For Adults - Fondulac District Library | East Peoria, IL

FDL Reads: Never Lie

Never Lie by Freida McFadden

Reviewer: Katie Grant, Circulation Assistant

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Suggested Age: Adult

What is this book about: For several months, newlyweds Tricia and Ethan have been searching for their dream home. Their interests are piqued when their realtor sends them a listing that seems too good to be true, a secluded mansion outside of New York City with a surprisingly affordable price tag. The two load into their BMW and find themselves driving through unexpected snow on a Friday evening for a private showing. Upon arrival the small snowflakes that fell early in the drive had escalated into a full-on blizzard. After two hours of driving through the dangerous conditions Ethan pulls down the long winding drive and assesses the situation. He decides it’s far safer to spend the evening in the large empty home than try to brave the snow packed roads again. Tricia, however, has a deep feeling of dread which overcomes her at the sight of the home. Something terrible has happened in this house, she can sense it. The couple tries to make themselves at home, but Tricia quickly discovers she has good reason to fear the mysterious home which appears abandoned by its previous owner. This thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat as secrets are uncovered and the pieces of this intricate puzzle fall together.

My review: I read a lot of thrillers and often either predict the ending or find myself unimpressed with the twist. However, this book is the first in months I have read that kept me guessing the entire way through. Wow! This is a short novel, only about 280 pages so it was a quick and fast paced read for me. I found myself on the edge of my seat as I tried to anticipate the inevitable twist in this thriller but until the truth was exposed I was nowhere close to solving the mystery. I’m excited to explore other novels by this author in the future. I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves suspense thrillers.

Three words that describe this book: Intense, Surprising, Gripping

Give this a try if you like…Verity by Colleen Hoover, The Housemaid by Freida McFadden, The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

Rating: 5/5

Find it at the library!

FDL Reads

Susie Rivera2023-03-10T16:30:45-06:00March 9th, 2023|

FDL Reads: The Faceless One

The Faceless One by Mark Onspaugh

Reviewed by: Julie Nutt, Reference Assistant

Genre: Horror, Dark Fantasy

Suggested age: Adult

What is this book about? In the frigid darkness of Alaska, The Faceless One, a god of pain and suffering, lies in wait to be released from its icy tomb and take hold of a human host. Jimmy Kalmaku, who trained to be shaman as a young boy under his powerful uncle, now sits lonely and seemingly forgotten in a retirement home, skeptical of the myths and traditions he grew up believing, including that of The Faceless One. Once the malevolent entity is released, it begins its path of death and destruction – a path that only Jimmy and a chain of unsuspecting citizens will be able to stop before the Final Winter descends upon the world.

My review: The Faceless One is not for the faint of heart. The writing holds true to all five elements of horror: suspense, fear, violence, gore, and the supernatural. The demon known as The Faceless One (or T’Nathluk to the Tlingit people of Alaska), exacts sickening punishments on the mortals in its murderous path, and the author spares no details. And as for sparing no details, it’s not all blood and gore; the vivid descriptions of dream sequences and supernatural visions make it seem like you are staring right at the aurora borealis. The characters are relatable and well-developed, from grief-stricken families to hardened detectives. I rooted for the lead protagonist, Jimmy, to revisit his Tlingit traditions and rise up to become the shaman that his uncle trained him to be.

There are always conflicting opinions on books-turned-movies, but I feel like this one would be a success due to recent awareness surrounding the work of indigenous actors and stories, as well as the explosive action and luminous supernatural visions.

I read this eBook using the Axis 360 digital collection.

Three words that describe this book: graphic, terrifying, vivid

Give this a try if you like… supernatural horror; TV series Dark Winds or the Leaphorn & Chee book series by Tony Hillerman; indigenous spiritual traditions

Rating: 5/5

Find it at the library!

FDL Reads

Susie Rivera2023-03-03T14:26:24-06:00March 2nd, 2023|

Strategic Planning: Focus Groups

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the Community Survey! The next phase of our strategic planning process is to gather feedback from community members through a series of focus group sessions – and YOU are invited! The 60-minute sessions will be facilitated by our consulting team from Fast Forward Libraries.

Interested in joining a focus group? Sign up using the links!

In-person sessions at the library on March 9: calendly.com/fast-forward-libraries/fdl-focus-group-in-person?month=2023-03

Virtual sessions via Zoom on March 14: calendly.com/fast-forward-libraries/fdl-focus-group-virtual?month=2023-03

Feedback from the focus groups will be summarized in a report that Trustees and staff members will use during planning sessions in a few months. Your input will help us shape the future of the library!

Beth Weimer2023-02-28T14:26:01-06:00March 1st, 2023|

#FDL: Book Giveaway!

Queenie may be one of the fiercest mobsters you’ve never heard of! Enter the drawing below to win a copy of this cool graphic novel Queenie: Godmother of Harlem, inspired by the life of Harlem’s legendary racketeer and civil rights advocate Stephanie Saint-Clair.

Read a little more about it here:

“Queenie follows the life of Stephanie Saint-Clair — the infamous criminal who made herself a legend in Harlem in the 1930s. Born on a plantation in the French colony of Martinique, Saint-Clair left the island in 1912 and headed for the United States, eager to make a new life for herself. In New York she found success, rising up through poverty and battling extreme racism to become the ruthless queen of Harlem’s mafia and a fierce defender of the Black community.

A racketeer and a bootlegger, Saint-Clair dedicated her wealth and compassion to the struggling masses of Harlem, giving loans and paying debts to those around her. But with Prohibition ending, and under threat by Italian mobsters seeking to take control of her operation, she launched a merciless war to save her territory and her skin. In an America still swollen by depression and segregation, Saint-Clair understood that her image was a tool she could use to establish her power and wield as a weapon against her opponents.”

– Annotation from the publisher

Giveaway

Enter your name here for a chance to win of this book. One entry per person. Drawing will be held approximately 7 days after this post.

#FDL is a weekly update on all things Fondulac District Library and books.

Susie Rivera2023-02-23T13:57:06-06:00February 23rd, 2023|

FDL Reads: A Memory Called Empire

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

Reviewed By: Jeremy Zentner, Reference Assistant

Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Suggested Age: Adults

What is This Book About? Mahit Dzmare is a new ambassador to the light of the universe. A massive urban planet that acts as capital for human civilization’s largest power, the Teixcalaanli Empire. Mahit represents a small republic, headquartered on Lsel Station, which is innovated in advanced technology, but small in numbers as their major space station only houses thirty-thousand citizens. The Teixcalaanli Empire is rife with military prowess and culture, but also plagued with political instability, riots, and terrorism. With military demagogues threatening to stage coups, the emperor is considering war with Lsel to focus the public’s attention and annex the mighty space station under Teixcalaanli rule. Mahit needs to figure out how her predecessor managed to hold off a Teixcalaanli invasion for decades prior. And how he died in the first place.

My Review: This was certainly an interesting space opera to read. With that said, it is also a very heavy read. It creates a culture as complex as Elf culture from Lord of the Rings and has a cloak and dagger plotline as seen in Dune and Dune Messiah. There are also some technological oddities that span the novel and offer great philosophical debate about the totality of civilization and technology. This book was extremely rich in detail and complex in the world building and culture building the author has invented. Based on some of the cultural nuances, I would imagine the author took a great deal of inspiration from Roman and Byzantine history (she is a historian of the Byzantium, after all.) With all that being said, the novel also has a thrilling twist that I did not see coming. If you enjoy richly-crafted space operas like Dune and Foundation, I would highly recommend this book.

Three Words that Describe this Book: sci-fi, space opera, political intrigue

Give This A Try if You Like… Dune, Dune Messiah, Foundation, Winter’s Orbit, The First Sister, The Collapsing Empire, The Lord of the Rings

Rating: 4/5

Find it at the library!

FDL Reads

Susie Rivera2023-02-27T16:55:58-06:00February 22nd, 2023|

Holly Jolly Writing Contest Winners!

We’re excited to announce the winners for the Holly Jolly Writing Contest!

1^st Place – The Silver Staff by Brandon Oliger

2^nd Place – A Christmas Past by Judy Dahlman

3^rd Places – Home for the Holidays by Megan McCoy

Congratulations to each of them, and thanks to everyone who submitted an entry! Follow the links below to read the winning stories. Our judges panel had a hard time selecting from the submissions we received, so keep writing and stay tuned for another writing contest this summer!

The Silver Staff by Brandon Oliger

A Christmas Past by Judy Dahlman

Home for the Holidays by Megan McCoy

Beth Weimer2023-02-20T16:25:23-06:00February 20th, 2023|

FDL Reads: Our Woman in Moscow

Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams

Reviewed by: Dawn Dickey

Genre: Historical Fiction/Thriller

Suggested Age: Adult

What is the book about?: When Our Woman in Moscow opens in August 1952, Ruth Macallister is on a plane somewhere above Northern Europe, at the height of the Cold War, on her way to the Soviet Union to visit her twin sister Iris. Iris has been living in Moscow for a number of years with her children and husband – a former US government employee with communist leanings who fled to the Soviet Union with his family some years before. Although the twin sisters have not spoken or seen each other in twelve years, Iris has reached out to her twin sister with an urgent request to come as soon as possible to be with Iris as she delivers her fourth child. Because Iris’ previous deliveries have been quite difficult, Ruth feels compelled to obey the urgent summons. Little does Ruth know that she is about to enter a terrifying, life-threatening, cat-and-mouse situation.

My Review: With its Cold War spies and lies and subterfuge, this suspenseful tale might well have been taken from the pages of history. Author Beatriz Williams, whose work frequently appears on bestseller lists, quickly draws the reader in with this page-turning plot that smoothly transitions from the present day Cold War into the characters’ past. Williams deftly builds the characters’ back stories so the reader understands exactly what circumstances and character flaws have led these naïve, brave and sometimes hapless people into the dangerous situations they all face. I couldn’t wait to read what happened to these people and was only sorry when the book ended because I wanted the adventures to continue!

Three Words That Describe This Book: Suspenseful, Intriguing, Intense

Give This a Try if You Like… Spy thrillers such as The Courier (film), The Secrets We Kept by Laura Prescott, Transcription by Kate Atkinson, or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (film)

Rating: 5/5

Find it at the library!

FDL Reads

Susie Rivera2023-02-15T17:19:24-06:00February 15th, 2023|

#FDL: New Historical Fiction for Black History Month

Discover your next favorite author with these buzzworthy new releases – the perfect historical fiction stories to get lost in during Black History Month!

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson

– Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, 1950s Philadelphia, Women’s rights

Fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright. Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his parents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done.

In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas

– Canada, Civil War, Underground Railroad

In the 1800s in Dunmore, a Canadian town settled by people fleeing enslavement in the American south, young Lensinda Martin works for a crusading Black journalist. One night, a neighboring farmer summons Lensinda after a slave hunter is shot dead on his land by an old woman who recently arrived via the Underground Railroad. When the old woman refuses to flee before the authorities arrive, the farmer urges Lensinda to gather testimony from her before she can be condemned for the crime. But the old woman doesn’t want to confess. Instead she proposes a barter: a story for a story. And so begins an extraordinary exchange of tales that reveal an interwoven history of Black and Indigenous peoples in a wide swath of what is called North America.

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

– Good Morning America Book Club pick, Caribbean plantations, 1830s

The master of the Providence plantation in Barbados gathers his slaves and announces the king has decreed an end to slavery. As of the following day, the Emancipation Act of 1834 will come into effect. The cries of joy fall silent when he announces that they are no longer his slaves; they are now his apprentices. No one can leave. They must work for him for another six years. Freedom is just another name for the life they have always lived. So Rachel runs. Away from Providence, she begins a desperate search to find her children–the five who survived birth and were sold. Are any of them still alive? Rachel has to know. The grueling, dangerous journey takes her from Barbados then, by river, deep into the forest of British Guiana and finally across the sea to Trinidad. She is driven on by the certainty that a mother cannot be truly free without knowing what has become of her children, even if the answer is more than she can bear.

Wade in the Water by Nyani Nkrumah

– Mississippi, 1960s to 1980s alternating narrative

Eleven-year-old Ella lives in the racially divided town of Ricksville, Mississippi, not far from where the Freedom Summer Murders occurred. Too smart for her own good, she loves God, Mr. Macabe, and Nate, the tough owner of the local diner. To her perpetually irritated Ma, and Leroy, her mother’s lover, Ella is an unwanted nuisance. But Ella pays them no mind. She has a precious secret, and she isn’t telling. One day, a sharply dressed, well-to-do white woman appears on Ella’s street, looking for the girl. Like Ella, Ms. St. James has secrets–knowledge she keeps in a black notebook filled with scribbled pages. Secrets that will ultimately come out with devastating consequences.

– Annotations from the publishers

#FDL is a weekly update on all things Fondulac District Library and books.

Susie Rivera2023-02-15T17:51:20-06:00February 15th, 2023|

FDL Reads: The Woman They Could Not Silence

The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore

Reviewed by: Melissa Friedlund, Reference Specialist

Genre: Nonfiction, 19^th century America, women’s rights, mental health

Suggested Age: Adult

What is the book about? In 1860, Elizabeth Packard was locked away in an asylum for three years by her husband. At the time, Illinois law required a public trial for anyone to be committed against their will, except in the case of a husband committing his wife. This book details how she persevered despite her confinement in the Jacksonville Insane Asylum. Once released, after being declared “incurable,” Elizabeth fought to change the law so that other married women like her could not be committed by their husbands simply by declaring them insane for any reason. She fought to be with her children. She fought to free her friends, still institutionalized. She fought for married women throughout the country, changing laws in several states. Elizabeth Packard just wanted to be a mother to her children, but she ended up being so much more.

My Review: I listened to the e-audiobook on the Axis 360 app and found it to be a riveting book. I really wanted to know how Elizabeth’s story ended and finished listening in just a few days. This was a fascinating piece of history that I had never heard before. Elizabeth Packard was not only tenacious and fearless, she was also admirable for her lack of vengeance, despite the deplorable treatment she endured. Kate Moore has done a fabulous job of bringing this story to light.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Inspirational, Captivating, Enlightening

Give This a Try if You Like…Radium Girls by Kate Moore, Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II by Liza Mundy, The Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar

Rating: 5/5

Find it at the library!

Susie Rivera2023-02-01T13:42:52-06:00February 1st, 2023|

Community Survey

The library wants to hear from you! We’ve kicked off a new strategic planning process in 2023 and invite you to complete our community survey! The survey will be open February 1-28 and allows the library to learn about your experiences with our services, programs, staff, and facilities directly from you. As part of the strategic planning process, your responses will help inform the library’s future plans. The survey should only take about 8 minutes to complete online HERE or in person at the library throughout the month.

Your input is important to us even if you don’t have a library card or haven’t visited FDL recently, so please share your input and help us grow! We appreciate your time & support!

All responses are strictly confidential and no identifying information will be shared. The information collected from the survey will be used to determine how we develop the library’s collections, services, programs, and spaces in the future.

Please ask a librarian if you have questions or need assistance accessing the survey.

Beth Weimer2023-03-01T10:17:18-06:00February 1st, 2023|