Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors. Charles Dickens, however, is not. So when I saw that Kingsolver had written a modern-day version of David Copperfield, I knew I would read it, but I wasn't sure if I would like it. I was wrong. Like Dickens's work, Demon Copperhead is a social novel that…
On September 12, 2015, wildlife filmmaker Tom Mustill was paddling in a two-person kayak with a friend just off the coast of California. They didn’t have to paddle far before they were surrounded by humpback whales, which were all over the harbor. They could even smell the whale’s fishy, broccoli breath. After marveling at the…
Reading The House in the Orchard by Elizabeth Brooks took me back to two of my favorite classics. Maude, a character you will both love and hate, is a flawed heroine reminiscent of both Estella Havisham from Dickens’ Great Expectations and Bronte’s Jane Eyre. This Gothic tale of tragedy and transformation has intense emotion, terror, pleasure, death, romance, and eerie…
As 1964 drew to a close, with a failed referendum behind them and an overcrowded library in front of them, the Cook Memorial Library Board set about regrouping and looking for their next course of action. In February of 1965 head librarian Mrs. Littler announced her plans to retire but wouldn’t do so for a…
Jamie Ford movingly explores the fascinating premise that trauma can be passed down from generation to generation in his fourth novel, The Many Daughters of Afong Moy. Afong Moy was the first Chinese woman known to set foot on American soil in 1836. She was forced to entertain on the stage as "The Chinese Lady.''…
Mysteries with elderly protagonists are all the rage lately, whether the seniors in question are solving crimes or committing them. So you’d be forgiven for assuming that Deanna Raybourn’s latest, Killers of a Certain Age, was merely chasing a trend, but you’d be wrong – and that’s the whole point. Killers of a Certain Age…
The Whalebone Theatre has such a unique title that I couldn’t resist diving in. What on earth could a “whalebone theatre” be? And why would we want to read about it? As it turns out, the theatre is exactly what it sounds like: a theatre built within the ribcage of a huge whale that…
Have you subscribed to the Cook Memorial Public Library Podcast? You don't want to miss our latest episode. Local history librarian Jenny Barry shares news articles she has uncovered of different animals running wild throughout Libertyville. Listen Now Additional Reading Loose Pigs in the Libertyville Briefs Horse in the Wagon Find more on our Local History…
One thing we humans have in spades is hubris. We like to think of ourselves as the most skilled, the most observant, and the most complex life form on this earth. In many respects, that may be true. We are capable of higher thought, communication, and perhaps most uniquely, innovation. The human body is…
Get ready for some library upgrades! Improvements to both Aspen Drive Library in Vernon Hills and Cook Park Library in Libertyville are coming this October. Aspen Drive Library will see improvements and enhancements to the plaza at the main entrance and Cook Park Library will get updated windows. Both buildings will remain open while work…
