First, we miss all you all so much! We miss having you in the library, we miss having you here for story times and our programs and activities, and we cannot wait to have you back. Now I don't know about y'all, but this is one of my favorite times of year because there is always something going on at the library, especially with our Portneuf Library Summer Reading Adventure.

     This year is going to look rather different so that we can comply with what the Health Department has determined will help us keep you and our employees safe. We will not have our Friday parties, our in house activities, or the Lava Passes. BUT! our summer program will be longer since it will end the 21st of August instead of the end of July.  We will still have programs for all ages, and there will be some amazing prizes.

  This year we are also moving to a partially digital format so you will have the option to use either www.portneuflibrary.readsquared.com or to use a paper which has been the traditional means of tracking your reading. 

    If you choose to go digital and not keep track of papers, you can register as an individual or as a family this way AND you can log your hours through the program. When you reach 500 points you can come in to the library for a treat. When you complete the program with 1000 points you can come in to the library to claim your completion prize.

     If you choose to continue to use our paper reading logs, that's fine too! Finishing one side will get you a treat and finishing both sides will get you a treat AND a prize.
     
Now for our programs: we will have two days a week when you can come and pick up some activities to take home with you. All of these activities are first come first serve and there will only be kits for the first 200 participants. On Tuesdays between 12-2 you can come in and grab a Grab-n-Go STEM activity and on Thursdays between 12 and 2 you can come pick up a Grab-n-Go ART activity.

We are so excited to see all of you again! We miss you and are so excited to find new ways to support our community during this odd time.

MEH  

​A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
Bloomsbury. 2015, 448 Pages. Young Adult Fantasy
 
      Feyre must hunt for survival, but after killing a wolf that was pursuing the deer she spotted, her life is turned upside down. The wolf was a faerie creature from another land. Feyre is captured and forced to live in a magical kingdom for murdering the faerie. Feyre fears her capture at first, but then as she learns about the mysterious kingdom and the residents, her fear becomes passion and she must fight to break an ancient curse or lose the ones she loves forever. 
     
      This is my all time favorite book so far. It is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but as you read farther into the series there are a lot of twists that you would not expect. I loved how the story kept me guessing....I thought I knew the fairytale of Beauty and the Beast, but after reading this series it took me on a whole other journey past the story we all know. 

- available on Overdrive

LKS

​A Ranger Called Solitary
by Barry Cord
Center Point. Large Print Edition. 2018,191 Pages. Adult Western

         Marshal Tom Benton summoned a Ranger called Solitary Jackson to come to Muleshoe Country because the Baron and his gang had been bringing nothing but fear and death to the town. When Jim Jackson showed up, he was surprised to find that he was not welcome in the town and was under attack himself by not the Baron, but the Marshal himself along with the townsfolk. Jackson now had another mission on his hands: not only did he need to help this town more than ever from the Baron but he also needed to solve the mystery of why he was under attack by good people. 

         I don't normally read Westerns, but this was a very good book. It kept me on my toes and I never figured out who the real villain of the story was until the end of the book. Not only was this a western, but it is also a mystery.  This book had a great story line and it was fun to play detective while reading it. 

LKS

​The Bromance Book Club
By Lyssa Kay Adams
Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group, Berkley, 2019. 344 Pgs, Romance
 
The Bromance Book Club is a contemporary romance about a major league baseball player named Gavin Scott who’s wife has just asked for a divorce. He is wallowing in defeat, and self-pity, staying in a hotel, when a team member invites him to a book club to try and win back his wife. First rule of book club is you don’t talk about book club. It’s a book club full of guys reading exclusively romance books to try and better understand their relationships and it might be just what Gavin needs.
 
Bromance Book Club is a fun and funny read that is mostly in Gavin’s point of view, which is a switch from the usual with romance books. It also shows a couple trying their best and putting in the work to fix their marriage. It has swearing and the usual scenes that can be found in a romance book so it’s not for everyone but it is definitely worth the read if romance is your genre.
 
Overdrive
 
CB

Long Way Down
by Jason Reynolds
New York: Atheneum, 2017. 306 pgs, Young Adult.

A Long Way Down is an intense snapshot of grief stricken fifteen year old, Will, as he deals with his brother’s shooting. He was taught by his brother who was taught by his father and so on that there are rules to follow in this situation. The Rules are don’t cry, don’t snitch, always get revenge. 

​A Long Day Down is written in free verse and that really help to emphasize the tone of the story. It’s a quick read that gives you an intense look at teenage gun violence and how cycles of violence can tear people apart. As a plus the audio version on Overdrive is read by the author!

 This title is available on Overdrive

CB

Overlord 1: The Undead King
by Kugane Maruyama
Yen Press. 2012.  256 pgs. Dark Fantasy.

After over a decade since its release, a virtual online game is shutting down their servers. One player, Suzuki Satoru, who has been playing the game for as long as it's been out, is logged in waiting for the game to shut down. As he sits alone at a round table, he reminisces about all the great memories he had with his online friends who have slowly stopped playing the game as the years went by. As the in-game clock strikes midnight, the scheduled time for server shut off, the game is still running. In fact, the clock begins counting anew. He goes to manually log off but there is no logout button. He can't leave the game.
 
 I really enjoyed reading this series. Our main character is a regular salermyan but in the game he is a powerful undead Lich who is the leader of an evil guild. His character is an anti-hero who borders the line of becoming a villain while struggling to remain human in his new undead body. Packed with action and comedy, this light novel is a lot of fun. 

​AS

I, Robot
by Isaac Asimov
Turtleback Books .1950, 304 pgs, Science Fiction

Set in the future Isaac Asimov gives 3 rules for robots to follow: 
“1.A Robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
 2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.”
Asimov takes us through the life progression of the robot through stories that he has interlinked to each other. This progression starts from the primitive stage to the not so distant future. Will the human race even be needed in this distant future?

This is also a book that I have been wanting to read.  The different stories telling the stories of the robot and it’s beginning to the current status is fascinating.  It also makes me wonder what the future actually holds and will we have robots that have their own laws that they have to follow?

​Missy