Oprah’s Latest Book Club Pick: From Here to the Great Unknown

Join Simply Held to have certain celebrity book club picks automatically put on hold for you: Reese Witherspoon, Jenna Bush Hager, and Oprah Winfrey. While Reese and Jenna generally announce a new title each month, Oprah’s selections are more sporadic. Reminder that if you join Simply Held, you can choose to have these titles automatically put on hold for you.

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Oprah Winfrey latest selection is From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough.

Curious what From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

Born to an American myth and raised in the wilds of Graceland, Lisa Marie Presley tells her whole story for the first time in this raw, riveting, one-of-a-kind memoir faithfully completed by her daughter, Riley Keough.

In 2022, Lisa Marie Presley asked her daughter to help finally finish her long-gestating memoir.

A month later, Lisa Marie was dead, and the world would never know her story in her own words, never know the passionate, joyful, caring, and complicated woman that Riley loved and now grieved.

Riley got the tapes that her mother had recorded for the book, lay in her bed, and listened as Lisa Marie told story after story about smashing golf carts together in the yards of Graceland, about the unconditional love she felt from her father, about being upstairs, just the two of them. About getting dragged screaming out of the bathroom as she ran toward his body on the floor. About living in Los Angeles with her mother, getting sent to school after school, always kicked out, always in trouble. About her singular, lifelong relationship with Danny Keough, about being married to Michael Jackson, what they had in common. About motherhood. About deep addiction. About ever-present grief. Riley knew she had to fulfill her mother’s wish to reveal these memories, incandescent and painful, to the world.

To make her mother known.

This extraordinary book is written in both Lisa Marie’s and Riley’s voices, a mother and daughter communicating—from this world to the one beyond—as they try to heal each other. Profoundly moving and deeply revealing, From Here to the Great Unknown is a book like no other—the last words of the only child of an American icon. – Random House

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Join Simply Held to have Oprah, Jenna, and Reese’s adult selections automatically put on hold for you!

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

“You couldn’t question it, or take it for granted. You had to be grateful. Because what had been given to you could just as easily be taken away.”
― Sally Hepworth, Darling Girls

Norah, Jessica, and Alicia may not be blood related, but they are sisters in every other sense of the word. The three women met when they were each placed separately with Miss Fairchild, their foster mother, at a gorgeous and idyllic farming estate called Wild Meadows. Each girl was rescued from a different family tragedy and told how lucky they were to be brought to Miss Fairchild. They hoped for a second chance at a happy family life, but Miss Fairchild had other plans.

Miss Fairchild may have greeted them with positive hopeful intentions, but their childhoods slowly morphed into something for which the three girls were unprepared. Their hopeful fairy tale shattered into pieces when Miss Fairchild revealed her not-so-nice side. Crossing Miss Fairchild by not following her rules or for any unpredictable reason could land the girls in major trouble.

The girls, desperate to escape, search for a way to save themselves. Once they are able to run away from Miss Fairchild, they are hopeful that they will never have to see her or visit Wild Meadows again. Their hopes are dashed when, as adults, they receive phone calls from detectives alerting them that a body had been found under the Wild Meadows house. Jessica, Norah, and Alicia are called back, but be it as victims or suspects is still up for debate. Returning as adults isn’t easy for the sisters. Long-held secrets are drudged up as the three work through issues from their past and their present in an attempt to solve this new crime.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth had me hooked from the beginning. Set in Australia, Hepworth breaths life into her characters and surroundings with compelling narratives and well-written dialogue. Just when you think you have the story figured out, she throws in twists and turns that push you in a completely different direction. What really drew me in was the deep connection between Jessica, Norah, and Alicia and how that bond was unbreakable. Hepworth doesn’t hesitate to discuss how childhood traumas can affect adults, even taking time to discuss the nitty gritty of the traumas they suffered.

This title is also available in Playaway audiobook, large print, and CD audiobook.

Fall Festival Romance Reads

Fall festivals are a popular way for communities to come together and celebrate the changing of the seasons with food, music, and fun. For the heroines of these romances, the festival in their small town also leads to love! Descriptions from the publishers.

The Hollywood Jinx by Sariah Wilson

The small town of Patience needs a financial boost. Temporary librarian and aspiring film-score composer Jane Wagner’s plan? Invite movie star Nick Haddon to the town’s harvest festival and stand back for the tourist surge. No one thought he’d say yes — much less that he’d bring a documentary crew to stream his visit. Patience is the perfect stopover on Nick’s journey of self-improvement and his chance to put good karma out in the universe. Spending time with a lovely guide like Jane is a bonus. Jane is falling hard. But she can’t ignore the differences between them. He’s famous. She isn’t. He’s here for two weeks. This is her home. Where can it possibly lead? 


The Inn on Sweetbriar Lane by Jeannie Chin

June Wu’s family inn desperately needs guests, her mother’s medical debts are piling up, and the surly, if sexy, stranger next door is driving away the customers she has left! When he asks for June’s help, though, she can’t say no. After all, his new bar could be just what the upcoming Pumpkin Festival needs to bring in more tourists. Ex-soldier Clay Hawthorne is opening the bar in memory of his fallen friend. June soon becomes his biggest supporter, and while their partnership is supposed to be only temporary, for the first time Clay wants something permanent. Can two opposites really learn to meet each other in the middle? With the fierce attraction between them, will working together be playing with fire? 


The Nearness of You by Dorothy Garlock

Lily Denton dreams about the people and excitement of New York City. But ever since her mother died, her overprotective father won’t ease up on her. She spends her days working at the library and her nights hoping life doesn’t pass her by. At the Fall Festival, tourists fill the streets and the crisp autumn air sneaks in. Professional photographer Boone Tatum’s penchant for trouble is exactly what landed him in this small town in the first place. Yet the moment he meets beautiful Lily and snaps her photograph, everything changes. Lily and Boone’s dream of a life together is thrown into peril — unless Lily finds the courage to stand up for herself and a man she only just met.

October’s Celebrity Book Club Picks

It’s a new month which means that Jenna Bush Hager and Reese Witherspoon have picked new books for their book clubs! Reminder that if you join Simply Held, you can choose to have their selections automatically put on hold for you.

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Jenna Bush Hager has selected The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich for her October pick.

Curious what The Mighty Red is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

History is a flood. The mighty red . . .

In Argus, North Dakota, a collection of people revolve around a fraught wedding.

Gary Geist, a terrified young man set to inherit two farms, is desperate to marry Kismet Poe, an impulsive, lapsed Goth who can’t read her future but seems to resolve his.

Hugo, a gentle red-haired, home-schooled giant, is also in love with Kismet. He’s determined to steal her and is eager to be a home wrecker.

Kismet’s mother, Crystal, hauls sugar beets for Gary’s family, and on her nightly runs, tunes into the darkness of late-night radio, sees visions of guardian angels, and worries for the future, her daughter’s and her own.

Human time, deep time, Red River time, the half-life of herbicides and pesticides, and the elegance of time represented in fracking core samples from unimaginable depths, is set against the speed of climate change, the depletion of natural resources, and the sudden economic meltdown of 2008-2009. How much does a dress cost? A used car? A package of cinnamon rolls? Can you see the shape of your soul in the everchanging clouds? Your personal salvation in the giant expanse of sky? These are the questions the people of the Red River Valley of the North wrestle with every day.

The Mighty Red is a novel of tender humor, disturbance, and hallucinatory mourning. It is about on-the-job pains and immeasurable satisfactions, a turbulent landscape, and eating the native weeds growing in your backyard. It is about ordinary people who dream, grow up, fall in love, struggle, endure tragedy, carry bitter secrets; men and women both complicated and contradictory, flawed and decent, lonely and hopeful. It is about a starkly beautiful prairie community whose members must cope with devastating consequences as powerful forces upend them. As with every book this great modern master writes, The Mighty Red is about our tattered bond with the earth, and about love in all of its absurdity and splendor. – Harper

This title is also available in large print.

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Reese Witherspoon has selected Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown for her October pick.

Curious what Society of Lies is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

How far would you go to belong?

Maya has returned to Princeton for her college reunion—it’s been a decade since she graduated, and she is looking forward to seeing old faces and reminiscing about her time there. This visit is special because Maya will also be attending the graduation of her little sister, Naomi.

But what should have been a dream weekend becomes Maya’s worst nightmare when she receives the news that Naomi is dead. The police are calling it an accident, but Maya suspects that there is more to the story than they are letting on.

As Maya pieces together what happened in the months leading up to her sister’s death, she begins to realize how much Naomi hid from her. Despite Maya’s warnings, Naomi had joined Sterling Club, the most exclusive social club on campus—the same one Maya belonged to. And if she had to guess, Naomi was likely tapped for the secret society within it.

The more Maya uncovers, the more terrified she becomes that Naomi’s decision to follow in her footsteps might have been what got her killed. Because Maya’s time at Princeton wasn’t as wonderful as she’d always made it seem—after all, her sister wasn’t the first young woman to turn up dead. Now every clue is leading Maya back to the past . . . and to the secret she’s kept all these years. – Bantam

This title is also available in large print.

Join Simply Held to have Oprah, Jenna, and Reese’s adult selections automatically put on hold for you!

CELEBRATE BLACK POETRY

In 1970, folk musician Stanley A. Ransom proposed that October 17th each year be set aside as a national day to celebrate black literature and culture. He selected this day in commemoration of the birthday of Jupiter Hammon in 1711. Hammon is popularly known as the father of African American literature and was the first published black poet in the United States. Black Poetry Day, established in his honor, is a day to recognize the contributions to literature of past and present black poets and writers and to celebrate the black experience, particularly as expressed through poetry.

Jupiter Hammon was born into slavery in New York and served four generations of the Henry Lloyd estate owners during his lifetime, including during the Revolutionary War. He was never emancipated. Despite his circumstances, which he actually considered to give him “more advantages and privileges” [1] than most other slaves and “more than many white people have enjoyed” [1], he become a well-respected preacher and bookkeeper-clerk.  His work about slavery received wide circulation. His first poem “An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries” was published in 1761. Hammon’s second published poem came about by his recognition of the need to support and encourage other black writers at a time when they did not receive the same kind of support as whites. “An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley”, was written by Hammon as an encouragement to Miss Wheatley in admiration of her work as the first published black female author. Hammon’s work drew heavily on Christian motifs and theology, serving as an encouragement to his fellow slaves to persevere.

Black poetry does not have to be about slavery, segregation, or the equal rights movement. However, it is often linked to the experiences of African Americans and their history in America which is tied inextricably to their race. Use these books as a jumping off point to explore, appreciate, and celebrate the contributions African-American poets have made (and continue to make) to the richness of American poetry.

The 100 best African American poems) edited by Nikki Giovanni
The Oxford anthology of African-American poetry edited by Arnold Rampersad
Poemhood, our black revival : history, folklore & the Black experience: a young adult poetry anthology edited by Amber McBride, Taylor Byas, and Erica Martin
Black liturgies : prayers, poems, and meditations for staying human by Cole Arthur Riley
This is the honey : an anthology of contemporary Black poets edited by Kwame Alexander

[1] BlackPast, B. (2012, March 15). (1787) Jupiter Hammon, “An Address to the Negroes in the State of New York”. BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1787-jupiter-hammon-address-negroes-state-new-york/

September QCL Wrap-Up

In August, Morgan and I read White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson in honor of Friday the 13th. Below is a short synopsis of the book and what I thought of it! 

Marigold’s mom gets a chance in a lifetime sending her blended family from California to the Midwest. Once arriving, to their new home, the town is not what the family had expected. Their new home is the only inhabited home in their neighborhood and the rest look as if they had been set ablaze and abandoned for years.

Marigold begins noticing weird things about her house and the whispers from her classmates sends her searching for answers!

I jumped feet first out of my comfort zone to read this and am so glad that I did! Jackson does an amazing job writing about tough topics spinning a web that untangles at the end. I don’t ever read horror but really, really liked this one!


Morgan and I have a very exciting lineup of book options for October, below are our 4 options including our winning title! Feel free to check them out from Davenport Public Library! 

Two doors, one yellow, one red. The Switch by Beth O’Leary (In Honor of International Day of the Elderly on October 1st) 

“Leena is too young to feel stuck. Eileen is too old to start over. It’s time for the switch. Ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, Leena escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some overdue rest. Newly single and about to turn 80, Eileen would like a second chance at love. But her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen. So Leena proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love and Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire. But with a rabble of unruly OAPs to contend with, as well as the annoyingly perfect – and distractingly handsome – local schoolteacher, Leena learns that switching lives isn’t straightforward. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours and with the online dating scene. But is her perfect match nearer to home than she first thought? – provided by our catalog 

Woman dropping a bouquet of flowers out of a window near a man. You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle (In Honor of Evaluate Your Life Day on October 19th) 

“For fans of The Hating Game, a debut lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy about two unhappily engaged people each trying to force the other to end the relationship–and falling back in love in the process.– provided by our catalog 

 

 

 

Woman holding a fork, a man holding a plate of food. For Butter or Worse by Erin La Rosa (In Honor of International Chef’s Day on October 20th) 

“They go together like water and oil… All chef Nina Lyon wants is to make a name for herself in the culinary world and inspire young women everywhere to do the same. For too long, she’s been held back and underestimated by the male-dominated sphere of professional kitchens, and she’s had enough. Now, as co-host of the competitive reality TV series The Next Cooking Champ!, she finally has a real shot at being top tier in the foodie scene. Too bad her co-host happens to be Hollywood’s smarmiest jerk. Restaurateur Leo O’Donnell never means to get under Nina’s skin. It just seems to happen, especially when the cameras are rolling. It’s part of the anxiety and stress he has come to know all too well in this line of work. So nothing prepares him for the fallout after he takes one joke a smidge too far and Nina up and quits–on live TV. To make matters worse, the two are caught in what looks like a compromising situation by the paparazzi…and fans of the show go absolutely nuts. Turns out, a “secret romance” between Nina and Leo may just be what their careers need most. Now all they have to do is play along, without killing each other…and without catching feelings. Easy as artisanal shepherd’s pie. Right?” – provided by Goodreads.com 

Puritan woman facing away with a white cap and red dress. **October Book Club Book** Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian (In Honor of Halloween and Spooky Season)  

“From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of ‘The Flight Attendant,’ the enthralling story of a young Puritan woman who marries the wrong man and soon finds herself caught up in the violence and hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. – provided by our catalog 

 

 

 


If you are interested in any of these titles, or have read them, I want to talk about them! Please consider leaving a comment!  

Want to converse with other QCL Book Club followers? Consider joining our Goodreads Group!  

You can also access our recorded interviews by visiting the QCL Book Club Page! 

New Mental Health Books

If you’re looking for nonfiction books that discuss mental health, start with this list! Here we have gathered a list of nonfiction mental health books that are new to the Davenport Public Library shelves. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you are looking for more titles on this subject.

These titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. Descriptions have been provided by the publisher.

All in Her Head: How Gender Bias Harms Women’s Mental Health by Misty Pratt

This provocative, deeply personal book explores how women experience mental health care differently than men—and lays out how the system must change for women to flourish.

Why are so many women feeling anxious, stressed out, and depressed, and why are they not getting the help they need? Over the past decade, mood disorders have skyrocketed among women, who are twice as likely to be diagnosed as men. Yet in a healthcare system steeped in gender bias, women’s complaints are often dismissed, their normal emotions are pathologized, and treatments routinely fail to address the root causes of their distress. Women living at the crossroads of racial, economic, and other identities face additional barriers. How can we pinpoint what’s wrong with women’s mental health, and what needs to change?

In All in Her Head, science writer Misty Pratt embarks on a crucial investigation, painting a picture of a system that is failing women on multiple levels. Pratt, who shares her own history of mental illness, explores the stereotypes that have shaped how we understand and treat women’s distress, from the Ancient Greek concept of “hysteria” to today’s self-help solutions. Weaving together science and women’s personal stories, All in Her Head debunks mental health myths and challenges misconceptions, addressing the following questions:

  • When did normal emotions become symptoms of a disorder?
  • What are specific risk factors for common mental disorders that disproportionately affect women?
  • How did “burnout” become a women’s disease?
  • What can we do to make peace with our moods and embrace the gifts of our emotions?

Pratt also tackles the thorny topic of medication, taking a nuanced and evidence-based approach. Women who present at their doctor’s office with depression, anxiety, or stress are often prescribed antidepressants as a first-line treatment: at least one in four American women are now taking these medications. Antidepressants have a real effect that can be helpful for some individuals; however, Pratt persuasively argues that our current approach ignores the underlying causes of most women’s depressive symptoms.

Today, a rising movement of women is demanding better when it comes to mental health treatment. Armed with the latest science, insight from those who have been through the therapeutic system, and enough humor to lighten the load, All in Her Head provides women with hope and courage to reframe and reclaim their mental health. – Greystone books


Devout: A Memoir of Doubt by Anna Gazmarian

In this revelatory memoir, Anna Gazmarian tells the story of how her evangelical upbringing in North Carolina failed to help her understand the mental health diagnosis she received, and the work she had to do to find proper medical treatment while also maintaining her faith.

When Anna is diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2011, she’s faced with a conundrum: while the diagnosis provides clarity about her manic and depressive episodes, she must confront the stigma that her evangelical community attaches to her condition. Over the course of ten years, we follow Anna on her journey to reframe her understanding of mental health to expand the limits of what her religious practice can offer.

In Devout: A Memoir of Doubt, Anna shows that pursuing our emotional health and our spiritual well-being is one single mission and, in both cases, an act of faith. – Simon & Schuster


Give Me Space But Don’t Go Far: My Unlikely Friendship with Anxiety by Haley Weaver

A tender, funny, illustrated memoir about anxiety and self-acceptance from the artist behind @haleydrewthis

Anxiety has been glued to Haley Weaver’s side since she was a child. Like most people, Weaver saw the constant what-ifs and worst-case scenarios that Anxiety whispered in her ear as an obstacle to her happiness. Maybe she could dump her anxiety at her therapist’s office, or send it on a trip far, far away—anything to get rid of it for good. But over time she realized anxiety’s true intention: to keep her safe. Could she learn to let it do its job but also figure out how to live without constant worry and fear?

This full-color, illustrated memoir stars Haley and Anxiety (as themselves) and showcases their complicated but ultimately uplifting relationship. It also introduces readers to the helpful (and not-so-helpful) coping mechanisms Haley relies on to soften the edges of her mental health issues. There’s the Distractor, who wears a bright red boa and encourages Haley to avoid uncomfortable feelings by scrolling the Internet, the Liar, who teaches Haley the pillars of a good fib in order to survive at the middle school lunch table, and even the Partier, who gives Haley a social life in college but also lands her in the ER. From detailing her first unsupervised birthday party as a preteen to exploring the overwhelming life transitions as an adult, Give Me Space but Don’t Go Far brings to life the pivotal moments of Haley’s life and illuminates the lesson she’s learned: With care, practice, and sound strategies, we can learn to coexist with our anxiety—and maybe even love it. – Avery


How to Find a Four-Leaf Clover: What Autism Can Teach Us about Difference, Connection, and Belonging by Jodi Rodgers

A powerfully moving read from beloved Love on the Spectrum star and disability rights advocate Jodi Rodgers, sharing lessons from her work within the autistic community that can help create a more inclusive society for us all.

In How to Find a Four-Leaf Clover, Jodi Rodgers gives us inspiring, heartwarming stories from her years of experience as a teacher and counselor supporting autistic people. While acknowledging our differences, these stories invite us to expand our empathy and compassion for the neurodivergent people in our lives. Throughout, Rodgers explores the powerful impact of embracing neurodiversity and forming meaningful connections with those around us. Each chapter highlights a different story and an aspect of human behavior, including:

  • How we perceive the world, and our own unique experience of thinking, sensing, and feeling
  • How we communicate our perspective to others, understand one another, and express ourselves
  • How we can better connect with one another

With dozens of moving stories, How to Find a Four-Leaf Clover will give readers a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the neurodiverse community around them. Above all, it will inspire a profound sense of belonging, revealing that we’re much more similar than we think. – Little Brown Spark


How We Break: Navigating the Wear and Tear of Living by Vincent Deary

Drawing on cutting-edge science and intimate personal stories, an essential and paradigm-shifting book for readers struggling with fatigue, burnout, stress, and trauma—and for all of us who sometimes feel like we have been pushed past our breaking point.

In How We Are, the health psychologist and author Vincent Deary explored the process of habit and change in everyday life. In How We Break, a deeply compassionate and illuminating exploration of suffering, he examines what happens when we are pushed to our limit.

Deary is a practitioner health psychologist who also works in a fatigue clinic and specializes in interventions that help people cope with whatever life has thrown at them. The big traumas in life, he points out, are relatively rare. Much more common is when too many things go wrong at once, or we are exposed to a prolonged period of difficulty or precarity. When we are subjected to too much turbulence—when the world shrinks to nothing but our daily coping—we become unhappy, worried, hopeless, exhausted. In other words, we break. Breaking, he shows us, is embodied, as our physical and mental distress are linked, and happens when the same systems that enable us to navigate through life become dysregulated. But if we understand how the turbulence and overwhelm of life affects us, then we have a better chance of overcoming the challenges.

Drawing on clinical case studies, trailblazing scientific research, intimate personal stories, and illuminating references from philosophy, literature, and film, How We Break offers a consoling and deeply felt new vision of everyday human struggling, and it makes a bold case for the power of rest and recuperation. – Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast September Recap

In this blog post, I will give you helpful links to area resources, Library resources, and links to the books discussed in our September episode!


Sci-Fi Reads

In honor of Star Trek Day on September 8th, Stephanie shared a list of new and old Science Fiction reads. Below are the titles that were discussed in our episode!

New Sci-Fi Reads
   –The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Mieville
   –The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
   –Dragons of Eternity by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
   –The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
   –To Turn the Tide by S.M. Stirling
   –Storm Furies by Wen Spencer
   –Rebel by David Weber and Richard Fox
   –Overcaptain by L.E. Modesitt 

Old Sci-Fi Reads
   –Dune by Frank Herbert
   –1984 by George Orwell
   –The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
   –Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
   -Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
   –Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
   –The Time Machine by HG Wells
   –The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin


Check Out Video Games from Davenport Public Library!

This month, Beth, Brittany, and Stephanie interviewed one of our newest Librarians, Elena! Elena is in charge of purchasing our video game collection! Did you know that you can check out video games from The Library for free?! We have video games for PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox1, Xbox 360, Xbox X games, Switch, Wii, DS, and 3DS! To learn more about our HUGE collection, we have a helpful Libguide for you! You can also place holds and check availability by visiting our online catalog!


Self-Improvement Month

September is self-improvement month and The Library is here to help with some of our newer resources! 

The Library now has LinkedIn Learning: Login with your library card number and password for your account to access 16,000+ expert-led courses presented in seven languages. Course subjects include: small business and entrepreneurship, web development, Microsoft Office, Google docs, photography, video editing, public speaking, sales, marketing, and many more. 

Have you been meaning to learn a new language or polish those sophomore year Spanish skills? Mango language has you covered! This language-learning resource offers instructional courses for over 70 languages. Begin to develop or build upon your listening and speaking skills in one or more foreign languages. Includes ESL (English as a Second Language) for over 20 languages. 


Self Help Books Helped or Tanked?

Beth, Brittany, and Stephanie ran through some Self-Help books that both helped their lives and some that completely tanked. Below are their favorites and least favorites in this category!

Beth
Helped:
   –The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō
   –How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis
   –The Lazy Genius Podcast 
Tanked:

   –The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*CK: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
   –The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter by Margareta Magnusso

Stephanie
Helped:
   –Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth H. Blanchard
   –By the Book Podcast hosted by Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer (Renamed: How To Be Fine Podcast)
Tanked:

   –Self Matters: Creating Your Life from the Inside Out by Phil McGraw

Brittany
Helped:
   Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Stephen R. Covey, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan,  & Al Switzler
   –Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth H. Blanchard
   –The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
Tanked:
   –Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis


Celebrate Banned Books Week!

Every year, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The lists are based on information from reports filed by library professionals and community members, as well as news stories published throughout the United States. Below are last year’s 10 Most Challenged Books:

  1. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
  2. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson 
  3. This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson 
  4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 
  5. Flamer by Mike Curato 
  6. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison 
  7. TIE – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews 
  8. TIE – Tricks by Ellen Hopkins 
  9. Let’s Talk About it: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan 
  10. Sold by Patricia McCormick 

To read more about Banned Books Week visit the ALA Banned Books Page!


New Merch!

Exciting news! We now have an online Threadless Store featuring custom designs by our marketing coordinator Tessa! Order apparel to show off your love of our library! A portion of all sales goes to our FRIENDS who support our programming and other special projects! Take a look at a wide array of options from kids t-shirts, adult apparel, notebooks, and more! Visit our Threadless Store today to make a purchase!


What Our Hosts Read In August

Stephanie’s Reads:
The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill
Peking Duck and Cover by Vivien Chien (book 10 in Noodle House Mystery series)
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (book 1 in the Assistant to the Villain series)
The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (book 1 in The Grandest Game series)
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson 

Brittany’s Reads:
The Flight Attendant by Chris Bojalian Narrated by Erin Spencer, Grace Experience, and Mark Deakins
Flying Solo by Linda Holmes
The Wedding People by Alison Espach Narrated by Helen Laser
The Break-up Pact by Emma Lord Narrated by Natalie Naudus
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney Illustrated by Anita Jeram
Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino Narrated by Helen Laser

Beth’s Reads:
Where the Children Take Us: How One Family Achieved the Unimaginable by Zain Asher
At Least You Have Your Health by Madi Sinha


If you would like to listen to our episode, it can be found wherever you get your podcasts. If you prefer listening on the web, it can be found here!

We love hearing from our listeners, please feel free to comment on this blog post, on our socials, or email us at checked.in@davenportlibrary.com.

Online Reading Challenge – October

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge travels to the Future. Our main title for October is Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love? (Vintage)

This title is also available in large print.

Looking for some other books set in the future? Try any of the following.

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!

Online Reading Challenge – September Wrap-Up

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read something set in the 2000s to the present that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley, but also discovered that the majority of my other reading also took place in the same time period.

(Did you know that there is a companion novel for Firekeeper’s Daughter? It is called Warrior Girl Unearthed. This title takes place in the same community as Firekeeper’s Daughter and features many of the same characters.)

Let’s talk Firekeeper’s Daughter. Daunis Fontaine has never fit in. She’s considered in outsider in her hometown of Sault St. Marie and the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She is deeply connected to her area as a well-respected hockey player and is active in her tribal community as she is half Ojibwe. Desperate to find a place where she fits in that is all her own, Daunis dreams of going away at college to become a doctor. Her dreams are shattered when a series of tragedies destroys her family, forcing her to stay home to look after her mother. Love falls into Daunis’ life when she meets Jamie, a young hockey star. She feels like he’s hiding something. When Daunis witnesses a murder however, she is drawn into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug and agrees to go undercover. This is dangerous, digging up old secrets.

I devoured this audiobook in two days. The author’s writing quality was superb, the narrator was excellent, and the complex plot had me hooked right from the start. The characters were multi-dimensional, pushing through issues and fighting for the truth. This book also deals with serious subject matter in such a heartfelt and emotional way. I can’t wait to read the companion novel!

This title is also available in large print, CD audiobook, and Playaway audiobook.

Sugar Island series

  1. Firekeeper’s Daughter (2021)
  2. Warrior Girl Unearthed (2023)

Next month, we are traveling to the future!

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