Where Does Thanksgiving Dinner Grow?

Maps are great tools for visualizing our world, both physically and culturally. In honor of last Wednesday’s international GIS Day, one of my friends in the map/GIS community came up with these great maps of where our Thanksgiving food comes from, using GIS and USDA data sets. She’s made comparison maps for three different years to see how production patterns have changed over time. 2007 Dinner Poster.

I’m not surprised that Oregon is a big green bean state, but who knew Wisconsin grew more? Hmmmm…green beans. Is it Thursday yet? Take a look and have fun with maps!

Books to Film – September/October

Check out these books that inspired feature films!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett – Life is delicious in the town of Chewandswallow where it rains soup and juice, snows mashed potatoes, and blows storms of hamburgers–until the weather takes a turn for the worse.  This family film is in theaters now.

The Informant by Kurt Eichenwald – A true story about corruption in big business and working undercover for the FBI.  This story, with all its plot twists,  is in theaters now.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak – A naughty little boy, sent to bed without his supper, sails to the land of the wild things where he becomes their king.  The film based on this classic picture book will be in theaters October 16th.

Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan -  Two boys who are best friends visit an illegal freak show, where an encounter with a vampire and a deadly spider forces them to make life-changing choices.  The upcoming film, entitled The Vampire’s Assistant, is based on this series of books and will be in theaters October 23rd.

Portland Opera 2009/10 Season

The Portland Opera 2009/10 season began this week, with the theme of Love & Marriage.  As they say:

“You’re invited to a season that spins, dances, soars & celebrates with Love & Marriage”

It’s a great line-up beginning with La Boheme by Puccini, then moving on to Orphee by Philip Glass, Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, a work by Leonard Bernstein called Trouble in Tahiti, and finishing with The Barber of Seville by Rossini. If you can’t make it to the performances, check out the many recordings Washington County has of these great operas:

La Boheme performances
Orphee (coming soon)
Cosi Fan Tutte performances
Trouble in Tahiti performances
The Barber of Seville performances

Banned Books Week

Celebrate your freedom to read- with banned books.

Every year the American Library Association and libraries across the country take a week to bring attention to the practice of book banning.  The ALA compiles a yearly list of books challenged by individuals and groups who want to remove books from schools and public libraries. Reading should be an individual choice, and libraries support freedom of access to materials. We believe that everyone should have the freedom to choose what to read, and that no one individual shouldn’t have the ability to decide what is right for all.

At Cedar Mill Library, there is a display of banned & challenged books available for checkout. Cedar Mill & Bethany have many of the books that were banned or challenged elsewhere. Take a look- you may be surprised at what you find. A brochure, available here,  lists the books that were banned or challenged in 2008-2009, why they were challenged and by whom, and what decision the reviewing entity made. The history of banned books from previous years is available at the CML Adult Reference desk.

While they last, there are bookmarks and “I read banned books” buttons, free for the taking.  New this year, there is also a “name the quotes” contest at both Cedar Mill and the Bethany branch. Quotes from famous banned books are displayed & everyone can enter to win a prize. Come into the library to see how many quotes you can identify.

New Fiction Titles!

The Accidental Family by Rowan Coleman – This is a heartwarming English chick lit book about a career woman who loses her best friend in a car crash and takes on the responsibility of raising her friend’s two daughters.

Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers – What if we discovered the gene for happiness?  Find out in this new and thought-provoking novel by a National Book Award-winning author.

John Dies at the End by David Wong – Originally an internet story, this scary novel is a blend of horror, sci-fi and humor.

New World Monkeys by Nancy Mauro – Duncan and Lily accidentally hit a boar (which turns out to be a local town’s mascot) with their car, with bizarre consequences. 

Race for the Dying by Steven Havill – In a departure from his mystery writing, Havill gives us a historical novel about mail-order medical diagnoses in Washington State in the late 19th century.

A Separate Country by Robert Hicks – Set in New Orleans after the Civil War, general John Bell Hood struggles with his inability to admit his failures. 

The Wrong Mother by Sophie Hannah – This is a captivating work of psychological suspense from the author of Little Face.