The Body Farm Series

Carved in Bone By Jefferson Bass

PS3602 .A8475 C37 2006

Carved in Bone is the first book in the Body Farm mystery series by Jefferson Bass. It introduces Dr. Bill Brockton, anthropologist and founder of the University of Tennessee’s Body Farm, as stated on the book jacket, a place where “human corpses are left to the elements and every manner of decay is explored”.  Wait, the stories are not so gruesome!  Carved in Bone is “a richly atmospheric, superbly suspenseful, and magnificently rendered trip into the world of forensic science”.   It’s a great mystery, a good page turner with wonderful characters and just enough bits of forensic science procedures to unlock a fascinating murder.

For further information about this series, go to the Library Database page and locate the ESBSCOHost Services menu.  Scroll down to the last entry-- the NoveList database.  Select the Series button and enter Body Farm. The screen will display series titles in order with descriptions for each book.

Be sure to open a free account and track your reading.  After signing in, it is possible to create custom folders, such as Books I’ve Read and Books I Want to Read. 

So, when you finish this series, if you loved it and want to read more like it, visit Novelist on the library database page.   NoveList will provide recommended titles based on the book you just finished.  These future reads will have similar writing styles and subjects.

Bass, Jefferson.(2006).  Carved in bone. New York: Harper Collins.

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Book Review - Seven Years of Highly Defective People

Seven Years of Highly Defective People: Scot Adams’ Guided Tour of the Evolution of Dilbert 

- Scott Adams 

PN 6727 .A3 D55286 1997

If you have ever worked a day in your life, Dilbert is funny (unless you’re in management, in which case you’re not allowed to admit that Dilbert is funny). The clueless customer, the socially awkward moment with an acquaintance, the obnoxious co-worker, the mysterious and impractical decisions from the elusive upper management, these are all familiar to us. Dilbert makes us laugh because the characters say what we are all thinking when presented with an absurd situation, a stereotypically awful co-worker, or a frustrating work moment.

Adams’ anthology presents his most popular characters in their artistic evolution from their first appearance in the comic strip to the personalities they have become. Beneath each strip, Adams has scribbled a note relating a story, a comment, an inside joke, or something to describe what was happening in his life to inspire each strip.

You can enjoy this book in depth, following the evolution of Dilbert, or flip through for a quick chuckle on the awkwardness of life.

New DVDs

The 14 Wonders of the World, Ancient and New - DVD NA 203 .A14 2008

The Age of Stupid - DVD QC 981.8 .G56 A34 2010

Alien Trilogy (3 disc box set) - DVD PN 1997 .A293 A5546 1993

Ancient Civilizations (6 disc box set) - DVD CB 311 .A63 A635 2004

Architectures Volume 1 - DVD NA 50 .A73 2003 v.1

Army of Shadows - DVD PN 1997 .A76 A76 2007

Dames - DVD PN 1997 .D354 D3 1989

Days of Heaven - DVD PN 1997 .D397 2010

Devil’s Playground - DVD E 184 .M45 D48 2003

Freakonomics: The Movie - DVD HB 74 .P8 F74 2010

The Gay Divorcee - DVD PN 1997 .G39 G39 1985

The Girl Who Played With Fire - DVD PN 1997.2 .F5659 2010

Let Me In - DVD PN 1997.2 .L4864 2011

Letter From An Unknown Woman - DVD PN 1997 .L477 1986

My Man Godfrey - DVD PN 1995.9 .C55 M96 1984

Roberta - DVD PN 1997 .R63 1987

A Salute to Orson Wells - DVD PN 1998 .A3 A43768 1991

The Shape of Things to Come - DVD PN 1997 .S53 S53 2003

Let's Go to the Currier

On Orange Street in Manchester, NH, sits a small museum, named the Currier Museum of Art.  Established in 1929, the Currier added a contemporary addition for more exhibit space in 2007; it includes the new Winter Garden, classrooms and café.

The Currier offers a beautiful collection of European and American furniture with paintings and sculpture.  The collection has works by O’Keefe, Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Calder and Andrew Wyeth. There are lectures, special exhibits from the collection, and art classes for children and adults.

Critics consider it one of the finest small museums in the United States. Here’s a link to the Currier website- www.currier.org.

If you want to visit the Currier, the NHTI Library has two passes, that allow faculty, students and staff free admission on any day that the museum is open.  A tour of the Zimmerman House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is an additional fee and must be scheduled in advance of your visit.

Walk over to the library and ask a staff member at the Circulation Desk for more information.  

Salem Press History Database

While the space shuttle Discovery is still in orbit and serving the International Space Station you might recall the beginning of the space age on March 16, 1926 when Robert H. Goddard launched his first liquid-fueled rocket. Don’t remember this?

Check out the Salem Press History database on the NHTI Library homepage - a source that includes Great Lives from History: the Twentieth Century - for more information about Goddard.  Learn how the reading the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells inspired his fascination for space travel.   In Great Events from History: the Twentieth Century you will find the article “Launching the First Liquid-Fueled Rocket” that describes the 3- second launch of a gasoline and liquid oxygen propelled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts.  It marked a giant advance towards space exploration; after this, Goddard became known as the father of modern rocketry.  

Visit the Salem History homepage “Spotlight on History” for March; it has links to the above articles. 

Something Old, Something New

Something Old

Slavery and the Making of America

DVD E441 .S53 2005

In this compelling PBS documentary mini-series, we learn about the role African American slaves played in shaping American economics, policies, and laws.  Through dramatic re-enactments narrated by Morgan Freeman, we see how slavery began not as complete ownership of individuals, but as a temporary remedy to debt.  As slavery evolved into the practice of human trafficking and bondage, we witness an unclearly defined system of labor giving way to organized and ruthless profiteering at the expense of a race of people. This four-part series of one-hour documentaries is an engaging and stark look at a not-so-proud legacy of American history.

Something New

Wild Balkans

DVD DR16 .W554 2009

Wild Balkans explores an interesting turn of fate—the wars that tore the Balkan region apart also preserved its forests and wildlife. As a result, the region is home to many species of wildlife and plants that vanished from other parts of Europe long ago. In Croatia’s Kopacki Rit Park landmines have kept hunters away, allowing the region’s water birds and wild boars to flourish. Macedonia’s Durmitor Mountains are home to the last population of black pine trees in Europe.  Further, in the Delta Dunarii biologists study the European Mink, the most endangered of Europe’s carnivores. This documentary explores these fascinating regions and the unique circumstances that led to their isolation and preservation. 

Book Review - Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart: the Turbulent Life of an American Icon 

Kathleen C. Winters (2010)

TL540 .E3 W57 2010

Kathleen Winters, pilot and aviation historian, traces the life and career of Amelia Earhart.  Amelia bought her first plane, a yellow Kinner Aister, named Canary, to perform in air races and other contests that excited Americans about flying.  She flew in the Boston area and locals considered her a celebrity. She aimed to set aviation records and created the first New York – Washington commuter flights. 

The reader learns that fellow woman pilots considered Amelia an inexperienced pilot, often unprepared, disorganized and willing to take extreme risks such as landing between two power lines.  Amelia’s husband, George Putnam, promoted her speaking and appearances as “Lady Lindy.” Today we would consider her activities and first solo flight records, as a marketing campaign to build her image worldwide.

In 1937, Amelia started her flight around the world in Oakland, California with her navigator, Fred Noonan.  They flew to Miami, then San Juan, Puerto Rico and continued to Australia following the equator.  En route to Howland Island, she and her navigator lost touch with the Itasca, a Coast Guard ship, and never reached the island.

A fascinating book that covers Earhart’s early interest in aviation and the personal history of an American icon.

The library also has a DVD, Amelia Earhart, produced by A & E’s Biography series. DVD TL540 .E37 E37 2005