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In the Spotlight: John Peters, Dresden
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“At 70 years old, I am constantly amazed at my ever-expanding ignorance,” says John Peters, a small farm hobbyist, who watches over four Belted Galloway Steers (pets he likes to call his ‘pasture ornaments’) and a straw-bale vegetable garden. “Really I’m a kept man,” he continues, referring to his wife Marlow, the assistant director at Obion River Regional Library.
John’s humor in no way displaces his sizable appetite for reading which began at St. Mary’s College, at the time an all-male liberal arts college in California. “I was one of 15 students who participated in a four-year program based on the Great Books,” he said. Assigned reading covered all the major disciplines and provided a broad acquaintance with western civilization – Socrates, Homer, Plato, all the great classics. In fact, many of which he is re-reading today through R.E.A.D.S. “For me it’s the modern version of the old bookmobile,” he says, “and you don’t even have to get dressed or go out in bad weather to use it. From your computer you can wander the ‘stacks,' like in a library, pull out something that looks inviting, and then browse through it a bit before checking it out. It’s a wonderful way to explore and get exposed to new and interesting things.”
His preferred devices for downloading R.E.A.D.S., the Kindle Paperwhite and Apple iPad, are now essential components of his daily reading habit, although Interlibrary Loan is still helpful when it comes to finding obscure titles. While out with his ‘pasture ornaments,’ he enjoys listening to R.E.A.D.S. audiobooks with the aid of his iPhone and a Pantronics Bluetooth wireless headset.
Favorite fictional titles for John include authors such as Elizabeth George, Ruth Rendell, Louise Penny and David Liss. “I enjoy the rhythm of their prose,” he says, “and their ability to capture the complexities of the human situation.”
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The Digital Bookshelf: Hobby Farm - a small acreage that is operated primarily for pleasure.
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Covers growing crops, raising chickens, horses, llamas, bees and more.
Check this out if you want to try to make some money from your hobby farm.
Try this is you prefer to hear, rather than read, about hobby farming.
This title claims you can grow 85% of an average family’s food, and earn up to $10,000 annually, from your mini farm.
Covers everything from selecting the right breeds to producing delicious milk, cheese, honey, eggs, and meat.
How to turn that cute little animal into something edible.
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Browser-based Audiobooks Coming Soon!
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We’re excited to announce that in early 2015 browser-based audiobooks will enable you to instantly listen to audiobooks without needing to download the file or the OverDrive app. Once you find a title you want to listen to, simply borrow it and begin listening right away. Browser-based audiobooks will join the OverDrive Read and streaming video easiest ways to enjoy R.E.A.D.S. content.
The download option will still be available but browser-based listening will likely become your preferred method for enjoying the thousands of audiobooks available through R.E.A.D.S.
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Congratulations! The libraries listed below had the highest per capita checkouts from R.E.A.D.S. in FY 2013/14.
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- Middleton Community Library (Hardeman County)
- Sharon Public Library (Weakley County)
- May Justice Memorial Library (Monteagle, Grundy County)
- Pigeon Forge Public Library (Sevier County)
- Brentwood Public (Williamson County)
- Dr. Nathan Porter Library (Greenfield, Weakley County)
- Bristol Public Library (Sullivan County)
- Williamson County Public Library
- Parsons Public Library (Decatur County)
- Kingsport Public Library (Sullivan County)
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The Digital Bookshelf: Wily Women - books about adventurous women
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by Anthony Doerr
The young heroine of All the Light We Cannot See, Marie-Laure LeBlanc, is blind. Her father, a locksmith for the Paris Museum of Natural History, builds exquisite city models to educate her in navigating the world. The book describes her travails during World War II while paralleling the life of a German orphan boy. Their stories eventually intertwine in the walled Breton city of Saint-Malo, under siege by Allied bombers and occupied by German forces. Civilian life during war is observed by Doerr in a lyrical manner highlighting the characters’ choices. The main character, Marie-Laure, is a masterpiece of beauty and daring. - 1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (ebook)
- 2. Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz (audio)
- 3. Dorothy Parker by Marion Meade (audio)
- 4. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg (ebook)
- 5. Personal History by Katharine Graham (ebook)
- 6. Prague Winter – A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937 – 1948 (ebook)/(audio)
- 7. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (ebook)/(audio)
- 8.The Color Purple by Alice Walker (ebook)/(audio)
- 9.The Handmaiden’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (ebook)/(audio)
- 10.The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich (ebook)/(audio)
- 11.The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (ebook)/(audio)
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More Free Digital Resources
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Easy access to basic population, geography and business statistics for all states and counties, as well as cities and towns with more than 5,000 people.
Before forwarding or posting astonishing or alarming rumors check out what this site has to say about the story. Snopes is a well-known resource for debunking, or validating, internet rumors, urban legends, email forwards and other stories of questionable origin.
As the website says, ‘Meet your next favorite book’ and indeed that is what the developers of the social networking site Goodreads intended in 2007 when they offered individuals an opportunity to search a database of books, annotations and reviews. Today interested readers can sign up to be a part of the Goodread’s membership which has surpassed 20 million. In addition, the website includes a way for book lovers to catalog their reading lists, whether their titles are “read" or "wanna read." A user can also join or create book groups and ongoing discussions. With a growing list of respected Goodreads reviewers, the site has created an online space where readers collectively select winning titles rather than relying on data from bookstores and review journals.
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Frequently Asked Questions.
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I have a problem using R.E.A.D.S. Can someone call me and walk me through it?
Unfortunately we are not able to provide telephone support for R.E.A.D.S. We do provide email support. You can send an email to R.E.A.D.S. Support by clicking on the Help button on the R.E.A.D.S. site and scrolling to the bottom of the page. Click on ‘Support.' This will open the email program on your computer and allow you to send an email message to R.E.A.D.S. Support (rsupport.tsla@tn.gov). Please note that email support is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (CST).
To read all Frequently Asked Questions click here.
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Questions or Comments
Need help using R.E.A.D.S.? Send an email request to Support at rsupport.tsla@tn.gov
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