of Local Interest

Book Review by Lisa

The Latehomecomer; A Hmong Family Memoir

By Kao Kalia Yang

The emigration of the Hmong people from their native land to America is a history all Americans should know, regardless of their ancestry. This is the story of the harrowing experience of one Hmong family; leaving the country of their ancestors, their family, and their friends; then entering a new country to start a new life.

New Book Reviews

New Book Blog by Lisa:

The High Price of Materialism

By Tim Kasser

What happens when we organize our lives around material pursuits? Most of us feel that money can free us from worry and stress. According to Mr. Kasser, materialism actually enslaves us. Materialistic values undermine our well being, weaken interpersonal ties, and maintain feelings of insecurity. What can we do to make our families and society less materialistic?

Art work is back in town

The art our students produced for Spring 2010 Student Art Show is back in town. Come to the library to claim yours.

Two DVDs

John Adams, the movie based on the biography by David McCullough, is here in the library on DVD and can be checked out for a week at a time.

We also have "Rules of the Road" an interactive Driver's Ed course. This DVD can be checked out for a week and has english and spanish subtitles.

Papers to handback

If you took a class from Freneau, Horel, Hunter, Mize or Letko, they are now in the library so we can hand them back to you.

New book

Post by Dale Patton:
So you Want to Start a Business?

This book, as the title implies, is a how to guide for how to create a new business, even if you aren’t business savvy, it also explains: the secrets of successful entrepreneurs, eight common mistakes that rookie business owners make, what good business opportunities are. This book also tells us how to choose the right customers. If I was looking to be a new business owner I would definitely check this book out, it covers many more topics, all of which will be useful for the beginning entrepreneur.

Local nature: Food and Politics

We received two new books recently: Seaweed, Salmon, and Manzanita Cider and Water War in the Klamath Basin.

The first book, Seaweed, Salmon and Manzanita Cider, by Margaret Dubin et al. attempts to answer the age-old question: What did they eat before there were grocery stores. For the Native People of California the answer is more complex and complicated than you might imagine. California's proximity to the ocean ensured that a lot of people had fresh fish and seaweed. But they also ate turtles, wood rats, deer and shellfish. Acrons could be beaten and eaten and mushrooms abound especially in northern California. Elderberries, strawberries and grapes grow wild in California as do a number of other nuts. Although this book could have done a better job identifying the plants in their natural state, I suppose that is what field books are for. But for edibility and a few recipes, plus lots of memories, this is the book for you.

With the recent news of the Klamath Dam agreements in the works, this next book should help us all understand this issue a little better. Water War in the Klamath Basin by Holy Doremus and A. Dan Tarlock. This account of the drama leading us up to this point is invaluable to understanding why removing the dams from the Klamath River is such a priority to so many people.