by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian
As we wind up the month of January, some of us are starting
to get tired of winter. But if you
subscribe to the Scandinavian idea of hygge, the key is to embrace winter
instead of wishing it away. Winter has
its own beauty and blessings.
In that spirit, the library will be having two Hygge
Saturdays in February. On February 2 and
February 16, the first and third Saturdays of the month, we’ll set up the
library meeting room with board games, puzzles, coloring sheets, free books,
crocheting supplies, and a hot chocolate bar.
Drop in for some low-key, cozy fun between 1 and 3 p.m.
The Friends of the Library always has a cart of free books next
to the lobby, except when it’s a book sale weekend. If you want to find some free books to keep,
or to just not have to return by a deadline, come in to browse those
anytime. These books are things that don’t
sell on the book sale, but they’re still often popular when they’re on that
cart -- plus that inventory turns over frequently, so you may see entirely
different things by the time you visit again. A few of our patrons like to
stock up from that cart in case they get snowed in and need more books to read.
If you’re looking for a book to check out to read on a
winter day, of course we have many more of those. Here are a few of our newest additions:
The Flimflam Affair is the latest Carpenter and Quincannon
mystery from Bill Pronzini. Sabina
Carpenter and John Quincannon run a detective service in San Francisco at the
turn of the last century. In this
installment, a medium and his assistant are swindling grieving people out of
their money, and the detectives must find a way to reveal them as thieves. Meanwhile, they’re solving a murder, a theft
from a burglarproof safe, and a mystery involving a gang of counterfeiters that
includes a man who’s supposed to be dead.
Pictures of Longing: Photography and the Norwegian-American Migration is a new release from University of Minnesota Press. It was written by Sigrid Lien, a professor of
art history and photography studies at the University of Bergen, Norway, and
translated into English by Barbara Sjoholm.
In the 1800s and early 1900s, more than 750,000 Norwegians emigrated to
America, a large percentage of Norway’s population. The immigrants sent thousands of “America-photographs”
home. The author examines a selection of
these photos and explains to the reader how to interpret them, telling stories
about immigrants and photographers as she goes.
Not surprisingly, many of the photos in the book are from Minnesota and
North Dakota.
The Litchfield Women’s Community Club has given the library
a donation for large print books from time to time, either in memory or in
honor of one of their members. We have
two new large print books from their recent donations: Freedom’s Light by Colleen Coble and Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg.
Freedom’s
Light is an inspirational novel about a young widow who is tending a pair of lighthouses
in Massachusetts during the Revolutionary War.
Night of Miracles is a small-town story about an older woman who is
inspired to begin teaching baking classes and who looks out for people around
her who need some help; it has a theme of coming together to harness the power
of community.
Come to one of our programs for some comfortable time of
connecting with others (part of the definition of hygge), or check out some
books to take to your own cozy home.
Either way, I hope the library helps you enjoy the rest of your winter.
