One of my passions as a genealogy librarian is encouraging people to write their family history stories. I firmly believe that the names, dates, and places on our family trees are much more interesting to most of our family if they are shared in interesting stories. Are you ready to write your family story? Probably…
Has there ever been a more accurate word to describe the period between childhood and adulthood (a.k.a. the teenage years) than “wildhood”? Authors Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers use the apt descriptor as the title of their latest book Wildhood: The Epic Journey from Adolescence to Adulthood in Humans and Other Animals. In it, they…
Was one of your New Year’s resolutions this year about stuff? Buying less, decluttering, reorganizing? Do you wonder what happens to everything we donate or recycle? If you do, pick up this book. Secondhand takes us on a trip throughout the world to show where all that stuff goes. Believe it or not, that old…
#Sameplacemorespace has finally come to fruition after nine exhausting and exciting months! With the plethora of added study spaces, a skylight in the children’s wing, and a new area just for high school teens, it’s hard to imagine what more the improved Aspen Drive could offer! Studio 1 at Aspen is a wonderful resource if…
As the year wraps up, Readers Advisor Jo talks about the most beloved books of 2019 according to the staff at Cook Library. We go over highlights from our immensely popular 2019 fiction and nonfiction booklets available at the reference desk and online. Listen to this quick 20 minute episode to remember the books and…
Last week I looked at the novels that received the most love in 2019 from book reviewers. Today I will tackle nonfiction. I compiled 30 notable lists and more than 500 books, including our own favorites from the Cook Memorial Public Library District’s reference desk staffers. I’ve added links to our catalog for book descriptions,…
I have to admit that I’m thrilled when some of my favorite books do well on all those best-of-the-year lists. I was heartened to see Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout, Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates…
Local History Librarian Jenny Barry shares some of the quirkiest newspaper headlines and articles she’s encountered in her years researching Libertyville’s history. Visit our local history page to discover your own oddities in Cook Library’s newspaper archives!
One of the best experiences, as a reader, is when you discover a new writer with whom you feel a connection. Not necessarily a debut author, but new in the sense that you’ve never previously read anything by him or her. My latest such discovery is Ted Chiang. Science fiction readers are, undoubtedly, well-acquainted with…
I would never have picked up this book had a friend not recommended it to me. I thought it might be self-congratulatory or preachy. But Melissa Gates is neither of those things. Quite the opposite: she is humble and refreshingly honest about how hard it can be to make change in the world. This book…
