The Davenport Public Library will be closed on Monday, May 25 in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. All of our locations will reopen on Tuesday May 26 their regular business hours – Main and Eastern Avenue will be open 9am to 5:30pm and the Fairmount Street Branch open noon to 8pm.
Have a safe and happy holiday!
Rebecca, a bit frazzled and jetlagged from her transatlantic flight, arrives in Oxford for a year of study abroad. Struggling with her suitcases, she accepts the help of a handsome young man who shows her to her room. She jokes with him a bit (including some off-color but good-natured remarks about the Royal Family), then collapses on her bed after he leaves, exhausted, only to be startled when her new neighbor crashes into her room, asking if she’d met “him” yet? “Him” is Nicholas, Prince of Wales and future king of England and also, on occasion, helpful porter.
After this somewhat mortifying introduction, Rebecca (known as Bex), settles into having a prince as a classmate and becomes a member of the tight-knit circle surrounding the prince after proving her ability to be descrete. Bex and Nick become friends, bonding over bad television shows and junk food, gradually becoming confidents and finally, in love. A rocky romance begins, ends and then begins again, this time when they are both more mature and clear-eyed. But can the Prince marry his beloved, or will one more obstacle stop them at the alter?
Witty and fast-paced, The Royal We is a tons of fun. I admit I was skeptical at first but early on the heroine mentions that her hometown is Muscatine, Iowa. That peaked my interest, especially since I grew up in Muscatine myself. (No blunders or missteps in describing Muscatine or Iowa, although 95% of the book does take place in England!) The excellent writing kept me reading and the ups and downs of their adventures kept me entertained. Obiviously loosely based on the lives of Prince William and Princess Kate, it’s interesting to get a (supposed) peek behind the walls of The Firm (as the Royals call their institution). Conversations and actions of the circle of royal friends are made-up of course, but feel realistic and plausible. More interesting is the push and pull of Bex and Nick’s relationship – the conflict between duty and love, of doing what is expected of you vs what you want to do. What seems like a unique and special relationship in fact must struggle through many of the same issues that ordinary people must work through.
Recommended for a quick, fun read that is at turns funny and touching.
After their mother dies and their father virtually abandons them, Vianne and Isabelle must learn to forge their own way. Vianne marries and starts a family in an idyllic country setting outside of Paris while Isabelle becomes rebellious, expelled from one boarding school after another. When the Germans occupy Paris in 1939, Isabelle is sent to live with her sister but the horrifying experiences of escaping with other refugees opens Isabelle’s eyes to the pain and suffering the war will bring.
The changes brought by the Germans are inexorable – the men are sent away to prison camps, food is rationed, soldiers are billeted in private homes, valuables ruthlessly taken, Jews and other “subversives” are persecuted then transferred to prison camps. Vianne, in the countryside, desperately walks a line between loyalty to her friends and neighbors while remaining unseen by the occupying soldiers. Isabelle joins the French Underground and risks her life again and again in an effort to make a difference. Their stories intertwine as they struggle to survive and protect those they love.
There are a lot – a lot – of books about World War II both fiction and non-fiction. It’s one of the most popular subject areas at the library. And while most of us learned the basic facts about the war from school and history books – dates, countries, famous battles – the stories of what it was like to actually live through the war are slowly disappearing as that generation ages and passes away. The Nightingale may be a dramatic, fictional account of living in war torn France, but the messages it sends are very real – remember for those that no longer can. What they did to survive, to change the course of events, whether big or small, mattered. We should not forget.
Having voluntarily given up his soul to the devil, thinking that such a useless thing would only get in the way of his more esoteric scientific experiments, Johannes Cabal, Necromancer and Not Nice Person, has reluctantly changed his mind. It turns out that souls may have a purpose after all.
So he pays a visit to the Netherworld to request the return of his most personal of property, baffling, intimidating—and occasionally terrifying–the demons in his relentless path.
As anyone who is not a stubborn necromancer might have guessed, the Devil refuses, on the simple grounds that he’s The Devil. Johannes, who is more desperate than he wants anyone to know, suggests a wager.
The Devil agrees, and sets the terms: Johannes has one year to collect 100 souls to free his own. If he doesn’t, his life will also be forfeit. The devil hands over a timer, an assistant, a broken down traveling carnival, and a (very small) portion of his own dark power to run everything.
Johannes might know about dark magicks, scientific methods, and getting his own way, but he doesn’t understand people and the concept of “fun” simply doesn’t compute. To make his carnival work as a wondrous soul trap instead of a humiliating flop, he needs help.
The kind of help one can only find in a forgotten crypt at the bottom of a forgotten cemetery, where Johannes trapped it eight years ago . . . oops.
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Considering the subject matter, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer shouldn’t be as hilarious as it is, but it’s well-written, snarky and impossible to put down.
I know I shouldn’t cheer for Johannes, who is thoroughly, unapologetically unloveable, but I do. And I really, really shouldn’t want him to successfully trick other people into handing over their souls to save his own –but I really, really did.
And I shouldn’t want to immediately check out the rest of the series and read them all at once, but, well . . . you know.
One might be forgiven for wondering if Jonathan L. Howard wove a little magic of his own into the (mis)adventures of Johannes Cabal, to make them so compulsively readable.
As long as he keeps writing them, I don’t think I’ll protest too much.
I’ve been driving the Mom Taxi at least twice a day for the past ten years and getting my fares—I mean, kids—into the car on time has been something of a struggle, especially on school mornings.
But one day, I forgot to stop the audiobook I’d been playing on my way to pick them up and we listened to it on the way home. The next morning, both kids were up and ready as quickly as I could have wished, asking if I was going to let them listen to more.
How could I say no?
I did say no to portions of it; I’d checked out Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie, which is fantastically funny and has a manic-depressive beagle in it, but is still an adult romance. I occasional had to lunge at the fast-forward button in the effort to avoid questions for which I wanted more preparation time (say, ten to twelve years) to answer.
The kids still enjoyed it—partly because of the lunging, I suspect—and after the book was done, they asked if I could get another audiobook.
This time, tired of fast-forwarding (and rewinding after I’d dropped them off), I headed for the children’s section. All the branches of the Davenport Public library have audiobooks that appeal to my second-grader and others that appeal to my pre-teen.
It was trickier to find ones that would appeal to all of us.
Enter The Knights‘ Tales collection, written by Gerald Morris and read by award-winning voice artist Steve West.
The four tales included on the five CDs are about the adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great (“He’s sooooo handsome!”), Sir Givret the Short (and his friend, Sir Eric the Not Too Bright), Sir Gawain the True (and his frenemy, the Green Knight), and Sir Balin the Ill-fated (whose mother just wants him to marry a “nice Nothern girl.”).
The main characters spend a lot of time getting into impossible situations that are unraveled by a piece of astoundingly simple logic. They’re funny and clever and twisty and very well-written.
Mr. Morris doesn’t talk down to his target audience (3rd to 6th grade) and his plots and intelligent, witty style won’t bore adults. Mr. West uses an assortment of voices and accents that make even the minor characters—like the herald Harold, the argumentative Lady Elaine, and the Old Woman of Some Nonspecific Mountain—come to life.
These stories ensure that my kids are eager to get up and get going for the next installment—even on Mondays—and that our morning commutes are full of intent listening, predictions about what might happen next, and a lot of laughter.
For this Taxi Mom, that almost makes up for the dismal lack of tips.
Almost.
Sit back, curl up with a blanket, and hug a book–It’s time to reminisce about the library:
Five years ago, did you take a selfie with your favorite band, Harry and the Potters, at the Eastern Ave. Branch Library Opening Day celebration? Yup, that’s me!
Twenty years ago, did the children’s librarian know you by name and always have the newest Garfield book ready for you? I loved those books. Hmmm maybe I should check one out again…
Fifty years ago, how did you feel when you learned Davenport’s Carnegie Library would be torn down? I imagine that the Carnegie’s Reading Room was both glam and cozy.
We absolutely love when people share their favorite memories of the Davenport Public Library with us, and this week we hope you will share your favorite memory with everyone! This week is National Library Week and Davenport Public Library asks you to help us celebrate by sharing your favorite moment, photo, quote, feeling, book that reminds you of the awesomeness of your local library.
We will be choosing two of our favorite memories posted between April 12-18, 2015 to win an autographed audiobook or book of Amy Poehler’s Yes, Please (provided by @harperaudio) and one kid’s memory to win a Jelly Belly Bean Machine. Post your memory and use the hashtags #DavenportReads #YesPlease so we can collect it (If you notice that we have not liked or favorited your post, it may not have appeared in our feed. You can always message us or email us directly at marketing@davenportlibrary.com)
Follow us all week (and all the time) on:
The Davenport Public Library will be closed on Friday, April 3rd in observance of Good Friday. All buildings will be open their regular hours on Saturday – 9:00am to 5:30pm at all three locations.
Have a safe and happy holiday!
A newly discovered insect genus, liber vermis, is threatening library collections across the globe. This pest, which comes in various shapes and sizes, voraciously consumes books in large quantities, devastating carefully managed collections within a matter of days. Difficult to identify and nearly impossible to stop once it has begun attacking, the library world has been forced to take drastic action, beginning immediately.
Interim Library Director Amy Groskopf assures the public that Davenport Library will not give up without a fight. “Libraries have long been the repository of human thought. The potential loss could change the course of history. We must remain calm and united”.
Sadly, liber vermis has been detected near the Davenport Public Library and we are asking you, our loyal patrons, for your support during this difficult and potentially catastrophic crisis. Everyone will now be required to walk through a bleach spray bath (fairly low health risk) before entering the library. All patrons will be required to wear a face mask and disposable gloves (available for a small fee at the Customer Service desk)
Books and magazines can no longer leave the facility. Glass viewing boxes have been installed at all three Davenport libraries; the 12 most popular titles (as determined by our librarians) will be shown each month, with the pages turned once every hour. There will be no “turn backs” for slow readers or missed pages – you will need to wait for the next time the book is shown.
If you think that ebooks will save you, think again. Although it is still not clear exactly how the liber vermis destroys books, scientists believe they attack the actual word, not the material of the book. In fact, ebook words are far more vulnerable, and one infected book can wipe out an entire ebook collection within minutes!
The best way for you to fight this invasion is to memorize your favorite books. Then you can read and review them in the privacy of your own head as frequently as you wish, safe from invading liber vermis. Good luck.
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APRIL FOOL! Haha! There is no such insect called liber vermis (very badly translated Latin for book worm!) and, at least at this writing, there is no need for bleach baths or disposable gloves. Also, you are still free to touch and choose any book you would like to take home (provided you have a valid library card of course!).
This fake story was beginning to sound a little bit of a cross between George Orwell’s 1984 and Jasper Ford’s Thursday Next series wasn’t it?! It does help make you appreciate the great freedom we enjoy, to read what we want, when we want and to maintain free thought. That’s what libraries have always done best – open doors for everyone, no matter your education, interests or beliefs, there is a place for you at the library (again, so long as you are polite to all and bring back your library books!)
Happy April Fool’s Day!
It was a little touch-and-go there for awhile, but it looks like spring really will be back. That means it’s time for getting outside again and getting into the garden. In other words, it’s the best time of the year! Here are some new garden books to inspire you:
Small Space Vegetable Gardens by Andrea Bellamy – Here are the basics of growing a bounty of edibles in a minimal amount of space: how to find and assess a space, and how to plan and build a garden. Bellamy also highlights the top sixty edible plants and offers complete information on how to sow, grow, and harvest them.
Designing and Planting a Woodland Garden by Keith Wiley – Woodlands are magical places and even small gardens can capture the atmosphere with a carefully chosen tree and some shade-loving plants. Selecting the right plant for the right place is essential and expert plantsman Keith Wiley explains how to combine plants that will thrive together and even how to create shade if you don’t already have it.
Flower Farmer’s Year: How to Grow Cut Flowers for Pleasure and Profit by Georgie Newbery – how to plant, maintain, and keep evolving a productive cut-flower garden. Whether you want to devote a corner of your garden to a stand of sweet peas and some cosmos, take up flower production for gate sales, or make a livelihood from cut flowers, Georgie Newbery will take you through everything from planning your garden to budgeting and marketing.
Right Size Flower Garden by Kerry Ann Mendez – We’re busy, we’re aging, and the demands of the garden can feel overwhelming. What to do? Make smarter use of the space we have and the plants we select, says garden expert Kerry Ann Mendez. She shares her successful recipe for having a garden we can manage and love again…the right-size, low maintenance, drought tolerant garden. The goal is ditching 50% of the work by choosing high-value plants and making simple design changes.
The Tao of Vegetable Gardening by Carol Deppe – explores the practical methods as well as the deeper essence of gardening. In her latest book Carol Deppe focuses on some of the most popular home garden vegetables – tomatoes, green beans, peas, and leafy greens – and through them illustrates the key principles and practices that gardeners need to know to successfully plant and grow just about any food crop.
The Davenport Public will be closed on Monday March 2nd for a Staff In-Service day. All buildings will re-open for their regular business hours on Tuesday March 3 – 9am to 5:30pm at Main and Eastern and noon to 8pm at Fairmount.
Remember, you can access our catalog and numerous reference databases through our website, davenportlibrary.com all day any day!
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