The Christmas Extravaganza of Concerts continues. All concerts start at noon and, unless stipulated, are in the Cumberland Room.
Wednesday, Dec. 10. Back in Time, formerly the Cumberland Swing Experience
Friday, Dec. 12. Glad Tidings featuring Blind Luck
Monday, Dec. 15. An Acapella Sing-a-long featuring the Cumberland County Community Chorus (in the Carol Darling Room)
Wednesday, Dec. 17. The Glade Dixieland Band
Art Circle Public Library is at 3 East St., Crossville. Visit artcirclelibrary.info or call 931-484-6790 for more information.
Great New Books
The Sea Captain’s Wife: A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the Bottom of the World by Tilar Mazzeo. This is the remarkable biography of Mary Ann Patten, the teenage wife of a Maine clipper ship captain, whose self-taught knowledge of navigation saved the lives of her husband and his crew during a voyage around the tip of South America.
Readers are introduced to New England’s seafaring culture in the mid-19th century; the economics that made it a hub of maritime commerce; the dangers faced by ship captains who were pushed by owners to complete ever faster voyages; and the new “extreme” clippers that made celebrities out of record-breaking captains.
The enterprising Mary Ann spent her first circumnavigation of the globe studying her husband’s navigational charts and instruments, taking readings and gaining knowledge she would use to good effect when her husband fell ill during their next voyage.
Drawing on contemporary newspaper accounts, Mazzeo imagines the thoughts and emotions of the 19-year-old Mary Ann as she faced a ferocious storm in the Drake Passage, as well as a treacherous first mate and a potentially mutinous crew.
The Bird Watcher by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Chicago fashion journalist Irene “Reenie” Bigelow returns to her native Wisconsin to report on her childhood best friend’s murder arrest and trial. What perplexes Reenie is how Felicity Wild, once a bright biology student, could have turned to a life of sex work and stand accused of poisoning two of her clients.
The victims — economics professor Cary Church and dairy salesman Emil Gardener — both listed Felicity as a beneficiary of their life insurance policies, despite being married to other women. Still, Reenie believes Felicity is innocent, so she’s shocked when Felicity tells her to go away when the two bump into each other during the arraignment.
Instead, Reenie persists, interviewing Felicity’s attorney and the pair’s mutual friends, which eventually leads her to Ophelia, the strip club where Felicity worked. Posing as a bartender at Ophelia, Reenie befriends some of Felicity’s former colleagues, who clue her into the club’s criminal underbelly.
Spasm by Robin Cook. Forensic pathologist Jack Stapleton stumbles into a terrorist plot in an unlikely location. A doctor friend invites Jack to help with an autopsy in Essex Falls, NY, deep in the Adirondacks. Looking on the trip as a mini vacation for himself and his wife, he accepts.
The corpse had until recently been a healthy man who then developed rapid neurogenerative symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s disease before his death. Jack arrives with thoughts of doing a quick autopsy and then cooking steaks on a grill, but more deaths occur.
What’s going on? Is this the beginning of an epidemic?
The story has three plot vectors: Jack; the Diehard Patriots, a small band of disgruntled militia wannabes who harmlessly fire their AR-15s in the deep woods; and four “Netherlanders” hired by the Diehard Patriots to train them. But the alleged Dutchmen are in fact Russian bioterrorists with their own nefarious agenda: To poison the town’s water supply as a pilot project that would eventually allow Holy Mother Russia to wipe out millions of Americans. They set up a lab to brew a poison based on a theta prion gene as they convince their D.P. hosts they are brewing beer.
The “proof-of-concept field trial” has begun, but early results are uncertain. Meanwhile, they have killed several locals using Novichok, a Russian nerve agent.
Library Laugh I
Why wouldn’t the teddy bear eat anything? He was already stuffed.
Stingy Schobel Says
With forecasts predicting one of the coldest winters on record, there are simple ways to stay warm while staying eco-friendly.
Use natural sunlight to your advantage — open curtains and blinds during the day to let in heat, then close them at night to help insulate your home.
Clear snow as soon as it falls to prevent it from turning into ice, which is harder to remove and often requires chemical deicers.
And keep your thermostat set low; for every degree below 68 degrees, you’ll save about 3% on your heating costs.
Library Laugh II
What did the ice cream cone ride to the store? A fudge-cycle.
Libraries=Information
While some popular houseplants thrive indoors, they should never be transplanted outdoors, where they can become invasive.
The snake plant, for example, spreads rapidly through underground shoots and can crowd out native species.
Similarly, the rubber plant grows aggressively outside and can overwhelm surrounding vegetation.
These plants are perfectly safe and attractive indoors, but should always stay there.
Snowflake Bonus
How do you make an orange giggle? You tickle its navel.