Library Lines

"The ducks left the pond and they all died. The end."

So said the exasperated mother who was reading a book aloud to her youngsters here at Rhoads Memorial Library during last week's spring break. She and her husband visited our juvenile area along with their three children who were age four and under. Mom tried valiantly to keep their attention, but our wide-open space lent itself to a bungled wrangling by the dad of the little ones. I'm pretty sure herding cats would have been easier....

The youngsters did not seem to suffer any long-term emotional damage from the dead duck proclamation, as I doubt, they even heard it. One of the bashful children summoned up the courage to ask me for a jigsaw puzzle to work. I showed him one and said, "Is this okay?" He shook his head. I countered with a slight prevarication of "Well, it's the only one we have, so do you want it?" He then nodded assent. Amazing how limited choices often become quite appealing...

For adult patrons, several large print books have been added to our collection for checkout. They can be found in the adult fiction area and among the Westerns. A red dot on their spine denotes that they are 2022 additions to our library.

As for newly released books that have arrived and are ready for checkout, those include:

-"The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections" by Eva Jurczyk, a novel where Liesl Weiss is propelled from working behind the scenes to being in charge when her boss suffers a stroke. Liesl discovers that the university library's most prized manuscript is missing; upon trying to sound the alarm, she is told to keep quiet. When a librarian unexpectedly stops showing up to work, Liesl investigates both disappearances and learns disquieting facts about her coworkers.

-"Wild Irish Rose" (a mystery) by Rhys Bowen and her daughter, Clare Broyles, is set in 1907 New York and features retired investigator Molly Murphy Sullivan. Looking forward to spending more time with her family, Molly joins friends in distributing clothes to the needy at Ellis Island. When her policeman husband, Daniel, comes home late that night, he notes that there was a murder at Ellis Island that day and the main suspect bears an uncanny resemblance to Molly. Both women were there about the same time and Molly believes it is fate calling her to help solve the case.

-“Wildcat" is the debut novel by Amelia Morris and is touted as "an uproariously funny, surprisingly touching story of one woman’s journey through motherhood and female friendship in a society that plays fast and loose with information." The story follows Leanne, who strives to find security where she can find it, whether it be in researching whether her son should be vaccinated, listening to messages she thinks her father is sending from beyond the grave, and dealing with a peevish student in creative writing class. Hopefully Leanne will discover the power that is within her.

Until next week, Happy Reading!