More Stuff We Found While Weeding

As much as we love all of our books, we can't keep everything forever. Our highly-trained librarians examine our collections continuously to ensure that they are current, of high quality, and meet the demands of our customer base. Those books that don't make the grade are usually donated to our amazing book sale. We have traditionally referred to the process of pulling up these shelf-chokers as "weeding." Below you'll find some interesting items we came across during this process and decided to keep.

The Connoisseur's Complete Period Guides to the Houses, Decoration, Furnishing and Chattels of the Classic Periods, edited by Ralph Edwards and L. G. G. Ramsey. If you are strong enough to lift this doorstop of a book (1536 pages!), you will be rewarded with enough historical information about daily life in England to get you through every BBC production ever presented on Masterpiece Theatre. Its pages carefully consider the major aspects of life in Tudor/Stuart, Georgian, Regency, and early Victorian Britain including—well, it’s all in the title, really: houses, decoration, furnishing and…chattels? Anyway, an excellent way for any self respecting Anglophile to become insufferably knowledgeable. Includes illustrations.

Crop Art and Other Earthworks, Stan Herd. Stan Herd is an artist whose works can only be seen from a plane or helicopter. Why? Because his canvas is the earth itself. By using plows and planting various types of plants he creates giant murals that range from a vase of sunflowers to portraits of indigenous people. Photos in the book show how he creates the murals and the stages they go through as the plants grow and change color. Next time you are flying cross country and think you see a giant Absolut vodka bottle on the ground don’t be surprised—it is probably just Stan at work.

Monumental Miniatures: Souvenir Buildings from the Collection of Ace Architects, David Weingarten and Margaret Majua. Do you like miniatures? Do other’s people’s collections fascinate you? Architecture fan? Then this is the book for you. The authors showcase about a third of their collection of 3500 cast metal building miniatures from around the world. From Madison Square Garden in New York City to the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa, the variety is practically endless. In fact, think of your favorite building or monument—it is probably shown in miniature in this book. There are some local buildings represented: three from the NCR plus the Preble County National Bank in Eaton. Fun!

-- Sue, Main Library