While the protests following George Floyd’s death have paused, our country is just beginning the process of addressing systemic racism. An important role of the library is to provide access to materials that help patrons learn about important issues. AAPLD is part of a network of libraries in the northern suburbs that will be participating in the Black Lives Matter […]
The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters
Since its publication on September 30, 1868, Little Women has been one of America’s favorite stories. While we now think of it as a girls’ book, it was initially read by both boys and girls, men and women of all ages. Professor Anne Boyd Rioux, who read it in her twenties, tells us how Louisa May Alcott came to write the book and drew inspiration for her story from her own life. Its Civil War-era tale of family and community ties resonated through later wars, the Depression, and times of changing opportunities for women, even into the twenty-first century. Rioux sees the novel’s beating heart in its honest look at adolescence and its inspiring vision of young women’s resilience and hope. In gauging its reception today, she shows why it remains a book with such power that people carry its characters and spirit throughout their lives. […]
Our theme this month is School Sleuths! Read a cozy of your choice with an academic theme and share it with the group.
If you would like to attend, please register! After registering, you will be sent a link to join the meeting. […]
With July Fourth coming up, the Adult Services staff would like to offer a red-white-and-blue shout-out to you, our patrons. We’ve missed you, and judging from the lovely comments we’ve heard on the phones lately, you’ve missed us, too. It’s been almost a month since the staff returned to work in the Main Library. There’s been a lot to get […]
We’ve recently discovered ListChallange.com, an online quiz-making platform, whose users apparently are avid readers! Folks after my own heart. Users have created lists related to various genres of books, but the lists I’ve most enjoyed are more eclectic, including this one: 1000 Books You May Have Actually Read This comprehensive list includes the classics you read in high school or […]
June 1940. The German Army sweeps into Paris and sets up headquarters at The Hotel Ritz. In order to survive– and to strike a blow against their Nazi ‘guests’ the hotel’s director, Claude Auzello, and his beautiful American actress wife, Blanche throw themselves into spinning a web of deceit working for the French Resistance. But one secret threatens to imperil both their lives– and to bring down the legendary Ritz itself. — adapted from jacket […]
June is Pride Month, and AAPLD is pleased to share books from our virtual and print collections that provide insight into the history, challenges and joys, faced by members of the LGBTQ community. Whether you’re a member of the community, a supportive ally to a friend or family member, or if you’d just like to know more about the experiences […]
The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police has caused a national outcry. Not only is our nation forced to confront racial disparities in policing, but also generations of systemic racism against people of color. Reading can provide different perspectives and promote understanding, which are crucial as America searches for new approaches and solutions. AAPLD is proud […]
In 1962, in the Soviet Union, eight-year-old Katya is bequeathed what will become the love of her life: a Blüthner piano, on which she discovers an enrichening passion for music. Yet after she marries, her husband insists the family emigrate to America—and loses her piano in the process.
In 2012, in Bakersfield, California, twenty-six-year-old Clara Lundy is burdened by the last gift her father gave her before he and her mother died in a terrible house fire: a Blüthner upright she has never learned to play. Now a talented and independent auto mechanic, Clara’s career is put on hold when she breaks her hand trying to move the piano, and in sudden frustration she decides to sell it. Only in discovering the identity of the buyer—and the secret history of her piano—will Clara be set free to live the life of her choosing. […]
In Rudolph, New York, it’s Christmastime all year long. But this December, while the snow-lined streets seem merry and bright, a murder is about to ruin everyone’s holiday cheer in the first Year-Round Christmas mystery.
As the owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, Merry Wilkinson knows how to decorate homes for the holidays. That’s why she thinks her float in the semi-annual Santa Claus parade is a shoe-in for best in show. But when the tractor pulling Merry’s float is sabotaged, she has to face facts: there’s a Scrooge in Christmas Town.
Merry isn’t ready to point fingers, especially with a journalist in town writing a puff piece about Rudolph’s Christmas spirit. But when she stumbles upon the reporter’s body on a late night dog walk—and police suspect he was poisoned by a gingerbread cookie crafted by her best friend, Vicky—Merry will have to put down the jingle bells and figure out who’s really been grinching about town, before Vicky ends up on Santa’s naughty list… […]
