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Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

Countdown begins

Kiss Quotient book cover
#libfaves18

I posted a couple "best of" lists last week. Today starts the 10 day #libfaves18 countdown. Each day for the next ten days library workers across the land will be posting their favorite 2018 titles, one day at a time. They'll use the hashtag #libfaves18 on Twitter so you can follow along. Tallying is happening each day and at the end of the countdown the biggest vote-getters will be posted.

Dec 10, 2018

Make Music!

Cover of Play This Book
A review of Play This Book by Jessica Young

With a musical rhyme scheme, big, bold illustrations, and a colorful cast of children, Play this Book is a fun, energetic read to cozy up with. Little ones are invited to play along with the instruments on each page. Great for toddlers and preschoolers.

Dec 7, 2018

You're gonna say she's all that you adore

Cover of In Pieces
A review of In Pieces by Sally Field

But stay away, Gidget is spoken for! Who knows all of the lyrics to the theme song of Gidget, (Wait 'Til You See) My Gidget?" What about "Who Needs Wings to Fly?" the theme song from The Flying Nun? I do! If you spot me at the Central Library please ask and I'll perform them for you! Just kidding. I will not. But if you want to talk about Sally Field's new memoir, you know where to find me.

We are starting to see best of the year lists and In Pieces is high on mine. What a smart, compelling memoir.

Dec 3, 2018

The concierge is available

Unclaimed Baggage book cover
A review of NPR's Best Books of 2018 by

NPR's Book Concierge is back for 2018 and there are more then 300 titles for you to sort and peruse. You can look at all 319 titles or you can break it down by category. Or if you want to narrow it down even more, pick a couple of categories and see which titles fit your new criteria. There is quite simply something for everyone in this massive catalog. So take a look. Do you want to see which two books work for Art Lovers and Book Clubs? It's possible. How about the Comic/Graphic Novel that is Rather Short? You got it.

Nov 28, 2018

The power of YouTube

Cover of An Absolutely Remarkable T
A review of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

How often are two siblings really good at the same thing? There’s Venus and Serena Williams, Orville and Wilbur Wright, the Bronte sisters... it’s not unheard of, but it’s not super common either. Anyway, after reading An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green, I would definitely add John and Hank Green to the list of talented siblings. I’ve been a John Green fan for a long time and I knew that he and his brother Hank made great YouTube videos, but I didn’t have super high expectations for Hank’s debut novel.

Nov 27, 2018

That these two people found each other is nothing short of a miracle

Cover of The Greatest Love Story Ev
A review of The Greatest Love Story Ever Told: An Oral History by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman

And we're allowed to sit back and enjoy the show. I'm talking about Hollywood's most charming couple, Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman. Their new book, The Greatest Love Story Ever Told: An Oral History shares the story of how they met and what their romance is all about. It's no surprise these two beautiful people met doing something actor-y while living in California. It's what they are all about that is the most fascinating. 

Here are some highlights:

Nov 20, 2018

Secrets and lies (oh and ghosts)

Cover of A Dangerous Collaboration
A review of A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn

Veronica Speedwell and her cantankerous companion Stoker return in their fourth adventure. Veronica is just back in England after a lengthy butterfly hunting trip abroad. She'd been using the time away to try and figure out where her feelings stand in regard to Stoker but still hasn't figured anything out. So an invitation from Stoker's brother, Tiberius, to attend a house party at the estate of Lord Malcolm Romilly, which is on an island off the coast of Cornwall, seems just the ticket to distract her.

Nov 19, 2018

Odd, weird and little indeed

Cover of Odd, Weird, & Little
A review of Odd, Weird, & Little by Patrick Jennings

Odd, weird, and little says it all, when describing the new kid in Woodrow’s classroom. Toulouse is his name, he’s from Quebec, he wears a fancy suit and carries a briefcase, and he speaks French. Woodrow, the book’s narrator and the current odd-man-out at school, is immediately intrigued with Toulouse, but he wonders if it would be worth it befriending this unique and rather owlish new student. Woodrow defends Toulouse against the classroom bullies, and Toulouse helps Woodrow, while simultaneously showing off his exceptional talents, and the two become friends.

Nov 16, 2018

Susan Orlean

Susan Orlean photo
Book Festival Event

At the 2018 Cheryl Rosen Weston Memorial Lecture, Susan Orlean, hailed as a “national treasure” by The Washington Post and the acclaimed bestselling author of Rin Tin Tin and The Orchid Thief, reopens the unsolved mystery of the most catastrophic library fire in American history, and delivers a dazzling love letter to a beloved institution—our libraries.

Nov 12, 2018

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