Have you every walked by a book and title or cover caught your eye and made you do a double take, laugh, smile, or just think “what the heck”? Well, we’ve put together a display full of these books for your perusal.
 Enslaved by ducks
by Bob Tarte
Book description
When Bob Tarte bought a house in rural Michigan, he was counting on a tranquil haven. Then Bob married Linda. She wanted a rabbit, which seemed, at the time, innocuous enough. But that was just the beginning. Wouldn’t a parrot be cute? Linda said. Bob suddenly found himself constructing pens, buying feed, clearing duck waste, spoon feeding at mealtime. One day he realized he’d become a servant to a relentlessly demanding family, and a motley crew it was.
 Stop dressing your six-year old like a skank : and other words of delicate Southern wisdom
by Celia Rivenbark
Book description
Celia Rivenbark is a master at summing up the South in all its glorious excesses and contradictions. In this collection of screamingly funny essays, you’ll discover:
• How to get your kid into a character breakfast as Disney World (or run the risk of eating chicken out of a bucket with Sneezy)
• Secrets of Celebrity Moms (don’t hate them because they’re beautiful when there are so many other reasons?
• EBay addiction and why “it ain’t worth having if it ain’t on eBay”
• Why today’s children’s clothes make six-year-olds look like Vegas showgirls with an abundance of anger issues
 Knit your own dog : easy-to-follow patterns for 25 pedigree pooches
by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne
Book description
The knitted dog is indeed the ideal companion: There’s no feeding, barking, shedding, or vet’s bills, and he’ll live forever! Knit Your Own Dog is the irresistible guide to knitting the perfect pup. With patterns for 25 different pedigree pooches, Knit Your Own Dog lets you choose the dog you want, whether it’s a pretty Poodle or a loyal Labrador. Or knit them all for a pack of canine fun!
 When the Kissing Had to Stop: Cult Studs, Khmer Newts, Langley Spooks, Techno-Greeks, Video Drones, Author Gods, Serial Killers, Vampire Media, Allen Sperm-Suckers…
by John Leonard
Book description
Leading literary critic John Leonard is a master at decoding the fears and longings that animate our popular culture. When the Kissing Had to Stop is Leonard at his best, with his reflections on the best new literature of today and what it can tell us about America now.
The conspiracies and fears fostered by the Cold War continue to poison our national psyche. New enemies, real or imagined, have fostered subcultures of fantasy and paranoia, and vertiginous proclamations of doom and transformation. Leonard shows how our great novelists and essayists can help us to find some sense and sanity amid the dull roar of tabloids, talk shows, and the Disneyfication of everything.
 Wearing of This Garment Does Not Enable You to Fly: 101 Real Dumb Warning Labels
by Jeff Koon and Andy Powell
Book description
The infamous 1994 McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit has spawned a veritable industry of “hot” warnings, from Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts admonition that “if pastry is over-heated, frosting/filling can become extremely hot and could cause burns” to the Black Cat Fireworks label: “Caution: Flammable. Do not put in mouth”. If, on the other hand, you manage to escape the heat with a trip to the beach, be warned that a twenty-inch beach ball is “NOT a lifesaving device.”
Compiled by Jeff Koon and Andy Powell, this hilarious collection features the best contributions from the hundreds of thousands of fans of their Web sites, www.dumblaws.com and www.dumwarnings.com, and forty-two original drawings by illustrator Tim Carroll.
 Unlikely friendships : 47 remarkable stories from the animal kingdom
by Jennifer Holland
Book description
Written by National Geographic magazine writer Jennifer Holland, Unlikely Friendships documents one heartwarming tale after another of animals who, with nothing else in common, bond in the most unexpected ways. A cat and a bird. A mare and a fawn. An elephant and a sheep. A snake and a hamster. The well-documented stories of Koko the gorilla and All Ball the kitten; and the hippo Owen and the tortoise Mzee. And almost inexplicable stories of predators befriending prey—an Indian leopard slips into a village every night to sleep with a calf. A lionness mothers a baby oryx.
Print from home or your mobile device
 The library is offering a new service called Mobile Print. If you need to print something from your home computer, but you don’t have a printer or you’re out of ink, now you can send your print job to the library and come pick it up later. Print from your home computer or laptop by visiting http://www.printeron.net/lml/print
You can also print from your smartphone or tablet using the PrinterOn app. Search for PrinterOn in your app store to get started.
A third option is to email what you want to print directly to one of our printers; lml-bw@printspots.com for black and white, lml-color@printspots.com for color, etc.
The library will hold your print job for 48 hours before it automatically times out and disappears from the print management computer.
Prices for mobile printing are the same as they are for printing from inside the library. For more information, visit our website at http://lmlibrary.org/mobile-printing/
Barbecue Cookout Recipe Swap
 Every month we get together to swap and sample some of our favorite recipes. This month the theme of our recipe swap will be barbecue. We will meet in the Learning Center beside the library on Tuesday, May 24th at 6:30 p.m. and will be grilling outside. Please join us. Bring your favorite side dish or dessert and a copy of the recipe. Everyone is welcome!
 Library Hours Survey
At the last meeting of the library board, the board made the decision to investigate expanding library hours for Saturday and to consider the idea of opening on Sundays. We are asking our patrons to help by taking a quick three question survey, https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DFDS5JD, to let us know your opinion about expanding library hours on the weekends.
Top 10 Crime Novels of the Year
Every May Booklist magazine issues their Mystery Showcase, where they list the year’s best crime novels. We’ve put together a book display featuring some of these books and other new mystery and suspense novels.
 King Maybe
by Timothy Hallinan
From the Book Description
Junior Bender finds himself caught in a Hollywood revenge plot epic enough for the silver screen.
Los Angeles’s most talented burglar, Junior Bender, is in the middle of stealing one of the world’s rarest stamps from a professional killer when his luck suddenly turns sour. It takes an unexpected assist to get him out alive, but his escape sets off a chain reaction of blackmail, strong-arming, and escalating crime. By the time Junior is forced to commit his third burglary of the week—in the impregnable fortress that’s home to the ruthless studio mogul called King Maybe—he’s beginning to wish he’d just let the killer take a crack at him.
 Jane Steele
by Lyndsay Faye
From the Book Description
A reimagining of Jane Eyre as a gutsy, heroic serial killer, from the author whose work The New York Times described as “riveting” and The Wall Street Journal called “thrilling.”
“Reader, I murdered him.” So begins Lyndsay Faye’s Jane Steele.
A sensitive orphan, Jane Steele suffers first at the hands of her spiteful aunt and predatory cousin, then at a grim school where she fights for her very life until escaping to London, leaving the corpses of her tormentors behind her. After years of hiding from the law while penning macabre “last confessions” of the recently hanged, Jane thrills at discovering an advertisement. Her aunt has died and her childhood home has a new master: Mr. Charles Thornfield, who seeks a governess.
Burning to know whether she is in fact the rightful heir, Jane takes the position incognito, and learns that Highgate House is full of marvelously strange new residents…
Gardening Books
If you planning to start a garden soon, check out our gardening book display.
 Rodale’s vegetable garden problem solver : the best and latest advice for beating pests, diseases, and weeds and staying a step ahead of trouble in the garden
by Fern Marshall Bradley.
From the book description
With the latest research, breakthroughs, and troubleshooting advice, Rodale’s Vegetable Garden Problem Solver features hundreds of organic and natural solutions for tackling disease, pest, and weed problems…No matter what challenge crops up in your vegetable garden, you’ll discover all the answers you need to find solutions fast and keep your crops on track.
 Waterwise Plants for Sustainable Gardens: 200 Drought-Tolerant Choices for all Climates
by Scott Ogden
From the book description
People everywhere are facing the realities of restricted water availability. Yet sustainable gardens and landscapes that use less water don’t have to be boring. The key to keeping your garden beautiful and water-wise is intelligent plant choice.
This practical and inspiring guide includes all kinds of plants from tree to succulents, from perennials to bulbs, selected for their wide adaptability and ornamental value.
 Small-Space Vegetable Gardens: Growing Great Edibles in Containers, Raised Beds, and Small Plots
by Andrea Bellamy
From the book description
Grow your own delicious food in any space—no matter how small. Andrea Bellamy, of the award-winning blog Heavy Petal, shares a wealth of knowledge from years of gardening small. Learn how to plan and build your garden—on balconies, in raised beds, up walls, across parking strips, and more—as well as how to sow, grow, and harvest an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables all season long.
 eBooks
 There are four different apps you can use to checkout eBooks with your Kansas Library eCard. Each has different things to offer.
- Total Boox is the newest. There are no holds and all the books are always available. Also, you can keep the books you checkout for as long as you like, your checkouts will never expire. This app only works on mobile devices. You will be able to read the eBooks on your tablet or phone, but not on your computer screen.
- 3M Cloud Library is the best choice for new bestsellers and larger publishers. Checkout up to 5 books for 2 weeks. Place holds on books that are already checked out. The app works with most mobile devices and on Windows and Mac computers.
- Enki Library includes independent publishers and shelf-published books. They have a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction books. Checkout up to 10 books for 3 weeks. Place holds on books that are already checked out.
- Freading has a large collection that is always available. It includes books from small and medium sized publishers and a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction. Checkout up to 5 books per week for 2 weeks each.
If you prefer books you can listen to, OneClickdigital is the app you’ll use to checkout audiobooks through your Kansas Library eCard.
For more information about eBooks or audiobooks, visit http://kslib.info/128/Digital-Book-eLending. If you’re interested in getting a Kansas Library eCard, come in to our library or any other Kansas library to get one.
 Summer Reading Signup
Signup for Summer Reading starts next week, May 1st.
Poppa D. Clown will be at the library on May 23rd to help us kickoff Summer Reading. Other exciting Summer Reading events this year will include a Cosmosphere rocketry presentation, a puppet show, a visit from the people of Mad Science, and a program presented by Smoky Hills Public TV.
Come in to the library or visit our website, http://lmlibrary.org after May 1st, to get signed up and for more information.
 Coming Events this Week
On Tuesday at 4 p.m. we are going to ring in Spring with a children’s party filled with snacks, crafts and… catapults! We are testing our skills to see who can fling their objects the furthest.
Afterwards we will have our regularly scheduled evening story time at 6 p.m. There will be stories, crafts, and songs. Story times are open to children of all ages.
On Thursday at 6:00 p.m. we will get together in the Cooper Clark room to have a special quiet and gentle story time for children who need a safe environment in which to explore. In Sensory Story time, we will move at a slower pace and focus on experiences with the five senses. All children are invited, but those with special needs are especially encouraged to attend.
Easter related book display
In keeping with the Easter holiday, we’ve set up a book display loaded with Easter, egg, and bunny related books. Here are a few.
 Great Book of Egg Decorating
by Grazia Buttafuoco
From the Book Description
Make beautifully decorated eggs…The techniques are described in detail and are the most treasured the world over.
- Wax embossing on natural shells
- Wax embossing on colored shells
- Drilling
- Decoupage
 The Rabbit Handbook
by K. Gendron
From the Book Description
The information you need to raise healthy rabbits. Facts, advice, and fascinating insights tell you all you need to know about
- Purchase
- Nutrition
- Health Care
- Housing
- And much more
 Scorched eggs
by Laura Childs
From the Book Description
In Laura Childs’s New York Times bestselling mystery series, Suzanne, Petra, and Toni—co-owners of the Cackleberry Club café—are equally good at serving up breakfast and serving up justice. This time they turn up the heat on a deadly firebug.
As Suzanne is getting her hair colored at Root 66, she’s stunned to witness the County Services Building next door suddenly go up in flames. Concerned neighbors throng the streets, and the fire department does their best. Unfortunately their best isn’t enough to save long time civil service worker—and friend to the Cackleberry Club—Hannah Venable.
Soon enough, it’s discovered that an accelerant was used to fan the flames. Someone set the fire on purpose — was Hannah the intended victim? Suzanne, Petra, and Toni vow to smoke out the culprit.
 Easter Blessings: The Lily Field\The Butterfly Garden
by Lenora Worth and Gail Gaymer Martin
From the Book Description
“The Lily Field” by Lenora Worth
World-weary Mariel Evans comes home to soak up the simple life, never expecting to fall in love with Heath Whitaker, a man of strong faith-or to come to believe that God watches over her, each and every day. But can Mariel let go of her fears and take a chance on love…?
“The Butterfly Garden” by Gail Gaymer Martin
After an accident leaves Emily Casale paralyzed, she abandons God and the hope of ever leaving her wheelchair. When Greg Zimmerman sets his sights on her, Emily starts to rebuild her faith and believe in herself again. With a little help from the heavens above, will Emily find the courage to take a walk down the aisle?
Liberal Memorial Library Events this week
- President’s Day
The library will be closed on Monday, February 15th for President’s Day.
- Bunco Party – Adults
It’s not too late to sign up for our first ever Bunco party. It will be on Thursday, February 18th at noon in the Cooper-Clark meeting room. Bunco is a popular dice game that is often played at parties or with family. Refreshment will be served.
- Game Time for Kids
We will also have a Game Time for Kids on Thursday at 4 p.m. Kids will earn prizes and enjoy refreshments.
New Computers
The library is in the process of getting new laptops and power companions. Patrons can use the power companions to charge their own devices via usb, one of the library’s laptops, or possibly the patron’s own laptop if it is a model similar to one of the library laptops. The new laptops and power companions will be available for checkout for in-library usage for adult and teen patrons (with parental consent).
Valentine’s Day – New Romance Novels
We have set up a book display of new romance novels in honor of Valentine’s Day. For those of us who enjoy being swept away by a good romance, here are a few of our best and newest.
 A lady’s guide to ruin
by Kathleen Kimmel
Book Description
Joan Price is a wanted woman. A thief and a fugitive from the mental hospital where she was falsely committed, she’s now on the run from her former partners in crime. But luck must be on her side – just when it seems all is doomed, she runs straight into the arms of Martin Hargrove, Earl of Fenbrook, who mistakes her for his distant cousin, Daphne.
Lord Fenbrook has no intention of marrying, and certainly doesn’t consider his notoriously scatterbrained cousin a prospect. But her flighty persona seems to hide something far more intriguing – a secret self she trusts with no one. And Martin is determined to earn that trust……
All the stars in the heavens : a novel
by Adriana Trigiani
Book Description
The movie business is booming in 1935 when twenty-one-year-old Loretta Young meets thirty-four-year old Clark Gable on the set of The Call of the Wild. Though he’s already married, Gable falls for the stunning and vivacious young actress, and she returns his feelings.
Far from the glittering lights of Hollywood, Sister Alda Ducci has been forced to leave her convent and begin a new journey that leads her to Loretta. Becoming Miss Young’s secretary, the innocent and pious young Alda must navigate the wild terrain of Hollywood with fierce determination and a moral code that derives from her Italian roots. Over the course of decades, Alda and Loretta encounter scandal and adventure, choose love and passion, and forge an enduring bond of loyalty that will be put to the test when they face the greatest obstacle of their lives.
Who do you love
by Jennifer Weiner
Book Description
An unforgettable story about true love, real life, and second changes…
Rachel Blum and Andy Landis are just eight years old when they meet one night in an ER waiting room. Born with a congenital heart defect, Rachel is a veteran of hospitals, and she’s intrigued by the boy who shows up alone with a broken arm. He tells her his name. She tells him a story. After Andy’s taken back to a doctor and Rachel’s sent back to her bed, they think they’ll never see each other again.
Yet, over the next three decades, Andy and Rachel will meet again and again – linked by chance, history, and the memory of the first time they met, a night that changed the course of both of their lives.
Kansas Day is celebrated every January 29th to honor the day that Kansas was officially admitted into the Union in 1861.
Here are some of the books that the library has to offer that are all about what Kansas has to offer:
 The Kansas guidebook for explorers
by Marci Penner
From the Book Description
Marci teaches you how to see Kansas “with new eyes.” Whether you’re looking for a day trip, a long vacation, or just want to travel from your armchair, The Kansas Guidebook for Explorers is a priceless resource.
 Kansas curiosities : quirky characters, roadside oddities & other offbeat stuff
by Pam Grout
From the Book Description
Kansas Curiosities is your round-trip ticket to the wildest, wackiest, most outrageous people, places, and things the Sunflower State has to offer. Humor columnist Pam Grout has combed Kansas for one-of-a-kind gems that make her home state truly unique.
 Kansas : off the beaten path : a guide to unique places
by Patti DeLano
From the Book Description
Devoted to travelers with a taste for the unique, this easy-to-use guide will help you discover the hidden places in Kansas that most tourists miss.
 Ghost towns of Kansas : a traveler’s guide
by Daniel Fitzgerald
From the Book Description
This illustrated guide to Kansas ghost towns will delight travelers and armchair tourists alike. Organized by region, it tells the story of 100 towns that have either disappeared without a trace or are only “a shadowy remnant of what they once were.”
Kansas Day Story Time
Don’t forget to join us at Liberal Memorial Library for a special Kansas Day themed Story Time on Thursday, January 28th at 11:15 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. There will be stories, crafts, and songs. Story times are open to children of all ages.
Super Bowl Recipe Swap
Tomorrow we will have our monthly Recipe Swap. This month’s theme is “Super Bowl snacks”. So come in and share your favorite recipe with fellow patrons who share your passion — cooking!
It will be on Monday, January 25th at 6:30 p.m. in the Cooper Clark meeting room.
 Tax Forms at the library
It’s that time of year again. If you come in to the library looking for federal and state tax forms, we will be happy to help you find the forms you need.
The library doesn’t receive as many paper tax forms each year as we did in the past, but the forms are available online and we can help you download and print them. There is also a place on our website, http://lmlibrary.org/eresources/tax-form-information/, that gives information about tax forms.
Please remember that the library staff cannot offer tax advice, but we can help you find tax forms that you need.
Now that Christmas is over and the wrapping paper is cleared away, it’s time to start thinking about all those things you promised yourself you’d change once the New Year began. ‘Tis the season for self-improvement and we’re here to help.
 Universal Class
If one of your resolutions is to expand your knowledge or learn a new skill, then Universal Class may be just what you need. Universal Class is now available for free to all Kansas residents courtesy of the Kansas State Library and offers hundreds of online classes covering all kinds of subjects.
Here are a few of the subjects covered:
• Accounting • Computer Training • Business • Health & Medicine
• History • How to/Do it yourself • Pet and Animal Care
Have you ever wanted to take a creative writing class? Or maybe learn how to read Tarot cards? Dog Psychology 101 might help you understand your dog’s odd behavior. Face Painting 101 could help you entertain the kids at the next birthday party.
If you’re thinking about opening your own business, one of the entrepreneurship classes might help, maybe Assertiveness Training or Business Credit 101.
They even have a Weight Loss Management class for those of us with that ever popular New Year’s Resolution.
There is something to interest just about everyone and it’s free! Kansas residents can access these online classes by going to http://kslib.info/221/Online-Databases and clicking on Universal Class. Once there you can register and create a username and password. After you’ve registered and confirmed your email address, you can enroll in up to six classes at a time. They are self-paced online classes that include video lessons, assignments and exams.
 Mango Languages
If you’ve always wanted to learn a new language, but never got around to it, Mango Languages could be just what you need. It is also available for free to all Kansas residents courtesy of the Kansas State Library.
They offer courses for 71 languages such as:
• Spanish • English • Chinese • French • Russian • Italian
They also have specialty courses such as
- Spanish for Librarians (a favorite in many libraries)
- Shakespearean English
- Russian Slang
- Wine and Cheese (French)
- Feng Shui (Chinese)
- Flamenco Dancing (Spanish – Spain)
To get started go to http://kslib.info/221/Online-Databases and click on Mango Languages. You can sign up or just access as a guest. If you do create an account, it will keep track of your progress and save your place within courses.
There is also a mobile version of Mango Languages available, just check your device’s app store.
Books
Don’t forget to come in to the library and check out our New Year’s Resolutions book display. Here are a few examples of what’s on display.
 Yes, You Can!: Home Repairs Made Easy
by Amy Wynn Pastor
Book Description
America’s favorite carpenter from ‘Trading Spaces’ uses her years of experience to write the most thorough guide to everyday home repairs.
• Demystifies repair techniques by providing information other books leave out.
• Shows how to install a dimmer switch, fix leaky taps, clean gutters, replace doorknobs, repair broken windows and more.
 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story
by Dan Harris
Book Description
After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes…It’s a far cry from the miracle cures peddled by the self-help swamis he met; instead, it’s something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation.
After learning about research that suggests meditation can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain, Harris took a deep dive into the underreported world of CEOs, scientists, and even marines who are now using it for increased calm, focus, and happiness.
 The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life
by Rick Warren and Dr. Daniel Amen
Book Description
The Daniel Plan…is far more than a diet plan. It is an appetizing approach to achieving a healthy lifestyle where people are encouraged to get healthier together by optimizing the key five essential of faith, food, fitness, focus, and friends.
 The Library will be closed Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday, but there will still be plenty going on the rest of the week.
Afternoons at the library
Our afterschool program, Afternoons at the library, will be held Monday through Wednesday from 4 pm to 6 pm. During the month of November we will be playing games with words in honor of National Novel Writing Month, making up tall tales, and creating poetry with pictures!
Girl Scouts
Girl Scout troop 60559 will meet at the Library at their usual time on Monday at 5:15 pm in the Learning Center.
Movie Night
Movie Night for Adults Tuesday at 6 pm – Join us to see the new movie adaption of a 1960’s classic. This movie features actor Henry Cavill (who recently starred as Superman) as a CIA agent who teams up with a KGB operative in the cold war era 1960’s to stop a private criminal organization from building their own nuclear bomb.
Story Time
And finally, there will be a holiday themed story time on Tuesday at 11:15 am and again at 6 pm for children of all ages featuring stories, crafts, and songs.
Holiday Meal Planning
It’s still not too late to check-out a few cookbooks from the library’s cookbook display to help with your Thanksgiving dinner planning.
 A Bird in the Hand: Chicken Recipes for Every Day and Every Mood
by Diana Henry
From the Book Description
Chicken is one of the most popular foods we love to cook and eat: comforting, quick, celebratory and casual. Plundering the globe, there is no shortage of brilliant ways to cook it, whether you need a quick supper on the table after work, something for a lazy summer barbecue or a feast to nourish family and friends…In A Bird in the Hand, Diana Henry offers a host of new, easy and not-so-very-well-known dishes, starring the bird we all love.
 Better homes and gardens
Biggest Book of Casseroles
From the Book Description
Nearly a year’s worth of clever and comforting casserole recipes are snuggled inside the Biggest Book of Casseroles.
• More than 380 delectable recipes for any time of the day – and any occasion
• Discover the real beauty of casseroles – make-ahead cooking, reheating, and freeze
• Secrets revealed! How to stock your pantry to solve those need-it-not dinner dilemmas
 Mom’s best desserts: 100 classic treats that taste as good now as they did then
by Andrea Chesman & Fran Raboff.
From the Book Description
In Mom’s Best Desserts, you’ll find 100 foolproof recipes for the desserts you’ve loved all your life. Devil’s Food Cake. Creamy Rice Pudding. Fresh Berry Cobbler. And scattered among the recipes are practical tips on everything from how to make the best frosting to what to do when you don’t have the right size cake pan.
 Apple pie perfect: 100 delicious and decidedly different recipes for America’s favorite pie
by Ken Haedrich.
From the Book Description
Whether you’re a veteran pie maker or a slightly nervous beginner, and whether you’re an apple pie purist or you’re looking to try something new and different, apple pie baker extraordinaire Ken Haedrich has the apple for you—and then some:
• Classics that stand the test of time
• Festive holiday pies
• Summery pies
• Creative approaches to traditional combinations
• Sit-by-the-fire-with-a-good-book pies
• Easy pies for those with pastry crust-phobia
Upcoming events this week
How to Crochet 101
Our first “How to Crochet 101” class will be held tomorrow. The class will be led by Leslie Bissell, who will show us how to do four basic stitches and how to read a pattern. The classes will continue on November 2nd, 9th, and 16th at 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Unfortunately the class is already full, so we can’t take any last minute sign-ups.
Movie Night (Adults)
This Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. will be the Movie Night for Adults. Have a night out with other adults, enjoy a movie and discuss it afterward.
Family Halloween Party
The library will have a Halloween party this Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. It will be a chance for the kids to show off their costumes, collect some candy, play great games, and win prizes. We’ll have snacks and a chance to build your own monster!
Spooky New Books
Speaking of Halloween, here are a few spooky new fiction books for you to enjoy.
 Candy corn murder
by Leslie Meier
From the book description
Halloween is coming to Tinker’s Cove, Maine, and local reporter Lucy Stone is covering the town’s annual Giant Pumpkin Fest for the Pennysaver. There’s the pumpkin-boat regatta, the children’s Halloween party, the pumpkin weigh-in…even a contest where home-built catapults hurl pumpkins at an old Dodge! But not everything goes quite as planned…
Lucy’s getting very annoyed that her husband Bill and his friend Evan have been working seemingly nonstop on their potentially prize-winning pumpkin catapult. But when the day of the big contest arrives, Evan is nowhere to be found…until a catapulted pumpkin busts open the trunk of the Dodge. Amid the pumpkin gore is a very deceased Evan, bashed in the head and placed in the trunk by someone long before the contest started.
Bill is on the hook for the Halloween homicide—he was the last one to see Evan—so Lucy knows she’s got some serious sleuthing to do…
 Ghost to the Rescue
by Carolyn Hart.
From the book description
When you wish upon a star, you get…Bailey Ruth? You do if you’re a little girl whose mom needs help and you touch the soft heart of Supervisor Wiggins at Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions. Granted it’s not the usual task of an emissary, but then again Bailey Ruth is not your usual emissary. So Wiggins dispatches the spunky spirit to her old hometown of Adelaide, Oklahoma, to help a single mother and struggling writer find some creative solutions to her problems.
Deidre Davenport is just about broke, trying to support her two children, and has her hopes pinned on getting a faculty job with the Goddard College English department. Jay Knox, who is in charge of the writer’s conference she’s participating in, will decide who gets the job, but he’s more interested in her body than her body of work.
Not long after his advances are rejected, Knox turns up dead—and Deirdre’s fingerprints are found on the murder weapon. Bailey Ruth knows Deirdre is innocent. Now she must find out who really knocked off Knox…if Deirdre and her family are ever going to have a happy ending.
 The fifth house of the heart
by Ben Tripp.
From the book description
Filled with characters as menacing as they are memorable, this chilling twist on vampire fiction packs a punch in the bestselling tradition of ’Salem’s Lot by Stephen King.
Asmodeus “Sax” Saxon-Tang, a vainglorious and well-established antiques dealer, has made a fortune over many years by globetrotting for the finest lost objects in the world. Only Sax knows the true secret to his success: at certain points of his life, he’s killed vampires for their priceless hoards of treasure.
But now Sax’s past actions are quite literally coming back to haunt him, and the lives of those he holds most dear are in mortal danger. To counter this unnatural threat, and with the blessing of the Holy Roman Church, a cowardly but cunning Sax must travel across Europe in pursuit of incalculable evil—and immeasurable wealth—with a ragtag team of mercenaries and vampire killers to hunt a terrifying, ageless monster…one who is hunting Sax in turn.
What’s happening this week at the library
 Break out those crock pot recipes and join us tomorrow for Recipe swap. On the third Monday of every month at 6:30 p.m., we have our Recipe swap, which is a chance to show off your favorite recipes and bring in a sample of the finished product. Every month is a different theme and this month’s theme is crock pot recipes.
On Tuesday between 4 and 6 p.m., kids can come to our afterschool club and learn how to solve crimes using a forensic science kit. The Afterschool Learning Club meets Monday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. with different activities each day of the week.
Wizards, Magicians, and Sorcerers
J.K. Rowling brought wizards and magic to the world’s attention in the late 90’s, but she’s not the only bestselling author to give us stories of wizards, magicians, or sorcerers. Here are a few of the adult books on the subject that the library has showcased in this month’s book display.
 Uprooted
by Naomi Novik
From the book description
Naomi Novik, author of the New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed Temeraire novels, introduces a bold new world rooted in folk stories and legends, as elemental as a Grimm fairy tale.
“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.
 The sword of the south
by David Weber
From the book description
Know thyself. It’s always good to know who you are, but sometimes that’s a little difficult.
Kenhodan has no last name, because he has no past . . . or not one he remembers, anyway. What he does have are a lot of scars and a lot of skills some exhilarating and some terrifying and a purpose. Now if he only knew where he’d gotten them and what that purpose was . . . .
Wencit of Rm, the most powerful wizard in the world, knows the answers to Kenhodan’s questions, but he can’t or won’t share them with him. Except to inform him that he’s a critical part of Wencit’s millennium-long battle to protect Norfressa from conquest by dark sorcery.
But in the far northern port city of Belhadan, an eleven-year-old girl with a heart of harp music knows the answers to all of Kenhodan’s questions. . . and dares not share them with anyone, even the ancient wild wizard who loves her more dearly than life itself.
It’s not easy to face the future when you can’t even remember your own past, but if saving an entire world from evil sorcerers, demons, devils, and dark gods was easy, anyone could do it.
 The house of shattered wings
by Aliette de Bodard
From the book description
In the late twentieth century, the streets of Paris are lined with haunted ruins, the aftermath of a Great War between arcane powers. The Grand Magasins have been reduced to piles of debris, Notre-Dame is a burnt-out shell, and the Seine has turned black with ashes and rubble and the remnants of the spells that tore the city apart. But those that survived still retain their irrepressible appetite for novelty and distraction, and The Great Houses still vie for dominion over France’s once grand capital.
Once the most powerful and formidable, House Silverspires now lies in disarray. Its magic is ailing; its founder, Morningstar, has been missing for decades; and now something from the shadows stalks its people inside their very own walls.
Within the House, three very different people must come together: a naive but powerful Fallen angel; an alchemist with a self-destructive addiction; and a resentful young man wielding spells of unknown origin. They may be Silverspires’ salvation—or the architects of its last, irreversible fall. And if Silverspires falls, so may the city itself.
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