September 2018 – Sue's Audio Books

When the Dew Falls

Nature & Science audiobooks, librivox, nature

Above: Rain Drops on a Funnel Spider’s Web, My Photo, August 16, 2018

Jean May Thompson (1865-?)

Water Wonders Every Child Should Know: Little Studies of Dew, Frost, Snow, Ice, and Rain (1907)

Illustrated with Photographs by Wilson A. Bentley (1865-1931)

I read a selection from this delightful children’s science book for the 59th Volume of the Nonfiction Collection. The CD cover I designed for the collection is adapted from a photo I took on May 23, 2018 of a dew covered spider web in our local forest preserve. What fascinated me about this particular web was the ladder-like structure visible on the left hand side of the web.

Water Wonders was a collaborative effort between Jean Thompson and pioneering micro-photographer Wilson A. Bentley (1865-1931), who was the first known photographer of snowflakes. Their book is filled wonderful close-ups of dew drops, ice crystals, and the like, which attest to Bentley’s impressive camera skills

Frost patterns, photos from Water Wonders by Wilson Bentley

An article by Bentley from a 1922 issue of Popular Mechanics describing how he photographed snowflakes was read for the 56th volume of the Nonfiction Collection.

A snowflake from Water Wonders

You can access an on-line copy of Water Wonders here.

You might like these readings:

Icebergs and Feathers

Lichen Dyes

On the Point of a Small Sharp Needle

Cochineal Red

Nature & Science audiobooks, cochineal, librivox, nature, nonfiction collection, painting

Above: Samples of Cochineal Dye from Old Dyeing Manuals

“The cochineal insect, Dactylopius coccus, may justly be called the most celebrated of all the scale insects. Cochineal is essentially parasitic upon the prickly pear… A native of Mexico, it was known and utilized by the Aztecs before America was discovered by Europeans… When the Spaniards conquered Mexico they recognized that the cochineal industry would be a source of wealth, and they at once tried to establish a monopoly, punishing with death anyone detected attempting to take the female insects out of the country.” Charles Aubrey Ealand.

I read a short selection about the cochineal industry from C.A. Ealand’s book, Insects and Man, for the 58th volume of the LibriVox Short Nonfiction Collection. You can access a print copy of Insects and Man here.

Aniline dyes put an end to the widespread use of cochineal in the textile industry. That is a shame, as cochineal dyes produced a full range of beautiful reds. A wonderfully illustrated monograph, Cochineal Red: The Art History of a Color, written by Elena Phipps and published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, explores the many uses of this insect based dye. Another good source to explore are the old manuals for dyeing calico and silk, which are available on-line through the Linda Hall Science, Engineering, and Technology Library

For more about insects:

Communal Life of Wasps

A bumble bee and a sweat bee on a single dandelion

October 22, 2017

Native Bees

Unexpected House Guests

Winter Butterflies

Ye Knights of Ye 13th Car

Odd Bits & Tangents audiobooks, librivox, Ruth Sanders

Above: Some people think #13 is lucky

Ruth Sanders, Motor Age, September 13, 1917

I read this selection in honor of the 13th anniversary of LibriVox. It’s a lively piece written by a female journalist, Ruth Sanders, for the magazine Motor Age, on September 13, 1917. Sanders interviewed car owners from virtually all the states who had chosen, in the style of today’s vanity plates, the number “13” for their license plate. It seems a lot of people thought “13” was their lucky number. The reasons given were varied. A certain Quinn J.Thomas of Highland Park, Michigan, told Sanders that his car had run “8644 miles and has the original tires. The front right tire went 8244 miles without a puncture and the left 8644.” George C. Gilman from Denver, Colorado, had similar luck with his “13.” Gil “did not spend a cent on his car for 6500 miles and then only $2.15 for a bearing he forgot to oil.” Better yet, “He has not been pinched this year for violating city ordinances.”

You can listen to my recording here:

I’ve been the book coordinator and cover artist for the 11th, 12th, and 13th LibriVox Anniversary Collections. The 11th anniversary yielded some particularly weird reads.

11th Anniversary (2016)

12th Anniversary (2017)

13th Anniversary (2018)

As to the “creative origins” of the 13th anniversary cover–last February (2018), we, in the Midwest, were slogging through the remains of a cold snowy winter.. One evening I happened to see a bright moon peeking through the leafless trees outside my house, the light from which was reflected off the snow. Thinking the scene might make a nice picture, I grabbed my cell phone and went outside. The results were not exactly what I’d hoped for! However. I tried another shot, and this time my camera captured the lights from a car driving up our street in slow motion. This was the photo that became the anniversary cover!

Monthly Archives: September 2018