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New Adult Nonfiction — March 2023

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

Are you a history buff? Amateur chef? Thinking about getting some backyard chickens? We have the books for you! Read up on these new nonfiction titles and pick one up today!

First up we have The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance by Mensun Bound. This book tells the extraordinary story of how the Endurance, Ernest Shackleton’s legendary lost ship, was found in the most hostile sea on Earth, told by the expedition’s Director of Exploration. Complete with captivating photos from the 1914 expedition and of the wreck as Bound and his team found it, this inspiring modern-day adventure narrative captures the intrepid spirit that joins two mariners across the centuries—both of whom accomplished the impossible.

If you’re looking for a way to spice up your dinners, look no further than Yogurt & Whey: Recipes of an Iranian Immigrant Life by Homa Dashtaki. As founder of the much-loved The White Moustache Yogurt company, Dashtaki employs the same traditionally Iranian methods of making yogurt that her family has for generations in her kitchen today. Her passion culminates in inspiring the use of a new ingredient: why, the liquid gold extracted from straining homemade yogurt.

Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them by Tove Danovich is part memoir, part animal welfare reporting. From a hatchery in Iowa to a chicken show in Ohio to a rooster rescue in Minnesota, Danovich interviews the people breeding, training, healing, and, most importantly, adoring chickens.

Have you ever wondered why Bernie Madoff thought he could brazenly steal his clients’ money? Or why investors were so easily duped by Elizabeth Holmes? Or how courageous people like Jeffrey Wigand are willing to become whistleblowers and put their careers on the line? Then you need to check out Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories, and Secrets from the Trillion-Dollar Fraud Industry by Kelly Richmond Pope.

As graphic artist Rhea Ewing neared college graduation in 2012, they became consumed by the question: What is gender? This obsession sparked a quest in which they eagerly approached both friends and strangers in their quiet Midwest town for interviews to turn into comics. A decade later, Fine: A Comic About Gender came about. This graphic novel is sure to intrigue!

Grab something new at the library today!

All book descriptions courtesy of the publisher.

St. Patrick’s Day Reads

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Some of you will be going out to enjoy some green beverages and others will eat corned beef for dinner. Either way, it’s the perfect time to enjoy some Irish-themed reads! Grab these titles for your St. Patty’s enjoyment!

Normal People by Sally Rooney is a favorite among GPL patrons, and for a good reason. It tells the story of Connell and Marianne, who pretend not to know each other at school. He’s popular and well-adjusted, star of the school soccer team while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her housekeeping job at Marianne’s house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenages—one they are determined to conceal.

A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

If you’re a nonfiction lover, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe is a great read. It’s a mesmerizing book on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath, using the case of Jean McConville as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a guerilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with. The brutal violence seared by not only people like the McConville children, but also the I.R.A. members embittered by a peace that fell far short of the goal of a united Ireland, and left them wondering whether the killings they committed were not justified acts of war, but simple murders.

If you’ve read Say Nothing and want a little more Irish history, check out How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe. In this delightful and illuminating look into a crucial but little-known “hinge” of history, Thomas Cahill takes us to the “island of saints and scholars,” the Ireland of St. Patrick and the Book ofKells. Here, far from the barbarian despoliation of the continent, monks and scribes laboriously, lovingly, even playfully preserved the west’s written treasures. With the return of stability in Europe, these Irish scholars were instrumental in spreading learning. Thus the Irish not only were conservators of civilization, but became shapers of the medieval mind, putting their unique stamp on western culture.

If all that sounds a little heavy, maybe The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier is more up your alley. The young adult fantasy tells the story of eighteen-year-old Liobhan, a powerful singer and an expert whistle player. Her brother has a voice to melt the hardest heart, and a rare talent on the harp. But Liobhan’s burning ambition is to join the elite warrior band on Swan Island. She and her brother train there to compete for places, and find themselves joining a mission while still candidates. Their unusual blend of skills makes them ideal for this particular job, which requires going undercover as traveling minstrels. For Swan Island trains both warriors and spies.

From the Archives: Digitizing VHS

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

Thanks to some wonderful volunteers and student workers, we’ve started a project to digitize the VHS tapes in the special collections. 

The tapes include everything from old news broadcasts, high school graduations, interviews and more. Check out this one, a library presentation from 1992. See any familiar faces?

Library Presentation

If you’re interested in helping with the digitization project, or want to volunteer for other projects in the archives, contact our archivist at archives@galesburglibrary.org.

New Adult Fiction — March 2023

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

Spring is just around the corner, which means we’re getting lots of rainy days. What better way to enjoy the showers than curling up next to the window with a good book? This week is mystery week, with five new books that hit the shelves recently, ready for you to check out or put on hold!

Up first, we have Wolf Trap by Connor Sullivan. This thriller/mystery tells the story of over three hundred highly-trained agents who operate in the darkest shadows of the country’s covert wars. Plucked from the highest echelons of America’s special mission units, these individuals go through rigorous training by the Agency to perfect the arts of assassination, sabotage, infiltration, and guerrilla warfare.

Another thriller/mystery also hit the shelves this week: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murders by Jesse Q. Sutano. You see, Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—or rather, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to.

Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing: a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive. Vera doesn’t know what comes over her, but after calling the cops like any good citizen would, she sort of… swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron. Why? Because Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands.

Traditional mystery is some of the most popular here at GPL, and the 32nd installment of Donna Leon’s bestselling series Commissario Brunetti, So Shall You Reap is sure to delight. On a November evening, Guido Brunetti and Paola are up late when a call from his colleague Ispettore Vianello arrives, alerting the COmmissario that a hand has been seen in one of Venice’s canals. The body is soon found, and Brunetti is assigned to investigate the murder of an undocumented Sri Lankan immigrant. Because no official record of the man’s presence in Venice exists, Brunetti is forced to use the city’s far richer sources of information: gossip and the memories of people who knew the victim. 

Robert B. Parker’s Revenge Tour by Mike Lupica is another mystery for your reading list. In this entry in the Sunny Randall series, Melanie Joan Hall is back in Boston, riding high, refusing to have Sunny and Rosie move out. She has a Netflix series about to start shooting in Boston, based on her wildly popular new series of books for girls. Then it turns out that most of her fortune is gone. And her manager, who was in charge of the money, turns up dead. He’s been with her a long time. When Sunny begins to investigate, she discovers that a lot of Melanie Joan’s past is a product of her amazing imagination. And then Sunny’s loyalty to her old friend is challenged by her loyalty to finding the truth.

Last but not least, we have Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado. This thriller, which sold 2 million copies when released in Spain, introduces Antonia Scott, the daughter of a British diplomat and a Spanish mother. Antonia is gifted with a forensic mind, whose ability to reconstruct crimes and solves baffling murders is legendary. But after a personal trauma, she’s refused to continue her work or even leave her apartment.

All book descriptions courtesy of the publisher.

New YA & Children’s Books — February 2023

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

The Galesburg Public Library has books for all ages! This week, we’re sharing some of our newest children’s and YA books that have hit the shelves. Don’t forget to put one on hold if you want to check it out!

In the Young Adult section, we’ve got five new titles for you to try. The first two are part of the Walking in Two Worlds Series: Walking in Two Worlds and The Everlasting Road, both by Web Kinew. The first book introduces Bugz, a young girl caught between two worlds. In the real world, she’s a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe. Meanwhile, Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too. 

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black is another YA title fresh on the shelves. In this fantasy book, eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge. 

If you want something more spooky, try Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers. Making her YA debut, Cherokee writer Rogers takes her place as one of the most striking voices of the horror renaissance that has swept the last decade. This collection includes werewolves, vampires, and zombies—all the time-worn horror baddies are there. But so are predators of a distinctly American variety: the horrors of empire, of intimate partner violence, of dispossession. And so too the monsters of Rogers’ imagination, that draw upon long-told Cherokee stories—of Deer Woman, fantastical sea creatures, and more.

We didn’t forget about comic fans. The Winter Soldier: Cold Front by Mackenzi Lee chronicles the life of Bucky Barnes. In 1941, as World War II begins, sixteen-year-old Bucky Barnes is determined to enlist in the US army—if only the local commander will stop getting in his way. When Bucky is offered enrollment in a training program with the British Special Operations Executive—the UK’s secret service—he leaps at the chance to become a hero. But Bucky has hardly touched down in London when he finds himself running from a mysterious assassin and accompanied by an English chess champion fond of red lipstick and double crosses. She’s in possession of a secret every side is desperate to get their hands on. If only they knew what it was…

If you’re looking for something for a younger audience, we’ve got you covered. The Mirrorwood by Deva Fagan is a middle grade fantasy. Fable has been cursed by what the people of her village call the Blight, a twisted enchantment that leaves her without a face of her own. To stay alive, Fable has to steal the faces of others, making her an outcast that no one trusts. When the fierce Blighthunter Vycorax comes to kill Fable to stop her curse from spreading, Fable narrowly escapes by fleeing into the thorny woods surrounding her small village.

The kiddos have something to read here at GPL as well. The Rainbow Snail by Karin Åkesson has educational appeal, as young readers follow a brave little creature’s exciting adventure while learning the colors of the rainbow. In The Longest Journey: An Arctic Tern’s Migration by Amy Hevron, we learn about arctic terns, who in their thirty-year lifetimes, will travel nearly 1.5 million miles—enough to fly to the Moon and back three times! Meanwhile, in Stars of the Night by Caren Stelson, your children can get the perspective of the children who were rescued from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II, as Hitler’s campaign of hatred toward Jews and political dissidents took hold.

Stop by the library to grab any of these titles—and more!

From the Director’s Desk — How Green Is Your Library?

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

We are about a year away from moving into our new facility and are taking steps to ensure the library is environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable in our new space. Some of the sustainable initiatives we’ve taken include planning for an electronic vehicle charging station in our future parking lot, building a skills lab with tools for patrons to use and share, and adding solar panels to our roof through the Solar for All program. In the meantime, there are several ways we are practicing environmental responsibility for our library and our community.

Libraries, by the very nature of our existence, reduce waste by sharing materials with our communities. We own over 134,000 items that can be accessed by and shared among our community members, including items that can be borrowed, like books, movies, music, magazines, toys, games, hot spots, etc., and items that are shared within the library like public computers, newspapers in print and on microfilm, and a public meeting room. Lending and sharing reduce consumption and waste, save our community members money, and create more equitable opportunities for all Galesburg residents.

Some of the items we lend encourage and allow library users to reduce their environmental impact, including bike locks to support cyclists and Kill-A-Watt electricity usage monitors. Our seed library provides fruit, vegetable, and flower seeds available to the public at no cost, and we provide many paths for patrons to recycle, share, and rehome their own materials, including our blessing box, our annual Halloween costume drive, and, new this spring, a puzzle and board game swap.

Outdoors, our Monarch Waystation supports butterfly migration and survival, and we plan to include another at the new library location. The windows of our new building will have bird-safe glazing to reduce bird strikes and lessen our impact on migration patterns.

If you are interested in discussing the environment and sustainability with other community members, please consider joining the Food for Thought Book Club which meets monthly at Cornucopia and discusses books about food, climate, and the environment. The current read is Wastelands by Corban Addison, which is available for check out at the library, and the next meeting is Thursday, March 30, at 11:30.

New DVDs — February 2023 (Oscar Edition!)

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

It’s Oscar season! Have you caught up on all the Best Picture nominees before the ceremony on March 12? Check out the nominees below, and put one on hold today!

One of the frontrunners this year is Everything Everywhere All at Once, directed by the Daniels. In this sci-fi/adventure flick, Evelyn Wang, played by Michelle Yeoh, is a flustered immigrant mother who gets contacted from a parallel universe and told that only she can save the world. The unlikely hero must learn to channel her newfound powers and fight through the splintering timelines of the multiverse to save her home, her family, and herself in this big-hearted and irreverent adventure.

If action movies are more your thing, check out Top Gun: Maverick, directed by Joseph Kosinski. After more than 30 years of service as one of the navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (played by Tom Cruise, reprising his role from the original film) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. Training a detachment of graduates for a special assignment, Maverick must confront the ghosts of his past and his deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who choose to fly it.

Biopics generally do good at the Academy Awards, and Elvis, directed by Baz Luhrmann, is sure to continue the streak. The movie chronicles Elvis Presley’s (played by Austin Butler) life from his early years to his untimely death, and his complex relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).

Drama is having a good year this year, with Women Talking, directed by Sarah Polley, making the Best Picture cut. In this film, the women of an isolated religious colony reveal a shocking secret about the colony’s men. For years, the men have occasionally drugged the women and then raped them. The truth comes out and the women talk about their new situation. 

Another drama that got nominated for an Oscar this year is All Quiet on the Western Front, directed by Edward Berger. Adapted from the book of the same name, the movie tells the story of Paul Bäumer and his classmates, who quickly enlist in the army to serve their fatherland when war breaks out in Germany in 1914. No sooner are they drafted than the first images from the battlefield show them the reality of war.

Beloved director Steven Spielberg returned in 2022 with The Fabelmans, a love story to cinema. Young Sammy Fabelman falls in love with movies after his parents take him to see The Greatest Show on Earth. Armed with a camera, Sammy starts to make his own films at home, much to the delight of his supportive mother.

If you’d prefer a comedy, try Triangle of Sadness, directed by Ruben Östlund. Carl and Yaya, influencers, are invited to a luxury cruise ship alongside a group of out of touch wealthy people. The situation takes an unexpected turn when a brutal storm hits the ship. Great for fans of satire!

In case you haven’t heard, the sequel to the beloved Avatar came out last year. Avatar: The Way of Water, directed by James Cameron, has already made more than two billion dollars at the box office. Jake Sully and Ney’tiri, from the first films, have formed a family and are doing everything to stay together. However, they must leave their home and explore the regions of Pandora. When an ancient threat resurfaces, Jake must fight a difficult war against the humans. 

Heartthrob Colin Farrell starred in several films last year, but The Banshees of Inisherin, directed by Martin McDonagh, is the one that got nominated this year. It tells the story of Pádraic, who is devastated when his buddy Colm suddenly puts an end to their lifelong friendship. With the help from his sister and a troubled young islander, Pádraic sets out to repair the damaged relationship by any means necessary. However, as Colm’s resolve only strengthens, he soon delivers an ultimatum that leads to shocking consequences.

Last but not least is Tár, directed by Todd Field. Well loved among cinephiles, this movie shows renowned musician Lydia Tár who is days away from recording to the symphony that will elevate her career. When all elements seem to conspire against her, Lydia’s adopted daughter Petra becomes an integral emotional support for her struggling mother. 

Which one is your favorite? Make sure to watch them all before the festivities! Call the Reference Desk at (309) 343-6118 #6 to pick them up today.

New Adult Non-Fiction — February 2023

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

The weather is (weirdly) getting warmer already, and before you know it we’ll be sweltering in summer. Take some time to enjoy the sunshine with a good book! These nonfiction titles are now available at the library. Put one on hold today!

Have you heard of the Waverly Train Disaster of 1978? It’s a rarely acknowledged event that led to the creation of FEMA. Check out Walk Through Fire: The Train Disaster that Changed America by Yasmine Ali. The book’s release coincides with the 45th anniversary of the event, and is a tribute to the first responders, as well as an examination of the strengths and vulnerabilities in rural America.

If you’re looking to learn more about climate change and its coming effects, maybe The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake Bittle. This new release is the untold story of climate migration in the United States, and features the personal stories of those experiencing displacement, the portraits of communities being torn apart by disaster, and the implications for all of us as we confront a changing future.

If you want something completely different, you might like The Curse of the Marquis de Sade: A Notorious Scoundrel, a Mythical Manuscript, and the Biggest Scandal in Literary History by Joel Warner. This work weaves together the sweeping odyssey of Marquis de Sade’s original manuscript of 120 Days of Sodom, and the spectacular rise and fall of Lhéritier, once the “king of manuscripts,” and now known to many as the Bernie Madoff of France. At its center is an urgent question for all those who cherish the written word: As the age of handwriting comes to an end, what do we owe the original texts left behind?

Now it’s time for something a little more lighthearted. Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears by Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas — some iconic, others never-before-revealed — that have played out on stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapters takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight.

If memoirs are your thing, give Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H. a shot. This searingly intimate memoir in essays, spanning Lamya’s childhood to her arrival in the United States for college through early-adult life in New York City, tells a universal story of courage, trust, and love, celebrating what it means to be a seeker and an architect of one’s own life.

Who doesn’t love Nick Offerman? The actor and writer has written multiple books, and his latest is another great one. Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside is full of witty, heartwarming stories, and a keen insight into the problems we all confront; it’s both a ramble through and a celebration of the land we love.

Still not seeing something for you? We can help! Contact our reference desk at reference@galesburglibrary.org to get a recommendation.

All descriptions are courtesy of the publisher.

Calling All Librarians — Stateville Calling Program

Published on by admingale

Here at Galesburg Public Library, we host hundreds of programs every year. Some are huge success stories — Summer Reading, Ghosts of Galesburg, Gingerbread House Decorating — while others are… less so. We’re here to share our wins and our losses and help inspire other librarians along the way.

On February 4, the library, along with the Illinois Prison Project, screened the documentary Stateville Calling for Black History Month. After the movie, ambassadors from IPP answered questions.

The film, described as “an Emmy-nominated documentary exploring parole reform and the struggle of aging inmates in Illinois,” was presented virtually. Because the program was virtual, there was no cost to the library.

Twenty-four people attended the event, which we consider very successful.

Assistant Director and Head of Adult Services Jane Easterly had this to say about the program:

“The event was very powerful… All of the ambassadors have been in Illinois prisons. I was encouraged to find people with prison experience to attend, which I did, but it was not actually necessary. Just hearing from the people connected to the Illinois Prison Project was powerful in itself. (And I had people who’d worked at [the local correctional center] and who’d been imprisoned show up on their own.) I literally had to shoo people out of the room as the library prepared to close. The event really got people talking.”

If you have any questions, you can contact us at reference@galesburglibrary.org. If you would like to host the program at your library, contact Kaitlyn@illinoisprisonproject.org.

If you have questions about GPL’s programming, or would like to suggest a program,  contact us at reference@galesburglibrary.org or call 309-343-6118 #6 to get more information. 

New Adult Fiction — February 2023

Published on by admingale

Valentine’s Day is upon us, and whether you’re a starstruck lover looking for a cozy romance to snuggle up with or wanting to escape the chocolate and roses explosion, we’ve got the perfect recommendations for you. All of these Adult Fiction titles hit the shelves in the last month, so make sure to stop in and grab them before someone else does! If you see something you like, call the Reference Desk at 309-343-6118 #6 or visit the catalog to put it on hold.

If you need something new to warm your heart from an author you know and love, give Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes a try. In the latest from the Me Before You and The Giver of Stars author, Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope — she doesn’t have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in. 

That’s because Sam Kemp — in the bleakest point of her life — has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag — she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence makes her realize something must change — and that thing is herself.

Take a break from all the holiday celebrations by venturing into the world of fantasy and witches with VenCo by Cherie Dimaline. In VenCo, we meet Lucky St. James, a Métis millennial living with her cantankerous but loving grandmother Stella, who is barely hanging on when she discovers she will be evicted from their tiny Toronto apartment. Then, one night, something strange and irresistible calls out to Lucky. Burrowing through a wall, she finds a silver spoon etched with a crooked-nosed witch and the word SALEM, humming with otherworldly energy.

Hundreds of miles away in Salem, Myrna Good has been looking for Lucky. Myrna works for VenCo, a front company fueled by vast resources of dark money. Lucky is familiar with the magic of her indigenous ancestors, but she has no idea that the spoon links her to VenCo’s network of witches throughout North America. Generations of witches have been waiting for centuries for the seven spoons to come together, igniting a new era, and restoring women to their rightful power. But as reckoning approaches, a very powerful adversary is stalking their every move. He’s Jay Christos, a roguish and deadly witch-hunter as old as witchcraft itself.

Want something a little more realistic? Why not try Western Lane by Chetna Maroo? This debut novel features eleven-year-old Gopi, who has been playing squash since she was old enough to hold a racket. When her mother dies, her father enlists her in a quietly brutal training regimen, and the game becomes her world. Slowly, she grows apart from her sisters. Her life is reduced to the sport, guided by its rhythms: the serve, the volley, the drive, the shot, and its echo.

But on the court, she is not alone. She is with her pa. She is with Ged, a thirteen-year-old booy with his own formidable talent. She is with the players who have come before her. She is in awe. 

If a rom-com is more up your alley, give Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey a shot. In New York Times bestselling author’s latest, Hallie Welch fell hard for Julian Vos at fourteen, after they almost kissed in the dark vineyards of his family’s winery. Now the prodigal hottie has returned to their small town. When Hallie is hired to revamp the gardens on the Vos estate, she wonders if she’ll finally get that smooch. But the grumpy professor isn’t the teenager she remembers and their polar opposite personalities clash spectacularly. One wine-fueled girls’ night later, Hallie can’t shake the sense that she did something reckless — and then she remembers the drunken secret admirer letter she left for Julian.

Last but not least, get cozy with a mystery this month, grab Three Can Keep a Secret by M. E. Hilliard. In this latest entry to the Greer Hogan Mystery series, our protagonist is a librarian turned sleuth, an avid reader of crime fiction who possesses an uncanny knack for deduction — and now, she’s drawn into another murder case as late autumn slowly turns to winter in the idyllic village of Raven Hill. When Anita Hunzeker, chair of the library board of trustees, is run off the road and killed, no one seems all that sorry. Anita was widely disliked, and the townsfolk would just as soon be rid of her. But when a local professor turns up dead as well, his connection to Anita and to other local residents leaves the suspect pool covering the entire county.

Greer starts poking around, and the more she digs, the more it seems like everyone she knows is trying to hide something. When she unearths a clue in the old manor cemetery, she finally discovers the shocking truth — a cache of dark secrets stretching back decades that could rock the town to its core. Everyone who’s come close to the truth has ended up dead — and if Greer doesn’t tread lightly, she could be the next librarian to get archived for good.

Still not seeing something for you? We can help! Contact our Reference Desk at reference@galesburglibrary.org to get a recommendation.

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