Plymouth Staff Choices

Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy
Adult Non-fiction - Upper Level - 639.9 T

Beautiful photographs of native plants and insects, along with the author's very engaging and occasionally humorous style, make this book a treasure. Author Douglas Tallamy explains fully the importance of beneficial insects as pollinators, as sources of food for other wildlife, and as predators of other harmful insects.

The rationale for planting more native plants becomes abundantly clear when we learn that very little in our suburban landscape supports our beneficial native insects.

Celebrate the power of the individual as the author suggests anyone can easily create an attractive corner or border with native plants. Enjoy some interesting buzzing or fluttering insects, and know it is something good for the planet.

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Adult Paperback Main Level – KINSELLA

This book has everything; it is laugh out loud funny, romantic and even at times suspenseful. Sophie Kinsella really gives her readers something to relate to. Most women love to shop but Rebecca Bloomwood takes her shopping to the next level. Rebecca is a financial journalist writing for Successful Saving in London. Yet as she writes about finance and eventually gives people advice on how to get out of debt and save money, she is an uncontrollable shopper and comes up with very imaginative solutions to hide/ignore her debt. She is deceiving her friends, family and the very handsome Public Relations rep Luke Brandon. Will Rebecca learn to cut back her shopping before she loses everything? To find more about Rebecca’s funny antics, the reasons why she thinks spending money is saving money and to see if she lands the handsome PR rep, check out Confessions of a Shopaholic. If you want to keep following Rebecca check out the rest of the Shopaholic series:

Shopaholic Takes Manahatten

Shopaholic Ties the Knot

Shopaholic and Sister

Shopaholic and Baby

Octavius Bloom and the House of Doom by Erik Brooks.
Lower Level – Picture Books – BRO

It’s a good thing that Octavius Bloom moved to town. A shed at the edge of town frightens all of the local children. When one person observes “puppy ears” being delivered to a house at the edge of town, the kids become even more nervous. Perhaps all of Octavius’s practice as a junior detective will come in handy in figuring out all of the scary sights and sounds that surround this mysterious place. Pencil and watercolor illustrations make the suspenseful picture book story come alive. Help Octavious solve the crime by reading the book!

Julius, the Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes.
Picture Book Shelves - Lower Level - HEN

Lilly is so excited for her new baby brother, Julius, until he arrives. Then she suddenly finds him "disgusting" especially as her parents ooh and awe over his "wet pink nose," "shiny black eyes," and "sweet white fur." Lilly wonders if her brother will ever leave, but her parents shoot down her hopes of his departure. Thus, Lilly tries to find ways to upset her little brother and parents. As a result, she finds herself spending so much time in the "uncooperative chair!" However, as much as Lilly "dislikes" Julius what will be her reaction when someone from the outside family finds Julius "disgusting?"

Kevin Henkes, an award winning children's book author, has created a funny and relatable tale that should bring smiles to children and adults alike. The illustrations are so relatable and often have added dialogue that enhances this delightful little tale.

Lost by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof
DVD Collection - Main Level - TV LOS

When it first aired, Lost appeared on the surface to be a show about a group of survivors who crash landed on a mysterious island. As each episode progressed the viewer would be presented with the on-island drama of the survivors while being intercut with a particular character flashback. These flashbacks would add layers to the character in focus and also reveal how they made their way to the doomed flight. Sounds simple right? Perhaps if the show had persisted in this format it would be, however Lost is much more than that.

What Lost is, is a dense mosaic of mysteries where each piece of the puzzle that is revealed might answer a question but will raise three more. At first the viewer will be presented with questions like “how will they make it off the island?” or “what is the real story behind these people?” Then suddenly a character will unearth a hatch buried in the island floor and a mysterious entity will knock down trees and seemingly devour people. Characters that appear to have nothing to do with each other will suddenly show up in each others' flashbacks. Throw-away lines and events will suddenly take on a whole new meaning in the face of a storyline revelation, and that’s just the first season.

What the writers of Lost are able to do is take a very close up glimpse of a select group of characters and with each episode pull away from that close up revealing a large dense mythology surrounding them. What might appear convoluted at first is in fact very carefully planned. That being said, Lost is not for the casual viewer. You can not miss an episode; watching them in order is mandatory, and sometimes repeat viewings are needed to appreciate the full scope of detail that is being crafted. While the jury is still out on whether or not the writers can satisfactorily answer all the questions they’ve raised, the unprecedented decision by ABC to give the writers a clear end date will no doubt help them achieve this goal.

Other seasons available:

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4