Reviews

Staff Review
Cover of Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman

Charm City Rocks

By Matthew Norman

Rated by Gregg W.
Oct 17, 2023

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of #NoWaitWednesday, where we take a look at a title from our adult New Release shelf that's just waiting for a lucky patron to discover it. Fantasy, science fiction, mystery, thriller, horror - we look at all kinds of books here at #NoWaitWednesday, however it's been a while since we've looked at romance in this space. It seems all of Kansas City is buzzing about the relationship between Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs and Taylor Swift, one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.

Staff Review
Cover of "The Paris Deception" by Bryn Turnbull

The Paris Deception

By Bryn Turnbull

Rated by Gregg W.
Oct 10, 2023

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of #NoWaitWednesday where we take a look at a great book on the New Release shelf at a local branch that's just waiting for you to place your holds. We know that patrons don't like being 432nd in line for the latest New York Times blockbuster, but there's always plenty of great stuff to read right under your nose.  

Staff Review
Cover of Chameleon by Remi Adeleke

Chameleon

By Remi Adeleke

Rated by Gregg W.
Oct 3, 2023

Hello and welcome to this week's #NoWaitWednesday where we look at a specific title that's ready for just the right patron to check it out in the New Release section at one of our branches right now. Hot, new, and best of all - no waiting! (If you're fast enough, that is! Make sure to click the green "place hold" button in the web catalog while logged in to reserve a copy.)  

Staff Review
Cover of "Scent of a Garden" by Namrata Patel

Scent of a Garden

By Namrata Patel

Rated by Gregg W.
Sep 26, 2023

Hello and welcome to #NoWaitWednesday, where we spotlight a book that's ready and available on the New Release shelf at one of our Library branches. Hot, ready, and best of all - no waiting!

Staff Review
hands planting in rich, dark soil

Grow Now: How We Can Save Our Health, Communities, and Planet - One Garden at a Time

By Emily Murphy
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Helen H.
Sep 26, 2023

“. . . we’re only as healthy as the environment in which we live.” This statement from the introduction to Grow Now is the underlying theme of this book. Every chapter makes a case for gardening beyond organic, rewilding your land, sequestering carbon, and supporting biodiversity. 

Staff Review
Cover of Lone Women by Victor LaValle. A black woman stands alone on a prairie.

Lone Women

By Victor LaValle
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Allison M
Sep 20, 2023

Lone Women by Victor LaValle blends the best of several genres, giving us western, historical fiction, horror, thriller, and plenty of social commentary to boot. The year is 1914 and our heroine, Adelaide Henry, is fleeing California – her parents are dead and all she has with her is a suspiciously heavy locked steamer trunk. She makes her way to Montana where, thanks to the Homestead Act, single women were able to claim plots of land, work it for three years, and then “prove up” to owning the land.

Staff Review
Cover of "The Forgetting" by Hannah Beckerman. The cover is a boquet of flowers, representing suburban perfection.

The Forgetting

By Hannah Beckerman

Rated by Gregg W.
Sep 19, 2023

On Wednesdays we put a spotlight on a book on our Adult Fiction New Release shelf that's absolutely worthy of your attention. We call it #NoWaitWednesday, and we hope you take a closer look at any of our New Release shelves at your local Library branch the next time you come in, as there's always tons of great titles just waiting for you to check them out. 

Staff Review
white woman with long grey hair in a blue plaid sleeveless shirt

All Together Now Contest Winner

By Ann Pai
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Helen H.
Sep 19, 2023

Joy at the Green Guitar

Two hundred or so folks, we
don't much know each other.
We're here for Joy,

for her live singing and guitar.
The first notes drip from her fingers
and we sigh like a water dipper's
lifted to our lips. We're one room now:
listening.

Joy's voice rises like
biscuits in the oven as day
sings to darkness. Her light
goes everywhere.

Her hands on the guitar
untie the knots in us. Her song
sorts the loose strands of us,
begins to knit us back together,

Staff Review
Cover of "The Wonder State" by Sara Flannery Murphy

The Wonder State

By Sara Flannery Murphy
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Gregg W.
Sep 12, 2023

Hello and welcome to #NoWaitWednesday, where we take a look at a title that's available on the New Release shelves at one of our branch libraries, just waiting for some lucky patron to place a hold on it.