Posted in Adult, Film, Mystery

International Mysteries, TV Edition

Posted on by Anneliese

Way back when this blog was starting out, I did one of my very first posts on International Mysteries. I love mystery novels, and I especially enjoy ones set in other countries. This time around, I’m going to share some mystery TV shows set in other countries (and not only the United Kingdom because there are a million of those!). International travel might be off the table right now, so here’s the alternative – you get to see another country, and there’s a zero-percent chance of getting murdered!

The Doctor Blake Mysteries

There are five seasons of this show (which ended in 2017). They are set in (and were made in) Australia, but they are also historical – specifically, the late 1950s. Dr. Blake is a medical doctor who also works as the medical examiner when needed, which leads to him getting involved in investigating murders. The supporting characters are also good – especially the foil his character has in his housekeeper, Jean.

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Posted in Kids 0-5, Kids 5-12

Helping Kids Process Troubling News Events

Posted on by Carol

When something troubling happens in the news, it can be overwhelming for adults to try to make sense of it all, and it can be even more difficult for children. Here is a list of resources for caregivers that can help kids process major news events, and the general stress of these turbulent times.

Read Aloud: The Breaking News

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Posted in Uncategorized

Fake News-Spotting; a Brief How-To

Posted on by Molly

This week has been fraught by intense, rapidly changing news cycles. With so much information being released online at once it can be tricky, verging on the impossible for the uninitiated, to discern fact from fiction. Below, we have compiled some quick tips to help information-seekers hone in on quality online news sources. 

Here are some basic steps to keep in mind when you are evaluating your news source:

  • Consider the source Read more than the article you clicked on. Read the “about us” information. What is the site’s mission? What is their contact information? If these things are lacking it may be a sign that your news source is suspect. 
  • Don’t just read the headlines Headlines often use inflammatory language to get clicks. Make sure to read the article to understand what is really being reported on. 
  • Author check! Who wrote the article? Are they credible? Do a quick check to find out whose words you are reading. 
  • Supporting Sources If supporting sources are given, click the links. Clicking the links allows the opportunity to check if the information being used actually supports the story.
  • DATE CHECK! This one is all-caps shouting because I see this on social media all the time. Old stories do not necessarily relate to or support current events. 
  • Satire check! Are you accidentally reading news from a joke site? Even after a year like 2020, if the information being reported seems too outlandish, it is worth your time to dig deeper. The most famous example of satirical news is The Onion which I have known fully grown adults to fall for as legitimate news. 
  • Confirmation Bias Check! Our beliefs color our perception, so it’s important to reflect on personal opinions that can cloud judgement. 
  • Librarian Check! When all else fails and you still feel uncertain, your friendly local librarians were BORN to help you find quality, reliable news sources. 
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Posted in Adult, Bingo 2021, Bookish Bingo, Teen & Young Adult

Introducing: 2021 Mead’s Bookish Bingo Challenge!

Posted on by Molly


Above: Mead’s Bookish Bingo Challenge bingo card. Pick up a copy at the first floor desk or download and print your own HERE. 

Returning to work or school after the holidays can be such a complete bummer. Pour some social distancing fatigue, light sedition, and general pandemic horror on top of that and welcome yourself to 2021, or The Year We Hope Won’t Totally Suck. What do we do, however, to get ourselves to look forward and not back? How do we make it through another freezing and drab Wisconsin winter after all that? It is with pleasure that I announce my new favorite distraction: Mead’s Bookish Bingo Challenge. Here’s how it works: 

List your title, used only once, and submit your completed Bingo – down, across or diagonal – to publicservices@meadpl.org or in-person at Mead Public Library to receive a small prize and an additional entry in the Summer Library Program drawing for your first Bingo. If you complete the Bingo card, and submit it by December 31, 2021, you will be entered into a drawing for a surprise gift.

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Posted in Fiction, Kids 5-12, Uncategorized

Look Ahead to a New Series

Posted on by Bree

It’s that time of year when we can take a moment to look back on our experiences of the past year and look forward to what’s to come in the new year. I decided to take a look back on what our young readers checked out the most this past year. Books from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series were the top six circulating titles from our children’s fiction collection. This series has maintained its popularity for over a decade now! The series follows a boy named Greg as he records his humorous experiences with middle school in his journal. Comical illustrations accompany his daily journal entries in this series that now includes 15 books. For fans of this series who may be looking for a new-to-you series for the new year, I’ve created a list for you all to check out below. I’ve included our catalog summaries of the first book of the series with each recommendation. Be sure to click the links below to request your copy through our catalog!

The 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

“Who wouldn’t want to live in a treehouse? Especially a 13-story treehouse that has a bowling alley, a see-through swimming pool, a tank full of sharks, a library full of comics, a secret underground laboratory, a games room, self-making beds, vines you can swing on, a vegetable vaporizer and a marshmallow machine that follows you around and automatically shoots your favorite flavored marshmallows into your mouth whenever it discerns you’re hungry. Life would be perfect for Andy and Terry if it wasn’t for the fact that they have to write their next book, which is almost impossible because there are just so many distractions, including thirteen flying cats, giant bananas, mermaids, a sea monsters pretending to be mermaids, enormous gorillas, and dangerous burp gas-bubblegum bubbles!” Take a look at the rest of The Treehouse series here.

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Posted in Adult, Fiction

New Year, New Books

Posted on by Molly

According to the New York Times list of best selling books, some likely suspect heavy hitters top the list for 2020 including James Patterson and Ernest Cline. While I totally understand the comfort of a favorite author, why not ring in the New Year with some new authors? Below, I listed three best-selling books or authors of the year and their lesser-known read-alike counterparts.

Did you like Ready Player Two (2020) by Ernest Cline? Try Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits (2015) by David Wong. 

Ernest Cline hit the big time in 2011 with his massively popular Ready Player One. You read it. I read it. The neighbor kid read it. It was a satisfying, if vacuous bit of distracting fun, and while I haven’t read the sequel, I suspect RP2 is much the same. Where RP1 was heavy on pop-culture references and 1980s nostalgia, David Wong is all about the future, baby! In Futuristic Violence, protagonist Zoey Ashe unexpectedly inherits billions from her estranged father. She and her cat Stench Machine are then forced to contend with a city full of jacked up monster men out to live-stream her demise. I’ve been a fan of Wong since his days as editor-in-chief over at Cracked, and his genre fiction does not disappoint. How funny is this book? Two words: burrito drone. On the other side of the funny coin is some truly gut-churning (futuristic) violence, so a big heads-up to you on that. 

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Posted in Adult, Film

Staying In With Bottle Films

Posted on by Anneliese

If you haven’t heard the term “bottle film” before, it refers to a movie that is set entirely within one, generally spatially limited, location. It’s not hard to imagine how the experience of 2020, with people being asked to stay home as much as possible as well as limit their interactions with others, could bring this topic to mind. Why is it satisfying to sit between your own four walls and watch someone else stare at theirs? I’m not sure, but I do think there’s a sense of connection now with films like this – so here are a few to try.

Rear Window

How could I not start with this Hitchcock classic? Jimmy Stewart plays a photographer who is confined to his apartment after breaking his leg. This movie is from 1954; there’s not a whole lot for him to do while stuck at home besides look out his window and watch what his neighbors are up to. He becomes convinced that he’s witnessed the coverup of a crime, and the boredom and claustrophobia of the atmosphere make for a wonderfully tense thriller.

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Posted in DIY & How To, Nonfiction

Making Christmas

Posted on by Zachary

The holiday season is revving up, admittedly a bit different than in previous years. Favorite traditions may not be possible this year and, gift budgets may be tight, so why not considering making ornaments for your tree or others. I found a few relevant books, and I’ve included their descriptions from their publishers.

Christmas Ornaments: A Collection of 25 Projects to Make and Cherish by Carolyn Vosburg Hall

“Author Carolyn Vosburg Hall presents 25 projects for beautiful and decorative ornaments to adorn Christmas trees and the home for the holiday season. Each project includes detailed, step-by-step instructions, as well as colorful photographs. The ornaments can be made using common craft supplies such as polymer clay, paper, embroidery floss, beads, and glue, and are suitable for all skill levels.”

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Posted in Adult, Uncategorized

Close but no Cigar, COVID

Posted on by Molly

My housemate arrived home one day to say that “a coworker came to work and announced his wife tested positive for COVID and then he wouldn’t leave the building.” Well. Isn’t that some marvelous news. I have been wearing a mask in public. I have been keeping socially distanced from friends and family. I have been foregoing things I love in the interest of my health and the health of the public, so it was with great dismay that I found myself needing to isolate despite taking every measure to stay safe. Here’s what I learned from that experience:

The Pandemic was not built for people without an automobile

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Posted in Fiction, Kids 0-5, Kids 5-12, Nonfiction, Uncategorized

How Are You Feeling?

Posted on by Bree

Understanding and communicating feelings can be challenging for young children. They don’t always have the words to express the feelings they are experiencing. You can help them learn how to express themselves by modeling appropriate ways to express your own feelings, describing how and why people feel the way they do in certain situations, and complimenting children when they use their words to describe their feelings. Reading picture books about characters going through different feelings, and discussing them is a fun way to help children to understand their own feelings as they relate to the characters. You can point to the characters’ facial expressions and ask what they are likely feeling and why, as well as ask the child if they have ever felt that way before. Learning to recognize and manage feelings is an important skill for children to learn. It will help them to build strong relationships and guide them in making good choices for themselves. There are many children’s books with characters experiencing different feelings. I have some recommendations below that are available from our children’s library.

How Are You Peeling?: Foods with Moods by Saxton Freymann

This is a really fun book that uses fruits and vegetables with faces carved into them as delightful illustrations. Each face has a different facial expression to go along with simple rhyming text that covers many different feelings and asks the reader how they feel in different situations. Have your child answer the rhyming prompts, and have them look at the facial expressions of the characters and try to describe what they think the characters are feeling.

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