Garbage collectors open library with abandoned books

Turkish garbage collectors have turned trash into treasure. Literally. These sanitation workers have saved books from certain death and, instead, given them a new life. You can now visit their public library in Ankara with over 6,000 volumes. All thanks to these trash guys.

Edith Byron

Last month the board of the Friends of the Jones Library lost one of our own. In addition to being one of our most active board members, Edith Byron was a highly accomplished artist. One of her paintings now graces the wall of the Children's Room at the Jones Library. Until you can stop by and enjoy it in person, here's a look at the beautiful tableau donated to the library.

If you'd like to read more about Edith, please click here. Or come talk to the Friends. We thought she was pretty darn special and we'll greatly miss her presence on our board.

Artifacts Show Blackbeard's Pirates Liked Reading Pirate Stories

Avast, ye scurvy dogs!

Did you know that, in addition to being an unruly bunch of grog lovers with a distain for personal hygiene, pirates also loved to read pirate books? In North Carolina, archaeologists have painstakingly combed through wreckage to find tiny pieces of paper from books from the 18th century. They then linked those scraps of paper to a book entitled "A Voyage to the South Sea" by Captain Edward Cooke.

But what we want to know is, did they read The Pirate Pig?

Build Your Dream Library And We'll Recommend You A Book To Read

Monday morning fun. Sure you have a pile of things to do on your desk. Yes it's a work day. But hey, set aside 3 minutes to click on some fun home library images and get a book recommendation. Take this Buzzfeed quiz and you'll end up with a book chosen just for you.

The Far Out History Of How Hippie Food Spread Across America

You know that granola you had for breakfast? And the organic milk you poured on it? What about your smudged and stained copy of The Enchanted Broccoli Forest over there on the bookshelf? Hey, even whole wheat bread, folks. It all comes back to this:

NPR Books has a review of Hippie Food by Jonathan Kauffman that will remind you of your youth. Or your parents' youth. And of Dr. Bronner's. And tye-dye. And questionable brownies...

Happy reading, you flower child, you.

A "peaceful warrior" leaves us

Earlier this week we lost a titan of science fiction, author Ursula K. Le Guin. NPR has a tribute to her here. And if you're inspired, the libraries have a bunch of her books. And until those books arrive in your hands, the Friends will leave you with this from 2014:

"'Hard times are coming,' [Le Guin] warned, 'when we'll be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine real grounds for hope. We'll need writers who can remember freedom -- poets, visionaries, realists of a larger reality.'"

Elena Ferrante to write a weekly column

Fans of The Neapolitan Novels, a 4-part series set in southern Italy, will be excited to learn you can read more from your beloved author. If you're anxiously awaiting the HBO series, here's a little something to tide you over.

Elena Ferrante debuts as a weekly columnist for the British publication The Guardian. Ferrante writes anonymously because it frees her "from the anxiety of notoriety." Now, as a columnist for the Guardian, she'll share with us her thoughts on childhood, aging, gender, and here: first love.

Learn more here.

We got your Saturday-night-curl-up-on-the-couch watching right here.

All The Book To Movie Adaptations We Can't Wait To See In 2018

Sometimes the movie is as good as the book. Here are some of the most highly anticipated movie projects based on books coming out this year.

The Friends are super excited about The Wrinkle in Time adaptation. We didn't even know that Crazy Rich Asians was being made into a movie and now we find we have to wait until August to see it?! Plus, if you loved Where'd You Go, Bernadette? now's your chance to see it on the silver screen. Ready Player One more your style? You're in luck, too.

There are so many more terrific books they're turning into movies, Friends. Check it out.

We're going to be eating a lot of popcorn in 2018.

Jan Brett at the Jones??

Wouldn't it be cool to have Jan Brett come to the Jones Library?? 

She doesn't even live very far away.

Help us make it so!

The Well Read Cook in the paper!

In this past Saturday's Daily Hampshire Gazette, there was an article you definitely want to read. From Dead Vegetable Soup to Captain Video Candied Cookies, Amherst's new community cookbook shows what townspeople like to eat by Claire Hopley will get you fired up for cooking tasty dishes.

And when you've cooked your way through the recipes in the article, swing by the Jones Library, The Baker's Pin, A.J. Hastings, Amherst Books, or The Blue Marble and pick up a copy of the cookbook yourself.

Bon appétit, les amis!

It's all going to be okay!

(Click on image to enlarge.)