Reviews

Writing a research paper can induce panic in even the most lion-hearted student.  You need a topic and tentative idea of how you want to develop it.  Then you need primary and secondary sources to support and build upon your topic.  I discussed options for primary sources in a previous review.  This review will discuss options for secondary sources. You cannot just use any website. Wikipedia—the much-loved free online encyclopedia— is forbidden by educators from appearing in your Works Cited page due to its unreliable creditability.

In his second standalone novel after the award-winning debut Avenue of Champions, published in 2021, Conor Kerr once again presents the lives of Métis people in Edmonton​​, Alberta: his own home town. Of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry with roots dating back to the early years of fur trading on this continent, the Métis are one of three Indigenous groups recognized in Canada’s constitution.

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Cody Shrum has won our writing contest on the theme The Reluctant I with his poem "Catfishing the Elk City Reservoir, ft. Bugs."

The Summer Book by Töve Jansson is on its way to our shelves. This is a new-to-us old novel: a Scandinavian classic about a grandmother and her six-year-old granddaughter summering on a tiny island in the Finnish Archipelago, a cluster of more than 40,000 islands in the Baltic Sea.

Reading and discussing books is one of life’s simple pleasures.  Librarians facilitate book discussions at several Johnson County Library branch locations.  I’m one of the lucky librarians creating safe spaces for patrons to find intellectual fellowship and express their love of literature.  Do you dream of hosting your own book club but do not know how to get started?  As a veteran book discussion facilitator, I’m here to offer some tips and tricks to help you build your own successful book club.  I’ll cover how to select books for discussion, adult book club kits,

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Samara Klein has won our writing contest on the theme What Remains Unspoken with her piece "David and Davey'."

Samara Klein is an attorney who specializes in representing children with disabilities.     

  David and Davey

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Lauren Alison has won our writing contest on the theme What Remains Unspoken with her piece "Blue Letters'."

In 1824, the English theologian and geologist William Buckland wrote a description of a long dead animal he called a Megalosaurus or “great lizard.” Working from a 166 million year old piece of fossilized jawbone, Buckland imagined an amphibious creature about 60 feet in length and weighing upwards of 3 tons. His description and the naming of Iguanodon just a year later inspired biologist Richard Owen to coin the term Dinosauria to describe this emerging clade of the evolutionary tree. 

The author's biographical statement on the back flap of the jacket says that Nuttall has "had a lot of practice at making old words interesting," and it shows. I'd dare say reading this was even fun, along with being fascinating and very pointedly feminist. In this book, she explores the history of English words relating to women, to their bodies, social roles, and more. Specifically, she explores how our language has been shaped by patriarchal attitudes and has in turn worked to reinforce sexism.

If I had to use one word to summarize James by Percivel Everett, it would be stunning.  From code switching language, lessons in translation from proper English to "slave talk" (correct incorrect grammar) to appeasing white people to stay safe, to conversations with John Locke and Voltaire, James narrates his story in his voice.