The horn of plenty, or cornucopia, is a symbol of abundance. Well, today’s column is what I like to call the “shelves of plenty.” If you haven’t been to your local library in a while, I encourage you to take some time out of your busy schedule and pay us a visit. The Fort Vancouver Regional Library District’s collection contains hundreds of thousands of titles which include books (of course) but also DVDs, audio books, magazines, eBooks, eAudio and online resources. There are books in Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, French and German; and if learning another language is high on your to-do list, be sure to try Mango, an online language learning resource that the library subscribes to. It contains over 70 languages which means you can learn how to say “hello” in Swahili, “goodbye” in Farsi and “what’s for dinner” in Greek. Ekpliktik?s (wonderful)!
To help celebrate the diversity of the library’s collection — the “shelves of plenty” as I described it — I’ve put together an eclectic reading list. Books catch my attention for a variety of reasons, and yes, sometimes I do judge a book by its cover. The most eye-catching of the titles listed below, cover-wise, is “Medieval Monsters.” I won’t call it appealing — terrifying is more like it — but it will grab you, figuratively speaking. Literally, something on the cover is grabbing someone else, so there you go. Two grabs in one.
Sometimes a clever manipulation of a title draws me in. Such is the case with Liz Climo’s book. Sitting on the shelf, the spine reads “Best Bear Ever!” Pulling it down and looking at the cover, the title now reads “Best Year Ever!” with “year” crossed out and “bear” added, and low and behold, there’s a big brown bear standing next to the revised title with a red crayon in his paw. First thought? That bear is up to something. Second thought: I need to find out what it is. Prepare to enjoy the bear’s antics in this charming graphic novel.
Most of the time I’m drawn to a book because I’m interested in the subject matter. So, it should come as no surprise to those of you who follow this column (thank you, by the way!) that the list includes a book about a cat. “Kitten and the Night Watchman” is a picture book about a kitten that follows a night watchman during his rounds. It’s sweet, it’s charming, and it’s guaranteed to cause a welcome case of the warm fuzzies. Another subject area of personal interest is aviation thanks to my husband who happens to be a pilot. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but “Race to Hawaii” by Jason Ryan is on my list, and I’m looking forward to learning about the 1927 Dole Air Derby. This title, by the way, is also available as an eBook and in eAudio.
