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Book and activity ideas for all ages.

  • Staff Review: Mechanic Shop Femme’s Guide to Car Ownership by Chaya Milchtein

    As long as I’ve been driving, I have been locked in a struggle with my car. My beaters have stalled out, erupted coolant, leaked, squealed and haunted my nightmares. I’ll admit, the ceaseless cycle of break downs broke me down to the point I became apathetic to my car. Right now, on the precipice of … Read more

  • Substack! The Social Media App for Writers and Creatives

    While there are many social media platforms available to us, today, I would like to sing praises of Substack, a company that believes “the internet’s powers for good could be realized if they were tied to a business model that produces better incentives…” than other platforms. For me, those incentives include conversations from bestselling authors … Read more

  • First Thursday Book Discussion: “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store”

    For the First Thursday Book Discussion this March, step into the Chicken Hill neighborhood, circa 1925, where African Americans and European immigrants struggle to find or keep their place in our still-young nation. In the vein of Zora Neale Hurston, “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Story” captures a rarely documented view of early 20th century … Read more

  • Black History Month 2025: African Americans and Labor

    The 2025 Black History Month theme is exciting and wide-sweeping! This theme “focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds — free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary — intersect with the collective experiences of Black people.” The theme is particularly appropriate, since 2025 celebrates the centennial anniversary … Read more

  • Your Ticket to Love Trope

    Every genre has its tropes, or a commonly used theme or device. Fantasy has the “chosen one” or “lost royalty” and horror/thrillers have the “haunted house” and the “final girl” trope. Part of why tropes are used so routinely is that there is comfort in knowing how the story will probably play out, especially in … Read more

  • Literary Links: Exploring Short Stories

    This past November, The Atlantic released an alarming article about elite college freshmen who lack the ability to read books. It turns out that many students have never received an assignment to read an entire book in their middle and high schools, but rather have studied excerpts, poems and articles. Concerned educators have cited several … Read more

  • February 9: National Pizza Day

    Sunday, February 9 marks a special day. In 1964 on February 9 the Beatles made their first appearance on live American television on the Ed Sullivan show. President William Henry Harrison was born that day. Super Bowl Sunday falls on February 9 this year.  Most importantly: it’s National Pizza Day. Pizza is one of the … Read more

  • February 2025 LibraryReads

    February brings another edition of LibraryReads, also known as: new books that library folk love! Of course, with it being February, we’ve got a fair amount of romance. But if you’re not much of a romance reader, fear not! There are also some murder mystery, historical and speculative fictions, and phycological suspense. “First-Time Caller” by … Read more

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