@ Your Library
Welcome to March madness! And no, I don’t mean the basketball tournaments (although they can be fun), I mean the weather. You never know what will happen, so make sure you are always prepared regardless of what the weather does with a good book to read. You can find ebooks or digital audiobooks on both Libby and Hoopla and we have a few books waiting on our shelves for you to find.
The winter reading program for elementary students has ended, but I hope that as a family you will continue to make time for reading. Reading builds empathy and builds skills to enable us all to learn. Reading is one of the primary skills needed to learn that will be utilized our entire lives. The library encourages everyone of every age to read or listen to others read every day.
It can be wonderful to read about others’ lives and discover gems of wisdom or learn from their mistakes. Here are some new biographies to explore. Bob Dylan: Jewish Roots, American Soil by Harry Freedman focuses on his early career when he left Minnesota and headed to New York City. Dean Butler, who played Almanzo on the “Little House on the Prairie” tv series has written My Little House Life and Beyond.
Thirty Below: the harrowing and heroic story of the first all-woman’s ascent of Denali by Cassidy Randall. The “Denali Damsels” as they came to be called were told it couldn’t be done, but in 1970 six women set out to do the impossible. Ms. Randall uses archival documents and original interviews to tell a riveting story at extraordinary heights.
Two authors with tomes about their lives. Margaret Atwood’s ‘memoir or sorts’ is called Book of Lives checks in at over 550 pages but covers her life growing up in the wilds of Quebec to time in Berlin in the 1980’s and more. Ron Chernow is a pulitzer prize winning author of political biographies such as Grant and Alexander Hamilton has now focused on Mark Twain. This biography checks in at over 1,000 pages which only seems right for a man who spent his life seeking fame and fortune.
Shifting to fiction, maybe consider The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean. Twenty years ago, Detective Calhoun’s sister vanished. She wants closure but that is rare in missing person cases. Then Ellie Black, who disappeared two years ago, has been found, but something is wrong. Ellie won’t talk about where she’s been and who she might be protecting. Can Detective Calhoun figure out what happened before someone else disappears? A lighter mystery is One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman, a former actress and genz sobriety sponsor try to solve a murder.
If you didn’t have enough romance last month then try one of these titles. The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell, Thrown for a Loop by Sarina Brown, How to Sell a Romance by Alexa Martin or The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod.