Children's Book Discussion Groups Winter/Spring 2015

The holidays will be over before we know it: what's there to look forward to in 2015?  The second half of our Children's Book Clubs!  We will be resuming in January and continuing on monthly through April.  Stories full of fantasy, fun and humor will make for some lively evenings of talk. For those of you new to our children’s discussion groups, we offer a Junior Readers Club for students in grades 2-3 and a Family Book Club for students in grades 4, 5 & 6.  Registration for each discussion is required here at the library.  Copies of the book are available for check out upon registration.  Parents are highly encouraged to read the book and accompany their child to the librarian led discussion.  Participation in the discussions is not demanded.  Exposure to and participation in book discussions will enhance critical thinking skills in young readers and give them chances to express themselves in a positive, grade-free environment.  Please join us, along with faces new and old, Wednesday evenings this winter and spring as we talk about the following books:

FAMILY BOOK CLUB

January 21^st   If you could choose to stay the age you are and never die, would you?  Young Winnie Foster faces this opportunity (?) when she discovers the Tuck family and their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older.

February 18  Summer believes in luck and wonders why she and her family don't seem to have any.  Her latest run of bad luck includes spending the summer caring for her little brother while helping her grandmother cook and do laundry for harvest workers.  The generation gap between contemporary Summer and her Japanese grandparents will strike a chord with many young readers.  However, through them and her own determination, Summer learns that you make your own luck through hard work.

March 18^th  Every teacher's nightmare: when Rafe Kane enters middle school, he teams up with his best friend, "Leo the Silent," to create a game to make school more fun by trying to break every rule in the school's code of conduct.  As we get to know Rafe, we discover his idea of "fun" is a way of avoiding some very real problems.

April 15^th Follows Janine, a fourteen-year-old American girl whose life unexpectedly transforms when she moves to London in 1952 and gets swept up in the burgeoning Cold War AND the search for her friend's apothecary/alchemist father. He has mysteriously disappeared, leaving the two teens with an ancient book of magic elixers and formulas.  The atomic bomb looms in this exciting adventure of science and magic battling each other.

JUNIOR READERS CLUB

January 28^th  Harry's not crazy; he owns a parrot - Madison - inherited from his great-uncle.  This parrot goes way beyond "Polly wants a cracker" and becomes the treasure Harry had originally hoped for. Stolen by burglars, Mad must make his way back using his ingenuity (and beak).  If you liked Kate DiCamillo's Flora & Ulysses, this book is for you.

February 25^th   What is Danny champion at?  Danny and his father live a simple idyllic existence in a caravan operating a filling station near rich Mr. Hazell's Wood.  One night, Danny discovers his dad is a master poacher and learns all about the fine art of this English pasttime.  We can't help but be taken in as his dad describes the thrill of flirting with danger (game keepers with their guns) and his irritation with the "bloated" landowner, Mr. Hazell.  The annual pheasant hunt provides Danny & his dad a marvelous opportunity to pull off an amazing coup.  Any child would love to be part of Danny's world.

March 25th  The story of Roan Novachez, Jedi Academy student, is told through comics, journal entries, letters, doodles, and newspaper clippings. This original story from author/illustrator Jeffrey Brown captures all of the humor, awkwardness, fun, and frustrations of middle school ... in a galaxy far, far away.

April 22nd.   We'll end the year with a lighthearted look at middle school through the jottings and doodles of Big Nate.  Among his achievements are managing to get detention from every one of his teachers in the same day.

We keep a list of past book club selections, so if you are looking for a suggestion for a children’s book club of your own, or just a quality book, please ask us.  We love to talk books!

New Gaming Collection

"Great graphic!", "Great controller!", "Great social features!"  These are just a few wows from gamers with either PS4 or Xbox One.

We are responding to patron's claims and now Lake Forest Library has added some new titles for both Xbox One and PS4 platforms.

Check out these titles: Madden 15, Minecraft, NBA2K15, Shadow of Mordor, Halo (Xbox One only), farCry 4, The Crew, Assassin's Creed: Unity, and more on the lower level.  Click here for the list of growing titles.

 

 

An Armfull of Joy

Colorful. Creative. Beautifully photographed. Oversize books not only make wonderful gifts but are fun to have in the guest room, on your coffee tables and available to peruse in front of the fire. The library has many of these in art, architecture, travel, cooking and cinema.  Here are a few new additions to our collection.  Enjoy!!

Veranda : a Passion for Living : Houses of Style and Inspiration. by Carolyn Englefield  Exceptional homes from around the world including France, Italy, Switzerland and Sweden.
Ryan Korban: Luxury Redefined Elegant, comfortable and glamorous interiors are highlighted in over 100 color photographs.

         

Art of the House : Reflections on Design. Bobby McAlpine & Susan Ferrier.  This team of architect and designer discuss the principles that guide their work creating environments that are both sensual and poetic.

Camille Styles: Entertaining.  Inspired gatherings & Effortless Style.  Menus, decor, floral design and table designs are all beautifully photographed and very inspiring.

Fay Peck:American Expressionist.

Local artist Fay Peck's work is beautifully reproduced in this colorful book. Interspersed between the art reproductions are photos of and comments by the author.

The West Point History of the Civil War. by The United States Military Academy. This definitive book is part of a new military history series with text and commentary by preeminent historians.

What Will You Read? - 2014 Adult Favorites

It's a great time of year to look for reading recommendatons.  Newspapers, websites, and book review magazines are posting their lists of "the best books of 2014".   All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr has made the most fiction lists to date (and most lists are in).  But it's been a  favorite in Lake Forest as well, so you may have already read it.  And how about The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel Brown? It's probably the most popular nonfiction book in town this year.  The library can't keep our copies on the shelves.

The New York Times has published a list of 100 Notable Books of 2014.  In addition to the universal favorites mentioned above they have selected more unusual choices such as Thirty Girls by Susan Minot (a Lake Forest Library book discussion title for February 2015) and Can't and Won't: Stories by Lydia Davis.

National Public Radio (NPR) has just released their 2014 Book Concierge of 250 titles that NPR staff and critics loved this year.  Use a variety of filters including "Eye-Opening Reads" and "Mysteries and Thrillers" to maximize your search.  And if that's not enough click on a link to lists from 2009 - 2013.

Other best book lists include:

Amazon's Best Books 
GoodReads - the only best book list selected by readers
LibraryReads Favorites of Favorites 2014
Slate
Washington Post Top 50 Fiction Books for 2014
Washington Post 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction 2014

Don't forget you can always peruse the library's "Too Good to Miss" shelf in the rotunda or stop by the Reference Desk for personalized assistance. Where will you look for your next read?