Science + Fiction = anything can happen. A sci-fi book can be one that occurs in outer space, another universe, or even here in our recognizable real world. The key elements are that it’s speculative (meaning, “What if”), and that it usually deals with real or imaginary science and technology as part of its plot, setting, or subject.
If you’re part of the Bookworm Challenge, you know that August is the month for reading science fiction. If you’re new to this genre, we’re here to help with a few recommendations and some links to help you find your next read.
We’ve done it before and we’re doing it again. It’s time to pick up a blank canvas, take it home, and cover it with your artistic vision. Then bring it back to join its companions for Reed Memorial Library’s Tiny Art Show. See your art alongside your friends’, family, and neighbors’ on display for the whole community to enjoy! Keep reading for details.
Robert McCloskey’s Blueberries for Sal, published in 1948, is a well-known and timeless children’s classic. Annie in Youth Services warmly recommends this beloved book, in time for the local blueberry-picking season.
Did you know you can read the Record Courier online, free, wherever you are? All you need is a digital device (for the reading online part) and one of our library cards. Even better, when you read it this way, you don’t get pop-up ads to distract you from the news.
“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Are you ready for action and adventure? The great thing about this genre is that it can fit pretty much any kind of story and subject. If you search our catalog using “action, adventure” as keywords, you get nearly 1,500 results. Adventure is found in all types of books, both fiction and nonfiction. It could be a Le Carré spy novel, a fantasy adventure like The Hobbit or a true-life exploration adventure like The Lost City of Z.
For those of you working on our Bookworm Challenge, this month’s Action & Adventure theme opens up a roller coaster ride of stories. You can take a dive and easily find something you like. [If you haven’t heard of our Bookworm Challenge, learn all about it here and sign up on Beanstack.]
Below, we’ve compiled a list of Action & Adventure books that you may want to read for the Bookworm Challenge, the Readin’ Rodeo or maybe just to experience living dangerously from your armchair.
“I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.’ I should think so — in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
A peaceful poetry collection is this month’s recommendation from Annie in Youth Services. Devotions is a carefully curated selection of poems by Mary Oliver about nature, contemplations, and life.
Are you headed on a trip this summer? Later this year? If the trip you are planning is outside the country, make sure you have a passport or that the one you have is up-to-date. If you need to get one for the first time, we can help!
Saddle up for a Readin’ Rodeo at the library this summer!
Since June kicks off our rodeo summer, and since it’s the June genre in our Bookworm Challenge, we are spotlighting western books in this post. Most books that we call westerns typically take place in the western part of the U.S. during the 19th and 20th century. [If you haven’t heard of our Bookworm Challenge, learn all about it here and sign up on Beanstack.]
June is the also the beginning of our Readin’ Rodeo Summer Challenge, which runs parallel to our year-long Bookworm Challenge. It’s easy and free to participate in both challenges. Best of all, since the challenges run parallel to each other, like train tracks into the Old West, what you read can count for both challenges.
While our Bookworm Challenge happens all year, our Readin’ Rodeo Summer Challenge is just for the summer, running from June 3 to July 28, 2024. Similar to the Bookworm Challenge, log minutes spent reading and complete activities to earn prizes! You can read more about it here and sign up for it on Beanstack as well.
Below, we list just a few of the many westerns you may want to read for the Bookworm Challenge, the Readin’ Rodeo or maybe just to get a taste of the Wild West.
Most of you have had that feeling, after unpacking a box. You turn the empty box over in your hands, maybe close the flaps and have that moment when you just – pause. Then you think, “Should I really get rid of this box? I could probably use this box later. It’s a nice box.”
We have a better box (maybe even the best box). It’s a box that feels great in your hands, one you can enjoy having with zero guilt. A very cool box and it’s full of very cool stuff.
Each month, no matter your age, you can sign up to get a Bookworm Box from us. We have boxes designed for Littles (PreK-2nd), Kids (grades 3-6), teens (grades 7-12), and adults. We’ll handpick some books, gather a couple of activities or a playlist or something fun to do, throw in some goodies and pack it all up in a sweet cardboard box decorated with Cornelius’ handsome face. Come in, check out your box, take it home and live it up.
Dig into the books and have a ball with the goodies! When your due date is up, put the books in the box and return it to us for next month’s refill. Each month is a different theme, different books, and a new adventure in reading. And it all comes in a very cool box.
Our June round of Bookworm Boxes have been claimed. Registration for July’s adult box is open now and youth Bookworm Box registration opens later in June. Sign up to try a different kind of reading experience. We think you’ll find out that it’s your new, favorite box.
Summer’s comin’ ’round the bend, and we’re kickin’ it off proper with Rodeo Night at Ravenna City Park next Friday, June 7th. Gather up your folks and mosey on down to our free, family-friendly shindig, fit for buckaroos of all ages. It’s our 3rd annual hoedown, and we reckon it’s gonna be the best one yet!
Sincerely, Cornelius 