What's coming to EFPL in the New Year?

 

Humor Books

 

Do you need a laugh?  I think everyone does this time of year as a great stress-reliever!  Here are a few of our favorite funny books:

Picture Books

Where’s my Teddy by Jez Alborough

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester

Early Readers

We are in a Book by Mo Willems (OK, pretty much everything by Mo Willems!)

Grades 3-5

Timmy Failure by Stephan Pastis

Teen

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand

                Wacky, quirky mix-up of historical fiction, fantasy, and adventure with a lot of book humor… Imagine Lady Jane (Queen of England for 9 days) married to someone who shapeshifts uncontrollably into a horse.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Greg’s mom forces him to spend time with a girl from his class who has cancer and it is very awkward. Luckily, she is the only one who truly appreciates the bad films he and his friend Earl put together.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

                Frankie went from a shy 15 year old to a criminal mastermind in the space of a year.  Who pushed her into it?  From romance to suspense, the comedic edge here is undeniable.

Adult

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs by Caitlin Doughty

A slightly morbid non-fiction book that answers questions about death.

The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish

                Autobiography of actress/comedian Tiffany Haddish that revels in the awkwardness of growing up.

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrick Backman

                A 7 year old is tasked with delivering letters to everyone her grandmother wronged when she was alive, and the grandmother was quite the character.

Creative Ideas

Giving the gift of books

 

Are you stumped on gift-giving ideas for a birthday or the holidays?  We love to give books to almost everyone on our lists, and thought we’d share a few ideas.

Need more ideas? We love to give recommendations, or if you’re too shy to ask us, take a look at the NoveList database, which will give you suggestions based on books/authors you’ve liked!  (From the library’s website: https://www.als.lib.wi.us/EFPL/ click on “Online Tools” and the “BadgerLink” link, “All Resources” at the top, and choose “N” for Novelist. It also has book discussion questions for bookclubs!)

What books do you think make great gifts?

Adults

For the foodies: Half Baked Harvest Cookbook by Tieghan Gerard

For the true, personal stories lover: Unlikely Warrior: the true story of a Jew in Hitler’s Army by Georg Rauch

For the interior decorating bibliophile: Bibliostyle by Nina Freudenberger

For the one who’d love a historical, literary romance: Possession by A.S. Byatt

For the one who likes Scandinavian murder mysteries: Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg

Kids

Who love picture books with intricate art: Jan Brett books

Who love funny picture books: 7 ate 9: the Untold Story by Tara Lazar

___

For the first grader, just starting to read on their own: Mercy Watson series

For the 2^nd -3^rd grader who likes slightly spooky books: The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi

For the 3-6^th grader who loves mysteries:  The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

For 5^th-6^th graders who like creative problem-solving and winning against the odds: Front Desk by Kelly Yang

 

Teens

For the football guy: Stupid Fast by Greg Herbst

Who love quirky humor: My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton

For the action-packed, sci fi addicts: Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer or Warcross series by Marie Lu

For the artistic/romantic type: I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

For the mystery/historical fans (set in WI!): One Came Home by Amy Timberlake

For cooking aficionados: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

 

Read 'em Before You Watch 'em!

There are a lot of great books being made into movies in 2022! If you are the type who likes to read the book before you see the movie, then it's the perfect time to get a jump start on that! Below you will find some children's, young adult and adult options. You can place a hold on any of these books by clicking the links and logging into your SHARE account. 

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile by Bernard Waber

The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey

The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo

The Amazing Maurice and his 

Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

White Bird by R.J. Palacio

Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikrey by Gabrielle Zevin

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

There is Always Something to be Thankful for...

This week's blog post will be short and sweet. Since it's Thanksgiving week, we just wanted to say how thankful we are for YOU, our library patrons. Once again, it's been a rollercoaster of a year and you have stuck it out with us. Our levels of service and policies have fluctuated. We have had to adapt and try out new things. We have all had to be a little extra patient and understanding. So thank you for still coming to visit us to check out books, use the computers, pick up a craft kit or just to say hi. We couldn't do what we do without you. Also, thank you in advance as we continue to move back towards "normal." We hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving filled with family, friends and good food.   

Animal Friends

Do you have a furry, scaly or feathery friend at home? Children ages 2-8 are invited to join us on ZOOM for our Pet Show & Tell on Friday November 19th at 10:00am! We would love to hear stories about your pet and of course meet him or her. You can email our Head of Youth Services at vandan.rebecca@als.lib.wi.us to receive a ZOOM link or follow the link posted on our Facebook event. Below are some fun books from our children's department featuring pets of all kinds. 

We Want a Dog by Lo Cole

Pete the Cat's Groovy Imagination by Kim Dean

Truman by Jean Reidy

Roy Digs Dirt by David Shannon

My Rhinoceros by Jon Agee

Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown

Hieronymus Betts and His Unusual Pets by M.P. Robertson

Tails Are Not For Pulling by Elizabeth Verdick

Flubby is Not a Good Pet by J.E. Morris

A Pet Named Sneaker by Joan Heilbroner

Perfect Pets by Mandy Stanley

Emma's Strange Pet by Jean Little

We ❤ All Things Disney!

Are you a certified Disney fanatic? Join us for our virtual Disney Trivia Contest on Saturday November 13th at 11:00am! Find out more information, including how to log into the contest on Kahoot! by visiting the event page on Facebook or by clicking here. 

To gear up for the Disney Trivia Contest, we asked our library staff members to share some of their all time Disney favorites. It ended up being a lot of fun to see what everyone liked. It was also a little interesting to hear how much they struggled to narrow down their choices. "How am I supposed to only pick three favorite movies?!"  It's kind of crazy just how MANY Disney movies and characters there are! Below you will find our staff's picks. Maybe you will discover a new favorite of your own or decide to revisit an old one that you haven't seen in ages. If anything sparks your interest or you're just in the mood for a Disney movie marathon, you can click the links below to place a hold on SHARE. 

Diane

Favorite Movies: The Mighty Ducks; The Parent Trap; Homeward Bound 

Favorite Princess: Ariel (The Little Mermaid)

Favorite Villain: Jasper, played by Hugh Laurie (101 Dalmatians)

Favorite Song(s): Spoon Full of Sugar (Mary Poppins)

Jenn

Favorite Movies: Ratatouille; Inside Out; Moana

Favorite Princess: Moana (Moana) 

Favorite Villain: Ursula (The Little Mermaid) 

Favorite Song(s): How Far Will I Go? (Moana) 

Laurie

Favorite Movies: Mary Poppins; All Pirates of the Caribbean; Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Favorite Princess: Merida (Brave)

Favorite Villain: Madame Medusa (The Rescuers)

Favorite Song(s): I'm Wishing (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs); A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo (Cinderella); Stay Awake (Mary Poppins)

Megan

Favorite Movies: Beauty and the Beast; The Little Mermaid; Toy Story; Up; Mary Poppins

Favorite Princess: Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

Favorite Villain: Captain Hook & Mr Smee (Peter Pan); Sheriff of Nottingham & Sir Hiss Trio (Robin Hood)

Favorite Song(s): Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmatians); Step in Time (Mary Poppins)

Rebecca

Favorite Movies: Mulan; The Parent Trap; Freaky Friday

Favorite Princess: Merida (Brave) 

Favorite Villain: Cruella (101 Dalmatians)

Favorite Song(s): Once Upon a Dream (Sleeping Beauty)

Sandi

Favorite Movies: The Parent Trap; Something Wicked This Way Comes; Hocus Pocus; Cool Runnings; The Santa Clause; Holes; Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; Freaky Friday; The Sorcerer's Apprentice  

Favorite Princess: Ariel (The Little Mermaid) 

Favorite Villain: Winifred Sanderson (Hocus Pocus)

Favorite Song(s): I Put a Spell on You (Hocus Pocus); Under the Sea (The Little Mermaid)   

Sophie

Favorite Movies: Aladdin; The Jungle Book; The Incredibles

Favorite Princess: Merida (Brave) 

Favorite Villain: Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty) 

Favorite Song(s): Can You Feel the Love Tonight? (The Lion King); Tale as Old as Time (Beauty and the Beast); Colors of the Wind (Pocahontas); A Whole New World (Aladdin)

Stephanie

Favorite Movies: Mary Poppins; Hocus Pocus; Escape to Witch Mountain

Favorite Princess: Cinderella (Cinderella) 

Favorite Villain: Kaa (The Jungle Book)

Favorite Song(s): When You Wish Upon a Star (Pinocchio)

Zoe

Favorite Movies: Beauty and the Beast; Aladdin; Toy Story 

Favorite Princess: Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

Favorite Villain: The Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland)

Favorite Song(s): You've Got a Friend in Me (Toy Story); Tale as Old as Time (Beauty and the Beast); Hakuna Matata (The Lion King); Friend Like Me (Aladdin)

Author Spotlight: Stephanie Garber

Do you also enjoy losing yourself in a fantastical world of magic, romance and suspense? Young Adult Fantasy author Stephanie Garber is back with a new tale that almost demands not to be put down once you start reading it. Once Upon a Broken Heart follows the story of  Evangeline as she navigates love, heartbreak, adventure and tragedy, with a heaping dose of magic sprinkled in. Here's a summary: For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in happily every after. Until she learns that the love of her life is about to marry another, and her dreams are shattered. Desperate to stop the wedding, and heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic, but wicked, Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing. But after Evangeline's first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game - and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy... Oh, the intrigue! Although the book takes place in the same magical realm as Garber's Caraval, Legendary, and Finale and features several familiar characters, it is the start of a brand new series. Here's to escaping into books that are magic themselves!  

  🠝 The Caraval Trilogy 🠝 

Looking for some other authors who suck you in with amazingly detailed magical worlds? Give one of these three writers a try! 

Erin Morgenstern                 

The Night Circus               

The Starless Sea                

                                              

Alex E. Harrow

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Once and Future Witches

A Spindle Splintered

V.E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic

A Gathering of Shadows

A Conjuring of Light

HORROR NOVELS

It's spooky season!  Whether you love the feeling of being scared or you prefer to read scary stories with all the lights on, this blog post has got you covered with all things horror.  

Horror is a genre of fiction that sets out to frighten the reader.  These works tend to create an eerie or frightening mood for the reader.  You can further divide the genre of horror into subgenres such as psychological horror and supernatural.  Common themes found in works of horror include ghosts, vampires, witches, monsters, apocalyptic worlds, serial killers, and dark magic.  

Click on a title below to place a hold in the SHARE catalog today!

Adult Fiction:

• House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• It by Stephen King
• Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
• NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
• Bird Box by Josh Malerman
• The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
• The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Young Adult Fiction:

• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
• Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
• Doll Bones by Holly Black
• I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
• The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White
  
• Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Children's Fiction:

• Coraline by Neil Gaiman
  
  
• Night of the Living Dummy by R.L. Stine
• The Witches by Roald Dahl
• The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs
• Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christina McKay Heidicker
• The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
• Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
• Bunnicula by Deborah Howe and James Howe

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HISTORICAL MYSTERY SERIES

Are you a fan of historical fiction and mysteries?  Then, why not combine the two and read some historical mysteries?  

This week's blog post features the first book in a variety of historical mystery series that take place in multiple time periods.  The best thing about reading a series is that if you like one book, then you have more to read.  It helps cut down on the decision of what you should read next.  Try one of these series today!

Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal

• Main Character: Maggie Hope
• Time Period: World War II

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

• Main Character: Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie (Georgie)
• Time Period: 1930s London

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

• Main Character: Maisie Dobbs
• Time Period: World War I

A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch

• Main Character: Charles Lenox
• Time Period: 1860s London

And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander

• Main Character: Lady Emily
• Time Period: 1890s Europe

Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley

• Main Character: Easy Rawlins
• Time Period: 1940s-1960s United States

Murder at the Breakers by Alyssa Maxwell

• Main Character: Emma Cross
• Time Period: 1890s United States

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

• Main Character: Veronica Speedwell
• Time Period: 1880s London

The Ides of April by Lindsey Davis

• Main Character: Flavia Albia
• Time Period: Ancient Rome   

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: HOLLY BLACK

This week's blog post is all about Holly Black.  She is a New York Times bestselling author of novels for children and teens.  She has also co-authored books with Cassandra Clare and Tony DiTerlizzi.  Black has created over 30 works, so this post will feature just a few of her titles.

The Spiderwick Chronicles 
The Field Guide is the first book in the series co-written with Tony DiTerlizzi.  Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace discover a handmade field guide in the attic of the home they have just moved into.  Through the guide, they discover that there is a magical world, parallel to their own.  This other world is the world of faerie. A movie based off the series was released in 2008 starring Freddie Highmore.

Doll Bones
In this story, three friends have one last adventure ahead of them.  Poppy, Zach, and Alice have been friends forever, and their games have included a queen that would curse those who displease her.  This queen is a doll.  Now that they are in middle school, they stopped playing these games.  However, Poppy begins to have dreams about the queen and the ghost of a girl who cannot rest until the doll is buried in her empty grave.  This book is a Newbery Honor winner.

The Modern Faerie Tales
Tithe is the first book in the series.  In Tithe, the reader meets Kaye.  Kaye has been visited by faeries ever since she was a child.  One day, she discovers that she herself is a magical faerie creature with a special destiny.

The Folk of the Air Series 
The Cruel Prince is the first book in the series.  In The Cruel Prince, the reader encounters Jude.  Jude was a young child when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were taken to live in the High Court of Faerie.  Years later, Jude wants to belong in Faerie even though she is mortal and many of the fey dislike humans.  Prince Cardan seems to dislike her in particular.  In order to win a place at court, Jude must defy the prince and face the consequences.

Magisterium 
The Iron Trial is the first book in the series co-written with Cassandra Clare.  In the first book, the reader meets Callum.  Unlike most kids, Callum wants to fail the Iron Trial.  He has always been warned away from magic, so he hopes to avoid admittance into the Magisterium.  However, Callum fails at failing and must enter the Magisterium.  The Iron Trial was just the beginning, what does he have still to come?

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THE MADWOMAN UPSTAIRS

This month our book club is reading The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell.  This book tells the story of the last remaining descendant of the Brontes, Samantha Whipple.  Growing up as a Bronte relative, Samantha is used to hearing speculation regarding the Bronte family and the possibility of hidden Bronte artifacts that scholars would love to study.  However, Samantha has never seen anything to prove this exists.  Everything begins to change for Samantha after her father dies, and she enrolls at Oxford.  While in England, long lost objects from her past begin to appear in her life such as an old novel containing her father's handwriting.  With the help of her professor, Samantha engages in a literary mystery tied to her family's legacy.

If you enjoyed The Madwoman Upstairs, then you may be interested in some of the titles below.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis

Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand

Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Nelly Dean: A Return to Wuthering Heights by Alison Case

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