September is Happy Cat Month and that means if you don't already indulge your cat or cats all the time, September is the designated month for learning to keep your kitty happy and healthy! Here's some resources to get you started or inspire you to interact with your cat in new and inspiring ways! 

Catnip : a love story by 1933- Michael Korda

With the imagination of a writer and the eye of an artist, Michael Korda doodled on the backs of old manuscripts in his tackroom while his wife, Margaret, was out riding. They loved and acquired cats--a habit written about previously in their book, Cat People--and the few in residence at this time would serve as inspiration for the drawings. These are no ordinary cat illustrations, though. Korda's cats read newspapers and books; go ice skating in the small country town where they live; comfort Margaret's horse, Monty, after a stressful vet visit; sell fried mice at the Farmer's Market, and undertake (on paper, at least) whatever fanciful endeavors their keeper conjures up.  The result is a collection of magical pieces, filled with joy, that represent a year in the life of a couple in love with one another, and certainly with their cats.

The Adult Contemporary Book Discussion Group is currently celebrating our 30th year at the library reading and discussing great books. Some of the books we've read have either become movies or tv series. Here's our list of some of our current titles from page to screen! Interested in joining our group? We meet every 3rd Monday at 7:00 PM in the Community Room! 

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The Robinas have shared a wonderful life for more than sixty years. Now in their eighties, Ella suffers from cancer and John has Alzheimer's. Yearning for one last adventure, the self-proclaimed "down-on-their-luck geezers" kidnap themselves from the adult children and doctors who seem to run their lives and steal away from their home in suburban Detroit on a forbidden vacation of rediscovery. With Ella as his vigilant copilot, John steers their '78 Leisure Seeker RV along the forgotten roads of Route 66 toward Disneyland in search of a past they're having a damned hard time remembering. Yet Ella is determined to prove that, when it comes to life, you can go back for seconds—even when everyone says you can't.

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After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. Tom, who keeps meticulous records and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel insists the baby is a “gift from God,” and against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

National Dog Day recognizes and celebrates the importance of all dogs and how they impact our daily lives. We love our dogs and they, in turn, love us. As part of our families, dogs bring companionship and pure joy. They provide comfort to those in need and selflessly save lives in the line of duty. Celebrate National Dog Day by considering pet adoption at a local rescue shelter and open your heart and home to a forever friend.

Ask any dog lover: dogs and puppies are the best thing ever! Dogs lift our moods, lower our blood pressure, and improve our sense of well-being. In fact, people who have pets in their lives even live longer! In this book, we've collected 500 photos that capturing the beauty and personality of a wide range of breeds--and wide variety of dogs' favorite activities, from lazy naps to spirited romps on the beach. Inspirational quotes about dogs and their honored roles in our families add another level of optimism and love. This book is perfect for moms, grandparents, teachers, kids or anyone who might need a little lift. Just a few minutes with these adorable canine faces provides a boost that will last all day! 

August 18 is National Honey Bee Awareness Day! Honey Bees are the hero of our world because they pollinate our fruit and vegetable crops. They also create delicious honey. That adds up to $15 billion a year, about third of the food we eat in America! Honey bees live all over the world and play a vital role in crop production. But the global honey bee population is at risk. To learn more about honey bees and how to make your garden more bee-friendly and bountiful, check out some of our buzzworthy books!

Honey bees get all the press, but the fascinating story of North America's native bees--an endangered species essential to our ecosystems and food supplies--is just as crucial. Through interviews with farmers, gardeners, scientists, and bee experts, Our Native Bees explores the importance of native bees and focuses on why they play a key role in gardening and agriculture. The people and stories are compelling: Paige Embry goes on a bee hunt with the world expert on the likely extinct Franklin's bumble bee, raises blue orchard bees in her refrigerator, and learns about an organization that turns the out-of-play areas in golf courses into pollinator habitats. Our Native Bees is a fascinating, must-read for fans of natural history and science and anyone curious about bees. 

This handbook features expert advice for: Setting up and caring for your own colonies; Selecting the best location to place your new bee colonies for their safety and yours; The most practical and nontoxic ways to care for your bees; Swarm control; Using top bar hives; Harvesting the products of a beehive and collecting and using honey; Bee problems and treatments. With this complete resource and the expert advice of Bee Culture editor Kim Flottum, your bees will be healthy, happy, and more productive. 

Who really benefits from urban revival? Cities, from trendy coastal areas to the nation's heartland, are seeing levels of growth beyond the wildest visions of only a few decades ago. But vast areas in the same cities house thousands of people living in poverty who see little or no new hope or opportunity. Even as cities revive, they are becoming more unequal and more segregated. What does this mean for these cities--and the people who live in them? In The Divided City, urban practitioner and scholar Alan Mallach shows us what has happened over the past 15 to 20 years in industrial cities like Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland, and Baltimore, as they have undergone unprecedented, unexpected revival. He draws from his decades of experience working in America's cities, and pulls in insightful research and data, to spotlight these changes while placing them in their larger economic, social, and political context. Mallach explores the pervasive significance of race in American cities and looks closely at the successes and failures of city governments, nonprofit entities, and citizens as they have tried to address the challenges of change. The Divided City offers strategies to foster greater equality and opportunity. Mallach makes a compelling case that these strategies must be local in addition to being concrete and focusing on people's needs education, jobs, housing and quality of life. Change, he argues, will come city by city, not through national plans or utopian schemes. This is the first book to provide a comprehensive, grounded picture of the transformation of America's older industrial cities. It is neither a dystopian narrative nor a one-sided "the cities are back" story, but a balanced picture rooted in the nitty-gritty reality of these cities. The Divided City is imperative for anyone who cares about cities and who wants to understand how to make today's urban revival work for everyone.--Amazon.com.

"A unique, revelatory portrait of small-town America: the activities, changes, and events that shape this mostly unseen part of our national landscape, and the issues and concerns that matter to the ordinary Americans who make these towns their home. For the last five years, James and Deborah Fallows have been traveling across America in a single-prop airplane, visiting small cities and meeting civic leaders, factory workers, recent immigrants, and young entrepreneurs, seeking to take the pulse and discern the outlook of an America that is unreported and unobserved by the national media. Attending town meetings, breakfasts at local coffee shops, and events at local libraries, they have listened to the challenges and problems that define American lives today. Our Towns is the story of their journey--an account of their visits to twenty-one cities and towns: the individuals they met, the stories they heard, and their portrait of the many different faces of the American future"--.

"How will climate change affect our lives? Where will its impacts be most deeply felt? Are we doing enough to protect ourselves from the coming chaos? In Extreme Cities, Ashley Dawson argues that cities are ground zero for climate change, contributing the lion's share of carbon to the atmosphere, while also lying on the frontlines of rising sea levels. Today, the majority of the world's megacities are located in coastal zones, yet few of them are adequately prepared for the floods that will increasingly menace their shores. Instead, most continue to develop luxury waterfront condos for the elite and industrial facilities for corporations. These not only intensify carbon emissions, but also place coastal residents at greater risk when water levels rise. In Extreme Cities, Dawson offers an alarming portrait of the future of our cities, describing the efforts of Staten Island, New York, and Shishmareff, Alaska residents to relocate; Holland's models for defending against the seas; and the development of New York City before and after Hurricane Sandy. Our best hope lies not with fortified sea walls, he argues. Rather, it lies with urban movements already fighting to remake our cities in a more just and equitable way. As much a harrowing study as a call to arms Extreme Cities is a necessary read for anyone concerned with the threat of global warming, and of the cities of the world."--Publisher's description.

Unique, simple approach to the complicated college prep process, from the leading authority in college admissions. Getting ready for college is a complicated and confusing process -- how do you know when to take the SAT? When do you start applying to schools? What classes should you be taking to help prepare you for college-level work? Is there anything you should do before high school? Fiske Countdown to College is a comprehensive collection of simple, easy-to-use checklists that spell out your road map for each year of high school and make preparation for college a breeze. There are 28 "to-do" lists for parents and students, ten "don't" lists, three "top 10" lists, and two glossaries, divided by year, that walk you through high school to college. Quotes from students, parents, and counselors offer advice and support from people who've been through all of this before.

Every college and university has a story, and no one tells those stories like former New York Times education editor Edward B. Fiske. That's why, for 35 years, the Fiske Guide to Colleges has been the leading guide to 320+ four-year schools, including quotes from real students and information you won't find on college websites. Fully updated and expanded every year, Fiske is the most authoritative source of information for college-bound students and their parents. Helpful, honest, and straightforward, the Fiske Guide to Colleges delivers an insider's look at what it's really like to be a student at the "best and most interesting" schools in the United States, plus Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland--so you can find the best fits for you

The experts at The Princeton Review have been helping students, parents, and educators achieve the best results at every stage of the education process since 1981. The Princeton Review has helped millions succeed on standardized tests, and provides expert advice and instruction to help parents, teachers, students, and schools navigate the complexities of school admission. In addition to classroom courses in over 40 states and 20 countries, The Princeton Review also offers online and school-based courses, one-to-one and small-group tutoring as well as online services in both admission counseling and academic homework help.

Do you love animals? Facebook and Instagram offers many furry friends you can follow. Oh, and some have even authored books too! ;-) How cool is that?! Check them out here!

This follow-up to Jenkins's best-selling memoir Esther the Wonder Pig picks up exactly where the first book left off, as Jenkins, his partner and coauthor Derek Walter, and their animal family make the move to a farm in Campbellville, Ontario. Using his trademark self-deprecating humor, Jenkins, aided by writer Caprice Crane and Walter, chronicles the zany misadventures that accompany their effort to transform the derelict farm into a successful sanctuary for rescues. Readers will share in the drama as Esther develops a "teenage" attitude and escapes the farm, challenges emerge with over-reaching volunteers, and Jenkins and Walter struggle with isolation and loneliness as they settle into country life far away from old friends and jobs. Jenkins is refreshingly candid about the huge learning curve that defined the sanctuary's early years and rightfully proud of its success (to date they have taken in more than 50 rescued animals). Includes 14 "Esther-approved" (vegan) recipes. 

Contemporary jazz-R&B funkster Brian Culbertson has had love on his mind essentially since last Valentine's Day. Inspired by the occasion of his twentieth wedding anniversary last fall, the keyboardist began writing thirteen new songs about a year ago dedicated to his wife, Michelle, which make up his "Colors of Love" album that was released on Wednesday, Valentine's Day, by BCM Entertainment. Substituting the live band instrumentation customary of his recordings, Culbertson crafted an intimate set of ardent acoustic piano melodies using sensual synth grooves and textures. 

The long anticipated second album is finally here. Guitarist Adam Hawley is a gifted performer, sideman, and educator, known for his lithe, groove-oriented approach to contemporary jazz and R&B. After working steadily for over a decade with many marquee jazz and pop artists, Hawley launched his solo career with his breakthrough 2016 debut album, Just the Beginning, which featured three chart-topping smooth jazz singles. And the new single - Can You Feel It? featuring Marcus Anderson - is already climbing up the Billboard chart. The album features a distinguished array of talent, i.e. Dave Koz, Jeff Lorber, Darren Rahn, Marcus Anderson and Greg Manning to name a few.

With eight of his own compositions, plus two top-notch reinventions, ‘Personal Touch’ from writer, producer and multi instrumentalist Vincent Ingala is the breath of fresh air that long time smooth jazz fans have been craving. Indeed it is arguably Vincent’s most complete album to date and affirms the meteoric progress he has made since 2011 when his debut recording ‘North End Soul’ first hit the streets. It was a collection that marked him out as one to watch and, since then, Smooth Jazz Therapy has watched his development with delighted interest. Personal Touch’ is Vincent’s fifth solo CD and right from the opening bars of the extremely edgy title cut there is little doubt he has lost none of his ability to effortlessly deliver a succession of joyously radio ready tunes. 

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Adult Contemporary Book Discussion Group! We've compiled a list of our favorite books over the years. Maybe your book club is looking for recommendations or maybe you are interested in joining our group. We meet every 3rd Monday of the month at 7PM in the Community Room. 

The nightingale by Kristin Hannah

"Viann and Isabelle have always been close despite their differences. Younger, bolder sister Isabelle lives in Paris while Viann lives a quiet and content life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. When World War II strikes and Antoine is sent off to fight, Viann and Isabelle's father sends Isabelle to help her older sister cope. As the war progresses, it's not only the sisters' relationship that is tested, but also their strength and their individual senses of right and wrong. With life as they know it changing in unbelievably horrific ways, Viann and Isabelle will find themselves facing frightening situations and responding in ways they never thought possible as bravery and resistance take different forms in each of their actions. Vivid and exquiste in its illumination of a time and place that was filled with great monstrosities, but also great humanity and strength, Kristin Hannah's novel will provoke thought and discussion that will have readers talking long after they turn the last page"--.

Famed aviator and renowned racehorse trainer Beryl Markham is only one of the subjects of McLain's captivating new novel. The other is Kenya, the country that formed the complicated, independent woman whom Markham would become. Like her father who raised her, she falls under the spell of Kenya's lush valleys and distant mountains. Here she nurtures her affinity for animals in the wild and learns to breed and tame the most recalcitrant thoroughbreds. But when war and weather affect life at their farm in Ngoro, Beryl's father pressures the 16-year-old into marrying a much older, financially stable neighbor, setting in motion Markham's long history of fleeing the constraints of relationships that threaten her keen desire to live life on her own terms. Only on the back of a horse, at the wheel of a car, or, later, flying over her beloved -Africa does she feel fully alive and free. Drawing on Markham's own memoir, West with the Night, McLain vividly introduces this enigmatic woman to a new generation of readers. 

July 15 is National I Love Horses Day! Today celebrates these majestic, magnificent animals and provides a great opportunity to learn more about them. There are over 350 breeds of horses and ponies throughout the world. Horses have been around for millions of years, but was only domesticated around 10,000 years ago. The horse-human connection is a special bond. Want to learn more? Check out one of these books from our pet collection or visit a local riding stable!

More than 1,700 entries as well as photos and drawings of running, jumping, and gamboling horses, equipment, and anatomy-on just about every page. The shortest entries are a single sentence, and most are between a paragraph and a page or more in length. Haas writes horse-themed fiction for young readers and has a pleasing and direct style in this nonfiction endeavor. She covers English and Western riding, the history of the horse, some basic equine medical issues, training terminology, and details about horse breeds and coloration.

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