Tag: Jessica Anya Blau

Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast July Recap

- Brittany Leave a comment

Each month, we release a new episode of Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast. In this blog post, I will give you helpful links to area resources, Library resources, and links to the books discussed in our episode!

Favorite Audiobook Narrators to Celebrate World Listening Day on July 18th 

To celebrate World Listening Day, the hosts came up with a list of some of their favorite audiobook narrators!

Stephanie’s Picks:
Julia Whelan
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
The Women by Kristin Hannah
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Zachary Webber 
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez
The Happy Ever Playlist by Abby Jimenez
Vikas Adam
Evander Mills Series by Lev AC Rosen
Jim Dale
Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Cassandra Campbell
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Full Cast Narrators
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstren
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Sadie by Courtney Summers
One of Us is Dead by Jeneva Rose
American Gods by Neil Gaiman 

Brittany’s Picks
Read by the Author
Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Zeno Robinson
Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

Beth’s Picks
Full Cast Audiobooks
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff
Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman

woman laying in the sun readingLibby App

Are you struggling to find time to squeeze in a Library visit or to read a physical book? Libby has you covered! Download the Libby App to access thousands of Audiobooks and e-books for free with your Davenport Public Library card! All items will check out for up to 21 days and will automatically return. Place holds on up to 10 titles and check out 5 items at a time to ensure that you are never short on content to read! Download the App today!

National Parks and Recreation Month Interview

During this segment, Brittany and Claire interviewed Becca Niles from Davenport Parks and Recreation about some of their amazing projects. During the interview, they also discussed partnerships between The Library and Parks currently in progress and for those occurring in the future. If you are interested in Parks programming, follow this link to visit their website!

Many Ways to Listen

There are many ways to enrich your life through listening with your Davenport Public Library Card, below are a few of our favorites!

QC Beats
QC Beats is an online streaming audio collection of original music featuring Quad Cities musicians and artists. QC Beats is built in partnership with Davenport Public Library, Bettendorf Public Library, and St. Ambrose University Library.

Freegal
Freegal Music gives you access to millions of songs from over 40,000 labels. Stream 24-hours a day. Download up to 5 songs per week.

Physical Items
The Library has music CD’s, audiobooks on CD, and playaways to check out to listen through your stereo or headphones. By clicking the link above, you can begin searching for your next great listen!

If you are looking for a program to join, consider looking into our Audiophiles Walking Club beginning in August!

three women sitting near podcasting equipment

What Our Hosts Read In June

Beth’s Reads:
If You Would Have Told Me by John Stamos
The Boys in the Cave: Deep Inside the Impossible Rescue in Thailand by Matt Gutman

Stephanie’s Reads:
Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
Poppy Done to Death (book 8 in the Aurora Teagarden mystery series) by Charlaine Harris
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White
Full of Myself: A Graphic Memoir About Body Image by Siobhan Gallagher
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor (book 1 in Irish Village Mystery series)
The Night in Question by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson (book 2 in The Agathas Mystery series)
Puzzled: a memoir about growing up with OCD by Pan Cooke
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 

Brittany’s Reads:
The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

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 – June Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read something set in the 1970s that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I had already read our main title, Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina, previously for a different book club, so I decided to read Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau.

Mary Jane is beyond ready to have a summer job. It’s 1970s Baltimore and her parents are strict. She spends her time cooking meals with her mother, attending church and singing in the church choir, and listening to records from the Broadway Show Tunes of the Month club to which her family subscribes. Her parents have decided that she can work as a nanny for the local doctor. She will spend her summer looking after their daughter – her mother says it’s respectable, which means a lot coming from her.

The moment Mary Jane steps foot inside the house, she knows her mother would be scandalized. The house may look respectable on the outside, but the inside is a mess. Clutter spills over every surface, stickers adorn the walls, and food is a free-for-all. The doctor isn’t even a traditional doctor – he’s a psychiatrist whose only patient for the entire summer is a famous rock star attempting to dry out from his addictions. Her mother would be scandalized and to be honest, Mary Jane is shocked as well.

Mary Jane spends her summer being exposed to ideas, music, books, and culture that her parents would not approve of. She brings order, a consistent food schedule, clean clothes, and so much else to the house while they expand her worldview. The closer the end of the summer gets, the more Mary Jane realizes that there is more to her world than the life her parents have carved out for her. Her future is wider than she ever thought possible.

Set in 1970s Baltimore, Jessica Anya Blau has created a riveting coming-of-age story highlighting a fourteen-year-old girl’s summer stuck between her strict family and the progressive family she nannies for. This book gave me strong Daisy Jones and the Six vibes. It was adorable, funny, and gently heart-breaking to watch Mary Jane grow over the summer. Her journey outside her parents’ strict house was liberating. Readers get to see Mary Jane grow more confident throughout the summer as she is exposed to things she never knew existed before.

What did you read, watch, or listen to that was set in the 1970s? Did you enjoy it?

Next month, we are traveling to the 1980s.