Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godrfey-Smith

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You and I stand on one of evolution’s most privileged branches. From this high vantage, eye some other branches and identify the animals you consider “smart.” Dolphins? Apes? Your dog and cat? Mostly mammals, I am guessing. (Although we should throw in select birds, especially crows.) Now dive off our branch and go back, down millions of years, well past the dinosaurs, and into the sea some 600 million years ago. You are at the early stages of animal evolution where the viciousness of predation has yet to arrive. While we do not know what our ancestor looks like exactly, nor the depth of water it best thrives, it is probably just a few millimeters long and receives sustenance via filtration.

Now ascend and return to the present. But instead of following the ancestral line whence we came, trail a different line that also emerges from this animal. Moving forward, here come the predators and prey with their various adaptations of assault and defense. One animal develops underwater jet propulsion to both overwhelm and flee. Follow that one. Returning to the present, but just below the water’s surface, look into the eyes of this creature that is intently watching you, an animal Claudius Aelianus in the third century C.E. described as one of “mischief and craft,” our long-lost “smart” cousin: the octopus.

In Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness, Peter Godrfey-Smith argues that the octopus is probably the closest we will come to meeting alien life. By appearances alone, we can see his point. The Mars Attacks!-like dome (the mantle). The busy, yet mesmeric, eight arms that are being fed blue-green blood that is pumped through three hearts. With no natural angles, it is a “body of pure possibility.” It can squeeze through an aperture that is only a little larger than one of its eyes. It can change colors and camouflage itself so that one could be just a few feet from you, and you wouldn’t know it.

Because its neural architecture is completely different from vertebrates, Godfrey-Smith maintains that it is, in many ways, more useful to study what an octopus can do than what it is. Prior to reading this book, I was aware that octopuses were great escape artists. To wit: Turn your back on one in a lab and you could quite possibly turn back around to see the last glimpse of an octopus that had scuttled out of its tank, scooted across the floor, and climbed up and into the drain that leads back to the sea. Continuing with this, Godfrey-Smith describes how octopuses are quick to learn things in the lab that are completely new, and in no way natural to them, such as using levers and unscrewing jars, even when the octopus is inside the jar (!). There are so many anecdotes in this book that show off what whizbangs octopuses are I could use the rest of my allotted space sharing them. Still, and because I cannot help myself, here are two.

First, in the ocean, octopuses devour crab. In the lab, their fare is less than five stars, arriving in the form of thawed shrimp or squid. They don’t like it but will eat it out of lack of choice. One day, a researcher was walking down a line of octopus tanks, dropping a bite of squid into each. Reaching the end, she backtracked and noticed that the octopus in the first tank was seemingly awaiting her return and holding up the uneaten squid. Without taking its eyes off hers, the octopus moved across the tank and then flicked the offending piece of squid down the overflow drain.

Second, off the coast of Australia, a diver discovered an area that was densely populated with octopuses. Since octopuses are not very social, this was a unique find. (Godfrey-Smith would later dive this location, an area both he and the diver named Octopolis.) After many dives, one octopus approached him, took his hand, and led him on a ten-minute tour of the area, culminating with the octopus showing the diver its den.

Intriguing as these vignettes are the thrust of Godfrey-Smith’s book moves beyond highlighting octopus razzmatazz. Given that octopuses have a “mental surplus,” what are we to make of them? They have so many neurons throughout their arms, you essentially cannot delineate where the brain begins and ends. The octopus is a brain. What then is the relation between an octopus’s central and local control, meaning how autonomous is one of its arms? Can one arm explore and process here while the others simultaneously do the same elsewhere? (Imagine discovering, right now, that one of your hands had been writing a letter as you read this.)

Godfrey-Smith, a professor of philosophy, quotes William James in the necessity of studying the origins of consciousness, for while we know that humans have it in spades, we most certainly know, too, that it did not just explode into existence with humans. Given that the human brain forms its own subjective reality regarding existence, asking, “What does it feel like to be an octopus?” may seem illusive. But Godrey-Smith investigates these questions from a relatively high altitude (meant as a compliment), balancing the narrative so that it lacks neither readability nor academic bona fides. Throughout the book, the questions are framed for our own independent thoughts. He does make one declarative: If we ignore the health of the oceans, it will be at our peril.

It’s understandable that our high perch results in instinctive stargazing and wonder. What if contact from out there was made? Would there be any hope of us understanding each other? Would they see us as we see the octopus? Would they see our intelligence? Would they find us worth the effort?

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The Big Finish by Brooke Fossey

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Eighty-eight-year old Duffy Sinclair is a little bit of a crank, a flirt, a prankster, and scared of losing his home. He and Carl share a room at the Centennial Assisted Living Facility in Brooke Fossey’s novel, The Big Finish.

Sharon, the new owner of Centennial, has plans to remodel and double the fees but can only do it as current residents depart. Departure could mean having to move to the dreaded roach-infested nursing home down the road. Duffy is determined that will not be his and Carl’s fate then Josie literally falls into their lives.

Carl is the best friend Duffy never had and Duffy thought he knew everything about him. But both men have secrets and Carl’s just opened the window and crawled/fell into their room. Barefoot and sporting a shiner Josie has come to visit her grandfather, Carl Thomas Upton.
Duffy is ready to call the staff as he knows Carl and his late wife did not have children. But Carl acknowledges Josie’s claim and the first order of business is to hide her as Nurse Nora is at the door. Then the debate begins.

Josie wants to stay a week but Duffy is not ready to risk his spot at Centennial hosting an unauthorized guest. Carl reveals the circumstances of Josie’s mother birth and mourns that her recent death means he’ll never get the redemption he sought. Josie is his second chance.

Disappointed in Carl and scared of what eviction would mean Duffy is adamant that Josie leave. But then Josie enters the facility in a more conventional manner. The other residents and staff are charmed by Carl’s granddaughter. With Josie invited to join them on a planned trip to Walmart Duffy is determined to keep an eye on her.

What he sees is that Josie may have a more serious problem than needing a place to stay. Duffy is 13 years sober and in Josie he recognizes the same physical symptoms he suffered when alcohol ruled his life. His big secret – alcoholism and the life he wasted.

Despite his misgivings Duffy decides that Josie needs an intervention. But first he has to convince her she needs help and to complicate things further Bates shows up looking for Josie. Bates claims to be her boyfriend but he appears none to friendly and probably the cause of her black eye. He brings a whole new set of problems for the octogenarian determined to get Josie’s life back on track.

Each day Centennial has a schedule of the events for the day. The story starts with Saturday August 26 and the last day is Wednesday August 30. In those 5 short days can Duffy turn Josie’s life around? Will he find that Josie can be his redemption?

This novel is at times funny, touching, harrowing, and sad. The challenges of aging and what it means to be family are explored in this entertaining first novel by Fossey. The author has a knack for good dialogue and characters and I had no trouble picturing Duffy, Carl and Josie in my mind as I read.

Read-alikes for this title are The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk. If you enjoyed those novels, you’ll find Duffy’s tale to your liking.

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An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

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You know that feeling, when you have been putting off reading a book that a friend recommended to you – and then you read it, and you also need to tell everyone about it?

Well, let me tell you about “AN ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE THING” by HANK GREEN.

April May is a twenty-three-year-old graphic designer living in New York City. Walking home from a very, very late work night she discovers a ten-foot-tall, completely stationary robot dressed in samurai armor.

Her first instinct is to call up one of her friends from art school – Andy – who wants to be internet-famous, and owns video equipment. Together, they make a short video, spoofing a news report, talking about the giant robot (April calls him Carl).  When April wakes up the next morning, her entire world has changed.

The video that she and Andy made has gone viral, every news agency in the country – and many in other countries – has been airing it. She has hundreds of emails from people asking her questions about Carl, wanting to know more about what she saw. Because her Carl is not the only one; there are sixty-four Carls in cities all over the globe.

Each Carl appeared at exactly the same moment, huge and immovable, without anyone seeing how they got there or where they came from, and April was the first person to capture one on video. April makes appearances on news programs and late night talk shows. She and Andy make more videos. And April gets very into Twitter. Soon she is the most recognizable person on the planet.

With this fame comes power; and as April becomes increasingly famous, she discovers a growing desire in herself to keep this audience. She will do anything to continue to be the authority on Carl.

People around the world have been studying the Carls, and the cryptic clues left on any surveillance footage from the exact moment they arrived. To stay relevant, April needs to keep providing answers. She assembles a crew of fellow twenty-somethings, who can help her decipher the mysteries of the Carls.

Using social media, and April’s influence, they are able to crowd-source the answers to many of the questions surrounding the Carls, but every answer seems to lead to more questions. Where did they come from? And what do they want from humanity?

“AN ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE THING” is intensely readable. The book is told in first-person perspective; April is telling you the story as if you (the reader) remember the events she is describing – as if you might have seen a Carl firsthand.

April is speaking as a person who remembers these events, and has had time to process them – and time to think better of many of her choices.  She makes many terrible decisions throughout the course of the book. I found myself liking the book, but not liking April.

This is Hank Green’s debut novel, published in 2018. It illustrates how humanity reacts to the unknown – whether with fear or wonder. It also delves into the virtues and perils of social media with regard to both our culture and ourselves – as a YouTube personality himself, Green understands this better than most. If you enjoy “AN ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE THING,” I will mention that next month it is getting a sequel: “A BEAUTIFULLY FOOLISH ENDEAVOR” comes out July 7th!

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In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

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Meet Dannie Kohan. Numbers are important to her.

Here are a few:

• Thirty-six — the number of minutes it takes Dannie to get ready each morning.

• Eighteen — the number of minutes it takes her to walk to work.

• Twenty-four — the number of months you should date someone before you move in together.

• Twenty-eight — the appropriate age to get engaged.

• Thirty — the opportune age to get married.

As you can tell, Dannie has her life measured and mapped out — all at the age of 28. She lives with her boyfriend David and is on the fast-track to being a partner in a large law firm that she has wanted to work at since she was 10 years old.

She is nothing like her best friend, Bella, who is happy-go-lucky and embraces the adventures in life to their fullest. They have known each other since they were 7 years old, when they met at a park, and have been inseparable ever since.

Both live in New York, but Bella is a frequent traveler and Dannie’s work rarely allows her to make it home in time for dinner.

Dannie and David agree on the importance of a plan. Their plan is to get engaged, continue on their current career paths, get married, move to Gramercy Park and have a couple of kids. It may not be happily ever after in the truest sense of the phrase, but it works for them.

Bella, an artist, owns a gallery and falls in love at the drop of a hat. Dannie lives vicariously through Bella’s many adventures and loves.

Things seem to be aligning perfectly in Dannie’s life, until one night, after David proposes, she drifts off and wakes up five years later. Surprisingly, her future looks nothing like her life of today, and during the brief time she is transported, she sees where she lives, and more surprisingly, who she is with. She does not stay in the future for long and when she wakes, back in her real life, she is not sure what to think. Was it a dream? Premonition? Is she losing her mind?

Flash forward 41/2 years, and Dannie is still engaged to David but not yet married; she is working for her dream law firm, and she is getting ready to meet Bella’s new boyfriend. This is where it gets interesting, and Dannie realizes that her premonition may have not been a dream.

REBECCA SERLE has created a captivating read in her novel, “IN FIVE YEARS.” She does an excellent job setting the scene and allowing the reader to be drawn into the story. Her descriptions of New York — the fashion, the art and the food — seem spot on. I felt like I was there.

The tale Serle has crafted is heart-wrenching and beautifully crafted. It is an unexpected love story that is hard to put down. Many readers will be inspired to question their daily lives, their choices and if they appreciate what they have and where they are in life.

Jeana Gockley is the director of the Joplin Public Library.

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Gardening At Any Age

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The Lifelong Gardener: Garden With Ease & Joy At Any Age by Toni Gattone

Plant, Cook, Eat!: A Children’s Cookbook by Joe Archer and Caroline Craig

Summer is upon us! Flowers are blooming, and so is this new crop of illustrated gardening books. It’s a great time for all ages to get outside and dig in the dirt!

Plant, Cook, Eat!: A Children’s Cookbook by Joe Archer and Caroline Craig encourages kids to explore edible crops in the garden and in the kitchen. The first half of the book walks readers through basic gardening concepts–plant parts, seed germination, soil preparation and amendment, starting plants, maintenance, and pest control–in clear, concise text with just enough information to engage without overwhelming. Brief sections, “Healthy Eating” and “Get Ready to Cook” bridge the gap between vegetable patch and plate by introducing food groups, cooking equipment, and kitchen safety and sanitation. The book’s second half pairs growing instructions with recipes for a variety of vegetables from beans to zucchini. Each featured crop gets a lively four-page spread to document the garden-to-table journey. Recipes range from entrees to sides to snacks to dessert and include a variety of techniques from stir frying to baking. Two recipes I can’t wait to try are the Chocolate Beet Cake and the Tomato, Feta, and Basil Pizza.

Inside and out, Plant, Cook, Eat! is a feast for the eyes, a riot of color that enhances the content. Pages are layered in color–a muted background, color photographs bordered by a contrasting shade, cheerful cut-paper veggies and kitchen utensils peppered among text and photos. The book provides a fun opportunity for families to make memories together and sneak in some life skills building at the same time. The kitchen tasks and some of the garden activities require adult supervision and are a better fit for middle-upper elementary students than for the younger set. A glossary and list of vegetable varieties round out the resources.

The beauty of gardening is that, like cooking (and reading), it’s a lifelong pursuit adaptable to a variety of circumstances. In her book The Lifelong Gardener: Garden With Ease & Joy At Any Age, Toni Gattone offers strategies to keep gardening despite physical challenges. A certified Master Gardener with “a persistent bad back”, she writes knowledgeably from experience. Adaptive gardening provides approaches to greater safety and comfort for gardeners of all ages who may have a limited range of motion, use mobility aids, want to reduce stress on their joints, experience decreased strength, etc. The goal is “to identify what works for them in their garden according to their personal physical realities”.

Preferring to “focus on proactive solutions”, Gattone provides a variety of tips and techniques so that readers can choose what works best for their situations. In “You and Your Body”, she encourages self-examination (what chores or movements are easier or harder) then moves to acceptance of change (know your limits, expect ease) and resilience (change the way you operate, don’t be afraid to ask for help). She proposes modifications for challenges with balance, stamina, mobility, pain, strength, reaction time, eyesight, memory, and temperature sensitivity. Easy stretches and lifting techniques complete the section.

The remainder of the book focuses on specifics for adapting the garden space itself and the tools to work it. The goal is “a garden of ease” that provides comfort and safety without sacrificing enjoyment. Gattone’s suggestions are as wide ranging as gardens themselves: incorporate ADA standards for wheelchair access, consider downsizing the garden, add seating (or more seating), use contrasting colors for hardscapes and railings, try raised beds or square foot gardens or vertical gardens, remove gravel and wide gaps in paths, use drip irrigation instead of lugging heavy hoses, add a bike grip to tool handles, use long-reach handles on tools. “Toni’s Tips” and “Brand Loyalty” feature ideas and tools directly from the author’s experience.

Like Plant, Cook, Eat!, The Lifelong Gardener bursts with color–a multitude of color photographs (many Instagram-worthy) plus muted borders and information boxes. This book invites you in, effectively illustrates its message, and exudes congeniality while addressing a difficult topic. A helpful resources list and a form for an “Adaptive Gardening Action Plan” add to the package.

Gardens and books have something to offer all ages. I hope you have an opportunity to enjoy both this summer!

The Penguin Book of Mermaids, edited by Christina Bacchilega and Marie Alohalni Brown

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The beginning of summer is an exciting time here at the library, as it marks the launch of our annual Summer Reading Program, a multi-faceted all-ages program with challenges, games, and opportunities to win prizes. Though this year is quite different than those previous – we’re nearly a week into our first ever all-virtual summer reading program – it’s exciting all the same. This year, the themes of fairy tales, mythology, and fantasy are woven into a collective slogan: “Imagine Your Story.”

Recently, I set sail with The Penguin Book of Mermaids, a collection of stories about mermaids and merfolk edited by Christina Bacchilega and Marie Alohalni Brown, both of whom are professors at the University of Hawai’i at Māoa. To be honest, it’s happenstance that I chose a title that fits snugly into this year’s summer reading theme. I chose it not for its relation to mythology, but because of my fascination with and fondness for large bodies of water. As it turns out, I’m also fascinated by mythology, at least that which is water-centric.

Before diving in, the editors introduce us to this sea of stories by providing cultural and historical contexts, asking questions, discussing the aims of the book, and examining the complexities of human/nonhuman relationships. From Henrich Heine’s “Die Lore-Ley” to “Mermaids Among Us Today,” their introduction provides an overarching critique that they maintain throughout the book with succinct introductions/critiques to most of the stories within. Also, they remind us that “Mermaid stories did not emerge as fairy tales–that is, as fictions–but as myths and legends.”

Of the sixty-plus stories included in the book, twenty make their debut in the English language, having been translated from nine different languages. The tales are organized as follows: Water Deities and Sirens from Olden Times; Mermaids and Other Merbeings in Europe; Literary Tales; and Merfolk and Water Spirits Across Cultures. The stories may be read as stand-alones and their lengths range from very short, such as a few stanzas or a paragraph, to several pages, though most are a page or two. For those who would like to dive deeper, the editors offer numerous suggestions for further reading as well as extensive endnotes.

I’m as intrigued with the editors’ introductions and commentary as with the actual stories. Perhaps more intrigued, at times, as their comments illuminate the tales in a way that encourages us to further explore and reflect on the stories we think we are familiar with through contemporary adaptations, such as The Little Mermaid, which is shared in both its Japanese and American versions.

Interestingly, these tales share common literary dichotomies and themes regardless of the culture from where they came. Good vs. evil, real vs. imaginary, soul vs. body, human vs. nonhuman, love vs. hate, courage and heroism, sexuality and gender and coming of age are some examples. The editors do well to examine and discuss these and others throughout the book, including humans’ tendency to “collectively other anything nonhuman or not wholly human.”

In a word, The Penguin Book of Mermaids is fantastic. It’s academic, cross-cultural, entertaining, and as mesmerizing as the very mermaids and merfolk depicted within.

To begin imagining your (virtual) summer reading story, visit www.joplinpubliclibrary.org. Bon voyage! And, as always, happy reading.

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Priya Dreams of Marigolds and Masala by Meenal Patel

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Did you know that May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month? In honor of this fact, I want to share one of my favorite newish picture books by a Southeast Asian American author and illustrator.

“PRIYA DREAMS OF MARIGOLD AND MASALA,” written and illustrated by MEENAL PATEL, is a sweet story of a grandmother, named Babi Ba, sharing vivid memories of India with her granddaughter Priya as they make rotli, a type of Indian flatbread. As they roll dough, Priya asks, “What is India like?” This inquiry serves as the catalyst for a journey through the grandmother’s birthplace — a sensory journey of food, sounds of the city and sights of the market. Patel’s descriptions are tangible; Priya (and the reader) can smell the cumin and masala at the market as it “tickles your nose.” We can feel the “hot sun on (our) face” after it rains, and we can hear the “quiet swish-swish” of a sari as a woman walks through a shop.

The grandmother’s joy and comfort in these memories is infectious, both for Priya and the reader. These stories spur Priya to action, calling on her classmates to help design a marigold garland for her grandmother to hang over her door during winter. Upon receiving this gift, Babi Ba tells Priya that the best way to carry your home — or your memories of such a place — with you is to share it with others.

Every time I go back home to California, I bring my family to my favorite place by the ocean. At this point, I could describe the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks as you stand overhead. I could describe the burning thigh muscles as you ascend the stairs back to your car. I could describe the cold rush of air across your face as you walk the dusty trail closer to the overlook. Though my home is not quite as far as Babi Ba’s, I understand the joy inherent in memories of home and in the sharing of those memories.

Patel’s illustrations are just as colorful as Babi Ba’s memories. The spreads that include people milling about the city feature a diverse array of skin tones. The saris worn are both colorful and simple in detail, and most characters are featured with round, rosy pink or red cheeks. The spreads featuring cityscapes are sharply angled, mashing colors and patterns purposefully and carefully. Patel’s color palette manages to be both muted and colorful simultaneously; the collection of browns, oranges, pinks, red, yellow and navy are delightfully twee. (Somewhat relatedly, if you have ever seen Wes Anderson’s 2014 film “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” you will likely notice the similarities in color there.)

In the author’s note, Patel describes visiting India as an adult and recognizing how the things that made her feel different back home were parts of daily life there. This visit allowed her to interweave the various threads of her identity and to understand how those “unique threads” make up who she is.

You can find “Priya Dreams of Marigolds and Masala” here. If you’d like to see more of Patel’s art, you can follow her on Instagram @meenal_land.

The Moon: A History for the Future by Oliver Morton

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On March 9th I was headed east around 9:00pm and saw a spectacular sight – a supermoon.  It appeared huge on the horizon with an orange hue and wisps of clouds. Beautiful.

2020 will have three supermoons occurring in 3 consecutive months, March, April and May. I did catch the April event but it was a different sight. The moon was not as big, bright white, and not a wisp of cloud was in sight. With these back to back occurrences on my mind I checked out The Moon to learn more about what I saw.

Oliver Morton’s The Moon: A History for the Future is much more than just a book to answer my simple questions about full moon events. He does explain about all phases of the moon and the orbit of the moon. So periodically some of the full moons that occur every 29 days happen when the moon’s orbit is closer to the earth (perigee) and we get to experience supermoons.

From the content of the book I surmise that Morton has read almost everything there is to read on the moon. He employs both fact and fiction in this study of Earth’s natural satellite. He intersperses chapters of factual information on the moon with chapters exploring the perception of the moon in history, literature, and art.

The author reflects on the moon as seen through artists, such as Van Eyck and Leonardo, and through history starting with Galileo. This is not a chronological history but a contemplation of the people and ideas that advanced our understanding.

Of course, there cannot be a book about the moon without something about Apollo. This section starts long before the actual missions with the technological advances that occurred to make space travel possible. Morton goes from gunpowder to World War II rockets to Saturn V. He also relates how science fiction authors influenced the interest in space travel.

From the engines to the space suits Morton details the work that went into sending men to the moon, not once but several times. He includes the transcripts of the communications between people on earth and the astronauts on the moon for Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 – from “That’s one small step for man” to “as I take man’s last step from the surface”.

From the great achievement of the Apollo missions he moves on to how the race to the moon lost momentum. Even though the focus moved to other areas of space the significance of the Apollo mission cannot be discounted. Morton explains the different thoughts on the earth’s geologic age and one of those is that when Armstrong stepped on the moon it began a new age. The technology that made that step possible is significant on a planetary scale.

The remainder of the book speculates on why the promise of Apollo came to nothing and the reason why we will and should go back. He explores mining, tourism, and colonies on the moon. He also touches on ongoing programs in China, India, and other countries including the U.S.

He devotes some pages to Elon Musk and Space X and to Jeff Bezos’ (Amazon) commitment to Blue Origin. Morton also touches on the issues that need to be resolved especially for plans to stay on the moon. Where do you land and how will space on the moon be allocated?

My initial interest in this book was for a simple question and I got so much more. It did answer my question but also provided a great philosophical look at an object that we take for granted.

The library only has this title in paper form. My wish is that by the time you read this review the library will have reopened. If not and you want to read about the moon, try the Ebsco Ebook collection. You can find the link on the library website at www.joplinpubliclibrary.org.

You’ll find titles for both adults and juveniles and access is unlimited so you never have to wait to read the title you choose. You might try The Book of the Moon: A Guide to Our Closest Neighbor by Maggie Aderin or Moon by Lynn Stone.

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Digital Knitting Round-up

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In the summer of 2009, I needed a distraction. It was just before my sophomore year of college – I was an English major here at Missouri Southern – and I was looking for new ways to spend my time. I made a list of about 20 things to accomplish over the summer (nothing productive, just for fun): juggling, performing magic tricks, being ambidextrous. By the end of summer, the only thing could confidently cross off was: learn to knit.

The inspiration had come from a book – there are few more likely sources of inspiration for an English major. My knitting muse is a character from the young adult series “The Nine Lives of Chloe King.”  The series is about a girl who learns she is one of a group of cat-people; the romantic interest opposite Chloe is a boy who knit his own earflap hat with cat ears. I wanted that hat, and by the end of the year – I had one.

I did not stop knitting after the hat, and the first place I turned to for new inspiration was knitting books. People who knit are incredibly creative, and there are some really excellent pattern books available at the Joplin Public Library. These books are full of glorious, full color pictures of the most amazing things knitters can accomplish – with step-by-step instructions so that you can accomplish them too.

I love looking at these books; I do not love trying to hold a book open while I am using both of my hands to knit.

So, instead of telling you about some of my favorites from the JPL’s physical collection, I am going to round up a few of the most interesting pattern books available in our digital collection. Knitting from a digital book is a breeze: my tablet sits propped up at just the right angle, never loses my spot, and I can often even zoom in to any particularly complicated charts I may encounter.

Most recently I was working from “Interweave Favorites: 25 Knitted Accessories to Wear and Share,” which is full of cute and colorful accessories that knit up relatively quickly. To me, small projects are the most fun – there is nothing more depressing than the half-done sweater or afghan that you just don’t want to finish.

If you are tired of knitting basic hats and scarves, maybe you will enjoy “Once Upon a Knit” by Genevieve Miller. These patterns are all inspired by fairy tale stories and classic literature: from Little Red Riding Hood’s red riding hood to a Wonderland-inspired beret.

Once you have knitting basics down, I recommend that you check out Margaret Radcliffe’s “Circular Knitting Workshop.” Radcliffe guides you step-by-step through circular knitting: the process of knitting in one continuous loop, making a tube of fabric. This process is a game-changer for socks, hats, sleeves, mittens, and almost every knitting project you want to make.

The final book in my round-up is “2-at-a-Time Socks” by Melissa Morgan-Oakes. Knitting a comfortable sock is complicated – it involves constant measuring, and knowing exactly where to make the heel is crucial. The last thing many knitters want to do when they finish a sock is start another one. That’s where this book comes in. If you master the two-at-a-time technique, you never have to suffer through knitting two socks in a row ever again! Knitting both socks at the same time also helps ensure that your pair is identical, rather than one sock being slightly longer or wider than the other.

I have been knitting steadily for almost eleven years now, and I am much better than I was in my cat-ear hat days. Being able to bring something to life with just a piece of string and a couple of sticks is a magical feeling, and if you find yourself at a loss for how to spend your time, you might give it a try. I have always found it to be a rewarding and fulfilling hobby, and I hope you will too.

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

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When I saw this title come out a year ago, I was hyped. JENNIFER WEINER is a New York Times bestselling author, and I typically find her books engaging and hard to put down. And her newest title, “MRS. EVERYTHING,” does not disappoint. This multigenerational novel that spans six decades is about two sisters and how their lives are altered by the events around them.

Bethie and Jo Kaufman are young girls growing up in Detroit during the 1950s. Younger, beautiful, self-assured Bethie is more easily understood by their mother, as she is drawn to clothes, boys and knows she is destined to be a star; whereas, smart, tomboyish Jo — who much prefers dungarees over a dress and itchy tights — better relates to their father.

It is easy to see that Bethie will grow up, marry her high school sweetheart and mother equally adorable children, while Jo will struggle to find a place where she fits in the world and may eventually — if she is lucky — carve out a path that works for her.

However, these cliched roles do not hold true. Key events transpire that send each girl down much different paths. Jo’s differences give her the need to conform, and she is compelled to live a life untrue to herself for much of her life, while Bethie eventually feels the need to rebel and not walk the path that everyone has laid out for her.

To share more would give away too much of this novel. Throughout, Weiner explores each character’s choices. The novel covers various topics that include the loss of a parent, sexual experimentation and rebellion.

While the novel is predictable at times, it is also compelling. Weiner’s use of alternating chapters, told by each sister, moves the story along and draws in the audience. This double perspective balances the story and creates a richer viewpoint. Readers will want to see what happens in this brilliant tale focused on emotionally tough subjects such as family, hardship, love and loss.

Jeana Gockley is the director of the Joplin Public Library.

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