Why Libraries?

Frank J Basloe Library

Back in the day....what a way to start any story, right? But in this case it's true. If you are as old as I am, or older, then you remember how important libraries were when we needed to look up information especially for school projects. We didn't have computers or cell phones to be able to look up something at any moment.
Libraries are also great for the communities because they offer many programs....did you know that? So many people aren't aware of what libraries offer these days. Some things they offer are free resources, they help connect communities and offer a quite place to do work or just to disconnect from the craziness of the world. My library even has a book club (that I am happy to be in charge of) that bring people together in reading books that you may not normally have read. 

Frank J Basloe Library

For readers it is a major money saver. I would love to be able to support authors by buying their books, but I simply can't afford to spend and average of $20 a book. So far this year I have read 15 (not including kids books that I read with my daughter). That would've cost me $300 so far!!!! I don't know about you, but I can't afford that. Now don't get me wrong and think that I never buy books either. I do have some favorite authors that I like to have in my personal library and if I read a book that is awesome, I may purchase it so that I can reread it at a later date. Also, physical copies are great to have if you like to attend book signings or to give as gifts.

The pictures you see here are of my library. We are in the process of a huge renovation. So far we have completed complete Phase 1 (there are pictures of the renovation process on their site). 

 

The library also has the Friends of the Library Book Sale. It is a way to help raise money to support the library. We had a beautiful sign donated by A & P Master Images and were finally put up last week. 

 

If you are local to the area, we are always looking for "friends" to help out. Click here for more information.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘
Genre - Fiction, Holocaust, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Foster Home
Format - Paperback
Length - 608 Pages

*Amazon Blurb*

When Death has a story to tell, you listen.
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.
Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

 

*My Review* 

 

Another book club book and also another one that was hard to get thru. Not only was this book extremely long, but in my opinion it was extremely boring too. I felt like it wasn't going anywhere at all. There was no suspense, no excitement.....nothing. The only thing that I wanted to know is what happened to the Jewish man.

I also decided to force my poor husband to watch the movie with me. I generally don't watch movies of the books I've read because, let's face it, books are better. I had heard from a couple different people that the movie was better than the book in this case. I agree and disagree at the same time. I feel that the movie gave the book a bit more desire to finish, but it also missed some parts that I feel were very necessary in understanding things.

The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘📘
Genre - Fiction, World War, Historical Fiction, Coming of Age
Format - Paperback
Length - 304 Pages

*Amazon Blurb*

In the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia’s overcrowded slums and the anti-immigrant sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the U.S. Army. But as her city celebrates the end of war, an even more urgent threat arrives: the Spanish flu. Funeral crepe and quarantine signs appear on doors as victims drop dead in the streets and desperate survivors wear white masks to ward off illness. When food runs out in the cramped tenement she calls home, Pia must venture alone into the quarantined city in search of supplies, leaving her baby brothers behind. 

Bernice Groves has become lost in grief and bitterness since her baby died from the Spanish flu. Watching Pia leave her brothers alone, Bernice makes a shocking, life-altering decision. It becomes her sinister mission to tear families apart when they’re at their most vulnerable, planning to transform the city’s orphans and immigrant children into what she feels are “true Americans.” 

Waking in a makeshift hospital days after collapsing in the street, Pia is frantic to return home. Instead, she is taken to St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum – the first step in a long and arduous journey. As Bernice plots to keep the truth hidden at any cost in the months and years that follow, Pia must confront her own shame and fear, risking everything to see justice – and love – triumph at last. Powerful, harrowing, and ultimately exultant, The Orphan Collector is a story of love, resilience, and the lengths we will go to protect those who need us most.

 

*My Review* 

 

Another book that was read for my book club and finally a book that I can get excited about reviewing!

I think it's hard to write reviews when you get stuck in a rut and read a lot of books you don't enjoy. Ellen Marie Wiseman was the author who got my love of reading started as an adult with her book What She Left Behind.

The name of the book, The Orphan Collector, gave me a different view of what I thought the book would be about. I'm not saying it was bad at all, since I really enjoyed this one. I was simply thinking of it in a different light I guess you could say. I can't imagine being anyone who lived during a war. The unimaginable things that they witness or are a part of is just too much to think about. I feel so helpless for them. It's no different for me reading a boo even though it's fiction. A great book makes you feel for the characters and I couldn't have felt more sympathetic for poor Pia. Imagine your whole family being taken from you and no one will listen and help you!!

Of course a good book has to have it's villain, right? Bernice couldn't have fit this position any better. Reading from her point of view made me want to reach into the book and beat her. The things she did are beyond horrible.

How The Witch Stole Chistmas by Dakota Cassidy

 

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘
Genre - Fiction, Christmas, Supernatural Thriller, Women Sleuth Mysteries
Format - Audiobook
Length - 4 Hours 47 Minutes

*Amazon Blurb*

It's Christmas, and I, ex-witch Stevie Cartwright, declare this my favorite time of year. I love the decorations! The food! The Hallmark Channel holiday specials! This year promises to be better than ever because for the first time in a very long time, I'm going to have more than just Cheez Whiz, Triscuits, and the wish to be surrounded by family and friends. My carefully planned holiday bonanza includes all the usual suspects: my bat familiar, Belfry; my dog, Whiskey; my ever-present ghostly spy friends, dashing Brit Winterbottom and stalwart Russian Arkady; and my parents. However, nothing comes easy for this amateur sleuth, not even a neighborhood decorating contest. You know, the one I've been painstakingly prepping for for months? Something goes horribly awry with my Christmas display (think bikini-clad carolers, pink flamingos, and real, live turkeys) to start. But the worst? The dead body of the famous Chef Pascal Le June in my nativity scene! It becomes clear someone's trying to ruin my Christmas, and that someone must pay. But when Belfry goes missing and the danger takes on a paranormal edge, I find I have more to lose than ever before.

 

*My Review* 

I wanted something short to listed to just before Christmas (yes another reminder of how far behind I am with reviews) and this one was just that length. Although I didn't think the book was "amazing" or anything like that, I did think it was cute and enjoyed listening to it. I'll admit there were a lot of characters and I was not able to keep them straight which did cause a bit of confusion here and there, but for the most part it was ok and just what I was looking for to pass the time while doing all those crazy chores just before the holiday.

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak

 

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) - 📘
Genre - Fiction, Sisters Fiction, Christmas
Format - Hardcover
Length - 368 pages

*Amazon Blurb*

It's Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew's elder daughter—who is usually off saving the world—will be joining them at Weyfield Hall. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. She's just returned from treating an epidemic abroad and has been told she must stay in quarantine for a week...and so too should her family.
For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity, and forced into each other's orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while Olivia deals with the culture shock of first-world problems.
As Andrew sequesters himself in his study writing scathing restaurant reviews and remembering his glory days as a war correspondent, Emma hides a secret that will turn the whole family upside down.
In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who's about to arrive....

 

*My Review* 

 

This was read for my book group for Christmas (yes I realize I'm really far behind in my reviews). We wanted something light to read and thought that it would be perfect since we have all been dealing with an epidemic and having to quarantine for far too long. I mean how lucky are these people compared to what we have dealt with? They knew they were going to be quarantined so they were able to get what they needed in advance or make arrangements for deliveries. They also knew it was only going to be 1 week....how far are we into this?

Now when I think about being stuck with family for a week I picture people having to share rooms, or there not being enough space for everyone to have their own. This is definitely NOT the case for the Birch family.

How many of you know someone who was supposed to be in "quarantine" and they stayed home....for the most part, but really just did their own thing too. Ya, that's how this was. I really thought this book was going to be a lot better than it was. The characters weren't likeable, in my opinion anyways. No one in my book club cared for this book.