I was able to escape the depths of the library last week to attend BookExpo in New York City. Now however, I am back in the basement, so I thought it time for another installment of Reading Recommendations from the Depths. If you missed the first post and the rationale behind these postings you can read about it here.

This week another tasty cart of books wound up in front of my desk. I mean that literally, because one of the books is new from the Food52 recipe exchange. They have published Mighty Salads: 60 New Ways to Turn Salad into Dinner. I have been thinking that I should eat more salad, and my doctor told me a few weeks ago, “Bruce, you should eat more salad [and vegetables].” So, it looks like the stars are aligned for me and this book. And lest you think that these salads are all for vegetarians and rabbit food eaters, rest assured that many of the recipes involve creative uses of various meats, seafood, beans, grains, pasta, and even bread to add some oomph to your salad creation. Try the Grilled Bread, Broccoli Rabe & Summer Squash Salad or the Grilled Steak and Tossed Salsa Verde Salad. Looking through the book, it looks like almost all the ingredients should be pretty easy to find at the neighborhood supermarket or local farmer’s market. And if you like to grow your own veggies, don’t forget that you can now even borrow seeds right from the Patchogue-Medford Library.

If you do wind up puttering around your own backyard garden, the only wildlife you are likely to see on Long Island is the occasional squirrel, bunny rabbit, or stray kitty. However, if one day you do happen to see a very large Godzilla-like creature shambling across your backyard or perhaps want to identify the one destroying Tokyo, then the library has the book for you. The second edition of The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs has arrived. This is an exhaustive guidebook for all you dino-hunters out there, whether armchair or in the field, that has extensive drawings and diagrams, facts and figures on over 750 dinosaur species. For example, on page 224 you can read about Euhelopus zdanskyi, who was over 35 feet tall and weighed more than 3 1/2 tons. He would definitely not be helpful in the tomato patch. I am amazed at just how many dinosaur species there are. The book lists over 100 species discovered in just the past few years since the first edition was published. When I was young I was a dinosaur fan, but back then we only seemed to have brontosaurus, tyranosaurus, stegosaurus, triceratops, and the coolest one for me, the pterodactyl. I don’t know where all the new ones came from!

If your tastes run more toward fun and games why not read It’s All a Game: The History of Board Games from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan. This is a worldwide history of tabletop gaming, and includes everything from checkers, chess, and go to Monopoly, Life, Twister, and Clue. It was always better when Colonel Mustard was the guilty party. The book tells you the behind the scenes stories of the development of your favorite games, some of which were came about in really surprising ways. I’m always up for a good game of Monopoly, and board games seem to be growing in popularity every day. We do have board game nights here at the library and did you also know that we have a growing collection of outdoor games that Patchogue-Medford residents can borrow to use during the summer.