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So I don't know about you but I feel like all of my peeps are getting puppies or new dogs (with the exception of the friend who just got a new bunny). As awesome as all of these puppies are...I can't get one... yet. :) So to stave off the inevitable puppy fever I thought I would share with you some fantastic doggos and their expressions and relate them to all my book nerd troubles.  When you finish a book and the next one doesn’t come out for a year. (Are you waiting for Patrick Rothfuss too?)  When you haven’t eaten all day and your book starts talking about food.  When you convince your friends to read your favorite book.(Muahahaha also Patricia Briggs is amazing.)  Don’t judge me for my book choice. (Children's Lit is the best!!!)  When you are too tired to finish your book.  When your littles are engrossed in your favorite childhood book. (Audrey Wood anyone?)  When someone won’t leave you alone while you are reading.  Storytime!!  When your favorite character dies. ( The trauma! Personally Hedwig will always be alive for me)  When you have been reading for days and you finally come up for air. (But I finished the series!)  When you are halfway through the book and someone spoils the end. (Kay so maybe not my face but the face of many I love.)
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Now in the process of coming up with the best list we also discovered that the worst list is actually really long. No but really though, it is a honking list filled with all sorts of cads who are abso-freaking-lutely bonkers. These love interests leave you cringing with the level of crazy they are.  Edward Rochester from Charlotte Brönte’s Jane Eyre Jane Eyre is literally my favorite book of all time, so it might seem weird that the male love interest is NOT my favorite. I love the novel because of Jane and her commitment to her moral code and the way she stands up for herself even when it causes her some emotional pain. So much love for Jane! Rochester, however, is a bag of cats [insert other slightly derogatory but appropriate name]. He is dark and brooding and angry pretty much all the time. He is secret about the weird noises and things happening in his house. And, oh yeah, that one time his bed was lit on fire and Jane had to save him? Totally not related to the other creepy things. Not at all. ****For complete spoilers continue, to save yourself some surprise, skip this next part**** He pretends to be a gypsy to get Jane to reveal her secrets. Really?! He couldn’t just ask?! And-- Bonus-- He neglected to tell Jane about his *literally* crazy first wife he has locked up in the attic until his and Jane’s wedding day. Which, by the way, would have been illegitimate because he was still technically married to his first wife. Prime example of a lack of communication. And lies. And deception. Good job, Edward. You made the worst list.  Mr. Collins from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen is amazing at writing believable, loveable characters (Mr. Darcy). This also makes her fantastic at writing the worst characters, including Mr. Collins. The situation is that Mr. Bennett and his wife have five daughters who, by virtue of being female in a misogynistic era, cannot inherit Mr. Bennett’s money or estate. That will all go to Mr. Collins -- a cousin or some such-- when Mr. Bennett dies, which could be any day in those times. Not gettin’ any younger. So Mr. Collins decides to marry one of the Bennett girls because he is positive that he is quite the catch. Seriously, he is the most boring and oblivious man in the entire novel and he thinks he is all that and a bag of chips! His proposal to Elizabeth sums him up quite well. Here is a paraphrase of that; Collins: You should marry me Elizabeth: I’m not going to marry you Collins: *refuses to accept that no means no* Collins: *lists the reasons why she should marry him like he is trying to sell insurance door to door* Collins: And you are pretty, but poor, so those kind of cancel out and most likely no one else is going to ask to marry you ever again. In summation, Mr. Collins is a socially obtuse fellow who is so sure he is the ideal man that someone could only refuse to marry him because she is playing hard to get. And did I mention that he thinks women are kind of dim? Because, misogyny  Willoughby from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility Okay Willoughby is such an interesting toad. He seduces and impregnates Beth, a 15 year old girl. Leaves her, moves along on his merry life and runs into Marianne who twisted her ankle in the rain. We will put the fact that Marianne is 16 on the shelf (it is a representation of the age of the story blah blah blah). He courts Mariannne in the most scandalous way possible without actually getting her pregnant, ruins her name, is so close to proposing, but then his aunt finds out what he did to Beth and tells him to fix it, he refuses and then like any sane person his aunt promptly disowns him. He then ambiguously breaks up with Marianne claiming an extended business trip to London, and because he has a lifestyle to maintain he marries a wealthy woman whom he does not love. And to put the cherry on the cream when Marianne is dying because he has been such a frog face he has the gall to go to Marianne’s older sister Elinor and whine about why his life is so hard because he is stuck with a rich woman he does not love.  Romeo Montague from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Anyone who asks me knows that I detest the story of Romeo and Juliet. I had zero patience for it in the ninth grade and honestly it has not gotten better with age. First Romeo starts by professing undying love to Rosaline and then Juliet walks by and Rosaline promptly falls out of his brain. Then you get the argument that their love is deeper than anything anyone has ever known… if my eyes rolled harder they would fall out of my head. Let's pretend for a moment there was true love between these two, just for fun. He risks dying to look at her… because he loves her… then in a passionate rage he goes off and kills his “true love’s” favorite cousin to avenge the death of a friend. Then when he thinks he has found his true love dead he promptly kills himself, which obviously makes everything all better.  Erik aka The Phantom from Gaston Leroux Phantom of the Opera I definitely remember being 14 when Phantom of the Opera came out and really loving everything about it. Something that definitely came up is who would you pick Raoul or the Phantom? And at the time I was definitely team Phantom because let's be honest, Gerard Butler. Then getting older my opinion has changed. Erik has a horribly tragic childhood, he was born deformed according to the original telling of the story and has never known physical affection even from his own mother which admittedly is enough to drive anyone bonkers. Fast forward to the present he creepy teaches Christine how to sing and then insists she performs at the opera house. Then when that did not work, because let's be honest that is not how real life functions, he sabotages the Prima Donna and causes the chandelier to fall and kills someone. He kidnaps Christine, when she sees his face decides he wants her around forever. She asks to leave after two weeks and he acquiesces to her request only if she wears his ring and is faithful. When he spies on her and hears that she wants help escaping, he kidnaps her and traps Raoul in a torture chamber. Erik tries to force Christine to marry him, she agrees as long as he lets Raoul go. When the Phantom kisses her forehead and she kisses him back he becomes overwrought and emotional and sends Christine away only if she promises to come back and visit him on his death day because he is dying soon because… you guessed it, love.  Wickham from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Wickham is a special sort of entitled, his father works for the Darcy family and Wickham, Fitzwilliam,Georgiana are all raised together and are like siblings. When Darcy Sr. dies he leaves Wickham a portion of the estate. Nice right? But Wickham has a gambling habit and in a short period of time blows through the money. What is his solution you might ask? Marry little sister Georgiana, and use her money when she is 15. Thankfully big brother steps in and intervenes saving her from a crappy relationship. Then if that was not bad enough Wickham moves on to the Bennet family. He whines about how Darcy is so mean to him and does not like him. And then that turkey nose does a very similar thing to 15 year old Lydia. Fortunately Darcy steps in and saves Lydia and her family from ruin.  Arthur Huntingdon from Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Alright this one y’all may not be as well acquainted with because this book was sabotaged but holy cheese this guy sucks. He is a manipulative, spoiled toad. When he is trying to get Helen to marry him he flirts with someone else to get her to move faster. She resolves to try to influence him by loving him out of his crappy habits (by the way this is a really bad plan). They have a son who is also named Arthur, and then Arthur senior gets jealous because guess what kids take a lot of time to raise. Then one of Arthur’s friends starts flirting with Helen and lets her know about Arthur’s affair, then Arthur starts to publicly pine for his paramour and be publicly derisive of his wife.Also to be spiteful he gets his little child addicted to alcohol and coaches him to use foul language. Helen says “Fine, I am done, divorce me” he says no, she decides to leave and support herself by painting. He finds out because he read her journal and then proceeds to burn all her art supplies. And then dies of liver failure/falling from a horse...shucks.  Heathcliff from Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights I find anti heroes an interesting concept they aren't actually anyone you would want to be like so I guess the moral of the story is this is how bad it can get. Move on from the hard things in your life before you trash your life and the lives of everyone around you? Sure. Justifiably Heathcliff has a profoundly difficult life, he was found on the streets of Liverpool and taken in by this family, and in the beginning both Catherine and her brother Hinley resent him, but over time Catherine’s feelings soften and they grow to love each other. However Hinley continues to hate Heathcliff and when his father dies, Hinley treats Heathcliff like a servant and send him outside to work in the fields. Then Catherine grows up and, heaven forbid, she starts to have feelings for someone else. She ends up marrying the other guy and then Heathcliff pitches a fit and runs away for 3 years. Heathcliff comes back magically wealthy no one knows what he did to get money...and then he promptly is out to destroy everyone’s lives in the most crazy abusive way imaginable. And after he does that he starves himself to death. Such romance. Runners Up (Mostly because it is a really really long list): Sir Percy Blakeney ( Scarlet Pimpernel) Hamlet (Hamlet) Sergeant Troy( Far From the Madding Crowd) Jay Gatsby(The Great Gatsby) Bill Sikes( Oliver) John Rivers( Jane Eyre) This was our list. Who are the love interests you absolutely cannot stand in classic literature?
We have discussed classic literature and romance in previous blog posts, and while we have touched upon some of the male characters, this blog post will be a more comprehensive list of best male love interests.  Gilbert Blythe from L.M. Montogomery’s Anne of Green Gables Okay now Gilbert is one of my absolute favorite fiction crushes. Gilbert and Anne start on the wrong foot and it takes them a while before Anne is able to forgive Gilbert for calling her “Carrots”. But all throughout that time Gilbert works really hard to help Anne achieve her goals. He saves her when she gets stuck under the bridge when Anne’s misadventures go awry. He gives up the Avonlea school so she could stay with Marilla and really just grows into being a loving and devoted husband and father.  Colonel Brandon from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen is pretty much the reigning queen of classic romance, and true to an Austen hero, Colonel Brandon is the picture of patience and decency. His is also a tragic backstory! Once upon a time the Colonel loved Eliza. She didn’t return his feelings *of course* and he eventually ended up taking care of Eliza’s child, and as a heroic figure attempts to defend her honor and that of Marianne. Marianne of course, thinks he is old and uninteresting and takes the entirety of the book to realize that Colonel Brandon is sweet and awesome and superdy-duper patient and pretty much the best.  Fitzwilliam Darcy from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Be still my beating heart! Fitzwilliam Darcy is arguably the best male love interest in Austen literature. He is also super relatable in a lot of ways: awkward, shy, resting angry face....And per usual it takes an entire novel for the heroine to recognize that he is the literal best. Admittedly, he is prideful at times throughout the novel and has some very rude family members (looking at you, Lady Catherine). This kind of makes him the perfect match for Elizabeth, though, because she is prideful and sassy and has some shockingly embarrassing family members. But back to Darcy! He tracks down her wayward sister, saves her family’s reputation, and doesn’t murder the dude who ran off with her little sister and had broken his little sister’s heart in the past. So….self- control. Also when asked how he ever fell in love with Elizabeth, he says, “I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It was too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.” LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!  Theodore Laurence from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women Teddy is so interesting because of his growth as a character. He starts out as an inattentive student but tries to be better because he likes Jo and wants her to like him too. Then when she is like “Nope!” when he proposes; he jumps off the moral deep end and starts exploring this world of male privilege and starts drinking, gambling, traveling, and flirting with anything with two legs. Then he runs into Amy who in all the awesomeness of a childhood friend calls him on his crap and tells him to grow up and make something of himself and he does and becomes the man that Amy deserves.  Captain Wentworth from Jane Austen’s Persuasion I truly love Captain Wentworth. He is such a dependable personality because he works himself through the navy's ranks, makes his own fortune and makes a name for himself as opposed to all the spendy gambling dudes who just want to marry someone so they can spend and gamble some more. Backstory: He and Anne were on the verge of being engaged when they were both young before he worked through the ranks and became a captain, and the meddling neighbor next door ruined it. Then seven years later he comes back to visit his sister and her husband when they rent Anne’s father’s estate… series of events… blah blah blah, begins to realize Anne isn’t a prude and begins to get less mad that she rejected him. He overhears her telling his best friend why women tend to be more steadfast than men, joys of all the old rules of decorum.Then he madly starts writing her a letter basically says “ I have loved you for always, please look, nod… whatever you feel comfortable doing let me know how you feel, thumbs up lets be engaged, thumbs down I will never look at you or come around you again.”  Mr. Thornton from Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South At the start of the novel, John Thornton is the kind of guy your mother hopes you marry: Rich, hard working, owns his own company, honest and respectable. But all that hard work and self-made-ness hardens him to the point where he is the kind of guy you want to punch and hug at the same time: a pug if you will. Or a hunch? Either way, he is prideful and penny pinching and not all-together super nice to Margaret or his employees at the beginning of the novel. Can he justify being a little grumpy, though? Yes. Again, the relationship between Mr. Thornton and Margaret is full of misunderstandings and leaving and coming back and no small amount of work. They kind of fall in love without overtly stating “THEY ARE FALLING IN LOVE” which is pretty much how real life works, and I can appreciate this.  Faramir from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy Tolkien is the master of backstories, and there is a THICK backstory with Faramir. The quick version is that Faramir is the son of a power-hungry madman who doesn’t like that his son (Faramir) is nice and kind and doesn’t like killing people. Weird, right? Faramir proves himself to be the opposite of his dad and was injured during a battle. He is sweet and sensitive and does his best to fight for that which he believes is right. Then, he meets this strong, independent woman who is “no man”, and loves her and lets her be her best self! He doesn’t relegate her to the fringes of things or tell her that her place is in the house like every other stinking person did. He is not saving Eowyn like some damsel in distress, but is her equal. And to add a little bit of gooey, “And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many.” CUTE!  Gabriel Oak from Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd Gabriel Oak is such a solid character, now initially he got off on the wrong foot with Bathsheba but over the course of the story he continues to love her and support her as she goes through the struggles in her life. Gabriel experiences his own struggles over the course of the story and while he is rejected by his love and becomes penniless when his sheepdog runs his sheep off the edge of a cliff he does not allow these hard times to make him bitter or cruel. When Bathsheba marries another he respectfully backs off but he is there when she needs him. These are our favorites. Feel free to comment below and tell us yours!
I got the opportunity to get to know the different sections and genres of the Adult Section of the library. I couldn’t decide on just one genre so here are multiple genres that I really enjoyed.  Historical 1959 Yellowstone Earthquake by Larry E. Morris On the night of August 17, 1959 a Magnitude 7.5 Earthquake hit the Montana portion of Yellowstone causing the mountain to slide into the madison River Canyon and on top of unsuspecting campers who were camping below. The Slide brought hurricane force winds down the canyon with the debris of the mountain and water from the river with it. Morris tells the stories of the survivors and how they helped each other to survive a night that would forever change their lives and the landscape of the Madison River in Yellowstone. 28 people died that night with most of the victims bodies being unrecoverable. Morries tells the stories of each family that survived from their point of view of the rush of the moment of not really knowing what had happened. It was at first thought that the dam above the campsites had broken but with all the debris and getting up to higher ground everyone in the canyon had known that the mountain had slide. People outside of the canyon didn’t know what had happened and was preparing for the worst of the dam being breached not knowing of what was happening to those people that were staying at the campgrounds. There is some gruesomeness of some limbs being almost severed and talk about blood and other medical issues that came from the debris field. Overall it’s a great read with lots of pictures of the aftermath of the earthquake.  True Crime The Evil Within By Darren Galsworthy In 2015 Dareen Galswothy’s daughter Becky Watts was brutally murdered and she wasn’t murdered by just anyone, she was murdered by her step brother. Darren had raised his step son as his own and he tells as he discovered the wickedness that Becky was living with that was coming from her step brother. Galswothy also tells about the struggle of the legal battle that he went through to get his step son put behind bars for the rest of his life. Galswothy starts the book by telling the background that he came from growing up as a child and why he raised his kids the way that he did. He didn’t want them to have to struggle like he did and then it turns to the horror of watching the story unfold of him finding out his daughter had been murdered and that it was his stepson who did it and the battle that followed.  Western Legend of the Tumbleweed by Kirby Jonas Westerns is a fun genre to look at and even though it doesn’t seem like there are authors outside of Louis L'amour there are! Local author Kirby Jonas started Legend of the Tumbleweed when he was in middle school and was published in 2005. Thomas Jefferson McLean is wanting to retire from being unknown outlaw and become a rancher when he and his partner decide to rob a bank in Buffalo, Wyoming Territory. The two join a band of cattle thieves to help protect themselves while they make their way to Montana border. With a manhunt going for Tom and Tom falling in love and trying to make a decision as to whether or not to escape with her the sheriff of Buffalo, Wyoming vowed to never stop looking for Tom until he is captured dead or alive.  Fantasy Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame Did you somewhat enjoy Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice but needed a little more action? Then look no more and check out Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. You can’t go wrong with zombies right? A mysterious plague makes its presence known in the small English town of Meryton, the local residence that have passed on from this world are now coming back to life! Elizabeth Bennet is determined to get rid of this problem of the Zombies but she is quickly distracted by the handsome Mr. Darcy. Soon romance takes place on the living side of the battlefield and on the battlefield to defeat the Zombies. This comedic book with a twisted take on a classic book would make for a fun, yet gruesome, filled read that does deal with: comedy, romance, cannibalism, rotting corpses and I can’t leave out the sword fights.  The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
The Empire in which Rin lives in administered a test called the Keju. This test was administered to find the most academically inclined students in the empire. Everyone is surprised when Rin passed the test without cheating and more importantly she passed coming from the background of being a war orphan. Her guardians who are criminals were excited to be able to marry her off and so that they could continue their criminal activities. Rin however got into the most prestigious military school Sinegard. Things are not easy for Rin at Sinegard as she is targeted because of her skin color, gender and where she is from. She discovers that she has an unearthly power of shamanism. With the help of one of her teachers and psychoactive drugs she learns that the Gods that once were thought to be dead are very much alive and that gaining control of her powers is more important than her surviving school. Will Rin have to use her powers to save her people or will a third poppy war break out and risk all of their lives? You’ll have to read it to find out! -Missy  Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy (1877) This story follows the life of the Countess Anna Karenina after she has an affair with the Count Vronsky. This book was written in a Literary Realism style. Elenore and Park by Rainbow Rowell (2012) This is the story of a girl named Elenore as she deals with the struggles of a hard family life at home, and the young man Park and the friendship which grows between them. This is a tragic retelling of Romeo and Juliet, and is told in the Literary Realism style. Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott (2018) In this retelling of Romeo and Juliet there are two teen who are both diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, which means they can never get closer than 5 feet. This book to movie story is sure to pull at your heartstrings. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson (2008) Set in the 1930's Miss Pettigrew is a strict nanny who gets sent to the wrong house. As soon as she arrives she realizes something is wrong. This is a delightful comedy which made the transition from book to movie really well. Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (1930) Miss Marple is sent on a case when Colonel Protheroe is found murdered in the local vicarage. Set in the 1930's the investigation of this man's death will keep you on your toes Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs (2008) This is a story following Anna and her new friend Charles who are werewolves sent on a mission by the head of the werewolves to investigate a man's death which was too out of control to be allowed to be continued. -MH  Karigan G'ladheon has been thinking about her future as she is traveling through the forest of Green Cloak. She is doing fine alone in the forest until she hears a horse approaching her at a fast pace. A man is slumped over on the horse as he approaches Karigan, he has two arrows in his back. Karigan finds out from the man before he dies that is the legendary Green Rider, one of the Kings messengers and he is carrying a message that must get to the king. Karigan accepts to take the message to the king after the rider begged her to take it and made her swear an oath on his sword to deliver the message for the sake of the country. He also gave her his gold winged horse brooch to show her new status as the Green Rider. On his dying breath he gives one more warning to her and it is to watch out for the shadow man. Karigan doesn’t realize how much her life will change until she is chased by assassins, deadly danger and magic, and is hounded by dark beings bent on not allowing her to deliver the message that she swore to deliver.  The 6th Extinction by James Rollins This is the 10th book in the Sigma series but trust me when I tell you that I have not read the other 9 books. What you need to know is that Commander Gray Peirce is part of the Sigma which is a covert part of the U.S. Government part of the special forces and trained in various fields of science. A distress call goes out from a remote military base in the Sierra Nevada Mountains stating that there had been a breach and that no matter what happens to kill them all. Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma arrive at the site they find out that every living thing humans, animals,plants, insects, the bacteria is dead within a fifty mile radius and the disease is spreading. Commander Gray and the Sigma are sent in to the lab and find out that the scientists were working on a deadly pathogen. The team then has to follow clues given through a book that includes the Nazis, ancient maps, alien life forms and deadly exoctic animals. It is discovered that a scientist named Cutter Elwes had built two living labs with this deadly bacteria one is a mountain in Brazil and another under Antarctica, Elwes’s plan is to cause the 6th extinction of the planet.  The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Set in 1620s France that has a lot of different genres from espionage to vengeance. Dumas created characters that are iconic and strong in their own ways. d’Artagnan is young and just wants glory in his life but also finds himself in trouble when he leaves his home of Gascony and heads to Paris to become a musketeer. Along the way a man insults d’Artagnan’s horse, a fight ensues, and d, Artagnan meets the evil Comte De Rocherfort, Cardinal Richelieu’s agent. d’Artagnan continues on the Musketeer headquarters only to find out that they are not recruiting and he is told to go to a school for young men wanting to be a musketeer, but d’Artagnan sees De Rocherfort and runs to catch him but offends three musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis and has a duel scheduled with the three in the afternoon. Their duel is interrupted by De Rocherfort and he tries to arrest all four of the duelers but the three musketeers and d'Artagnan defeat De Rocherfort’s men, d’artagnan had wounded one of the best fighters. The King hears of the duel and how d’Artagnan wounded the dueler and appoints him to the King’s Guards. d’Artagnan becomes friends with the three musketeers and finds love but with it comes a lot of problems. He must save his love and the queen, and the queens love to prevent France from going to war and thwart the Cardinals plans. Long story with a few affairs going on but it’s packed full of adventure.  Raise the Titanic by Clive Cussler Book #4 of the Dirk Pitt series. The President's secret task force led by Dr. Seagram created a weapon that runs off of a rare radioactive element called byzanium. Dirk rescues Sid Koplin from a soviet guard after he was looking for the byzanium and found that it had already been mined. Seagram follows clues left by Koplin and determined that the chunk of byzanium was worth a quarter of a billion dollars in 1912 ( over 3 billion today) was mined by a group of miners hired by the French government. The U.S. Government thought talked them into bringing the mineral back to the united states and the group was pursued by French assassins. One member of the mining group was able to make it to Southampton and boards the Titanic. Dr. Seagram approaches Dirk Pitt and the option that they have is to raise the Titanic to get the byzanium. There is trouble ahead though when the process is started, and the CIA leaks information to the Russians in the hopes to capture the best KGB agent. Find out how the book will end by checking the book out today!  Origin by Dan Brown
Book number five of the Robert Langdon series takes us to Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Edmond Kirsch, is a billionaire philanthropist and futurist who met with three members of the Parliament of the World's Religions. Kirsch informs the Roman Catholic Bishop, Antonio Valdespino, Jewish moragi Yehuda Köves, and Muslim Imam Syed al-Fadl that he has made a discovery that will change the world and he plans on making the discovery public in a month. Kirsch had lied to the three and instead was making the information public in three days. Valdespino leaves Kirsch a voicemail demanding that he stop or risk being discredited. The presentation takes place at the Guggenheim Museum, with some of the attendees being Kirsch’s former teacher Robert Langdon, the museum curator and his fiancee and future king of Spain. During the presentation to the world Kirsch reveals his plans to rid the world of religion and usher in the age of science. Kirsch is killed by an assassin that has tanked web of murders and assassinations. Langon meets Ambra and with her must find the password to the presentation by following clues on Krisch’s phone and a line from his favorite poem as his password. Robert and Ambra must race against time and the police to follow the clues before the presentation ends with an apocalyptic ending. Okay I don’t know about the rest of you. But there are movies that I have to watch every year or it quite simply does not feel like Christmas. I have fond memories of VHS tapes with various recordings on them. There are so many flashbacks to the commercials which ran at the time, and the memories of those old couches and entertainment centers. I love the memories and jokes made with my siblings, thinking of and making my favorite Christmas treats, and especially sharing these experiences with my kids. I thought I would share my top 5 Christmas movies and I would love to hear about your favorite movies and memories so please share in the comments.  Home Alone (1990) If you haven’t seen this yet I would request that you stop what you are doing and log on to your Disney+ or come to the library and put yourself on hold for this classic holiday comedy. Kevin McCallister has been left home alone while his family is off to Paris for Christmas. While his mother works so hard to get home Kevin has to work to defend his home from the Wet Bandits. This comedy will have you in stitches as the Wet Bandits try to burgle the McCallister’s home.  The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) There are so many versions of A Christmas Carol but I love this one. Michael Caine does such a beautiful job portraying the grumpy Mr Scrooge, and the other Muppets bring such a fun element as they portray the growth Scrooge goes through over the course of meeting with the various Spirits.  It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) After a really horrible Christmas George Bailey tries to kill himself but his guardian angel takes the time to help him see the difference he has made to the world around him and how many people love him in his life. This one is such a sweet reminder that it is all of our little acts in the lives of those around us that truly make a difference.  Dr Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) Alright I have to see the classic animated version because Christmas just isn’t the same without Boris Karloff telling the story of the Grinch and all of his angst as he faces another Christmas season with all the Whos holiday craziness down below. The other two versions with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jim Carry are wonderful for their own reasons but I will always have to go back to the original.  The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) Santa has a cold and feels underappreciated this year and he has decided to cancel Christmas. Two elves take it upon themselves to go and find children to change Santa’s mind but first they have to figure out what to do with the Miser Brothers. This movies holds such beautiful memories for me and I absolutely love the music that goes with this one. MH
I am so excited to be doing a blog post about the library’s kit collection! The Portneuf Library maintains a collection of kits for checkout. These kits include one or more books on a subject and the necessary equipment to learn about that subject or skill. Each adult card can checkout 1 kit at a time for up to 4 weeks! Our kit collection is currently made up of more than 50 kits with more kits being curated all the time. They are located in the alcove in the main part of the library against the south wall. Let me tell you about some of my favorites!  The Cake Decorating Kit. This kit is for the budding cake decorator! Included are
 The White Box Kit. Have you ever been playing a board game and had an idea? An awful idea? A wonderful, awful idea? Well, Mr. Grinch, tis the season to try out that board game idea with the White Box kit! Included in this kit are:
 The Astronomy Kit. Checkout this kit and the constellations! This kit may not tell you the secrets of the universe outright, but it can sure help you find them a little faster with:
 The Cookie Decorating Kit. Yes, I know we already talked about cake, but there is always room for cookies, especially with our cookie press! Whether you cut with the themed cookie cutters or prefer the fanciful swirls of the cookie press, it doesn’t matter as long as the dough gets in the oven. Well, most of the dough, anyway. This kit includes:
 The Sewing Machine Kit. Ah, sewing. You would be surprised how many people don’t know how to use a sewing machine these days, myself included. That’s why I have this kit on hold. It includes:
 Are you ready for another six degrees of reading from Maegan? These blog posts are not necessarily staff picks, but rather give you an idea of the basic plot of 6 different books while connecting them in fun and unexpected ways to each other. Think of it like a book puzzle!  KARAMO
By Karamo Brown Is an inspiring memoir, written by Karamo Brown who has a degree in Social Work as well as psychology. This book explores Karamo’s growth as he overcame his personal struggles and defined culture for the television show "Queer Eye." EDUCATED by Tara Westover This inspiring memoir is the story of Tara Westover who was born into a family of survivalists in Idaho and was abused by her older brothers. Tara was seventeen the first time she went to school. Eventually when she got the chance she traveled the world. MONSTER by Frank E Peretti Set in Idaho, Reed and Rebecca are on a camping trip in the beautiful Northwestern Mountains. Their first night a creature grabs Rebecca catapulting Reed on an adventure which leads him to find secrets involving genetically modified creatures. VIRALS by Kathy Reichs Tory Brennen and her friends love to explore the marshlands of Loggerhead Island. One day as they were exploring they rescued a stray wolfdog pup which exposed them to a rare strain of canine parvovirus turning them into genetically modified creatures. Will they be able to solve the mystery of the island? THE UNEXPECTED MRS. POLIFAX by Dorothy Gilman Mrs. Polifax is a widow who’s children are all grown. After an attempted suicide she regains her footing in the midst of struggle and becomes a CIA agent. She goes off to Mexico City to solve the mystery which starts pretty mild and is quite dangerous by the end. RISING STRONG by Brene’ Brown Brene’ Brown has a degree in Social work and has spent the last twenty years studying shame, vulnerability, and worthiness. She discovered that the key to people regaining their footing in the midst of struggle is their ability to lean into their emotions and lean in to that which makes them uncomfortable.  We are THRILLED to debut our newest blog addition! This fun new blog format is brought to us by our new (again) clerk Maegan. These blog posts are not necessarily staff picks, but rather give you an idea of the basic plot of 6 different books while connecting them in unexpected ways to each other. These posts will now be interspersed with our regular staff picks blogs! If you have any ideas for us, send them over!  THE BOOK THIEF
by Markus Zusak (2005) This story begins with Liesel’s brother dying on the train from Russia to Germany. Death is a character in this book and shows up periodically during the story. THE COLOR OF MAGIC by Terry Pratchett (1983) This is the first book in the Diskworld series. In this amazing adventure novel there is an inept wizard and Death is a character. HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS by J.K. Rowling (1998) Harry is an orphan boy in his second year of school at Hogwarts. This year the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is an inept wizard, Gilderoy Lockhart. OLIVER TWIST by Charles Dickens (1837) Oliver is an orphan boy, when he runs away from the workhouse he finds himself in a den of thieves. This classic by Charles Dickens was the first to discuss child labor laws and bring these issues to light. THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES by Charles Darwin (1859) The Origin of Species was written by Charles Darwin. This book is considered controversial because it talks about how animals have evolved over time, which many thought threatened Christian Ideals. THE DAVINCI CODE by Dan Brown (2003) This story begins with the curator of the Louvre dying in a gruesome manner. The main character, Robert Langdon is then sent to discover what happened. This book was considered controversial by many Christian leaders due to its “blasphemous material”. |
AuthorsLooking for some inspiration on what to read next? Who better to ask then the people who work around books for a living!? Each month we will post a "staff picks" blog post written by one of our staff members. These posts will vary in genre, theme, age appropriateness, etc. If you have any requests on a genre or age category you would like to see, submit a comment here and we will get it on the list! Archives
March 2020
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