February’s Library Reads Selections
Archived Posts
Get Growing with AAPLD’s Seed Library!
Algonquin Area Public Library, in cooperation with the University of Illinois Agricultural Extension, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Illinois Master Gardeners of McHenry County, is excited to introduce the Seed Library-- a community resource that provides seeds to local gardeners free of charge!
How Does It Work?
Stop by the Adult Services desk at the Main Library on Harnish Drive to browse our Seed Library catalog, or check it out online. You'll find photos and descriptions of each plant variety, helpful information about when, where and how to sow your seeds, and the number of seeds you'll receive. Quantities range from 2 to 20 seeds per packet, depending on the type of plant.
Fill out a seed request form, available at the Adult Services desk, or access our online form. Choose up to 15 different plant varieties, per household, per calendar year. Due to high demand, you cannot make multiple requests for the same seed variety. Leave your request form with an Adult Services staff member, and we'll contact you when your seeds are ready to be picked up. Each seed packet in your order will include planting and care instructions.
What Can I Choose?
We're currently offering over 75 varieties of vegetable, fruit, flower and herb seeds. Choose annuals, which are planted each year, or perennials, which return year after year. You'll find heirloom vegetables, such as the Oxheart and Mortgage Lifter tomatoes, Dixie Queen watermelons and White Icicle radishes. Favorites like pumpkins, mixed color carrots, and various types of green beans can turn this summer's garden into a family project. Brighten your landscaping with colorful Four O'Clocks, and the beautiful, exotic Passion Flower. Add color to your home with classic cutting flowers like zinnia and sunflowers.
If It's A Seed Library, Do I Have To Return My Seeds?
While we love the name "Seed Library," it's not a library in the traditional sense. You don't need a library card, nor do you have to return seeds from your personal harvest-- though if you want to send a photo of your garden, or your harvest, we'd love to post it! If you can't use all your seeds this year, no problem! Store unused seeds in their packets in an airtight glass jar, and keep it in a cool dark place like your basement or garage, until you're ready to plant.
Discover a Hidden Gem!
While releases by best-selling authors, and critically-acclaimed "buzz books" grabbed the spotlight in 2021, there are plenty of great releases still waiting to be discovered.
Meet the Overlooked Books of 2021! These include books from nearly every fiction genre, plus non-fiction on a variety of topics, from exploring Mount Everest to a memoir by a professional gambler.
We've created a display in the Main Library Adult Services section of 2021's Overlook Books (you'll know it by the googly eyes!), and an online catalog that you can browse from home. We've also highlighted a few of our favorite Overlooked Books by genre, and hope it leads you discover a hidden gem!
General Fiction
Leda and the Swan by Anna Caritj - After a wild Halloween party, sorority girl Leda awakens to find she isn't exactly sure what happened the night before. Did she have sex with the guy she went home with? And what about Charlotte, the mysterious girl dressed as a swan, whose paths crossed Leda's several times, but who is now missing? As the campus buzzes with tension and speculation, Leda begins to realize that her fractured recollections may hold the key to Charlotte's disappearance. A unique debut novel set in the early-2000s, that blends suspense and mystery, with issues of gender, power and sexual assault on campus.
Historical Fiction
Half Life by Jillian Cantor - Poland, 1891, Marie Curie (then Marya Sklodowska) was engaged to a budding mathematician, Kazimierz Zorawski. But when his mother insisted Marya was not good enough, he broke off the engagement. Heartbroken, Marya left Poland for Paris, where she would attend the Sorbonne to study chemistry and physics. Eventually Marie Curie would go on to change the course of science forever and be the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
But what if she had stayed in Poland, married Kazimierz, and never attended the Sorbonne or discovered radium? What if she had chosen a life of domesticity with a constant hunger for knowledge in Russian Poland where education for women was restricted? Entwining Marie Curie’s real story with Marya Zorawska’s fictional one, Half Life explores loves lost and destinies unfulfilled—and probes issues of loyalty and identity, gender and class, motherhood and sisterhood, fame and anonymity, scholarship and knowledge.
Mystery
The Cat Saw Murder by Dolores Hitchens - Love cat-themed mysteries? This 1939 mystery launched the popular trend, which continues today. When 70-year-old Miss Rachel and her cat Samantha visit Rachel's niece Lily at her California beach home, they discover Lily's home is actually a decrepit rooming house, and Lily herself is in desperate need of money to settle a gambling debt. With Samantha the cat named as the heir of a eccentric relative's fortune, Lily sees feline murder as the solution to her problem, until her own mysterious demise. Can Miss Rachel and Samantha solve the mystery? Part cozy/part California noir, this throwback classic is a fascinating and fun read.
Fantasy
The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley - A time twisting alternative history that asks whether it's worth changing the past to save the future, even if it costs you everyone you've ever loved. Joe Tournier has a bad case of amnesia. His first memory is of stepping off a train in the nineteenth-century French colony of England. The only clue Joe has about his identity is a century-old postcard of a Scottish lighthouse that arrives in London the same month he does. Written in illegal English—instead of French—the postcard is signed only with the letter “M,” but Joe is certain whoever wrote it knows him far better than he currently knows himself, and he's determined to find the writer. The search for M, though, will drive Joe from French-ruled London to rebel-owned Scotland and finally onto the battle ships of a lost empire's Royal Navy. In the process, Joe will remake history, and himself.
Non-Fiction
The Third Pole by Mark Synott - A hundred-year mystery lured veteran climber Mark Synnott into an unlikely expedition up Mount Everest during the spring 2019 season that came to be known as "the Year Everest Broke." What he found was a gripping human story of impassioned characters from around the globe and a mountain that will consume your soul--and your life--if you let it. Readers witness first-hand how Synnott's quest led him from oxygen-deprivation training to archives and museums in England, to Kathmandu, the Tibetan high plateau, and up the North Face into a massive storm. The infamous traffic jams of climbers at the very summit immediately resulted in tragic deaths. Sherpas revolted. Chinese officials turned on Synnott's team. An Indian woman miraculously crawled her way to frostbitten survival. Synnott himself went off the safety rope--one slip and no one would have been able to save him--committed to solving the mystery. Eleven climbers died on Everest that season, all of them mesmerized by an irresistible magic. The Third Pole is a rapidly accelerating ride to the limitless joy and horror of human obsession.
You Can't Lose Them All: Tales of a Degenerate Gambler and His Ridiculous Friends by Sal Iacono and Jimmy Kimmel
- Over the last forty years, Cousin Sal has made bets with doctors, lawyers, teachers, agents, bookies, writers, comedians, radio DJs, tv producers, baseball players, front office executives, bandleaders, movie stars, publicists, weed lab owners, hedge fund operators, and even professional wrestlers. From his early days growing up in Brooklyn and Long Island flipping baseball cards to now hosting podcasts and TV shows and managing several offshore accounts we don't talk about, Cousin Sal has truly become the average American sports fan's go to source for gambling tips. With hilarious tales of love and loss, winning and (a lot) of losing, crazy family and fatherhood, and a life saga that inspired the Phil Collins' song, "Against All Odds," Cousin Sal has now written THE Vegas super-system, MIT-algorithmic, sharp-approved book for how to gamble like a pro -- or at least not how not to go broke and lose your kids to Child Protective Services.
The Check-out Champs of 2021!
Happy New Year, and welcome to our annual In Case You Missed It list of AAPLD's Top 50 most checked-out Adult Fiction, Young Adult Fiction and DVD/Blu-Ray titles for 2021!
Most of the items were released in 2021, but you'll also find perennial favorites, and a few surprises on our lists.
How many have you seen or read? We've profiled check-out champs in each category, and also included two special online catalogs, our Top 50 favorite movies, and a Best Books of 2021 catalog, which includes "Best of" picks from Kirkus, Booklist, Goodreads, The Atlantic, NYT, Time, Literary Hub, Vulture, Vogue, New Yorker, and NPR.
You can also browse in person in the Adult Services department, where we've set up ICYM displays. Pick up a handy list of our Top 50 check-outs, and mark off what you've seen or read. Then add one of our Top 50 reads to your Winter Reading selections, or settle in with one of 2021's most popular movies. We hope you discover a new favorite of your own!
Adult Fiction
With 396 check-outs, The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah was AAPLD's most popular Adult Fiction selection of 2021.
Texas, 1934. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance. Elsa Martinelli must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.
With 289 check-outs, our second most popular Adult Fiction book is The Guest List by Lucy Foley.
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
Young Adult Fiction
With 41 check-outs, our Young Adult check-out champ is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. When she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price. Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.
With 38 check-outs, Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer is the Young Adult runner-up!
When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella's side of the story. This unforgettable tale as told through Edward's eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward's past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he justify following his heart if it means leading Bella into danger?
Movies
Our most checked-out movie in 2021 was Godzilla vs. Kong, with 148 check-outs!
Legends collide as Godzilla and Kong, the two most powerful forces of nature, clash in a spectacular battle for the ages. As a squadron embarks on a perilous mission into fantastic uncharted terrain, unearthing clues to the Titans' very origins and mankind's survival, a conspiracy threatens to wipe the creatures, both good and bad, from the face of the earth forever.
Black Widow, with 132 check-outs, was the second most popular movie at AAPLD in 2021!
In Marvel Studios' action-packed spy thriller "Black Widow," Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
January’s Library Reads Selections
Love Your Tech in 2022!
Did you receive a new device as a holiday gift, or upgrade with a great year-end deal? Maybe you've resolved to get more comfortable with technology in 2022. Your library is here to help!
In January, we're offering classes to help you get the most out of your technology, whether you're a beginner who wants to master the basics, or you want access to thousands of books, videos, music and more, 24/7 with your library card! Classes are taught by Digital Literacy Librarian Kenny Duray, and you can attend in-person or online. Click the class link to register, or call the Adult Services department.
Beginner Basics
Don't know how to use a computer, tablet or smartphone? Have questions about your device, or another tech-related topic? Our Tech With Kenny classes are for you! Classes are held Wednesday mornings from 10-11 a.m. Each session includes a half-hour lesson, followed by a half hour for Q&A and practice time.
January 5: Using The Mouse and Keyboard - learn basic mouse controls and keyboard keys
January 12: The Internet - learn about browsers, how to search, create a bookmark, and tips for online safety
January 19: Email - Learn to create an email account, send an email, and attach to an email
January 26: File Management - Learn to organize your files for easy access later
Your Library On The Go!
Check out and download books, video, music and more, any time, any place, with your library card! Learn about our digital library apps and discover the fun and convenience of ebooks, eaudiobooks, digital video, magazines and newspapers. Classes are held Monday evenings from 7-8:30 p.m., in person or online.
January 10: AAPLD Library Apps - Learn about the services you can access through our apps, plus how to install and use them.
January 17: Downloading Ebooks and Audiobooks - Ebooks and eaudiobooks are convenient, portable, and perfect for travel, commuting, or enjoying from the comfort of home.
January 24: Downloading Movies and TV Shows - Stream movies and TV shows, documentaries, indie hits, and selections from around the world, including shows from the popular BBC and Acorn TV networks.
January 31: Downloading Magazines and Newspapers - Find your favorite magazines and newspapers, including international publications, in multiple languages.
Home Delivery Service Brings the Library To You
Do you or a loved one enjoy reading, but aren’t able to come to the library because of illness, disability or lack of transportation? Let Algonquin Area Public Library District’s Home Delivery Service bring the library to you each month!
Signing up is easy and the service is free! AALPD cardholders can apply for Home Delivery Services online, or pick up a paper application at the Adult Services desk. If you need a library card, we can verify that you live in our district and issue one for you. (If you don’t live in our district, most libraries offer home delivery service for their cardholders.) Your Home Delivery Service will begin the following month.
Questions? Stop by or call the Adult Services desk at 847-458-6060, x-143.
December’s Library Reads Selections
December Reading Resolutions…Short & Sweet!
Hectic holiday season? Reading Resolutions has you covered! Our tasty December challenge is to read a poem, short story, or novella. If you prefer non-fiction, choose an article, short how-to book, or essay.
Our online catalog has lots of suggestions for short reads, including collections of poems and short stories. If you check out a collection, you don't have to read the entire book. Just one story or poem is enough, but if you want to read more, be our guest! Read on for holiday-themed suggestions, or come into the Main library to browse our displays. Still need help? Just ask an Adult Services staff member.
When you've completed your December Short & Sweet Challenge, be sure to visit your Beanstack account and select this badge to be entered into our monthly gift card drawing. Don't forget our Grand Prize Drawing for a $100 restaurant gift card after Reading Resolutions ends on December 31. Each month you complete a challenge counts toward one entry. If you missed a month, there's still time to read a book for that month's theme. Select the correct badges in Beanstack by December 31 to receive your additional entries.
Christmas Tales
Heartwarming and joyful stories that capture the spirit of the season.
The Quiet Little Woman: A Christmas Story by Louisa May Alcott - Three classic Christmas stories from the author of Little Women, inspired by readers of the classic 1868 novel. (Short Story)
Can This Be Christmas by Debbie Macomber - A group of travelers, stranded at a remote New Hampshire depot on Christmas Eve, find their heartbreak turns to joy, when Christmas unexpectedly comes to them. (Novella)
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry - In turn-of-the-century New York City, a poor young couple sacrifices to purchase the perfect Christmas gift for one another. Published in 1907, it is one of O. Henry's most famous stories. (Short Story)
Let It Snow!
Wintery tales of romance and adventure, set in the world's most foreboding places.
Heating It Up by Elizabeth Harmon
- The head of an international research station in Antarctica discovers a mysterious woman hiding in a deserted lodge. In a season of endless night, can love warm their hearts? (Novella)
Beyond The Great Snow Mountains by Louis L'Amour - An American woman who has lived her life among the peaks of the Himalayas, must protect her village and tribe from an intruder. (Short Story)
The Gift of Self-Care
Because the holidays aren't always joyful, consider a healing and compassionate read for the season.
Stitches: A Handbook On Meaning, Hope and Repair by Anne Lamott - How do we find peace in these loud and frantic times, and where do we start again after personal and public devastation? By collecting the ripped shreds of our emotional and spiritual fabric and sewing them back together, piece by piece. (96 pages)
How To Stay Calm In Chaos by Julie M. Gentile - Smart self-care strategies, organized for each day of the week. (42 pages)
The Long Night: Readings and Stories to Help You Through Depression by Jessica Kantrowitz - A writer and theologian presents the wisdom and spiritual writings that aided her during her years-long battle with depression. Presented in short, topical chapters. (156 pages)
What’s New on the Shelf? Holiday Movies!
Christmas Waltz
Christmas Waltz - After Avery's storybook Christmas wedding is cancelled, she decides to fulfill a long-time dream of learning to dance. Roman, a handsome dance instructor, helps face her fears as the two share the possibility of an unexpected holiday romance. Starring Lacey Chabert and Will Kemp.
Chateau Christmas
Chateau Christmas - Margot, a world-renowned pianist, returns to Chateau Neuhaus to spend the holidays with her family and rediscover her passion for music. While there, her ex-boyfriend and former bandmate Jackson, convinces her to headline the annual Christmas concert. As they work together, old feelings return. Starring Merritt Patterson and Jesse Hutch.
The Christmas House
The Christmas House - When Bill and Phyllis Mitchell call their two grown sons, Brandon and Mike, home for Christmas, they hope to make peace with a difficult decision and celebrate a memorable holiday. As Brandon and his husband Jake make the trip home, they are anxiously awaiting a call about the adoption of their first child. Meanwhile, Mike reconnects with his high-school sweetheart Andi. Starring Robert Buckley, Ana Ayora.
Love, Lights, Hanukkah!
Love, Lights, Hauukkah! - When a DNA test reveals that Christina Russo, a lonely Cleveland restauranteur, is Jewish she reconnects with her biological mother, Ruth, and long-lost extended family. Over eight festive nights, she forges new bonds, discovers new traditions, and unexpectedly falls for the local food critic who once panned her Italian restaurant. Starring Mia Kirshner and Ben Savage.
On The 12th Date of Christmas
On The 12th Date of Christmas - Two seemingly incompatible game designers team up to create a romantic city-wide scavenger hunt themed for the Twelve Days of Christmas. Starring Mallory Jensen and Tyler Hynes.
A Christmas Tree Grows In Colorado
A Christmas Tree Grows In Colorado - Erin, the mayor's daughter, is planning the Christmas festival for her town, and must persuade Kevin, a handsome single dad and firefighter, to donate the beautiful spruce tree on his property for the celebration. Starring Rochelle Aytes and Mark Taylor
Five Star Christmas
Five Star Christmas - When a travel writer shows up unexpectedly at her parents' bed and breakfast, Lucy Ralston and her siblings masquerade as guests to convince the writer to give the inn a good review. But when Lucy finds herself falling for Jake, a real guest, she feels guilty about her deception. Starring Bethany Joy Lenz and Victor Webster.
Christmas In Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing
Christmas In Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing - In Evergreen, Vermont, a town devoted to Christmas, mayor Michelle Lansing is planning her wedding. As the big day approaches she rushes to finish the launch of the town museum, while also questioning her relationship and her future with fiance, Elliot. Starring Rukiya Bernard and Antonio Cayonne.
A Veteran's Christmas
A Veteran's Christmas - Newly discharged from the Marines, Grace Garland finds herself stranded in a small Colorado town, following a car accident. Local judge Joe Peterson offers Grace shelter in his guesthouse while she waits for her car to be repaired, and helps her rediscover the joy and community that have been missing from her life. Starring Eloise Mumford and Sean Faris.
The Real Bedford Falls: It's A Wonderful Life
The Real Bedford Falls: It's a Wonderful Life - Prefer a documentary? This film explores the connection between Bedford Falls, the fictional setting of It's a Wonderful Life, and the real community of Seneca Falls, New York. Celebrate the enduring themes of this classic holiday movie, as captured in the town's annual It's a Wonderful Life festival. With interviews and commentary by film critic Leonard Maltin, Frank Capra's granddaughter, Monica Capra Hodges, and the former child actors who portrayed Zuzu and Tommy Bailey in the 1946 film.