Archives

A Princess of Mars | Edgar Rice Burroughs Summary: In the spring of 1866, John Carter, a former Confederate captain prospecting for gold in the Arizona hills, slips into a cave and is overcome by mysterious vapors. He awakes to find himself naked, alone, and forty-eight million miles from Earth a castaway on the dying …

A Man Called Ove | Fredrik Backman Summary: Ove is a recently widowed grumpy old man who doesn’t feel the need to keep on living. This is his story of why he feels this way and the road he takes and the people and animals he lets into his world that he so desperately wants …

Cyrano |2021 Summary: This is a romantic historical musical version of the same classic story made completely attainable by Steve Martin’s modern take with Roxanne (1987). Whether or not the music is part of what you enjoy about this version, that’s up to you. I don’t want to talk it down just because I found …

The Disasters | M. K. England Summary: Like many science fiction stories, this one has the main character facing an explosive crisis from which only his perspective tells the ‘truth’. Nax and his crew of survivors must get a message to those authorities who are not teaming up to sabotage the station themselves (for fun …

Etiquette & Espionage | Gail Carriger Summary: Sophronia is 14, a member of the gentry, and “a cracking bother” as she displays all the hallmarks of an under-stimulated overeager puppy. She wants to know how things work, is willing to take systems apart to study them, and can’t help but eavesdrop on interesting conversations. What’s …

Still Life | Sarah Winman Summary: Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, a young English soldier, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian who has come to Italy to salvage paintings …

Ava (2020) Summary: I tend to like well-done spy and espionage movies, but can get bored with the heavy politics and gratingly slow pace. Ava doesn’t have those issues. Chastain completely RULES as the assassin looking for a way out. What will her purpose in life be once she steps away from the job? Can …

The Help (2011) Summary: Skeeter just graduated college and is hoping to find a worthy job as a journalist or writer. Given a chance with a weekly column on housekeeping tips, she notes she’d have to take lessons from ‘the help’ to learn what to write. This takes her into the world of 1950/1960s southern …

The links below the groupings direct you to various blog posts featuring the listed titles. Happy Reading! -Jenna Dauer, Smithton Public Library District Library Director Tween (5th grade and up) interests:  Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin – 2009 Inspired picture books: Thumpy Feet, by Betsy Lewin – 2013 This is Not …

It Ends With Us | Colleen Hoover Summary: Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels …

We added a few new databases this year, with one of them being LinkedIn Learning. LinkedIn Learning is an award-winning industry leader in online training, with a digital library of over 6,000 courses covering a wide range of technical, business, software and creative topics. Please note that you must have a valid Smithton Public Library District …

Scroll down for suggestions for the following ages.  The links will jump you to that section of the blog post. Birth to 5 years old 6 to 12 years old Teens, ages 13-18 years old Adults Ages Birth to 5 years old Sneezy the Snowman | Maureen Wright Summary: A snowman who finds it dreadfully cold keeps …

Jenna shares her favorite reads from the last year (or so) [2021], including print and audio formats. These would make great gifts! Dirt | Mary Marantz Recommended in Audio format Summary: Mary Marantz shares her story for anyone who has ever walked into the world and felt like their scars were still on display, showing that you are …

Old Venus | by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (eds.) Summary: This collection of short stories visits Venus when we thought it was swampy and jungle-thick with exotic life. Never mind that our scientific observations have eliminated this possibility – the various writers ignore the real acidic atmosphere and create a world both …

The Giver of Stars | Jojo Moyes Summary: It is a fictional story based on the true history of the The Pack Horse Library project from 1935-1943. Set in the Appalachian Mountains it is a story of 5 socially different women who want to make a difference by taking books by horses to people in …

From Cinda: The holidays are on their way! I associate holidays with family coming together. Do you have a favorite family movie? Does it happen to involve a holiday or not? Some of my favorite movie families are shown without any holidays involved. I also love a few traditional (and not so traditional) Christmas movies …

Blood Quantum – 2019 Summary: This amazing story is told in two large parts: before the discovery of immunity and what happens after. The native Canadian people (the Mi’gmaq) introduce their lives as an infection blazes through the other populations around them. Once they put into effect the natural immunity they seem to hold, the …

The Hate U Give (listing the movie only because I have yet to read the source material, 2018) , book by Angie Thomas – 2017 Summary: Starr is witness to a terrible moment, the police shooting of her black friend who was holding a hairbrush. Conflicted in her identity and purpose, she eventually gives up …

Find a banned, burned, or challenged book available through our library! Banned Books Week My Antoniaby Willa Cather O Pioneers!by Willa Cather Invisible Manby Ralph Ellison Absalom, Absalomby William Faulkner The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald The Lord of the Fliesby William Golding The Wind in the Willowsby Kenneth Grahame For Whom the Bell Tollsby …

The titles shared are the author’s most recent works (link to the online card catalog shows all formats of that title). Jenna enjoys these podcasts on the regular. All opinions are Jenna’s own. Find these podcasts in your favorite podcast app!  Need help getting started listening to podcasts — call us ! (618-233-8057) We’re happy …