Greenwood Public Library Blogs

Review: The Book of M

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The Book of M
by Peng Shepherd
4 stars

The Book of M is a story about losing your shadow. When you lose it – you forget all your past memories including your name and you even forget to eat. Then you die. This phenomenon first starts in India when Hemu Joshi loses his shadow. Then the affliction spreads across the world and those left with a shadow must try and survive. Told around a post-apocalyptic future, author Shepherd weaves her debut story by following four linked characters. Orlando “Ory” Zhang and Max, a husband and wife couple, Mahnaz Ahmadi (Naz) who was an Olympic archer and the Amnesiac (never given a name) who still has his shadow, but lost all his memories from an accident before the Forgetting took place. They try to figure out how to survive in this new world were the shadowless acquire a strange new power in which they can alter the physical environment conjuring up some pretty intense, scary and magical happenings. Mythology and legends from India play apart in explaining the story which I enjoyed. I thought I knew how all this ended, but Shepherd gives you a surprise twist and some unanswered questions, but I still loved it.

 

Read-alikes

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman

An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

 

 

Teen Wintery Reads

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Looking for a teen read to get you in the holiday spirit? Check out one of these wintery reads!

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Told in the alternating voices of Dash and Lily, two sixteen-year-olds carry on a wintry scavenger hunt at Christmas-time in New York, neither knowing quite what–or who–they will find.

 

What Light by Jay Asher

When Sierra falls for Caleb, a boy who made a terrible mistake years before, she is determined to help him find forgiveness, despite the disapproval and suspicions they meet.

 

Top Ten Clues You’re Clueless by Liz Czukas

The day before Christmas, money goes missing from a donation box at GoodFoods Market and Chloe and her five of her teenage co-workers, held in the break room until the police arrive, try to identify the real thief.

 

The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand

After being visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve, Holly Chase chooses not to mend her spoiled ways, and upon her death discovers her selfishness has caused her to work for eternity as a ghost of Christmas past.

 

My True Love Gave to Me edited by Stephanie Perkins

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with this book. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.

 

 

Review: Daisy Jones and the Six

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Daisy Jones and the Six (coming in March 2019)
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
4 stars

Taylor Jenkins Reid is one of my absolute favorite authors. I was thrilled to be chosen to receive an advanced reader copy. This book will be released in March 2019. Daisy Jones and the Six was unlike anything I’ve ever read. The Six is a rock band formed in the 1960’s who later adds the iconic Daisy Jones. The way Reid writes I kept wondering if Daisy Jones and the Six were an actual band that I just had never heard about.

From the beginning we know that the band breaks up. The story continues with the points of view from the band members and other characters spanning from the 1960’s to 2012. As with many rock bands this has your classic, “sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll.” It is told in interview format without questions. At first I wondered if it was going to be this way the entire book, and if it was, would it hold my attention for the entire book? It really did.

I was hesitant about this book even though TJR is one of my favorite authors. It seemed so different and not something I would normally pick up. But I was pleasantly surprised that this kept my attention and made me feel so many emotions. There was so much heartbreak in this book. As with Evelyn Hugo, TJR made me believe Daisy Jones is a real person. I love that this is being made into a TV show. It will be great on screen. Props to Reid for writing a very original story with a unique format. Highly recommend! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy!

Read-alikes

Beautiful Music by Michael Zadoorian

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Review: How to Stop Time

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How to Stop Time
by Matt Haig
4 stars

“Sometimes things are a change for the better and the worse at the same time, like the internet. Or the electric keyboard. Or pre-chopped garlic. Or the theory of relativity.”

Tom Hazard is over 400 years old. He was born in 1581. He went through puberty very early and aged faster than most of the boys his age. Since puberty…not so much. Due to an unknown condition, Tom ages approximately 15 times slower than normal human beings. So even though he is 437, he looks about 41. He has sailed with Captain Cook, worked with Shakespeare, and had a cocktail with F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Parts of the book are almost depressing. With the ability to view humanity through the centuries, Tom becomes disillusioned with people making the same mistakes over and over again. Other parts were much more hopeful, as Tom finds things and people to enjoy throughout his centuries. There is a society that protects people like Tom. The society provides funds and new identities every 8 years to help them avoid detection…in exchange for the occasional favor.

 

Read-alikes

The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

 

A Christmas Present for You: GPL is going fine-free!

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Related imageThe Trustees and leadership of the Greenwood Public Library are excited to announce a major change to our circulation policy: the removal of late fees. Borrowers will still be responsible for replacement costs for lost items, but late fees will no longer be collected for items circulated at GPL.

One of the strategic initiatives outlined in our soon-to-be-released Blueprint 2019/2023 is to “make library easy.” For many patrons, the threat of late fees deters them from library use. Others find themselves with unexpectedly large fines and lose library privileges as a result. And although libraries have traditionally believed that late fees encourage the return of materials, research shows that late fees actually do more to discourage library use than they do to bring library materials back. GPL is proud to join a growing number of libraries across the country who are making the move to remove late fees.

As a part of our revised circulation policy, we have also enabled automatic renewals, making library use easier than ever. You will still receive reminder emails before your due date (if you have enabled email communication), but as long as your items do not have anyone waiting on hold for them, they will be automatically renewed. Be aware that books have a maximum of two automatic renewals, and DVDs have a maximum of one renewal possible.

If you are an Evergreen card holder and travel to other libraries to checkout materials, those items will be subject to the circulation policy in effect at that library. The new GPL Circulation policy applies to anything you check out at Greenwood Public Library, regardless of which library it came from. For more details please refer to our Circulation Policy.

For those who wonder how we can afford to do this, we’d like you to know that we expect the financial impact of this decision to be approximately a half of one percent of our operating budget. Through careful stewardship, our library is financially sound and healthy. We believe that the financial impact of this change will be far overshadowed by the opportunity it provides for us to make library easy for all of our patrons.

We have been looking forward to doing this for quite some time and are very excited to share this good news with you today. If you have late fees on your account that are keeping you from coming back to the library, please come see us! We can help!

Merry Christmas from us to you!