IN THE LIBRARY THIS WEEK | 04/12/24

Family Night carnival fun at the library this Thursday! Get ready for a night of carnival games, prizes, and excitement!

The library is hosting its monthly Family Night this Thursday, April 18th starting at 5:30 p.m. with a festive Carnival theme. The garden area will be transformed into a vibrant carnival with a variety of booths and activities for all ages. This Family Night promises to be a blast for the whole family. Admission is free!

Looking for an opportunity to dive deeper into great books and engage in stimulating literacy discussion? Look no further than your local library’s monthly book club! The group meets once a month on the last Thursday evening to discuss and dissect our selected novel. For April, we will be discussing the popular book, The Women by Kristin Hannah. This bestselling novel provides a unique perspective, told through the eyes of Frankie who joins the military to become a nurse during the Vietnam War. The narrative follows Frankie before her deployment, during her harrowing time in Vietnam, and how she changed after returning home from the war. This book has received wonderful comments for its emotional, engaging storytelling and insight into the experiences of women in the military during that era. The meeting takes place on Thursday, April 25th at 6:00 p.m. in the library. Participants are encouraged to bring a small dish or snack to share with the group. Even if you haven’t read the book, you’re still welcome to join, meet fellow book lovers, and get a taste for the novel.

Celebrate DNA Day at the Library! Get ready for a fascinating and fun family program at the library. On Thursday, April 25th at 5:30 p.m., the library will host a special DNA Day celebration. During this interactive event, participants will learn about the building blocks of life that make each of us unique yet share commonalities. One of the highlights will be an engaging hands-on experiment extracting DNA from strawberries. This educational program promises to be an enriching experience for kids and adults alike. Don’t miss this free family program. No registration is required, so just in and prepare to have your mind blown by the wonders of DNA!

This week in the library:

Monday—Genealogy Help 2-4 p.m.

Tuesday—Preschool Story Time 11 a.m.
Genealogy Help—2-4 p.m.

Wednesday—Baby Sensory Play 10 a.m.

Thursday—Family Night (Carnival Fun Fair) 5:30 p.m.

Recommended Books

If you’re looking for a book to reawaken your sense of wonder about the natural world around us, look no further than The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl. One of our librarians has greatly enjoyed this literacy nature journal that chronicles Renkl’s observations of the plants, animals, and seasonal changes in her own backyard over a full year. Her backyard observations parallel the shifting rhythms of her own life – children grown and leaving home again after the pandemic, echoes of past generations, her city and surroundings continually evolving. This book paints an intimate portrait of the restorative powers of paying close attention to our natural surroundings.

One of this month’s top picks for Library Reads is To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang. After a Roman price discovers Ruying’s death power, he uses her sister’s addiction to make a deal with Ruying. He needs her to assassinate someone at the top of the food chain, and in return her family will live. The cost of unusual magic, trust issues, attraction to the enemy, and constant action carry this novel. (4-16) Kimberly McGee

Continuing with another pick from Library Reads is Extinction by Douglas Preston. When newlyweds are attacked at Erebus Resort, investigator Frankie Cash and Sheriff Colcord team up to find the killers. There is more going on than meets the eye as the killers carry out more blatant attacks at this unique location featuring resurrected dinosaur species, including a family of woolly mammoths. An interesting concept with loads of science. (4-23) Judy G. Sebastian

In Alyssa Cole’s tense psychological thriller One of Us Knows, a woman grappling with dissociative identity disorder is given an unexpected second chance. Years after a breakdown upended her career in historic preservation, Kenetria Nash and her alternative identities are hired as the caretaker of an isolated historic home on an island in the Hudson River. Though it seems like the perfect opportunity for a fresh start, Kenetria has no memory of how she ends up on the remote island. Trapped on the island and caught in a dangerous web of secrets, Kenetria and her alters must band together to prove her innocence. But in doing so, they are forced to confront not just the truth about the island’s history, but the traumatic events that led to Kenetria’s fractured psychological state. This is a must read for fans of psychological suspense. (4-16)

Lupe Herrera, Director – Mount Pleasant Public Library