Join us at noon tomorrow, Wednesday, June 4, in Art Circle Public Library’s Cumberland Room, where David Garrison of Cumberland County Community Chorus fame, will entertain us with various genres of music and song. Will be a delight!
Meet the artists from Plateau Creative Arts Center from 12:30-3:30 p.m. Saturday, June 7, in the Cumberland Room. Explore the opportunities available.
George Gallant from Plateau Creative Arts Center will instruct you in making a chain maille bracelet at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 1, in the Cumberland Room. Tools will be provided. Materials cost $2.50. Space is limited. Seniors only.
Art Circle Public Library is at 3 East St., Crossville. Call 931-484-6790 or visit artcirclelibrary.info for more.
Great New Books
Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Reid takes the 1980s NASA space shuttle program to new heights in a novel that explores feminism, sexual identity, and humans’ innate desire to find a world bigger than themselves. At the heart of the story is Joan Goodwin, who leaves her quiet life as a physics professor at Rice University to train at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. There, she prepares for space travel alongside pilots, scientists, mission specialists, and engineers who become like family to her. One of these is Vanessa, a brilliant astronaut who challenges Joan’s ideas about love. At the same time, Joan feels anchored to Earth by her family, especially her niece. At the center of the novel is a deadly catastrophe on mission STS-LR9, for which Joan is serving on the ground in Mission Control.
Badland by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Though she has not become a full FBI agent yet, Corrie Swanson lands a baffling case. In the New Mexico badlands, a film crew’s drone spots the remains of a woman. Swanson recruits her friend, archaeologist Nora Kelly, to inspect the bones. Found clutched in the skeleton’s hands are some extremely rare stones. When a second body is found with the same stones, the women learn that both victims were students of a professor known for his aggressive manner with women and his fascination with the ancient Chaco people of the region. Will their investigation lead them to a terrifying truth, and is there an entity that lives in the canyon that demands human sacrifice?
Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West by Bryan Burrough. Burrough explores the Wild West and makes the case that Texas was the locus of gun violence in the 19th century (with the highest murder rate per capita in U.S. history), particularly due to its hostile borders with Comanche territory and with Mexico, the coexistence of Confederate and Union supporters, and the surging cattle business, which was often accompanied by rustlers, gamblers, and vigilantes. However, he also argues that the violent reality of Texas was inflated by sensationalistic journalism, creating a morass of myths and facts. Burrough’s book offers a more nuanced portrayal of figures such as Wild Bill Hickok, Billy the Kid, and Wyatt Earp than often appears in popular history accounts. The subject matter, two 16-page sets of photos and illustrations and six helpful maps should make this book widely popular.
Library Laugh I
If I were an executioner, I would prefer to use an axe. It’s easier to get ahead.
Stingy Schobel Says
Did you know that 44 million windshield wiper blades are disposed of in landfills every year in the United States? That’s a lot of waste.
And while wipers are nearly impossible to recycle, you can choose wipers designed to last much longer than traditional ones.
Look for blades made of silicone. They last three times longer, which means you replace them less often. Plus, silicone is inert, which means when it is thrown away, it doesn’t break down and create pollution.
Library Laugh II
The lady working at the bank has a big stain on her shirt. Should I teller?
Libraries=Information
After you’ve boiled a pot of pasta or potatoes, let the leftover starchy water cool down to room temperature and reuse it to water your houseplants and garden.
The residual starch in the water actually spurs the nutrients in soil, which helps feed the plants and makes them stronger. In essence, they are carbo-loading for strength!
Just remember this one tip: Don’t add any salt to the water when cooking, since salt is harmful to all plant types.
Spring’s Wet Bonus
Why did the janitor take early retirement? Because he realized that grime doesn’t pay.