COMPLETE: Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 35 - jo

[Sue Anderson]

Squirrels with mustaches? Our park district naturalist explained recently that our local squirrels have smudged grins from feasting on this fall’s abundant crop of black walnuts, whose husks contain dark pigment. http://www.kcchronicle.com/2014/09/05/good-natured-its-black-walnut-season-and-squirrels-are-thrilled/apxwukq/.

The fall equinox is September 22, so I thought I’d provide a few suggestions for fall inspired readings you might enjoy recording for the non-fiction collection. John Burroughs has a fascinating chapter on squirrels and their nut harvesting activities in his Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers https://archive.org/stream/squirrelsandothe24388gut/pg24388.txt.

Want to know about black walnut trees? The Big Black Walnut Tree from Lake Erie https://archive.org/stream/descriptionbigb00unkngoog#page/n5/mode/1up measured 12 feet in diameter and 36 feet in circumferance. After it blew down in a storm, it was excavated, hollowed out, and made into the bar room of a tavern! A fascinating bit of history in a short read.

What are some other signs of fall? In the Midwest we watch for the first frost and bird migrations. Then follow long evenings that need to be filled with activity. Farmers used to consult their almanacs to determine the date of the first frost. The Internet Archive has dozens of old almanacs, from varied places such as Yosemite and the Orkney Islands. Browsing fun!

T. Gilbert Pearson explains why birds migrate in a chapter in his The Bird Study Book http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21007. And, if you’re looking for something to do in the evenings, why not try building a bird house or feeding station? Albert F. Siepert has detailed plans to follow in his Bird Houses Boys Can Build http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25990/25990-h/25990-h.htm. Girls can build them too!

Best wishes from your book coordinator,

[Sue Anderson]

Exploring the “stacks” at https://archive.org/.

Ron Lieber, who writes a column “Your Money” for the New York Times had an article recently entitled “For Some, ‘Tis a Gift to be Simple,” about ways to enjoy retirement without spending a lot of money http://nyti.ms/1n451kw. Lieber happened, in the way of his work, to spend a full day at a library-- he says, his first in 20 years (!)-- and what he wrote about that experience resonated with me. He writes: “My work brings me joy. But as I looked around at the older patrons especially, I was overcome by a single emotion: jealousy. It had been too long since I’d sampled the simple but profound pleasure of losing myself in the stacks.” This leads him to talk the relative value of expensive trips and gadgets vs. “simple pleasures” as meaningful ways of spending time during your retirement, or--I would say--your spare time, whatever stage of life you are at.

My own suggestion for a free, mentally stimulating leisure time activity would be, of course, reading and proof listening books for LibriVox. And, along with that, since I share Lieber’s love for library stacks, I would recommend exploring the “stacks” at the Internet Archive, where copies of virtually every book in the Stanford, University of California, Harvard, and other major university libraries has been digitized. It’s a great way to find something to read for the nonfiction collection.

What I do is pick a word, enter “search” away I go. Today’s search? Well, I entered the word “stacks,” and, oh my, what a wealth of interesting finds. First off, “stack” being a mathematical term, there were tons of readings with titles like “Quotient stacks and string orbifolds.” Not being a mathematician, I kept going. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture had two pamphlets, one exploring how to control spruce beetles in stacks of firewood and another on how to measure haystacks (illustrated, with different equations for low rounded, high round topped, and square flat topped haystacks). There was a book about locomotive smokestacks, an article entitled “Library Book Stacks without Daylight,” arguing against windows, and then began entries that were listed under the word “stacks,” simply because the books referenced were stored in the stacks! Here I found “Fishes of the Vicinity of New York City,” illustrated with a full color picture of a brook trout, that would make a nifty Librivox cover.

So, if you’re a fan of book browsing and free activities, I recommend the “stacks” at https://archive.org/.
You’re very likely to find something interesting to record for LibriVox.

[david wales]

May I add:

The Old Librarian’s Almanack by Edmund Lester Pearson

https://archive.org/details/oldlibrariansal00peargoog

duration 47.22

https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/snf035_oldlibrariansalmanack_pearson_dw_128kb.mp3

[SweetPea]

Dad suggested I find something like this, when we were watching Canadian history videos

• The Battle of the Plains of Abraham Speech, by General James Wolfe
• MP3 URL: https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/snf035_plainsofabraham_wolfe_sp_128kb.mp3
• Text URL: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Plains_of_Abraham_Speech
• Length: 3:31

Is wikisource okay?
Thanks,
Rachel

[Sue Anderson]

May I add:

The Old Librarian’s Almanack by Edmund Lester Pearson

https://archive.org/details/oldlibrariansal00peargoog

duration 47.22

https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/snf035_oldlibrariansalmanack_pearson_dw_128kb.mp3

Thanks so much for this recording, David! Jared Bean's almanac is a real gem. I just had time to listen to you read the introduction this afternoon (you sounded great), but I'm eager to listen to more.


Edit: A little later in the afternoon . . . Ah, I see, in looking up info on Edmund Lester Pearson for the LibriVox catalog (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Pearson), that Pearson was a humorist as well as a librarian and that the almanac was an elaborate hoax (??); now I really want to listen to the whole thing . . .

[Sue Anderson]

Dad suggested I find something like this, when we were watching Canadian history videos

• The Battle of the Plains of Abraham Speech, by General James Wolfe
• MP3 URL: https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/snf035_plainsofabraham_wolfe_sp_128kb.mp3
• Text URL: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Plains_of_Abraham_Speech
• Length: 3:31

Is wikisource okay?
Thanks,
Rachel

Thanks very much, Rachel, for your recording. Listening to you read General Wolfe's speech certainly made me stop and think about "what matters" . . . "if your conquest could be bought with the blood of your general, he would most cheerfully resign a life which he has long devoted to his country" are General Wolfe's words, and he did, indeed, loose his life in the battle for Quebec.

Your wiki source is fine, and for anyone wanting to know more about General Wolfe, here is more from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Plains_of_Abraham

[SweetPea]

Thanks, Sue

[Sue Anderson]

There are now 18 readings in volume 35; that's great! I'm closing out volume 35 with these 18, and I will be posting volume 36 very shortly in the new projects thread. If you have any recordings read to go, please hold them just a bit while we change volumes!

Thanks from your book coordinator,

[HughGil]

May I add:

The Old Librarian’s Almanack by Edmund Lester Pearson

https://archive.org/details/oldlibrariansal00peargoog

duration 47.22

https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/snf035_oldlibrariansalmanack_pearson_dw_128kb.mp3

Hi David,

PL is okay.

Hguh

[HughGil]

Dad suggested I find something like this, when we were watching Canadian history videos

• The Battle of the Plains of Abraham Speech, by General James Wolfe
• MP3 URL: https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/snf035_plainsofabraham_wolfe_sp_128kb.mp3
• Text URL: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Plains_of_Abraham_Speech
• Length: 3:31

Is wikisource okay?
Thanks,
Rachel

Hi Rachel,

PL is okay.

Hugh

[Sue Anderson]

Hugh, Thanks so much for your splendid job of PLing volume 35! Vol. 36 is launching in the new project thread.

[SweetPea]

[knotyouraveragejo]

Congratulations Everyone! This collection is now in the LibriVox catalog and available for listeners to download. Please check the catalog page and let me know if any changes are needed:

http://librivox.org/short-nonfiction-collection-vol-035-by-various/