Penelope’s Poetry Parlor: December (and a Sneak Peek for Next Year!)

Our theme for the library this year is What a Wonderful World, and to that end, we’re focusing on seeing the wonder in our world. Usually, every month at the desk, we have an article available for patrons to read and discuss with Julie, our library director, but this year, we’re handing out poems instead. Our trusty library goose is also helping us pen a monthly column that focuses on some of the gems in our poetry collection.

For December, our poem is Barbara Crooker’s “Ode to Chocolate.” We’ve been sharing poems this year to highlight our poetry collection, and we want to encourage you to continue to check out our poetry resources in the library system. If you need some regular poetry in your life, definitely check out the digital poem of the day from Poetry Foundation and/or Poets.org.

I want to wrap up the year by thanking all of you for reading and following the blog and providing a teaser of our plans for next year. They involve food. 😀

Book Buzz: Pack Horse Librarians (Again), Poison Gardens, Hippo Mysteries, and Problem Wildlife

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For December, we’re looking at historical fiction about Kentucky pack horse libraries during the Great Depression, a fantasy about a green thumb and deadly plants, a comedic children’s mystery, and Mary Roach’s latest nonfiction romp.

Television: When You’re Late to the Party. . . .

I’ve written on here before about my propensity for being years late to iconic TV shows. It’s almost always things that have been strongly recommended to me before, and it’s usually something I know is right up my alley, and I always eventually end up watching whatever it is and wondering why I didn’t watch it sooner. But I still keep doing it!

I love Westerns, but it took me 13 years to get around to watching Deadwood. I love modern Westerns and crime shows, but it took me about 5 years to get around to watching Justified. (It should feel quite flattered compared to Deadwood.)

I also love espionage thrillers and crime dramas but until recently had never gotten around to watching either The Americans or The Wire. You see where this is going. . . .

What a Wonderful World: Hot Chocolate Brown

This year, our theme at the library is What A Wonderful World. We’re focusing on a different color for each month, and December’s is hot chocolate brown. To that end, we’re highlighting books at the library with that color (or something close to it) on the cover!