Literary Links: Summer Reading: Life Is Better in Color

Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2025 by Skyler Froese

The glimmering blue surface of a pool, the verdant ripple of the trees and the ruby-red shine of a snow cone — summer is a reminder that life is better in color. At the Daniel Boone Regional Library, you can read vibrantly with our Summer Reading program; this year’s theme is “Color Our World.”

Summer Reading begins on May 30 and is open to all ages and reading levels. While reading this summer, you can pick up rewards as you finish books and activities. Additionally, readers can enter drawings for bigger prizes. Continue reading “Literary Links: Summer Reading: Life Is Better in Color”

New DVD List: May 2025

Posted on Friday, May 9, 2025 by Decimal Diver

Here is a new DVD list highlighting various titles recently added to the library’s collection.

Anora” – Website / Reviews  
In this Oscar winning romantic comedy-drama, a young woman gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened.

One of Them Days” – Website / Reviews
A comedy where best friends and roommates Dreux (Keke Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA) find themselves in a chaotic situation when they realize Alyssa’s boyfriend has spent their rent money.

Heart Eyes” – Website / Reviews 
A masked psychopath who only kills couples on Valentine’s Day mistakes a cynical ad exec and her hopelessly romantic colleague as a killable couple in this comedic horror film.

Last Breath” – Website / Reviews 
Based on a true story, this dramatic thriller follows the story of seasoned deep-sea divers who battle the raging elements to rescue a crewmate who’s trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface.

The Count of Monte Cristo” – Website / Reviews 
This French language historical adventure based on the novel follows Edmond Dantes, a sailor falsely accused of treason, who plans revenge against those who wrongly accused him.

Continue reading “New DVD List: May 2025”

Social Crafting

Posted on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 by cs

Crafternoons are “social crafting” at its best. In a world that can often feel disconnected, creative activities offer a simple way to bring people together. Social crafting provides a welcoming space to meet new friends and have fun while expressing your creativity.

Beyond the joy of personal creation, crafting in a group enhances the experience by fostering connection and collaboration. The energy in a room full of creative people can be incredibly uplifting and inspiring. Sharing ideas, tips, and techniques with others who share a love forimpressionist painting crafting can spark new projects and expand your skill set. Continue reading “Social Crafting”

Nonfiction Roundup: May 2025

Posted on Monday, May 5, 2025 by Liz

Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in May. All of the mentioned titles are available to put on hold in our catalog and will also be made available via the library’s Overdrive website on the day of publication in eBook and downloadable audiobook format (as available). For a more extensive list of new nonfiction books coming out this month, check our online catalog.

Top Picks

Mark Twain book coverMark Twain” by Ron Chernow (May 13)
Before he was Mark Twain, he was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Born in 1835, the man who would become America’s first, and most influential, literary celebrity spent his childhood dreaming of piloting steamboats on the Mississippi. But when the Civil War interrupted his career on the river, the young Twain went west to the Nevada Territory and accepted a job at a local newspaper, writing dispatches that attracted attention for their brashness and humor. It wasn’t long before the former steamboat pilot from Missouri was recognized across the country for his literary brilliance, writing under a pen name that he would immortalize. In this richly nuanced portrait of Mark Twain, acclaimed biographer Ron Chernow brings his considerable powers to bear on a man who shamelessly sought fame and fortune, and crafted his persona with meticulous care. After establishing himself as a journalist, satirist, and lecturer, he eventually settled in Hartford with his wife and three daughters, where he went on to write “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” He threw himself into the hurly-burly of American culture, and emerged as the nation’s most notable political pundit. At the same time, his madcap business ventures eventually bankrupted him; to economize, Twain and his family spent nine eventful years in exile in Europe. He suffered the death of his wife and two daughters, and the last stage of his life was marked by heartache, political crusades, and eccentric behavior that sometimes obscured darker forces at play. Drawing on Twain’s bountiful archives, including thousands of letters and hundreds of unpublished manuscripts, Chernow masterfully captures the man whose career reflected the country’s westward expansion, industrialization, and foreign wars, and who was the most important white author of his generation to grapple so fully with the legacy of slavery. Today, more than one hundred years after his death, Twain’s writing continues to be read, debated, and quoted. In this brilliant work of scholarship, a moving tribute to the writer’s talent and humanity, Chernow reveals the magnificent and often maddening life of one of the most original characters in American history.

Whack Job book coverWhack Job: A History of Axe Murder” by Rachel McCarthy James (May 13)
Much like the wheel, the boat, and the telephone, the axe is a transformative piece of technology — one that has been with us since prehistory. And just as early humans used the axe to chop down trees, hunt for food, and whittle tools, they also used it to murder. Over time, this particular use has endured: as the axe evolved over centuries to fit the needs of new agricultural, architectural, and social development, so have our lethal uses for it. “Whack Job” is the story of the axe, first as a convenient danger and then an anachronism, as told through the murders it has been employed in throughout history: from the first axe murder nearly half a million years ago, to the brutal harnessing of the axe in warfare, to its use in King Henry VIII’s favorite method of execution, to Lizzie Borden and the birth of modern pop culture. “Whack Job” sheds brilliant light on this familiar implement, this most human of weapons. This is a critical examination of violence, an exploration of how technology shapes human conflict, the cruel and sacred rituals of execution and battle, and the ways humanity fits even the most savage impulses into narratives of the past and present.

Hollywood High book coverHollywood High: A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of Teen Movies” by Bruce Hardy (May 20)
What influence did Francis Ford Coppola have on George Lucas’s American Graffiti? And Lucas on John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood? How does teenage sexuality in Fast Times at Ridgemont High compare to Twilight? Which teen movies pass the Bechdel test? Why is Mean Girls actually the last great teen film of the 20th century? In the same way that Peter Biskind’s Easy Riders, Raging Bulls connects the films of the 1970s to the period’s cultural upheaval, and David Hadju’s Positively 4th Street tells the story of the sixties through the emergence of folk music, Bruce Handy’s “Hollywood High” situates iconic teen movies within their times and reveals the intriguing stories, artists, and passions behind their creation. These films aren’t merely beloved stories; they reflect teens’ growing economic and cultural influence, societal panics, and shifting perceptions of youth in America. Much more than a nostalgia trip, “Hollywood High” is a lively, provocative, and affectionate cultural history, spanning nearly one hundred years. Handy, an acclaimed journalist and critic who spent two decades at Vanity Fair, examines the defining films of each generation and builds connections between them. From the Andy Hardy classics (1937–1946) to the iconic Rebel Without a Cause (1955); Beach Party series (1963–1968); American Graffiti (1973); Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982); the John Hughes touchstones Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1984–1986); Boyz N the Hood (1991); Mean Girls (2004); the Twilight saga (2008–2012); and The Hunger Games series (2012–2015); this is a captivating deep dive into the world of teen movies that captures their sweeping history and influence. We’ll hear from icons James Dean, Annette Funicello, George Lucas, Amy Heckerling, John Hughes, Molly Ringwald, John Singleton, Tina Fey, and Kristen Stewart, and discover why the most timeless teen movies resonate across generations.

More Notable Releases for May

 

Enjoy and Protect Our Migrating Birds

Posted on Friday, May 2, 2025 by MaggieM

A map of the U.S. uses colors to show concentrations of birds expected to migrate on April 28, 2025. the highest concentration is over Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri.
Doppler radar isn’t just for weather. The radar systems pick up anything in the sky, including birds and planes. Researchers at BirdCast use past data and weather reports to predict areas of high migration. Radar also allows them to monitor the number, location and direction of travel of birds in the sky. Credit: BirdCast.info

With its mix of rivers, wetlands, forests and prairies, Missouri plays travel host to a dazzling number and variety of migrating birds. Peak spring migration in Missouri is happening right now, and you can join in on the spectacle by getting outside, looking and listening for birds.

To help you appreciate the number of birds migrating, consider that in just one night, April 27, nearly 52 million birds crossed the state of Missouri, according to
BirdCast
an interactive online tool created by The Cornell Ornithology Lab. BirdCast uses weather radar to detect and study migrating birds. At BirdCast you can track migration activity in your area, sign up for alerts and see forecasts for the next few days. One of the startling things you’ll notice is that most birds migrate at night.

If you want to see (or hear) birds in central Missouri, Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area is teeming with them, especially those dependent on wetlands. Rudolf Bennitt Conservation Area  and Gans Creek Wild Area in Rock Bridge Memorial Park are great places to see forest species. Within Columbia’s city limits you can find a surprising variety of birds in the Grindstone Nature Area. But you don’t even need to go anywhere. Many migrants can be seen outside your door.

There are a number of tools to help you enjoy this annual spectacle. If you’re new to birding (or even if you’re not) the Merlin Bird ID app can help you identify birds by sight or sound. It’s an eye-opening experience to turn on the ‘sound ID’ and see how many kinds of birds are singing in a location.

The Atlas of Bird Migration,” by Jonathan Elphick, has maps and text to illustrate the variety of migration strategies used by different species. Many of our local ruby-throated hummingbirds make a marathon flight over the Gulf of Mexico followed by low-altitude, day-time flights that allow them to eat as they fly. In contrast, snow geese travel mostly at night in the familiar v-shaped flocks at altitudes of 2,000 to 8,000 feet and have been recorded as high as 29,000 feet!

The Audubon Society has compiled years of banding studies and live tracking data to build the Bird Migration Explorer. At this site, you can explore dynamic maps of migration routes for over 200 species.

A satellite image of the U.S. at night. Bright lights show up in urban areas.
Bright lights at night can be disorienting to birds. To protect birds, turn outside lights off at night or provide shielding from above.

All of these migrants need safe places to rest and refuel on their way north. We can take some simple steps to help birds have a safe trip north:

  • Turn off exterior lights at night. Birds use stars to navigate. Lights and reflections confuse them causing disorientation and leading to deadly collisions with buildings and windows.
  • Prevent bird strikes by putting bird-safe films or decals on the outside of windows and turning off bright indoor lights after 11:00 pm.
  • Only use bird feeders or bird baths if you can clean them regularly to prevent the spread of diseases.
  • Make your property an oasis for birds by planting (or keeping) native plants to naturally provide food and shelter for wildlife. Refrain from using insecticides so there will be plenty of insects for birds to eat. Don’t be afraid to let your yard be untidy; fallen leaves and last year’s flower stems provide shelter for insects over the winter.
  • Keep unattended pets inside. Unfortunately, domestic cats kill a lot of birds.
  • Whenever you can, speak up for birds and protect habitat.

For more on birds and migration take a look at this list of books and other resources.

Bikes!

Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 by Beth

I’m excited to be joining DBRL’s Book Bike Team!

Recently a colleague gave me a thorough and informative lesson on how to ride this ebike (pictured below) with its attached trailer. Although I’d never tried an ebike before, I discovered that the ease and speed that it offered were magical. Additionally, this ebike and trailer look simply delightful; festive colorful, tiny lights even frame the tire rims!

DBRL's Book Bike, parked in the lobby of the library Continue reading “Bikes!”

A Hit and a Miss: “Ultramarine” by Mariette Navarro and “Magma” by Thóra Hjörleifsdóttir

Posted on Friday, April 25, 2025 by Karena

One day. Two novellas. One reader. Too much free time. What happens next? A hit and a miss. The hit: the exquisite and absurd “Ultramarine” by Mariette Navarro. The miss: the perhaps noble yet ultimately nauseating “Magma” by Thóra Hjörleifsdóttir. These two fiction debuts have a few things in common. Both came out in the past few years, both are translated works (“Ultramarine” from French and “Magma” from Icelandic), and both take us into the fracturing minds of women. I spent an equal amount of time with them (about an hour each). I picked up “Ultramarine” first.

Ultramarine book cover

Continue reading “A Hit and a Miss: “Ultramarine” by Mariette Navarro and “Magma” by Thóra Hjörleifsdóttir”

The Museum of Whales You Will Never See

Posted on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 by The Biblio-Buckaroo

“The world is chockablock with untold wonders, there for the taking, ready to be uncovered at any moment, if only we keep our eyes open.” So writes A. Kendra Greene in her book, “The Museum of Whales You Will Never See: And Other Excursions to Iceland’s Most Unusual Museums.” The name of the book, alone, is enough to capture someone’s imagination. Having grown up in a big city, I always had access to a number of wonderful museums. There were museums that held art from all different periods, cultures, and countries, as well as museums with dioramas depicting animals I had never seen so closely, or the skeletons of animals from long before humans walked the Earth. Museums can bring history to life by preserving and displaying everyday objects our ancestors used, or priceless historical documents carefully written by the hand of legendary people. At the Smithsonian, I once saw a pair of Dorothy’s ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz.” I was star-struck. It was like I was actually looking at magic shoes. Museums are magical places.

Here is a collection of books about museums, for your perusal:

Museum of Whale You will never see book coverThe Museum Of Whales You Will Never See: And Other Excursions to Iceland’s Most Unusual Museums,” is a funny book. The author’s museum descriptions tell you as much about the people of Iceland as they do about the museums themselves. With a notably high number of museums for the size of the population, there is a wide variety from which to choose. The museums mentioned in the book include the Icelandic Phallological Museum, The Herring Era Museum, The Icelandic Sea Monster Museum and The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft, among others. Reading about some of these museums made me long to see them in person (despite their location in a country that begins with the word “Ice” — brrr). Continue reading “The Museum of Whales You Will Never See”

Put a Personal Spin on Your Camping Adventure

Posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 by Jonya

Where you go camping isn’t always as important as how you go camping. While everyone needs to follow the same rules within our shared natural resources, your personal experiences should feed your soul and make you happy. Think outside the box a bit as you review a few of our books about backpacking, tent camping and glamping. And while all of these contain information, some are also good reads, sharing personal experiences of people who put their own spin on their visit to nature. 

Such as “Every Dog Deserves an Adventure” by Camping With Dogs and L.J. Tracosas. This is an amazing book by an organization that believes “every dog has a story, and our community helps share those stories.” Enjoy stories about dogs going camping with their owners, with many images of those adventures together. It is broken up by seasons and are from all over the country — enjoy the stories! This is a nonfiction cozy read and may entice you to take your pup along on a camping trip. I am not a dog person but can appreciate the enjoyment people get from having their pets with them. Continue reading “Put a Personal Spin on Your Camping Adventure”

Quintessential Comics: Poetry Edition

Posted on Friday, April 18, 2025 by Josh

Hey, there, comic fans! We’re back with another installment of Quintessential Comics! For this edition, we’re focusing on graphic novels that feature poetry alongside illustration as a celebration of Poetry Month! I hope you all can find something in this list that will spark your interest. Let’s give voice to the poets and just jump right in!

Embodied

Let’s start by setting the bar high. “Embodied” is described as “intersectional feminist poetry-in-comics” and is the result of a collaboration between cis female, trans, and non-binary poets and artists. The collection is bound to speak to you in some way as it covers a wide range of topics from the wave of emotions felt during childbirth, to the alienation felt as a result of immigration, to the harassment one can experience in the workplace due to their gender, race or religion. What really shines through in this work is its refusal to avoid the hard conversations and its ability to unite many of us through shared and very human experiences. Continue reading “Quintessential Comics: Poetry Edition”