Cameras and Trains

by Paul Birkhead  Rowan Public Library

      On April 8th of this year, Rowan Public Library held its annual Spring Photowalk.  What is a photowalk?  It is an opportunity for a group of people to go for a walk and take photos together.  All skill levels and ages are welcome and while some bring fancy cameras, others just use their smart phones.  The best part of the walk is when participants share their best photos and the library puts them together in an exhibit.

      This year, the photowalk was held at the North Carolina Transportation Museum (NCTM) in Spencer.  If you weren’t aware, the NCTM is celebrating its 40th anniversary and they have a lot of history on display.  While there are always great subjects to take photos of at the NCTM, this time we also had antique tractors on display and even the Easter Bunny Express was operating full-steam.

      If photography interests you, Rowan Public Library stocks plenty of books on the subject.  One of the new titles you can check out is, Mastering Street Photography by Brian Lloyd Duckett.  Street photography, also known as candid photography, is the art of taking pictures of random objects and chance encounters.  Street photography has been around for over one hundred years, but recently has seen a surge in popularity.  Duckett’s book can serve as a fantastic guide for anyone who wanted to try their hand at street photography.  Techniques for being an unseen observer and how to frame and shoot from distant perspectives will help you with your photo skills.  There is even information on keeping safe and staying within the law as you capture these interesting, unplanned moments in time.  

      Have you heard of the amateur photographer named Vivian Maier?  I hadn’t until just a couple of years ago when a movie was released about her.  Vivian was never famous in real life, but after she died and her belongings were auctioned off, this Chicago area nanny’s negatives and photographs were discovered.  When Vivian’s photos were displayed online, they generated a lot of buzz and a documentary and a book were made to tell her story.  Rowan Public Library has both the book and the DVD about her.  If you enjoy photography, be sure to check them out.

      If trains are more your speed, the library has several books on that subject.  One new title is Smoke over Steamtown by Dennis A. Livesey.  This book has page upon page of gorgeous photographs of steam powered trains.  It also tells about the interesting history of Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  Of course, you can’t beat the history that’s even closer to home.  Check out one of the library’s copies of Southern Railway's Spencer Shops, 1896-1996 by Duane Galloway.  It will give you a new appreciation for the NCTM in Spencer.

      Don’t forget to stop by Rowan Public Library sometime in May to view the display of our photos from the Spring Photowalk.  You can also browse the Library’s online photo gallery (https://www.flickr.com/photos/rowancountypubliclibrary/sets) for a peek at photos from this and other photowalks.  If what you see inspires you, make plans to join us on our next adventure in the fall.  We’ve got our sights set on another Rowan County gem.

Cooking at Home

by Gretchen Beilfuss Witt  Rowan Public Library

            I am a baker and enjoy trying new recipes and combinations of flavours.   Like many of us, I am addicted to the television show  "The Great British Bake Off."   The trouble with watching this show is it kindles the desire to bake, to try new techniques and different sweets.  Fortunately, for the budding bakers or for the re-inspired, the library has recently acquired "The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking."  This richly and beautifully illustrated book gives step-by-step instructions of some favorites from the show and even some additional recipes not part of the program.  The photographs are drool-worthy and the accompanying stories about contestants are short and entertaining.  The recipe book provides clear instructions as well as assigning difficulty levels to each entry; there are a few recipes rated with the three spoon "tricky" but nearly all are certainly possible for most folks. 

            Once the inclination strikes to explore new recipes or twists on old favorites, take a look "Our Sweet Basil Kitchen" by Cade and Carrian Cheney.  This couple, one from the Pacific Coast and one from the Southeast coast combine their love of food in "unique mashups" and family favorites.  Beginning with breakfasts full of pumpkins pancakes, berry crepes, ham frittatas and fruit pizza, they present foods that are family friendly and generally use fresh and healthier ingredients.  The Cheney's recipes include well-known side dishes - like green bean casserole with matchstick potatoes instead of fried onions on top - to internationally inspired dishes like coconut curry or Greek citrus chicken.  They offer meatless meals as well as decadent desserts like the brownie cookie or southern inspired deep-fried strawberry shortcake.  Mouth-watering pictures and understandable instructions make this an excellent book for a family to use to cook together.

            For the more adventurous cooks "My Two Souths" by Asha Gomez blends the spices of the southern India state of Kerala and the home-cooking of the Southern United States in an interesting collection.  Gomez spends some time explaining the more unusual (to the US cook) ingredients often used in Indian cuisine and where one might find some of these items.  Carrot cake with ground pepper icing, pickled catfish, and goat biryani are some of the offerings included in her attractively presented cookbook.

            For the food devotee who wants to go all out and investigate field-to-table living -  raising, preserving and processing all their own food - Andrea Chesman's "The Backyard Homestead kitchen Know-How" is the book to check-out.  Chesman explains how to organize a root cellar, dry food with solar or electric dehydration, create pickled and fermented foods like kraut and kimchi.  She discusses how to full out a "cut sheet" when having an animal butchered whether it is lamb, rabbit or beef.  Her book describes how to begin and use a sourdough starter, how to can or freeze produce, how to process raw milk and make cheese.  For anyone who is interested in making more of what is locally available or how to live from their own land this is a terrific resource.  

            From Britain to your own backyard, the library has the cookbook for you. 

Cook books

  by Amanda Bosch Rowan Public Library

Do you ever watch Food Network or cooking shows on PBS and drool at the beautifully appetizing dishes that are prepared?  When you go to your favorite Chinese restaurant, are you inspired to try to break down the recipe so you can recreate it at home for friends and family? Perhaps you would enjoy perusing some of the wonderfully enticing new cookbooks available at the Rowan Public Library for your next Asian themed dinner night or Supper Club.

                The smell of exotic spices, the sizzle of meats and veggies being tossed in a hot wok as you enter your favorite Asian restaurant may assail your senses and make your mouth water, but have you ever considered making your own Asian dinner?  Manyee Elaine Mar, who grew up in her family’s Chinese restaurant in Denver in the 1970’s and 1980’s, has delivered recipes that reflect the menu which “was a true reflection of the Chinese-American experience, a blending of our ethnic heritage with the tastes of the region to which we had immigrated” in the second edition of the Everything Chinese Cookbook. While there are favorites like fried rice, Kung Pao chicken, or crab rangoons, there are also recipes that are unique to her family’s restaurant such as “Chicken Cantonese or Pork Riblets in Black Bean Sauce.”  Forget takeout or even delivery, you can peruse the flavors of China without leaving home or worrying over what to pack, just choose any one of the mouth watering recipes,  stop by the market, pick up a few groceries, and you are ready to start cooking your own Chinese dinner!

                Ah, the broth, the meat, the noodles – perfection in a bowl! If you prefer Pho a Vietnamese soup and noodle dish that is “elemental to Vietnamese culture”,  then you may want to try Andrea Quynhgiao Nguyen’s The Pho Cookbook. Recipes range from easy to adventurous and include a brief history of pho and how to pronounce it like a native as well as its value to the Vietnamese culture. There is a breakdown of the different types of noodles, spices, seasonings and herbs. There are tricks, techniques, tips, and then come the recipes for the classic soups,  fried rice, noodle salads, and even a beef pho banh mi which may be viewed as a Vietnamese American twist to the French dip sandwich that is so popular in many American restaurants.  Don’t forget to try one of the Pho sidekicks like the Pho Pot Stickers or the Coconut Coffee; your guests will be impressed.

                A fun party idea for the more adventurous among us might be to set up an Asian street food themed dinner.  In Street Food Asia by Luke Nguyen, one can discover delectable recipes and gorgeous photos of a wide variety of street food samplings from across Asia. If you decide to host an Asian street food dinner, your guests can sample dishes from Vietnam such as Crab & Tapioca Noodle Soup, sizzling savory central style pancakes or a spicy pork sandwich on a baguette before “traveling” to Indonesia where samples of more traditional dishes like chicken satay skewers with spicy peanut sauce can be served alongside more exotic offerings like spicy fishcakes grilled in banana leaves. Moving onto Malaysia, one can prepare dishes such as Malay Curry Puffs or hand-made pan mee noodles with pork & shitake mushrooms. Your guests could try a final stop in Bangkok where you can find recipes for unique and delectable dishes such as Chilli & Basil Chicken with steamed rice or chargrilled scallops with butter & spring onion oil.

                These are a sampling of the many cookbooks available at Rowan Public Library. Whether you prefer Italian cuisine, baking on weekends or cooking 30 minute meals, there is sure to be a cookbook that’s right for you so check one out and challenge yourself to try something new by creating a new dish for your friends and family!

Memoirs

 by Laurie Robb  Rowan Public Library

You never really understand a person until you …climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird

Perhaps you’ve tried to put yourself in the place of someone going through tremendous heartbreak or joy. Or maybe you've wanted to know how a survivor of tragedy faces each day. You’ve wondered how a person forgives the most unforgivable transgression, from someone else or from herself. 

Memoirs are wonderful tools to help readers understand how other people experience both ordinary and extraordinary life. Like biographies, memoirs chronicle a person’s experiences and can be as intense as Elie Wiesel's Night, or as light-hearted as Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castles. Classic memoirs include Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl, Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Girl Sings, and Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie.

The past few years have given us bumper crops of exciting and diverse memoirs. Award winning book Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, is about a female scientist who, through determination and love, excels in her field. J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy, which got lots of air time during the election, is about his white working class family in Appalachia. Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air is the moving account of Kalanithi's diagnosis of cancer and how he approaches death. You Will Not Have My Hate is the story of a widower who must confront his grief after the murder of his wife in the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is the story of a family’s quest to find out more about the woman whose cancer cells would generate countless new medical discoveries.

Another gift that memoirs can deliver is the opportunity to experience the point –of-view of someone living with a disability, mental illness, or other condition. In honor of Autism Awareness Month, a wonderful way to connect or understand autism is to read memoirs written by authors on the autistic spectrum. Temple Grandin, a well-known autism advocate and animal scientist, has several books available at the library. Her memoirs include The Way I See It and Thinking in Pictures. John Elder Robison, brother to Augusten Burroughs and pyrotech guru, is another of my favorite authors on the spectrum. He wrote Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s as well as Raising Cubby: A Father and Son’s Adventures with Asperger’s, Tractors and High Explosives. The Reason I Jump: the Inner Voice of a13-Year-Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida is a wonderful memoir that young adults find intriguing. Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant  by Daniel Tammet is another perspective of living with autism and Letters to Sam: A Grandfather’s Lessons on Love, Loss, and the Gifts of Life  by Daniel Gottlieb is the touching memoir of a grandfather relating to his autistic grandson. Rowan County author Susan King wrote a moving account of her experiences with her son in the inspiring book Optimism for Autism.

If you can’t wait to pick up one of the newest memoirs, here is a list of suggestions. There is certainly something here for everyone.

·         How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell

·         Rest in Power: Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin

·         My Life, My Love, My Legacy by Coretta Scott King

·         Instrumental: a Memoir of Madness, Medication and Music by James Rhodes

·         Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

·         No One Cares About Crazy People by Ron Powers

·         A Life Extraordinary: the Extraordinary Story of One Boy's Gift to Medical Science by Sarah Gray

·         Patient H.M. by Luke Dittrich

·         Storyteller's Nashville: a Gritty and Glorious Life in Country Music by Tom T. Hall

·         Girl Who Escaped ISIS by Farida Khalaf

·         Based on a True Story by Norm MacDonald

So, if you want to connect with someone extraordinary or even someone ordinary in extraordinary situations, pick up a memoir. Through the author, you will have a front row seat to learn, explore, and grow. To me, memoirs are the best of both worlds: true events and great stories (and storytellers). Find your next favorite memoir at the Rowan Public Library.

April is National Poetry Month

by Hope Loman Rowan Public Library

April is National Poetry Month, defined on its official website Poets.org as “the largest literary celebration in the world…marking poetry’s important place in our culture and our lives every April.”  Amongst its many goals, National Poetry Month strives to highlight the legacy and achievement of American poets, encourage others to read poetry, and assist school teachers in incorporating poetry into their classroom curriculum.

Since 2013, the Rowan Public Library has held its own event in honor of National Poetry Month: the annual Teen Poetry Slam.  At the program, aspiring poets between the ages of 11 and 17 can perform three original poems in front of a panel of judges for a chance to win prizes.  Because these poetry events trace their roots back to the Beat poetry movement and readings at Chicago jazz clubs, it’s no surprise that one’s performance at a slam is just as important as the poem itself—enthusiasm and emotion carry equal weight to content or style.  Since the late 1990s, young poets of diverse backgrounds have been attracted to this theatrical format, bringing new life to the national poetry scene as they perform on relevant topics like politics, racial injustice, and current events. Likewise, at RPL’s slam, poems can be on any subject as long as the topic of the poem and the language used is appropriate for all ages.  For those that are interested in participating in the poetry slam, registration can be done online through the Rowan Public Library web page, or by sending an e-mail to hope.loman@rowancountync.gov.   Free and open to the public, the event will be in the Stanback Room  of the first floor of the Rowan Public Library on Tuesday, April 18^th at 5:30 pm.

If potential poetry slammers would like to seek out inspiration before they write their own entries (or if individuals of any age would like to read poems in honor of National Poetry Month), the library has copies of many different poetry collections and individual poets’ works.  From the Young Adult collection, there’s “Earth-Shattering Poems,” a collection that captures intense emotions and experiences with poems such as “Sometimes with One I Love” by Walt Whitman and “If  You Forget Me” by Pablo Neruda.  “Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States” is a collection of poems written in both English and Spanish by young authors who write about the difficulty of straddling cultures and identities as they also celebrate the food, family, and love in their lives. “Jump Ball: A Basketball Season in Poems” by Mel Glenn is the story of a championship team’s season told through a series of free prose poems from different points of view.  Similarly, “Girl Coming in for a Landing” by April Halprin Wayland tells the story of a year in the life of a teenage girl as she experiences all of the highs and lows of school, friendship, and first love.

For those that prefer fiction, there’s “Bronx Masquerade” by Nikki Grimes, a novel written in verse that tells the story of high school students in the Bronx as they write personal poems based after the style of Harlem Renaissance writers.  “Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty” by Christine Heppermann is a collection of free verse poems based on classic fairy tale characters that range from contemporary retellings to first person accounts set in the original stories, all exploring how girls are taught to think about themselves, their bodies, and their friends.

This is only a small sampling of all of the poetry books that are available for your reading pleasure, so make sure to check the catalog for other volumes or ask an RPL employee for help. And make sure to read and celebrate poetry all April long-- perhaps even try your hand at writing some yourself!