Sailing!

June 18, 2012 | kimba

Fifty places to sail before you die: sailing experts share the world's greatest destinations by Chris Santella

The sailing bible: the complete guide for all sailors from novice to expert by Jeremy Evans, Pat Manley, Barrie Smith

We, the drowned by Carsten Jensen; translated from the Danish by Charlotte Barslund with Emma Ryder

Further offshore: a practical guide for sailors by Ed Mapes

Sustainable sailing: go green when you cast off by Dieter Loibner

Earth Day Programs at CPL

April 9, 2012 | kimba

We're celebrating Earth Day all week (April 22-27) and want you to join us! See the write up in the Canton Observer. There will be events for adults, teens, tweens and children, including:

American Way of Eating Author Appearance

March 28, 2012 | kimba

The public is invited on Wednesday, April 4 at Noon to a talk and book signing by Tracie McMillan, local NY Times Bestselling author. The event takes place on the University of Michigan Dearborn Campus (1030 CASL Building). For more information please call 313-583-6400.

The American way of eating: undercover at Walmart, Applebee's, farm fields and the dinner table by Tracie McMillan — addresses issues of food production, poverty and low wage work in the style of Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed. It also critically discusses Detroit's "food desert status and talks about the role of urban agriculture in sustaining Detroit's food system."

Doomsday Seed Vault

March 2, 2012 | kimba

According to msnbc.com, the Doomsday Seed Vault located in Norway is scheduled to receive nearly 25,000 samples of seeds this week from around the world. The vault acts as a backup for living crop collections around the world to ensure crop diversity and future food supplies. The vault opened on February 2008 and is dug into the Platåberget mountain ("Plateau mountain") located near the village of Longyearbyen, Svalbard, a group of islands north of mainland Norway. Look to CPL for more resources on seeds or search our Science in Context database for information on the Doomsday Seed Vault or Svalbard Global Seed Vault. [Photo courtesy of AP Images]

Wolves Off Endangered Species List

January 31, 2012 | kimba

According to an article from the Michigan Water Stewardship Program, as of Friday, June 27, wolves have officially been removed from the Federal Endangered Species List in the western Great Lakes region including Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The management authority over wolves in Michigan has been returned to the Department of Natural Resources. Wolves will "remain a protected, non-game species in Michigan, but state management will afford more options when dealing with wolves preying on livestock or dogs." Look to CPL for more resources on wolves or search one of our databases for information on the Endangered Species Act: Science in Context or Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
[Photo courtesy of AP Images]

Consumer Trend for 2012: Eco-cycology

January 10, 2012 | kimba

According to trendwatching.com in 12 Consumer Trends for 2012, one trend to watch out for in 2012 is what they have dubbed "eco-cycology" or "the phenomenon of brands helping consumers recycle by taking back all old items from customers, and then doing something constructive with them." While this is sometimes prompted by legislation and sometimes by companies themselves, ultimately it is prompted by you the consumer. Check out CPL resources to learn more about how businesses are greening their practices.

2011 Lunch and a Book Picks

December 19, 2011 | kimba

Every year CPL's Lunch and a Book Club picks our favorite reads of the year. These are our favorite reads for 2011. The picks are as eclectic as our group! Feel free to join us. We meet on the second Thursday of every month at noon in CPL's Community Room.

Fiction

Catching fire by Suzanne Collins

The forgotten garden: a novel by Kate Morton

The girl who played with fire by Stieg Larsson

In the bleak midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Mark of the lion by Suzanne M. Arruda

Jesmyn Ward Winner of National Book Award

November 19, 2011 | kimba

Salvage the bones: a novel by Jesmyn Ward was announced on Wednesday as the winner of the National Book Award for fiction. The novel — about a poor, rural African American family living in Mississippi and facing obstacles no less then Hurricane Katrina — was considered "a long shot, at best" to win the prestigious award according to a CNN article. Ward, herself a Katrina survivior, was surprised and delighted. Now on the radar, critics are quickly praising it as a "classical tragedy."

Air Quality for 48188

November 11, 2011 | kimba

National Public Radio (NPR) posted an interactive map, searchable by zip code and/or city, that allows you to find out who has been emitting hazardous chemicals into the air. The map lists more than 17,000 facilities nationwide. The color-coded dots and scores of one to five smoke stacks are based on an EPA method of assessing potential health risks. You can zoom into your neighborhood by clicking on the map or use the search box in the upper right hand corner to find your area of interest. You can even look at the full EPA reports on selected facilities.
[Photo courtesy of AP Images]

Once Upon a River

November 1, 2011 | kimba

Once upon a river : a novel by Bonnie Jo Campbell — What if we were left to discover life, love and the world on our own at a very young age with no preconceived socially-defined rights and wrongs? This is one of the questions that Bonnie Jo Campbell will force you to ponder. The protagonist is 16-year-old Margo who sets out in a flat-bottomed teak rowboat on the Stark River in southwestern Michigan to find her mother, who has abandoned the family. Margo fashions herself after her hero, Annie Oakley, which adds a sense of timelessness to the novel — although unbelievably it is set in 1970. Margo sustains herself, and in fact thrives, in the face of every sort of adversity through a combination of courage, stubbornness and savvy. This novel is not, however, for the faint of heart. There’s incest, rape, murder and graphic descriptions of animal skinning, among other things. Though, like Jim Harrison's Michigan-based fiction, you will find yourself absorbed by Campbell's keen observations of the local environment.

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