Employment Opportunities!
The library currently has three part-time positions open for a Circulation Assistant and two Youth Services Assistants. Please visit fondulaclibrary.org/about-us/jobs for more information, including job descriptions and qualifications.
New Books by Diverse Authors – Giveaway
Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen
Tabitha Walker is a black woman with a plan to “have it all.” At 33 years old, the checklist for the life of her dreams is well underway. Education? Check. Good job? Check. Down payment for a nice house? Check. Dating marriage material? Check, check, and check. With a coveted position as a local news reporter, a “paper-perfect” boyfriend, and even a standing Saturday morning appointment with a reliable hairstylist, everything seems to be falling into place.
Then Tabby receives an unexpected diagnosis that brings her picture-perfect life crashing down, jeopardizing the keystone she took for granted: having children. With her dreams at risk of falling through the cracks of her checklist, suddenly she is faced with an impossible choice between her career, her dream home, and a family of her own. The first novel in a captivating three-book series about modern womanhood, in which a young Black woman must rely on courage, laughter, and love—and the support of her two longtime friends—to overcome an unexpected setback that threatens the most precious thing she’s ever wanted.
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara
Twenty-year-old Aki Ito and her parents have just been released from Manzanar, where they have been detained by the U.S. government since the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, together with thousands of other Japanese Americans. The life in California the Itos were forced to leave behind is gone; instead, they are being resettled two thousand miles away in Chicago, where Aki’s older sister, Rose, was sent months earlier and moved to the new Japanese American neighborhood near Clark and Division streets. But on the eve of the Ito family’s reunion, Rose is killed by a subway train.
Set in 1944 Chicago, Edgar Award-winner Naomi Hirahara’s eye-opening and poignant new mystery, the story of a young woman searching for the truth about her revered older sister’s death, brings to focus the struggles of one Japanese American family released from mass incarceration at Manzanar during World War II.
The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
In the waning days of the Civil War, brothers Prentiss and Landry—freed by the Emancipation Proclamation—seek refuge on the homestead of George Walker and his wife, Isabelle. The Walkers, wracked by the loss of their only son to the war, hire the brothers to work their farm, hoping through an unexpected friendship to stanch their grief. Prentiss and Landry, meanwhile, plan to save money for the journey north and a chance to reunite with their mother, who was sold away when they were boys.
Parallel to their story runs a forbidden romance between two Confederate soldiers. The young men, recently returned from the war to the town of Old Ox, hold their trysts in the woods. But when their secret is discovered, the resulting chaos, including a murder, unleashes convulsive repercussions on the entire community. In the aftermath of so much turmoil, it is Isabelle who emerges as an unlikely leader, proffering a healing vision for the land and for the newly free citizens of Old Ox.
In the spirit of The Known World and The Underground Railroad, a profound debut about the unlikely bond between two freedmen who are brothers and the Georgia farmer whose alliance will alter their lives, and his, forever.
The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey
November, 1921. Edward VIII, Prince of Wales and future ruler of India, is arriving in Bombay to begin a four-month tour. The Indian subcontinent is chafing under British rule, and Bombay solicitor Perveen Mistry isn’t surprised when local unrest over the royal arrival spirals into riots. But she’s horrified by the death of Freny Cuttingmaster, an eighteen-year-old female Parsi student, who falls from a second-floor gallery just as the prince’s grand procession is passing by her college.
India’s only female lawyer, Perveen Mistry, is compelled to bring justice to the family of a murdered female Parsi student just as Bombay’s streets erupt in riots to protest British colonial rule. Sujata Massey is back with this third installment to the Agatha and Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning series set in 1920s Bombay.
-Annotations from the publishers
–Post by Melissa Friedlund, Reference Specialist
Giveaway
Enter your name here for a chance to win ARCs of the books mentioned in this post. ARCs are “advanced reading copies.” These are free copies of a new books given by a publisher to librarians and other reviewers before the book is printed for mass distribution.
#FDL is a weekly update on all things Fondulac District Library and books
Read it! Stream it!
Pick up one of these books adapted for the screen right now.
Nine Perfect Strangers by Lianne Moriarty: “Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work. But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be. Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She’s immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic owner/director of Tranquillum House. Could this person really have the answers Frances didn’t even know she was seeking? Should Frances put aside her doubts and immerse herself in everything Tranquillum House has to offer—or should she run while she still can?”
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A new verse translation by Simon Armitage: “Preserved on a single surviving manuscript during from around 1400 composed by an anonymous master, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was rediscovered only two hundred years ago and published for the first time in 1839. One of the earliest great stories of English literature after Beowulf, the poem narrates the strange tale of a green knight on a green horse, who rudely interrupts the Round Table festivities one Yuletide, casting a pall of unease over the company and challenging one of their number to a wager. The virtuous Gawain accepts and decapitates the intruder with his own axe. Gushing blood, the knight reclaims his head, orders Gawain to seek him out a year hence, and departs. Next Yuletide Gawain dutifully sets forth. His quest for the Green Knight involves a winter journey, a seduction scene in a dreamlike castle, a dire challenge answered – and a drama of enigmatic reward disguised as psychic undoing.”
#FDL is a weekly update on all things Fondulac District Library and East Peoria.
FDL Reads: Circe
Circe by Madeline Miller
Reviewed by: Isaac Jacobs, Reference Assistant
Genre: Mythology, Fantasy
Suggested Age: Adults
What is This Book About?: Circe revisits the mythology of Circe, a daughter of Helios, god of the Sun. An unusual daughter, she does not possess strong powers or divine beauty. In fact, she sounds like a mortal- a source of disdain from her family. With a curious mind and a dangerous fondness for humans, she discovers her skills as a witch and gets herself into messy situations with her spells and potions, proving to be a potential problem for the Olympian gods. Cast into exile by Zeus, she is banished to a deserted island where she nurtures her skills in witchcraft, befriends beasts, and falls in sync with nature. She has encounters with famous figures in mythology, such as Daedalus and Icarus, the Minotaur, and Odysseus. However, with the moments of bliss come dangers of many types, both mortal and divine.
My Review: As a Classics major, I have always loved reading mythology. Unfortunately, some myths are biased and illustrate very shallow characters. I have always viewed Circe’s story as this- neglected and missing context. She is famously deemed as a malicious and scheming woman- but Madeline Miller brings to life her journey that leads to the character we know of today. She delves into the complicated nature of both Circe’s familial and mortal relationships and the internal war of divinity versus mortality. Which is worth it, and will she have the ability to make this choice?
And I truly think that this book has a broader message beyond the retelling of Circe’s story, but to our own lives; finding who we are, and what we want in our lives.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Captivating, eye-opening, surprising
Give this a try if you like… The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, mythological fiction,
Rating: 5/5
Bilingual Story Time (Online) – Lucha libre
Enjoy our last Bilingual Story Time with Miss Haley with some fun lucha libre stories! Pick up a craft kit while supplies last, and find more Spanish-language picture books through our online catalog!
Library Card Sign-Up Month
September is national Library Card Sign-Up Month! FDL joins the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries nationwide to remind parents, caregivers, and students that a library card is the first step towards academic achievement and lifelong learning. Libraries offer free and fun educational resources and activities for all ages that bring families and communities together, and studies have shown that early literacy leads to success in the classroom and beyond.
This September, sign up for a new library card, renew your expired card, or replace your lost card to be entered into the prize drawing for an Amazon HD 8 tablet!
Make sure everyone in your household has their own card, encourage your friends and neighbors to get their library cards, and be sure to explore all the great resources and programs available with your library card!
Visit fondulaclibrary.org/library-cards/ for more information on how to get your card.