November 2020
Hello friends, and welcome to another issue of Connect, a newsletter made for YOU. Welp, it’s November, you made it. Are you planning a socially distanced Thanksgiving? If you are, come check out a Thanksgiving cookbook! We’re open, you don’t even need an appointment to see us. Just make sure to mask up first. Until your next visit, please enjoy this newsletter and share it with your friends. Remember you don't need to live in Batavia to subscribe!
Let's Laugh
Create Something
B. O. W. L. S. You use them everyday. They can be decorative. They can be functional. They can be quirky. They can be serious. You can make bowls. Check out these links for fun ways to create them! 
  • From Gathering Beauty: Air dry stamped clay bowls. No kiln. No oven! All you need is air dry clay and some stamps.
  • From Meaning Mama: Kids have too many plastic perler beads? Make them into a bowl!
  • From Because I'm Addicted: Looking for something more rustic? Hot glue yourself a raffia bowl.
  • From Diana Rambles: Having a me party? Whip up some guac to fill your elevated dip and chip bowl! This one is very cool. 
  • From Ideas 2 Live 4: Got a jar of buttons from your nana? Turn them into a bowl!
Learn Something
Want to learn how to cook? Maybe you know how to cook certain things, but you really want tips on making your own pizza dough, cornbread, or poutine. Check out the YouTube channel, Babish Culinary Universe. More specifically, his Basics with Babish playlist. Not only is he a well-informed and great teacher, his video quality and style of filming is interesting and keeps you engaged. Check out some of his videos:
  • As mentioned above, learn everything you need to know about pizza dough, cornbread, or poutine.
  • Ever wanted to take a trip to Los Pollos Hermanos? Learn how to make the chicken and curly fries here.
  • Have kids? Learn how to make the Triple Gooberberry Sunrise from the Spongebob Squarepants Movie here.
Read Something
The National Book Foundation has announced the 2020 National Book Award finalists! How many have you read? If you see one that isn’t linked, that means we don’t physically own it (yet)! Ask a librarian to put it on hold for you. We might even buy it for our collection. You can also check out our digital collections for these titles via eMediaLibrary, Hoopla, and Axis 360.
 
Fiction
  • Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
  • A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet
  • The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
  • Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (our very own adult services librarian, Laura, has reviewed this title! You can watch it here.)
  • Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Nonfiction
  • The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
  • The Dead are Arising: The Live of Malcolm X by Les Payne and Tamara Payne
  • Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory by Claudio Saunt
  • My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shepland
  • How to Make a Slave and Other Essays by Jerald Walker
Poetry
  • A Treatise on Stars by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge
  • Fantasia for the Man in Blue by Tommye Blount
  • DMZ Colony by Don Mee Choi
  • Borderland Apocrypha by Anthony Cody
  • Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalia Diaz
Translated Literature
  • High as the Waters Rise by Anja Kampmann (translated by Anne Posten)
  • The Family Clause by Jonas Hassen Khemiri (translated by Alice Menzies)
  • Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri (translated by Morgan Giles)
  • The Bitch by Pilar Quintana (translated by Lisa Dillman)
  • Minor Detail by Adania Shibli (translated by Elisabeth Jaquette)
Young People’s Literature
  • King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender
  • We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
  • Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh
  • When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson
  • The Way Back by Gavriel Savit
Watch Something: a silly-little Hoopla review
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
 
What to say about Looney Tunes Back in Action? Was it the next Space Jam? Absolutely not. Did it have the legendary Brendan Fraser and hilarious Steve Martin in it? Oh yeah.
 
The movie starts with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck being fired from Warner Brothers. Shocking, right?! Brendan Fraser’s character, DJ Drake, is a wannabe stuntman and son of the famous spy actor Damien Drake. Bugs and Daffy somehow get roped into DJ’s life and they uncover the hidden truth that Damien is an actual spy, and they need to go on a hilarious adventure to search for Damien, who has gone missing, and the mysterious Blue Monkey Diamond. All the while the whole Looney Tunes cast is causing mischief and the wicked mastermind, Mr. Chairman, played by Steve Martin, is mucking everything up, being stereotypically silly and evil. 
 
This movie can be extremely cringy and overall, I wouldn’t say it’s a good movie. But that doesn’t mean I hated it. I actually quite liked it. Any millennial will stand up for early-2000s Brendan Fraser. He was a mega-star! Huge, talented, and attractive. And everyone, regardless of age, will enjoy Steve Martin’s character acting. He plays a living cartoon character in this movie, and he’s quite entertaining. I highly suggest showing this one to your kids, or, if you want to take a nostalgia trip, pop this one on for yourself.
 
Go Somewhere Safely
Here are some options for you to get out of the house this month. As always, the limitations regarding COVID-19 are constantly changing and evolving. Check with each establishment for tickets and information. If your comfort level isn’t quite up to par to leave the house for nonessential activities, THAT’S OKAY. Stay inside, watch a movie, and drink your coffee, I’m right there with you! As always, libraries are providing really great programming for people of all ages virtually. Check out the Batavia events calendar here, and make sure to check surrounding libraries too. We are all in this together.
  • Sugar Skull City: November 1st - 15th all day in Downtown Aurora.
  • Drive Thru Light Show: November 1st & 3rd - 8th, after 7 pm @ Goebbert’s Farm in Pingree Grove.
  • Holiday Open House weekend: Thursday, November 5th - Sunday, November 8th, all day in Downtown Oswego.
  • Family Halloween Movie Drive-In: Friday, November 6th, 7:30 pm @ Chicago Drive-In Theaters in Hoffman Estates.
  • The Rustic Fox Holiday Market: Saturday & Sunday, November 7th & 8th, all day @ The Rustic Fox in North Aurora.
  • Hug a Horse Session: Saturdays in November 7th, 14th, & 21st, 9 am - 1 pm @ Hug a Horse Equestrian Center in St. Charles.
  • Drive-In Movie: Jurassic Park: Friday, November 13th, 7 pm @ Downers Grove Golf Club in Downers Grove.
  • Holiday Pictures with Santa: Saturdays & Sundays, November 14th, 15th, 21st, & 22nd, 10 am - 2:30 pm @ Prestige Creative Markets hoop& Nursery in Bartlett.
  • Virtual Holiday Lights 5K Run/Walk for Mooseheart: Monday, November 16th - Monday, November 30th.
  • Illumination: Tree Lights: Starting Friday, November 20th - January 2021, sundown @ Morton Arboretum in Lisle.
  • Christmas Tree Lane decorating: Saturday, November 21st - Wednesday, November 25th, 9 am - 3:30 pm @ Cosley Zoo in Wheaton.
In Conclusion
Stay happy. Stay healthy. Wash your hands. 
 
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Batavia Public Library
10 S. Batavia Ave.
Batavia, Illinois 60510
630-879-1393

www.bataviapubliclibrary.org/