Today's library list

This time, we learned from experience; we all brought our own book bags. *L* The bus ride out wasn't as pleasant as it could've been - we got hit up by a panhandler again. The guy got on the bus, sat across from me and immediately asked me for some change. Then asked my kids (!!!), then started going from person to person, asking for change. I was pretty glad to look up and find the next stop was ours. Then, as we were walking, we got hit for change again. It would've been more often, but the other panhandlers were busy going after other people when we went by. It's getting to the point we can barely turn around without being hit up for change by somebody. :-P

We didn't quite return all our books - Eldest is hanging on to her Latin dictionary, which will probably be renewed before it has to be returned next week. I kept a couple of books, too, but everything else was lugged back.

Today, Eldest chose:

Essential Manners for Men: She tells me she looked through quite a few etiquette books for women, but they were all "how to be the perfect housekeeper" and "how to be the perfect wife" type stuff, so she chose a book aimed at men, instead. *L*
Raising a G-Rated Family in an X Rated World and The Unhappy Child; What Every Parent Needs to Know: apparently she wanted to see how other people raise their kids, since we do things so differently. LOL Nothing like being an "alternative lifestyle" family.
The Day After Tomorrow: we just finished watching this DVD, having never seen the movie before. We tend to avoid propaganda movies in general, but this is one we were curious about. I loved it! One of the funniest movies we've seen in a long time. The makers obviously knew little to nothing about how to live in cold weather! Seriously - these people are supposed to be trying to survive these insta-freeze temperatures, and they're walking around with exposed skin. Anyone who's lived in the prairies for even a single winter knows better. I won't even go into the other hilarious faux pas. We were all making snappy come-backs throughout the entire movie. Still, it was a good movie. The effects were good (silly, but good), and the story line was all right. The expected preaching wasn't as bad as we thought it would be, too.

Youngest chose:

Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons: a Calvin and Hobbes classic!
Far Side Gallery 2: Gary Larson is such a genius!

My choices:

Yeah, I overdid it again. *L*
Little House in the Big Woods and Farmer Boy: two Little House on the Prairie books that I'm hoping the kids will show some interest in. I recently picked up a copy of Little House on the Prairie, having never read any of the series before. I used to watch the show regularly with my family growing up. It's interesting to read from the perspective of a child, and is a good stepping point for discussions.
Complete Earth Medicine Handbook: My interest in herbology goes back to when I first read Clan of the Cave Bear. As I read about the herbal medicines used by the main character, I was curious about how accurate the book was and started looking up stuff myself. That interest grew as I found that modern pharmaceuticals just didn't work the way they should on me, if they worked at all. I continue to find it a fascinating field.
Medieval Celebrations; How to Plan Holidays, Weddings, and Feasts with Recipes, Customs, Costumes, Decorations, Songs, Dances and Games: Another long titled book! *L* Medieval history is another long time interest of mine, with the day to day lives or ordinary people being my focus. I'm also looking for ideas for our next Medieval Days with our hs group. :-)
Chocolate; The Nature of Indulgence: Another book tracing the history of chocolate. I love chocolate. :-)
The Complete Pebble Mosaic Handbook: I have another book by this same author (sitting in a box in Manitoba, along with the rest of my library). I just love the look of pebble mosaics. When the time comes for us to build our own home, pebble mosaics are something I want to feature. The book I own is more of a how-to than this one. It does start with basic instructions on how to make pebble mosaics, but most of it seems to trace existing mosaics, both modern and historical.
The Complete Book of Spices; A practical guide to spices and aromatic seeds: I tend to use herbs quite a lot in my cooking, but I'm not as familiar - or daring - when it comes to spices. I like this one, as it includes how to blend different spice mixes, recipes to use them in, plus other ways to use spices.
Polish Holiday Cookery: a good selection of recipes, both familiar to me and completely new. The layout of the recipes is quite unique, with ingredients, quantities and instructions together in paragraphs, rather than the ingredients listed separately. Another cook book that is interesting reading, as well as full of recipes.
Don't Diet: one of very few books out there that point out the myths and fallacies that fuel the weight loss industry.
Jewels of the Nizams: a "catalog" of beautifully pictured pieces of Indian jewelry.

And finally, a couple more DVD's
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: a Miyazaki film we've never seen before. We're already big fans of Miyazaki's work.
Quest for Adventure; Discovering Our World's Mysteries: a 3 disc set with a total of 10 episodes, including Curse of the Mayan Temple, Vanishing Africa and The First Flight Over the North Pole. I think it'll take us a few days to go through this one. :-)

After we'd loaded ourselves down with books, the girls and I went out for a treat, heading to a cafe across the street for some hot chocolate and pastries. Good time of day to do it, too - the place was practically empty. It was nice to just sit, relax and chat with the girls. We're going to have to do that more often.