissors, I am not much of a do-it-yourself-er, but I revere the art that it is and love looking at books on the subject!  I think it is so special to be able to personalize projects to be just how you want them, and then to make them yourself.  It's magic to me.

My current favorite in this vein is from the creators of A Beautiful Mess, which is comprised of two of the most adorable sisters you've ever seen - Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman.  They have created two books so far, but they were originally bloggers and do a ton of work online at their site, A Beautiful Mess.  They have also created two top selling apps in the iTunes store, their own product line, and their own company.  Whoa!  Not only are these women super cute, they are inspiring in a make-you-want-to-do-what-you-really-want-to-do-with-your-life sort of way.

Let me introduce you to their two books, if you haven't met (and maybe you have; I tend to be a little behind the times).  One is a fantastic photo-inspiration book, the kind that both novices and professionals can benefit from, and the other is a DIY for almost anything you can think of at home, from pillows to party ideas:

A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book : 95 Inspiring Ideas for Photographing Your Friends, Your World, and Yourself  

A Beautiful Mess Happy Handmade Home: Painting, Crafting, and Decorating a Cheerful, More Inspiring Space 

 
As a completely unofficial companion (maybe its subtitle should actually be A Not-So-Beautiful Mess?) there is this highly entertaining book about DIY gone wrong.  I recommend it for craft-lovers and the unskilled alike:

CraftFail: When Homemade Goes Horribly Wrong by Heather Mann

Anybody out there have any DIY stories of joy or horror?