The Librarians Bedside Table

OSCAR GRADY PUBLIC LIBRARY

THE LIBRARIANS’

BEDSIDE TABLE What your friendly librarians have been reading and MUCH MORE!

It’s time to read said the fox!

Nutcrackers collection belonging to Evan Race

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Oscar Grady Public Library Mission Statement:

The mission of the Oscar Grady Public Library is to provide high interest, high demand materials and make them readily available from the Library’s collection or through interlibrary loan. The Library supports lifelong learning, information and recreational needs for people of all ages and abilities. Special emphasis is placed on stimulating children’s interests and appreciation for reading and learning. The integration of new technology with traditional library resources is used to expand service beyond the Library’s physical walls.

On this new issue of our “Librarians’ Bedside Table”, we compiled a list of really good titles recommended by your library friends. Each title can be accessed in electronic format for your convenience. Click or tap in the hyperlinks attached to each title that will take you right to them

in the Monarch Catalog. We hope you enjoy this selection of books from your

librarians at the Oscar Grady Public Library!

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Jen Gerber, our Library Director, would like to recommend the following titles:

The 7 and ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

by Stuart Turton Description from the publisher: Aiden Bishop knows the rules.

Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until he can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest at Blackheath Manor. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others.

With a locked room mystery that Agatha Christie would envy, Stuart Turton unfurls a breakneck novel of intrigue and suspense.

For fans of Claire North, and Kate Atkinson, The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a breathlessly addictive mystery that follows one man's race against time to find a killer, with an astonishing time-turning twist that means nothing and no one are quite what they seem.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Description from the publisher: After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemi Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She's not sure what she will find--her cousin's husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemi knows little about the region. Noemi is also an unlikely rescuer: She's a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she's also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin's new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemi; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi's dreams with visions of blood and doom. Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family's youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemi, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family's past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family's once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemi digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

Some of the titles listed in these pages are available in electronic format through the Libby app

Check it out!

Debra Jo, Library Assistant and ILL Specialist would like to recommend the following titles:

Empty: a Memoir by Susan Burton Summary from Penguin Random House An editor at This American Life reveals the searing story of the secret binge-eating that dominated her adolescence and shapes her still.

For almost thirty years, Susan Burton hid her obsession with food and the secret life of compulsive eating and starving that dominated her adolescence. This is the relentlessly honest, fiercely intelligent story of living with both anorexia and binge-eating disorder, moving past her shame, and learning to tell her secret.

When Burton was thirteen, her stable life in suburban Michigan was turned upside down by her parents’ abrupt divorce, and she moved to Colorado with her mother and sister. She seized on this move west as an adventure and an opportunity to reinvent herself from middle-school nerd to popular teenage girl. But in the fallout from her parents’ breakup, an inherited fixation on thinness went rom “peculiarity to pathology”.

Susan entered into a painful cycle of anorexia and binge eating that formed a subterranean layer to her sunny life. She went from success to success-she went to Yale, scored a dream job at a magazine right out of college, and married her college boyfriend. But in college the compulsive eating got worse-she’d binge, swear it would be the last time, and then, hours later, do it again-and after she graduated she descended into anorexia, her attempt t “quit food”.

Binge eating is more prevalent than anorexia or bulimia, but there is less research and little storytelling to help us understand it. In tart, soulful prose Susan Burton strikes a blow for the importance of this kind of narrative and tells and exhilarating story of longing, compulsion and hard-earned self-revelation.

WWW.OSCARGRADYLIBRARY.ORG MOVIES, BOOKS, MUSIC, INTERNET, COMPUTERS, and much more!

Hope, our Collection Developer would like to recommend these titles:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize.

Are you ready?

In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the OASIS, a vast virtual world where most of humanity spends their days.

When the eccentric creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. Whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune—and control of the OASIS itself.

Then Wade cracks the first clue. Suddenly he’s beset by rivals who’ll kill to take this prize. The race is on—and the only way to survive is to win.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, A Novel

by Susanna Clarke At the dawn of the nineteenth century, two very different magicians emerge to change England's history.

In the year 1806, with the Napoleonic Wars raging on land and sea, most people believe magic to be long dead in England-until the reclusive Mr Norrell reveals his powers, and becomes a celebrity overnight.

Soon, another practicing magician comes forth: the young, handsome, and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell's student, and they join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic, straining his partnership with Norrell, and putting at risk everything else he holds dear.

Martin, our Collection Developing and Adult Services Coordinator would like to recommend this title:

Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story

by Paul Auster Where I am from we tend to say that “good things come in small jars”, and in the case of Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story” by genial author Paul Auster, that saying is an understatement.

At 34 pages long, give or take depending on the version you get on your hands, Auster’s story does packs a good punch, one that will bring you all the comfort, satisfaction and well being feelings that many of us are looking for nowadays, specially during this atypical holiday season in a very atypical year.

The story follows it’s title’s character, Auggie, on a short trip of redemption, good doing, and over all, hope that we can still find ways to give to others without expecting anything in return, as a chance encounter brings him to find not only others but himself, when the return of a lost item opens the door to the sense of purpose his life was lacking.

As he tells his story to a friend/acquaintance of his, we are made participants in his actions, and by doing so we are rewarded like getting to taste a piece of that apple pie we have been craving for.

Give it a try, you’ll be deeply satisfied.

WWW.OSCARGRADYLIBRARY.ORG MOVIES, BOOKS, MUSIC, INTERNET, COMPUTERS, and much more!

Rita would like to recommend these titles:

Wisconsin My Home by Thuring Oleson Wisconsin My Home (1950, second edition 2012) is the story of Thurine Oleson, who was born in 1866 in Winchester, Wisconsin to parents who emigrated from Telemarken, Norway. This much-loved book was first published in 1950 when Thurine was an octogenarian. In it she not only vividly recalls the pioneer life of her childhood in a NorwegianAmerican settlement but also tells her parents' stories of their life in Norway and the challenges they faced in America. This new edition restores the twenty-nine photographs that appeared in the original 1950 hardcover edition. If you enjoy Jerry Apps’ or Laura Ingalls Wilder’s writing, you may enjoy this gem.

This is a sweet and gentle book, filled with joys and sorrows of a life long-lived. This book is like visiting a beloved aunt who wants to impart not only her memories, but also lessons to ease your way down life’s road. For example, Thurine shares, “When my children were growing up, I always told them to pick out good company. I told them not to marry anyone who was different in his ways and thoughts from them, because if they disagreed beforehand, they certainly couldn’t agree afterwards.

And I told them not to be in too much of a hurry.”

Thurine further cautions, “John [Thurine’s husband] was no dancer himself –we girls said he danced like a bear on its hind legs—and he had such a jealous disposition that he could not bear to see another man touch me. So in order to live in peace with him, I had to cut out the most fun I ever had in my life (dancing). Therefore, I will give a warning to any young person that happens to read this: Never marry anyone so entirely different in disposition. John was happy as long as I was by his side, but I missed my fun.” (John and Thurine celebrated their golden wedding anniversary May 24, 1936.)

Thurine’s sense of humor often shows. This passage, describing a neighbor, made me chuckle: “She knew just how to take everyone so that they loved her, and could get along with everybody on MOVIES, MUSIC, INTERNET, and The much more! earth except her husband.

She BOOKS, used to pray for a little peace from COMPUTERS, him before she died.

Lord must have loved her, too, for she outlived Halvor seventeen years…”

RBDigital Magazines Built by Recorded Books, RBdigital is a state-of-the-art platform and app providing access to magazines simply using your library card.

Need help setting up the app?

Click/tap here to access the slide presentation we have on how to download, set up and use this great app.

Wisconsin My Home vividly describes traditional Norwegian clothing, customs, hymns, and food, as well as the blending of old and new traditions over time in America. Thurine emphasized that life for immigrants is not all roses. “One of my earliest memories is of Mother rocking by the window in the old log house, smoking her clay pipe and crying about Norway.”

Readers will enjoy the author’s skill at making various scenes pop to life: “In the winter the lumber wagon box was put on a pair of bobsleds. The box was filled almost half full with clean straw, and blankets were laid on top of that. We would sit right down on it, and it was both soft and warm. There were wool quilts over our laps, since we had no fur robes in the early days.

Those horses clipped along at a good pace, and we enjoyed a fast ride. In winter the horses had bells on –some strings that reached all around their bellies. Every string had an individual sound.

When another team would be coming toward us down the road, we could hear the bells at least half a mile away, and we knew who was coming by the sound. The horses did not have much exercise in winter, so when they had a chance to go, they surely could caper, and the bells would ring and jingle every minute. It was all the driver could do sometimes to keep them from running away. They would prance and jump and gallop for quite a way before they calmed down. We children dearly loved those sleigh rides.”

FREE WI-FI (inside or outside the building)

Computer labs (with social distancing applied).

Brand new printer Fax services.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Enjoy the holidays in the company of some really good festive inspired titles we have selected for you.

Holidays in Ice by David Sedaris Description from publisher: David Sedaris's beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. Along with such favoritesas the diaries of a Macy's elf and the annals of two very competitive families, are Sedaris's tales of tardy trick-or-treaters ("Us and Them"); the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to the French ("Jesus Shaves"); what to do when you've been locked out in a snowstorm ("Let It Snow"); the puzzling Christmas traditions of other nations ("Six to Eight Black Men"); what Halloween at the medical examiner's looks like ("The Monster Mash"); and a barnyard secret Santa scheme gone awry ("Cow and Turkey").

No matter what your favorite holiday, you won't want to miss celebrating it with the author who has been called "one of the funniest writers alive" (Economist).

The Usual Santas, A Collection of Soho Christmas Capers by various authors "Description from publisher: Nine mall Santas must find the imposter among them. An elderly lady seeks peace from her murderously loud neighbors at Christmastime. A young woman receives a mysterious invitation to Christmas dinner with a stranger. Niccolò Machiavelli sets out to save an Italian city. Sherlock Holmes's one-time nemesis Irene Adler finds herself in an unexpected tangle in Paris while on a routine espionage assignment. Jane Austen searches for the Dowager Duchess of Wilborough's stolen diamonds.

These and other adventures in this delectable volume will whisk readers away to Christmases around the globe, from a Korean War POW camp to a Copenhagen refugee squat, from a palatial hotel in 1920s Bombay to a crumbling mansion in Havana." -

The Holidays by Mike MacDonald This is the year you're going to do it: you're going to avoid Christmas completely! ...or you were, until your island getaway got washed out by a hurricane. Now you have to choose: should you spend the holiday with your shrewish sister and her Europhile husband, or endure the icy judgment of a woman who thinks only children and pussies help bake cookies? Jet off to the glamorous slums of Kingston, Jamaica, or accept the offer of a ride from a man who never stops smiling... and is probably going to turn you into a skin suit? From the writers who brought you the hilarious parody 'Choose your own misery: the office' comes a second helping of misery with a festive twist. Christmas is full of fun surprises for kids, but for adults, it's just an endless series of aggressive crowds, overwhelming credit card debt, and pretending to like the people you're forced to spend it with. Once you unwrap all the holiday misery hiding in these pages, the blackness of your heart will rival any lump of coal.

Spending the Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat by Jen Man "For fans of Laurie Notaro and Jenny Lawson comes an uproarious and oddly endearing essay collection for anyone trying to survive the holidays in one piece. When it comes to time-honored holiday traditions, Jen Mann pulls no punches In this hilariously irreverent collection of essays, Jen Mann, nationally bestselling author of People I Want to Punch in the Throat, turns her mordant wit on the holidays. On Mann's naughty list: mothers who go way overboard with their Elf on the Shelf, overzealous carolers who can't take a hint, and people who write their Christmas cards in the third person ("Joyce is enjoying Bunko. Yeah, Joyce, we know you wrote this letter."). And on her nice list. well, she's working on that one. Here, no celebration is off-limits. The essays include: You Can Keep Your Cookies, I'm Just Here for the Booze Nice Halloween Costume.

Was Skank Sold Out? Why You Won't Be Invited to Our Chinese New Year Party From hosting an ill-fated Chinese New Year party, to receiving horrible gifts from her husband on Mother's Day, to reluctantly telling her son the truth about the Easter Bunny, Mann knows the challenge of navigating the holidays while keeping her sanity intact. And even if she can't get out of attending another Christmas cookie exchange, at least she can try again next year.

Over the Holidays by Sandra Harper The

best

holiday

traditions

are

meant

to

be

broken.

It's only December 1, and Vanessa Clayton has been dreading Christmas since she spotted tinseled trees at her local mall in September. Thankfully, she and her husband, JT, can't afford to drag their twin boys across the country to New England for the annual celebration at her stuffy sister-in-law Patience's home. Not that Vanessa has prepared a proper Christmas for her family in years, and she has less time than ever since she agreed to consult on the script of a local play. Then Patience drops a holiday stress bomb:

H er

family

will

come

to

California

i n s t ea d.

As their holiday plans go comically awry, these four women discover the true spirit of the season is hidden in every festive surprise.

COMING

SOON!

Enjoy the pleasure of crafting at home with our TAKE & MAKE PROJECTS, soon to be available at your Oscar Grady Library.

1,000 Books Before Kindergarten

Early literacy starts with you!

This new and ongoing early literacy program encourages families and caregivers to read 1,000 books aloud with their young children before they enter Kindergarten. Any child from birth until he/she starts Kindergarten is eligible to register. Reading together helps your child develop important prereading skills that provide a solid reading foundation – a key to scholastic and learning success.

Stop by our Children’s Department and sign up your child today!

Now around town! Books for everyone.

The Oscar Grady Library with the support of The Friends of the Oscar Grady Library has purchased three Little Free Libraries, which have been installed at three convenient locations: Quade Park, The Oscar Grady Library, and Village Hall.

Check them out! Love them, enjoy them, treasure them.

The Digital Media Conversion Lab The equipment & training necessary to view and digitally preserve family photographs, slides, and film.

The Oscar Grady Public Library’s Digital Media Conversion Lab is a highfunctioning digital space and work room. The room is equipped with the necessary digital mechanics to process aging photographic formats.

Click/Tap HERE to learn more.

www.oscargradylibrary.org