Where the Fur Flies

Take some of the "chill" out of your winter with birdwatching. The varieties and colors are breathtaking against the virgin white snow. Below is a start on how to attract these birds and the care needed to keep them coming back again and again.

Color for Your Winter Yard & Garden, with Flowers, Berries, Birds, and Trees by Helen Van Pelt Wilson. This book will help you plant the correct plants to bring color to a winter garden and attract birds.

Dr. Noble Proctor's Garden Birds: How to Attract Birds To Your Garden is a great choice to review, including a directory of one hundred types of birds. Browse through to see what works best in your area.

The next book, Color For Your Winter Yard & Garden, With Flowers, Berries, Birds, and Trees by Helen Van Pelt Wilson will explain in detail what colorful scrubs, wind barriers, flower seeds, etc. are needed to attract birds.

The Audubon North American Birdfeeder Guide by Robert Burton is another excellent book to start you quest to attracting birds all year long.

Listen Up!

Got the winter blues?! If you are bored, restless, or irritable you may be suffering from cabin fever. How about listening to a good book? When the libraries latest audio books on compact discs arrive, they are now shelved separately at the beginning of the collection of audio books. So, if you want to listen to something brand new on audio this is where you'll find it.

Some new titles for January are:

Award winning author Salman Rushdie's new novel on compact disc is The Enchantress of Florence. This extraordinary story occurs in the 16th century at the imperial capital of the Mughal Empire. Mogor dell'Amore, a European traveler, arrives at the court of Emperor Akbar with a facinating tale about faraway Florence, a beautiful enchantress, and the infamous Niccolo Machiavelli. This audio book is narrated by Firdous Bamji who has appeared in several plays on Broadway and guest starred on the televison series Law & Order.

Do you like mysteries? How about listening to Simon Brett's The Stabbing In The Stables, a Fethering Mystery. Jude and Carole Seddon are at it again. This time they stumble upon the body of ex-equestrian Walter Fleet at Long Bamber Stables. Who would want to put Fleet, a womanizing horseman, out to pasture? Soon the Seddons find themselves in the middle of a West Sussex police investigation for a "horse ripper". This book on compact disc is read by Ralph Cosham, a former British journalist whose narrations have been named "Audio Best of the Year" by Publishers Weekly.

Whether young enough to look "hot" or mature enough to suffer from "hot flashes," every woman has given thought to preserving her appearance. In her latest book, American Thighs: the Sweet Potato Queen's Guide to Preserving Your Assets, Jill Conner Browne looks at a woman's maturation process with hilarious stories every woman can relate to, from bad haircuts, to verbal faux pas. No matter what skin you're in, Browne urges to make it last a lifetime. Audio book read by the author.

In the News

After an historic election, a new president has been sworn into office. President Obama has had a fascinating life, but so have many of our past presidents. We have a great selection of presidential biographies at the Riverhead Free Library. Here are a few.

An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 by Robert Dallek, a Boston University professor and presidential biographer, chronicles the life of one of America's most captivating presidents. This highly praised biography takes a balanced look at the private and public life of Kennedy and presents never before released information from the family archives.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dorris Goodwin Kearns has been referred to lately for her book Team of Rivals : The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, which discusses President Lincoln's unique cabinet choices that lead up to his presidency. Kearns delves into the reasoning and motivations behind Lincoln's political maneuvers, and there have been apt comparisons to Barack Obama's own cabinet selections.

Author David McCullough, well known for his engaging and dynamic biographies, has written a Pulitzer Prize winner with Truman. This in-depth page turner follows our thirty-third President, Harry S. Truman, from his humble beginnings, his World War I heroics, his early years in politics, to his historic re-election campaign.

Book Discussion and Author Event

This Common Ground: Seasons on an Organic Farm
by Scott Chaskey
Saturday, January 17
10:30 a.m. to noon
Main floor meeting room (PLEASE NOTE)

This promises to be a lively discussion with Long Island author Scott Chaskey hosting the event. The head farmer at Peconic Land Trust's Quail Hill Farm, located on the South Fork, Scott combines his love for books, poetry, and farming into This Common Ground. Please let the Reference Desk know if you plan to attend this event and have not already signed up. Light refreshments will be served.

The discussion will be followed by a reception at "The Green Spot" from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. the same day. This new green wall to the right of the library's entryway is the location for a permanent display featuring free information about local "green" activities. Riverhead cardholders will also have an opportunity to sign up for the library's adult winter reading club, Riverhead Reads: The Green Spot, for a chance to win prizes from local merchants. Join us for light refreshments. No sign up is needed.