Gluten-Free Living is October's Magazine of the Month

Our magazine of the month for October is Gluten-Free Living, which provides support and recipes for those diagnosed with Celiac Disease or other related disorders and allergies. In addition to Carnegie-Stout's subscription, you can check out their website: www.glutenfreeliving.com

Not sure what glutens or Celiac Disease are? Have you stood in the grocery store trying to understand what it means for a pizza to be gluten free? Looking for a specific gluten-free recipe, and you couldn't find it in Gluten-Free Living? Carnegie-Stout has a collection of books on Celiac Disease and Gluten-Free diets for you to check out!

Just wondering what a gluten is? Wikipedia provides the answer: "Gluten (from Latin gluten, "glue") is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat and related grain species, including barley and rye. It gives elasticity to dough, helping it to rise and to keep its shape, and often gives the final product a chewy texture. Gluten may also be found in some cosmetics or dermatological preparations."

 Looking for an excuse to try out a gluten-free recipe? October 12th is World Egg Day! Like gluten, eggs can provide a binding element in a recipe, which makes them a staple in many gluten-free recipes. The American Egg Board and the International Egg Commission have even more ideas for how you can celebrate World Egg Day.

Taking a Trip

Sometimes, we all need a vacation, but planning that vacation can turn into a part-time job full of stresses and headaches. Where to go. When to go. What to pack. How to budget. Where to stay. And all those little details from Airport security to Vaccinations.

The best travel tip I can give you is to start planning early. As much fun as it can be to take an impromptu road trip, but knowing which exit to take to see the world's largest wooden nickel can add so much. Likewise it can be useful to know if a big convention is happening before you find out there's only one hotel room available and it's three times the usual price!

Luckily Carnegie-Stout has the resources to help you get started planning your next trip today. We have everything from books to DVDs to recommended websites - we'll even help you pick the perfect audiobook or walk you through loading up your eReader from our eBook collection.

The first step for planning your trip depends on you. Is there a specific time you are able to travel? You'll want to see what to see what the weather is like at your potential destinations. A beach vacation in rainy season is no good, but neither is the peak of tourist season! If you'll be visiting another country, check to see if your visit overlaps school vacations or holidays like our Thanksgiving when shops are closed and everyone is visiting home.

A good guidebook will give you include advice on these topics, as well as tips for getting around, must-see destinations, recommended hotels and restaurants, and more. You can check our catalog for the latest guidebooks by searching in the subject field for: DESTINATION -- Guidebooks. I recommend using the Subject Keyword option.

Click image to see our Hawaii guidebooks.

While a good guidebook can get you started, some topics require up to the minute information. If you'll be visiting a foreign country there are three websites you should visit: the U.S. State Department, the CDC, and the official tourism page for your destination.

The State Department has instructions on applying for a renewing your passport (you can also visit most local post offices to pick up this information), information on tourist visas, and information for travel safety and warnings for Americans abroad.

Likewise, the CDC will tell you which immunizations you'll need, up to date information for local outbreaks or other concerns, how to locate medical help overseas, as well as general travel tips. You'll also want to check that any medication you'll be bringing with you is legal to have in your possession, and likewise some drugs you can buy over the counter in other countries require a prescription in the U.S.

Other online resources you might find useful:

• Practice your language skills with Mango Languages
• Check for airfare deals with a comparative site like Kayak or FareCompare
• SeatGuru has information for meals, in flight entertainment, and where the good seats are
• World Airport Guides has maps and other information for airports around the world
• The TSA will tell you what you can and cannot pack in your checked bags and carry-ons
• The TSA also maintains a blog, which has pictures of all the strange and dangerous things people try to smuggle onto aircraft.

And of course, Carnegie-Stout has books with general travel tips, as well as guidebooks for cruises, traveling with infants and toddlers, and more.

The Smart Traveler's Passport (910.202 TOR)
Budget Travel magazine, one of several travel magazines available at Carnegie-Stout, compiled this book of reader submitted travel tips. While some of the tips are a little out of date (how many people travel with CD player in 2012?), there's still good information. A tip on page 178 suggests bringing bilingual takeout menus when you travel to a country where you don't read the language and need to know if you're ordering chicken or ox heart.

1001 Smart Travel Tips (910.2 ONE)
Fodor's, publisher of travel guides, has a more recent book of travel tips from their writers, editors, and readers. The organization in this book is very clear, and includes sections on packing, flying with animals, trains, and brief information for many popular destinations.

The Packing Book (910.2 GIL)
In addition to some general travel information, this book tells you the best ways to pack your suitcase or carry-on for short trips or long, business or casual. One highlight are the packing lists that you could copy and then check off as you prepare.

Smart Packing for Today's Traveler (910.2 FOS)
Another detailed packing guide with great illustrations for how to select your travel wardrobe for your destination. The author's advice on page 18 is especially useful: "If you can't lift and maneuver your gear by yourself after you've packed it all, edit the contents down to the amount you can mange alone."

If you don't see the information you need for your next trip in this post stop by the library, give us a call ((563) 589-4225), leave us a comment, or check out the other travel posts we have on the blog. Safe journeys, and drop us a post card if you think of it!

Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer

 I've been thinking about what I enjoyed about Shine Shine Shine, a first novel by Lydia Netzer. In Booklist Kristine Huntley says it's "whimsical" and "a unique and moving love story." Publisher's Weekly says that it's "[c]haracterized by finely textured emotions and dramatic storytelling." "[J]uicily wacky" says Barbara Hoffert in Library Journal. Even Kirkus praises the "charming characters."

Add in the currently hot topic of a child with autism, and a plot-line involving an astronaut husband that reminds me of Apollo 13 (one of my favorite movies), and it's no wonder that I checked it out! But what made this book difficult to put down was the main narrator, Sunny (a handful of chapters are from her husband or mother's perspective). I am a sucker for unconventional, sarcastic female narrators, who meet the challenges of life with dry, sarcastic wit. I also enjoy anything that explores questions of family and motherhood (see: Gilmore Girls).

In fact, three other new books I've read and loved this summer featured narrators that fit the description. Sometimes I feel guilty for preferring female strong female voices in my fiction, but then I'm reminded that most books reviewed in, and most of the book reviewers working for, the big publications like The New Yorker are, in fact, men, and then I don't feel so bad.

So as a bonus, here are the short reviews for those other three books from our group Pinterest Board.

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson
Darkly humorous with wonderfully distinct alternating narrators,three generations of Southern women, who explore the questions of motherhood, destiny, and family.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
It seemed like a straightforward story of WWII, but it crept up on me and turned out to be far more clever than I expected. Highly recommended.

True Believers by Kurt Andersen
I liked the narrator, Karen Hollander, who decides to come clean about her youth in the '60s while still in her sixties. The big reveal wasn't a huge surprise, but the voice (and Chicago setting) made up for it.

~Sarah, Adult Services