Book Buzz: Digital Romances, Post-WWII Thrillers, and Treasure Hunts

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For November, we’re looking at a witty rom com revolving around social media, the intense hunt for a fictional Nazi war criminal in the years following WWII, and a fascinating actual treasure hunt that has spanned over 200 years.

Book Buzz: Short Story Anthologies, Standalone Debuts, and Libraries

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For January, we’re looking at a prestigious annual literary collection, a standalone mystery from one of the most popular crime writers working today, and a profile of the Los Angeles library system.

Book Buzz: Featured Creatures, Suspense Thrillers, and Rake Thieves

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For December, we’re looking at an unusual, animal-centric memoir; a pulse-stopping suspense thriller; and a hilarious ode to the quirks of families.

Book Buzz: Library Bonding, Sea Rescuing, and Nomadic Living

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For July, we’re looking at a sweet novel about friendships forged in a library, an intense real-life story of survival at sea, and a tale about life on the other side of the world.

Oddly-Specific Genres: Skeletons in the Closet

It’s October! Time for spooky stories full of skeletons and secrets. When these tales are about metaphorical skeletons in a family’s closet, we think it makes for a great prelude to a horror-ific Halloween.  We hope you agree!

Thanks to Julie and Mary-Esther for helping me with research for this post!

2016 Library Challenge: A Book Published This Year

This is it.  Believe it or not, you have made it to the last post of the 2016 Library Challenge.

If you’ve been participating in the challenge or following along with the blog, you know we have taken quite the journey this year, working our way through a range of interesting challenges, everything from romance to nonfiction to badly-reviewed books.

The only one left is a book published in the last year. So, without further ado, let’s take our last romp of the year with a round-up of some recent releases that have received positive reviews.

As always, if you’re interested, please visit our online library catalog for more information on any of the books.

2016 Library Challenge: A Book with Magic

Magic — yay or nay?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from working in a library, it’s that people tend to have very strong feelings one way or another on whether they like books with magic or just fantasy in general. Even with our tween book club, for which the average age is ten, most of our members already have pretty firm opinions on the subject, with some really enjoying escaping into another world entirely and others strongly preferring that their fiction is rooted in realism.

If you’re in the first group, you probably won’t have any problem finding a book for this challenge. But if you’re in the latter and are still stumped for something to read or if you just are looking for something to read in general and don’t mind a walk on the fantastical side, here are some suggestions for you!

2016 Library Challenge: A Book That Has a Color in the Title

This week is National Color Day! Admittedly, I’m pretty clueless about what celebrating this day involves, but reading a book with a color in the title seems like a pretty reasonable approach.

Here are a few recommendations that have been released in the last year or so.

2016 Library Challenge–A Book Set In A School

Believe it or not, school started here in the Ozarks a couple of weeks ago!  With all the kiddos out the door early these days, what better time to catch up on a few good reads?

These books set in schools are entertaining and can help you remember what it is really like for students in your life who are having to get up early, navigate the confusing social hierarchy that is a cafeteria, or worry about homework. It’s a win-win situation, really.

And, if you’re participating in the 2016 library challenge, this list will help you pick a book to fill in one more of those blanks!

2016 Library Challenge: A Book Turned Into A Movie

This month, our theme at the library is “The Book Is Better,” and to that end, we’re highlighting books that have been adapted into films, as well as other forms of adaptation, all month long. We have a display at the front of the library of a wide range of books and their accompanying movies. Here, though, I thought it would be a great time to highlight books that have been adapted into films that are being released later this year. All of the film versions of these books don’t come out until September or later, so you’ll have plenty of time to read the books beforehand. As we all know, the book is almost always better, so it’s also almost always best to read the book first!

 As always, our online library catalog is where you can learn more about each item and place holds.