Level Up Your Writing This Summer: Join Our 2025 Summer Writing Workshop Series

Level Up Your Writing This Summer: Join Our 2025 Summer Writing Workshop Series

Aspiring writers, mark your calendars, our popular Summer Writing Workshop series is back for its third year! Presented in partnership with the Algonquin Area Writers Group, this annual event is a chance to connect with publishing professionals, learn from seasoned authors, and sharpen your writing skills alongside a supportive community.

Whether you're working on your first novel, dreaming of publishing independently, or curious about graphic novels and worldbuilding, there’s a session for you. Workshops are free and open to adults and teens, including high school and college students. You can register for just one session or sign up for the full series, whatever fits your schedule.

2025 Summer Writing Workshop Schedule

All sessions take place Thursdays, 7–8:30 pm at the Harnish Main Library. Registration required, open to all.

  • July 10The Truth About Publishing | Register
    with Bryn Donovan, Berkley Publishing author

  • July 17The Roots of Worldbuilding | Register
    with J. von Tobel, fantasy author

  • July 24Series Publishing as an Indie Author | Register
    with Charli Rahe, romantasy author

  • July 31The Art of Graphic Novels & Comics | Register
    with Art Baltazar, DC Comics author and artist

“Each year, this workshop series grows in popularity, drawing in writers from across the region who are eager to learn from industry professionals,” said Elizabeth Harmon, Library Associate - Adult Services. “We’re excited to continue offering this valuable program and look forward to another engaging and inspiring summer for our community of writers.”

Ready to Register?

Space is limited, and early registration is encouraged. Register online or call 847-458-6060 to reserve your spot.

Spice Club – June 2025 – Ginger

Spice Club – June 2025 – Ginger

Ginger, a flowering plant native to Southeast Asia, is widely known for its spicy, slightly sweet flavor and warming properties. Scientifically known as Zingiber officinale, it has been used for thousands of years in culinary and medicinal traditions around the world. It belongs to the same family as turmeric and cardamom, and is a staple in Asian, Indian, and Middle Eastern cuisines. It’s commonly used fresh, dried, powdered, or as an oil or juice.

Culinary Uses: Ginger adds bold flavor to stir-fries, soups, curries, and marinades. It’s also popular in baking, pairing well with cinnamon and cloves in cookies, cakes, and muffins. Ginger appears in tea, ginger ale, and cocktails, and is enjoyed pickled with sushi, or candied in desserts and cheese boards. Fresh ginger can even add a zesty kick to dressings and fruit salads.

Health Benefits: Ginger offers a range of health benefits. It’s well known for easing nausea aiding digestion, and reducing inflammation. Its antioxidant properties may help boost immunity and support heart health. Ginger can also relieve muscle pain and menstrual discomfort, and may help lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels when consumed regularly. While helpful, ginger is not a substitute for medical treatment or medication.

Fun Facts: Ginger isn't actually a root, but a rhizome, an underground stem. In medievaltimes, a pound of ginger was as valuable as a live sheep in Europe due to its rarity. Canada Dry ginger ale was invented in 1904, and people originally drank it to settle their stomachs.

Download Recipes

Summer’s Best Book Picks!

Summer’s Best Book Picks!

Join Adult Services staff, Thursday, May 29, at 7:00 p.m. to hear about the best new books for summer! We’ll have light refreshments and giveaways for a fun evening at the library.

Looking for a great read for your upcoming vacation, or maybe just a page turner to settle in for a lazy weekend? Not a problem! We have all the book suggestions you need. No matter what genre you like, we will provide great options for you. These titles can be used for our Summer Reading Program and Reading Marathon Challenges. Want personalized suggestions? Come with a favorite book or author in mind,  and we’ll offer ideas for what to read next.

There will also be refreshments and book give-aways! Registration is required, but open to all. Don’t miss this great night for book lovers.

Spice Club – May 2025 – Caraway

Spice Club – May 2025 – Caraway

Caraway seeds are the dried fruits of the Carum carvi plant, which belongs to the parsley family. Native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa, these crescent-shaped brown seeds are commonly used as a spice. They have a warm, slightly sweet flavor with hints of anise, fennel, and citrus, offering a pungent, earthy taste with a touch of peppery licorice.

Culinary Uses: Popular in European cuisine, especially German, Hungarian, Austrian, and Scandinavian, caraway seeds are used in rye bread, sauerkraut, sausages, goulash, and cheese. It adds depth to vegetable stews, soups, roasted meats, and even baked goods like crackers and biscuits. When used medicinally, caraway can be made into a tea or soup or taken as a supplement.

Health Benefits: Caraway is known to support healthy digestion by relieving bloating, gas, and indigestion. It's also rich in antioxidants that protect the body from oxidative stress and contribute to overall wellness. With natural anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, caraway may help reduce inflammation and support immune health by fighting certain bacteria and fungi. You can also apply its essential oils to your skin.

Fun Facts: In European folklore, caraway was believed to prevent theft. People would keep caraway with valuables or even feed it to livestock and loved ones to keep them from
"wandering." During the 17th century, the sugar-coated seeds of caraway were consumed at the end of the meal to facilitate digestion.

Download Recipes

Thank You for a Sprouting 2025 Seed Library Season!

Thank You for a Sprouting 2025 Seed Library Season!

To our amazing Algonquin community of gardeners, thank you for making our 2025 Seed Library season a sprouting success!

It seems that you liked the new style put together by our team this season, and we hope your garden is thriving and full of life. From the moment the first packets went out to the final few picked up, your enthusiasm and love for gardening truly made this year’s program something special.

The Seed Library is now officially closed for the season, but we’ll be back in 2026 with more seeds to share and more opportunities to grow together.
Did you find success with the seeds in your garden? You’re always welcome to share your story with us on our social media channels or at the Adult Services Desk the next time you drop by.

Until then, happy gardening!

Meet This Month’s Featured Artist – Laura Ortoleva

Meet This Month’s Featured Artist – Laura Ortoleva

AAPLD welcomes local artist Laura Ortoleva, whose work will be displayed on the Art Wall at the Main Library during May.

A resident of Algonquin Township, Laura is an award winning political cartoonist, editorial illustrator and fine artist, whose work has been exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, and at the Krannert Art Museum in Champaign. Laura's art is also sold at regional galleries, charitable auctions, and has been acquired by corporations and publishers. Anyone interested in purchasing Laura's work can contact her at happytrails7@earthlink.net

Learn more about Laura and her work:

Your background/training: I have a Masters in Communication, and Bachelors in Psychology, both from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. My career has been as a Fortune 500 and 100 Communications Strategist, focusing on the written and spoken word as well as visual communications in response to market challenges and opportunities. I am also a fine artist, and have been a political cartoonist and editorial illustrator for regional newspapers.

What inspires your work: I am inspired by nature, the divine and the human condition.

Your favorite artistic medium: colored pencil followed by pencil

What you want people to feel or think about when they view your work: As a fine artist, my artwork typically focuses on nature, the divine or the human condition. I would like people to feel good or amused when they look at my artwork. I do not create art to affect others, but strictly as a form of self-expression. If my work touches someone in any way, that is just an added bonus.

If you're a local artist interested in exhibiting your work, please submit samples of your work and contact information to social@aapld.org

Discover May’s Library Reads

Discover May’s Library Reads

May's Library Reads selections are here, full of great suggestions for your summer to-be-read list! For AAPLD cardholders who've signed up for the 2025 Reading Marathon 26 book challenge, we've highlighted books that fit our Reading Marathon categories.

Chosen by librarians across the country as their favorite new releases for the month of May, these books will keep you reading long into the night AND boost your Reading Marathon completions. Browse them here, or stop by the Main Library, and look for books with the Library Reads logo on the spine.

 

Reading Marathon Categories: Road on the Cover

Run For The Hills by Kevin Wilson - Ever since her dad left them twenty years ago, it’s just been Madeline Hill and her mom on their farm in Coalfield, Tennessee. While she sometimes admits it’s a bit lonely and a less exciting life than she imagined for herself, it’s mostly OK. Mostly.

Then one day Reuben Hill pulls up in a PT Cruiser and informs Madeline that he believes she’s his half sister. Reuben—left behind by their dad thirty years ago—has hired a detective to track down their father and a string of other half siblings. And he wants Mad to leave her home and join him for the craziest kind of road trip imaginable to find them all.

As Mad and Rube—and eventually the others—share stories of their father, who behaved so differently in each life he created, they begin to question what he was looking for with each new incarnation. Who are they to one another? What kind of man will they find? And how will these new relationships change Mad’s previously solitary life on the farm?

Infused with deadpan wit, zany hijinks, and enormous heart, Run for the Hills is a sibling story like no other—a novel about a family forged under the most unlikely circumstances and united by hope in an unknown future.

Reading Marathon Category: Set Overseas

What Happens In Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon - Dani Dorfman has somehow made it to her thirties without knowing what she wants to do with her life. So when an office romance ends poorly and gets her fired, she applies for a job in Amsterdam, idly dreaming of escaping the mess she’s created, but never imagining she'll actually get it.

Except she does. By the end of her first week in Amsterdam, she’s never felt more adrift or alone. Then she crashes her bike into her high school ex-boyfriend—and suddenly life is blooming with new opportunities.

Wouter van Leeuwen was a Dutch exchange student Dani’s family hosted, a forbidden love that ended in a painful breakup. Years later, there’s still sizzling chemistry between them, and okay, maybe a little animosity. More importantly, Wouter needs to be married to inherit a gorgeous family home on a canal—and when Dani's job falls apart, she needs a visa. As the marriage of convenience pushes them together in unexpected ways, Dani must decide whether her new life is yet another mistake—or if it's worth taking a risk on a second chance.

 

Reading Marathon Category: Title= Family

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay - In the glow of their children’s exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families plan on a night of dinner and cocktails for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids—five residents of Campisi Hall—never show up at dinner.

At first, everyone thinks that they’re just being college students, irresponsibly forgetting about the gathering or skipping out to go to a party. But as the hours click by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. Soon, the campus police call in reinforcements. Search parties are formed. Reporters swarm the small enclave. Rumors swirl and questions arise.

Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella—The Five, as the podcasters, bloggers, and TikTok sleuths call them—come from five very different families. What led them out on that fateful night? Could it be the sins of their mothers and fathers come to cause them peril or a threat to the friend group from within?

Told through multiple points of view in past and present—and marking the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from Every Last Fear and The Night Shift—Parents Weekend explores the weight of expectation, family dysfunction, and those exhilarating first days we all remember in the dorms when our friends become our family.

 

Spice Club – April 2025 – Cardamom

Spice Club – April 2025 – Cardamom

Cardamom is an aromatic spice from the ginger family with a warm, sweet, and citrusy flavor. It is widely used in cooking, baking, beverages, and traditional medicine. It is native to India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, but also cultivated in Guatemala, Nepal, and Tanzania, with Guatemala as the top producer.

Culinary Uses: enhances chai, coffee, spiced hot chocolate, and cocktails; adds warmth to cakes, cookies, pastries, and Indian sweets; is used in Indian curries, biryanis, Middle Eastern stews, and Thai cuisine; pairs well with citrus, cinnamon, vanilla, meats, and marinades.

Health Benefits:

Helps Digestion – Helps relieve bloating, nausea, and indigestion.
Supports Heart Health – May help lower blood pressure and improve circulation.
Rich in Antioxidants – Protects cells from damage and aging.
Boosts Metabolism – May aid in weight loss by increasing metabolic rate.
Improves Oral Health – Has antibacterial properties that fight gum infections.
Acts as a Natural Detoxifier – Helps cleanse the body of toxins.
Enhances Mood – Used in aromatherapy to relieve stress and anxiety.

Fun Facts: Cardamom has been valued for over 4,000 years, cherished by ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Known as the "Queen of Spices" for its rich aroma and high worth, it was even used by Egyptians as a natural breath freshener. Some cultures believe it has mood-boosting and aphrodisiac properties.

Download Recipes

Meet This Month’s Featured Artists!

Meet This Month’s Featured Artists!

In April, AAPLD is delighted to display entries in The Land Conservancy of McHenry County’s Amateur Photo Contest.

Each year amateur photographers are invited to participate in this annual contest highlighting the inspiring nature of The Land Conservancy’s preservation work. The goal is to share the beautiful and immense natural diversity found throughout McHenry County. The photos were taken at properties The Land Conservancy has helped protect or restore. Each site has a unique character and story, contained in the photos’ captions.

The Land Conservancy has operated in McHenry County since 1991, and has preserved over 3,200 acres of land. Eight of its sites are open to the public, and include restored woods, wetlands and natural habitats. Other sites are conservation easements; a voluntary, permanent agreement between a landowner and  The Land Conservancy, which allows the owner to continue to use and enjoy the land and eventually sell it or pass it to his or her heirs, knowing that it will remain undeveloped. Other Land Conservancy initiatives include Project Quercus, which encourages planting and preserving oak trees, various community education programs, the Apple Creek Food Forest which showcases edible species trees, plants and shrubs, and the Farmer/Landowner Lease Match, which pairs beginning farmers who need access to land, with landowners interested in selling or leasing to a new generation of career farmers.

An accredited nonprofit local land trust, The Land Conservancy of McHenry County works with local property owners, communities and volunteers to preserve open, natural and agricultural land. The organization is privately funded through annual memberships, donations, grants, contracts with municipalities to provide open space stewardship services, fundraisers, and merchandise. Learn more at conservemc.org

If you’re a local artist interested in exhibiting your work, please submit samples of your work and contact information to social@aapld.org

 

 

 

 

Discover April’s Library Reads

Discover April’s Library Reads

April showers bring May flowers, plus a bouquet of great new Library Reads!

For AAPLD cardholders who've signed up for the 2025 Reading Marathon 26 book challenge, we've highlighted books that fit our Reading Marathon categories. Chosen by librarians across the country as their favorite new releases for the month of April, these books will keep you reading long into the night AND boost your Reading Marathon completions. Browse them here, or stop by the Main Library, and look for books with the Library Reads logo on the spine.

 

Reading Marathon Categories: Now on TV, and Set In Birth Decade (1980s)

The first novel in the all-new Golden Girls Cozy Mystery Series!

Murder by Cheesecake: A Golden Girls Cozy Mystery by Rachel Ekstrom Courage 
Things are heating up, and not just because of Blanche’s hot flashes. Rose’s cousin is eloping to Miami, and Rose is playing host. If she can't balance the groom’s family’s snobbery against the traditional St. Olaf wedding week guidelines, her hometown may never accept her cousin again!

Dorothy quickly realizes she needs a date with whom she can exchange wedding-related wisecracks. Turning to a newfangled VHS dating service, she believes she’s found the ideal conversationalist. Unfortunately, what looks good on TV can actually be a total jerk in real life. It seems she’ll just have to enjoy the company of Sophia, Blanche, and whomever Blanche has targeted for a hookup.

As the Girls all pitch in, Rose is thrilled that the tea-and-fish-themed kickoff event is perfect, not a herring out of place. That is until Dorothy’s date is found dead—face-planted in an otherwise scrumptious-looking cheesecake. With every guest a suspect (especially Dorothy) and a marriage on the line, the four besties must ID the real killer, get the should-be-happy couple down the aisle, and make sure nobody from St. Olaf gets lost in the wilds of Miami. It’s up to the Golden Girls to sleuth out a way for friendship and love to win the day!

Reading Marathon Category: Set At Sea

The Sirens by Emilia Hart - A story of sisters separated by hundreds of years but bound together in more ways than they can imagine

2019: Lucy awakens in her ex-lover’s room in the middle of the night with her hands around his throat. Horrified, she flees to her sister’s house on the coast of New South Wales hoping Jess can help explain the vivid dreams that preceded the attack—but her sister is missing. As Lucy waits for her return, she starts to unearth strange rumours about Jess’s town—tales of numerous missing men, spread over decades. A baby abandoned in a sea-swept cave. Whispers of women’s voices on the waves. All the while, her dreams start to feel closer than ever.

1800: Mary and Eliza are torn from their loving home in Ireland and forced onto a convict ship heading for Australia. As the boat takes them farther and farther away from all they know, they begin to notice unexplainable changes in their bodies.

A breathtaking tale of female resilience, The Sirens is an extraordinary novel that captures the sheer power of sisterhood and the indefinable magic of the sea.

Swept Away by Beth O'LearyWhat if you were lost at sea…with your one-night stand?

Zeke and Lexi thought it would just be a night of fun. They had no intentions of seeing each other again. Zeke is only in town for the weekend to buy back his late father’s houseboat. Lexi has no time for dating when she needs to help take care of her best friend's daughter.

Going back home with a stranger seems like a perfect escape from their problems. But a miscommunication in the dark, foggy night means no one tied the houseboat to the dock. The next morning, Zeke and Lexi realize all they can see is miles and miles of water.

With just a few provisions on the idle boat, Zeke and Lexi must figure out how to get back home. But aside from their survival, they’re facing another challenge. Because when you’re stuck together for days on end, it gives you a lot of time to get to know someone—and to fall in love with them.

 

 

Reading Marathon Category: What's My Line

Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez - There might be no such a thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong…

. . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be.

Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life—and even a love—worth remembering.

Reading Marathon Category: Title= Family

The Griffin Sisters Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner - One of the most anticipated books of the year, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner, a glimmering novel set in the world of pop music about sisters, motherhood, young love, and the dreams we chase.

Sisters Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were born just a year apart but could not have been more different. Zoe, blessed with charm and beauty, yearned for fame from the moment she could sing into a hairbrush. Cassie was a musical prodigy who never felt at home in her own skin and preferred the safety of the shadows.

On the brink of adulthood in the early 2000s, destiny intervened, catapulting the sisters into the spotlight as the pop sensation the Griffin Sisters, hitting all the touchstones of early aughts fame—SNL, MTV, Rolling Stone magazine—along the way.

But after a whirlwind year in the public eye, the band abruptly broke up.

Two decades later, Zoe’s a housewife; Cassie’s off the grid. The sisters aren’t speaking, and the real reason for the Griffin Sisters’ breakup is still a mystery. Zoe’s teenage daughter, Cherry, who’s determined to be a star in spite of Zoe’s warnings, is on a quest to learn the truth about what happened to the band all those years ago.

As secrets emerge, all three women must face the consequences of their choices: the ones they made and the ones the music industry made for them. Can they forgive each other—and themselves? And will the Griffin Sisters ever make music again?