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 Feb. 2 and Feb. 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 1-3 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.
