On March 18, 1915, British and French forces launched an unlucky naval attack on the Ottoman Empire in the Dardanelles, the thin waterway in northwestern Turkey that separates Europe from Asia. The waterway was heavily mined, and even though the British swept the area before launching the attack, they still lost three ships. Two more were severely damaged.

I have a strong personal interest in WWI because my great-grandfather fought in the British Gallipoli Campaign, and he lost two older brothers within a week of one another in the Battle of the Somme.  The First World War always felt like a rushed subject in school, so I never had much interest in it until I found my family’s connection to it through genealogical research. To further my knowledge and learn more about it I used the WWI Nonfiction booklist to highlight some of the books available at KDL that deal with WWI and all the different battles that occurred.

Hey Teens:

Looking for something fun to do over spring break? Then come to the Mario Kart teen video game tournament! It’s on Saturday, April 6, from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at the Cascade Township branch.

Get your gaming skills ready and join us for some intense Mario Kart action! Many will enter, only the best will be crowned champions. This tournament features great prizes and snacks.  Plus former Cascade favorite Kip will be there to host it, so don’t miss out.  Pre-registration is required and participant spots are limited. For teens grades 6-12. Click here to register now. Or register in your local branch or by calling us at 616-784-2007.

I recently watched One Night in Turin, an awesome sport documentary that focuses on the English soccer team during the 1990 World Cup.  It is narrated by actor Gary Oldman and includes match action as well as never before seen footage.

The Barclay’s Premier League is now a world-leading soccer league which attracts interest from foreign investors and spectators from all over the globe. But before the Premier League became the shining star that it is today, English football was in a state of shame, scarred by hooliganism and a struggling national team. That is, until Sir Bobby Robson took charge of the English National team and during the 1990 World Cup in Italy managed to restore the hope of the nation and faith in their national game.

KDL has lots of other great documentaries on DVD; be sure to check out your local branch and see what they have.

Did Santa bring you a new gadget? Not sure how to use your shiny new device? Bring your own eReader or tablet to the library to learn and share tips about your device — everything from apps to eBooks.

Don’t own one yet? Stop in to see how these devices are being used before you buy.

Join us at one of the branches offering
Gadgets – B.Y.O. eReader & Tablet Users Group:

Wednesday, January 2, 2:00–3:00 PM — Plainfield Township
Tuesday, January 8, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM — Cascade Township
Wednesday, January 9, 2:00–3:00 PM — Plainfield Township
Thursday, January 10, 6:00–7:00 PM — East Grand Rapids
Wednesday, January 23, 6:00–7:30 PM — Wyoming
Wednesday, February 27, 6:00–7:30 PM — Wyoming

Tired of the dreary winter weather? Want to research a sunny and warm travel destination to visit? You are in luck; KDL offers many new and updated travel guides and books. Fancy a trip to Cancun or Riviera Maya? What about Northern California or Hawaii? KDL has all-new 2013 books for these destinations.

Another cool travel resource you might want to check out is KDL’s Recommended Sites in Travel. On this webpage you will find all types of recommended sites, from booking tickets with Amtrak and The Rapid to researching different destinations with the Michigan Department of Tourism and Travelocity, plus much more. It’s well worth a browse.

Some people love being outside in the cold and snow – skiing, sledding and ice skating. While I enjoy many of the opportunities winter brings, I also enjoy the chance to stay indoors and try my hand at creating something new or working on a project.

KDL offers lots of great cooking and arts and craft books. One year my special project was to create a box from a craft I found in The Repurposed Library: 33 Craft Projects That Give Old Books New Life by Lisa Occhipinti. I bought a large book from one of the KDL used book sales and, following the instructions, cut out the old pages, bought some wood, which I cut and painted, and then glued it all together. I ended up with a lovely, handmade gift I was able to give to my sister in time for the holidays.

KDL has lots of great Christmas and holiday-themed DVDs, such as A Christmas Carol and The Polar Express.

One of my all-time favorites is A Muppet Family Christmas, in which Fozzie Bear surprises his mother, Emily, on Christmas Eve by bringing the entire Muppet gang to her farm to celebrate the holidays. They sing lots of Christmas songs together, and there is appearance by the Sesame Street gang and Fraggle Rock. Another favorite is the 1988 movie, Scrooged, starring Bill Murray.  This is basically just a modern retelling of the Charles Dickens classic,  A Christmas Carol.

What are your holiday movie favorites?

Mark at the Cascade Township branch recommends The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo.  It’s the story of the two-year-old son of a Southern belle who is adopted by an Austrian archduke and made heir to the Mexican Empire during the French “intervention” in Mexico.

C.M Mayo does an outstanding job of making sense of this complicated episode in history, Mark says. The reader quickly becomes familiar with the many sympathetic and unsympathetic people caught up in these events; and the sights, sounds, and intoxicating smells of Mexico City float right off the page.

I’m sure we are all familiar with the traditional story of the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving in 1621.  The Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony celebrated their successful harvest as was the English tradition.  However, it was a rather close call that the information about the first Thanksgiving made it back to England.

The Governor of the Pilgrims, William Bradford, had sent a letter to Thomas Weston who was the main financer for the Plymouth colony on a ship called Fortune.  The ship also carried 500 pounds worth of lumber, animal pelts, the amended charter for the Plymouth Plantation, letters from the settlers and the letter from Bradford.  Bradford’s letter detailed instructions for future colonists and a sales pitch to attract them.

However, on the return journey the Fortune was captured by French pirates in the English Channel.  While they pilfered the hold of all the goods, they did not take the charter or letters.  One of those letters contained the only account of the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving dinner.  When the letters did make it back to England, they were published in 1622 in a London newspaper, in what is now known as the Mourt’s Relation for the entire world to see.

Wasn’t that fortunate.

I was able to find all this information by locating an article by Frederic Scwarz using KDL’s Reference Resources for History.  I found the article in the InfoTrac U.S. History Collection.

Schwarz, Frederic D. “1621: the first Thanksgiving, sort of.” American Heritage Nov. 1996: 157. US History Collection. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.

With the upcoming holidays and some people traveling long distances to visit family, I thought it would be a good idea to mention the audiobooks available at KDL.  We offer both nonfiction and fiction audiobooks in several formats such as CD, MP3, eAudiobook and Playaway.  On the KDL website you can find a list of recommendations for fiction audiobooks and nonfiction audiobooks, and if you are traveling with your family, you may be interested in the Great Audiobooks for the Whole Family booklist.

I like to get audiobooks for my car ride to and from work.  I just listened to the great audiobook Operation Mincemeat by Ben MacIntyre.  It’s interesting nonfiction that focuses on how British intelligence deceived the Nazis during World War II to make them think the allies were going to invade Greece instead of Italy.