C-SPL Reader of the Month Updates, part 3

Since we aren't featuring any new C-SPL Readers of the Month while the library is closed, I've been checking in on past featured readers to see what books they've read recently.  The first post featured Evan Quade and Cynthia Nelms-Byrne and you can view that here. The second post featured Bill Carroll, Heather Gudenkauf, and Tori Stanley and you can see that post here. Today Mary, Abby, and Thea will share their recent reads. 

~Ben, Adult Services


Mary Potter Kenyon

I checked my Goodreads account and since I've been working from home for almost four weeks, I've read 12 books. Some have been spiritually uplifting and related to my job at a spirituality center, but I've also needed to escape into some good fiction. Two new authors I've discovered whose books kept me up past midnight are Katherine Center and Susie Finkbeiner. Susie's historical fiction is amazing and Katherine's How to Walk Away and Things You Save in a Fire certainly took my mind off of our current situation. For laughs, I read actor Louie Anderson's Hey Mom, and then I had to binge-watch the television show where he portrays a woman much like his mother.





Abby Schrup

I’ve been reading a lot during this time and utilizing Overdrive to check out lots of ebooks and audiobooks. I’ve also read a couple from my own bookshelves (Red Clocks by Leni Zumas and In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware) and then placed those books in my neighborhood Little Free Library.
I really enjoyed After the Flood by Kassandra Montag, and then read a couple other post-apocalyptic books, but when I picked up Station Eleven, I only got a couple chapters in before I had to stop. It’s about a really severe flu pandemic—a topic too close to home! That went back into the "To Be Read" pile!

I am looking forward to a couple books that will be released soon: Heather Gudenkauf’s This is How I Lied and Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.


Thea Dement

Favorite Overall Pick: NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, read by Kate Mulgrew (Audio book)

I decided to take a risk with this book, because I'm not a fan of Stephen King, but I figured it was only fair to give his son a chance. I'm so glad I did! First, my preferred method of reading is not audio book, but let me tell you- in this case I recommend it over the print version. Kate Mulgrew (a native Dubuquer!) goes above and beyond in her rendition of the characters- especially the villain Charlie Manx. If you're looking for the perfect supernatural suspense novel- this is it!

Favorite Picks by Genre:

Thriller/Action-Adventure: The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer
Move over Twilight! Meyer explores a new genre of writing and knocks it out of the park with the story of a former government worker who uses her knowledge to get free from her old life once and for all.

Non-Fiction: Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham
This is a detailed, but totally not boring, history of the Chernobyl disaster. I thought I knew about what happened, but it was so much worse than I ever thought possible. A great example of how the failings of Socialism cost hundreds of lives and put the whole world in danger from nuclear fallout.

Favorite new authors by Genre:

Fantasy: Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn series)
Science Fiction: Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children series)
Mystery: Ruth Ware


Apply to be the next C-SPL Reader of the Month!

C-SPL Reader of the Month Updates, part 2

I've checked in on past C-SPL Readers of the Month to see what they've been reading recently. In the previous post Evan Quade and Cynthia Nelms-Byrne shared the books that have been occupying their minds recently. You can see that post here. Today, Bill, Heather, and Tori will share what they've been reading.

~Ben, Adult Services


Bill Carroll

I've been branching out my reading genres and have fully embraced cozy mysteries. I have been flying through the Joanne Fluke series, and have caught up on several other series including the Peggy Lee Garden series by Jim and Joyce Lavene, The Haunted Library series by Allison Brook, and less cozy, but just as fun, the Bernie & Chet Mysteries by Spencer Quinn/Peter Abrahams. Of these, the Joanne Fluke and Spencer Quinn series' are my current two favorites. The Bernie & Chet Mysteries really remind me of the time I lived in Phoenix, and it brings back good memories for me.

I've been trying to read light, escapist books and less non-fiction and less apocalyptic fiction like I normally do.




Heather Gudenkauf

Like many, I've been seeking out lighter, more humorous reads as of late and have returned to an old favorite: The Spellman series by Lisa Lutz. Be sure to to start with book number one - The Spellman Files. This six book series chronicles the crazy life of the Spellmans, a family of private investigators. To say they are a bit dysfunctional is an understatement. Izzy Spellman,  best described as a cross between Nancy Drew and Dirty Harry, is twenty-eight years old, lives at home with her parents, an impressionable fourteen year old sister and her wayward uncle who tends to disappear on "lost weekends." Izzy also takes great joy in antagonizing her perfect lawyer brother who has escaped the family business. This series is clever, laugh out loud funny and a great escape.



Tori Stanley

During quarantine I’ve been doing a lot of reading! Some new favorites for me would be Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin, Ruthless Gods by Emily Duncan, The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski, and The Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown. So basically living in the fantasy world! I’ve also been rereading some of my favs during this strange time - Throne of Glass series and The Illuminae Files.







Apply to be the next C-SPL Reader of the Month!

C-SPL Reader of the Month Updates, part 1

With the library being temporarily closed, I've taken a hiatus with any new C-SPL Readers of the month until we reopen. Instead, now seems like the perfect time to check in on some of the past Readers of the Month. For some, it's been quite some time since they've shared their reading interests. All have plenty of new things to share since they were the featured reader. Today, Evan and Cynthia will share what they've been reading. More will follow in the next couple of days.

~Ben, Adult Services

Evan Quade

Lately I have been reading the Silo series by Hugh Howey. I chose the post-apocalyptic series because it reminds me of what we are dealing with. Imagine living in a civilization in a silo underground, taking shelter from a lethally toxic outside world. Just don't ever say you want out, because you will get your wish.

I have also been reading A Time to Kill by John Grisham. I love thrillers, but this is a new kind of thriller to me. Grisham is the man who owns the term "legal thriller." Check him out for the experience of what it is really like in a firm or courtroom.

If there is something as essential as food and cleaning supplies, it's our shelves full of books. In this unfortunate event, we seek the opportunity to elude this and read a book when we are overwhelmed or anxious. I find it interesting to read apocalyptic stories. If those characters can survive, so can we. Believe in yourself and be vigilant. Be safe everyone!

Cynthia Nelms-Byrne

The Library Book by Susan Orlean: If you want to know truly how valuable libraries are, read this one about the terrible fire that destroyed Los Angeles’ main library and the efforts to bring it back. The author is a specialist at writing about unusual subjects and making them fascinating. If you haven’t read The Orchid Thief by Orlean, that is also incredible.

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich: I was sort of snoozing through the first half (probably because I don’t like boxing), but after that things really got exciting. This is a novelization based on the life of Erdrich’s grandfather (Thomas in the book), who is the night watchman in an odd factory, so based on some true happenings.

The Returned by Jason Mott: A futuristic/dystopian novel about people who were dead who now mysteriously come back to life many years (usually) later and disrupt the living. Just the kind of thing we need now to remind us that things could be worse.

Wake, Siren by Nina McLaughlin: This contains the stories of the women in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in their own words - both mythic and modern. I thought it was amazing and it reacquainted me with such mythical creatures such as Medussa. I don’t know much about these storied women, so it was informative as well as fantastical.

The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff: A film was made from this, with Eddie Redmayne in the title role! I like the book every bit as much as the film, because it got more deeply into the characters’ feelings and thoughts, which is what a book usually has over a film. It is loosely based on real people.


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Celebrate Earth Day 2020

Earth Dec. 7, 1972, by the crew of Apollo 17 (NASA)

Wednesday, April 22 is the 50th annual celebration of Earth Day! Earth Day is a global day to recognize and support the importance of environmental protection proposed by UNESCO and popularized in the United States by Wisconsin's Gaylord Nelson.

One great way to celebrate, while maintaining appropriate social distancing, is to go for a hike on one of the excellent trails throughout the Dubuque area. Be sure to take the time to check the weather before you hike so you don't get caught in a spring shower! It's also a good idea to check with the appropriate parks agency to see if they have any guidance or restrictions at this time.

• City of Dubuque trails and maps
• City of Dubuque parks
• Dubuque County parks and maps
• State of Iowa parks

If the weather isn't cooperating, or you'd rather celebrate from the comfort of your own couch, you might enjoy using your Dubuque resident Carnegie-Stout Public Library card to watch an Earth Day related documentary on Kanopy. We've gathered together a short list of suggested titles below.

The Island President: Politics in the Maldives

(2011, 102 minutes) Nasheed, who brought democracy to the Maldives after decades of despotic rule, now faces an even greater challenge: as one of the most low-lying countries in the world, a rise of three feet in sea level would submerge the 1200 islands of the Maldives and make them uninhabitable.

Trashed with Jeremy Irons

(2012, 94 minutes) Jeremy Irons sets out to discover the extent and effects of the global waste problem, as he travels around the world to beautiful destinations tainted by pollution.

Plastic China - The Lives of Recycling Plant Workers in China

(2016, 83 minutes) This film documents a plastic recycling facility in a small town dedicated to the business of processing plastic waste and examines global consumption and culture through the eyes and hands of those who handle its refuse.

My Life as a Turkey

(2011, 53 minutes) PBS Nature tells one man's remarkable experience of raising a group of wild turkey hatchlings to adulthood. After a local farmer left a bowl of eggs on Joe Hutto's front porch, his life was forever changed. Hutto, possessing a broad background in the natural sciences and an interest in imprinting young animals, incubated the eggs and waited for them to hatch. 

Ken Burns: The National Parks - America’s Best Idea

(2009, 697 minutes) This 12-hour, six-part documentary series by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan tells the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone.

There's a Snake on My Book!

Librarians spend a lot of their time with books. Reading about books, organizing books, purchasing books, thinking about books. When you spend that much time with books you start to notice patterns. Similar titles, similar stories, similar covers.

Lately, I've been noticing snakes.

• The Andalucian Friend by Alexander Soderberg
• Boy, Snow Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
• Dark Age by Pierce Brown
• Deviation by Luce D'Eramo
• The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
• Famous in Cedarville by Erica Wright
• Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh
• Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
• Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender
• The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman
• Trinity Sight by Jennifer Givhan
• The Water Museum by Luis Alberto Urrea

~Sarah, adult services

Some Fun Things

I've used this time of working from home and social distancing to discover new fun things on the internet. Not everything out there is doom and gloom, there are actually some positive things that have appeared due to everyone being under some type of quarantine in order to stop the spread of this terrible virus.

Okay...enough with the depressing stuff, let's move on to the fun things!

First off, have you seen John Krasinski's YouTube episodes of Some Good News? They are fantastic. You probably know Krasinski from The Office, Jack Ryan, and as the director of A Quiet Place. He's also married to Mary Poppins....er, I mean Emily Blunt.

John has been gathering good news from around the world via Twitter and other social media channels and presenting short segments in the format of a news channel. I laughed. I cried. These are just fantastic. Episode 2 is just so amazing, it gave me goose bumps.  Click on the link to watch Some Good News.

Next up we have LeVar Burton of Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Reading Rainbow fame. He has launched a Twitter live stream of his podcast LeVar Burton Reads for all ages on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Here is his current schedule and you can follow him on Twitter at @LevarBurton:

• Mondays for Children: 9:00 a.m. PT/12:00 p.m. ET
• Wednesdays for YA: 3:00 p.m. PT/6:00 p.m. ET
• Fridays for Adults: 6:00p.m. PT/9:00 p.m. ET

If you miss an episode, you can replay them on Twitter.

Speaking of Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members, how about Sir Patrick Stewart? Since Saturday, March 21, this incredibly talented, Oscar nominated actor has been treating people to a reading of one Shakespeare sonnet at day. Stewart had a long run with the Royal Shakespeare Company (1966-1982) so he is certainly qualified to read Shakespeare sonnets.

You can follow him on Twitter at @SirPatStew. As with LeVar Burton, if you miss a reading you can replay them on Twitter.

Authors Kevin Hearne and Delilah S. Dawson have a podcast called Ask the Bards in which they talk about many aspects of writing. The first episode came out on February 23, and they have continued to produce episodes. Kevin Hearne is very much into craft cocktails and birds, so if you have interest in either of those things you can follow him on Twitter at @KevinHearne.

Author Veronica Roth has a Twitch channel and during the month of April she is partnering with other authors to talk about writing, publishing, and other topics. 

Do you have a favorite author, artist, musician, or entertainer? Chances are they have started putting free, entertaining content on the internet via some social media platform. If you've discovered something new and wonderful, please share!

~Amy, Adult Services