Christmas Movies on Kanopy

December 16, 2024November 7, 2024 - Beth Leave a comment

If you are looking for a cozy Christmas movie to stream, Kanopy has you covered! Kanopy provides a variety of popular and classic movies, TV shows, documentaries, and foreign films to stream for free, using your Davenport Public Library card. Here are 3 Christmas shows that will be playing at my house this year.

Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever (2014) stars Daniel Roebuck, Aubrey Plaza, Grumpy Cat, and Megan Charpentier

Grumpy Cat is a lonely cat living in a mall pet shop. Because she always gets passed over and never gets chosen by customers, this kitty develops a sour outlook on life until…one day during the holidays, a very special 12-year-old girl named Chyrstal enters the pet store and falls in love with Grumpy Cat. A unique friendship is formed between the two when Chyrstal finds she is the only person who can hear this unique feline talk. Will Grumpy Cat learn the true meaning of Christmas, or will it be in Grumpy’s words, “Worst. Christmas. Ever?”

Road Trip for Ralphie: A Christmas Story Documentary (2010)

Tyler and Jordie Schwartz grew up loving the movie A Christmas Story. The couple discovered that entrepreneur Brian Jones had purchased Ralphie’s house in Cleveland and was restoring it to its movie grandeur. Knowing that much of the movie was also filmed near where they live in Canada, they hatched a plan to visit all the locations used in the movie to see what they look like today. During an adventure spanning two years and two countries, they uncovered forgotten facts, discovered little-known locations and recovered long-lost memorabilia. Join the filmmakers as they visit more than 15 locations in Canada and Cleveland to learn amazing trivia about the movie and the people who made it. Also included are rare documents and interviews from crew members in Cleveland and Toronto who worked on the film back in 1983.

Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker (2014)

There are several filmed versions of the ballet “The Nutcracker” available on Kanopy. Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker is one of the world’s most enchanting productions, and The Australian Ballet shines in this charming classic. Sumptuously staged and set to Tchaikovsky’s celebrated score, this ballet is a truly magical experience for the whole family.

Books to Fill Your Weekends

December 12, 2024October 25, 2024 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Are you looking for a book to fill your weekends? Do you need something to keep you company during these cozy fall evenings? I have gathered a list of books that are over 450 pages long to help you stay busy.

All of these titles have been published in 2024 and are currently owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. The descriptions have been provided by the publishers.

Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

“Were we gangsters? No. But did we know how to start a fire?”

In 1980, a wealthy businessman named Carl Fletcher is kidnapped from his driveway, brutalized, and held for ransom. He is returned to his wife and kids less than a week later, only slightly the worse, and the family moves on with their lives, resuming their prized places in the saga of the American dream, comforted in the realization that though their money may have been what endangered them, it is also what assured them their safety.

But now, nearly forty years later, it’s clear that perhaps nobody ever got over anything, after all. Carl has spent the ensuing years secretly seeking closure to the matter of his kidnapping, while his wife, Ruth, has spent her potential protecting her husband’s emotional health. Their three grown children aren’t doing much better: Nathan’s chronic fear won’t allow him to advance at his law firm; Beamer, a Hollywood screenwriter, will consume anything—substance, foodstuff, women—in order to numb his own perpetual terror; and Jenny has spent her life so bent on proving that she’s not a product of her family’s pathology that she has come to define it. As they hover at the delicate precipice of a different kind of survival, they learn that the family fortune has dwindled to just about nothing, and they must face desperate questions about how much their wealth has played a part in both their lives’ successes and failures.

Long Island Compromise spans the entirety of one family’s history, winding through decades and generations, all the way to the outrageous present, and confronting the mainstays of American Jewish life: tradition, the pursuit of success, the terror of history, fear of the future, old wives’ tales, evil eyes, ambition, achievement, boredom, dybbuks, inheritance, pyramid schemes, right-wing capitalists, beta-blockers, psychics, and the mostly unspoken love and shared experience that unite a family forever. – Random House

This title is also available in large print.

Ours by Phillip B. Williams

In this ingenious, sweeping novel, Phillip B. Williams introduces us to an enigmatic woman named Saint, a fearsome conjurer who, in the 1830s, annihilates plantations all over Arkansas to rescue the people enslaved there. She brings those she has freed to a haven of her own creation: a town just north of St. Louis, magically concealed from outsiders, named Ours.

It is in this miraculous place that Saint’s grand experiment—a truly secluded community where her people may flourish—takes root. But although Saint does her best to protect the inhabitants of Ours, over time, her conjuring and memories begin to betray her, leaving the town vulnerable to intrusions by newcomers with powers of their own. As the cracks in Saint’s creation are exposed, some begin to wonder whether the community’s safety might be yet another form of bondage.

Set over the course of four decades and steeped in a rich tradition of American literature informed by Black surrealism, mythology, and spirituality, Ours is a stunning exploration of the possibilities and limitations of love and freedom by a writer of capacious vision and talent. – Viking

The Book of Love by Kelly Link

The Book of Love showcases Kelly Link at the height of her powers, channeling potent magic and attuned to all varieties of love—from friendship to romance to abiding family ties—with her trademark compassion, wit, and literary derring-do. Readers will find joy (and a little terror) and an affirmation that love goes on, even when we cannot.

Late one night, Laura, Daniel, and Mo find themselves beneath the fluorescent lights of a high school classroom, almost a year after disappearing from their hometown, the small seaside community of Lovesend, Massachusetts, having long been presumed dead. Which, in fact, they are.

With them in the room is their previously unremarkable high school music teacher, who seems to know something about their disappearance—and what has brought them back again. Desperate to reclaim their lives, the three agree to the terms of the bargain their music teacher proposes. They will be given a series of magical tasks; while they undertake them, they may return to their families and friends, but they can tell no one where they’ve been. In the end, there will be winners and there will be losers.

But their resurrection has attracted the notice of other supernatural figures, all with their own agendas. As Laura, Daniel, and Mo grapple with the pieces of the lives they left behind, and Laura’s sister, Susannah, attempts to reconcile what she remembers with what she fears, these mysterious others begin to arrive, engulfing their community in danger and chaos, and it becomes imperative that the teens solve the mystery of their deaths to avert a looming disaster.

Welcome to Kelly Link’s incomparable Lovesend, where you’ll encounter love and loss, laughter and dread, magic and karaoke, and some really good pizza. – Random House

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

A gifted young knight named Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a place at the Round Table, only to find that he’s too late. King Arthur died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table are left.

The survivors aren’t the heroes of legend like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Table, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight, and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke. They’re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin’s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill.

But it’s up to them to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance, even as God abandons Britain and the fairies and old gods return, led by Morgan le Fay. They must reclaim Excalibur and make this ruined world whole again—but first they’ll have to solve the mystery of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell.

The first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium, The Bright Sword is steeped in tradition, complete with duels and quests, battles and tournaments, magic swords and Fisher Kings. It’s also a story about imperfect men and women, full of strength and pain, trying to reforge a broken land in spite of being broken themselves. – Viking

There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives.

In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his interest: Nineveh and Its Remains.

In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time.

In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything.

A dazzling feat of storytelling, There Are Rivers in the Sky entwines these outsiders with a single drop of water, a drop which remanifests across the centuries. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers—the Tigris and the Thames—transcend history, transcend fate: “Water remembers. It is humans who forget.” – Knopf

This title is also available in large print.

More Books

América del Norte by Nicolás Medina Mora
By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
The Women by Kristin Hannah

New Business, Leadership and Economics Books

December 10, 2024October 2, 2024 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Books that discuss business, leadership, and economics cover a wide selection, but what’s always been interesting to me are the books that deep dive into specific businesses, as well as broad business sectors/types. The books below are new titles in these categories that highlight everything from Amazon to day trading to startups. As always, if you are looking for other related books in this category, don’t hesitate to reach out!

These titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. The descriptions have been provided by the publishers.

American Flannel: How a Band of Entrepreneurs Are Bringing the Art and Business of Making Clothes Back Home by Steven Kurutz

The little-engine-that-could story of how a band of scrappy entrepreneurs are reviving the enterprise of manufacturing clothing in the United States.

For decades, clothing manufacture was a pillar of U.S. industry. But beginning in the 1980s, Americans went from wearing 70 percent domestic-made apparel to almost none. Even the very symbol of American freedom and style—blue jeans—got outsourced. With offshoring, the nation lost not only millions of jobs but also crucial expertise and artistry.

Dismayed by shoddy imported “fast fashion”—and unable to stop dreaming of re-creating a favorite shirt from his youth—Bayard Winthrop set out to build a new company, American Giant, that would swim against this trend. New York Times reporter Steven Kurutz, in turn, began to follow Winthrop’s journey. He discovered other trailblazers as well, from the “Sock Queen of Alabama” to a pair of father-son shoemakers and a men’s style blogger who almost single-handedly drove a campaign to make “Made in the USA” cool. Eye-opening and inspiring, American Flannel is the story of how a band of visionaries and makers are building a new supply chain on the skeleton of the old and wedding old-fashioned craftsmanship to cutting-edge technology and design to revive an essential American dream. – Riverhead Books

The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power by Dana Mattioli

From veteran Amazon reporter for The Wall Street Journal, The Everything War is the first untold, devastating exposé of Amazon’s endless strategic greed, from destroying Main Street to remaking corporate power, in pursuit of total domination, by any means necessary.

In 2017, Lina Khan published a paper that accused Amazon of being a monopoly, having grown so large, and embedded in so many industries, it was akin to a modern-day Standard Oil. Unlike Rockefeller’s empire, however, Bezos’s company had grown voraciously without much scrutiny. In fact, for over twenty years, Amazon had emerged as a Wall Street darling and its “customer obsession” approach made it indelibly attractive to consumers across the globe. But the company was not benevolent; it operated in ways that ensured it stayed on top. Lina Khan’s paper would light a fire in Washington, and in a matter of years, she would become the head of the FTC. In 2023, the FTC filed a monopoly lawsuit against Amazon in what may become one of the largest antitrust cases in the 21st century.

With unparalleled access, and having interviewed hundreds of people – from Amazon executives to competitors to small businesses who rely on its marketplace to survive – Mattioli exposes how Amazon was driven by a competitive edge to dominate every industry it entered, bulldozed all who stood in its way, reshaped the retail landscape, transformed how Wall Street evaluates companies, and altered the very nature of the global economy. It has come to control most of online retail, and uses its own sellers’ data to compete with them through Amazon’s own private label brands. Millions of companies and governmental agencies use AWS, paying hefty fees for the service. And, the company has purposefully avoided collecting taxes for years, exploited partners, and even copied competitors—leveraging its power to extract whatever it can, at any cost. It has continued to gain market share in disparate areas, from media to logistics and beyond. Most companies dominate one or two industries; Amazon now leads in several. And all of this was by design.

The Everything War is the definitive, inside story of how it grew into one of the most powerful and feared companies in the world – and why this lawsuit opens a window into the most consequential business story of our times. – Little, Brown and Company

Taming the Octopus: The Long Battle for the Soul of the Corporation by Kyle Edward Williams

The untold story of how efforts to hold big business accountable changed American capitalism.

Recent controversies around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing and “woke capital” evoke an old idea: the Progressive Era vision of a socially responsible corporation. By midcentury, the notion that big business should benefit society was a consensus view. But as Kyle Edward Williams’s brilliant history, Taming the Octopus, shows, the tools forged by New Deal liberals to hold business leaders accountable, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, narrowly focused on the financial interests of shareholders. This inadvertently laid the groundwork for a set of fringe views to become dominant: that market forces should rule every facet of society. Along the way, American capitalism itself was reshaped, stripping businesses to their profit-making core.

In this vivid and surprising history, we meet activists, investors, executives, and workers who fought over a simple question: Is the role of the corporation to deliver profits to shareholders, or something more? On one side were “business statesmen” who believed corporate largess could solve social problems. On the other were libertarian intellectuals such as Milton Friedman and his oft-forgotten contemporary, Henry Manne, whose theories justified the ruthless tactics of a growing class of corporate raiders. But Williams reveals that before the “activist investor” emerged as a capitalist archetype, Civil Rights groups used a similar playbook for different ends, buying shares to change a company from within.

As a rising tide of activists pushed corporations to account for societal harms from napalm to environmental pollution to inequitable hiring, a new idea emerged: that managers could maximize value for society while still turning a maximal profit. This elusive ideal, “stakeholder capitalism,” still dominates our headlines today. Williams’s necessary history equips us to reconsider democracy’s tangled relationship with capitalism. – WW Norton & Company

Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts, and the Death of Freedom by Grace Blakeley

It’s easy to look at the state of the world around us and feel hopeless. We live in an era marked by war, climate crisis, political polarization, and acute inequality—and yet many of us feel powerless to do anything about these profound issues. We’ve been assured that unfettered capitalism is necessary to ensure our freedom and prosperity but why, in our age of unchecked corporate power, are most of us living paycheck to paycheck? When the economy falters, why do governments bail out corporations and shareholders but leave everyday people in the dust?

Now, acclaimed journalist and progressive star on the rise Grace Blakeley exposes the corrupt system that is failing all around us, pulling back the curtain on the free-market mythology we have been sold. She also clearly illustrates how, as corporate interests have taken hold, governments have historically been shifting away from competition and democracy towards monopoly and oligarchy.

Tracing over a century of neoliberal planning and backdoor bailouts, Blakeley takes us on a deeply reported tour of the corporate crimes, political maneuvering, and economic manipulation that elites have used to enshrine a global system of “vulture capitalism”—planned capitalist economies that benefit corporations and the uber-wealthy at the expense of the rest of us. – Atria Books

More New Business, Leadership and Economics Books

Day Trading Attention: How to Actually Build Brand and Sales in the New Social Media World by Gary Vaynerchuk
On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything by Nate Silver
The Bonfire Moment: Bring Your Team Together to Solve the Hardest Problems Startups Face by Martin Gonzalez

Polar Vortex: A Family Memoir by Denise Dorrance

December 5, 2024November 22, 2024 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Denise Dorrance’s debut graphic memoir, Polar Vortex: A Family Memoir, tells the story of two months of Denise’s life when she comes back to Iowa to take care of her elderly mother. What hooked me about this book is that it takes place in Cedar Rapids, Iowa! Once I saw that in the description, I knew I had to read this book.

Every day Denise calls her mother to check in. Years ago, Denise moved to London, leaving her mom behind in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After her father passed, her mom started to decline. Today, Denise is worried because her mother isn’t answering the phone. When she receives an alarming email and then an even more concerning phone call, Denise books the first flight she can get back to Cedar Rapids and rushes to her mom’s hospital bedside. When Denise arrives, she is shocked to see her mother struggling so much. She is lying in the bed injured, bruised, scattered, and confused. At a loss of what to do, Denise quickly finds her one week trip back stretching out to two months. Battling insurance issues and a delicate relationship with her sister, Denise just wants to make sure that her mother is taken care of how she wants. One major barrier to assessing what her mother wants: dementia. Moments of confusion start to outnumber the moments of clarity, leading Denise forced to make an impossible decision about her mother’s care. With a prayer and a hope, Denise leaps into the unknown.

This graphic novel was beautifully written and handles heart-breaking topics with grace and sincerity. Denise isn’t afraid to talk about the bad, alongside the good, in stark terms. By drawing the Grim Reaper into the story, she finds a place to process her emotions as she deals with curveballs thrown her way by family, insurance, care homes, and the weather! Definitely recommend this read.

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

December 3, 2024November 21, 2024 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Have you ever seen a book cover and thought, ‘I could get lost in that world’? Well I thought that when I picked up my latest read, The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer. The shelves of books and purple clouds combined with the shining lighthouse and imposing castle in the background pulled me in, demanding I learn its secrets.

Lucy Hart grew up wishing that her parents loved her. Her childhood was spent alone, the daughter of parents who neglected her to deal with her older medically complex sister. Raised by her grandparents, Lucy spent her childhood finding hope and safety in books. The books that impacted her the most were the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. When Lucy becomes a teacher’s aide, she introduces this series to one of her students, Christopher, when she discovers that he is having a hard time. Lucy and Christopher quickly grow close, leading Lucy to wish that she could adopt Christopher from foster care. She has plans to make their dreams come true, but when life conspires to thwart their plans, she is left at a loss.

At her lowest, Lucy’s life suddenly takes a turn when Jack Masterson announces that he’s written a new book! The twist: he’s only written one copy and is planning a contest on Clock Island for four people to compete to win this only copy. Lucy is beyond excited when she learns that she has been chosen to compete! Winning this contest has the power to drastically change her and Christopher’s lives. As soon as she arrives on Clock Island, Lucy realizes she’s up against more than just the other three contestants. A potential love interest is also on the island, distracting her and intriguing her at the same time. While everyone contends with their own problems, Jack sits in the background, planning twists, games, and clues with almost endless power.

Told from the perspectives of multiple characters, The Wishing Game details characters who are all fighting to find where they fit in in the world. Found family is a major theme in this book, drawing characters towards each other in ways that will change their lives forever. Characters grow throughout this book, showcasing their ability to change combined with their desire to better themselves and their circumstances. I loved the world-building in this book! The fact that Jack actually built Clock Island was so beautiful. The Clock Island series by Jack Masterson sounds like something younger Stephanie would have enjoyed, making me wish that it was real!

“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”
― Meg Shaffer, The Wishing Game

Online Reading Challenge – December

December 2, 2024November 22, 2024 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge searches for materials that have dual timelines. Our main title for December is The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

A dazzling novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris

In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico’s funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico’s little sister.

Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago crisis, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways AIDS affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. The two intertwining stories take us through the heartbreak of the eighties and the chaos of the modern world, as both Yale and Fiona struggle to find goodness in the midst of disaster. – Penguin Books

Looking for some other books that are dual timelines? Try any of the following.

A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen
Weyward by Emilia Hart

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!

Online Reading Challenge – November Wrap-Up

November 29, 2024November 12, 2024 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read something that spanned decades or time that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. While I was researching books that fit this category, I discovered Pachinko, a Finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction in 2017. I was instantly intrigued and knew that I wanted to read this book. To read the publisher’s description of Pachinko, check out our introductory blog. My thoughts are below.

Pachinko opens in the late 1800s and travels through to 1989, beginning in Korea before there was a North and a South. Spanning many decades, Min Jin Lee has written a gorgeous story following the lives of four generations of one family. Each generation of family is given ample space to tell their stories and live their lives, running through emotional highs and lows as their life choices prove to have consequences for the generations after. Each character is complex, leading passionate, well-detailed lives. Themes of loyalty, ambition, love, and sacrifice run through this novel as each character works to change and better their circumstances. Min Jin Lee isn’t afraid to dive into the nitty gritty, covering lives on the street to Japan’s universities to the criminal underworld of pachinko parlors. This is one of the best examples of books spanning decades and time that I have read. The world-building is complex and detailed, but in such a way that felt natural and stealthily woven into the storylines. I felt like I was dropped into the lives of each character, struggling alongside them as they worked to survive and provide for their families and themselves. While I have read many books that span decades, Pachinko was incredibly moving and is the true definition of a domestic saga.

Next month, we will be reading books with dual timelines!

In addition to following the Online Reading Challenge here on our Info Cafe blog, you can join our Online Reading Challenge group on Goodreads and discuss your reads!

New Crafts and Hobbies Books

November 27, 2024October 29, 2024 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Did you know that the Davenport Public Library | Main has the Studio 321 Makerspace available for you to use? In the Studio 321 Makerspace, we have a 3D printer, a button maker, a Cricut, a Cricut mug press, two heat presses, a large format printer, a sewing machine, and a digital conversion station! To make an appointment and for more information about our makerspace, visit our website to learn more.

If you’re unable to travel to Main to use our makerspace, don’t worry! We have a wide variety of books about crafts and hobbies that you can check out and enjoy to tide you over. Below we have gathered some of our newest nonfiction titles featuring different crafts and hobbies. As always, if you’re looking for something else, please let us know!

Descriptions have been provided by the publisher. These books are owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing.

Crochet Secrets from the Knotty Boss: Over 100 Tips & Tricks to Improve Your Crochet by Anne Leyzina

This handy reference guide is packed with over 100 lifesaving crochet tips and tricks that your grandmother might not have taught you from @theknottyboss.

A collection of not-so-traditional crochet hacks meant to help troubleshoot many issues that typically arise with crocheting. The author covers everything from starting knots to perfect finishing techniques, and everything in between. This book can assist you at any stage of your project and help take your crochet game to the next level. Please note that the instructions are written in US crochet terms but there is a handy ‘cheat sheet’ if you want to convert them to UK terms.

It is packed full of step-by-step instructions and photography so you can follow along every step of the way and not miss a trick. Author, Anna Leyzina aka The Knotty Boss, has a huge number of followers who love her Tuesday Tips feature on her social media platforms. This collection combines her Tuesday Tips and more in one handy-sized reference book – which is perfect for keeping in your project bag.

Covering everything from how to select the right hook through to tips on how to pick the correct yarn and some clever stitch marker hacks, The Knotty Boss has got you covered. There are tips and tricks for basic skills like avoiding visible slip knots at the start of your work, working into back bumps, joining the foundation chain without twisting and an easy method for the magic ring. Later chapters look at more advanced techniques such as keeping the magic ring on your finger while working the first round, invisible joins when working in different stitches and invisible increase and decrease methods.

Other hacks include tips for working in rows and rounds including how to smooth the side edges, how to prevent stitches from slanting and how to make the perfect circle rather than a hexagon. Amigurumi techniques are also included with hacks for invisible increase and decreases, adding eyes and other facial expressions and tips for lining and stuffing toys.

There is section on working with colour which looks at how to get seamless colour changes and perfect stripes, and advice for crocheting granny squares with tips for how to prevent your squares from slanting, and how to create invisible seams.

The final chapters look at edging and borders, and finishing techniques with advice on how to seamlessly fasten off, how to weave in the ends and easy blocking, making this the ultimate handy, pocket-sized reference guide for all your crochet needs. – David and Charles

Making Things: Finding Use, Meaning, and Satisfaction in Crafting Everyday Objects by Erin Boyle and Rose Pearlman

Making Things champions handmade crafts that infuse the no-waste ethos with glamour and fun.

Through easy-to-follow tutorials for over 100 projects that are both accessible and aspirational, Making Things invites readers to try their hands at a variety of crafts and celebrate the satisfaction that comes from slowly and carefully creating for oneself. Learn to fold magazine pages into Masu Boxes for organizing bits and bobs, make a cardboard loom for weaving potholders out of old linens, braid your own Kumihimo Dog Leash, or starch fabric scraps for decorative bunting.

Makers Rose Pearlman and Erin Boyle met in 2018 and immediately struck up a friendship, united by a reverence for everyday objects. Their approach towards craft reflects a shared commitment to sustainability and accessibility – as they write in Making Things’ introduction, “Craft can be exquisite and exacting, the result of formal training and years of practice, but it can also be experimental and messy and not quite perfect.”

Scouring sidewalks, stoops, and thrift stores, the authors repurpose materials to create projects that range from functional to fun and frivolous. Step-by-step guides make it simple to start and finish each project, while the book’s stunning photographs show how each craft can fit within an organized, thoughtfully curated home.

As Making Things demonstrates, relying on a limited range of supplies and repurposing the same materials can spur our creativity, encouraging us to look at a pile of junk on a stoop and see endless possibilities. – Hardie Grant Books

Sublimation Crafting: The Ultimate DIY Guide to Printing and Pressing Vibrant Tumblers, T-Shirts, Home Décor, and More by Cori George

The ultimate guide to today’s hottest craft trend

Readers will learn how to personalize their worlds with Sublimation Crafting Join creative crafter, author, and sublimation expert Cori George as she demystifies this fast-growing art form and provides all the essentials needed to kick-start the sublimation journey. Readers will get an easy-to-understand overview of sublimation, learn about the printers and supplies needed, and master the art of transferring images onto blank canvases to create vibrant items to keep, give, or sell.

– Unintimidating Guidance: Readers will craft with confidence as this guide empowers them to navigate sublimation crafting with ease, without technical jargon or confusion.
– Essential Tools Demystified: Gain a comprehensive understanding of the tools that drive sublimation, including printers and heat presses, unlocking the potential for limitless creativity.
– Step-by-Step Mastery: By following the expert instructions for safe and effective techniques, readers are ensured that every project they undertake will showcase their skill and creativity.
– 18 Dynamic Projects: Experience an elevated crafting journey with 18 projects that span a spectrum of items, including a T-shirt, mug, mouse pad, photo panel, sequined pillow, flag, photo slate, glass cutting board, wood sign, and zippered pouch, as well as wine bags, coasters, stickers, earrings, patches, and even a trio of tumblers
– Downloadable Art Files: Access a treasure trove of more than 30 downloadable art files that make customization and creativity seamless.

It’s the definitive guide to sublimation crafting with no fussy instructions or technical jargon–just solid techniques and gorgeous craft projects from a trusted expert. – Better Day Books

Threads of Treasure: How to Make, Mend, and Find Meaning Through Thread by Sara Barnes

Learn to make embroidery a way to treasure your life as you create three personal projects supported by the guidance, stories, and advice of 14 modern crafters.

Modern society has put a premium on producing, and sometimes that hustle culture (Instagram likes! Etsy sales!) can drain some joy from crafting. This book helps embroidery fans abandon that notion and, instead, realize that life is about treasuring what’s important.

• Interviews with 14 creative stitchers—from business owners to accomplished artists—make readers feel embraced by community.

• Each artist shares photos of their creations, encouraging readers to incorporate empowering concepts into their stitching.

• Three step-by-step projects, personalized to the reader’s own preferences, teach how to:

1. use your threads to treasure and display your life’s meaningful special objects. For instance, a special token of a favorite moment like a seashell, an event ticket, or a trinket from childhood.
2. use your threads to treasure your worn and well-loved things, like your favorite garment, with mending and adornment (while also treasuring our environment).
3. use your threads to treasure your small everyday moments—sit still, breathe deeply, and enjoy the making process—by creating a daily practice. – Schiffer Craft

Well Worn: Visible Mending for the Clothes You Love by Skye Pennant

Mend and revive your favorite well-worn garments with this comprehensive guide to visible mending techniques from the founder of Slow Stitch Club.

From the creator of the popular Slow Stitch Club, Well Worn is a fresh and engaging clothing repair guide and accessible introduction for anyone looking to explore visible mending to revolutionize their wardrobe, whether you are a stitching pro or have never picked up a needle and thread.

Mending is a creative outlet and a slow and therapeutic skill, and author and textile artist Skye Pennant shares the joys of mending by teaching traditional darning and sashiko techniques to help fight against wardrobe perfectionism as well as fast fashion, making for gorgeous visible mending results. Her introduction includes a short history of mending followed by key techniques, fabrics, tools, and materials. Sections are organized by type of clothing to mend: Jeans & Denim, Sweaters & Knitwear, T-Shirts, Socks, and more.

An outstanding gift or self-purchase for anyone interested in refreshing their wardrobe, fostering a more sustainable lifestyle, saving money and avoiding fast fashion, or simply engaging with a crafty new creative outlet, this sewing basics book is all about mending clothes you love, one slow stitch at a time. – Princeton Architectural Press

More New Crafts and Hobbies Books

The Leathercraft Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide to Techniques and Projects by Candice Lau
The Artist’s Step-By-Step Guide to Drawing: How to Create Beautiful Images by Vivienne Coleman
The Beginner’s Photography Guide: The Ultimate Step-By-Step Manual for Getting the Most from Your Digital Camera by DK and Chris Gatcum

She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica

November 26, 2024September 21, 2024 - Stephanie Leave a comment

“The truth is that social media is an optical illusion. It’s an unreality, it’s the very deliberate version of people’s lives that they want you to see.”
― Mary Kubica, She’s Not Sorry

Meghan Michaels is an ICU nurse and single mom to a teenage girl. Following the divorce from her ex-husband, Meghan and her daughter move to a small apartment relatively close to where she works.

One day, a new patient is admitted to the ICU. This wouldn’t normally be cause for concern except for the fact that this woman is plastered all over the news. Why? Caitlin is in a coma from a traumatic brain injury that she sustained after a fall from a bridge. Was this suicide? Or did someone push her? Meghan would normally keep her distance from her patients, but Caitlin’s actions, her family, and Meghan’s own past lure her in.

On top of dealing with Caitlin, Meghan is also struggling with fallout from her divorce. Looking for help, she heads to a divorce support group. Meghan runs into an old friend from high school who appears to be in an abusive relationship with her husband. Meghan will do anything to help her old friend. Her decision to help means adding another complication to her messy life. Add in someone terrorizing women in her neighborhood and Meghan is extra on edge. She must keep herself and her daughter safe, while also focus on her patient at work. When a witness steps forward saying they know what happened to Caitlin, police swarm the ICU, putting all the staff on edge as they now aren’t sure whether Caitlin jumped or was pushed.

Kubica has crafted a slow burn thriller that had me on the edge of my seat questioning how all the threads would tie together. As is true with most psychological thrillers, this is not a book where you can shift focus while reading. Every detail is important! I can’t wait to see what Mary Kubica comes up with next.

This title is also available in large print and a CD audiobook.

New Travel books for 2024!

November 25, 2024October 29, 2024 - Michelle Leave a comment

This fall brings an abundance of new and updated travel guides for nearly anywhere you would like to venture. If you are planning your first trip abroad, thinking about a road trip to a few national parks or you are a seasoned traveler ready for a new adventure, there is something for everyone. Even if you are not planning a trip in the near future, consider one of these guidebooks for armchair traveling!

DK National Parks of the USA – A comprehensive account of our 63 parks, DK National Parks of the USA covers the best sites and itineraries for each park. With some of the most gorgeous photography in any travel guide, this guide outlines the best choices whether you are visiting a park for one hour or one week. This guide also has detailed and easy to read maps for a hassle-free experience. Also, included are the best places to eat, sleep and dine in close proximity to each park.

Rick Steves Best of Europe – One of the best travel guides for new or seasoned travelers to Europe, this nearly 1,000 page book covers the top European destinations for any experience or budget. Steves includes detailed information on taking trains, trams and buses with ease and ideas for walking tours to capture the top sights. Destinations include England, France, Spain and Italy.

Rick Steves France – Similar to the previous title and other Rick Steves travel guides, his series highlight the life changing aspects of travel, including meeting locals and visiting top sites along with itineraries that includes stops less well known. This guide to France is the 21st edition with near yearly updates on hotels and other accommodations for all budgets. Also included are walking tours and ample coverage of museums, local restaurants and cultural and historic information. Not only is Paris included, Steves devotes ample pages to Normandy, Burgundy, Provence, the French Riviera and the Brittany region.

DK Top 10 New England – DK Top 10 guides are perfect for a short break and DK Top 10 New England is no exception. Covering the top local cuisine, outdoor activities, quaint towns and historic gems, the authors of this guide have streamlined the best of the best in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Sample itineraries are included for a weekend or a few days accompanied by a laminated pull out map.

Fodor’s Essential Japan – Written by Fodor’s local experts who have an intimate knowledge of Japan, Fodor’s Essential Japan, is an updated volume that has been redesigned in an easier to read format, newly updated photos and multiple itineraries for each destination. Included are Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Mt. Fuji and more. Along with the historical and cultural background of Japan, this guide has practical transportation information and language tips with essential phrases.

Lonely Planet Offbeat North America – For travelers looking for more remote or off the beaten track travels, try Lonely Planet Offbeat North America. With over 100 lesser known destinations in The United States, Canada and Mexico, this guide also includes 25 extra hidden gems along with expertly curated advice on how to beat the crowds and the best times to travel to these locales. Unique to this title are alternatives to popular sites that are equally as memorable but not so touristy.