Yearly Archives: 2022

Staff Picks: Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena

This entry was posted in DPL Blog on August 22, 2022 by admin

Brecken Hill in upstate New York is an expensive place to live. You have to be rich to have a house there, and Fred and Sheila Merton certainly are rich. But even all their money can’t protect them when a killer comes to call. The Mertons are brutally murdered after a fraught Easter dinner with their three adult kids. Who, of course, are devastated. Or are they?

They each stand to inherit millions. They were never a happy family, thanks to their vindictive father and neglectful mother, but perhaps one of the siblings is more disturbed than anyone knew. Did someone snap after that dreadful evening? Or did another person appear later that night with the worst of intentions? That must be what happened. After all, if one of the family were capable of something as gruesome as this, you’d know.

Wouldn’t you?

I have not read anything by this author before, but after reading this book I will definitely read other books by her. It really kept me guessing until the end.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense and a good mystery!

Recommended by Wendy Contini

Our favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies 2022

This entry was posted in DPL Blog on August 15, 2022 by admin

I asked the staff to share their favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy movies. Did we pick some of your favorite movies? What movies would you add to this list?

Aeon Flux

Recommended by Mallory

Avatar

Recommended by Jen G.

Back to the Future

Recommended by Jan and Linda

The Chronicles of Narnia

Recommended by Jen G.

Dark City

Recommended by Mallory

Descendants

Recommended by Jen M.

Firefly

Recommended by Liz

Game of Thrones

Recommended by Ellen

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Recommended by Kim

Ladyhawke

Recommended by Mallory

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Recommended by Syrena

Lost

Recommended by Jamie

Manifest

Recommended by Chris

Resident Alien

Recommended by Wendy

Serenity

Recommended by Liz

Star Trek

Recommended by Sherrel

Star Wars

Recommended by Paula, Syrena and Denise

Staff Picks: Before We Were Yours

This entry was posted in DPL Blog on August 8, 2022 by admin

Before We Were Yours is a book of fiction based on a true story, by Lisa Wingate.

The story is about a 12 year old Rill and her 4 siblings that live with their parents on a shanty boat, on the Mississippi River. That is until her mother goes into labor, and is having some problems, and her father takes her off the boat to a doctor. While the children are left alone on the boat, strangers come and they are taken to the Tennessee Children’s Home Society Orphanage.

It is also about the present day in Aiken, South Carolina, where born into wealth and privilege Avery comes home to help her ailing father. When a chance encounter leaves her uncomfortable and curious, she decides to dig into her family’s past.

I liked this book because it was well written and tugged at my heart. It was so hard to believe that things like this actually happened in our country.

I would recommend this book for anyone that likes to read books set in the depression era. Or anyone who wants to try something different, this is how I found this book.

Recommended by Linda Toohey

Back to school oh my where did the time go?

This entry was posted in DPL Blog on August 2, 2022 by admin

It feels like summer just began and here we are buying book bags, pencils, notebooks and crayons. School is much different than back in the stone age when I was in school… we had paste and charcoal pencils. Even though we may now buy different things to take to school, children getting ready for school have not changed. There is still nervousness to enter a new grade or a new school building, excitement to see old friends and make new friendships and the dreaded getting up early again to start our days (for some kids).

We look forward to the change of the seasons at the library and new and exciting programs and items added for the school year. The children’s department has a lot of fun things planned for the fall plus some great new additions to the children’s room. We have added two nice big trains that the kiddos can sit in to read their books and new books will be added in the train cars. This was courtesy of our friends at Wayne County Public Library. We will also add a nice talking globe that will teach us facts about all the different places in the world we want to visit. Also being added are our virtual reality books. These books come with a special holder where you can put a grown up’s phone to make these books come alive. The books include The Sun, Polar Bears, Firefighters,Airplanes and India. We will add to the collection as the popularity grows.

School time is not the time to stop reading but to read more. We have a wonderful reading program for school age kids calling Reading Dragons. Kids read 30 mins at a time and log it into their special tracker. Once they have read for 2 hours they can collect Dragon cards which they can play games with and even trade with their friends. There will be a special Dragon program also this fall. It’s free to sign up and begins in September. So as you can see there’s a lot of fun things happening as we go back to school this fall. Goodbye summer, welcome fall!

Jen Gardner

Our Favorite Board Games 2022

This entry was posted in DPL Blog on July 25, 2022 by admin

Here are some great games both classic and new that we have enjoyed. We have some of these games in our library collection that you can check out to play at home.

Above and Below

Recommended by Jen M.

Apples to Apples (Junior version available to check out)

Recommended by Lisa, and Liz

Barbie Queen of the Prom

Recommended by Ellen

Blockus

Recommended by Kim

Checkers

Recommended by Denise

Clue (Junior version available to check out)

Recommended by Jamie, Jan, Jen G. Jim, Linda, Paula, and Robyn

Dice Throne

Recommended by Syrena

Dixit (available to check out)

Recommended by Robyn

The Game of Life

Recommended by Chris, and Ellen

Go for Broke

Recommended by Liz

Guess Who

Recommended by Ellen

Horrified

Recommended by Mallory

Lord of the Rings: Journey to Middle Earth

Recommended by Syrena

Mancala

Recommended by Chris

Marvel Legendary (available to check out)

Recommended by Syrena

Monopoly (Junior version available to check out)

Recommended by Denise, Ellen, Lisa, Liz, Paula, and Sherrel

Mystic Vale (available to check out)

Recommended by Mallory

Power Grid

Recommended by Jen M.

Sagrada (available to check out)

Recommended by Mallory

Scattergories

Recommended by Kim, Lisa, Paula, and Robyn

Scrabble (available to check out)

Recommended by Jan, Jen G., and Linda

Skip-Bo

Recommended by Ellen, and Sherrel

Tiny Towns

Recommended by Jen M.

Trivial Pursuit

Recommended by Jen G., Kim, and Linda

Trouble (Despicable Me version available to check out)

Recommended by Denise

Yahtzee

Recommended by Chris

Review of Night on Earth by Art Wolfe

This entry was posted in DPL Blog on July 18, 2022 by admin

The other day while I was working at the library, I had some time to kill during my break. It wasn’t enough time to crack open a book but I noticed a book on the NEW shelf caught my eye. The cover picture was a beautiful image of the night sky. I picked it up and began to turn its pages.

What a delight to see the amazing photographs of the night sky! Pictures of the Aurora Borealis in the northernmost regions of the planet, the eerie beauty of the desert at night, the whiteness of the snow-capped mountains against a star-studded sky. At first, I was just thumbing through images, but this “journey” soon became a very personal one. It occurred to me that I had seen some of these very sights with my own eyes.

Wolfe’s photos took me back to a night that I spent (with 44 students) under the incomparable sky of Australia’s outback. I was astounded by the number of stars I could see when there are no city lights to interfere with nature’s magnificence. I started out trying to count the shooting stars but I soon gave up because there were too many to count.

The next section showed images of nocturnal animals with their eyes gazing out from the darkness. I was reminded that even though I may be sound asleep in my house, there is a lot of activity going on outdoors under the night sky. People all over the globe begin their daily chores under the fading starlight of the pre-dawn hours. Fishermen cast their nets in hopes of getting a good catch and getting it to market in time for the morning rush. In those early morning hours, women are already busy around campfires preparing food for the family.

Wolfe focused his lens on many rituals and ceremonies that take place at night. One particular picture brought back fond memories for me. Wolfe captured the magical glow of candlelight in the cemetery in rural Mexico on the Day of the Dead.

Even the sights that we see on a daily basis take on a more appearance at night. It is one thing to see the Statue of Liberty during the daytime but quite another to see her standing there in the harbor at night glowing like a beacon. It put a lump in my throat to think of all the hopeful people Lady Liberty has welcomed to our shores.

These night events become even more significant when we share them with other people. I remember a trip to Paris. The students and I were standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower at the moment when the night lights switched on. There was a collective gasp at the beauty of it.

Every time I visit my daughter in Hoboken, New Jersey, I have to visit the waterfront. The skyline of Manhattan is awesome in the morning sun, but when I see the skyscrapers lit up at night it fills me with wonder.

In the end, what I thought was going to be a simple exercise at looking at beautiful pictures turned out to be a wonderful trip down memory lane. What a great way to spend 15 or 20 minutes. Even if you haven’t been to these places, all you have to do is put Wolfe’s Night on Earth onto your lap and the photographs will transport you to another world.

The library has many over-sized books with beautiful pictures that can have a mesmerizing effect on us. Check one out.Or simply take a few minutes to sit in one of the comfy chairs at the library and take a short mental vacation. You will be glad you did. I was!