Say It Ain't So, Rubber Ducky

Slow Death by Rubber Duck: the Secret Danger of Everyday Things by Rick Smith & Bruce Lourie; 615.902 S657s

Smith and Lourie have created one scary book. The titular rubber duck, for example, offers a poison soup of chemicals and heavy metals—chlorine, bromine, lead, and chromium—that “permeate the environment and humans.” The book details our addiction to and obsession with “better living through chemistry” (a common advertising slogan in the reviewer’s childhood). For example, one of the authors details how he discovered that his garden hose was treated with triclosan, a common anti-microbial chemical. Why would a garden hose need antimicrobial protection, especially with a chemical that persists in the environment—and creates dioxin on the way, creates chloroform in contact with treated water and may interfere with thyroid and reproductive functions?

Written in a style somewhere between dense academic treatises (ensuring that no one would read it) and Pollyanna-ish green-living manuals (ensuring that no one would pay real attention), Smith and Lourie have crafted a worthy guide for the thinking consumer.

Reviewed by Wendell Barnett

April Showers Bring Edible Flowers

The blossoms and buds associated with spring mark the return of fresh fruits and vegetables which can be used to create flavorful dishes. Though slightly overlooked, edible flowers also reappear in the spring, and they make a colorful addition to both sweet and savory creations.

The Sullivan University Library has resources about edible flowers that can be borrowed from the library, and it also has materials about food presentation and garnishing which feature edible flowers.

• Edible Flowers: 25 Recipes and an A-Z Pictorial Directory of Culinary Flora by Kathy Brown. 641.659 B878e
• Rosalind Creasy’s Recipes from the Garden by Rosalind Creasy. 641.651 C912r
• The Scented Kitchen: Cooking with Flowers by Frances Bissell. 641.659 B623s

To see what food presentation and garnishing titles the library has, click on this link.

Please ask one of the librarians if you need help finding any of these resources. We will be glad to help you.

*P.S. The Eat Your Books blog inspired this post.*

Guest speaker from Toyota

Sullivan Lexington welcomes Mr. Wilbert W. James, Jr. to our campus on April 19th, 2012.  

Want to learn more about Toyota?  Try one of these books available in the library:

• The elegant solution : Toyota's formula for mastering innovation by Matthew E. May.  658.4 M467e
• Extreme Toyota : radical contradictions that drive success at the world's best manufacturer by Emi Osono, Norihiko Shimizu and Hirotaka Takeuchi.  629.2068 O83e
• How Toyota became #1 : leadership lessons from the world's greatest car company by David Magee.  658.4 M191h
• Stories from my sensei : two decades of lessons learned implementing Toyota-style systems by Steven E. Hoeft.  658.5 H693s
• Toyota by K. Dennis Chambers.  338.7 C444t
• Toyota culture : the heart and soul of the Toyota Way by Jeffery K. Liker and Michael Hoseus.  658.019 L627t
• Toyota kata : managing people for continuous improvement, adaptiveness, and superior results by Mike Rother.  658.301 R84t
• Toyota production system : beyond large-scale production by Taiichi Ohno.  629.234 O58t
• Toyota supply chain management : a strategic approach to the principles of Toyota's renowned system by Ananth V. Iyer, Sridhar Seshadri and Roy Vasher.  338.7629 I97t
• Toyota talent : developing your people the Toyota way by Jeffery K. Liker. 685.3124 L727tt
• The Toyota way : 14 management principles from the world's greatest manufacturer by Jeffrey K. Liker.  658.5 L627t
• The Toyota way to continuous improvement : linking strategy and operational excellence to achieve superior performance by Jeffrey K. Liker and James K. Franz.  658.401 L727t

Hear Them Roar

The Sunday issue of the Lexington Herald-Leader contained an article about famous Kentucky women. While you probably knew that actress Ashley Judd was from the Bluegrass State, did you know that Florence Henderson, aka Mrs. Brady from the Brady Bunch, was from Kentucky too?

To find out which other famous ladies made the list, stop by the library or read the article online by clicking on the above article link.

If you want to learn about some other well-known women, the following biographies are available in the library. Just ask one of the librarians if you need help finding any of these books.

Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child; 641.5 C536a

Barbie and Ruth; 338.7 G362b

Healing Hearts: A Memoir of a Female Heart Surgeon; 617.412 M195h

Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner's Daughter; 782.4216 L989l

The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight; 629.45 
    A182m

My Appalachia; 976.953 F239m

Tough Choices; 338.761 F521t

The Woman Behind the New Deal; 331.092 D748w

Spring Break Hours

Pastry Chef Extraordinare

In case you haven't heard, one of Lexington's own pastry chefs is in the news. Stella Parks, the pastry chef at Table 310,  has been named one of the Best New Pastry Chefs of 2012 by Food & Wine magazine.

To learn more about Ms. Parks, read the Lexington Herald-Leader article about her or check out her blog, BraveTart.

Congratulations to Stella!!

Catchin' Babies, a Coretta Scott King award, and Black History Month

In 2005, Barbara Hathaway won the Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe Award for New Talent for her novel Missy Violet & Me. As the library highlights Black History Month with an exhibit of titles about the African-American experience, this is an excellent time to draw people's attention to Ms. Hathaway's book. Read on to learn more about the book and how you can access a copy of it.

Missy Violet and Me by Barbara Hathaway

Don’t let the size of this book fool you. It is compact, but full of energy. In her award-winning novel, Barbara Hathaway tells about a young girl named Viney who apprentices with a midwife over the summer in order to pay off a family debt. The author sets the story in a rural community in the early part of the 20th century, and, through her descriptive language, readers get a feel for Viney’s world and the role of a midwife. Despite the short length of the novel, Ms. Hathaway ably conveys the African-American culture, the role of midwifes and medicine in a rural community, and the fears and joys of a little girl. I enjoyed Viney’s spunkiness and reading about ‘catchin’ babies,’ and those who are interested in medicine, midwifery, and/or African-American culture will likely enjoy the book too. Reviewed by Hilary Writt

The book can be found in the juvenile fiction section of the library, with the call number JF F, and if you need assistance in finding it, please don't hesitate to ask one of the librarians. We will be glad to assist you.

Paperback Donation Day 2012

A big thank you to everyone who participated in Donation Day for the Paperback Exchange.  165 books were donated by Sullivan faculty, staff and students.  


These books will be added to the Paperback Exchange, which  offers light reading to the Sullivan community.  Books in the exchange cover a variety of reading interests, including biography, self-help, diet, pop culture and travel as well as all types of fiction for both adult and young adult readers.  
                                     Stop by the library anytime and check it out!

And the winners are. . .

                                     

On Monday morning at the American Library Association conference in Dallas, TX, the winners of the Newbery and the Caldecott children's awards were announced. These prestigious awards are given each year to United States authors and illustrators who create books for children.


The Caldecott award is given for exceptional illustrations in a children's book. You may click on this link to see a list of all the Caldecott winners and the honor books.


The 2012 winner and honor books are:


A Ball for Daisy written and illus. by Chris Raschka-winner
Blackout written and illus. by John Rocco-honor
Grandpa Green written and illus. by Lane Smith-honor
Me. . . Jane written and illus. by Patrick McDonnell-honor


Here are the results for the Newbery medal, an award given for distinguished writing for children. Click here to see a list of all the winners and honor books.

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos-winner
Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin-honor
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai-honor *This title also won the National Book Award in 2011!

If you have any questions about the Caldecott or Newbery awards or need help finding previous award winners, please don't hesitate to ask one of the librarians. We will be happy to assist you.

National Mentoring Month

January is National Mentoring Month, and to celebrate this month the library has created a display featuring books and information about mentoring.

According to author, Curtis Crawford, mentors can be:

• A learning partner
• A confidential sounding board
• A non-judgmental counselor
• A navigator, one who knows the ropes
• Someone to provide a reality check
• A champion for your cause
• A coach to shore up your weaknesses
• A facilitator to broaden your networks and perspectives
• Someone who holds you accountable
• A guide to help you see beyond the horizon
  
  

Stop by the Sullivan University Library and Learning Resource Center during the month of January to learn more about mentoring in the corporate world and the mentor program at Sullivan University.


Source: Crawford, C.J. (2010). Manager’s Guide to Mentoring. Chicago, IL: McGraw-Hill Companies.

December Break Hours

Sugar and Spice and. . . Mashed Potatoes?

Hello Cupcake! By Karen Tack & Alan Richardson


As its welcoming title suggests, this book features examples of scrumptious cupcakes. In eight chapters with such headings as, “April Fool’s,” “Party Animals,” “Nightmare Before Thanksgiving,” and “Holiday on Icing,” cupcakes of all shapes and designs, with their accompanying recipes, are displayed. Step-by-step instructions on how to create specific culinary concoctions, a photographic display of the decorating materials and tools, cupcake and frosting recipes, and a list of food supply stores enable readers to tackle even the most advanced creations. The innovative cupcake designs can be used by those interested in catering, baking, and working with children. The only negative comment that can be made about the book is that it doesn’t come with free samples. Reviewed by Wendell Barnett

If you've been bitten by the baking bug, Hello Cupcake is a fun title to satisfy the craving. For even more cupcake goodness check out the companion title, What's New, Cupcake?.  Click on either of the titles to find reviews and more about the books.

Hello Cupcake; 641.8653 T118h
What's New, Cupcake?; 641.8653 T118w

You can borrow either one of these titles and others from the library, and if you need helping finding don't forget to ask one of the librarians. We will be glad to assist you.

Happy Baking!

Thanksgiving Break - Library Hours

The library will be OPEN :

Monday - Wednesday                                           8am-5pm

November 21-23                                                (closed 12-1 for lunch)

The library will be CLOSED :

Thursday - Sunday

November 24-27

Regular hours will resume 7:30am on Monday, November 28th.  

Have a wonderful

Holiday!

Remembering Our Veterans

In rememberance of Veterans Day the library staff wants to say thank you to all of the faculty, staff, and students who have served our country. Thank you.

Click on the links below to learn more information about Veterans Day, and be sure to check out the link for our previous Veterans Day blog post too.

Arlington National Cemetary

Ft. Campbell

Ft. Knox

Kentucky veterans

Sullivan University's veterans page

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Check out our Twitter account, @WhatstheBook, where we tweeted something in honor of veterans too.

A Veteran and His Daughter

With Veterans Day approaching it is a fitting time to highlight Crow Call; JF L, a picture book by the Newbery award-winner, Lois Lowry.

Lois Lowry’s skills as a writer are evident in this picture book, her first ever according to her website, about a girl named Liz reconnecting with her father after his return from WWII. While Liz practices remembering to call the man who is her father, “Daddy,” her father learns that Liz’s favorite food is cherry pie. The two get reacquainted as they set out to hunt the crows which destroy the family’s crop, and by the end of their trip they are holding hands. Ibatoulline’s sepia-toned illustrations match well with the story’s setting and its nostalgic nature. Some of his illustrations are so well-rendered that I felt like I was looking at a photograph. At the very end of the book, in the note to readers, I found out that this story was autobiographical, and I was quite pleased to get to see a photograph of Lowry in the shirt Liz wears in the book.

The book can be found in the library's juvenile book section. If you need any help locating it or you want to check it out, please ask one of the librarians. We will be glad to assist you.

Check the blog next week for another post related to Veterans Day.