
Books we are looking forward to…..



by Fiona Davis
In 1913, Jack and Laura Lyons and their children Pearl and Harry live at the New York Public Library. Jack is the library’s superintendent, and the library provided an apartment in the building for the family. Laura is studying journalism at Columbia while raising her family. (Eventually Laura becomes a leading feminist essayist of her time.) Sadly, a rare first edition book has been stolen from the library. In the early 20th century the main branch was for research only. No items were allowed for check out. The disappearance of a rare title was a disastrous event, and Jack is considered the prime suspect in the theft.
80 years later, Pearl’s granddaughter, Sadie, works as curator of the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library. Again, rare books are disappearing and Sadie is a suspect in the thefts. Thanks to Grandma Pearl eighty years after the initial theft, that old mystery is solved along with the current one. Neither Jack, decades earlier, or Sadie are guilty.
It’s interesting to note that when the main library and its branches were built over a century ago, the buildings were heated by coal. Each had a custodian who lived on the premises in an apartment often with his family to keep the fires burning. In the novel Jack Lyons was the superintendent, not a custodian.
A strong historical novel for book lovers!
~Emma
Looking to reconnect with the history of our area? The Library’s Local History Resource Page is a great place to start!

Located under Research Tools, you will find some great virtual resources to begin your own exploration of the history of Rocky River and the wider Northeast Ohio region. Have questions about using these resources? Contact our Reference Desk and we will be happy to assist.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is an incredible series that I’ve watched twice. The three seasons have different feelings to them, with the second season being my overall favorite. The cast of characters in this series are memorable and layered with complexity. The world is very creative with the elements, spirits, cultures, and animals being well-developed. The only downside is that the series can be a bit immature at times. Overall, I think dealing with deeper topics with levity helps endear the audience further to these characters and to this world.
The series starts by explaining that there are four elements: water, earth, fire, and air. There is only one person who can control all 4 elements known as the Avatar. One hundred years before the events of the story, the Avatar disappeared. There were four nations based around benders (people with the ability to manipulate the elements), but the Fire Nation attacked and destroyed the Air Nation. We quickly learn within the series that the world has been struggling to avoid falling to the Fire Nation’s empire.
We’re introduced to Sokka (Jack De Sena) and Katara (Mae Whitman) as the two siblings feud. Eventually Katara waterbends at Sokka hitting an iceberg. The iceberg lights up and Aang (Zach Tyler) emerges unaware where or when he is. In the distance a Fire Nation ship is looking for the Avatar. When they see the light in the sky, Prince Zuko (Dante Basco) and Uncle Iroh (Mako) take it as a possible sign that they’ve found the Avatar.
I wouldn’t say this series is for everyone, but it’s certainly an expertly done animated series. Among reviewers and fans, there are few animated series that rival its praise. The different cultures displayed in the show are based off real cultures and this helps build a rich world. The characters at the start of the show seem very basic, but if you look around you’ll see article after article about the complex layers of the main cast. This show takes you on a journey in the traditional sense where the trip is more important than the destination. The destination is still very important, but many enjoy these characters so much they want to see them in comics and other media. Rated TV-Y7-FV.
Ryan
It’s been a cloudy, stormy few days here in Northeastern Ohio and some of my favorite rainy day activities include: reading on the couch, drinking many mugs of coffee, and baking tasty treats. The weekend looks like it’s going to bring more thunderstorms, so I’m rounding up my favorite five cookbooks with fabulous baking recipes to inspire you in the kitchen!
There are recipes for fancy French patisserie, dairy-free and grain-free treats, and even my favorite homemade funfetti cake. No matter your skill level there is a recipe for you to tackle confidently here!





You can find Molly Yeh’s awesome funfetti cake recipe on her blog here if you can’t get your hands on a copy of Molly on the Range in time to satisfy cake cravings.
Stay safe and happy reading/baking!
In honor of Library Card Sign-Up Month, check out these books set in or about libraries:

Happy Reading!
~Megan
This week we have a collection of romance, horror, historical fiction, and much more for you to choose from. You can also find topics such as friendship, family life, and animal & nature… Enjoy!
Shadows in Death by J. D. Robb – Spotting an infamous assassin from Dublin among the onlookers at a Washington Square Park murder scene, Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, struggle to protect each other when they discover the killer is targeting them.
One by One by Ruth Ware – When an offsite company retreat is upended by an avalanche that strands them in a remote mountain chalet, eight coworkers are forced to set aside their corporate rankings and mutual distrust in order to survive.
The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves – Discovering a toddler in an abandoned vehicle near the run-down home where her estranged father grew up, Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope approaches the property during a boisterous Christmas party before discovering the body of a woman outside.
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman – Taken hostage by a failed bank robber while attending an open house, eight anxiety-prone strangers including a redemption-seeking bank director, two couples who would fix their marriages and a plucky octogenarian discover their unexpected common traits.
Robert B. Parker’s Fool’s Paradise by Mike Lupica – Surprised by the murder of a man he met the night before at an AA meeting, Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone follows leads to one of the wealthiest families in town to identify the victim and his mysterious agenda.
A Question of Betrayal by Anne Perry – A sequel to Death in Focus finds daring young MI6 photographer Elena Standish embarking on a first mission in Mussolini’s Italy to rescue and uncover the truth about a former lover who betrayed her six years earlier.
Hanging Falls by Margaret Mizushima – Scouting for trail damage after a Timber Creek flood, officer Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo, stumble on the body of a murder victim with ties to a bizarre religious cult, before an unexpected visit leads to astonishing revelations.
The Stone Wall by Beverly Lewis – A Lancaster County tour guide researches her Alzheimer’s patient grandmother’s Plain heritage and the story behind a mysterious stone wall while confronting a difficult choice about her growing feelings for a handsome Mennonite and a young Amish widower.
The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk – A father on the brink of uncovering his missing daughter’s fate and a talented Foley sound artist find themselves on a collision course with Hollywood’s violent underworld. By the best-selling author of Fight Club.
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons – Wanting to organize an assisted death on her own terms, a world-weary octogenarian forges an unexpected bond with an exuberant 10-year-old who drags her to tea parties, shopping sprees and other social excursions.
Monogamy by Sue Miller – Derailed by the sudden passing of her husband of 30 years, an artist on the brink of a gallery opening struggles to pick up the pieces of her life before discovering harrowing evidence of her husband’s affair.
Dear Ann by Bobbie Ann Mason – A woman facing a life crisis reflects on her past as a naïve graduate student who set aside her educational ambitions at the height of the Summer of Love to pursue an obsessive relationship.
What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez – A woman who is content to listen to the people she encounters talk about themselves is asked by one to do something extraordinary, in the new novel by the New York Times-best-selling, National Book Award-winning author of The Friend.
Call of the Raven by Wilbur A. Smith – An action-packed and gripping adventure by bestselling author, Wilbur Smith, about one man’s quest for revenge, the brutality of slavery in America and the imbalance between humans that can drive – or defeat – us.
~Semanur
One of my favorite reads this summer was Miss Cecily’s Recipes for Exceptional Ladies by Vicky Zimmerman.

When you look its adorable frosting-filled cover, you just know this book is going to be a sweet read and it is, but there is also a good bit of depth in here to balance out the sugar!
In this novel we meet Kate. She is a 39-year-old advertising agent for a local grocery store. She is in love with her boyfriend Nick. The two are all set to move in (and Kate thinks, eventually marry) when Nick gets cold feet and asks for a break, and Kate finds herself hurt and, worse, moving back home with her mom.
To get her mind off her troubles, Kate volunteers to give food demonstrations at a retirement home. There, she meets Cecily, a 97-year-old who is always complaining, and won’t even taste what Kate has cooked. Kate loves a challenge and forces herself into clever and cantankerous Cecily’s world but isn’t always happy to hear her advice about Kate’s boring job or her thoughts about waiting around for a man. When Cecily gives Kate a cookbook from the 1950s, it becomes more like a self-help manual for Kate, and cooking her way through the recipes gives Kate the confidence to demand better things.
This is a perfect summer read about good food and good friendships, that also requires a box of Kleenex close at hand. As you root for Kate to get her life together, it is Cecily who is the real star here, with her jaw-dropping insults, fascinating life story, and brusque but well-meaning advice- and, bonus, her character is based on the author’s own grandmother.
I just loved seeing these two women become unlikely friends. Check this one out if you are looking for that perfect heartwarming and totally delicious read. -Carol
I don’t think there’s been anything really easy about this year so far and so I like to take a small win (or a rare 2020 big win!) whenever I can find one! I just finished reading Barnstorming Ohio To Understand America by David Giffels and it’s definitely in my win column for this week!
Ohio. We are full of variety and contradictions. We are the 7th most populous state but 34th in total are; the top of the State gets incredibly cold with lots of snow and the lower half can be 10 to 20 degrees warmer with almost no snow; our economy is based on agriculture, industry, and innovative ideas; and there’s an incredible range of natural landscapes to explore. Ohioans have plenty to be proud about and issues we need to solve, but we are also an almost perfect cross-section of the U.S.A.
In Barnstorming Ohio, Mr. Giffels provides the current and historical context that helped me to understand exactly what it means to be seen as bellwether State for the Country. Having thoughtful conversations with the people who live in the “Five Ohios” (representing diverse voting communities) and offering great insights for what could be a larger, nation-wide conversation, this book was engaging, eye-opening, and easy-to-read. As we head into the 2020 General Election, you might also find this book worth checking out, and then we can chat!
(Small tangent -Did you know tomato juice is the official beverage of Ohio? Can we vote on that?)
—Stacey