The Golden Hour by Niki Smith

The Golden Hour by Niki Smith is a young adult graphic novel that deals with healing from tragedy, friendship, discovering yourself, and having hope through it all. This was a difficult, but necessary read. *Trigger warnings for gun violence.*

Coming back to school after spring break, Manuel Soto is dealing with the aftermath of gun violence that happened at his school. None of his friends know that Manuel was present during the incident, something that Manuel would prefer to keep to himself. His therapist has suggested that Manuel find ways to anchor himself when he has panic attacks. His favorite way to do so is through photography using his cell-phone camera. His days are lonely, but when his art teacher pairs him with Sebastian and Caysha for a group project, he slowly starts to open up.

Manuel spends time with Sebastian and Caysha at Sebastian’s house, a grass-fed cattle farm just outside of town. Sebastian and Caysha are welcoming and understanding of Manuel’s quiet demeanor and his panic attacks, asking if he needs help and helping him to find anchors. The more time Manuel spends at Sebastian’s house, the more open he becomes. He spends time photographing the open fields around the house and of Daisy, the newborn calf that Sebastian is raising. When Sebastian and Caysha mention Ag-Club and the local county fair, Manuel is interested, but still a bit shy. Together the three prepare for the fair, while Manuel slowly starts to come out of his shell.

The Golden Hour was a gut-wrenching, yet completely necessary read. The artwork was beautiful, doing a wonderful job portraying the panic that Manuel went through on a daily basis. Manuel is by no means healed at the end of the story, but readers can see the progress that he has made and the promising hope his future now has.

Censorship is so 1984 – Read for Your Rights

Banned Book Week 2025 is finally here! Running from October 5th through October 11th, 2025, the theme for this year is ‘Censorship is So 1984 – Read for Your Rights’. According to the American Library Association, ‘With the escalation in attempts to ban books in libraries, schools, and bookstores around the country, George Orwell’s cautionary tale “1984” serves a prescient warning about the dangers of censorship. This year’s theme reminds us that the right to read belongs to all of us, that censorship has no place in contemporary society, and that we must defend our rights.’

Below are the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2024 (Descriptions are provided by the publishers.):

1. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Why this book matters: bit.ly/allboysBR

In a series of personal essays, award-winning author and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue explores their childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia.

From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.

Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren’t Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson’s emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults. (Johnson used he/him pronouns at the time of publication.) – Farrar, Straus and Giroux

2. Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Why this book matters: bit.ly/genderBR

In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia’s intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.

Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere. – Oni Press

3. (TIE) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Why this book matters: bit.ly/bluestBR

From the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner—a powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity that asks questions about race, class, and gender with characteristic subtlety and grace.

In Morrison’s acclaimed first novel, Pecola Breedlove—an 11-year-old Black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others—prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning, and the tragedy of its fulfillment. – Vintage

3. (TIE) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Why this book matters: bit.ly/wallflowerBR

The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

A #1 New York Times bestseller for more than a year, adapted into a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson (and written and directed by the author), and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000), this novel for teen readers (or wallflowers of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life. – MTV Books

5. Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
Why this book matters: bit.ly/tricksBR

When all choice is taken from you, life becomes a game of survival.

Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching…for freedom, safety, community, family, love. What they don’t expect, though, is all that can happen when those powerful little words “I love you” are said for all the wrong reasons.

Five moving stories remain separate at first, then interweave to tell a larger, powerful story—a story about making choices, taking leaps of faith, falling down, and growing up. A story about kids figuring out what sex and love are all about, at all costs, while asking themselves, “Can I ever feel okay about myself?” – Margaret K. McElderry Books

6. (TIE) Looking for Alaska by John Green
Why this book matters: bit.ly/alaskaBR

First drink. First prank. First friend. First love.

Last words.

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words—and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet François Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young, who will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A modern classic, this stunning debut marked #1 bestselling author John Green’s arrival as a groundbreaking new voice in contemporary fiction. – Penguin Books

6. (TIE) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Why this book matters: bit.ly/earlBR

This is the funniest book you’ll ever read about death.

It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks he’s figured it out. The answer to the basic existential question: How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad?

His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl.

This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Greg’s mom forces him to become friends with a girl who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Greg’s entire life.– Amulet Books

8. (TIE) Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Why this book matters: bit.ly/crankBR

Life was good
before I
met
the monster.

After,
life
was great,
At
least

for a little while.

Kristina Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble.

Then, Kristina meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul—her life.

8. (TIE) Sold by Patricia McCormick
Why this book matters: bit.ly/soldBR

The powerful, poignant, bestselling National Book Award finalist gives voice to a young girl robbed of her childhood yet determined to find the strength to triumph.

Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school, and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family’s crops, Lakshmi’s stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family.
He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at “Happiness House” full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution.

An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning. She tells Lakshmi that she is trapped there until she can pay off her family’s debt-then cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave.

Lakshmi’s life becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape. Still, she lives by her mother’s words—Simply to endure is to triumph—and gradually, she forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a decision-will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life?

Written in spare and evocative vignettes by the co-author of I Am Malala (Young Readers Edition), this powerful novel renders a world that is as unimaginable as it is real, and a girl who not only survives but triumphs. – Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

10. Flamer by Mike Curato
Why this book matters: bit.ly/flamerBR

I know I’m not gay. Gay boys like other boys. I hate boys. They’re mean, and scary, and they’re always destroying something or saying something dumb or both.

I hate that word. Gay. It makes me feel . . . unsafe.

It’s the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone’s going through changes—but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can’t stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance. – Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

LEARN A LANGUAGE — Part 10 — ESL / EFL

English is considered the global language, or lingua franca, which means it is often used as a common language between speakers of different native languages in business, education, and international communication. Because of this, both children and adults around the world invest significant time and resources into mastering the language for many reasons, but particularly for better educational and professional opportunities. Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has become increasingly important in today’s interconnected world. According to the British Council in 2023, over 1.5 billion people globally are currently learning English, making it the most widely studied language on the planet. As English continues to dominate international media, science, and diplomacy, learning the language provides valuable advantages.

In the United States, the demand for English language learning continues to grow, reflecting our nation’s increasing diversity, especially among immigrant communities. According to a 2023 report by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), approximately 5.1 million students in U.S. public schools were classified as English learners (ELs) in the 2021-2022 academic year. This represents about 10% of all students. These students speak a variety of native languages and come from diverse cultural backgrounds. Enrolling in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs helps them to improve their English proficiency and succeed academically. ESL programs are essential to helping them to succeed in school, access higher education, and participate fully in society. In addition to school-aged learners, many adults in the U.S. participate in community-based ESL classes offered by community colleges, libraries, and nonprofit organizations to improve their language skills for work or citizenship.

In Iowa, the percentage of English learners has also risen. According to the Iowa Department of Education in 2022, approximately 6.5% of Iowa’s public school students were identified as English language learners (ELLs) in recent years, with Spanish being the most common first language. But it is not limited to Spanish-speaking populations. Students come from a wide range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, including Hispanic, African, Asian, and Eastern European communities, including children of immigrants and refugees who have settled in the state. Iowa has developed several ESL programs to support these learners, often working with local school districts to help students gain language skills, integrate into the school system, and prepare for success both academically and beyond the classroom. Many schools offer targeted ESL instruction, bilingual support staff, and resources to assist these students. Adult ESL programs are also available in many Iowa cities and rural areas.

Narrowing in locally, Scott County, has also seen a growing number of English learners due to increasing diversity in the region. Based on 2023 data from the Davenport Community School District, roughly 7–8% of students in the district are enrolled in ESL programs. The growing need for ESL instruction has led to the further development of these programs that focus on integrating language development with academic content. These programs help non-native English-speaking students to transition into mainstream classes through developing their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Eastern Iowa Community college (and other educational institutions in the Quad Cities) as well and local nonprofits in the area also offer adult ESL classes, supporting non-native speakers in improving their English for employment, education, and daily life through language acquisition and community integration. With targeted support, English learners in Scott County and beyond are gaining the tools they need to thrive.

Do you know someone who is learning English as a Second Language or perhaps someone who teaches ESL in the classroom? Maybe you’re just curious about ESL?  Check out some of the FREE resources available to you at The Library. See our online catalog or ask a Librarian for more resources.

 

FOR VISUAL LEARNERS:

   

English made easy. Volume one : a new ESL approach : learning English through pictures (volume 2 is also available)

5 language visual dictionary.

English for everyone. Illustrated English dictionary

English for everyone. Everyday English

English for everyone : English vocabulary builder

English for everyone. Junior.

 

MORE COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMS:

 

Easy English step-by-step for ESL learners

Complete English all-in-one for ESL learners

English.

MY ENGLISH PROF.: A COMPREHENSIVE ESL GUIDE

English essentials : your ESL toolbox

Easy English : [basic English for speakers of all languages]

English for everyone : course book. Level 1 beginner (levels 2-4 also available)

Learning English steps 1-2-3.

English levels 1, 2 & 3.

Easy pronunciation

And, as a Davenport Public Library cardholder, you have FREE access to the language learning program, Mango Languages.

 

CULTURE / NEW AMERICANS:

English U.S.A. every day : a fun ESL guide to American culture and language

English for new Americans. Health, home, and community

English the American way : a fun ESL guide to language and culture in the U.S.

English for the real world

 

WORK / BUSINESS RELATED LANGUAGE:

 

English for everyone. Business English : course & practice books.

Workplace vocabulary for ESL students : with exercises and tests

Perfect phrases for ESL : everyday business life : hundreds of ready-to-use phrases that help you navigate any English-language situation in the workplace

Medical English clear and simple : a practice-based approach to English for ESL healthcare professionals

Medical English dialogues. Clear & simple medical English vocabulary for ESL/EFL learners

Everyday English for hospitality professionals

Professional spoken English for hotel & restaurant workers: most practical spoken English guide for non-native English speaking hotel, restaurant & casino workers and hospitality students

 

TEACHER LESSON PLANS & ACTIVITIES:

 

The ESL/ELL teacher’s survival guide : ready-to-use strategies, tools, & activities for teaching all levels

ESL for teachers and students

A guide for ESL teachers : how to teach the historical background of English irregularities in modern English

ESL lesson plans for teachers

My dear English : over 100 ESL games and activities to make learning easy and bring fun in the classroom

101 ESL activities : for teenagers and adults

English-as-a-second-language (ESL) teaching and learning : pre-K-12 classroom applications for students’ academic achievement and development

49 ESL writing activities and games : for teachers of kids and teenagers

Handbook for teaching Bible-based ESL

ESL speaking activities : the ultimate book for busy English Teachers

English flash cards

 

STORIES / READING FOR LANGUAGE LEARNERS:

At the lake : and other stories for adult emergent readers

Short stories in English : read for pleasure at your level and learn English the fun way! (intermediate level also available)

English short stories for beginners : learn English with stories from an American life.

English short stories for beginners and intermediate learners : learn English and build your vocabulary.

Easy reading for ESL students. Book 1 : twelve short stories for learners of English  (levels 2 and 3 also available)

 

CONVERSATION, PHRASES & PRONUNCIATION:

 

Perfect phrases for ESL : conversation skills

English conversation for ESL students

The best ESL conversation questions : 100 at-a-glance lesson plans for the ESL classroom

67 ESL conversation topics with questions, vocabulary, writing prompts & more : for teenagers and adults

101 conversations in simple English : short natural dialogues to boost your confidence & improve your spoken English

50 English coffee breaks : short activities to improve your English one cup at a time

Perfecting your English pronunciation

Speaking clearly pronunciation and listening comprehension for learners of English : audio CD set

American accent training book : a guide to speaking and pronouncing American English for everyone who speaks English as a second language

Mastering the American accent

 

WRITING:

 

The five step essay writing process: practical English writing skills for ESL students

Writing better English for ESL learners

Learn English paragraph writing skills : ESL paragraph essentials for international students

71 ways to practice English writing : tips for ESL/EFL learners

 

ESL IN SPANISH:

       

Inglés = English : complete edition.

Inglés para latinos. Primer nivel : un camino hacia la fluidez…

Pensando en ingles

Inglés para latinos : curso completo : ¡Énfasis en la conversación!

Inglés/English for Spanish speakers. O curso de introductorio.

Inglés práctico : ejercicios, pronunciación, ciudadanía en tu smartphone, ¡gratis!.

Inglés express.

Inglés en 5 minutos : ¡aprende inglés a tu ritmo! : ¡cada lección sólo toma 5 minutos!.

Inglés instantáneo

Inglés básico súper rápido : el curso imprescindible para hablar bien inglés, ¡para siempre! : ¡cientos de videos, audios y ejercicios online!

Curso de inglés America

Conversando en inglés

Inglés completo : repaso integral de gramática inglesa para hispanohablantes = Complete English grammar review for Spanish speakers, Kendris, Theodore | Davenport Public Library

 

ESL IN SPANISH – FOR VISUAL LEARNERS

English for everyone. Libro de estudio. Nivel 1 inicial

English for everyone. Inglés para el día a día

ENGLISH FOR EVERYONE JUNIOR NIVEL INICIAL (BEGINNER’S COURSE)

Bilingual visual dictionary. Spanish English.

Merriam-Webster’s Spanish-English visual dictionary

Spanish English illustrated dictionary

 

NEXT MONTH…  LEARN A LANGUAGE — Part 11 — SIGN LANGUAGE

 

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Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston

“Grief is just a love song in reverse.” ― Ashley Poston, Sounds Like Love

Ashley Poston, a writer of magical realism, has found her sweet spot in her newest romance, Sounds Like Love. Joni Lark knew she wanted to leave her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina when she was in high school to pursue a career in songwriting. Now Joni is working as a songwriter in Los Angeles, where her songs are highly sought after by musicians. Her agent is anxious for Jodi to write her next hit, but sadly Joni is empty of ideas and can’t write. When her dad calls her back to the Outer Banks to share one last good summer with her mom, Joni hopes that she will find inspiration amongst the sand, the surf, and music at The Revelry.

When she finally gets home, Joni is shocked to see that everything has changed. Her mother’s dementia is getting worse, her best friend is hiding something, and her family’s business, The Revelry, isn’t doing well financially. Joni’s hopes of inspiration quickly shrivel, except for this one pesky melody that has been stuck in her head since the night before she left Los Angeles. It’s not just the melody though – there’s a man’s voice also in her head. While this completely freaks her out at the start, Joni slowly grows to enjoy his company. Who is this mystery man and why are they connected? When he shows up in Vienna Springs with a plan, Joni is on board. He wants them to finish the melody that’s stuck in both of their heads in order to sever their connection. Could that be as easy as he says? They’ll have to rely on each other in order to find out.

Sounds Like Love was a trippy read. The idea that the two main characters could hear each other’s thoughts was difficult to comprehend at first, but the rules that the author built into their gifts helped me to believe it *could* have happened. If you are able, I recommend you listen to this book in audio as the narrator sings! The small town beach setting was believable, while I also enjoyed the explorations into the music industry and the different musical elements. While the author does include a character with dementia in this book, she handles this topic with sensitivity. The relationships, both family and friends, were major plot points and helped to carry the story. Solid 4 star read.

This title is also available in large print.

“How do I forgive my past self for all the futures I didn’t become? I don’t know.” ― Ashley Poston, Sounds Like Love

Online Reading Challenge – October

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge is focusing on fantasy. Our main title for October is She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything

“I refuse to be nothing…”

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother’s abandoned greatness. – Tor Books

Looking for some other fantasy titles? 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 a young adult literature title for September? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: The Cousins by Karen McManus. McManus is known for her Bayview High series (One of Us is Lying, One of Us is Next, and One of Us is Back), but The Cousins is a standalone novel diving into one family’s sordid history. What caught my attention about this novel was the premise: three teenage cousins invited to spend the summer with their estranged grandmother at the resort she owns. Sounds intriguing and a bit familiar, right? I thought so, too.

The three Story cousins, Jonah, Millie, and Aubrey, are contacted by their estranged grandmother, inviting them to spend the summer in a resort beach town. Mildred Story, the estranged matriarch of the Story family, cut off her four children over twenty years ago, their only notice a cryptic letter stating, ‘You know what you did’. Despite her children professing to have no idea what they did to earn her displeasure, Mildred refused to see her children or correspond in any way. This new invitation to her grandchildren comes completely out of the blue, catching everyone off guard. The fact that Mildred is incredibly wealthy has her children hoping that the grandchildren will get access to her money if they land themselves in her good graces.

Millie, Aubrey, and Jonah have no desire to spend summer with their grandma. They are teenagers with their own summer plans! Despite their protests, the three soon find themselves in the crosshairs of the rich and reclusive woman who disinherited their parents all those years ago. After their initial meeting, the three realize that Mildred’s plans are different than what they thought. She becomes increasingly hard to get a hold of, disappearing for trips, and using her assistant to blow off the cousins’ requests to meet. The cousins spend their time on island working and looking for more information about their parents. This leads to discovering some of the dark secrets in the Story family’s past. What fractured the family structure years ago? Can the cousins find the truth and repair these destroyed relationships?

Told from the point of view of the three cousins, plus one of their parents, McManus has written a mystery full of twists and turns. Flashback chapters fill in background information and family secrets that the cousins would not have been able to discover on their own. (The flashback chapters are the ones that kept me hooked throughout the book to be honest.) What kept me from completely loving this book were the twists’ reveals. I had trouble suspending my disbelief during some of the reveals, as it seemed implausible that only a few people would realize what was happening. The ending also seemed very rushed, to the point where I had to reread the last three chapters and the epilogue to piece together the end, but I’m still confused… This was a three star read for me.

Next month, we will be reading fantasy!

In addition to following the Online Reading Challenge here on our Info Cafe blog, you can join our Online Reading Challenge group on Goodreads and discuss your reads!

The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson

“Putting my foot down isn’t my strong point. Being an inconvenience to someone, or even thinking about the possibility of being an inconvenience to someone, is right up there with dropping into a tank of jellyfish. Unacceptable.” ― Melissa Ferguson, The Perfect Rom-Com

Bryony Page has written a novel that she has pinned all of her hopes and dreams on. Attending her first writers conference, Bryony knows that one of these agents will accept her manuscript, sell it, and help her raise awareness (and funding) for The Bridge, her grandmother’s organization where Bryony has taught ESL full-time for the last fifteen years. Her agent meetings are utterly disastrous with the last one ending with her critiquing and correcting a famous author’s latest manuscript. This last-ditch effort to impress literary agent Jack Sterling of the legendary Foundry Literary Agency ends up working in her favor though.

Bryony is offered the job of a lifetime: writing as ghostwriter for popular rom-com novelist, Amelia Benedict. While this isn’t exactly what Bryony’s goal, she finds a way to get what she wants out of Jack. She will agree to ghostwrite, only if Jack will work to sell her own book too. The Bridge needs all the help it can get.

Flash forward and it should come as no surprise that Bryony’s work as Amelia’s ghostwriter is fantastic. Her books have made Amelia into even more of a household name. She is selling millions of copies around the world which means that Bryony is irreplaceable to the Foundry Agency. Jack and Bryony are closer than ever, which makes the line between their professional and personal relationships grow murkier and murkier. Bryony’s ultimate goal is to get her book published under her own name, something that Jack has been working on for the past two years. Or has he?

The Perfect Rom-Com was a delightful read. While this was described as a grumpy x sunshine read, I had trouble figuring out who was who, as both Bryony and Jack had their moments of sunshine and grump. If you’re looking for a friends to lovers, opposites attract, kisses-only romance, this is the book for you. The romance is more subtle than other books I have read lately, but I kept reading because of the quippy dialogue between characters. I also enjoyed the insider knowledge of traditional publishing. This slow burn, workplace romance book about books was a good palette cleanser.

“Spend a few hours with your eyes skating over pages of happiness, all while the more serious bits of your life get to rest their legs. Take a break. Laugh your heart to healing, I like to say. Now there’s a tagline. Because laughter is a part of life too, isn’t it? Something not to be dismissed as it stands side by side with more serious matters of growth and grief.”
― Melissa Ferguson, The Perfect Rom-Com

Music Genre Highlight: Latin

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, I wanted to highlight another area of our music collection, Latin music! An incredibly popular genre that continues to grow in popularity across the globe to this day. Within Latin music lies various other genres such as Salsa, Merengue, Reggaeton, Latin Jazz and so much more. Here is some of what Davenport Public Library has in our collection available for checkout!

You can also listen to Latin music on Freegal, our free music streaming service accessible through your Davenport Public Library Card. Here are some pre-made playlists from Freegal to get you started:

Any song recommendations? Leave them in the comments below! 

Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson

“You are not who you are because of where you come from; you are who you are because of where you choose to go.”
― Lana Ferguson, Under Loch and Key

Keyanna ‘Key’ McKay grew up in a family of secrets. Raised by a single father reluctant to share their family history, Key has never felt like she really fit in anywhere. After her father’s death, Key leaves New York, heading to Scotland to reunite with her estranged family and to explore the world her father never spoke about. All she knows about Scotland is her estranged grandmother’s name and the childhood story of her father’s about a monster that saved his life. Determined to fulfill her father’s last wish to go home, Key finds herself on the shore of a great body of water, unknowingly putting herself in danger, and eventually being rescued by an angry, yet attractive, Scotsman. Key is then escorted to her ancestral home, where the welcome she receives from her family is mixed and she realizes that her cranky rescuer lives on her family’s land.

Lachlan Greer has secrets of his own and this wily beautiful redhead who showed up out of nowhere seems determined to ruin all of his plans. After learning her name, Lachlan is even more weary. He is hunting for answers to his family’s history, but Key is a wrench in his plans that he does not need. Living on her family’s land, Lachlan and Key can’t avoid each other. Their attraction ratchets up higher and higher, despite their mutual efforts to avoid each other. It soon becomes apparent that they will have to trust each other in order to find the answers they are each looking for. Their answers rest in each other’s histories.

I picked this book up purely because of the cover, aka the man in the kilt, (plus the punny title)! Under Loch and Key ended up being an absolute delight and honestly, I’m glad I went into this book without knowing anything about it. This is a magical paranormal romance with spicy scenes that happen on page. The characters’ relationships were silly, emotional, mysterious, yet completely magical. This was also my first monster romance, which was a bit of a shock to the system, but honestly not bad. Also bonus it has two of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers and grumpy meets sunshine. Even though this is a spicy read, the author also throws in several heartwarming themes that deal with forgiveness, family, burdens, and correcting your past mistakes in order to move on in the future. Solid four stars from me!

September’s Celebrity Book Club Picks

Bestsellers Club is a service that automatically places you on hold for authors, celebrity picks, nonfiction picks, and fiction picks. Choose any author, celebrity pick, fiction pick, and/or nonfiction pick and The Library will put the latest title on hold for you automatically. Select as many as you want! Still have questions? Click here for a list of FAQs.

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 Bestsellers Club, you can choose to have their selections automatically put on hold for you.


Jenna Bush Hager has selected Buckeye by Patrick Ryan for her September pick.

Curious what Buckeye is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

One town. Two families. A secret that changes everything.

In Bonhomie, Ohio, a stolen moment of passion, sparked in the exuberant aftermath of the Allied victory in Europe, binds Cal Jenkins, a man wounded not in war but by his inability to serve in it, to Margaret Salt, a woman trying to obscure her past. Cal’s wife, Becky, has a spiritual gift: She is a seer who can conjure the dead, helping families connect with those they’ve lost. Margaret’s husband, Felix, is serving on a Navy cargo ship, out of harm’s way—until a telegram suggests that the unthinkable might have happened.

Later, as the country reconstructs in the postwar boom, a secret grows in Bonhomie—but nothing stays buried forever in a small town. Against the backdrop of some of the most transformative decades in modern America, the consequences of that long-ago encounter ripple through the next generation of both families, compelling them to reexamine who they thought they were and what the future might hold.

Sweeping yet intimate, rich with piercing observation and the warmth that comes from profound understanding of the human spirit, Buckeye captures the universal longing for love and for goodness. – Random House

This title is also available in large print.


Reese Witherspoon has selected To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage for her September pick.

Curious what To the Moon and Back is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

In this dazzlingly powerful story of family, ambition and belonging, one young woman’s obsessive quest to become the first Cherokee astronaut irrevocably alters the fates of the people she loves most.

My mother took my sister and me, and she drove through the night to a place she felt a claim to, a place on earth she thought we might be safe. I stopped asking questions. I picked little glass pieces from my sister’s hair. I watched the moon.

Steph Harper is on the run. When she was five, her mother fled an abusive husband—with Steph and her younger sister in tow—to Cherokee Nation, where she hoped they might finally belong. In response, Steph sets her sights as far away from Oklahoma as she can get, vowing that she will let nothing get in the way of pursuing the rigorous physical and academic training she knows she will need to be accepted by NASA, and ultimately, to go to the moon.

Spanning three decades and several continents, To the Moon and Back encompasses Steph’s turbulent journey, along with the multifaceted and intertwined lives of the three women closest to her: her sister Kayla, an artist who goes on to become an Indigenous social media influencer, and whose determination to appear good takes her life to unexpected places; Steph’s college girlfriend Della Owens, who strives to reclaim her identity as an adult after being removed from her Cherokee family through a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act; and Hannah, Steph and Kayla’s mother, who has held up her family’s tribal history as a beacon of inspiration to her children, all the while keeping her own past a secret.

In Steph’s certainty that only her ambition can save her, she will stretch her bonds with each of these women to the point of breaking, at once betraying their love and generosity, and forcing them to reconsider their own deepest desires in her shadow. Told through an intricately woven tapestry of narrative, To the Moon and Back is an astounding and expansive novel of mothers and daughters, love and sacrifice, alienation and heartbreak, terror and wonder. At its core, it is the story of the extraordinary lengths to which one woman will go to find space for herself. – Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster


Oprah has picked All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation by Elizabeth Gilbert as her latest pick. Oprah’s Book Club has been around for years! Oprah’s book club picks are not released every month, so it may be a couple months between her releases.

Curious what All the Way to the River is about? Check below.

In 2000, Elizabeth Gilbert met Rayya. They became friends, then best friends, then inseparable. When tragedy entered their lives, the truth was finally laid bare: The two were in love. They were also a pair of addicts, on a collision course toward catastrophe.

What if your most beautiful love story turned into your biggest nightmare? What if the dear friend who taught you so much about your self-destructive tendencies became the unstable partner with whom you disastrously reenacted every one of them? And what if your most devastating heartbreak opened a pathway to your greatest awakening?

All the Way to the River is a landmark memoir that will resonate with anyone who has ever been captive to love—or to any other passion, substance, or craving—and who yearns, at long last, for liberation. – Riverhead Books

This title is also available in large print.


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