libraria miscellanea

I didn't hear very many positive things about Harper Lee's newly released novel, Go Set a Watchman  when my turn for our library's copy came around last week:  "It was supposed to be a rough draft."  "Nothing can compare to To Kill a Mockingbird." " Not everybody can enjoy this book." But still, I resolved to give it a fair chance and promptly checked it out. I have enjoyed reading other books by young Southern ladies, such as Carson McCullers.  The Heart is a Lonely Hunter  captivated my attention as a young-20-something.  I was moved by the author's sensitivity, the sense of loneliness and humanity, and the vivid description of empoverished life in the South, being a new transplant myself (I moved to North Carolina by way of South Africa then before that, Oklahoma, which is sometimes considered but definitely not, Southern). And of course, I read Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird in high school English class.  We subsequently revi...

My best friend recently recommended that I read, Surprise:  Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected  by Tania Luna and Leeann Renniger, PhD.  At first, I thought, hmm, I am pretty good at surprise and finding interesting things in everyday, but okay, I'll try it.  The design of the book is modern, attractive, cute.  The idea is pretty intriguing.  The best part, however, are the last two chapters:  "Cultivate Relationships," and "Surprise Yourself."  These ladies offer REAL advice in the form of specific exercises you can do to transform your day, your outlook, even, they boast, your world.  The authors are surprisingly candid, sharing personal journeys from depression to joy and surprise, which validates their claims, and makes me, a real person, be able to connect to the ideas and suggestions they posit. "When we are surprised we feel deeply connected and thoroughly alive.  Surprising ourselves every day is a vital p...

When you think of a library, do you typically think that food and drinks are permitted?  I suppose this depends on your age; when I was a kid, you were not permitted to speak above a whisper, let alone bring in something to eat or drink; but, these times they are a changin.'  Our library has a policy forbidding food and drink, unless it is otherwise approved by library staff.  [raised eyebrow] We serve snacks at book club meetings, author visits, and other programs.  People subversively bring their snacks, thinking we don't notice.  I try to walk the line between upholding the rules and graciousness, but if somebody comes in with a cup of coffee or a Route 44, I have to draw the line:  you spill that on the computer and it's done-zo.  Think again, buddy. But, what's really neat about today's library as third place is that you can transform it into anything you want:  painting studio, lego crafting faire, ice cream party, or cake decorating st...

We have a library garden.  As a master gardener who got her training from Oklahoma, I am accustomed to red clay and extreme temperatures.  My current experience in the Piedmont of North Carolina has taught me that nothing I know can be trusted.  Even though the Carolina clay is much like our Okie clay, the climate is much milder, wetter, and different things grow better and longer.  I have gardened in the Kalahari desert, both with school kids and for myself, and that was kind of easy:  sand instead of clay.  Water conservation, keeping the water in, instead of busting up the surface, providing drainage:  opposite gardening. I have hijacked the landscaping (complete with a foot of topsoil) and planted cilantro, tomatoes, mustard greens, basil, green peppers, peas, radishes, gourds, and cucumbers.  Oh yes, and loofah. A great piece of conversation this summer and fall with my patrons has been the loofah.  Our neighbor donated two loofah spr...