As 2021 winds to a close, you may be making some New Year's Resolutions. If you'd like to learn something new in the new year, MHL can help! In addition to these and other books, we have a number of items from our Library of Things that can help you get started with a new skill, such as:
- An applique kit
- A ghost hunting kit
- A knitting kit
- A metal detector
- A rug-hooking kit
- A sewing machine
- A telescope
- A ukulele
In addition to those things, we also offer free access to a number of online resources that can help build new skills, such as:
- Birds of the World (species information for over 10,000 species of birds)
- Creativebug (over 1000 art and craft video classes)
- LinkedIn Learning (formerly known as Lynda.com, offers thousands of video courses in business, software, technology, and creative skills)
- Mango Languages (language lessons in over 70 languages, including ESL)
- MUZZY Club (interactive learning games and vocabulary lessons for children interested in learning any of the following languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Italian)
- Niche Academy (online tutorials for online resources like social media sites)
(The above resources can be used on MHL's computers or at home access with an MHL library card.)
Below are 25 books on a variety of different skills ranging from the culinary to the crafty to the outdoors and beyond. If you're looking for information on something not listed here, check in at the reference desk, email us at rdesk@mhl.org, or call 978-623-8430. We bet we can help!
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The big book of kombucha : brewing, flavoring, and enjoying the health benefits of fermented tea
by Hannah Crum A complete guide to brewing your own kombucha, a fermented tea with numerous purported health benefits, provides step-by-step instructions and recipes for over 280 flavor combinations and includes information on the drink's history and ways to incorporate it into foods and cocktails. |
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Birding New England : a field guide to the birds of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont
by Randi Minetor Birdwatching is for everyone. No other outdoor pursuit yields so much knowledge of nature's ways with so little effort--if one knows what to look for. Birding New England opens the world of birding to the novice and expert in this complete guide to getting the most out of birding in New England. Birding New England includes sections on birding technology, equipment, identification techniques, birding "by ear," where to view birds, field guides, optics, and other essentials to get birders of all skill levels into the field to identify birds throughout New England. Especially valuable are descriptions of habitat, feeding, nesting, and migration--informing the reader not only about what kind of bird is on the other end of the binoculars, but what it is up to as well. |
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Canning for a new generation : bold, fresh flavors for the modern pantry
by Liana Krissoff This hip, modern handbook is filled with fresh and new ways to preserve nature's bounty throughout the year. Organized by season and illustrated with beautiful photographs, it offers detailed instructions and recipes for making more than 150 canned, pickled, dried, and frozen foods, as well as 50 inventive recipes for dishes using these foods. Basic information on canning techniques and lively sidebars round out this refreshing take on a classic cooking tradition. |
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Clever girl finance : the side hustle guide : build a successful side hustle & increase your income
by Bola Sokunbi Building a side hustle will not only help you increase and diversify your income, but it can accelerate achieving your financial goals . . . if you build it the RIGHT WAY. This book will target women, specifically women of color who are interested in leveraging a side hustle business to increase their income in order to build wealth. It will cover establishing a vision, developing the right mindset, and building the core foundational aspects of what it takes to run a successful business and how to make time, develop the patience, and build a side hustle strategically while minimizing common mistakes. The reader will be guided through each step of building a side hustle and engaged with action steps they can take immediately to start making progress on their vision. |
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The Complete Guide to Pickling : Pickle and Ferment Everything Your Garden or Market Has to Offer
by Julie Laing Master the art of pickling with 125 classic and creative recipes Pickling is the best (and most delicious!) way to preserve all kinds of food, so it's no wonder why it's popular around the world. Whether you're making your first pickle or you have years of experience, The Complete Guide to Pickling is packed with essential information and 125 flavorful recipes, including American classics and international flavors. |
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Container gardening complete : creative projects for growing vegetables and flowers in small spaces
by Jessica Walliser Filled with easy-to-follow, step-by-step directions, photographs and information on more than 125 plants, a book for urban gardeners, indoor gardeners and vegetable gardeners covers container design, troubleshooting, seasonal considerations and more, in a book that includes a list of resources and a separate materials-source list. |
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Craft beer for the homebrewer : recipes from America's top brewmasters
by Michael Agnew A collection of 38 homebrew recipes based on craft beers of various styles from 23 brewers around the United States. Illustrated with color photography. |
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Crochet 101 : a workshop in a book : look, learn & create
by Deborah Burger Beginner's guide to crochet, teaching all the basic techniques through easy projects. |
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Dungeons & Dragons Player's handbook : Everything a Player Needs to Create Heroic Characters for the World's Greatest Roleplaying Game
by James Wyatt A player's handbook for the newest edition of the role-playing game contains rules for character creation and advancement, backgrounds and skills, exploration, equipment, and spells. |
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Easy Creative Lettering : A Step-by-Step Guide to Lettering, Flourishing & More
by Missy Briggs Creative lettering looks fancy, but don't be intimidated-anyone can learn the basic strokes and combine them to make something beautiful! Unleash your artistic side with Easy Creative Lettering, a beginner's guide to the decorative art of hand-drawing letters and numbers. |
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Everybody has a podcast (except you) : a how-to guide from the first family of podcasting
by Justin McElroy The creators of the hit podcasts “My Brother, My Brother and Me” and “The Adventure Zone” draw on firsthand experience to share uproarious advice on the steps needed to make, produce, edit and promote an effective podcast. |
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Fat girls hiking : an inclusive guide to getting outdoors at any size or ability
by Summer Michaud-Skog In the tradition of Workman's Every Body Yoga, we're bringing a proud, plus-sized, body-positive attitude to the world of hiking and outdoor recreation. Summer Michaud-Skog, founder of the Fat Girls Hiking community, offers a book brimming with heartfelt stories, practical advice, personal profiles of FGH community members, and trail reviews. It all serves to spread the Fat Girls Hiking message of inclusivity in the outdoors. Equal parts empowering and impassioned, personal and practical, this book adds an important voice to the conversation about diversity in the outdoors, raising visibility of hikers who have too long been marginalized. As the Fat Girls Hiking motto goes, "Trails Not Scales! |
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Getting started knitting
by Jennifer Worick A beginner's guide to knitting offers a step-by-step tutorial in the techniques of casting on, knitting, purling, increasing and decreasing, and binding off before presenting a series of simple projects--ranging from a ribbed scarf to a cardigan sweater--designed to introduce more advanced stitches, along with tips on yarns, blocking, finishing techniques, and more. |
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Getting Started With Raspberry Pi : Getting to Know the Inexpensive Arm-powered Linux Computer
by Matt Richardson The Raspberry Pi is a credit card-sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. It is a capable little computer which can be used in electronics projects, and for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word processing, browsing the internet, and playing games. It also plays high-definition video. This book takes you step-by-step through many fun and educational possibilities. Take advantage of several preloaded programming languages. Use the Raspberry Pi with Arduino. Create Internet-connected projects. Play with multimedia. With Raspberry Pi, you can do all of this and more. |
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Journal With Purpose : Layout Ideas 101: Over 100 Inspiring Journal Layouts Plus 500 Writing Prompts
by Helen Colebrook Love the idea of journaling but don't know where to start? Terrified of the blank pages in your pristine journal? Never fear, expert Helen Colebrook is here to help you create a functional and beautiful journal! In this ultimate guide, you'll find heaps of tips and tricks to help you on your journey, along with a myriad of inspirational layout suggestions and prompts that will make journaling a fun and rewarding daily habit. |
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Maker dad : lunch box guitars, antigravity jars, and 22 other incredibly cool father-daughter DIY projects
by Mark Frauenfelder As the editor in chief of MAKE magazine, Mark Frauenfelder has spent years combing through DIY books, but he's never been able to find one with geeky projects he can share with his two daughters. Maker Dad is the first DIY book to use cutting-edge (and affordable) technology in appealing projects for fathers and daughters to do together. These crafts and gadgets are both rewarding to make and delightful to play with. What's more, Maker Dad teaches girls lifelong skills--like computer programming, musicality, and how to use basic hand tools--as well as how to be creative problem solvers. |
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Making Candles : 20 Easy Projects for a Relaxing Home
by Sarah Ditchfield Candles still feature prominently in homes today and the making of candles is a therapeutic and enjoyable process for individuals or for groups. In this book, the author presents some key candle-making techniques, and shows the reader how to achieve beautiful and intricate results with just a few key materials--including ice! There are twenty projects to try, of varying levels of difficulty, and even advice at the end of the book for how to wrap and gift your beautiful handmade candle. Making Candles is a simple, accessible yet definitive guide to creating your own pillars, tapers and floating candles. |
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Merchant & Mills sewing book : hand-sewing techniques, machine know-how, tools, notions, projects, patterns
by Carolyn N. K. Denham Introduces basic sewing techniques, discusses fundamental tools and materials, and features fifteen projects that put tailoring skills to the test, including a maker's apron, flight bag, classic shirt, and pillow cushion. |
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Phone photography for everybody : iPhone app techniques -- before & after
by Paul J. Toussaint Explains how to choose and use free and inexpensive iPhone apps to transform unexciting images into works of fine art, with before-and-after images that show the results of using downloaded apps to produce various artistic effects, and provides information on how photographers can promote their fine-art photographs, get their work into galleries, and sell their images in brick-and-mortar establishments and online. |
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Preserving the Japanese way : traditions of salting, fermenting, and pickling for the modern kitchen
by Nancy Singleton Hachisu Collects over one hundred recipes that incorporate Japanese methods of salting, pickling, and fermenting, including such offerings as salted cherry blossoms, fish sauce fried rice, pickled young shallots, and kelp-wicked flounder. |
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Run to the finish : the everyday runner's guide to avoiding injury, ignoring the clock, and loving the run
by Amanda Brooks In her first book, popular runner blogger Amanda Brooks lays out the path to finding greater fulfillment in running for those who consider themselves "middle of the pack runners" -- they're not trying to win Boston (or even qualify for Boston); they just want to get strong and stay injury-free so they can continue to enjoy running. Run to the Finish is not your typical running book. While it is filled with useful strategic training advice throughout, at its core, it is about embracing your place in the middle of the pack with humor and learning to love the run you've got without comparing yourself to other runners. |
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Sketching for the Absolute Beginner
by Peter Cronin Sketching is more than just drawing quickly. It is training your eye and hand to work together, to respond immediately and naturally to the scene before you. If you have ever wanted to sketch, but lacked the confidence to start, this is the book for you. Artist Peter Cronin teaches you how to sketch through simple step-by-step exercises and larger projects, all in a friendly and relaxed manner. |
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The sourdough school : the groundbreaking guide to making gut-friendly bread
by Vanessa Kimbell A sourdough bread cookbook shows how to create a starter from scratch, outlines breadmaking techniques, and provides recipes for many varieties. |
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Ukulele for dummies
by Alistair Wood Presents an introduction to playing the ukulele, discussing such topics as chords, strumming, fingerpicking, and different genres and styles, along with advice on selecting and caring for an instrument. |
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Woodworker's handbook : the beginner's reference to tools, materials, and skills, plus essential projects to make
by Roger Horwood The complete reference handbook for DIY home woodworking, this is an absolute must-have guide for beginners and even experienced craftsmen. Every tool you'll need is laid out with guidance on safety measures, care instructions, and how and when to use it, from gauges and shaping tools to clamps, drills, and more. Every technique you'll use is described and detailed, from constructing to finishing. You'll know what type of woods to use for certain projects, how they cut, and their durability. After learning the crucial fundamentals of woodworking, you'll complete 5 step-by-step projects that are beautiful and useful items for everyday use, ranging from a dining room table to a bedside cabinet. Concise and practical, and useful even for experienced woodworkers, Woodworker's Handbook will help you practice and improve your skills -- and learn new ones! |