Author: Ann

Tell Me Where it Hurts by Nick Trout

- Ann Leave a comment

Follow Dr Trout as he describes what might happen during one of his days, complied from 25 years of experience as a veternary surgeon, as he treats pets and their owners. Part social worker, part psychologist, part magician, Dr Trout treats his patients with humor, compassion and skill.

While these stories are a mix of funny and heartbreaking, Trout also touches on several of important issues facing the industry including the cost of pet care, what’s best for the animal and the inevitable decision of when to say good-bye. Pet owners everywhere will wish they could call Dr Trout for information, advice and a good story.

Armchair Traveler goes to Japan

- Ann 1 Comment

Mt FujiJapan, with it’s dramatic history and exotic culture, has always fascinated Westerners. Catch a glimpse of Japan through these books.

The Tale of Murasaki by Liza Dalby. This brilliantly imagined memoir of Murasaki, author of the world’s first novel, is filled with details of 11th century Japan and the intrigues and politics of court life. Dalby successfully introduces and makes familiar a very distant, very foreign time and place.

Autumn Bridge by Takashi Matsuoka. Rich and vivid, this novel, set during the waning days of Japan’s feudal age, follows the story of a clan whose members can see into the future. An epic tale of swords, sorcery and honor.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Long-time favorite of book clubs everywhere, Memoirs of a Geisha follows the life and fortune of a girl who became a geisha, set at the end of the golden age of geisha. Filled with fascinating details of the private world and hardships of a geisha, it is also a beautiful love story.

The Strangeness of Beauty by Lydia Minatoya. Etsuko returns to 1930s Japan with her orphaned neice after having lived in the United States for several years. This book follows three generations of women living in a country on the brink of war.

December 6 by Martin Cruz Smith. Just days before Pearl Harbor, Harry Niles is making plans to leave Japan on the last flight to Hong Kong, but first, there are some loose ends to tie up. An evocative snapshot of a unique time and place, and a hero that hides a sentimental heart under a shield of cynicism.

American Fuji by Sara Backer. Fired from her beloved teaching job at Shizuyama University, American Gaby Stanton makes ends meet selling fantasy funerals to the rich. She agrees to help Alex Thorn search for clues to his son’s death. This modern-day culture clash brings contemporary Japan vividly to life.

Wi-Fi at the Library

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Laptop computerBoth Davenport library buildings – Main and Fairmount Street – offer free internet access via our wireless network. All you need is your library card number and a laptop.

Don’t have a library card yet? Stop by the Customer Service desk and sign up for one today.

Don’t have a laptop? Sorry, can’t help you with that one! But we do have PCs with internet access available in both buildings. Internet surfing for everyone!

Your Brain on Cubs edited by Dan Gordon

- Ann Leave a comment

Your Brain on CubsDon’t look now, folks but the Cubs are at the top of their division! There seems to be a good mix of hitting, fielding and pitching…..but can it last? Or is a June Swoon on the way?

Cub fans have been waiting 100 years for a World Series crown. What keeps them hanging on and coming back? It certainly can’t be the imaginative and forward-thinking ownership, or the flawless management (on field or corporate). And while we’ve seen some greats – Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg – we’ve also suffered through years of mediocrity. Your Brain on Cubs explains the role the brain plays, not just with the swing of emotions, but with many parts of watching and playing sports. And although these findings apply to fans and players of all teams not just Cubs fans, we do offer a unique look at loyalty and “just wait till next year” attitude.

One day our loyalty will be rewarded, might as well be this year!

National Boat Safety Week, May 17-23

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National Safe Boating Week, May 17-23

Time to get that boat out of dry dock? When you do, take some time to make certain it’s safe to operate. Also, educate all potential pilots as to standard safety procedures. Sometimes, in all the excitement of getting into the water, these can easily be overlooked. Let’s make the Mississippi and other area waterways safer for all boaters. Then, have some fun out there!

Iowa Wildflowers

- Ann 1 Comment

Iowa\'s Wild PlacesAt one time, Iowa had more prairie for it’s size than any other state in the union. Within ten years of the arrival of the pioneers (mid-1800s) nearly all of it was gone. Less than one tenth of one percent remains. Fortunately, there has been a movement lately to not only preserve what is left, but to restore unused land to native prairie.

Prairies are a diverse and complex ecosystem, supporting a wide range of birds and wildlife. They are also very beautiful, ranging from spring ephermals to an explosion of summer color to the drama of the tall grasses (growing taller than a man)

One of the best places to see prairie being restored is at the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, Iowa (just this side of Des Moines) They have an excellent, kid-friendly museum and interpretive center, walking trails, and a driving tour. As well as the amazing number of grasses and wildflowers that are being restored, there is an elk herd and a buffalo herd. Several native birds that were believed shooting star wildflowerto be extinct or rarely seen in Iowa have again been sighted here.

Closer to home, Rochester Cemetery near Tipton, Iowa offers a unique and memorable experience. Tucked between farms on a hilly site, it is considered one of the best examples of Oak Savanna in the Midwest and is known for it’s huge white oaks and it’s wildflowers. Growing on land that has never been disturbed, the variety and sheer quantity of flowers is astounding, especially in the spring. Especially the shooting stars. There are, literally, thousands of them, blanketing the ground in every direction, an amazing sight. (Please note: if you do visit, remember that this is still an active cemetery; please be respectful of the gravesites and stay on the mown paths)

For a beautiful guide to the prairies and wildflowers of Iowa, take a look at Iowa’s Wild Places by Carl Kurtz, or visit the Iowa Prairie Network for a listing of the remaining Iowa prairies, information on prairies, a calendar of events and volunteer opportunities. Help keep Iowa’s wild places wild.

Bike to Work Week

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Miles from NowhereGas prices making you cringe? Gained a few pounds over the winter? Try riding your bike to work. It’s a great way to get and stay in shape, requires no expensive trips to the gas station and it’s better for the environment. Plus, biking is fun! We’re lucky to have one of the best recreational trail systems in the country right here in Davenport and the Quad Cities. In addition, all Citibuses have bike racks; there is no extra fee to use them and they can expand your options for getting around on two wheels.

Bike to Work Week is May 10-16 to both encourage people to commute to work and to raise awareness of bicycles on the road. Bike Iowa can give you lots of tips on how to commute and lots of reasons why it’s a good idea.

Need a little inspiration? Miles From Nowhere by Barbara Savage is about the round-the-world bicycle trip Savage and her husband made. This is a great book – funny, exciting, sometimes tense (attacked by rock throwing men in Egypt), always interesting, Savage and her husband quit their jobs and spent two years on their adventure. Their story makes for can’t-put-down reading and may inspire you to dust off your own bike for a trip around the neighborhood.

The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diana Kennedy

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The Art of Mexican CookingMexican cooking is more than tacos and salsa; it is in fact a rich, complex and varied cuisine with distinct regional differences. Originally published in 1989, The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diana Kennedy is back in print filled with not only recipes, but stories and information about the unique, delicious foods of Mexico.

This is a cookbook for aficionados; many of the recipes and techniques are advanced (making blood sausage or cleaning a squid), but there are many accessible dishes as well (such as Mexican masa ball soup) Emphasis is on authentic ingredients and produce, most of which are now readily available in American markets. One chapter is devoted just to chilies and another on the sauces and relishes of Mexican cuisine, as well as chapters on corn, pork, chicken and desserts among others.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with some real Mexican food!

To The Swift edited by Joe Drape

- Ann 2 Comments

To the SwiftGlamour, tradition and, oh yeah, bourbon – what’s not to like about the Kentucky Derby? It’s also, of course, America’s premiere horse racing event and sets the stage for the Triple Crown (the Derby, the Preakness in two weeks and the Belmont three weeks after that)

Of the 40,000 Thoroughbred foals born in the United States each year, only 20 get to the Kentucky Derby. Only eleven horses have gone on to the win the Triple Crown. To the Swift chronicles the triumphs and heartbreaks, drama and hope of this beautiful and exciting sport. Heavily illustrated and filled with stories of not only the winners but those that came up short, this collection of stories from The New York Times combines original reporting with new essays on the sport.

Now, what was that about bourbon? The key ingredient for mint juleps of course! No traditional Kentucky Derby Party would be complete without them.

New DVDs for May at the Library

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May 2nd

P.S. I LOVE YOU

Holly Kennedy ( Hilary Swank) is beautiful, smart and married to the love of her life – a passionate, funny, and impetuous Irishman named Gerry Kennedy ( Gerard Butler) . So when Gerry’s life is taken by an illness, it takes the life out of Holly. Before he died, Gerry wrote Holly a series of letters that will guide her, not only through her grief, but in rediscovering herself. The first message arrives on Holly’s 30th birthday in the form of a cake and a tape recording from Gerry, who proceeds to tell her to get out and “celebrate herself”. In the weeks and months that follow, more letters from Gerry are delivered in surprising ways, each sending her on a new adventure and each signing off in the same way; P.S. I Love You. With Gerry’s words as her guide, Holly embarks on a journey of rediscovery in a story about marriage, friendship and how a love so strong can turn the finality of death into a new beginning for life. … IMDb

May 13th

THE GREAT DEBATERS

“The Great Debaters” is a fictionalized account of a true story. In the early 1930s, in the Jim Crow South, a small, all black school in Marshall, Texas, called Wiley College produced a debate team of such skill and renown, they were invited to compete against the white college champions, an unprecedented event in its day. Mel Tolson (Denzel Washington) is the professor at Wiley College Texas who wants to encourage his students to have big dreams.

” The Great Debaters” is a story of self actualization, self-reliances and the triumph of the underdog. This is one of the year’s best films.” – Roger Ebert

May 20th

NATIONAL TREASURE 2 – BOOK OF SECRETS

National Treasure 2 is the follow up to the box-office hit National Treasure. Treasure hunter Ben Gates (Nicolas Gage) and his fellow treasure hunters (Justin Bartha and Diane Kruger) along with his parents ( Jon Voight and Helen Mirren) set forth to prove his great-great grandfather’s innocence. Ben’s ancestor has been implicated as a key conspirator in Abraham Lincoln’s death. Ben follows an international chain of clues that takes him on a chase from Paris to London and ultimately back to America and leads to the President of United States and the world’s most treasured secrets.

I found this movie fun. One and a half hours of action and suspense.