Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors
New Kid by Jerry Craft is the first graphic novel to win the Newbery Award. Craft also won the Coretta Scott King Author award. He stated in a Publisher’s Weekly article that he wrote books he wished a 10-year-old Jerry Craft could have had that might have made him read at an early age. At that young age, there weren’t any books that were right for him or had a character that looked like him.
Scholastic Audiobooks won the 2020 Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production for the audiobook adaption of Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction. It is fantastic. The audiobook is read by the author, Jarrett Krosoczka, and a full cast that includes friends and family featured in the book, his real-life art teachers, and offsp
Gunslinger Lizbeth Rose lives in what used to be the United States, but after the assassination of FDR in the 1930s Texas and Oklahoma have become a small land of their own known as Texoma. Other parts of the US have been ceded back to Britain (the northeast), Canada (the upper midwest), and the far west the last Tsar to escape Russia. And the rest of the south (not Texas and Oklahoma) is known as Dixie and has reverted to a post-Civil War, reconstruction society in which race relations are very, very bad.
The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, video and audio books for children and young adults, including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards at its Midwinter Meeting and Exhibits in Philadelphia today.
It's the time of year for "best lists" and it can't come at a better time for holiday gift ideas for the readers in your life. First up I'll mention the "best" list I contribute to.
Overdrive has announced the newest addition to its Big Library Read program with the young adult novel I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by debut authors Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal. High school students Lena and Campbell aren’t friends. African American Lena has a plan for the future, a fine boyfriend and a sure sense of herself. Campbell, who is white, just wants to make it through her first year at a new school without incident.
Vincent Musi was a freelance photographer for National Geographic for more than 25 years when he decided to try something different. His son was sixteen years old and growing up quickly and Musi did not want to accept assignments that would take him overseas for long stretches of time during his son's final years of high school. Travel was a basic requirement for National Geographic photographers and Musi wanted to stay close to home. So he built a studio and named it The Unleashed Studio and started capturing the essence of one of my favorite creatures: the dog. This was
I Love Libraries is an initiative of the American Library Association and this month (starting yesterday) they're starting a new program called Libraries Transform Book Pick, a new digital reading program that will connect readers nationwide to the same ebook through us (your public libraries).
This short and thought provoking comic will tug at your heartstrings. It's the first day of school and an introverted girl who wants to be left alone finds an empty seat on the bus. She settles in for a ride of quiet and solitude. This is interrupted by a curious and talkative little boy who keeps pestering her for school supplies. His constant requests and questions wear her down and she finally snaps at him.
My first Joe Abercrombie reads were his Shattered Sea trilogy, so A Little Hatred, introducing his Age of Madness series, is my introduction to the world of Angland (a world created with a cast of characters who are a generation earlier in his First Law series).
Fall is here, school is in full swing and harvest time is now. That means visits to apple orchards, corn mazes and pumpkin patches. Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks is the perfect book to read to celebrate the season.
As a kid I loved the Three Musketeers (book and movies) but as an adult when I revisited the story I found my interest had waned. I think that fading interest comes from the fact that the parts for women just aren't that enthralling and in fact if you think spend any time thinking about it, their treatment by the heroes is pretty bad. That said, there was one female character who always intrigued me. She is the Musketeer's frequent antagonist, Milady de Winter. In Ms. Sullivan's re-imagining we get to experience Milady's story from her point of view.
Every few months I write a book report on the books my mystery book group at Lakeview has discussed. But in thinking about it recently I realized I've neglected to mention (at least recently) all of the other book discussion happenings at the library. Every one of our locations has groups you can join to talk books if you'd like.
It's been a while since I've read such a delightful novel. And not only is this one great and good, I'm thrilled that there are several more books in this young adult series that I can read next. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger is set in the same world as her adult Parasol Protectorate series (a combination steam punk/romance/paranormal series that is also super-fun). This YA entry takes place a number of years earlier and introduces Sophronia Angelina Temminnick.
Gosh, I loved this book. I really, really loved it. I am so happy that it exists. A sincere thank you for the ARC, @KokilaBooks!
I can't imagine any book topping this one for me in 2019. The snappy and shocking title is one of the reasons I love it so much. It's funny, smart, and helpful in a cuddly way, despite the whopper of a title. The authors Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark are the true crime comedy podcast stars of My Favorite Murder and their podcast provides background for the book. True crime is what brought Karen and Georgia together and how and why they have a fabulous book deal.
I used to love to wander through a bookstore and feed my reading need (this on top of checking many stacks of books out of the library). But at some point I stopped buying all those print copies, partially for space reasons, partially because of the changing bookstore landscape and partially because I was reading more and more digitally. So what's my version of strolling through the bookstore aisles? Late in the evening I look for ebook deals online to see if there's anything that catches my fancy (this on top of the library books I check out electronically and read on Libby!).
This is recommended reading in tandem with A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns by Archie Bongiovanni and Tristan Jimerson.
A week or so ago I saw a trailer for a new tv show and as it flashed across the screen in quick shots (as trailers do) it seemed so familiar and I thought, is it? Could it be? Yes it was. Starz has a new show starting at the end of June about one of my favorite fantasy novels, The Rook. I read the book a while ago but I'm re-upping my review to tie it in in with the show to come.
Oh, this is Humor. With a capital "H." Jim Gaffigan is clearly not getting married to a hot dog, as he already has a wife and five small children, and he's not that kind of weirdo, but he really does love the cured meats. Like, loves loves loves the cured meats. Hot dogs. Bologna. Bacon. All sausages, especially bratwurst. I did not think I could laugh more than I did while reading Dad is Fat, Gaffigan's take on parenting all those small children in New York City with a two bedroom, fifth floor walk-up, and here I am, laughing away as I think about Food: A Love Story.
