Austin Kleon just released Keep Going, which is getting a lot of attention and good reviews. Looking over his history, I noticed that Steal Like and Artist was hugely successful, so I decided to start there. I downloaded this book to my iPhone and was surprised to find that it is a teensy, tiny book a little over 100 pages. In addition to being barely long enough to actually get published, the book is mostly quotes, memes, illustrations and small paragraphs with lots of spacing. I read it in one day.

The title of this book is extremely accurate because the entire book is the author expanding on other people’s ideas. There is a quote by a famous, author, scientist, or musician on nearly ever page. Austin Kleon simply expands on each quote and explains how it relates to his creative process. This book is like if someone found all the inspirational creativity memes online and then lengthened them to be three or four sentences each.

I’m not saying this book isn’t helpful, it does have some good ideas and tips, but it doesn’t delve deeply into any subject. This book more skims the surface of creativity. Not bad if you are looking for a quick, easy read with an interesting format about the creative process. It certainly won’t be a waste of your time, as most people could probably read this in one sitting.  

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Almost every summer, my family and I go on vacation to Breckenridge. It’s become imperative that we get out of the 100-degree heat of North Texas Summers and into the nice cool clean mountains of Colorado for a few days. We rent a nice Airbnb within walking distance of town, go for hikes, play at the omnipresent festivals and enjoy good food. It’s always a nice break from the stress and heat of Dallas.  

Being a good librarian, I almost always visit the library of whatever town that I am travelling to, but for some reason, I had never made it to the Breckenridge library. This year, I actually scheduled a time to go on a guided tour with the Branch Manager and Operations Manager, it was such a good idea. My typical self-guided library tours definitely skim the surface of everything that libraries have to offer. It was so fascinating to hear the history of the building and about the projects and challenges of the library.    

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I got recommended Harlan Coben back when Dan Brown was super popular. I was getting ready to go on vacation and one of the librarians I worked with recommended his books. I don’t remember what the title was, but I liked it and have read probably one Harlan Coben book per year since then, including his young adult novel, Shelter. The funny thing about this recommendation is that the same librarian that introduced me to Harlan Coben later accused me of being “an eighty-year-old man” because I liked him… Oh well, I still like his books!

I don’t read every book that Harlan Coben puts out and I try to stay away from his series. I do not have time for that… When I saw that he was publishing a book about the heroin epidemic, I put it on my to-read list right away. The heroin crisis is so prolific that I feel like just about everyone has been affected by it now. My husband and I were both brought up pretty poor, I had a good childhood, but my husband’s upbringing was rough. Many of the members of his family are still struggling. He and I have tried to set a positive example for his nieces and nephews by showing them what a nice middle-class life looks like. He has four nieces and nephews, one of his nieces was determined to go down and bad path, another one always made good decisions, they are now both addicted to heroin. I know that Run Away is fiction and is not going to solve any of the real-world problems, but it was nice to read about someone, getting out there and trying to save his daughter from this terrible drug.

Harlan Coben, is an easy author to recommend to most adults that are looking for a fun adventure novel. Run Away, is a quick read, like most of Harlan Coben’s books. For the most part, it was pretty predictable, I consider his books to be more adventure than mystery, but there was a great twist at the end that I did not see coming. If you do recommend his books to someone just note that they do tend to have a bit of gore and violence, so just make your patron aware of that before they check out his books.   

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Name and title: Sarah Scheinman, Operations Manager
Name and title: Pat Hasenfus, Branch Manager
Library name: Summit County Libraries
How many libraries are in your system? 3
Staff size: 14                      How Many MLS?: 3
Community size: 31,000
Collection size: 137,083

Is there a new technology that you are excited about using at the library?
Sarah: We are aware that for libraries to remain relevant for teens, technology is the way to get them interested. We have had tremendous success in online gaming, virtual reality headsets and our girls who code program launched last year was also very popular. We even expanded Girls who Code to just Code Club as we had so many boys who also wanted to join. We enjoy empowering them to take those natural technology skills children are developing at such a young age to the next level. We also recognize that the internet requires us to raise awareness of the hazards and we are looking at doing a digital citizenship program series for children and parents this fall.

Pat: We will be rolling out self-check in the near future.  While it is not new, it will empower patrons and free up limited staff time.  That said, we are the only human contact some of our patrons have on a daily basis, and we always want to keep that contact and community connection.
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This is the final book of the Magician’s Trilogy, which I have savored over the course of the last few years.

This series follows the story of a group of tortured genius magicians on their adventures in this world and others.

The characters are seemingly always in personal crisis. They are profoundly self-absorbed and mostly alcoholics, so the books can get pretty dark at times. However, there are times of wonder, awe and selfless sacrifice that creates a good balance for the story.

Harry Potter is the number one thing that I am fanatical about. I have read all of the books no less than three times, I own the First American Edition hardbacks of all the books, plus the beautifully illustrated editions, I went to the midnight opening of all eight movies, and I have been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. I am a Ravenclaw and I have seriously considered getting a Harry Potter inspired tattoo. However, I had never been to a Harry Potter Convention, so a super fangirl friend of mine and I decided to go together. I only got to go for one day, so I missed a lot of good programs, but we still managed plenty of mischief.

The very first thing we did was get my friend a Butter Beer, because she needed breakfast, and at Leaky Con you have butterscotch flavored slushies for breakfast. After that, we went to a party game hour, that was hosted by the actor who played Frank Longbottom, James Payton. The host called participants out of the crowd to compete in a game of trivia, a spellcasting duel, and a game similar to Taboo. It was entertaining to watch, but there were a lot of people in the crowd, so the chances of participating were small. I wonder if breaking the crowd into smaller groups and allowing everyone to play as a team would have been better? Maybe having a limited registration for participants and unlimited entry for audience? This was still a fun event, but when only 12 people out of 80 get to play, it’s a little disengaging.  ​

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These are the three Reading Bingo categories that give me the most trouble. I know there are countless reading bingo categories, please let me know the categories that give you the most trouble and I will make more lists in the future. 

Fractured Fairy Tales:

• After the Fall by Dan Santat. Recommended for everyone. My very favorite picture book!
• Jon Scieszka has several. Recommended for grades K-4
• Three Little Tamales by Eric A. Kimmel. Recommended for grades 1-4
• Seriously, Cinderella is So Annoying by Trisha Speed Shaskan. Recommended for grades 1-5

Books with black and white illustrations:

• Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. Recommended for grades K-2
• Kittens First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes. Recommended for K-2
• Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf. Recommended for grades K-3
• Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg. Recommended for grades 1-4
• Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Recommended for grades 4-7

Books written with alliteration:

• Some Smug Slug by Pamela Duncan Edwards. Recommended for grades K-3
• Animalia by Graeme Base. Recommended for grades K-3
• She Sells Sea Shells by Nancy Loewen. Recommended for grades 2-5

​Let’s Collaborate! What books would you recommend for these categories? Comment below:

Every fall after the madness of Summer has settled down and the kids are back in school, you get but yet another onslaught of parents looking for books by the truckload, Reading Bingo. Any reading program is great and there are many benefits for students, but there can definitely be some challenges for librarians. Hopefully, this article will help you be more prepared when the season hits.

Reading Bingo is a challenge issued by school districts, teachers or school librarians, depending on your district and how they have it set up. My library serves a school district that issues Reading Bingo at the district level and they have the forms available online for each grade. We are very lucky; this is definitely not the case for everyone and it can cause some challenges if these lists are difficult to find. If you happen to work in a district that does not offer reading bingo, it is definitely something you could consider offering to the community through the public library.   

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When I say this book “wasn’t bad” that’s a raving review, Mystery is maybe 13th on my list of favorite genres. My problem with Mystery is that, I feel like the author asks you to suspend disbelief so hard that you might as well be reading Fantasy, which I much prefer. I read this book for a community book club that I recently joined, and even though it would not have been my first pick, it was fast paced, engaging and the book club members loved it.

The story revolves around three main questions, is the husband dead or alive, did he do what they said he did, and who else is “in on it”? I went back and forth as to whether the husband was alive, just like the author wanted me to, I would not have been surprised by either ending. There are actually two unsavory things that the husband was thought to have done, I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll just say, I had this figured out. The question of who else is involved in a mystery is always so convoluted that I just stick with suspecting everyone, right down to the trendy tattooed librarian, that way, I’m always right. The multi-layered questions in this mystery did succeed in making it a page turner and this title was absolutely enjoyed by the book club members.
 
If you are a fan of mystery or are selecting a novel for book club, this is a probably a great option for you. You may also enjoy this No Spoiler Book Review of Big Little Lies.
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What is your favorite mystery? Comment below: