The Battle Crossing bookmobile stop on Friday, March 20 is canceled due to a mechanical issue.
Let us find your next great read!
Posted on Wednesday, October 2, 2019 by Alyssa
As a student and teacher, I’m not going to lie — the beginning of the school year really puts a damper on the amount of fun reading I get to do. Still, with the help of audiobooks and a long commute, I’m still trucking along. Continue reading “Read Harder 2019: A Novel by a Trans or Nonbinary Author”
Posted on Monday, September 30, 2019 by Reading Addict
The Read Harder Challenge, task #9 is for a book published prior to January 1, 2019, with fewer than 100 reviews on Goodreads. What makes this task hard is that it’s a moving target. But I promise you, it’s easier than you might think to find a book that fits the task. Whether or not you have a Goodreads account, you can find qualifying books that you probably already have on a shelf or a to-read list somewhere and I will show you how to find them. Continue reading “Read Harder 2019: A Book With Fewer Than 100 Reviews on Goodreads”
Posted on Friday, September 27, 2019 by DBRL_Katie
Reenactment isn’t only for the Renaissance Fair. It’s a powerful method of storytelling, particularly when it can elicit authentic reflection by the participants. In the audience, we can learn not only about long-forgotten, suppressed or distorted events but also interpret a character’s ability to confront that past. Check out these documentaries that use reenactment to bring muted narratives to life.
“Who is Dayani Cristal?” (2013)
This documentary seeks to humanize the immigrants who cross the U.S. southern border by retracing the fatal journey of a migrant worker whose body was found in the Sonoran Desert. We see migrants hike through vast landscapes and hitch rides on train tops, all the while the Pima County coroner’s office encounters an unprecedented case load. Continue reading “Who Have You Become?: Docs Using Reenactments”
Posted on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 by Decimal Diver
Jill Orr lives in Columbia, MO, and is the author of the Riley Ellison Mystery Series. The series follows millennial Riley Ellison as she falls into the role of amateur sleuth while balancing her career and love life in the small town of Tuttle Corner, Virginia. The series started off with “The Good Byline,” followed by “The Bad Break,” and the third in the series, “The Ugly Truth,” was just released this summer. I recently emailed some questions to Jill about her books and she was kind enough to take time out of her schedule to write back some answers. Continue reading “Author Interview: Jill Orr”
Posted on Monday, September 23, 2019 by Dana S
Before embarking on task #5, I immediately thought of a few options waiting in my ever-expanding to-read shelf, and quickly I realized there’s no shortage of books to choose from. Given that those in journalism profession are storytellers and many write in some format, it is no surprise that journalist-authored books are everywhere, and are especially prevalent in the nonfiction genres. Thus, many books that fit this task focus on current events, engaging social issues and scandals. Alas, I can only highlight a few! Continue reading “Books by a Journalist or About Journalism: Read Harder 2019”
Posted on Monday, September 23, 2019 by Reading Addict
National Voter Registration Day has been celebrated on the fourth Tuesday of every September since it was first observed in 2012. It falls on September 24 this year. The holiday was established in order to bring awareness to the registration process through a coordinated field campaign so that every voter who wants to vote has that opportunity. Volunteers and organizations all over the country will be out and about to register as many people as possible. According to the National Voter Registration Day website, there were over 800,000 voters registered in a single day nationwide in 2018. One of the stated goals for National Voter Registration Day is for it to be “a day of civic unity … an opportunity to set aside differences and celebrate democracy and the rights and opportunities we all share as Americans.” Continue reading “National Voter Registration Day: September 24”
Posted on Friday, September 20, 2019 by patron reviewer
I found “Never Too Busy to Cure Clutter” to be full of helpful, practical, non-judgmental information, presented in a fun style, and not so prescriptive or rigid that it made me chafe at the idea of it. And the author definitely understands that people are busy and not (probably) interested in taking tons of time to get rid of clutter and organize.
Each part of the house has its own section, and suggestions for things you can do if you have 30 seconds, one minute, five minutes, or 15 minutes, plus longer weekend project ideas. There are a few fun quizzes throughout, to determine things like your suggested closet organizing style (mine is “visual,” even though my actual closet is closer to the “super-organized” description). Though I don’t agree with everything (I’m NOT getting rid of my physical books/media/photo albums in favor of digital versions, though I may weed them), there are a LOT of things in this book I’m going to try. In the intro, the author says to take what you like and leave what you don’t, so I feel like I’m totally in line with that!
Three words that describe this book: practical clutter control
You might want to pick this book up if: You could use some fun tips on keeping your house clean and uncluttered in whatever kind of time you have.
-Debbie
Posted on Wednesday, September 18, 2019 by Chris
Years ago, before I’d donned the monocle and cane, my first post to this web-log was an endorsement of Karen Russell’s novel “Swamplandia!” Months later, officially in my capacity as a recommending gentleman, the monocle and cane still decorative rather than functional, I recommended her short story collections, “Vampires in the Lemon Grove” and “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves.” Years later, now in dire need of all manner of apparatuses to shore up my vision and ambulation, I again recommend Karen Russell’s work. I expect to be recommending her writing long after my mind is uploaded into the “Cloud” and my body is used to nourish whatever fauna survives the fires. But for now I’m still inarguably human, and so rather than cast ineffectual digital whispers into an electronic void, I’ll share my recommendation that you read “Orange World and Other Stories” on DBRL’s blog. Continue reading “The Gentleman Recommends: Karen Russell (Again)”
Posted on Monday, September 16, 2019 by Katherine
Here are a few of the most exciting books being published by first-time authors this September. For a longer list, please visit our catalog.
“Cold Storage” by David Koepp
When Pentagon bioterror operative Roberto Diaz was sent to investigate a suspected biochemical attack, he found something far worse: a highly mutative organism capable of extinction-level destruction. He contained it and buried it in cold storage deep beneath a little-used military repository.
Now, after decades of festering in a forgotten sub-basement, the specimen has found its way out and is on a lethal feeding frenzy. Only Diaz knows how to stop it.
He races across the country to help two unwitting security guards — one an ex-con, the other a single mother. Over one harrowing night, the unlikely trio must figure out how to quarantine this horror again. All they have is luck, fearlessness and a mordant sense of humor. Will that be enough to save all of humanity? Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: September 2019”
Posted on Friday, September 13, 2019 by Ida
If you haven’t finished all of your 2019 Read Harder challenges, relax. There’s still a lot of year left. Task 24, a book of poetry published since 2014, is a quick and easy one to knock off the list. I read a lot of poetry, so I can recommend a few books I’ve enjoyed.
“Rangoli” by Pavana Reddy can be a double dipper for the challenge. It also counts as an #ownvoices book set in Oceania. Reddy makes compact use of language in this collection of interconnected poems. Some are micro-poems, only three or four lines. But each has its place in the whole. She reflects on immigration, race, and the struggle women face in being heard. Continue reading “Read Harder 2019: A Collection of Poetry Published Since 2014”
Let us find your next great read!
