Stuck inside with winter weather knocking at your door? Curl up with a cup of tea and a good book…or a movie…from the Charles County Public Library collection!  

Settling down next to the fire or snuggling under a blanket with a cup of tea is a perfect way to unwind and relax. CCPL has tons of options for indulging yourself. A quick search of our catalog using the word “tea” results in more than 2000 choices!  

Before nestling in, challenge yourself with a few true or false tea facts: 

1. Drinking black tea is likely effective for improving mental alertness. (see Black Tea)
2. Black, green, and oolong tea come from different plants. (see  Green Tea | NCCIH)
3. Tea bags were created accidentally in 1924. (see NATIONAL HOT TEA MONTH -January 2022)
4. Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. (see Tea Fact Sheet)

The first and last statements are true, while the middle two are false.  

Now curl up with your cup of tea and some titles from our collection. Here are a few suggestions to get you started!

Books:

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

This historical fiction title details the history of the tea trade in rural China while following a young woman who courageously challenges the traditions of her culture.  The author weaves several topics into this story, such as mother/daughter relations, identity, social engineering, and international adoption. It’s a great selection for winter reading, and could be followed up with your own tea party themed book discussion with friends.

Care for a few tea snacks while reading, discussing, or watching?  CCPL has a vast selection of cookbooks available for checkout.  Here are a few tea themed cookbooks, complete with tea brewing and baked good recipes, as well as serving ideas:

Tea Time  by Jackie Brooks

Having Tea: Recipes and Table Settings by Tricia Foley

The Official Downton Abbey Afternoon Tea Cookbook

Movies:

As you celebrate and enjoy all things tea, be sure to check out National Tea Day – 7 Great Tea Scenes in Cinema – Movies on Weekends.  The article has embedded clips from each movie.  Take a peek and then click on the links below to place holds and view the movies in their entirety.

Paddington

The Importance of Being Earnest

Mary Poppins

Bronson 

This movie is also available on CCPL’s on-demand streaming video platform, Kanopy, which has thousands of films that are free to watch.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Alice in Wonderland

The Elephant Man 

Ready for an outing?

When cabin fever has you longing for a change of scenery, keep the tea theme flowing with an outing for afternoon tea. Maryland boasts several tea rooms with five star reviews. Locally, tea lovers can enjoy Services – SharaTea with Me in Charlotte Hall and Butterflies and Wishes Teas and Sweets in Chesapeake Beach.  If you don’t mind driving a little further, travel to Twisted Teahouse: HOME in Savage or, my favorite full service tea room, Tea By Two – Bel Air, Maryland in Belair.  

Finally, we are just around the corner!  Visit one of our local branches, Locations & Hours – Charles County Public Library, to explore our collection and take home books and movies to enjoy during National Tea Month.