Well friends and fellow Cook Memorial Public Library District patrons, the time has come. The lists are out, the temperature is low and soon, the clock will strike midnight on a new year. So, what better time to have a 2023 book retrospective? Our latest episode of Bookies Talk does just that. Hannah and Erica…
The author of our One Book, One Community read, The Violin Conspiracy. DECEMBER 1, 2023 – FEBRUARY 25, 2024Join the movement to foster community through reading. One Book, One Community invites all readers in the Cook Memorial, Indian Trails, and Vernon Area library districts to read this year's selection, participate in book discussions and related…
The newest episode of Nonfiction Book Report is available on the Library’s YouTube Channel. This month Natalie and I talk about two Newish Noteworthy Nonfiction books about gifts. https://youtu.be/ynMOqGL6aps Natalie shared The Art Thief: a true story of love, crime, and a dangerous obsession by Michael Finkel. Stéphane Breitwieser desired to surround himself with great works of…
Are you looking for an enslaved ancestor? We know that this can be challenging, due to many factors; however, we have good news about a potentially helpful, free resource! Recently, we discovered the Slave Voyages website, which includes several databases that may be useful to those engaging in genealogical research that intersects with the slavery,…
If you were to construct a list of story elements that do not entice me, it would include: Pandemic stories (I am ready for some precedented times.) Bird stories (I like my pets with fur.) Autofiction (novels where the author is also a character) So at first glance, The Vulnerables, Sigrid Nunez’s pandemic novel about…
Season’s Greetings! The holidays are upon us, and with them, all sorts of new holiday fiction for 2023: romances, mysteries, and thrillers (I still consider Die Hard a holiday film). Want to dive in but don’t know where to begin? Check out these hot titles to kick off your winter TBR! Three Holidays and a…
Our Annual Design-a-Bookmark Contest has begun! The contest is for students in grades K-8. Kids wishing to participate should take a blank bookmark and return it with their design based on their favorite book, book series, or character. Bookmark blanks and copies of the rules available at the Chidlren's Reference Desk at Cook Park, the…
Books about climate disasters are usually not my thing. Floods, blizzards of massive proportions, heat waves, etc. generally do not appeal to me. But...disrupt my food chain? Bring the earth to the brink of global starvation? Now you have got me hooked. I become the living definition of "hangry" if my snacks are taken from…
The bright yellows, deep oranges, and stark reds of my neighbor’s trees juxtaposed with green lawns have sparked my interest in something unconventional this autumn: the desert. Each novel previewed below features a desert with themes of survival and grief. Where Gold Fame Citrus nearly dips into sci-fi territory, A Prayer for Travelers twists like…
“So many of the bad things that happen in the world come from people pretending to be something they’re not.” Paul Murray’s thrilling family saga (and 2023 Booker Prize Shortlist contender), The Bee Sting, is told with unvarnished truth and lacerating wit and is not for the faint of heart. Readers who’ve enjoyed his darkly…
