Category: eBooks & eAudio

Posted in Adult, eBooks & eAudio, Fiction, Mystery, Teen & Young Adult

Proper Ladies Buck Convention

Posted on by Molly

Take a look at the list of books I have been reading lately. They each feature woman or girl protagonists who are in possession of indomitable spirits and a penchant for solving mysteries. While the books take place anywhere from 1815-1950, they are mostly set in Victorian England, and sometimes the old girl herself makes an appearance. The mysteries are usually murders, and in the cozy tradition, happen “off-screen” and are somewhat sanitary, as far as murders go. Each book listed is the first in a series, often with new titles still being published. 

The Body in the Garden (2020) by Katherine Shellman
Protagonist: Lily Adler
Setting: 1815 Edwardian London
Books in the series: three
Queen Victoria appearance: she wouldn’t be born for four more years
Lily Adler is unconventional because she is a young widow who prefers solving the mysteries of upper-crust London social circles she belongs to, rather than searching for a second husband. Completely cozy series with charming protagonists and ongoing story threads that connect book to book. The mysteries are complex, satisfying, and comfy like a warm bath.
Available on Hoopla in audio and e-book formats

Etiquette & Espionage (2013) by Gail Carriger
Protagonist: Saphronia Angelina Temminnick, age 14
Setting: 1851 Victorian London
Books in the Finishing School series: four
Queen Victoria appearance: yes
Yes, I’ve written about Gail Carriger in the past, and I will write about her again. This book is ridiculous in the best ways possible and the world needs to know. In this awesome steampunk version of Victorian England, vampires and werewolves are real and figure into parliamentary politics and society functions just like their human counterparts. Schools float in the sky. Pets are made of clockwork. Tea cakes are consumed with abandon. I loved getting to know the complex cast of characters over the four-book run, and then delighted in meeting them again in some of Carriger’s later work. The audio version is a particular joy if you enjoy the plummy tones of English society women. And I must ask, who among us does not?
Available on Libby in audio and e-book formats

Crocodile on the Sandbank (1975) by Elizabeth Peters
Protagonist: Amelia Peabody
Setting: 1884 England
Books in the series: twenty
Queen Victoria appearance: no, but expect to encounter real-life historical figures such as famous archaeologist Howard Carter.
This is the oldest series on my list, and while I am certain there are books about Victorian ladies striking out to fulfill their unconventional dreams published prior to this, Peters is for sure an OG refiner of the trope. Tropes include: unconventional lady inherits a fortune; has unbendable will; is the smartest person in the room; attracts an irascible male counterpart; is brave and resourceful to an almost sociopathic degree. One of the fun things about the Amelia Peabody books is that she ages from book to book as opposed to being rooted in a static, unchanging timespan. This beloved series is great for those who like a bit of ancient Egyptian history with their cozy mysteries.
Available on Libby in audio and e-book formats and on Hoopla in audiobook format

A Curious Beginning (2015) by Deanna Raybourn
Protagonist: Veronica Speedwell
Setting: 1887 Victorian London
Books in the series: seven with the eighth publishing in 2023
Queen Victoria appearance: yes
Oh, Veronica, how I adore her. If I had to choose a favorite character on this list it would be a toss-up between Veronica here and Gail Carriger’s Saphronia. Not only is Ms. Speedwell smart, tenacious, cunning, and ribald, she has a libido and a hilarious approach to men and love. Her handsome male counterpart, Stoker, provides a terrific foil to Veronica’s outrageous (at the time) actions and statements. The mysteries are extremely well-constructed and the running storyline is compelling. The audio production is so good I’ve listened through the series twice. 
Available on Libby in audio and e-book formats and on Hoopla in audiobook format

A Study in Scarlet Women (2016) by Sherry Thomas
Protagonist: Charlotte Holmes
Setting: Late 19th century London
Books in the series: six with a seventh publishing in 2023
Queen Victoria appearance: unsure, I have not read the whole series. 
One cannot throw a stone in a library without hitting a Sherlock Holmes adaptation (do not throw stones in the library plz). Along with Big Bird, Han Solo, and Frankestein, Sherlock Holmes is one of the most recognizable and enduring fictional characters in the western world. We collectively cannot get enough of this prickly, seemingly omnipotent detective. My favorite adaptations gender swap the Holmes and/or Watson character (looking at you CBS’s Elementary) so naturally, I was drawn to The Lady Sherlock series. Part of the fun is recognizing the beats lifted from the source material and how they change from one interpretation to the next. Don’t fret if this Holmes adaptation does not appeal. There are a LOT more where that came from. 
Available on Libby in audio and e-book formats and on Hoopla in audiobook format

The Widows of Malabar Hill (2018) by Sujata Massey
Protagonist: Perveen Mistry
Setting: 1920 Bombay
Books in the series: three with a fourth publishing in 2023
Queen Victoria appearance: she had been dead for nineteen years in 1920
This is the farthest afield of the series on this list. Our protagonist, Perveen, is one of the first female lawyers in India. Given that Indian patriarchy persists to this day, her arrival to the legal scene was not met with great enthusiasm and often open contempt. I loved this book because I got to learn about Indian history, religions common to India, and the British Raj. The mystery itself is intriguing and the writing was beautiful.
Available on Libby in audio and e-book formats and on Hoopla in audiobook format

Cocaine Blues (1989) by Kerry Greenwood
Protagonist: Phryne Fisher
Setting: late 1920s Melbourne
Books in the series: twenty two
Queen Victoria appearance: nope!
Many are by now familiar with Phryne Fisher from the excellent Australian television series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Phyrne is the role model of our dreams. She drinks, dances, has adult dalliances to relieve stress, and carries a gold plated pistol. She’s basically the coolest lady ever. And she’s rich so she can get away with such shocking behavior for a woman of her station. This series gives golden age of detective fiction by taking us from squalid back alleys to glimmering cruise ships to speakeasies and beyond. Phryne might be the most glamorous unconventional lady on the list, and I think she would get on like a house on fire with Veronica Speedwell.
Available on Libby and Hoopla in e-book format

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (2009) by Alan Bradley
Protagonist: Flavia DeLuce, age 11
Setting: 1950 England
Books in the series: ten
Queen Victoria appearance: of course not, but I believe Churchill shows up sometime down the line
Eleven year old Flavia De Luce has grown up feril in Buckshaw, a crumbling family estate in a quintessentially bucolic English village. Her mother has been missing for years and her father is coping with the loss as well as his WWII experience in the stiff-upper-lip English way. Flavia is a precocious chemistry genius (one might even say mad scientist) who uses her innate curiosity and desire to impress the police Inspector Hewitt to solve baffling murders in the are. Flavia is an appealing character for many reasons, but I love that although she is a chemistry genius she often overlooks aspects of the case that any regular 11-year-old would miss. The forensic descriptions of Flavia’s observations are a little intense, but that’s part of the fun. I do NOT recommend the audio version of this series as the narration did not align with how I characterized Flavia’s voice in my own head at all. Too wistful, I think. Flavia is NOT wistful.
Available on Libby in audio and e-book format

If your reading whims differ greatly, not to fret. Mead Library has this rad book recommendation tool called Your Next Five Books. Take five minutes to fill out & submit and within a few days you will receive a personally tailored list of books based on your favorites. Not digging email as a way to reach out? Call us at 920-459-3400 option 4 to speak to a real live librarian. We can help with book picks, troubleshooting Libby and Hoopla, book requests, you name it. Anything to help you find a book you will love.

Posted in Adult, eBooks & eAudio, Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction, Staff Picks, Thrillers

Books I Hated and What to Read Instead

Posted on by Molly

Let’s get one thing straight up front: These are not BAD books. They’re actually wildly popular for the most part, and objectively well-executed, I just happened to hate them. Personal taste does not have to be rooted in reality or logic. We like what we like. For instance, I will put most books and movies down that feature a love triangle because they make my skin crawl. Below, I listed several best-selling books I was led to believe I would enjoy, but did not, and what I would recommend reading instead.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (2018) by Hank Green
Why I hated it: So, so, so many reasons. This is one of the only books I’ve ever rage-quit and had it been a physical and not audio copy I may have hurled the book into a different room so it would no longer offend my eyes. Based on this title alone, Hank Green cannot write female characters. The protagonist is a bisexual 20-something Asian woman. Cool, diversity is cool, but Green used this character’s sexuality like a cheat code for objectifying the other female characters in the story. Also, this book features giant robots mysteriously appearing around the world. How awesome, right? IT IS NOT the robots didn’t do SHIT. And the book ends on a cliffhanger, which I only know about because I looked up the ending online after rage quitting. Finally, the use of modern youth vernacular will NOT age well in this novel. I was wincing when I read it and the ink had hardly dried. 

Read instead:

A Master of Djinn (2021) by P. Djeli Clark
Why it’s great: Where Green totally biffed writing women characters, Clark excels. Most characters of consequence in this book are women. It blows my mind that in the year of our lord 2022 I am feeling grateful to encounter a whole book full of multidimensional female characters that don’t focus on their looks or a man to make their way in the world. Read this book for access to a mostly female cast of vibrant and memorable characters, gorgeous world building, and incomprehensible eldritch beings trying to cross into nice, semi-horror filled early 20th century Cairo. Did I mention Cairo is a world superpower because someone figured out how to let djinn and other spirits back into the world? And that’s not even a spoiler.

Nobody’s Fool (1993) by Richard Russo
Why I hated it: Sully, the titular character, is a perennial loveable loser who squandered his life being moored down by family trauma and a can’t-do attitude. Russo seems to be in love with his own prose as well as protagonist Sully, and I just don’t get it. Indeed, the writing itself cannot be beat, it was the ideas within however, which I took umbrage. For instance, a horrid racial epithet is casually bandied about at one point to describe the nature of work Sully engages in, and the level of male wish fulfillment appearing throughout was kinda gross. Every book its reader, and I am not the one. I made it about half way through the almost 600 page doorstop before I put it down. Save yourself some time and watch the 1994 screen adaptation of Nobody’s Fool starring the ever-wonderful Paul Newman instead of trying to slog through this brick.

Read instead:

Empire Falls (2001) by Richard Russo
Why it’s great: This is Russo’s Great American Novel. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction over a Jonathan Franzen book, thank god, because it deserved the honor. Now, I don’t normally stan boomer-age whiteguy authors, as they tend to write books for other men (see above for criticism of Russo’s earlier work), but this book shines with an undeniable light that we can all bask in. Empire Falls was adapted into a very passable miniseries for HBO starring Ed Harris. Watch the series for sure, but be sure to read the book too, so as not to miss out on an evil cat giving protagonist Miles a run for his money, amongst other things. 

The Spellman Files (2007) by Lisa Lutz
Why I hated it: Lutz published six Spellman books in the 2010ishes and all I could think about while reading the freshman installation was how badly this was not working for me so how could they possibly be popular enough to demand so many installations. Spellman strives to assemble a quirky and interesting family of private detectives whose dysfunction is more a feature and less a bug, but they come across as a watery Royal Tannenbaum situation with more severe antisocial disorders. And not in a fun way! While the protagonist was meant to be a daring and independent young woman, all I could see was somebody who would benefit from therapy, a reinforcing of boundaries, and maybe a damn hug. 

Read Instead:
Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead (2011) by Sara Gran
Why it’s great: I love a hot mess protagonist and where The Spellman Files falls short, Clare DeWitt succeeds in spades. DeWitt is the self-described world’s best PI who is obsessed with the work of obscure French detective Jacques Silette. In the City of the Dead, she has found herself in a recently post-Katrina New Orleans which DeWitt fled years earlier when her mentor was unceremoniously murdered. She is back to track down a missing DA as well as try to untangle her violent past. While none of that sounds earth-shattering, there is something about DeWitt and her unflinching self-destruction and devotion to Silette’s teachings that I found completely compelling. So far, Gran has graced us with three Claire DeWitt novels, and they get successively better. Read them in order for the best experience. If you’re a Mead card holder, all three are available in ebook and audio format on Hoopla, so no wait time for you. 

Lock Every Door (2019) by Riley Sager
Why I hated it: Some authors never resonate. This is the case for Sager. He is massively popular and has several titles that on paper seem like they’ll be right up my alley but in execution I can’t get into it. Lock Every Door initially appealed because it takes place in an early 20th century construction of a fabulous spooky Manhattan apartment building. There’s a Rosemary’s Baby vibe happening, but no Satanists, and buddy I got to tell you that was one of the biggest disappointments I’ve ever had in my leisure reading life. The solution to this “mystery” was pretty irritating and I wish I had the time back that I used to read this. I also read Lock Every Door which has a supernatural switcheroo as well, so maybe it’s a theme in Sager’s work. I dunno. It doesn’t do it for me. 

Read instead:

There’s Someone Inside Your House (2017) by Stephanie Perkins 
Why it’s great: First and foremost, before you read any further, take a moment to say the title of this book out loud. No wait, don’t just say it, SCREECH it. Try it, you’ll like it. Besides the very fun-to-yell title, this YA thriller has a brisk pace, interesting character arcs and juicy secret pasts to unfold. The creep-factor is high and the central mystery has a satisfying and hard to predict solution. Most who enjoy thrillers or mysteries would enjoy this highly consumable and appealingly candy-colored book.

Would I say my taste in books is highly individualistic and not based on any objective literary criticism? Yes, yes I would. That’s the beauty of leisure reading. We get to pursue what we like without justifying the reasons. Some people only read Amish romance. Some people only read nonfiction accounts of Arctic expeditions. Some people only read graphic novels and manga. Guess what, they are all valid in their reading pursuits because there’s no wrong way to leisurely read.  

If you are casting around for book recommendations consider using our reader’s advisory service, Your Next Five Books, by clicking HERE. If you are in need of ebook or audiobook troubleshooting, or help requesting books, please call us or stop in for help, and happy reading. 

Posted in Adult, Bingo 2021, eBooks & eAudio, Fiction, Film, Magazines

Bookish Bingo Reading Challenge 2021 Wrap-Up

Posted on by Molly

Well, it certainly has been a bit of a year, hasn’t it? While things were a little too pandemic-y and censorship-y around the country to make this year a pleasant one to remember, I do not think it was completely without merit. Take, for instance, reading challenges. More specifically, Mead’s Bookish Bingo Challenge, that, when complete, makes the player eligible for FABULOUS PRIZES. Readers still have until the first week of January to submit their bingo cards at the first floor desk. Those who completed a row across, down, or diagonally will receive a stylish and useful Mead tote bag. In addition to this, those who were able to complete the entire card will be entered into a drawing for $50 Chamber Cash. Wow! Talk about fabulous! 


Above: Mead’s Bookish Bingo Challenge bingo card. Download and print your own HERE. 

Did you miss the bingo boat this year? Do not despair. You have a couple options. The first of which is to engage with Mead’s Bookish Bingo Challenge 2022 for a whole new year of challenges to complete. 

The second option is to spend the next two holiday weekends completing at least one row of the bingo card. Here’s how I would do it:

Top row middle: Read a Book Recommended by the Staff on the MPL Blog

Mead staff has been posting book, movie, magazine, website, and more, recommendations for roughly the past three years. Books for all ages, really. Many to choose from and many of which can be read in one easy sitting. No one will fault you for reading a book from a post about children’s books. If you feel like this is cheating (it’s not; children’s lit is worthy and excellent), certainly no one will fault you for reading a book in audio form while you finish last minute holiday preparations around the house or drive to and from work, etc. I would listen to something with a full-cast reading like Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede or maybe the highly-acclaimed The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee, both of which were blogged about by yours truly a couple years ago. Super fun series, honestly. 

Second row middle: Read a Book that is Connected to the Winter Solstice

Greenglass House by Kate Milford

Hmmm, if only there were a holiday, or several holidays, that landed on or around the Winter Solstice. What I am getting at, and what you may have gathered from my advice about the first square, is that reading challenges are a perfect opportunity to bend some rules. Greenglass House by Kate Milford takes place over a boy’s winter break. It’s a snowed-in mystery that, while not specifically about the Winter Solstice, is definitely solstice-adjacent. Get creative. Is the book set in winter? I bet you could shoehorn that thing into this bingo square.

Third row middle: READER’S CHOICE!!!!!!!!!

Okay, is THIS cheating? It is not. Any book you read gets this square crossed off the list. May I humbly suggest a little Murderbot?

Fourth row middle: Read a Magazine on Overdrive/Libby

Our 2021 reading challenge saw some changes to Mead services over the course of the year. Primary of these to effect Bookish Bingo was the absorption of RB Digital into Overdrive/Libby. RBD used to be the place to check out e-magazines and audiobooks until mid-2021, so if you read your magazine there, feel free to mark off the square. Latecomers should head to Overdrive/Libby. I really dig on America’s Test Kitchen so I would probably read an issue of their Cook’s Country magazine. 

Fifth row middle: Watch a Film with Subtitles on Kanopy

Kanopy can be accessed anywhere you have an internet connection. I use the Roku app and it’s pretty slick. To find the film with subtitles, head to “Browse” and then select “World Cinema”.  Watch Parasite (2019) if you haven’t yet because buddy, you are missing out. 

Everyone at Mead hopes everyone reading our blog enjoyed participating in this inaugural reading challenge. What were your favorite squares? What were the most difficult? What do you wish we would do differently? Click HERE to download your last-ditch 2021 bingo card and stay tuned for access to the 2022 edition. Please do not hesitate to reach out for help troubleshooting tech stuff, for last minute book recs, or anything else, really. Enjoy the holiday season, and to those of you attempting to complete a bingo row over two holiday weekends, best of luck, you can do it!

Posted in Adult, eBooks & eAudio, Mystery

MEAD MURDER MEDIA

Posted on by Molly

While there is never a bad time to dig into a mystery, summertime is when I want to break out some Agatha Christie while basking in the sun to enjoy the off-screen demise of a country squire or unsuspecting rich auntie. This summer, escapism is more important than ever, so listed below is a brief breakdown of how to access some excellent murder mystery media at Mead. While I have highlighted some personal favorites, these searches can be adjusted to any particular genre of your liking. 

What’s the best thing about Hoopla besides access to thousands of books, movies, and music CDs? NO WAIT TIME! Another thing I like about Hoopla is the intuitive search features. Click on “Browse” to the left of the search bar and select “Television”. The next screen will list all the subject categories so naturally, I chose “Mystery” which is listed as a “Top Category”. The top result was Death in Paradise Season One (2011) which is a great top result because the show is fabulous. Who wouldn’t love a fish-out-of-water cozy in a lush, tropical setting? Make yourself a pina colada to drink while you watch for verisimilitude. What if I’ve already seen this show and want to see more like it? Click on the thumbnail and from the next screen click on “BBC Studios”. This will take you to a new list of results; all media produced by BBC Studios. There’s also a way to search by publisher, which can be found under “Advanced Search” at the top of the page. Try searching “Acorn” in that field to get an astonishing list of BBC mystery series. There’s tons of Agatha Christie-inspired media like Marple and Poirot as well as more modern, gritty series like Wire in the Blood and Vera. Everyone should take some time to explore the wide range of television content Hoopla has on offer. You might be surprised because it is A LOT. 

Not looking for a TV show or movie? Select “Audiobooks” from the “Browse” menu. From the next page it’s fun to see what everyone else has been reading, so under “SORT BY” select “Popularity” and feast your eyes. Lucy Foley’s excellent The Hunting Party (2018) appears near the top of this list, with good reason. Fans of locked-room, or snowed-in mysteries will get a kick out of the unreliable narrators and the sense that you are overhearing something not meant for your ears.

I also like to use the “User Ratings” setting of the “SORT BY” drop-down menu. Not everyone rates their checkouts on Hoopla so the results don’t line up with “Popularity”. Apparently, users really like The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Anthony Boucher. Will someone please read one of these to tell me if they’re any good? 

Folks, I do not enjoy camping because in my mind, that is how one gets murdered by some unkillable psychopath who thirsts for the blood of co-ed campers. Confusingly, I cannot stop listening to true crime audiobooks that describe the psychology and pathology of the worst sorts of criminals. Hop on over to RBDigital to download some of the finest true crime you’ll ever encounter. First, there’s Robert Hare’s Without Conscience (1993). Hare is the man credited with creating the Psychopath Checklist and therefore a giant in his field. He’s also interviewed in Jon Ronson’s The Psychopath Test (2011) which is available on Hoopla. Now that some context has been laid, read Whoever Fights Monsters (1992) by Robert K. Ressler. This fella, right here, is credited with coining the term “serial killer” in the late 1970s. He also acted as a consultant to Thomas Harris while he wrote The Silence of the Lambs. More recently, he was fictionalized as Agent Bill Tench on the popular Netflix series Mindhunter. Quite the career! 

Too much murderer talk? Check out Death’s Acre (2004) by William M. Bass. This man is responsible for the creation of the so-called Body Farm located at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Bass’ contributions to the field of forensic science are pretty staggering. His research facility allowed scientists to study the decomposition of human bodies in open air, buried in barrels, submerged in water, and on and on. This research has been extrapolated to aid in murder investigations around the world. Death’s Acre focuses on the science behind crime scenes as opposed to the psychology of the criminal which I thought made the content less graphic. Plus, Bass seems like a big old sweety and I enjoyed his tone.

Once again, if murder mysteries or true crime are not your favorite things, rest easy in the knowledge that all three of our digital book platforms have thousands upon thousands of titles to choose from. If that is a daunting task, I will let you in on a little secret: librarians LOVE the chance to provide old-school library services such as reader’s advisory in this ever-modernizing library landscape. Please do not hesitate to reach out for book picks, or for help using our array of super awesome digital services. 

Posted in Adult, eBooks & eAudio, Fiction, Historical, Mystery, Romance, Thrillers

New Dual-Format Print/eBooks

Posted on by Anneliese

The library is open again (with limited services, as you can see here); some people are comfortable coming in, while others still want to limit their time in public places. So I’ve put together a little list of some popular new books that are available either in print or as eBooks through Hoopla.

The advantage of Hoopla, of course, is that there’s no waitlist even on popular new titles like these (as long as you haven’t hit your borrowing limit for the month); on the other hand, some people think the feel of a physical book in your hand is worth waiting for.

Descriptions below are taken from either Hoopla or our catalog.

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If I Were You by Lynn Austin: Physical/eBook

From bestselling and eight-time Christy Award-winning author Lynn Austin comes a remarkable novel of sisterhood and self-discovery set against the backdrop of WWII.

Continue reading “New Dual-Format Print/eBooks” →
Posted in Adult, Biography & Memoir, eBooks & eAudio, Graphic Novels & Memoirs, Horror, Science, Science Fiction

A Dive into the Reading Pile

Posted on by Zachary

My social life has taken a pretty sharp decline since I’ve gone into quarantine. Being home more has given me a bit of a push to reevaluate my reading pile. I’ve sifted through the books that have piled up around my home to find some that I thought others might be interested in as well.

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A Planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer

Carl Zimmer was one of the authors that I read for a few classes at university. He’s a writer that can take relatively dry science topics, like evolution, and make them engaging for every degree of reader. Near the end of my undergraduate education, I found an interest in virus-host coevolution and tried to find books on viruses. I stupidly didn’t take a microbiology class due to initially thinking microbes were boring. I need to note that this particular book has been in my pile for a few years, but it has taken on new relevance.

Continue reading “A Dive into the Reading Pile” →
Posted in Adult, eBooks & eAudio, Fantasy, Graphic Novels & Memoirs, Science Fiction, Teen & Young Adult

6 Black Sci-Fi & Fantasy Authors to Read this Summer

Posted on by Carol

Sick of spaceships? Toured pseudo-medieval Europe too often? Try these 6 science fiction & fantasy stories from black authors. You’ll find yourself anywhere from a magical version of modern Nigeria to a post-apocalyptic Brazil. With expansive worlds and fresh perspectives, these books can freshen up any sci-fi or fantasy reader’s bookshelf.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

If N.K. Jemisin’s deluge of accolades and unprecedented three consecutive Hugos aren’t enough to persuade you to pick up The Fifth Season, perhaps a violent world of regular nigh-apocalyptic cataclysms and a earth-shattering mage on a far-ranging quest of vengeance to save her kidnapped daughter will entice you.

Continue reading “6 Black Sci-Fi & Fantasy Authors to Read this Summer” →
Posted in DIY & How To, eBooks & eAudio

Eat Your Veggies

Posted on by Zachary

I’m not what most would call a “healthy” person. For years, I was told that my palate would change as I got older. Well, here we are, and I still can’t eat peas without turning my nose up. Honestly, it’s tough for me to stand a vast number of vegetables. In the last couple of months, I swear it has nothing to do with me gaining weight during the quarantine, I’ve decided to try to eat healthier. Vegetarian cookbooks seemed like a good idea to get me to eat more veggies. As with my other quarantine posts, I’ve included the book’s description under each of the book’s listing.

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The Forest Feast by Erin Gleeson (Hoopla/Monarch)

“Erin Gleeson made her dream a reality when she left New York City and moved into a tiny cabin in a California forest in order to be closer to nature. The natural beauty of her surroundings and the abundance of local produce serve as the inspiration for The Forest Feast, based on her popular blog. Most of the book’s 100 wholly vegetarian recipes call for only three or four ingredients and require very few steps, resulting in dishes that are fresh, wholesome, delicious, and stunning. Among the delightful recipes are eggplant tacos with brie and cilantro, rosemary shortbread, and blackberry negroni. Vibrant photographs, complemented by Erin’s own fanciful watercolor illustrations and hand lettering, showcase the rustic simplicity of the dishes. Part cookbook, part art book, The Forest Feast will be as comfortable in the kitchen as on the coffee table.”

Continue reading “Eat Your Veggies” →
Posted in Adult, DIY & How To, eBooks & eAudio

The Seed Waits for Its Garden

Posted on by Zachary

The weather is finally starting to warm up. That means soon that we’ll be able to start growing gardens! I haven’t ever planted a proper vegetable garden before, so I found some books that sounded helpful. I’ve included the book’s description under each title.

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The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Midwest (Monarch/Libby/Hoopla)

“There is nothing more regionally specific than vegetable gardening—what to plant, when to plant it, and when to harvest are decisions based on climate, weather, and first frost. The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Midwest, by regional expert Michael VanderBrug, focuses on the unique eccentricities of the Midwest gardening calendar. The month-by-month format makes it perfect for beginners and accessible to everyone—gardeners can start gardening the month they pick it up. Perfect for home gardeners in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.”

Continue reading “The Seed Waits for Its Garden” →
Posted in Adult, Contemporary, eBooks & eAudio, Fiction, Horror

Modern Classics: Jane Austen

Posted on by Carol

Known for expressing her wit and social commentary through her characters, Jane Austen is a staple of classrooms and beloved by many. But for readers new to Austen, the language can feel challenging and lots of sneaky jokes get lost along the way. (Consider: a character preaching about the importance of frugality while renting the carriage equivalent of an Audi.) Modern retellings can reframe those jokes in a way that doesn’t require extensive knowledge of 1800s British customs, or offer a fresh take for those who know Austen’s works well. For longtime Austen fans and newcomers alike, here are 6 adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels.

The Austen Project:
Emma by Alexander McCall Smith & Eligble by Curtis Sittenfeld

The Austen Project brings Jane Austen into the present day. Eligible imagines Elizabeth as a writer for a magazine and Jane as a yoga instructor in New York. After their father has a health scare, the daughters return to their childhood city of Cincinnati to find the home in disrepair and a mother determined to marry off Jane before her 40th birthday.

In Emma, the titular character returns home from university to start her career in interior design. While she plans to get her business off the ground, she uses her free time to offer guidance to those she deems less wise in the ways of the world than she is – and she includes nearly everyone in Highbury in that tally.

Two other adaptations in the series, Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid and Sense and Sensibility have been released as well.

Continue reading “Modern Classics: Jane Austen” →