Could You Live in a Tiny House?

Recently, I have read a lot of material about the "Tiny House Movement." Basically, people either build or buy tiny houses--usually movable on a trailer of some kind--to reduce their bills as well as their footprint on the planet. Most are quite small, less than 700 square feet and people can get mighty creative with their tiny spaces! There is usually a loft with a ladder or perhaps some stairs with storage underneath, a tiny kitchen, and most, but not all, have a bathroom with a composting toilet. I've even seen a tiny house with a hot tub attached! These little cabins can be heated and cooled cheaply and families find themselves in very close quarters; which makes for lots of family time!
I have often wondered why someone would want to move into such a small space and give up the creature comforts that a larger home can afford. The truth is that those reasons vary as much as the people who build tiny houses. While reducing costs and impact on the planet seem to be common reasons, a sense of adventure and being able to take your home all over the country with you seem to be pretty popular reasons, too. Another reason is a sense of accomplishment. How many of us in today's world can say that we built our own home with our own hands?

In The Big Tiny: a Build-It-Myself Memoir, author Dee Williams tells the story of how she went from a money-pit of a house with a mortgage to building her own tiny house that she can park in her friends back yard. Dee's life changed in a moment when she had a near death experience at a local grocery store. She was only forty-two at the time and the doctors diagnosed her with a heart condition. Her major health scare made her take stock of her life and how she wanted to live it. She was reminded that life is short and time is precious, and she wanted to spend hers with the people and things she truly loved.
Even though she had painstakingly restored a sprawling house in the Pacific Northwest, Dee realized that the mortgage payments, constant repairs, top notch appliances, and extra rooms could not compare with the financial freedom and the ultimate luxury of time that you get when you downsize. She decided to build her own house from the ground up. Building this eighty-four-square-foot house own her own was just the beginning of her new life. Dee can now list everything she owns on a single sheet of paper, her monthly upkeep is about eight dollars, and it only takes her ten minutes to clean the entire house. She now has the time to spend with her friends and family, she has the freedom to take off on an adventure at a moment's notice, or she can simply drink a beer and watch the sunset on her tiny front porch.

This book is more memoir and less how-to when it comes to tiny house-building. The library only has the Large Print version of this book and there are only a very few black-and-white photographs, but they give you a good idea of how small Dee Williams lives. If, however, you enjoy books about how life-changing moments send people down new paths, then this is certainly a book you would enjoy.
If you would like to find out about building your own tiny house, there are several blogs that do a good job: thesmallhousecatalog.com, www.tinyhousedesign.com, and tinyhouseblog.com. The library also has small house plans as well as books on building houses, plumbing, wiring, and other DIY projects that may inspire you to build your own tiny house.

Remembering When the Local Stores were the Center of the Community

A recent addition to our collection is Country Stores of Mississippi by June Davis Davidson, a resident of Mississippi for over 50 years.

Inside is a collection of images, stories and, in some cases, addresses to the country stores that are still open.  Some have become antique stores, restaurants, and even museums but still show signs of their past lives from when they were the cornerstones of their communities.  The stores are grouped by county.  Both entries for Warren County are located in Bovina : Buck's General Store and The Old Store.

Looking through the book, the photographs and stories of the local stores  that have been gathered by Davidson are enjoyable reading as well as an interesting lesson in local history.

Two New Woodworking Titles

Vicksburg is considered a retirement community and we get a lot of retirees visiting our library. Many are looking for hobby books to keep their minds sharp and their hands busy. From time to time, I get a retired gentleman (and sometimes a lady) who would like to learn more about crafting their own furniture. It just so happens that we have recently received two books on the subject from the editors of Fine Woodworking Magazine.

The first of these is titled: Fine Woodworking: Tables and Chairs. While most of these projects seem to require quite a bit of knowledge of woodworking, the editors believe that even beginners will find a project to help increase their skill as well as be able to build a piece of furniture to pass down to future generations. One of the first projects in this book is a sleek Mahogany coffee table with beautifully curved legs. Other projects include a Bow-front hall table, classic Shaker dining room table, 18th-century corner chair, and a simple and elegant bench. Designed by some of America's best woodworkers, these projects cover a broad range of styles and ensure that you will find something for your taste.

The second title we have is Fine Woodworking: Chests and Cabinets. This collection of chests, cabinets, and other storage projects takes you through the process of building beautiful pieces of furniture using clear instructions and comprehensive photos and drawings. Whether you love the classic Shaker style or lean more toward a modern look, you will certainly find something to inspire you. Some of the projects in this book are: an Arts and Crafts display cabinet, a cherry and fir bookcase, a Victorian-inspired vanity cabinet, and a Shaker chest of drawers. I think my favorite project is the Pennsylvania Spice Box. This adorable chest would be perfect to pass down to future generations.

 

Both books index their projects and offer a brief bit of information on the various contributors. They both also give information about connecting with Fine Woodworking Magazine online. If you would like to check out these or other books on woodworking projects, please come to the library and look in the non-fiction section using the number 684 to find other ideas to inspire your hobby.

Jamaica - The Real Location That Spawned a Fictional Legend

Ian Fleming first set foot on Jamaican soil in 1943 during World War II as Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence, sent to assist in the problem of German U-boats sinking shipping vessels in the Carribean.



After the war had ended, he returned and, for eighteen years from 1946 until his death, Ian Fleming spent two months each year at Goldeneye - his home built overlooking a small white sand beach on Jamaica's north coast.  It was during these months that all of the James Bond novels and stories were written.



While quite a few of the Bond stories had Jamaica as the setting, the influence of the area - the music, the people, his circle of friends - can be felt throughout the series including the creation of the character of Bond himself.



Matthew Parker mixes Jamaican history and culture with the times and circumstances that shaped Ian Fleming's viewpoints.  He not only covers the life of Mr. Fleming following the war, but the decline of the British Empire and the effects that had on Jamaica as one of the remaining outposts of that Empire.  He also covers not only the Bond stories but also the films that were made from them.  Both Sean Connery and Roger Moore took their first turns as Bond on Jamaica, with Roger Moore actually visiting Fleming's Goldeneye while on Jamaica to film 'Live and Let Die'.



Part Fleming biography, part study of the genesis of James Bond and part Jamaican tour guide of days past, Parker's book appeals on many fronts, but will likely be most interesting to fans of 007 lore.

Two Beautiful Photography Collections

We don't get a great many photography collections here at the library, but two new collections we have just received are Abandoned America: The Age of Consequences by Matthew Christopher and American Ballads: The Photographs of Marty Stuart edited by Katherine E. Delmez for the First Center for the Visual Arts Vanderbilt University Press. Both of these books contain beautiful photos and brief explanations of the history of the pictures.

In, Abandoned America, the author gives us a glimpse of what happens when man-made structures are left to weather the ravages of time without humans to keep them in top shape. These beautiful and eerie photographs include old schools, hospitals, theaters, factories, and churches. Slowly, everything returns to the Earth. Plaster walls crumble and tumble to the floor. Ceilings cave in and allow the wind and rain to wear down the interior of buildings. Machinery, too, rusts and falls victim to the ravages of weather and time. All manner of creatures come in and make themselves at home in the ruins of once-splendid architecture. As you can see below, these haunted photos give a a glimpse at what a post-human world would look like.

The other book of photographs, American Ballads, is a collection from country music legend, Marty Stuart.

This collection is introduced by Stuart himself. After a brief history of Stuart, his career in music and his love of photography, readers are given three distinct sections of photographs to ogle. The first section is entitled "The Masters" and includes photographs and portraits of some of the most famous names in music; especially Country Music. There are portraits of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Bill Monroe, George Jones, and Jerry Lee Lewis to name a few.

The next section is called "Blue Line Hotshots" and includes photos of every day folks from all over small-town America. These are the unsung heroes of the truck stops, county fairs, and everyday life in what some call the "fly-over states."

The final section is named "Badlands" and it contains photographs from the native peoples of South Dakota. These photos were taken over many years and many trips to visit the Pine Ridge Reservation and the Lakota.

These photos are sometimes whimsical, sometimes pensive, but all of them evoke the emotion of the subjects being photographed.

Knitting Projects from Beginner to Experienced

A new addition to our craft collection of books is 'Cutest Ever Baby Toys to Knit' by Val Pierce.

Featuring twenty-one projects, there are a variety of items to make for little ones from blankets to elephants.

The introduction including suggestions for your choice of designs and yarns, tips for sewing the component parts together, tips for stuffing the toys and how to add facial and other features for the finishing touches.  Each set of instructions begins with a full list of materials needed to complete the project.

For beginners, there are instructions for the following:

1. Halloween Booties
2. Soft and Squishy Playbook
3. Starry Face Ball
4. Goody Two Shoes
5. Little Bunny Bag
6. Pete the Penguin

Intermediate instructions are the largest number of knitting project as follows:

1. Daisy the Baby Dinosaur
2. Oscar the Spotty Dog
3. Oswald the Owl
4. Octavia Octopus
5. Duckling Crib Toy
6. Petals Baby Grab Toy
7. Sweetheart Blanket
8. Henry the Hedgehog
9. Sydney Snake
10. Rosie the Rag Doll
11. Freddy Fox
12. Under-the-Sea Mobile
13. Rainbow Butterfly

Finally, there are Two sets of instruction for the experienced knitter:

1. Great Big Dinosaur
2. Tusker the Elephant

Try your hand at making one to the colorful toys for your own little ones or even for yourself.

New British (and Irish) Mysteries on DVD

Anyone who knows me can be sure that I am one of the first in line for any new British mystery series that we may get on DVD. Two of our newest are Jack Taylor Set 2 and Rosemary & Thyme: the Complete Collection.

     Jack Taylor is based upon a series of books by Irish author Ken Bruen. The second set includes the episodes: "The Dramatist," "Priest," and "Shot Down." Each one is a feature-length episode. The titular character is a former member of the Irish Guards who left the job before he was kicked out, taking only his Guard coat. The stories take place in Galway, Ireland and the setting offers a sufficiently bleak and gritty backdrop for these dramas. Taylor is a completely fallible ex-cop who, in the second series, is trying to give up on drinking and is taking care of his ailing mother. In "The Dramatist," Taylor is tasked with finding the murderer of a young woman who has fallen to her death from one of the buildings at the university. The Guard believe that she has suffered from a drug overdose, but one of her professors is convinced otherwise and asks Taylor for help. After his mother succumbs to another stroke in the middle of his investigation and dies, Taylor seems to lose his way once more and returns to drinking. Taylor's young assistant goes undercover at the university to find out more information about the girl and finds out that another young woman is missing as well. In "Priest," Taylor is asked to look into the beheading of a priest. He discovers that the victim had abused two boys several years earlier and now, it seems, that the victims have taken revenge on their abuser. Taylor must wade through some pretty dark secrets in the church to find the killer. All the while, Taylor is slipping back into his bad habits and his demons are rearing their familiar heads. In "Shot Down," Jack Taylor leaves his home in Galway for Dublin, hoping to abate his grief. Once there, he gets involved in a traveler's feud and he meets a young girl named Rosie. She witnessed her mother's murder, but has suppressed the memory. Taylor must help her remember what happened before the killer strikes again. All-in-all, I love this series. It is a little darker than most of the series that I watch, but it is worth it to see Iain Glen (Game of Thrones). I also think that it's nice to see stories from Ireland that aren't all leprechauns, shamrocks, and shenanigans.

     Rosemary & Thyme is a British cozy mystery that ran for twenty-two episodes from 2003-2006. It stars Felicity Kendal as Rosemary Boxer and Pam Ferris as Laura Thyme. Laura is a housewife and former policewoman whose husband leaves her for a younger woman after more than twenty years of marriage. Her only regret is having to leave the beautiful garden she tended at their home together. She meets Rosemary, a university lecturer in horticulture, who has just lost her job and has agreed to look into the dying gardens of an acquaintance. The two women team up to find out what is going on with the garden and to find out who has killed Laura's friend. The series takes place in some very beautiful gardens all over England and Europe. There always seems to be a mystery to solve along with the tilling of the soil. These are fun, light-hearted mysteries that will have you cheering for these two strong-willed and hard-working women. Throughout the series, you meet Laura's two children along with a string of characters and villains. These two don't always get it right on the first try, but by the end, they have solved the mystery and helped many a garden to bloom.

Download Audio Books to Your Personal Device or Computer.

Our library patrons can now download audio books to their personal devices and computers through OneClickdigital. The OneClickdigital app can be found for both Apple and Android devices.

Just click on the link and sign up for your account using your library card number for access to thousands of books, both new and classics - http://warrenms.oneclickdigital.com/

Need help getting started? There is as step-by-step tutorial at http://warrenms.oneclickdigital.com/#help

Once in, you can choose titles from twenty-seven different genres, listed below :

1. Arts and Entertainment
2. Biographies, Autobiographies and Memoirs
3. Business and Economics
4. Classics
5. Comics and Graphic Novels
6. Fantasy
7. General Fiction
8. General Non-Fiction
9. Historical Fiction
10. History
11. Humor
12. Juvenile Fiction
13. Language
14. Literary Fiction
15. Mystery
16. Poetry
17. Politics and Current Events
18. Religion
19. Romanace
20. Science
21. Sci-Fi
22. Self-Help
23. Short Stories
24. Sports
25. Suspense and Thrillers
26. Western
27. Women's Fiction

Death of a Liar: a Hamish Macbeth Mystery

With all the usual twists, turns, and red herrings, M.C. Beaton has created another completely readable cozy featuring my favorite ginger-haired Highland police sergeant. While this volume does seem to slow down in a few places, series fans will be delighted and newcomers will find it absolutely charming.
Long-suffering police sergeant Hamish Macbeth winds up with multiple murders on his hands in the latest installment of this cozy mystery series. Hamish and his partner Dick Fraser are called to the small village of Cromish in the Scottish Highlands. A middle-aged woman named Liz Bentley has called claiming that she has been raped. When Hamish and Dick arrive, they convince her to have the local doctor to examine her for the sake of evidence. The doctor pulls Hamish aside and tells him that Liz is a virgin and that there is absolutely no sign of her being raped. The doc also informs him that Liz is know to be a compulsive liar. Upset with having his time wasted by the attention-seeker, Hamish gives Liz a stern warning that she not call him again. In the meantime, the unfriendly couple who claim to be from London and have purchased the recently vacated local elementary school, are found murdered. The wife is half buried in the front garden and the husband is found some miles away stuffed in the trunk of his car. Such a high profile crime brings Inspector Blair and Superintendent Daviot up from Strathbane. Hamish is relegated to house-to-house inquiries.
After a long day of knocking on doors, Hamish gets another call from Liz Bentley in Cromish. She claims that someone is in her home and the call is interrupted before she can finish. Thinking that Liz is up to her old lying ways, Hamish ignores the immediacy and turns in for the night. The next day, he and Dick head back to Cromish. The pair find Liz dead in her back garden. A terrible storm the night before seems to have prevented anyone from hearing anything. Blair convinces Daviot to assign Hamish to the murder in Cromish; which is just fine with Hamish.
Both murder scenes are pristine and there is very little forensic evidence found. Hamish becomes convinced that these two murders are connected, but he can't seem to make the connection. Perhaps, if he would stop crushing on the polish baker, he'd actually get some work done. These two cases stall and Hamish becomes worried that they may never get solved, which doesn't sit well with him.
I won't give away the ending, but I will say that this book will keep you guessing and even give you a chuckle when the climax of the story rolls around. Hamish puts up with a lot to keep his little police station, but as he puts it, "who will look after the folks who live in all the little crofts and out-of-the-way places?" Hamish may not be lucky in love, but he knows how to take care of his Highland neighbors.

New Series in the Easy Reader Section

New to our library are two books series that are beginner books to understanding basic science concepts for young readers.

The first is a five books series called Why Living Things Need . . . by Daniel Nunn.  Each of the books covers one basic need that living things need to survive.

The five books in the series are :

• Air
• Food
• Homes 
• Light
• Water

The second set is a seven part series called Exploring Materials by Abby Colich.  Each book centers on one of the different materials we use to make things,

The seven books in this series are:

• Glass
• Metal
• Paper
• Plastic
• Rock
• Rubber
• Wood