Overlook Book Nook

05/08/2019

Library is a little low on books of all kinds. If anyone has some to share, I’m more than willing to come pick up!!!

02/23/2019

09/22/2018

Winthrop's novels, for which he had failed to find a publisher during his lifetime, appeared posthumously. They include John Brent, founded on his experiences in the far West, and Edwin Brothertoft, a story of the American Revolution. Cecil Dreeme, his most important work, was a semi-autobiographical novel dealing with social mores and gender roles set at New York University, where Winthrop had once been a lodger. Other works include The Canoe and the Saddle and Life in the Open Air. His sister, Laura Winthrop Johnson, assembled a collection of his poems and prose organized by the time period of his life Life and Poems of Theodore Winthrop.

09/09/2018

Author’s names didn’t used to be printed on the covers of their books.

The covers of the first printed books were considered artworks. They were covered in drawings, leather and even gold — so there wasn’t a place for the author’s name.

09/09/2018

One way to help prevent Alzheimer’s and Dementia is to pick up a book. People who engage in reading throughout their lives, and other mentally stimulating activities, typically have less beta-amyloid proteins and plaque in their brains (which are associated with Alzheimer’s). [Live Science]

08/29/2018

Happy I Have A Dream day!

08/25/2018

According to a 2017 study by Kingston University, there is a relationship between reading fiction and real-world social abilities. People who read fiction are more empathetic, open minded to others’ viewpoints, more likely to demonstrate positive social behavior. [Research Gate]

08/25/2018

Most people in the United States read books. According to a 2016 survey, 73% of Americans have read a book in any format within the last year. 65% of those people have read a physical, print book. [Pew Statistics]

08/19/2018

Charles Dickens, author of Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities, had a bookcase in his house filled with fake books with comical names. This bookcase functioned as a secret door, much like in a mystery novel or Scooby Doo episode. [FlavorWire]

08/17/2018

During the Great Depression, one of FDR’s New Deal programs was the Pack Horse Library Initiative. Librarians would ride on horseback into the Appalachian mountains to provide books and literacy to the mountain-folk of Kentucky. In order to gain the trust of suspicious mountain families who did not take kindly to outsiders, book carriers would sometimes read bible passages to prove that they were not a threat. [Smithsonian Magazine]

08/09/2018

Thanks “book angel”