Summertime is a great time to start projects - the longer days give us light to work by, and less or no rain lets us work on our patios or driveways. Those who garden have already been working outside for several months, so that leaves our homes and our vehicles. What would YOU like to do - or redo - at your dwelling place?
Home repairs and DIY projects can give you immense personal satisfaction, and these tasks have gotten easier in many ways due to YouTube and other streaming videos. Need to assemble a bicycle? Clean out a sink drain? Build a catio (cat patio)? There’s a video for that. Of course, many of us would still like to have a book or manual to refer to as we do these tasks. Where, oh where, could you go to find this information? (Did you say the library? Oh, you’re so SMART!) The library has DIY info on databases - which you can access from home with your library card - as well as many books and manuals on home projects and repairs.
Home Repairs
- Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair by Mercury Stardust (2023) - this guide takes you from finding a rental through basic repairs and common tasks
- A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home: Housekeeping Hacks You Can’t Live Without by Melissa Dilkes Pateras (2023) - Emphasizes laundry, laundry machines, and organization
- Home Skills: Master Your Domain with Practical Solutions to Everyday Challenges by Good Housekeeping Institute (2022) - 200 essential life skills to get anything done faster & easier
- How to Fix Stuff by Tom Scalisi (2022) - Home repairs, exterior fixes and home maintenance
- Ultimate Guide: Home Repair and Improvement by Charles Byers, ed. (2022) - Home repair with photos; includes tools, materials and basic skills information
Transportation Maintenance and Repair
- Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance by Lennard Zinn (2024) - subtitled as “The World’s Bestselling Bicycle Repair and Maintenance Guide”
- Auto Repair and Maintenance for Beginners by Dave Stribling (2023) - a handbook to fine-tune and identify common car problems
Home Improvement
- Throwbacks Home Interiors: One of a Kind Home Design from Reclaimed and Salvaged Goods by Bo Shepherd (2024) - a photographic collection of homes from design brand Woodward Throwbacks in Detroit
- Beach Life: Home, Heart & the Sea by Lauren Liess (2024) - design inspiration and advice for beach-themed homes
- The Furniture Handbook: A Guide to Choosing, Arranging, and Caring for the Objects in Your Home by Frida Ramsted (2024) - a guide to essential and functional items in your home
- Ultimate Design: Decks: Plan, Design, Build by Fox Chapel Publishing (2023) - photographs of 30 deck designs with plans and materials lists
- Weekend Refresh: Home Design in 48 Hours or Less publ. by Clarkson Potter (2023) - 65 ideas and projects from the design gurus at Tastemade
- Remodelista: The Low-Impact Home: A Sourcebook for Stylish, Eco-Conscious Living by Margot Guralnick (2022) - making eco-friendly choices in your home without sacrificing style
New at the Library
Fiction
- The Ascent by Allison Buccola
- The Curious Inheritance of Blakely House by Joanna Davidson Politano
- FDR Drive by James Comey
Nonfiction
- The 5-Minute Gardener: Year-Round Garden Habits for Busy People by Nicole Johnsey Burke
- Hollywood High: A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of Teen Movies by Bruce Handy
- Every Day with Babs: 101 Family-Friendly Dinners for Every Day of the Week by Barbara Costello
Children
- Cranky, Crabby Crow (Saves the World) by Corey R. Tabor
- Pokémon Big Book of Facts by Simon Beecroft
- A Hero’s Guide to Summer Vacation by Pablo Cartaya
