Library Notes Week of July 13

We have some great programs coming up. Don’t miss Kimmy the Clown, July 14, 10 a.m. at the library. Kimmy enjoys encouraging children and adults to explore their imaginations and creativity, thus bringing a multitude of smiles and laughter! Making people comfortable in social settings and filling the room with laughter has always been one of Kimmy's attributes. Her high energy and bubbly personality is one that can charm any crowd; babies, young children, teens and adults!

Then we have Jennifer Bradbury, July 22, 11 a.m. at the High School Library. Jennifer Bradbury is an English teacher living in Burlington. She has written a popular teen book called Shift. Jennifer will be doing a writing workshop for our teens.

KJ has supplied the reviews this week. If you have someone interested in Young Adult books, recommend one of these.

Miles to Go by Miley Cyrus. At a grand old age of 16, Miley Cyrus has written her memoirs (at least she recognizes she’s got a lot of life yet to live). This collection of her thoughts and memories is written in a chatty style reminiscent of notes passed in history class. Fans of Hannah Montana aka Miley Stewart aka Miley Cyrus will enjoy this glimpse into her real world.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. When Nobody Owens’ family is murdered, Bod was toddling out of the house into the nearby graveyard. He is raised and educated by ghosts and a guardian who moves between the worlds of the living and the dead. Gaiman was inspired by Kipling’s classic, The Jungle Book and the chapters are a series of episodes as Bod grows from a baby to a teen. The Graveyard Book combines ghost story with a coming of age novel to the delight of readers who like quirky and creepy fare.

Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty. The fifth and final installment of the McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series starts with her running into ex-boyfriend Marcus Flutie. This finale takes place at the Newark Airport and centers around Jessica and Marcus. It is the only book of the series that is told in the third person, giving the reader the opportunity to understand Marcus without Jessica’s filters. Most of the book is conversation and that may put off some readers, but most agree this is a satisfactory conclusion to the series.

Sign up now to get a part in the Teen Murder Mystery Party – Death of a Vampire. The party is Friday, August 7th, 6:30 p.m. at the La Conner Regional Library. Pizza, pop and frights will be part of the evening.

Library Notes Week of June 29th

We are looking forward to the 4th of July parade this Saturday. I think the Friends of the Library will have an entry pushing some book carts and with any luck we will have a couple of people holding the library’s summer reading banner to remind everyone that children need to be reading this summer. Hope to see you there!

Stop in and check out a book from our new book shelf. Here are a few you
might be interested in.

Knockout by Catherine Coulter. FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock have their hands full when Savich is caught in a bank holdup near his Washington, D.C., home. The vicious attack leaves the criminal leader dead and his injured teen daughter swearing revenge. She manages to escape, leading the FBI on a bloody chase.

A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell. It’s 1931 in Berlin, and though the Weimar Republic has begun to crumble, the celebrated decadence of the era remains in full flower. Hannah Vogel is a crime reporter, on intimate terms with Berlin’s underbelly, but that doesn’t protect her from the shock of seeing her brother’s picture posted in the police department’s Hall of the Unnamed Dead. She’s reluctant to make a formal identification until she knows what happened to him; scandal may lurk behind his death, as Ernst was a cross-dressing cabaret star whose list of male lovers included at least one Nazi leader.

Fugitive by Phillip Margolin. Oregon attorney Amanda Jaffe takes on the case of a lifetime when she is tapped to defend Charlie Marsh, aka Guru Gabriel Sun. Marsh was a prisoner whose freedom came when he saved the life of a guard during a riot. He then changed his name and published a book in which he spoke of how you, too, could achieve personal transformation. The public ate it up, especially the wife of a U.S. congressman. After the congressman’s murder, both his wife and Marsh stood trial for the crime. Before the verdict was read, though, Marsh escaped, landing in Batanga, Africa. When Marsh finds he might be caught for bedding one of the tyrant’s wives he realizes that a trial in the U.S. bodes better for him than punishment at the hands of Batanga’s cruel ruler.