La Crosse’s Comments (group member since Nov 08, 2017)

La Crosse’s comments from the La Crosse Public Library group.

Here's a new patron pick from Lindy:

The Nothing Within by Andy Giesler

Amazing first novel from Madison, Wisconsin author who lists “library page” among his accomplishments!

Our hero is young Root, a scrawny, outspoken blind child who becomes supernaturally strong and gains vision when she suffers a shock attack from the death of her closest friend. Meanwhile someone shares a journal from several centuries past, 2161-2195, which indicates how the world ended and the People began.

Root’s world is lead by Shepherds and Weavers. People who are different are burned in the Pit. Sometimes the entire town suffers the rite. The definition of different seems to change with each Weaver who makes the decision. Chimera and wild beasts threaten People in both eras and life is pre-machine with very little metal in use and ammunition limited to the journal era.

Root continues to ask too many questions for Shepherds and Weavers who want this way of life to continue.Root wonders if she has the Nothing within? How can she get it out? She is different…How will she survive?

Are you looking for an intriguing mystery series with an intricate plot? Check out this recommendation from Lindy, one of our amazing library volunteers!

This Poison Will Remain- Fred Vargas 2017/2019
Commissaire Adamsberg is a cloud shoveller, a dreamer, a man from the Pyrenees in south France who walks to clear his mind. And from this mind such ideas come! His thought processes are electric, a stream of consciousness that drives his coworkers into two groups-believers and non believers. Ideas flow from the issue of Adamsberg’s newborn son-age 28-but newborn to him because he never knew about him, to the current murder and then to why his commandant is acting funny. He is quirky and unconventional, willing to break rules for his people…and for criminals?
The murder squad rallies around him although few understand where he is going until he gets there. This crew includes: Danglard the intellectual, an alcoholic with encyclopedic memory Adamsberg can rely upon when he calls at 3am for info. Veyrenc speaks in 12 syllable prose poems. Mercadet is an IT wizard and also a narcoleptic who naps every 3 or 4 hours. Estalere is a green eyed blank slate awaiting knowledge. Viollette is a multi talented goddess who weighs more than Adamsberg and saves his life many times.
Recluse spiders are causing deaths throughout France. This is murder but why these people and why recluse poison, which must be milked from multiple spiders to provide enough poison to kill? This plot line is quite adult and sobering.
I don’t mean to present this book as a “cozy” mystery given the subject matter although I find these books enjoyable. Conversations, interactions and Adamsberg’s thoughts are fun and intriguing and the plots are intricate and believable. The rest of the series is available via ILL and equally as good in my opinion!

Julia wrote: "I just read Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. If you love a "historical fiction"- type of novel, this will not disappoint. Picoult is an author that will captivate you from the be..."

What a compelling story - thanks for your recommendation Julia!

Barry wrote: "I recently reread one of my favorite winter books: H.P. Lovecraft’s influential sci-fi/horror novella, At the Mountains of Madness, which tells the story of a perilous expedition to An..."

What a captivating read - thanks for another great review Barry! If you’re in the mood for more Lovecraft, we also have a copy of his annotated works:

Here's another recommended read from Lindy!

A Time of Torment by John Connolly

The main story concerns a jewelry store owner’s son, Jerome Burnel, who contacts private investigator, Charlie Parker, to investigate who will kill him and who set him up with pornography materials that sent him to prison. The reader knows right away the forces of insidious evil that surround this unfortunate man. The body count is high: 32 plus a shoot out where it was not possible to keep track. The murderers like to torture and the taboo many writers follow of not having child victims is disregarded. Usually this is enough to make me close the book. So why do I keep on reading Connolly?
The writing: “His eyes were soft, but when threats or acts of violence became necessary they assumed a glassy emptiness, as though the better part of TP chose to absent itself at those moments and turn its gaze elsewhere.”
The depth: “Only later did Parker understand that in this room colored by dying, he had laid himself bare before a stranger, and by doing so had decreased the measure of his own pain."
Sardonic humor and relationships: this one from Charlie’s longtime friend, “Dryden's might have served as an acceptable rest stop for those with suitably low expectations, but it now belonged to another distant century, just like smallpox and tuberculosis, although Louis wouldn’t have been surprised if a sample of some of the gunk behind the sink in his bathroom had revealed traces of both.”
Most of all, Charlie Parker’s daughters keep me reading. Jennifer, who was killed with his first wife, and Sam, his living daughter from his current relationship with Rachel.. The daughters talk to one another and help protect their father. You might think Sam would be afraid of Jennifer, yet Jennifer tells the reader, Sam terrifies me. “She was both human and something more, something beyond comprehension.”

Lindy

Here's three new recommendations from Lindy, one of our amazing library volunteers:

As a retired hospice nurse my passion remains with good end of life care and education. I recently read three new books about death:
1. Living with the Unexplained: Premonitions, Angels, Near-Death Experiences, Miracles, and Other Unexplained Life Experiences by Bonnie Powell Buchman, a local author
2. What Remains: The Many Ways We Say Goodbye, An Anthology
3. Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty

Buchman shares many auditory, visual and electronic contacts from loved ones who have died, to their survivors. Electronic includes manipulation of lights, electricity and cell phones. These messages are without fail reassuring and comforting to the bereaved. The author has a refreshing and down to earth attitude, simple, honest, and welcoming.
What Remains is from the viewpoint of the dying or bereaved in various formats: song, poetry, memoir. A discussion of funerals and memorial services adds to the focus of the death discussion. My favorite piece was about a father who appeared to his son after death in autumn colors and how he, the son, felt about this. My husband’s favorite was Final Enterprises, a prose-poem with references to beaming and star travel. This collection represents multiple religions, cultures, ages and beliefs. Page 100: A mother’s poem: “we’re rumors flying down star lanes, memories lost in the smoke of galaxies."
I enjoyed the honesty of Doughty’s first two books which focused on the funeral industry and cremation. In the Cat book Doughty states children ask the most interesting questions and of course they do! The key is answering which should be honest, simple and tailored to their developmental level. The title implies this information may benefit children. I think this is too much information and well beyond the questions asked.
I was also offended by the glib explanation for the tunnel experience which so many people report in near death experiences or approaching death, as oxygen deprivation or some other chemical imbalance. I say there is more to death and dying than a biological occurrence. In my experience it is so much more, as reflected in the first two books above.

Lindy

Join our Chapters book discussion group for their January read, Code Girls by Liza Mundy. You can join us in person at the South or Main library, or online in our discussion area!

January 14, 1:30 p.m. South Community Library
January 22, 7:00 p.m. Main Library Trustee Room

Teaser question: Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than 10,000 women served as code breakers during World War II. Some of the code girls were affected by the extended secrecy of their work. How might keeping secrets, however necessary, affect a person’s relationships or her identity in the world?

Julia wrote: "I just finished reading "Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. This is an older book, but if you like memoirs, I would recommend it. This book is about a hilariously dysfunctional family who finds them..."

Great memoir indeed Julia, thanks for sharing your review! You may also enjoy Walls' Half Broke Horses the true-life novel of the indomitable Lily Casey Smith (the author's grandmother) who as a child helped her father break horses, then left home at 15 to teach in a frontier town and later in life ran a ranch where she survived natural disasters and persevered during the Great Depression.

Are you looking for an enchanting series that expertly weaves fantasy and folklore into an immersive setting with vivid prose? Check out this recommendation from Lindy, one of our amazing library volunteers!

Juliet Marillier: Blackthorn and Grim Series
Dreamer's Pool (2015)
Tower of Thorns (2015)
Den of Wolves (2016)

Marillier offers a refreshing approach to romantic fantasy with unrequited love occurring softly in the background while the central focus of the story remains with a healer and a workman who are thrown together into prison. The complex plots of the series are based on folklore with interesting people and atmosphere enhancing descriptions such as detail in food, dishes, herbs for healing and clothing to convincingly create a world to immerse the reader.

Dreamer’s Pool
Prince Oran has been writing to his beloved Fleydais for many months. When she arrives at the castle for their hand- fasting she behaves like an entirely different person. Blackthorn, the healer, has a theory and she must come out of her shell of abuse and horror recovery to solve the mystery with the quiet, calm, and often wise support of her friend, Grim. Blackthorn and Grim develop an enduring relationship over the course of the series. More than passion, everlasting friendship and love.

Marillier’s earlier series Sevenwaters published in 2000 follows the more typical formula for romantic fantasy: also based on folklore with a medieval setting and well described, the romance is passionate and seeks for new ways to describe acts older than time. For example: The Kiss: “It was like the pealing of bells, the singing of a lark in the dawn sky, the scent of apple blossoms, the colors of a rainbow.” (Heir of Sevenwaters)

Daughter of the Forest (book one).
Based on the tale of the six brothers who turn into swans, their sister, Sorcha, must sew shirts from a nettle-thorn type bush to break the spell. The description of love in this book is quite beautiful in my opinion.

Special note: I applaud the author’s understated respectfulness in honoring a same sex relationship, Johnny, a close cousin of the the main character, and Gareth. “It’s no secret on the island.” and yet Johnny is held in the greatest respect as a warrior and leader of men. Bravo! (Heir of Sevenwaters)

Lindy

Barry wrote: "If you’ve never read any Graham Greene novels, I’d strongly recommend you do so. He was one of the 20th century’s most acclaimed writers. His best-known works include “The Quiet Ameri..."

Barry, those are some excellent suggestions. Based on your enjoyment of Greene have you read much of William Golding? He's known mostly for Lord of the Flies but his works are very much worth a look. Specifically, I think you might enjoy The Pyramid. Similar to The Power and the Glory it's a character study but it focuses on Oliver, a young man about to leave his small country town to go to university. Before he leaves he wants to enjoy himself but gets wrapped up in the intrigue of the small town where rebellion turns into a story of revenge and embarrassment.

-Brendan, Programming Librarian

Are you looking for an engaging mystery series with a wealth of well developed characters and a depth of place? Check out this recommendation from Lindy, one of our amazing library volunteers!

A Better Man by: Louise Penny

Armand Gamache head of homicide for the Surete du Quebec, lives in a quaint village called Three Pines with his wife, Reine-Marie and his dog, Henry. I have found myself totally enmeshed in this village and eager to know more with each book in the series.
What is Gabri serving at the bistro? “Brie, thick slices of maple cured ham, and arugula on baguettes. Pain menage.”
What is Clara painting? “Terrible miniatures.”
What is the weather like this time in Three Pines? A hundred year flood, with raging river and broken ice. Residents are sand-bagging at Ruth’s command.
What wise idiocy will the poet Ruth (also fire chief) and her cussing duck spout? How are Jean-Guy and Isabelle, fellow homicide inspectors recovering from addiction and being shot while on duty in a drug raid gone wrong?

The answers bring a sense of familiarity and belonging-a coming home feel, checking in on old friends, continuing relationships. Meanwhile the water is rising and the ice is breaking in the river that runs through the village and a woman is missing. Is Nature at fault or her abusive husband?

This is the fifteenth book in the series which began in 2005 with Still Life which won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel. As one Book Page reviewer states “ Louise Penny has some of the finest prose to grace the suspense genre.” My favorite line in the book brings to close a difficult situation and also tells the reader all she/he needs to know about a better man: “His name is Fred."

Why should children have all the fun? Join the La Crosse Public Library at the Turtle Stack Brewery on Tuesday, November 12th for 'Storytime for Adults.' Listen to your favorite local librarians and performers read adult-oriented stories and essays. In November, our monthly theme will be "Family (Dys)functions."

Doors open at 5 PM so you can get a seat and a bite to eat. Stories start right at 6:30 PM. Beer and craft sodas are available for purchase. Librarians will be on hand from 5-8 PM to answer your questions and give you personalized book recommendations. The Turtle Stack Brewery invites you to carry in food to their establishment.

For ages 21+ only.

Hello and welcome to the September episode of The Check-In, La Crosse Public Library’s monthly podcast. In this month’s episode Non-profit of the month First Teen Clothes Closet talks about their mission, I’m joined by interns working for the Archives department to talk about Voices of La Crosse, and lastly, Peter from Circulation gives some thought-provoking book reviews.

Listen here (select episode 12)>>>
Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen#...
i-Tunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

What We're Reading:

Join our Chapters book discussion group for their November read, Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy.

You can join us in person at the South or Main library, or online in our discussion area!

-Tuesday, November 12th, 1:30pm @ the South Community Library
-Wednesday, November 20th, 7:00pm @ the Main Library Trustees Room

Teaser Question: What do you think of the characters at the book's onset? Consider all four (or six) of the adults, as well as the children. Do you prefer some over others? Do any of the characters change over the course of the novel? Do your opinions of them change?

Here's another recommendation from Lindy, one of our volunteers.

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig, published 2019
Genre: Science Fiction (so far!)
Nessie, a fifteen year old honor student, is the first Wanderer. She leaves her home and begins to walk purposefully across the country joined by other Wanderers one by one from all ages, over 15 and below 60, and all walks of life. Nessie’s sister Shana is unable to “wake” her or any of the other Wanderer’s and she and other family members trail the group as shepherds to their flock of Wanderers. Where are they going? How do they maintain their energy without eating or sleeping? What is protecting their skin from injury as they walk along the back roads of several American states over any obstacles placed in their path?
At the same time, a mysterious disease is spreading throughout the world, puzzling the CDC and international sources with its virulence and causing widespread contagion and fatalities. CDC officials are torn between attending to the two catastrophes as are most of the world’s scientists.
Add to this mix a rabidly right minister who airs radio broadcasts choosing to call the Wanderers Demons, and a group of stereotypical redneck reformers with a sadistic leader who plan to shoot the Wanderers down.
My husband and I both found this an attention getting page turner (all 782 pages!). He is more a hard science guy and had some difficulty with the science but thought the main disease premise was absolutely possible. I found the characters, other than the caricature-like bad guys, compelling and realistic in their humanity.
SCARY!

Another packed house for our October Storytime for Adults! Our theme was "Safety Not Guaranteed" and we had a variety of tales around the topic including horse chases, dystopian worlds, race relations, zoo mishaps, people brought back to life, and very extraordinary deaths.

Here are the titles we shared from this month:



Letter:
My Dungeon Shook, A Letter to My Nephew by James Baldwin
https://progressive.org/magazine/lett...

Blog:
The Great Flamingo Uprising by Indirispeaks
https://zookeeperproblems.tumblr.com/...

What a beautiful evening supporting banned books on the Weber Center's rooftop terrace. Thank you to all who came out and learned about how libraries play a big role in accessibility, literacy, and freedom of speech.

Looking for some great banned books to read this month? Here's a few for all ages that we shared at storytime.

Listen in to this month's episode of The Check-In to hear about what goes on behind the scenes in our circulation department, meet our nonprofit of the month with guest, Nell Saunders-Scott, of the Parenting Place, and get some reading suggestions from our staff!

Listen here (select episode 10)>>>
Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen#...
i-Tunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

What We're Reading:

Join our Chapters book discussion group for their October read, The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor.

You can join us in person at the South or Main library, or online in our discussion area!

-Tuesday, October 8th, 1:30pm @ the South Community Library
-Wednesday, October 16th, 7:00pm @ the Main Library Trustees Room

Teaser Question: Reading a novel based on real events can affect readers in different ways. Had you heard of Grace Darling before you read the novel? What is your reaction to her story?

Our August edition of Storytime put the "strange" in "Stranger Than Fiction" with our nonfiction picks featuring local news stories, poignant and clever essays, and even some advice for the zombie apocalypse. Here are our selections from this month:



Additional Books (available at La Crosse Public Library):
True Tales of La Crosse by Douglas Connell
http://encore.wrlsweb.org/iii/encore/...
Echoes of Our Past by Myer Katz
http://encore.wrlsweb.org/iii/encore/...

Essay:
My Dad Tried to Kill Me With an Alligator by Harrison Scott Key
https://www.outsideonline.com/1979226...