MeatEater: Your Link to the Food Chain

Steven Rinella grew up in Twin Lake, Michigan and learned to hunt and fish at an early age. This love of hunting and the outdoors has now become quite a career as an author, television personality, podcaster, and conservationist. He breaks the stereotype we have of the “American hunter” – when he explores a subject, he nerds out so spectacularly that I have come to appreciate his level of intellect and extensive research.

The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine (2006) – The first book in the Steven Rinella canon. Steven sets out to recreate the recipes from master chef Escoffier’s classic 1903 Le Guide Culinaire to get back to where the history of modern food got its start.

National Park Service Founders Day on August 25

This Wednesday, August 25, is National Park Service Founders Day, and while Washington doesn’t have the most (that belongs to California) we do have three amazing National Parks right at our doorstep: North Cascades National Park, Olympic National Park, and Mount Rainier National Park. The Library has a bountiful collection for all your National Park needs: art, travel guides, stories, and more! Here are a few that caught my eye!

Art & History

• The Art of the National Parks
• Ansel Adams’ Yosemite
• Leave It as It Is: a Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness by David Gessner
• That Wild Country: An Epic Journey Through the Past, Present, and Future of America’s Public Lands by Mark Kenyon
• Tahoma and Its People: a Natural History of Mount Rainier National Park by Jeff Antonelis-Lapp

Maps & Travel Guides

Let’s Swim!

This return of warmer weather has me thinking about swimming – dipping my feet in a lake,* seeking out a pool. I’m still feeling cautious about being in proximity to people, even as pandemic precautions wane, which means that while I scope out swimming spots I’m also finding books to satisfy my urge.

Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey by Roger Deakin
Originally published in Britain in 1999 and now being published for the first time in the US, Waterlog is Deakin’s thoughtful reflection on swimming in wild places. Inspired by John Cheever’s story “The Swimmer,” Deakin began with a dip in the moat behind his farmhouse, and then conceived of a plan to swim the waterways of Britain, pristine and polluted alike. Swimming in seas, springs, rivers and ponds, he reflects on the history and geography of the waterways he visits, and on the general responsibility of environmental stewardship and maintenance of natural places that are open to all. Deakin’s work launched an international “wild swimming” movement; it’s good to see it published on our shores. (For a fantastic, in-depth review, check out Anelise Chen’s story in The Atlantic).

Staying Healthy with Your Library: Search the Catalog for Health Topics

In this Shelf Talk consumer health series, we’ve covered a variety of ways of accessing health information through Library databases, but what about the Library’s bread and butter, materials in the online catalog? Don’t worry, we’ve got you. In addition to discovering much of the material in some of our databases, you’ll find hundreds of health-related books, audiobooks, music CDs, and DVDs in the online catalog.

To access The Seattle Public Library’s online catalog from your own device, sign in with your library card number and PIN, then navigate to the online catalog.

Once you’re in the Library’s online catalog, you have a few options. You can start with a simple keyword search, try a more specific subject search, look for a list compiled by other users and librarians, or construct a more complex advanced search.

Rest and Retreat

I know solitude seems like the opposite of what you want to do right now, but solitude with a purpose, such as rest, could be highly beneficial especially after this difficult year. There are also many forms of rest. Resting the mind for better sleep, retreating to rest and recharge, and finding solitude to create or come to terms with our season of winter. 

Here are a few books in our collection that bring that idea of rest to mind:

Nothing Much Happens: Cozy and Calming Stories to Soothe your Mind and Help You Sleep by Kathryn Nicolai

While my insomnia has been more pregnancy related than not, I’ve been finding tools to help slow down my overthinking brain to make it not so miserable: heartburn tea, putting my phone away an hour before bed, and the most important tool, reading a physical book at bedtime. Based on the podcast this collection includes soothing new stories and adorable illustrations to help you sleep.