Showing posts with label Summer Reading Program. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer Reading Program. Show all posts

Monday, June 3, 2019

A Universe of Stories - 2019 Summer Reading






















Discover a Universe of Stories this summer with our 2019 Summer Reading Programs for all ages! The program began on June 1 and runs through August 3. Challenge yourself to read a variety of genres and formats (books, eBooks or audiobooks), log your books, and complete activities for the chance to win prizes throughout the summer. Stop in the library and register or log your books (Reader Services desk for Adults and Teens and Youth Services Desk for Birth-8th grade). You can also participate online using Beanstack. For more information visit our Summer Reading page.

Friday, July 22, 2016

Need Help With that Square? - Armchair Travel

Close to BINGO but having trouble finding a book for that one square?
Here's some reading suggestions for Armchair Travel.

The Painted Girls - Cathy Marie Buchanan

Set in Belle Epoque Paris.  The Van Goethem sisters struggle for survival after the sudden death of their father, a situation that prompts Marie's ballet training and her introduction to a genius painter.









The House at Riverton - Kate Morton
Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they--and Grace--know the truth...



The Midwife of Venice - Roberta Rich

Hannah Levi is renowned throughout Venice for her gift at coaxing reluctant babies from their mothers--a gift aided by the secret "birthing spoons" she designed. But when a count implores her to attend to his wife, who has been laboring for days to give birth to their firstborn son, Hannah is torn. A Papal edict forbids Jews from rendering medical treatment to Christians, but the payment he offers is enough to ransom her beloved husband, Isaac, who has been captured at sea.



Nora Webster: A Novel - Colm Tóibín
Widowed in her forties, with four children and not enough money, Nora has lost the love of her life, Maurice, the man who rescued her from the stifling world to which she was born. And now she fears she may be drawn back into it. Wounded, strong-willed, clinging to secrecy in a tiny community where everyone knows your business, Nora is drowning in her own sorrow and blind to the suffering of her young sons, who have lost their father. Yet she has moments of stunning empathy and kindness, and when she begins to sing again, after decades, she finds solace, engagement, a haven-- herself.


City of Women - David R. Gillham

1943, in the height of World War II. With the men taken by the army, Berlin has become a city of women. While her husband fights on the Eastern Front, Sigrid Schroder is the model soldier's wife. She goes to work every day, does as much with her rations as she can, and cares for her meddling mother-in-law, all while ignoring the horrific immoralities of the regime. But behind the facade is an entirely different Sigrid. She dreams of her former Jewish lover, who is lost in the chaos of the war.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Need Help with that Square? You Make Me Laugh

Working on your Bingo card for the Summer Reading Program - Read for the Win? Check out these six amusing reads for the honor of being in your Humorous Book square.


Book Jacket
Still Foolin' Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys? by Billy Crystal

Nearing age 65, Billy Crystals acknowledges his accomplishments -- hosting major award shows, appearances on TV series like Soap and Saturday Night Live, and roles in blockbusters like When Harry Met Sally, and more -- with all the wry and quirky charm for which he is famed. Fans will find that Crystal still sparkles as he shares private disappointments along with details of those public successes, and fellow baby boomers will relate to Crystal's humorously catalog of the indignities of aging.
Book Jacket

One For the Money by Janet Evanovich

When Stephanie Plum needs money, she turns to bounty hunting for quick cash even though she has no idea what to do and doesn't own a gun. Luckily, her first quarry, an ex-cop accused of murder, turns out to be her first lover, with whom she still shares a powerful chemistry.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Book JacketFrom her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon, comedian Tina Fey reveals all, and proves that you're no one until someone calls you bossy.


Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
Book Jacket
Doctoring water samples to help his corrupt agribusiness employer continue illegal dumping in the Everglades, biologist Chaz Perrone attempts to murder his wife, who has figured out his scam and who survives to plot her husband's downfall.



Book JacketIs Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

The writer and actress best known as Kelly Kapoor on "The Office" shares observations on topics ranging from favorite male archetypes and her hatred of dieting to her relationship with her mother and the haphazard creative process in the "Office" writers' room.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Book Jacket
When her notorious, hilarious, volatile, talented, troubled, and agoraphobic mother goes missing, teenage Bee begins a trip that takes her to the ends of the earth to find her.



Monday, June 27, 2016

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Need Help with that Square? Try Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror

If you are a Summer Reading Program Bingo game player and are approaching that Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror square with some trepidation, maybe we can help.

Let’s focus on science fiction.

You do not have to venture down those unfamiliar Science Fiction/Fantasy aisles of the library to find an appropriate title. There are many books in the library’s collection where the stories are grounded in our familiar world yet have just an element of science fiction. Many of these books could be considered thrillers or mysteries--still these titles would satisfy that Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror bingo square.

Here are a few titles "science fiction" titles to consider:

Brilliance by Marcus Sakey
"Starting in 1980, about 1% of all children born in the U.S. were gifted with unusual abilities. Thirty-three years later, these "brilliants" (also called "abnormals" or "abs") are leaders in various fields--including terrorism. Nick Cooper's one of them, though he works for a government agency charged with stopping ab terrorists. To stop them, Nick will have to demolish most of his beliefs about the world he lives in--and maybe most of that world itself. The too-close-for-comfort possibilities of this near-future thriller will linger long after the last page." --from Novelist. (Book 1 in the Brilliance Saga)

Lexicon by Max Barry
Recruited into an exclusive, secretive government school of "poets" where students are taught that words have the power to control and coerce, orphaned street hustler, Emily Ruff, becomes the school's most talented prodigy. Does she know that the fate of humanity could be at stake if the right words get into the wrong hands?

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
When the Earth is doomed by an imminent and unavoidable asteroid collision, New Hampshire homicide detective, Hank Palace, considers the worth of his job in a world destined to end in 6 months and investigates a suspicious suicide that nobody else cares about. (Book 1 in The Last Policeman trilogy) 

Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
A novel that imagines the coming-of-age of young Julia, whose world is thrown into upheaval when it is discovered that the Earth's rotation has suddenly begun to slow, posing a catastrophic threat to all life.







Friday, June 17, 2016

Need Help With That Square? LibraryReads Favorites: 2015 - Favorites of the Favorites for your Square!

Need another square to shout BINGO? Read an Award Winner for the Summer Reading Program 2016 Read for the Win!

I love the various award winner lists and have my traditional favorites such as the Man Booker, the National Book Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the Nobel Prize for Literature. Recently though I became aware of a new one entitled Library Reads Favorites which was launched in September 2013. It is a monthly list of ten favorite new titles for that particular year selected by library staff from around the country. Titles can be fiction or nonfiction. Anyone employed in a U.S. public library may participate. You can check out the LibraryReads website for more info: http://libraryreads.org

Knowing that librarians and library staff are notorious for being voracious readers, this list really piques my interest and may just become another one of my favorite go to resources for award winning titles.

So, try one of these Favorites of the Favorites for 2015 to complete another square:

Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Rachel is a washed-up thirty-something who creates a fantasy about the seemingly perfect couple she sees during her daily train ride into London. When the woman goes missing, Rachel manages to insert herself into the investigation of the woman’s disappearance. In the vein of Gone Girl, this dark psychological thriller is fast-paced and features some very unreliable narrators.

Dead Wake by Erik Larson
In cinematic terms, this dramatic page-turner is Das Boot meets Titanic. Larson has a wonderful way of creating a very readable, accessible story of a time, place, and event. We get three sides of the global story--the U-boat commander, British Admiralty and President Wilson--but what really elevates this book are the affecting stories of individual crew and passengers.

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
Don Tillman and Rosie are back again, and they’ve relocated to New York. Rosie is continuing her studies, while Don is teaching and even adding to his small circle of friends. But when Rosie announces that she is pregnant, Don is once again out of his depth. What follows are crazy situations that could only happen when Don is involved. Funny and heartwarming.

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
In this book, we come to know three generations of Whitshanks--a family with secrets and memories that are sometimes different than what others observe. The book’s timeline moves back and forth with overlapping stories, just like thread on a spool. Most readers will find themselves in the story. Once again, Tyler has written an enchanting tale.

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
I couldn’t stop reading this fascinating portrayal of Beryl Markham, a complex and strong-willed woman who fought to make her way in the world on her terms. McLain paints a captivating portrait of Africa in the 1920s and the life of expats making their home there. Highly, highly recommended.

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
Quirky and delightful, Nina George’s book focuses on Jean Perdu, owner of the Literary Apothecary, a floating bookshop. When a new tenant in his apartment building sets in motion events that force Jean to re-evaluate his past, he finds himself floating off down the rivers of France in search of lost love, new love, and friends he didn’t know he needed.

Did I hear BINGO?

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Need Help with That Square? Read a Young Adult Book


Summer Reading Program 2016 Read for the Win! 

Need help with your adult bingo card for summer reading? Try these titles for the square "Read a Young Adult Book".

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.


Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson
An account of the Siege of Leningrad reveals the role played by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich and his Leningrad Symphony in rallying and commemorating their fellow citizens.

We Were Liars by E Lockhart
This modern, sophisticated suspense tale follows the revolutionary activities of four friends who turn against each other in the wake of trauma, differing political views and a devastating secret.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. 

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina , her mother and her brother are pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet guards and sent to a work camp in Siberia. Unsure of her father's whereabouts and her own fate, Lina vows to honor her family and the thousands like hers by burying her story in a jar on Lithuanian soil.  

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

The Great War

Need help with that square? Historical Fiction
Summer Reading Program 2016 Read for the Win! 

Now over 100 years ago, the struggle and loss of World War I still seems modern and provides a haunting backdrop for stories both tragic and hopeful.

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks 
The intertwining of two stories, that of British soldier Stephen Wraysford, remembering his liaison with a French woman before the war, and that of his granddaughter sixty years later. Strong and poetic.

Regeneration by Pat Barker
Set in a psychiatric hospital in Scotland, Dr. William Rivers treats soldiers devastated by the war, including poet, Siegfried Sassoon. Their discussions examine the costs of war. Is it moral to “cure” men only to return them to the horrors of trench warfare?




A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd
British army nurse, Bess Crawford keeps her promise to a dying soldier and delivers a message to his family. When she stays on to help provide nursing care to his ailing brother, she finds herself enmeshed in family secrets. First mystery in a series.

Friday, June 3, 2016

Get Ready to Read for the Win 2016 - Stories Set in a Different Culture - Need Help With That Square?

Get ready for this year's summer reading program Read for the Win, which will be kicking off Sunday, June 12 and will run through Sunday, July 31.

This year you'll be selecting different categories from our summer reading BINGO card.

To help you get started, here's a few suggestions for some good reads for one of the squares' categories - Set in a Different Culture.

Have fun and read for the win!
Set in 19th c. China when women's feet were bound and they often lived a life of seclusion for the rest of the world. The women in one remote Hunan province create their own secret code which they painted on fans or embroidered on their handkerchiefs to communicate their thoughts and dreams to each other. Two girls to be paired and communicate are Snow Flower and Lily. As the years pass, thorough famine and rebellion, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies for motherhood.



The Secret River
This the story of Grenville's ancestry, who wrested a new life from the alien terrain of Australia and its native people. London, 1806. William Thornhill, a Thames bargeman, is deported to the New South Wales colony that would become Australia.


The Poisonwood Bible
The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it--from garden seeds to Scripture--is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.

Eva Luna
A woman makes love to an India dying of a snakebite, miraculously restoring him to life and engendering a daughter named Eva "so she will love life." Set in Latin America, it relates Eva's picaresque adventures.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Come join us on Sunday for the Summer Reading Kickoff Festival!

Register for a Summer Reading Club with your Glenview Public Library card at the Kick-Off Festival Sunday, June 14, 1-4 PM. Enjoy the opening day excitement — prizes, refreshments, and fun for the whole family. Start in the Lobby by spinning the prize wheel and then move into the Community Room to sign up for the program and receive your prize — Ravinia tickets, coupons for free DVD rentals, or an assortment of other fun giveaways. Tap your toes to the lively beat of Jazz in the Lobby, hosted by Terra Sounds School of Music Arts. Light refreshments served. Read more about the Summer Reading Program details here.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Paws to Read: Summer Reading Fun

This is year at the library our summer reading theme is Paws to Read. The program runs from Saturday June 7 to Sunday July 27th. Here are some fun fiction titles that celebrate our feline and canine friends.

To Catch a Cat by Marian Babson
While stealing a prized cat from its owners as part of a gang initiation, Robin, a teenager struggling to fit in with the local kids, witnesses a murder in the owners' bedroom and must avoid a killer who will do anything to keep from being caught.

Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook
Anticipating her first date in more than a decade, divorced preschool teacher Sarah Hurlihy wonders about the man whose personal ad she responded to and is stunned when he is the last person she expected.

Catnap: a Midnight Louie mystery by Carole Nelson Douglas
Freelance public relations expert Temple Barr teams up with Midnight Louie, the sleuthing tomcat, to investigate the murder of a publisher at the Las Vegas American Booksellers Association convention and the kidnapping of Baker & Taylor's feline corporate mascots from their ABA booth.

Miss Bubbles Steals the Show by Melanie Murray
When her brilliant long-haired Persian cat, Miss Bubbles, breaks into show business before she does, out-of-work actress Stella Monroe, becoming a stage mom to her precocious feline, sets out to find her own leading role and leading man.

Dog On It: a Chet and Bernie mystery by Spencer Quinn
Chet and Bernie investigate the disappearance of Madison, a teenage girl who may or may not have been kidnapped, but who has definitely gotten mixed up with some very unsavory characters
  
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television and by listening closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver. Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through.

Come to the Reader Services desk and join the adult and teen summer reading programs. Just bring your Glenview Public Library card with you. For more details about the summer reading program click here. Remember Read Books, Win Prizes! It is not just for kids!

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Read Books -- Win Prizes! A Midsummer Knight's Read Summer Reading Program

Reading Programs aren’t just for kids! Come and join A Midsummer Knight's Read - the summer reading program for adults and teens!

Celebrate the first summer reading program in the new Glenview Library, at the Summer Reading Program Kick-off festival on Saturday, June 11 from 10 am to 4 pm. Take the time to sign the whole family up - adults, teens and children for their Summer Reading Program.

There will be activities, entertainment, prizes, and refreshments too. Only adults registering at the Kick-off Festival have the extra chance to enter a raffle for Ravinia Lawn passes. Otherwise sign up at the Reader Services desk from June 11 through July 31. Read five books to win a Knight in Shining Armor flashlight and get a raffle ticket for the Grand Prize drawings.

Want more of a challenge? Join us for A Midsummer Knight’s Quest - A Library Scavenger Hunt on Friday July 22 from 6:30-8:30pm. Sign up your valiant team of four or have staff find a team for you. Wander the stacks of the Library in search of clues. Winning teams receive prizes and refreshments will be served. Participants must be at least 19 years old and register by Wednesday July 20. To reserve your place in the Quest, call 847-729-7500.

Come join us for some fun at the library this summer!