New and Featured Books for 08/15/2012:

Come and check out these and some of the other new books and materials (or at least new to us) added to our library collection…

FICTION:

The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer

The Temptation Of The Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig

Delicious by Sherry Thomas

The Triumph Of Caesar: A Novel Of Ancient Rome by Steven Saylor

You Are The Love Of My Life by Susan Richards Shreve

By Starlight by Dorothy Garlock

Captain Freedom: A Superhero’s Quest For Truth, Justice, And The Celebrity He So Richly Deserves by G. Xavier Robillard

Sea Of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

NON-FICTION:

It’s A Jungle In There: Inspiring Lessons, Hard-Won Insights, And Other Acts Of Entreprenurial Daring by Seven Schussler with Marvin Karlins

Danger’s Hour: The Story Of The USS Bunker Kill And The Kamikaze Pilot Who Crippled Her by Maxwell Taylor Kennedy

The Day After The Dollar Crashes: A Survival Guide For the Rise Of The New World Order by Damon Vickers

When I Was A Child I Read Books: Essays by Marilynne Robinson

Airport Planning & Management by Alexander T. Wells

Airport Planning & Development Handbook: A Global Survey by Paul Stephen Dempsey

The Crazy Makers: How The Food Industry Is Destroying Our Brains And Harming Out Children by Carol Simontacchi

The New New Deal: The Hidden Story Of Change In The Obama Era by Michael Grunwald

Energy For Future Presidents: The Science Behind The Headlines by Richard A. Muller

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Please note that books mentioned here could be checked out between the time they end up on the blog and when you come to check them out. If you don’t see the items you’re looking for then please come up to the front desk, OR call us, OR send us an email at robinsbaselibrary@gmail.com and  we’ll put your name on the reserve list for when the item returns.

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Previous New/Featured books:

08/09/12.

08/02/12.

07/27/12.

07/18/12.

07/03/12.

Leap Year!

Today is the 29th of February!

It’s an extra day! You have an extra day! Go crazy! With your extra day! That doesn’t happy very often (“every four years” really isn’t what I’d call “very often”). An extra day! Unless, you know, you have to work or go to school or something.

A patron asked us the other day just what exactly is up with Leap Years and Leap Days, and there’s a lot of really complicated explanations out there that can only confuse a person more than anything else.

For example, this is the opening of the Wikipedia article on Leap Day:

February 29, known as a leap day in the Gregorian calendar, is a date that occurs in most years that are evenly divisible by 4, such as 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Years that are evenly divisible by 100 do not contain a leap day, with the exception of years that are evenly divisible by 400, which do contain a leap day; thus 1900 did not contain a leap day while 2000 did. Years containing a leap day are called leap years. February 29 is the 60th day of the Gregorian calendar in such a year, with 306 days remaining until the end of that year.

That makes sense, right? Besides being a little complicated and kind of confusing, right?

Well, the same Wikipedia article also has a fairly easy explanation for Leap Days, which I’ll break down like this: Each day has 24 hours in it, right? A year is the Earth’s annual trip around the sun, right? And each year, as defined by modern calendars, consists of 365 days, right? Well, yes, and also… No.

The annual revolution of our planet around the sun actually takes 365 days and 6 hours to complete. So every four years we take those accumulated extra hours (6 of them with each year), and we add that to the calendar as – ta da! – February 29. It’s something we do just to make sure that the calendar stays fairly accurate to the planet’s journey around the sun.

Also, there’s this:

Also, there’s the whole Julius Caesar angle.

But basically, like I said, it’s kind of an extra day, and one you want to enjoy.

from here.

Just out of curiosity: Any of our patrons or readers out there who were born on Feb. 29? If so, then HAPPY BIRTHDAY! But also, if you don’t mind us asking, how, and also when, do you celebrate your birthday?

And we hope that everyone has a great Leap Day!