Milwaukee Avenue is the main drag through Libertyville and the center of Illinois' newest National Register Historic District. From Native American trail to a cruising strip between McDonald's on the north and the Dog 'n Suds on the south, Libertyville life has centered around this street. But there are a couple of specific historical events…
Ask any prospective parent: names are a big deal. Sure, a rose by any other name might smell as sweet, but if Rose has to go through middle school? You’d best choose carefully. So the premise of Florence Knapp’s novel The Names is instantly, instinctively intriguing. In 1987, Cora Atkins takes her newborn son to…
Did you know that you can access additional records on FamilySearch at the library? That’s right! The library offers enhanced access to online FamilySearch records which are “otherwise accessible only through a FamilySearch center.” Of course, we have a lot of other awesome online and print resources for genealogists that you will want to explore,…
If you lost a loved one and found yourself unable to manage your profound sadness and sense of loss, would you choose to sleep it away? Could you sleep your grief away? Nikki Erlick poses these are the questions in her newest, speculative work, The Poppy Fields. Our tale begins in the Kansas City airport.…
'The scent of fresh-baked bread and roasted meat drifts toward her, and hunger blooms, sudden and bright, but when she moves toward the table, Andrés catches her wrist. "Leave it," he says again, and María knows, by the tone of his voice, that his hunger has a different shape.' V.E. Schwab, Bury Our Bones in…
With the announcement of the recent sale of 23andMe to Regeneron, combined with their data breach in October 2023, there has been a lot of online chatter about the importance of privacy and security in genealogy. In fact, some very concerned folks have been completely deleting their DNA information from 23andMe and requesting that the…
This summer, you can tap into that science to spark your child’s curiosity, build essential skills, and strengthen your bond with at-home activities from the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences.
Solvej Balle's On The Calculation of Volume, Book I is a hard sell, to put it mildly. First, the title sounds like a geometry textbook. Second, it’s a projected seven-book series. Third, it’s translated from its original Danish. You would be forgiven for thinking that I was recommending you a sleep aid. In truth, this…
“...the cat knew, because it’s the impermanence of life that makes it perfect.” Family, redemption, and cats are all subjects that draw me to a book. Annie Harnett beautifully explores these topics in her quirky, heart-tugging novel, The Road to Tender Hearts. From the opening pages when Pancakes, the cat, not only predicts…
Did you know that everything has been scanned and made available online? Speaking of online, did you know that you can trust everything on an online family tree? If you have done genealogy for a while, you have likely encountered a few myths and misconceptions (like these!), which have proven to be false, incomplete, or…
