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Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors
"The American Book Awards were created to provide recognition for outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community. The purpose of the awards is to recognize literary excellence without limitations or restrictions. There are no categories, no nominees, and therefore no losers. The award winners range from well-known and established writers to under-recognized authors and first works.
This is a beautiful book from an Indigenous author/illustrator collaboration.
Through heartfelt text the author shares the anticipation and joy of a mother waiting for the birth of a child. Through the course of the patient months, the mother gathers meaningful elements form nature to create a medicine bundle for her child. Following the birth, the mother recognizes that the new baby is a medicine bundle for herself and for the community.
Have you ever taken a haunted history tour of the Wisconsin Dells? Options include a haunted trolley, haunted canyon, haunted mansion and ghost boat tours to get you started. Now imagine that the Dells is also home to a family of ghost whisperers whose job it is to help spirits with unfinished business cross over.
In their summer reading poll this year NPR decided to focus on the past decade of science fiction and fantasy writing. They first elicited votes from readers and then had a panel of expert judges curate the final list of 50 titles. The result is about as good as it gets if you're looking for "recommended" reads in these genres.
Poppy and Alex have been best friends since their freshman year at The University of Chicago. They share a ride back to Ohio for summer break and continue to take a trip every summer after for ten years. They visit Vancouver, Nashville, Sanibel Island, Tuscany and many other varied and beautiful places. Then something happens during the tenth trip, a trip to Croatia, and they are no longer on speaking terms. What happened to tear these two apart?
In her latest standalone thriller Stevens uses the true story of murders of indigenous women along Highway 16 (aka the Highway of Tears) in British Columbia as a jumping off point. At the heart of this novel are two young women whose lives entwine and overlap within a dark and violent set of events in the small town of Cold Creek, BC. Hailey McBride is seventeen years old and has just lost her only remaining parent, her dad.
On June 23, 2018 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach departed on what was to be an afternoon of cave exploration. However, due to sudden flooding rains, it became an ordeal for the team, their families, the rescuers and the people of Thailand. This ordeal lasted 17 days. Between the efforts of military members, civilians and volunteers from all over the globe, all 13 team members were rescued. It was a rescue that should not have been successful, but miraculously was.
The Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalists have been announced. The award "celebrates the power of literature to promote peace, social justice, and global understanding." On September 22nd a winner and runner-up in both fiction and nonfiction categories will be announced. The 2021 finalists are:
FICTION
Odessa Jones is an amateur crime investigator from Grovesville, New Jersey whose psychic abilities allow her to read the emotions or "glimmer" of those around her and foretell the future through the scents of spices. This first in a new series introduces "Dessa," a recently widowed caterer and reluctant real estate agent with an extraordinary talent for baking.
Have you ever looked a group picture and wondered what was happening as the shot was captured? Well, Roxane Orgill’s Jazz Day does just that, and more. The photograph Harlem 1958 is now famous for picturing 57 jazz musicians in Harlem on August 12, 1958. Photographer Art Kane called for any and all jazz musicians to gather for the picture and Jazz Day places you in the midst of it all through 21 poems.
