Tag: Homegoing

February 2025 Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast Wrap!

- Brittany Leave a comment

In this blog post, I will give you helpful links to area resources, Library resources, and links to the books discussed in our February 2025 episode! If you have not listened to this episode yet, you can listen to Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast online or wherever you get your podcasts!

Romance Tropes!

It’s February and love is in the air! Our hosts shared some of their favorite romance tropes as well as least favorite and gave examples of some of their favorite reads! The books and tropes discussed in this segment are below!

One Bed Trope
– The People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
– Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot
– The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood
Fake Relationship Trope
– A Proposal They Can’t Refuse by Natalie Caña
– Funny Story by Emily Henry
– The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
– The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas
– The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
– The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Enemies to Lovers Trope
– Summertime Punchline by Betty Corrello
– The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood
– Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam (publishes in May – check back!)
Grumpy x Sunshine Trope
– Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
– The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
– It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
– My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey
Forbidden Romance Trope
– The Cinnamon Bun Book Store by Laurie Gilmore
Arranged Marriages/Honorable Marriages/Political Marriages Trope
– Dark Olympus Series by Katee Robert
Forced Proximity Trope
– The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

 

 

The FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library

The FRIENDS of The Davenport Public Library! The mission of the FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library is to raise funds and manage an endowment portfolio that will provide resources to support the literary and educational purposes of the Davenport Public Library. In addition to all of this, they also operate our bookstores! To learn more about the FRIENDS and how to get involved, visit friendsofdavenportlibrary.org.  

 

 

The Librarians Celebrate Spunky Old Broads Day

Spunky Old Broads Day is a day to celebrate older women for their wisdom, courage, and vivacity, and is celebrated on February 1, but you can celebrate all month long! Below are the titles showcased in this segment!

– My Name is Barbara by Barbara Streisand
– Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik
– The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton
– The Marlow Murder Club Series by Robert Thorogood
– The Thursday Murder Club Series by Richard Osman
– Mrs. Plansky Series by Spencer Quinn
– Agnes Sharp Murder Mysteries by Leonie Swann
– Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino
– The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich
– Summertime Punchline by Betty Corrello

DavenportU Citizens Academy with Allie McWilliams

DavenportU Citizens Academy is a ten-session program aimed at connecting citizens to their local government. If you have ever been curious about how the City prioritizes projects or how heavy a firefighters turnout gear is – this academy could be for you!

“I look forward to meeting Davenport’s most engaged citizens in each year’s cohort,” said Davenport Mayor Mike Matson. “Even long-time residents of Davenport can learn something new at DavenportU.”

Each session of DavenportU takes citizens behind the scenes of City government with interactive experiences, tours, and presentations. From community and economic development to public safety and parks, DavenportU participants move around the City to learn about the inner workings of each department. DavenportU concludes with a graduation ceremony at the City Council Meeting on May 28, 2025.

Be sure to apply by February 21st here! 

Show Your Love for Our Library

Davenport Public Library is proud to be supported by our vibrant and diverse community! The resources on this page are intended to make it easy for you to share information about the value of The Library with your friends and family and to advocate with your elected officials and other community stakeholders.
Advocacy is critical for public libraries! By telling others about The Library, you are:
  • Showing how The Library positively impacts Davenport by connecting a diverse community to resources that educate, enrich, and entertain.
  • Spreading awareness of free services that many in our community may not otherwise know about or have access to.
  • Advocating for funding to meet our community’s needs through The Library’s resources.

To get more involved or to learn more about how to share your love, visit our Advocacy Page! 

Black History Month Reading Suggestions

February is Black History Month! Below are some titles that the hosts have enjoyed and hope that you will too!

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
James by Percival Everett
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Becoming by Michelle Obama
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

What Our Hosts Read In January

Beth’s Reads:
The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg
Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman Behind the Legend by John E. Miller

Brittany’s Reads:
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Being Henry: The Fonz… and Beyond by Henry Winkler, narrated by Henry and Stacey Winkler
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle, narrated by Megan Hilty
The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood, narrated by Sofia Oxenham
A Dish Best Served Hot by Natalie Caña
The Last Love Note by Emma Grey, narrated by Leeanna Walsman
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Stephanie’s Reads:
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, narrated by Michael Crouch
Girl Forgotten by April Henry
The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, narrated by Ocean Vuong
Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry
The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont, narrated by Lucy Scott
Honey Mead Murder by Dahlia Donovan (Not Available in Rivershare)
Guilt and Ginataan by Mia P. Manansala, narrated by Danice Cabanela
The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore
The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, narrated by Jeanette Illidge & Tapiwa Mugweni
On Spine of Death by Tamara Berry

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 – November Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

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

“We believe the one who has power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth? Once you have figured that out, you must find that story too. From there you get a clearer, yet still imperfect, picture.”
― Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing

I read our main title: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. This is a multigenerational saga that spans countries and centuries. Two half-sisters are born in eighteenth-century Ghana in different villages. The kicker: they don’t know the other exists. One sister, Effia, marries an English slave trader, moves into Cape Coast Castle, and lives a life of comfort and somewhat peace. She raises half-caste children with her white husband. The other sister, Esi, is captured in a raid on her village, imprisoned in the dungeons of Cape Coast Castle, sold into slavery, and shipped off on a boat. She ends up in America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery.

This book follows Effia and Esi’s descendants through eight generations. It discusses slavery in the past all the way through to racism in the present. One thread loops through Ghana with Effia’s family. Another thread travels America with Esi’s family. Readers switch back and forth between each woman’s descendants to learn how past actions influence their futures.

Gyasi’s debut novel was absolutely breathtaking. I listened to the audiobook and wished that I would have had access to the family tree that was in the front of the print book. If you decide to give this book a listen, Knopf Double Day has a copy of the family tree online that you can use. As I was reading, I was amazed that this was the author’s debut novel! Homegoing was beautifully written and tore at my heart as it introduced characters with heartbreaking stories of loss, danger, and love. Gyasi does a wonderful job of telling the accounts of a family and how their bodies are affected by events/people/places out of their control, while also being sensitive to their souls.

In December, we’re headed to Cuba!

Online Reading Challenge – November

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge travels to Africa. Our Main title for November is Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher.

Ghana, eighteenth century: two half sisters are born into different villages, each unaware of the other. One will marry an Englishman and lead a life of comfort in the palatial rooms of the Cape Coast Castle. The other will be captured in a raid on her village, imprisoned in the very same castle, and sold into slavery.

One of Oprah’s Best Books of the Year, Homegoing follows the parallel paths of these sisters and their descendants through eight generations: from the Gold Coast to the plantations of Mississippi, from the American Civil War to Jazz Age Harlem. Yaa Gyasi’s extraordinary novel illuminates slavery’s troubled legacy both for those who were taken and those who stayed—and shows how the memory of captivity has been inscribed on the soul of our nation.

This title is also available in large print, CD audiobook, and as a Libby eBook.

Looking for some other materials set in Africa? Try any of the following. As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!

Fiction Picks

Nonfiction Picks