eBooks Your Library Does Have

eLibraryNJ

I enjoy reading eBooks on my iPad. Even though every publisher does not make them available to libraries there are many  that do.

I just finished reading Lots of Cake, Plenty of Candles by 1970 graduate of  South Brunswick High School, Anna Quindlen.  This very popular fiction writer (Every Last One) takes a look back at her life and times in this insightful and heartfelt memoir written as she turns 60.  I waited less than a week to download this title since South Brunswick Library owns their own copy for South Brunswick patrons only.

Since I was already listening to The Hunger Games , which the library also owns, the wait did not seem so long.

As I was getting to the end of Lots of Cake, I searched around for another eBook, thinking I might have to wait.

I found Both of Us My Life With Farrah by Ryan ONeal was available for download.  I like biographies in general so I thought I would take a chance on this even though it was not my usual read.  I found the story absorbing.  Tragedy and folly combined.

Always login first with your library card number and pin so that you can find the books that South Brunswick Library has purchased.

I just used the Advanced Search in eLibraryNJ and set it to Format eBooks and checked the box for 'Only Show Titles with copies available'.  I found : If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't) by Betty White, Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, a swashbuckling YA adventure and Dead Reckoning by Charlain Harris which according to Booklist is "Sookie Stackhouse's supernatural southern adventures". All of these were available for immediate download.

I downloaded The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler and am reading that while I wait for:  America's Constitution  A Biography by Akhil Reed Amar, Turing's Cathedral The Origins of the Digital Universe by George Dyson, Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey  The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castleby The Countess of Carnarvon and Gathering Blue The Giver Trilogy, Book 2

by Lois Lowry.

So, the moral of the story is, try it. Not every high demand title is available from your library since publishers demur, but we have a lot!

If you want to find out more about downloading eBooks and Audiobooks to your mobile device contact us for for help.

Also, Tuesday, June 5, 6:30-8pm there will be a class on using your mobile device to download eBooks. Call the Information Desk at 732-329-4000 extension 7286 to register or register online .

Contact: Mary Donne Head of Information Services

Kindles and Cookies

As I wrote the title above, it occurred to me that I could be talking about either the "cookies" that are stored on your computer OR cookies that you eat...

Still life with Kindle.

OK, today, we're talking about edible cookies:  Almond Macaroons from the cookbook 500 Under 500, From 100 Calorie Snacks to 500 Calorie Entrees by Lynette Rohrer Shirk -  which I got from the South Brunswick Library's e-book collection FOR FREE on the Kindle Fire.

Free e-books are available from our Library, and more's the better - some of them are cookbooks.  (Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?)

(Go to our website http://www.sbpl.info/, click on "download audiobooks.e-books" and follow the directions from eLibraryNJ.  If you need help with this, call us at the Reference Desk - 732-329-4000 x7286.  I found the most cookbooks - 53 of them - by searching on Quick Search, then e-books, search term either "cooking" or "food".)

So this morning before work - I know, I have a lot of energy! - I whipped up this easy recipe using a Kindle.

What I found using a Kindle vs. a print cookbook:  
    
E-Reader Advantages:

- no need to hold down the page to keep it open.
- small, portable and light - I could take LOTS of cookbooks with me on vacation! (What, I can't be the only one who loves to cook on vacation...)

E-Reader Disadvantages:

- harder to "leaf" through to get an overview of the book.
- fragility:  would dropping on egg on a Kindle be the end of it?

I really did love cooking from the Kindle, you can change the font size in a jif, you can easily bookmark your pages, plus the brightness of the screen makes it easy to read. Cooking from the Kindle: like being in the Futurama exhibit at the 1964 World's Fair.

Now, as for the cookbook, I didn't love it.  Lynette Shirk's recipes are not very precise, and I think a novice cook would have difficulty interpreting the terse directions.  Also, there's not a lot of personality exhibited in this collection; I like a cookbook with a personal point of view.  Shirk has written nine cookbooks, worked as a pastry chef at Chez Panisse, worked for Williams Sonoma, and attended culinary school, but you would be hard pressed to divine that from this tome.

The macaroons themselves are easy to throw together if you have all the ingredients. (I know, who has candied orange peel and ground almond meal on hand?  Me!)

Actual cookies on left, e-cookies on right.

Almond Macaroons adapted from 500 under 500

2 egg whites
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut
3/4 cup ground almonds (can buy this at Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup candied orange peel
1/4 cup applesauce
2 Tablespoons flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
 In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites with the sugar until foamy.
On a large cutting board, mix the ground almonds and the orange peel together and chop finely.
Add this mixture and all the remaining ingredients to the the egg whites in the bowl and mix well.
Portion out 16 balls from the batter, and place on cookie sheet (this is easiest with a 1 inch size ice cream scoop if you have one - definitely a time saver!)
Bake 20 minutes.  Let cool.  Peel cookies away from the paper.
Yields:  16 macaroons, 117 calories each.

The cookies tasted half like a coconut macaroon and half like an almond cookie, but the best part was the candied orange peel - a very nice addition that gave the cookies an unexpected flavor boost.  Great with a cup of tea.

As for the computer cookies, I may try and work up a computer class regarding internet security to offer at the Library - check out our Event Calendar in the upcoming months for this and other computer classes I'll be teaching - including using the Internet, Gmail, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

And take out some electronic books from our Library on your mobile device (including your smartphone) or computer, and bring your cooking into the age of the e-book.  By the way, you can take out 5 e-books, and additionally put 5 e-books on hold at any one time, and the books expire automatically so they will never be overdue!

Diane Whitman
Reference Librarian
Cookie and Computer Aficionado

eLibraryNJ

No matter which computer, eReader or mobile device you have you can download free eBooks and audiobooks today from the South Brunswick Public Library website.  From our website just click on the 'Download audiobooks.eBooks' button.  Read the few important notes on the next screen before clicking on the top link 'Click Here to Download'

You will enter the eLibraryNJ website. Click on 'Sign In' and select the 'Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium' as your library and then type your library barcode number and pin. Start searching for eBooks and audiobooks.

It's easy to get help in eLibraryNJ by clicking on the 'Help' link in the upper right.  And the Information Services staff at South Brunswick Library are always happy to get you started and answer any questions that come up.

Contact: Mary Donne Head of Information Services

Free eBooks and Audiobooks

Do you listen to audiobooks while you cook? Maybe your commute to work is long and audiobooks make the trip more enjoyable. Are those eBook downloads costing too much? We have good news!

South Brunswick Public Library can provide you with free audiobooks and eBooks. Just visit the library’s web page, www.sbpl.info. Click on the ‘Download Audiobooks . eBooks’ button marked Overdrive.

Here you can read our hints for downloading or take the tutorial for searching ListenNJ powered by Overdrive. You will also learn to select Libraries of Middlesex when you are asked the name of your library. Have your library card number and PIN ready.

Next, click on the ‘Click Here To Download’ link at the top of this page. You will arrive at the ListenNJ Digital Download Site powered by Overdrive. The first time you visit please click on the links under ‘Software Downloads’.

Desktop computers, both Windows and Mac, will need to download Overdrive Media Console for audiobooks and Adobe Digital Editions for eBooks. Adobe will require an free Adobe Digital ID.

Nook users need to download books to a desktop computer first and then drag them to the Nook.

Android, BlackBerry, iPhone/iPad, or Windows Phone 7 can download the Overdrive Media Console software directly to their moble device to download both audiobooks and eBooks. After you have installed the software and downloaded your book it will open in your Overdrive Media Console software.

Please visit the library Information Desk or call 732-329-4000 x 7286 for help with any of this. Enjoy the books!