One of the great things about summer is all the reading a person gets to do! Going to exotic locales and using the heat as a means of escape are one of the things we enjoy! A great summer read includes The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. It takes place in a small town in Botswana and follows Precious Ramotswe as she opens an amateur detective agency and solves cases. This belongs to a genre called “cozy mysteries” because the story does not focus on sex, violence or nitty gritty details; just good, old-fashioned sleuthing. Pull up a chair and a cup of red bush tea and spend an afternoon with Precious Ramotswe. You can find her in the library along with many other great mysteries and summer reads!
Author: Amanda Lee
Music to Start Your Summer!
This past school year the Mudd acquired some great popular music including Neko Case, Vampire Weekend, Bon Iver, Arctic Monkeys, and Arcade Fire just to name a few. One of our favorite summertime albums is Helplessness Blues by the Fleet Foxes. Check out this great CD and more in the library!
Eating Disorder Resources
The library has recently acquired many new resources regarding eating disorders. These include workbooks, books about communication for family and friends, and even a book about the neuroscience behind eating disorders. Finding up-to-date information was not an easy task, as eating disorders are still misunderstood and under-researched.
These books are not meant to cure a person with body image issues, nor are they meant to replace professional help. If you or someone you know has body image or disordered eating issues, please consult the Counseling Center. There are no better resources available to you than the counselors.
To learn more about eating disorders and how to talk to someone about their eating disorder, please stop by the library’s new book shelf to pick up a brochure and browse the new arrivals (most start with call number RC). For more information please visit the National Eating Disorder’s website.
Mindfulness
In an effort to support the Lawrence community in their quest for wellness, we invite you to to come to the library and check out some of our new mindfulness resources. We have two audiobooks, Mindfulness for Beginners and Guided Mindfulness Meditation, and one book, Full Catastrophe Living all by Jon Kabat-Zinn. You can find them on the New Book Shelf.
Mindfulness is a conscious effort to be aware of your present experience or moment and accept your thoughts or emotions in a way that is non-judgmental. It is said to be useful for people dealing with stress, chronic pain, or anyone hoping to improve their happiness and well-being.
Psychology and psychiatry started paying attention to mindfulness in the 70’s. Jon Kabat-Zinn, an American doctor, opened the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program at the University of Massachusetts in 1979 after seeing Thich Nhat Hanh at a retreat. He recognized that mindfulness could be useful in treating patients with chronic illnesses. His program received interest from many people both healthy and ill, and has grown over the years. He’s written several books on the subject.
Here is the man himself explaining the what mindfulness meditation is: Jon Kabat-Zinn explaining Mindfulness Meditation.
Highlighted CD: Grace by Jeff Buckley
Have you ever heard of Jeff Buckley? He was a rising star in the 90’s before his untimely death on this day in 1997. He had the voice of an angel and was able to seamlessly flow between rock, pop and soul. If you haven’t had a chance to check him out we have his only album released while he was alive called Grace under call number M1630.18 .B83 G73 1994 CD. Here’s a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” from Grace.
Beastie Boys
Bummed about the death of Beastie Boy Adam Yauch? We are too. That’s why we bought the Beastie Boy Video Collection from Criterion. Their videos were always something that drew us to the Beastie Boys. You know, along with the ability to seamlessly cross the rock/hip hop genres and use “Boutique” in an album title. It’s on the New Bookshelf right now. We know what’cha, what’cha what’cha want! (Sorry, couldn’t resist, and yes, that song is included.) Please feel free to tell us what you love about the Beastie Boys and the influence they’ve had.
New DVDs!
We’ve received many new DVDs just in time for the weekend! Documentaries, dramas, action-adventure, comedy, animation, horror, and even the first seasons of Office Space and Glee. Check out the New Bookshelf. And a special thank you to our student workers who keep us up-to-date on what interests students.