Still here? Sorta

 The blog has passed on the wayside and in favor of different ways to connect online. The Library has been using Facebook and Instagram most frequently. I tried out Twitter but kinda bailed on that format. 

I've not been updating our Flickr presence either because transferring photos from my personal phone to the library account is a pain.

Our YouTube channel was resurrected by the Children's Librarian for virtual story times.

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New New New

Fiction

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel. Mandel has a speaking engagement scheduled at Menomonee Falls, or Brookfield, or one of those places immediately before the pandemic shut down. She had to cancel that event.

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel. Sounds like a daughter getting revenged against her Munchhausen's by Proxy mother.

Greenwood by Michael Christie. Christie lives in British Columbia. Nice place that.

The K Team by David Rosenfelt. Another novel about dogs. Author bio says he and his wife have 25 dogs. Imagine all the dog dirt that piles up. Ugh.

Aperrogon by Colum McCann. According to the author bio McCann is an international best seller with his work published in 40 languages. I've no idea who the guy is though. I need to get out more.

Texas Outlaw by James Patterson and Andrew Bourelle. How is Bourelle pronounced? I'm pretty sure I got it wrong.

The Last Tourist by Olen Steinhauer. I've really enjoyed this series about a reluctant CIA assassin who loves French pop music from the '60s and '70s. I listened to all the audiobook versions. Author bio says Steinhauer partly lives in Budapest. I bet the beer is pretty decent there.

LARGE PRINT

LARGE PRINT

 

Are you there Blog? It's me, Library Director

Audiobooks on CD

Little Weirds by Jenny Slate. 4.5 hours on 4 CDs. I recognize the author's name. That's it. I got nothing else.

Choke Hold by Christa Faust. 6.5 hours on 6 CDs. I'm not saying Christa Faust is the greatest crime author ever. But, if other people say Faust is the greatest crime author I ever I think they have a decent argument.

The Secret Wisdom of Nature: trees, animals, and the extraordinary balance of all living things by Peter Wohlleben. 6.5 hours on 6CDs. THIS BETTER NOT JUST SAY "OWLS" FOR 6.5 HOURS.

Deep River by Karl Marlantes. 26 hourson 21 CDs. Marlantes Vietnam novel, Matterhorn, was freaking excellent. Excellent!

The Girl You Lost by Kathryn Croft. 9.5 hours on 8 CDs. Thriller with parents of a long ago abducted infant have a young woman claiming to have information. 

You Are Awesome: how to navigate change, wrestle with failure, and live an intentional life by Neil Pasricha.  4.5 hours on 4 CDs.  Author argues people are too fragile and can do better.

Bomber Command by Max Hastings. 19 hourson 15 CDs. The air campaign against Germany. "56,000 British and Commonwealth aircrew and  600,000 Germans died in the course of the RAF's attempt to win the war by bombing."

New Books, Part One

Fiction

Deep State by Chris Hauty. Thriller novel.

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer. Poland After the War novel.

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey. Science Fiction With Queer Librarian Spies novel.

A Crafter Quilts A Crime by Holly Quinn. Live Mannequin Murdered in Wintertime Wisconsin novel.

The Dark Corners of the Night by Meg Gardiner. Serial Killer in Los Angeles novel.

Blindside by James Patterson Amalgmated Literary Industries and James O. Born. COmputer Hacking Serial Killer Thriller novel.

Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders by Tessa Arlen. Murder During the War in Rural England novel.

Last Day by Luanne Rice. Sister Is Murdered and Famous Painting Stolen novel.

NonFic Variety Pack

NonFiction

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis. "Botched Presidential transition" of the Trump administration.

Birnbaum's Walt Disney World: the official vacation guide: 2020.  Page 211 says,  "Nature-themed gifts and apparel are the stock-in-trade at this sizable shop."

Master the GED test: 2020 from Peterson's. Practice tests online and print. Page 257 says, " You can generally trust your ear when it comes to detecting personal pronoun errors."

Ace of Aces: the Dick Bong story Mike O'Connor. Wisconsin native and Medal of Honor recipient Bong as a Army Air Force pilot from World War Two. Bong died during a test flight of a new jet plane. Page 102 says, "I then watched Major Rittmayer, my wingman, shoot down the other Oscar."

LARGE DVD

DVD

The Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro. Guy becomes a murderer.


LARGE PRINT

Motion Pictures

DVD and BluRay

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood starring [famous people]. Something about something in the 1970s. I think.


Downtown Abbey: the motion picture starring [actors]. Film version of a popular TV show. I finally watched the film version of Miami Vice a few months ago. It was OK. I recall reading that Edward James Olmos was asked to take a role in the film and his rejection response was done as a video of him silently staring into the camera. I never found verification of this.


Star Trek Discovery: season two starring [humans and aliens].  14 episodes from a TV show from a subscription channel.


The Orville: the complete second season starring [more people and aliens]. What is this anyway? A Star Trek ripoff with comedy? I'm not sure.

The Year Is Ending! Read now, before it is too late!

Fiction

A Cruel Deception by Charles Todd. Post Great War mystery during the Paris negotiations.

Tell Me No Lies by Shelley Noble. "A Lady Dunbridge Mystery". The cover has illustrations of hot air balloons and people wearing hats.

Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. According to the cover illustration a woman with a cat dates a long haired guy in a leather jacket. According the to author photo Hibbert keeps her hair short.

Lives Laid Away by Stephen Mack Jones. Ex-police detective is asked to ask around Hispanic community to identify dead girl. Girl disappeared after an ICE round up and she was not the first.

Penny For Your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber. Another cover illustration with people wearing hats.

The Paris Orphan by Natasha Lester. No hats on these people. This is set post WWII so what's up with that? Lester lives in Perth, Australia, so if you're in town and see her around you'll have to demand an answer on the cover design by Faceout Studio.

The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester. Wait a minute... which one of these books was first?  A-Ha! It's this one! The author bio in this novel has more information than the other book. Same author photo though. Perth, by the way, was a fantastic city when I got to spend a semester of school there. That was 27 years ago though, so I don't know what the place is like now.

Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon by James Lovegrove. I suppose this is a mystery. Let's skip straight to the author photo... Nuts! There isn't one. Let's check online... it is black and white and small.

Girl: a novel by Edna O'Brien. Girl is kidnapped by Boko Haram. O'Brien lives in London. I've never been there but sure have seen a lot of photos.

Paperback Romance

Angel in a Devil's Arms by Julie Anne Long.  Guy returns from teh dead and romances a woman.

This Earl Is Mine by Kate Bateman. Heiress wants to marry a condemned man so she can be a widow and keep the money. 

Novels!

Fiction

Curious Toys by Elizabeth Hand. Hand has won a lot of literary awards. But, has she won the Ice Cream Eating Championship at Knickerbocker Days in Lake Mills?

Nothing More Dangerous by Allen Eskens. "Eskens lives ... in outstate Minnesota." Outstate? What the heck does that mean? Outside the Twin Cities? Outside any city over 40,000 people?

The House of Brides by Jane Cockram. This woman's last name is completely covered by library labels all over the outside of the book. Jane Cockram just sounds English but she is from Australia.

Suicide Woods by Benjamin Percy. I've read a couple of this guy's novels. He has some sort of Wisconsin connection because when I was on a literary awards committee for a few years I read one of his books. He used to teach at St. Olaf. Freaking Oles.

The Wicked Redhead by Beatriz Williams. Hands, Cockram and Williams have similar author photos. I think Williams's novels circ' pretty well here, let's check... yep, each one has checked out this year with the oldest one in June.

A Well Behaved Woman by Therese Anne Fowler. I want to stick a hyphen in there. Like this "Well-Behaved". Fowelr was "raised in the midwest" which means dang near anywhere depending on the who says it. Midwest can be Ohio to the Dakotas, and the Upper Peninsula to Southern Illinois. That's about 830,000 square miles (using Daft Logic area calculator).

Bomber's Moon by Archer Mayor. I have not read one of these Joe Gunther novels in years.

Twice In A Blue Moon by Christina Lauren.  This a pen name for a writing duo. No idea where they live.

Audiobook on CD

Anne Boleyn: 500 years of lies by Hayley Nolan. 690 minutes on 9 CDs. Something about a woman who was murdered.

Musics

Through a Magical Companionship of Sound and Technology I Present These Plastic Wafers That Contain Digital Information That Will Be Electronically Converted Into Sound

The Nothing by Korn. Singers and Guitarists make sounds to the accompaniment of a percussionist.


Juliana Hatfield Sings the Police by Julianna Hatfield. Boston singer sings songs of English musicians and one American ex-pat.


The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. English guys from English songs on an album that is still circ'ing after 46 years.


Frozen II by [people]. Actors sing songs about a film musical.

53 Discs!

1 Disc

The Best of Pentatonix Christmas by Pentatonix. Vocal group sings songs of winter holidays.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark starring [actors]. Scary stuff.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark starring [actors]. The same thing but on Blu-Ray.

6 Discs

Rick and Morty: seasons one and two starring [voice actors]. Grampa Rick has to deal with his terrible failure of a son-in-law and annoying grandchildren.

7 Discs

Alice Isn't Dead by Joseph Fink. Unusual plot about woman seeing her presumed dead wife on news stories about tragedies and then takes a job as a trucker to track her down.

8 Discs

Tom Clancy Duty and Honor by Grant Blackwood. Jack Ryan, Jr. fights injustice or something.

The Second Sleep by Robert Harris. Priest in Middle Ages has to bury an old priest and questions his faith and heretics. Or something.

The House Next Door by James Patterson. The novellas in one package.

13 Discs

Full Throttle : stories by Joe Hill. Thirteen stories.

Dungeons, Dragons, Danielle

Dungeons and Dragons

Xanathar's Guide to Everything by lead designers Jeremy Crawford and Mike Mearls. Page 53 says, "Warlocks are finders and keepers of secrets."

Player's Handbook by Jeremy Crawford. Page 143 says, "A single copper piece buys a candle, a torch, or a piece of chalk."

Dungeon Master's Guide by Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins, James Wyatt. Page 243 says, "An important question in such a situation is who notices whom."

Volo's Guide to Monsters by Mike Mearls. Page 48 says, "Whether a deity is good, evil, or neutral is imamaterial."

Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mag Mage by Christopher Perkins. Page 223 says, " 1 square = 10 feet"Monster Manual by Christopher Perkins. Page 120 says, "However, they tolerate the presence of these creatures as living representatives of Loth's will, and a reminder of the fate that awaits all who fail the Spider Queen."

The Monsters Know What They're Doing: combat tactics for Dungeon Masters by Keith Ammann. Page 409 says, " If the total XP of the marilith's existing minions are equal to or greater than those of the marilith, the vrocks take pole position."

NonFiction

Mother and Son: the respect effect by Emerson Eggerichs, PhD. A patron was trying to get this book and I saw it had many holds. So I ordered a copy and that was back-ordered because of demand.

Fiction

Spy by Danielle Steel. Steel seems to be a workaholic. She has many stories to tell.

Here. Read these things.

Fiction

Under Occupation by Alan Furst. More spy and anti-spy adventure by Furst. You should read this.

The Rise of Magicks by Nora Roberts. Third novel in the Chronicles of the One series. I do not know what this is about. You should read this.

Scarlet Fever by Rita Mae Brown. Another one of those Brown books with an anthropomorphic fox on the cover. You should read this.

Genesis by Robin Cook. Another medical thriller? A band biography? I don't know. You should read this.

NonFiction

Top 10 Orlando by DK Eyewitness. Page 76 says that "the prices may limit this place to special occasions" in reference to Victoria and Albert's. You should read this.

Let's Make Ramen: a comic book cookbook by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan. Page 115 says, "Heat a wok or cast iron pan over high heat." You should read this.

Two For You

Fiction

The Off-Islander by Peter Colt. 1982 PI in New England searches for a long missing man.

Non Fiction

Toil & Trouble by Augusten Burroughs. Not sure what this is about but Burroughs is a big name.

Christa Faust Re-Print and Making Money

Fiction

Hoodtown by Christa Faust. Crime and murder in Hoodtown, a place populated by Luchadora wrestlers.

NonFiction

The Rule: how I beat the odds in the markets and in life- and how you can too by Larry Hite. Investment advice.

How We Fight: MANHUNT

NonFiction

How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones.  Man, that was some awful typing I first did. I made several corrections including the ones saying Mr. Jones was fighting for Our Livers. Jones experience as a gay black guy from the South.

Fiction

The Best of manhunt: a collection of the best of Manhunt Magazine edited by Jeff Vorzimmer. Another great publication by Stark House press. manhunt specialized in crime fiction and printed stories by Ed McBain, Mickey Spillane, Richard S. Prather and other famed writers.

NonFic: Murder, babies, History, Spies

NonFiction

The Second Founding: how the Civil War and Reconstruction remade the Constitution by Eric Foner. How post war amendments changed the country. Photos? Yes.

The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe. Stories about famous people and Rowe's own personal stories. Photos? No. Illustrations? Yes.

Kid Gloves: nine months of careful chaos by Lucy Knisley. Comic book story of the artist's pregnancy. Photos? No. Illustrations? Yes.

Life Undercover: coming of age in the CIA by Amaryllis Fox. Life as a CIA analyst and undercover. Photos? No. Illustrations?No.

Unsolved Murders: true crime cases uncovered by Amber Hunt and Emily G Thompson. True crime. Photos? You betcha. Illustrations? Yes.

How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi. Antiracism as a concept to clearly see racism and an action to dismantle racism. Photos? No. Illustrations? No.End notes and bibliography? You're darn tootin.

The British Are Coming: the War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 by Rick Atkinson. This looks neat. First volume of planned trilogy of Revolutionary War. Photos? Yes. Illustrations?No. Maps? Thank goodness yes.

Night Call: embracing compassion and hope in a troubled world by Robert J Wicks. Photos? No. Illustrations? No.

Catch and Kill: lies, spies, and a conspriacy to protect predators by Ronan Farrow. Farrow's investigation of Harvey Weinstein brought all sorts of stuff down on his head. Photos? No. Illustrations? No. Deckled pages? Yes.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, Oluo spoke at a Wisconsin library conference last month and I have forgotten how to pronounce her name. She was a very insightful speaker. Photos? No. Illustrations? No. End notes? A few.

Bad Weekend by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Comic book novel in the graphic novel section of nonfic.

Haben: the deafblind woman who conquered Harvard Law: a memoir by Haben Girma. Advocate for disabilities graduated from Harvard and has a guide dog. Photos? Yes. Illustrations? No. Photos of hairy guide dog? Heck yeah.

HERE ARE MOVIES

DVD

Deadwood :the movie starring That Dude From Justified. THIS MOVIE HAS HORSES AND GUNS.



Chernobyl starring Some Skarsgard.. THIS MINISERIES HAS RADIATION POISONING.



The 60 Yard Line starring Expensice Cameos. THIS MOVIE HAS GREEN BAY.



Stuber starring That Guy From The Big Sick. THIS MOVIE HAS HUMOROUS VIOLENCE.



Cobra Kai: season 1 starring That Blond Guy From The Equalizer and Back To School. MAN WITH REPRESSED ANGER SEIZES REVENGE.

Some DVDs

DVDs

Avengers: Endgame starring [actors]. Movie that made a ton of money makes another ton of money on DVD and streaming sales.

Tolkien starring Nicholas Hoult. JRR grows up and gets shelled in France.



Donnybrook starring Frank Grillo, Margaret Qualley. Backwoods cage match can lead to a big purse.


Captain Marvel starring Brie Larson. Carol Danvers returns to Earth with super powers and Samuel L Jackson is younger through CGI.


Very, Very Valentine by Danica McKellar and Cameron Mathison. Real life math writer takes another acting job alongside some dude.



Blue Collar starring Richard Pryor, Harvey keitel and Yaphet Kotto. This was only 8 or 9 bucks so I bought it. Three pals rob their union's safe.