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Minimalism and Sustainability

This list was created to showcase and examine non-fiction books that feature the minimalist lifestyle. Where in the art world minimalism focuses on simplicity, harmony, and order, the books below represent a cultural shift from high consumerism towards a life of reflection, intention, and utility in every aspect.

Stephen King's It

Evil Laughs in Film

Which villain are you?

DC Public Library’s Evil Laugh Contest is officially underway, and the countdown to our deadline has begun. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick Tock. You have until the stroke of midnight on Friday, Oct. 15 to make a librarian shiver.  

Wild By Cheryl Strayed

Off the Beaten Path

"Nomadland" and similar Nonfiction

These unique nonfiction titles -- and the individuals behind them -- reflect a pattern that has been growing across the United States over the past decade, as seen also on YouTube videos of #vancamping, #vandwelling, and other related trending taglines. Largely memoirs, these titles capture experiences of living out of backpacks, hitchhiking across the U.S., and creating a life that takes place primarily off the beaten path. The books below are popular titles and a couple have even been adapted into films.

Secrets of Podcasting: Audio Blogging for the Masses by Bart G. Farkas

Let Your Voice Be Heard

Start Your Podcast Today!

"There's an app for that!"

Mending Life

Mending Clothes & Ourselves

Inspirational and Instructional Books on Mending

As Elizabeth Cline explores in Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, our overconsumption of textiles is ecologically disastrous, contributes to labor and human rights abuses, and is bad for our souls.

The Homesteader's Natural Chicken Keeping Handbook

Egg-cellent Backyard Chickens

Highly Recommended Books on Raising Chickens

Interest in chicken-keeping and sales of chicks have risen dramatically since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. If you too dream of raising chickens or just want to learn more about what is involved in such an endeavor, the books below can assist and inspire you. One day you may delight in freshly laid eggs, enjoy the company of feathered friends, and achieve greater self-sufficiency.

Spark Joy

Clean your Quarantine Away

Some decluttering books to help you relax

You might be using your time stuck at home to catch up on TV, but maybe now is the time to clean your closet or go through your bookshelf! If you want to clean, but need some help, here are a few experts writing on the subject of clean, happy homes. They will give you the tips, steps and tricks to getting your home in ship-shape by the time you return to your normal routine. 

The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll

7 Books to Up Your Bullet Journal Game

Over the last several years, you may have heard about the concept of “bullet journals.” Developed by Ryder Carroll, these books, which are sort of hybrids of a traditional journal and a planner, are one of the best modern ways of organizing your life and thoughts.

Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution

Post-Carbon Living

Individual, Family & Community Adaptation to Life after Fossil Fuels

The lifestyles of most of us in the industrialized world depend heavily on fossil fuels. Despite its normalcy for many of us, the era of fossil-fueled extravagant living will look like a fleeting moment within a larger view of human history. Formed over half a billion years, fossil fuels are non-renewable, depleting, declining in quality and net energy, and their contribution to climate change, pollution, and other forms of ecological degradation make perpetuity of this way of life impossible. Either we change voluntarily, or let crises increasingly force us to change.

STEAM

STEAM Ahead Into Science!

Each month we will feature a STEAM program at these select locations: Rosedale Neighborhood Library, Southeast Neighborhood Library and Woodridge Neighborhood Library. 

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