Sunday February 21, 2010 Take it to Heart

Take it to heart. From the bottom of my heart. Your heart’s in the right place. Clearly many idioms speak of the heart. Then there is All Heart’s Day, just past, and the month of February designated as Heart Health Month. Not to be outdone, the Thunder Bay Public Library (TBPL) has your best interest at heart with an abundance of Books, CD’s, DVD’s, MP3’s and Graphic Novels for both the young and the young at heart.

Hearts and Crafts by Sheri Brownrigg is an activity book organized into broad themes. The charming crafts include a wide variety of fun projects such as conversation heart necklaces, sand heart candles and lavender wands. All highly enjoyable due to the straightforward directions and quick, yet attractive, results.

Need a change of pace in your reading? Well take heart, TBPL continually orders new titles for you. Example. The new book entitled Death Of A Valentine by M.C. Beaton. Part of the Hamish Macbeth Series. Amazing news hits the Scottish countryside when the most famous of highland bachelors, police sergeant Hamish Macbeth, is about to get married. Available to be placed on hold, this title comes in hardcover and also MP3 CD Book.

How about a romantic movie for you to enjoy to your heart’s content? There are many new releases available at the library, and you could even go back and catch up on some that you have yet to see. Prefer to read the book first, and then compare it to the movie? Drop in and get yourself a copy of Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John, a quick and fun read where the characters are likable and the plot predictable, revolving around the concept of love and its fragility. Perhaps you would like to first read The Last Song, set to come out on March 25 starring Miley Cyrus and Liam Helmsworth, or The Lucky One, now in production. Both are available in hard cover, large print, MP3 CD and WMA (downloadable onto your IPod or MP3 player).

Non-fiction books can be a refreshing change and often provide great reads. Deanna McDaniel’s Gentle Reads: Great Books To Warm Hearts And Lift Spirits is a book which recommends titles for students from Grade 5 to 9. The book was prompted by a New York Times Book Review article entitled A Good Book Should Make You Cry. McDaniel handily counters this notion with five hundred recommended titles that speak of adolescent issues while meeting important criteria such as being inspiring, heartwarming, and uplifting.

Have you heard about a book entitled Project Everlasting: Two Bachelors Discover The Secrets Of America’s Greatest Marriages? Here is a beguiling book where two bachelors, Mathew Boggs and Jason Miller, best friends since childhood, get together to launch this project. They embark upon an adventure across the United States to talk to the experts - couples who have been successfully married for over forty years – in an attempt to uncover secrets they can share with the world. The book’s inspiration is based primarily upon the vision of Mathew’s grandparents, blissfully married over sixty years, and still capable of making each other’s heart skip a beat.

How about a little romantic music? For example Some Hearts by Carrie Underwood including tunes such as the title track, Don’t Forget to Remember Me and Inside Your Heaven. Or maybe a little classical music featuring Luciano Pavarotti and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Maurizio Benini; Je T'ai Donne Mon Coeur: My Heart's Delight, featuring works by Puccini, Gershwin and Verdi.

More and more, these days, we are taking to heart the importance of maintaining a happy, healthy lifestyle. Books like Healthy Eating for your Heart by Paul Gayler and Jacqui Lynas with photography by Peter Cassidy, highlight the team effort of a chef and a dietitian who create one hundred hale and hearty yet delectable recipes. In harmony with what Aristotle once judiciously said: "Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”

Caron E. Naysmith, Supply Staff