Archives

Ophelia | (2019) starring Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts, Clive Owen Summary: Based on the novel by Lisa Klein, this movie is the story of Hamlet shown from Ophelia’s point of view. There is so much more to her from beginning to end, you’ll feel like you’ve experienced a completely new Shakespeare play by watching it. …

Stillmeadow Sampler | Gladys Taber Summary: Gladys Bagg Taber (1899 – 1980) produced a large body of work during her lifetime. She wrote over 50 books, including fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, children’s books, plays, poetry and more. Her best loved books are in her series about her life at Stillmeadow, her farm in the then rural …

The Smithton Public Library District is seeking your input on its programs and products. Your opinions are important. Please complete all of the questions in the survey, linked below. Your responses will be treated confidentially. A consolidated summary of all replies will be made available to the Strategic Planning Committee. Thank you for your participation. …

Vote for your favorite design from the SIX options, below. The winning design will be on library cards (together as a set of wallet and keytag cards) beginning fall 2021. One entry, per person, please. Limited to Smithton Public Library District cardholders, only. Voting will run until August 31, 2021 at 11:59 pm. Click the …

Tenet (2021) with John David Washington, Robert Pattinson Summary: A CIA agent is forcibly recruited into the most hush-hush of special units. Their goal is to identify and minimize ‘inversion’, a catastrophically damaging element of entropy brought to the regular world on purpose by a megalomaniac. There are manipulations overlaid atop and across each other …

The Talk: Conversations about race, love & truth | Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson Summary: What are we teaching our young ones about race? Having ‘the talk’ might mean introducing a child to the perils of being different or discussing why “treating everyone the same” isn’t the ultimate solution under systemic racism. Gathering works …

Believe Me | Eddie Izzard Summary: I anticipated comedy in choosing Izzard’s memoir. I had no idea what I was in for! Izzard’s use of ‘footnotes’ had me screaming with laughter. Other reviews confirm that the audio version is the BEST method of listening to the rambling unapologetic style used by Izzard, so familiar from …

Chew: the Omnivore Edition, Vol 1 | John Layman Summary: Tony Chu is a good detective – but his particularly unusual ability to get impressions from what he eats is why he works for the Special Crimes Division of the FDA, the most powerful law enforcement agency on the planet (think near future or alternate …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Cinda Leech, Project Director Smithton Public Library District 618-233-8057 cleech@smithtonpl.org SMITHTON PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT RECEIVES NATIONAL GRANT FOR SMALL AND RURAL LIBRARIES$3,000 Grant Will Help the Library Work with Residents on Increasing Accessibility. Smithton, IL – The Smithton Public Library District has been selected as one of 300 libraries to participate in …

Much Ado About You | Samantha Young Summary: Visit a quaint English village bookstore after life kicks you when you’re down! That’s what one Chicagoan does when too many disappointments pile up at once. She’s attempting to rediscover herself and that means avoiding tangled relationships like new love. But her stay becomes more than melodrama …

Patricia Brent, Spinster | Herbert George Jenkins Summary: Twenty-four-year-old Patricia Brent is upset after overhearing her neighbors discussing her lack of dates. Determined to prove them wrong, she tells them that she is having dinner with her fiancé on the following evening. When they show up to the restaurant to see what he looks like, …

Guess Who (DVD) Summary: Theresa (Zoe Saldana) is a young woman who is about to introduce her fiancé to her father, Percy Jones (Bernie Mac). Percy is eager to meet his African-American daughter’s businessman beau, but is shocked to learn that she is engaged to Simon Green (Ashton Kutcher), a white man. Staying with the …

The Three Pigs| David Wiesner Summary: This Caldecott Medal-winning picture book begins placidly (and familiarly) enough, with three pigs collecting materials and going off to build houses of straw, sticks, and bricks. But the wolf’s huffing and puffing blows the first pig right out of the story . . . and into the realm of …

Atomic Habits | James Clear Narrator: James Clear Summary: Tiny Changes, Remarkable ResultsAtomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits—whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply …

The Wedding Date | Jasmine Guillory Summary: When Alexa Monroe and Drew Nichols get stuck in a hotel elevator, Drew realizes Alexa would be the perfect last-minute plus one to his ex’s wedding. What was supposed to be a fake date turns into more by the end of the night. They realize there’s something about …

Dark Matter | by Blake Crouch Summary: In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers …

Hello, all!  Director Jenna Dauer here — We’ve added a few sections in the library that I think you are going to love. New Adult Fiction & Non-Fiction Titles These titles are located just inside our front door, near our movie and TV series’ section.  We keep items “NEW” for 2 months for our patrons …

Selection #1: Beneath a Scarlet Sky | by Mark Sullivan Summary:   The Story: When teenager Pino Lella’s family home in Milan is bombed by Allied forces, he joins an underground network to help Jews escape over the Alps. His parents force him to enlist as a German soldier and he becomes the personal driver …

Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors Author: Curtis Craddock Summary: Born with a physical disability, no magical talent, and a precocious intellect, Princess Isabelle des Zephyrs has lived her life being underestimated by her family and her kingdom. All shall change, however, when an unlikely marriage proposal is offered, to the second son of a dying …