LibraryPoint Blog

Legendary New York Times food writer Craig Claiborne wrote more than 20 cookbooks, but surely none could have been closer to his heart or his roots than Southern Cooking. 

CRRL Wins!  You voted - thank you! - and we have won a visit from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Susanna Kearsley,  known for her suspenseful, historical romances. 

Meet Susanna at a wine and cheese reception at the Porter Branch on Wednesday, June 5, at 7pm, as she launches her newest book, The Firebird.

Sign up requested but not required - please call 540-659-4909. 

As a former museum curator, Susanna brings her passion for research and travel to her novels, weaving together modern-day and historical intrigue. In her newest novel, The Firebird, heroine Nicola Marter was born with a psychic gift. When a woman arrives with a small wooden carving at the gallery Nicola works at, she can see the object's history and knows that it was named after the Firebird - the mythical creature from an old Russian fable.

Thank you to Barnes & Noble for providing copies of her books for purchase!  

Haven’t read a Susanna Kearsley book? If you like Diana Gabaldon, Daphne du Maurier, or Audrey Niffenegger, you’ll love Susanna Kearsley. Check out one of these titles:

Summer is almost here and many children will be heading to camp. Most parents try to find a camp that will speak to their children’s interests or talents. In the year of the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s resignation, six campers at an arts camp called Spirit-in-the-Woods decide to call themselves, with typical teenaged self-absorption, The Interestings. At camp, everybody gets a trophy for participation, but once they pass through the door into adulthood, who will be ones to keep up with their talents and who may be the one to show it to the world?

It's almost time for the annual library Summer Reading Clubs, which run from June 1 - August 31. They are free to join and a great way to discover new favorite books, win prizes, and have a blast reading all summer long. Kids of all ages and teens will earn prizes based on the number of minutes that they read and enter into their online logs. Special summer events include nature classes, drop-in STEM activities, and fun festivals to wrap it all up.

Adults can submit book reviews and be entered to win a movie pass, 2 Bob Evans restaurant coupons, and other goodies. A grand prize winner at the end of the summer will receive a new EReader! Programs feature a special author visit, a writing camp, and our popular Music on the Steps summer music series.

Sign up will be available online and in the branches starting at 9 am on Saturday, June 1.

It always seems to happen at the most inopportune time. You need to fix your car or small engine, but you don’t have a repair manual. What’s more, the library is closed.  Don’t worry!  Instead of waiting for the library to open and driving all the way there, you can get the same information at home using two of our online databases. Best of all, they are available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Auto Repair Reference Center has information on cars including repairs, wiring diagrams, bulletins, and more. Small Engine Repair has information on all types of small engines, including outdoor equipment, motorcycles, tractors, and more.

"Irish businessman will pay large amount of U.S. dollars to meet a fairy, sprite, leprechaun, or pixie."

The ad was posted on the Internet. Indeed, it generated numerous fraudulent responses, but the person who placed it only needed one true lead for his purposes. He had studied all he could in the mundane world he inhabited, but he knew the important secrets of the Fairy would only be known by others of their kind. However, in Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer, the Irish businessman posting the ad did not mention that he was stupendously rich—and rather young. In his mind, the latter certainly did not signify.

This readalike is in response to a patron's book-match request. If you would like personalized reading recommendations, fill out the book-match form and a librarian will email suggested titles to you. Available for adults, teens, and kids.  You can browse the book matches here.

Something from the Nightside by Simon R. Green: "John Taylor is not a private detective per se , but he has a knack for finding lost things. That's why he's been hired to descend into the Nightside, an otherworldly realm in the center of London where fantasy and reality share renting space and the sun never shines." (Book description)

Something from the Nightside is the first in the Nightside series. If you enjoyed this series, you may also enjoy these titles:

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
The underground population of witches, vampires, werewolves--creatures of dreams and nightmares--has lived beside humans for centuries, hiding their powers. But after a genetically engineered virus wipes out a large part of humanity, many of the "Inderlanders" reveal themselves, changing everything. (catalog description)

The Devil You Know by Mike Carey
Felix Castor is a freelance exorcist, and London is his stamping ground. It may seem like a good ghostbuster can charge what he likes and enjoy a hell of a lifestyle--but there's a risk: Sooner or later he's going to take on a spirit that's too strong for him. While trying to back out of this ill-conceived career, Castor accepts a seemingly simple ghost-hunting case at a museum in the shadowy heart of London-- just to pay the bills, you understand. But what should have been a perfectly straightforward exorcism is rapidly turning into the Who Can Kill Castor First Show, with demons and ghosts all keen to claim the big prize. That's OK: Castor knows how to deal with the dead. It's the living who piss him off... (catalog description)

In the past I have lambasted Barnes and Noble's Nook products for a number of reasons, but none of them have to do with device itself.  I dislike how eBooks purchased from B&N are encrypted with the credit card number used to purchase them (don't forget that number!). I dislike how stripped-down the app selection is. I dislike their severe lack of media offerings.  But the device itself?  It's got good specs!  Nice  HD screen, decent processor speed, expandable storage, slick design—it's got all the makings of a great tablet, save for the fact that it has been tethered exclusively to Barnes and Noble's horrible business practices.  But that has now changed with a significant price drop and the addition of the Google Play app store.  If you're on the fence about a tablet purchase, I now have to actually, grudgingly recommend the Nook HD over everything else!

Seventeen years ago, Mary Belle Holder wasn’t ready to stop working. She was only 76. So she decided to volunteer at the local library.  Read the Free Lance-Star article for more about our amazing Mary Belle!

On a cold, March day in 1806, Abbie and Seth lost their beloved mother to the smallpox epidemic that was ripping through the town of Wiscasset, Maine. Without food or wood for the fire, the children were in terrible trouble. They could hear the bell tolling for the dead—so many times for a man, so many for a woman, so many for a child. But how many for a missing father? In Lea Wait’s Stopping to Home, the only hope the brother and sister have to survive is that someone in that stricken town will take them in, if only for a little while.