We are in a library lull right now. Kids and their parents and teachers are working to wrap up the school year. Librarians are finishing up spring programs, getting ready for another summer reading program in June and July.
This week we will meet to discuss our latest Humboldt Reads! book , Pay It Forward. The next selection, nonfiction this time, is The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less by Terry Ryan. Evelyn Ryan’s story is told by her daughter, Terry. Somehow, just as the family budget would hit crisis point, Mrs. Ryan would write another prize-winning jingle and win just exactly the right prize to keep her family afloat a while longer. Books are available now at the library. Check one out and join us for a lively dinner and book discussion in June.
Since there isn’t much live action in the library these days (but JUST wait until school is out!), I have some new books to share with you:
Miss Julia Delivers the Goods by Ann B. Ross – There is a whole series of Miss Julia books. Each one is more delightful than the last. Miss Julia lost her husband at about retirement age. After his death she discovered he wasn’t quite the man she had thought. Once Julia got over the shock of it all, she sets out to do good works and live life to the fullest.
The Sisters Antipodes by Jane Alison- This is a memoir of just about the craziest sounding childhood I can imagine. Two Foreign Service families, each with two little girls, become friends while living in Australia. Eventually, friendly takes on a whole new meaning and both couples divorce, swap daddies, and remarry. This book is the struggle of the four girls caught in the middle. Oh, my!
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn- If you read Flynn’s Sharp Objects, you know that she is a master of the surprise ending. Look for nothing less in her newest book.
The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women & a Forty-Year Friendship by Jeffery Zaslow. This one has received quite a bit of attention here in Iowa. We women seem to hang on to our friends. It will be an interesting read to hear how these women have stayed friends through marriage, children, divorce, long distance moves, illness and even death.
Columbine by Dave Cullen – We all followed this story as it unfolded ten years ago. After years of interviews and research, Cullen tells the story of the brutality of this crime. This book has received quite a bit of early publicity. Here’s your chance to read it before everyone else is talking about it.
Southern Living Ideas for Great Kids’ Rooms – Someone donated this book to the library. The rooms are the cutest I’ve ever seen….built in beds, beds in lofts and tents, a dresser that incorporates a carousel horse, a choo choo train bed and a closet that resembles a castle. What more could you want?
Do Your Own Home Staging: Sell Your Home Faster, Sell It for More by Tina Parker – This one has a lot of good information for decluttering and depersonalizing your home when you put it on the market. There is a check list for each room in the house.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne – We all ought to read this before we see the movie. It’s the story of two little boys who make friends through the fence at a World War II concentration camp, one inside the camp, the other outside, the son of the camp’s commandant.
Spring brings lots of rainy days. Come on in and be prepared to curl up with a good book from your library.