THE LIBRARIANS’ BEDSIDE TABLE
What your friendly librarians have been listening, reading, watching & MUCH MORE!
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!
Emily recommends:
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
Kevin Wilson’s best book yet a moving and uproarious novel about a woman who finds meaning in her life when she begins caring for two children with remarkable and disturbing abilities
Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the
intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for?
With white-hot wit and a big, tender heart, Kevin Wilson has written his best book yet a most unusual story of parental love.
— goodreads.com
Emily recommends : Upgrade by
Blake Crouch
At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep.
But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most in whole new ways.
The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked. And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy.
Worse still, what’s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large at a terrifying cost.
Because of his new abilities, Logan’s the one person in the world capable of stopping what’s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he’ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human.
And even as he’s fighting, he can’t help wondering: what if humanity’s only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution?
Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man’s thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity and our boundless potential.
goodreads.com
Hope recommends :
Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fanny Flag
This book is a great, quick read! It was given to me by one of our patrons and I will be sure to thank her for it.
Mrs. Elner Shimfissle decides to climb a ladder to pick figs from her fig tree. Elner does not know her actual age, because her sister buried the family Bible which held the date of her birth. She is believed to be somewhere in her late 80s or 90s.
In trying to pick the figs, Elner disrupts a wasp nest. She is stung several times and falls backward landing on the ground out cold. An ambulance is called and she is taken to the hospital. Norma and Macky, her niece and niece's husband come to the hospital. The doctor tells tells them Elner did not survive.
In a small town news travels fast. Before the family could notify anyone of Elner's passing, the neighbors have received the word. Some of the neighbors go over to take care of Elner's house, feed her cat, and gather her laundry. Other neighbors start calling others to tell them of the death. One neighbor even cause a radio station to inform them that Elner had died.
Meanwhile, Elner is getting a glimpse of heaven.
I cannot tell you any more without ruining the story. I highly recommend this book!
Hope recommends:
Station Eleven novel and HBO adaptation of Station Eleven by Emily St.
John Mandel
One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time-from the actor's early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains-this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor's first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet. Sometimes terrifying, sometimes tender, Station Eleven tells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it"
— description provided by publisher
Hope recommends:
Final Fantasy VII Remake for Playstation 4
Step once more into the role of elite mercenary Cloud Strife and fight for the future of the planet.
A modern reimagining of one of the most iconic games of all time, Final Fantasy VII Remake harnesses the very latest technology to recreate and expand Square Enix's legendary RPG adventure for the current generation.
Set in a post-industrial fantasy world that has fallen under the control of the shadowy Shinra Electric Power Company, take on the role of Cloud Strife - a mercenary and former member of Shinra's elite SOLDIER unitand team up with anti-Shinra organization Avalanche as they step-up their resistance.
Visit one of gaming's most-beloved worlds with a level of depth and detail only possible in the modern age. Connect with unforgettable characters, engage in incredible battles, and experience a story that captivated a generation.
—from playstation.com
Julie recommends:
Monsters in the Fog by Ali Bahrampour
A donkey’s trip up the mountain turns eerie when he encounters “monsters” along the way in this humorous, suspenseful tale about challenging first impressionsHakim is traveling up the mountain to visit his friend Daisy, but the fog is so thick that he can't see the road ahead. Then an old goat appears out of nowhere and delivers a sinister warning: “Beware! Beware! There are monsters up there!”
Hakim trots with caution, until he hears an awful groan, growing closer and closer. And out of the mist comes the strangest creature Hakim has ever seen. . . .
Is Hakim doomed? Or are things not always what they seem? In this clever story about how appearances can be deceiving, Ali Bahrampour reminds us that everyone looks like a monster in the fog—until you get closer.
goodreads.com
Laura recommends:
Silo Series by Hugh Howey
Wool In a ruined and toxic landscape, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. In a society full of regulations meant to protect the community, Sheriff Holston, unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: he asks to go outside. An unlikely candidate is appointed to replace him: Juliette, a mechanic with no training in law, whose special knack is fixing machines. Now Juliette is about to be entrusted with fixing her silo, and she will soon learn just how badly her world is broken.... — description by
publisher
Shift In 2007, the Center for Automation in Nanobiotech (CAN) outlined the hardware and software platform that would one day allow robots smaller than human cells to make medical diagnoses, conduct repairs, and even selfpropagate. In the same year, the CBS network re-aired a program about the effects of propranolol on sufferers of extreme trauma. A simple pill, it had been discovered, could wipe out the memory of any traumatic event. At almost the same moment in humanity’s broad history, mankind had discovered the means for bringing about its utter downfall. And the ability to forget it ever happened. goodreads.com
Dust Wool introduced the world of the Silo. Shift told the story of its creation. Dust will describe its downfall. Juliette, now mayor of Silo 18, doesn't trust Silo 1, especially its leader, Donald. But in the world of the Silos, there is no black and white everything is shades of gray. Donald may not be the monster Juliette thinks he is, and may in fact be key to humanity's continued survival. But can they work together long enough to succeed?
description by publisher
We all wish you the best on your retirement Lynn! Here are some recommendations from us for you to enjoy!
Rita recommends:
Do you need less stress in your life? Are you desperate for more joy? If so,
The Stress Prescription: 7 Days to More Joy and Ease (2022) by Elissa Epel
might give you some easy, concrete ways to achieve those goals—in merely a week! Epel’s seven day program to increase stress resilience, ease, and joy gives readers one stress-reducing strategy (“prescription”) per day. For example, Day 2 tells readers to, “Let Go of What You Can’t Control” and quotes the Dalai Lama, “If a problem can be solved, there is no need to worry, and if it can’t be solved, worry is of no use.”
Some of the other useful strategies Epel recommends are to immerse oneself in nature, take long, slow, deep breaths for wellness, and to create joyful bookends for each day (start and end the day with gratitude). The Stress Prescription is a small book with good advice that can help anyone who is searching for ways to better manage the stress in their lives.
Elissa Epel, Ph.D., studies psychological, social, and behavioral processes related to chronic psychological stress and health. Epel is a Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Psychiatry, at University of California, San Francisco. She is the Director of the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center and the Associate Director of the Center for Health and Community. Epel is leading a Mental Health Council, as part of the UC wide Center for Climate, Healthy and Equity, focusing on climate distress to activation.
Stephanie recommends:
The Pollinator Victory Garden by Kim Eierman
The passion and urgency that inspired WWI and WWII Victory Gardens is needed today to meet another threat to our food supply and our environment—the steep decline of pollinators. The Pollinator Victory Garden offers practical solutions for winning the war against the demise of these essential animals.
amazon.com
It’s a great time of year to plan out spring and summer gardening projects! I’ve been reading through a lot of books on planting for pollinators and using native plants to do so. The books below are great references. Each contain a reference guide with pictures of various trees, shrubs and plants that are native to Wisconsin and the greater Midwest. Both you and our native pollinators will benefit from the use of native plants! Enjoy!
NOW PLAYING!
More and more albums are being added to our collection of vinyls for you to check out. Artists in a great variety of genres await for you and your needle to enjoy music at 33 1⁄
Steven recommends:
Code Name: Banshee
If you enjoyed the movie Girl by ScreenMedia, then you should watch Code Name: Banshee. This movie is from the same production company and has more heart pounding action throughout. ScreenMedia is one of the smaller production companies who have been around since the early 2000’s, but have recently been making waves in the entertainment industry with their small budget, big star, high quality films. Now owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul entertainment. Their movies pack a big message into an amazing film that keeps you guessing what’s going to happen next. Code Name: Banshee does just that by driving home the importance of family, friends, and loyalty. At the same time delivering the right amount of action and suspense.
Daughters of Victory
If you enjoyed Gabriella Saab’s debut novel The Last Checkmate, then her second novel is a must read. Daughters of Darkness is an extremely detailed, heart tugging historic fiction novel that took a year of researching and planning. Gabriella Saab has a way of bringing her characters to life unlike any other author I have read. I honestly can’t wait to see what she writes about next.
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.
