If life feels too structured at times—go to work, go to school, do the chores, pay the bills—reading about random things can provide a brief respite from the measured pace of everyday life. One way to add randomness to your reading list is to look at the “New at the Library” section at the end of this column. For example, if you decide to check out the nonfiction category this week, you’ll be reading about bacteriophages, interior decoration, and astronomy. And for added randomness/fun, try the children’s nonfiction title, Skunk Kits in the Wild. If you read all four books, you’ll learn about viruses, color, stars, and skunks. What a fantastically random group of subjects!
Did you know the phrase “curiosities and wonders” is a subject heading in the library’s catalog? This is one of my favorite searches to perform because the results are truly filled with curiosities and wonders. Today I am sharing a small sample of the “curious” and “wondrous” books available at the library in hopes that something will delight your reading fancy.
- Artcurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History by Jennifer Dasal.
- Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders by Joshua Foer.
- Highly Irregular: Why Tough, Through, and Dough Don’t Rhyme—and Other Oddities of the English Language by Arika Okrent.
- Improbable Libraries: A Visual Journey to the World’s Most Unusual Libraries by Alex Johnson.
- Random Illustrated Facts: A Collection of Curious, Weird, and Totally Not Boring Things to Know by Mike Lowery.
- The Ultimate Book of Pub Trivia by the Smartest Guy in the Bar: Over 300 Rounds and More Than 3,000 Questions by Austin Rogers.
New at the Library
Fiction
- Murder Before Evensong by Richard Coles.
- The Pole by J. M. Coetzee.
- The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by Susan Wiggs.
Nonfiction
- The Good Virus: The Amazing Story and Forgotten Promise of the Phage by Tom Ireland.
- Old Brand New: Colorful Homes for Maximal Living by Dabito.
- To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Children
- Finn’s Little Fibs written and illustrated by Tom Percival.
- Skunk Kits in the Wild by Katie Chanez.
- Truly, Madly, Sheeply by Heather Vogel Frederick.
This is just a small sampling of the many new titles added each week to the Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries collection. Find more in our catalog, or call 360-906-5000 to reserve titles or find additional listings.
Jan Johnston, Collection Manager
Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries
You can email Jan at readingforfun@fvrl.org
