AARP Tax Preparation Assistance
AARP Tax Assistance at FDL
Free tax assistance will be provided through volunteers with the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide Program for qualifying individuals for the 2021 tax season. Phone registration begins Saturday, January 15. Call 309-697-3917 on January 15 to schedule an appointment or check eligibility. COVID-19 safety precautions will be followed during appointments. Appointments will be scheduled for Friday mornings February 4 – April 15.
AARP Foundation Tax-Aide Online Tax Assistance
Toll-free Nationwide: 888-OUR-AARP (888-687-2277)
2021 federal and state tax forms are not yet available at the library, but supplies will be announced as we receive them.
Adult Winter Reading Program – Choose Your Gnome Adventure!
Every time you open a book, you embark on a new adventure, and we think reading is the best way to brighten up the long winter season! So choose your own adventures this winter by curling up with some new books and signing up for FDL’s Winter Reading Program! Patrons age 18 and older are invited to read/listen to 4 books (or 3 books & 5 magazines) checked out from Fondulac District Library (or attend a library program) January 3 through February 28 to enter the prize drawing. Pick up a reading log from the library or register and track your progress with the Beanstack app or online at fondulaclibrary.beanstack.org. Enjoy your reading journey, even if the destination is ungnome!
Printable Reading Log: Adult Winter Reading Program 2022
FDL Reads: The Annual Migration of Clouds
The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed
Reviewed by: Melissa Friedlund, Reference Specialist
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian
Suggested Age: Adult, Teen
What is the book about? Reid is a young woman living in a post-climate-disaster world where food is scarce and a mysterious fungal infection afflicts many, including her. When presented with a rare opportunity, will she jump at the chance to leave and live a better life or remain behind to eek out a living with her mother to avoid the guilt of leaving her behind? To assuage her guilt, Reid and her friend, Henryk, join a dangerous hunt that could give her mother the resources she’ll need to survive or relieve Reid of any decision making by ending with her gory death.
My Review: I enjoyed this novella so much, I was craving a continuation of the story. With the brevity of the story, the reader is left without the answers to every question, but I was left with a feeling of hope for Reid’s situation. The enigmatic, semi-sapient fungal infection was definitely something that I would have liked Reid to explore more in the future… before it kills her. This felt a bit like Hunger Games crossed with Divergent yet sprinkled with something new. I look forward to more writings by this author.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Intriguing, Edgy, Engaging
Give This a Try if You Like… The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Fragile Earth by Susannah Wise
Rating: 4.5/5
About FDL Reads
FDL Reads is a series of weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.
The Wide World of Ability
Every kid has hopes and dreams, and every kid achieves those dreams differently from each other. Everyone has different abilities, and no two people are exactly alike! Here are a variety of books where kids make friends, experience new things, and work hard to achieve their goals. Some of these kids are blind, or have Autism, or need sensory accommodations for noisy places. Try out some of these books and explore how you’re similar and different! (Some books are also available from our digital collections.)
Early Readers
Can Bears Ski? by Raymond Antrobus
Out Into the Big Wide Lake by Paul Harbirdge (Axis 360)
Lucas at the Paralympics and Lucas Makes a Comeback by Igor Plohl
Hello Goodbye Dog by Maria Gianferrari
My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
This Beach is Loud! By Samantha Cotterill
The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin
Older Readers 
El Deafo by Cece Bell (Axis 360, Overdrive)
A Boy Called Bat by Elana Arnold (Axis 360)
Wink: A Novel by Rob Harrell (OverDrive)
Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen! By Sarah Kapit
The Chance to Fly by Ali Stroker (Axis 360)
The Many Mysteries of the Finkel Family by Sarah Kapit (Axis 360)
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling (Axis 360, Overdrive)
True Stories
Unbound: The Life and Art of Judith Scott by Joyce Scott (Axis 360)
Fauja Singh Keeps Going by Simran Jeet Singh
Dark was the Night by Gary Golio
Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thompson (Axis 360)
Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship by Jessica Kensky (Overdrive)
Brayden Speaks Up by Brayden Harrington
The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca
General Books about Inclusion
Lovely by Jess Hong
Bodies are Cool by Tyler Feder
Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor (Axis 360, Overdrive)
Don’t Hug Doug (He Doesn’t Like It) by Carrie Finison (Axis 360)
– Alice Mitchell, Youth Services Manager
#FDL: 2021 Hugo Awards Winners
2021 Hugo Awards
The Hugo Awards honor the year’s best works in the field of science fiction and fantasy, as voted on by fans. Have you read any of 2021’s winners?
Best Novel
Best Novella
Best Series
Best Related Work
Best Graphic Story or Comic
–Post by Susie Rivera, Reference Specialist
#FDL is an update on all things Fondulac District Library and books.
FDL Reads: Old Man’s War
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
Reviewed By: Jeremy Zentner, Adult Services Assistant
Genre: Science Fiction
Suggested Age: Adults
What is This Book About? John Perry is in the golden years of his life. A widower with little to do, Perry decides to join military service and maybe reclaim some of his youth. He enlists with the Colonial Defense Forces to protect Earth and her colonies within the Colonial Union.
This space-faring military branch of humanity only recruits men and women of a seasoned age. Competing for the scarce habitable planets against monstrous aliens is a never-ending battle and only the wise can fight it. At the end of Perry’s tour, if he survives, the Colonial Union will award him with a new colony planet to settle on, not to mention the rumors of reverse aging being a part of his fighting enhancement.
On Perry’s journey patrolling the frontiers of space, he will witness combat of unparalleled imagination as he comes to cope with the wonders and horrors of the universe.
My Review: This book is a mixture of high-octane, action-packed thrill-rides and interpersonal challenges between comrades and romantic interests. The first book in a series of seven, Old Man’s War can be read as a stand-alone novel or as the beginning installment to a space-faring epic. What’s great about this book is that it does not explicitly rely on action or sci-fi techno wonders to entertain the reader, though both are certainly present.
Its true quality revolves around Scalzi’s ability to be a very readable writer as he tells riveting stories about people rather than the space opera in the backdrop, though there are properties of world-building as well. With all of these elements in Old Man’s War, I was pleasantly surprised by the humor involved. For the first time in years, I found myself chuckling out-loud from reading a book! That’s not to say that this is a straight-up comedy, but it’s certainly a well-rounded novel.
Three Words that Describe this Book: excitement, action, readable
Give This A Try if You Like… Starship Troopers (film and novel), The Forever War, The Expanse Series (tv and books), Orion, Orion Among the Stars, Altered Carbon, The Fifth Element (film)
Rating: 5/5
About FDL Reads
FDL Reads is a series of weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.