Living in Kindness

February 16th - 23rd is Random Acts of Kindness Week! Kindness is nourishment for our souls, so let's use this week to celebrate and explore the philosophical and scientific roots of human kindness. What is kindness? Mark Ian Barasch has written one of my favorite books on the exploration of compassion and kindness, complete with …

Most Popular Recent Books

If you looking for a book to read, consider trying those listed below! These books were all published in 2018. Since being added to the collections of public libraries in North Carolina (those belonging to the NC Cardinal consortium of libraries), each of these books has been checked out 600 to 1000 times (not counting …

New Year New (Flexible?) Me. Yoga at your Local Library.

Ah, the New Year. With the start of each the earth’s trips around the sun, we as humans love to make resolutions about how this year we will be smarter, sharper, thinner, happier. We plan to learn new skills and unlearn bad habits. January 1 is the beginning of a whole new 365 so look …

Learning to Love Winter

I grew up loving winter, and especially snow.  However, a few years after discovering the harsh realities of cold weather in the mountains, I became disenchanted with the season. Many people are in the same boat - they dread winter. But this year is different: my goal is to not only survive winter, but to …

The Shortest Day

December. Short days, long chilly nights. As we drive to work in the dark, and drive home in the dark, we begin to wonder, will we ever see the sun again? If we feel this way in these modern, enlightened times, imagine how it must have felt millenia ago, when the sun seemed to struggle …

Sports: The Real Holiday Tradition

Benjamin Baruch Woody As we gracefully ease into the holiday season it is incumbent upon all of us to count our blessings and truly realize what this time of the year is all about. Sports. Yes, that's right, sports. Many of you may be terribly excited to sit at the Thanksgiving table and hear Aunt …

To Feast, and Be Grateful

Thanksgiving is next week, and it’s time to prepare for the year’s biggest feast!  From classic turkey, stuffing, and green bean casserole to cranberry compote, Turkducken, and oyster stew, everybody does Thanksgiving a little bit different. Perhaps you’re cooking for the twentieth year and looking to mix things up, or maybe it’s your first time …

The Creepiest Month

It's October, and thoughts often turn to skeletons, ghosts, zombies, vampires, and other things that go bump in the night. To prepare, I've been reading (or re-reading) some of the creepiest books out there, and I'm sharing some of my favorites with you. Scary stories have been around for a long time. The 19th century …

Secret Societies: Fact and Fiction

If you ask me, secret societies are kind of the coolest. Enigmatic organizations, with their clandestine meetings and peculiar rituals, spur serious intrigue. And who doesn’t love being let in on a secret! Many secret societies we know of today have a nefarious reputation. However, undercover organizations used to be quite the thing, and for …

Fontana Regional Library Celebrates 75 Years of Service

This year, the Fontana Regional Library turned 75 and we are celebrating by collecting stories from our wonderful patrons and supporters!  The Fontana Regional Library system is composed of public libraries in Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties (North Carolina).  Since we’re asking for your story, we thought that it’s only fair that we share ours …