Posts

Have you ever considered forming a book club but didn't know where to get started? In this post, I will go over the Book Club Resources tab on NoveList and how it can help you identify potential reading group faves, figure out how to select your lineup of reads, and more! In this post, I will go over one of the many cool features that can be found in NoveList Plus that will help you navigate through hundreds of books to find the right one for you.

The Christy Awards are given each year to Christian fiction novels to honor "novels of excellence, imagination, and creativity." The award has been given since 1999, and is named for Catherine Marshall’s novel, "Christy". This year's finalists were recently announced, and they are: 

Book of the Year:

Have you ever tried helping someone find books in a specific genre when it's not one you're familiar with? In this post, I will go over a resource called Genre Guides that NoveList has put together to help with just that! You will learn how to find a genre, limit the search by age range, and then find a well-rounded list of books and authors to recommend.

Have you ever searched for an eBook or audiobook in Libby, only to find that we didn't own it yet? Fear not! Thanks to the new Reciprocal Lending Agreement (RLA) made between ten different Michigan library cooperatives (including our own), patrons with a valid Chippewa River District Library card will now have access to thousands more titles!

Have you ever struggled to navigate any of the apps available through the library or had other technology-related questions when no one was available to help? Look no further! Our tech team has put together several simple-to-follow tutorials on various topics for you to watch and will hopefully teach you something new.

Have you ever been in the mood to read something VERY specific but didn't know how to find what you were looking for? In this post, I will go over one of the many cool features that can be found in NoveList Plus that will help you navigate through hundreds of books to find the right one for you.

Chippewa River District Library is offering free at-home COVID test kits as part of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Library Partnership for At-Home Test Program.

 “We are heading back into the time of year where people are inside more and at greater risk of passing germs around,” said Corey Friedrich, CRDL Library Director. “So, we will see a rise in colds, flu, and COVID.”

Have you heard of people using Goodreads or StoryGraph as reading tracker websites but don't know where to begin? In this post, I will go over some of the main features of each site, a few positives and negatives of both, and hopefully by the end, you'll be able to decide which one you'd be interested in using (if not both)!

It is 1952, and nearly all the girls 16-year-old Bertha Harding knows dream of getting married, keeping house, and raising children in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Bertha dreams of baseball. She reads every story in the sports section, she plays ball with the neighborhood boys -- she even writes letters to the pitcher for the Workington Sweet Peas, part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. When Bertha's father is accused of being part of the Communist Party by the House Un-American Activities Committee, life comes crashing down on them. Disgraced and shunned, the Hardings move to a small town to start over where the only one who knows them is shy Uncle Matthew. But dreams are hard to kill, and when Bertha gets a chance to try out for the Workington Sweet Peas, she packs her bags for an adventure she'll never forget.

Have you ever wondered how people find so many good books to read? In this post, I will go over some of the easiest (and my favorite) ways to find upcoming releases to add to your TBR pile.

Have you ever wondered how to find books and authors similar to those you already know and love? Look no further! In this post, I will start with two simple solutions I use daily while assisting patrons at the help desk.

A year after getting divorced, Helen Carpenter, thirty-two, lets her annoying, ten years younger brother talk her into signing up for a wilderness survival course. It's supposed to be a chance for her to pull herself together again, but when she discovers that her brother's even-more-annoying best friend is also coming on the trip, she can't imagine how it will be anything other than a disaster. Thus begins the strangest adventure of Helen's well-behaved life: three weeks in the remotest wilderness of a mountain range in Wyoming where she will survive mosquito infestations, a surprise summer blizzard, and a group of sorority girls. Yet, despite everything, the vast wilderness has a way of making Helen's own little life seem bigger, too. And, somehow the people who annoy her the most start teaching her the very things she needs to learn. Like how to stand up for herself. And how being scared can make you brave. And how sometimes you just have to get really, really lost before you can even have a hope of being found.

An ambitious wedding planner must work with her grumpy florist ex, whose heart she broke, on the most high-profile wedding of her career, in this spicy and emotional romance from popular fanfic author Julie Soto. He loves me; he loves me not... Ama Torres loves being a wedding planner. But with a mother who has been married more times than you can count on your fingers, Ama has decided that marriage is not the route for her. But weddings? Weddings are amazing. As a small business owner, she knows how to match her clients with the perfect vendor to give them the wedding of their dreams. Well, almost perfect… Elliot hates being a florist, most of the time. When his father left him the flower shop, he considered it a burden, but he’s stuck with it. Just like how he’s stuck with the way he proposed to Ama, his main collaborator and girlfriend (or was she?) two years ago. But flowers have grown on him, just like Ama did. And flowers can’t run off and never speak to him again, like Ama did. When Ama is hired to plan a celebrity wedding that will bring her business national exposure, there's a catch: Elliot is already contracted to design the flowers. Things are not helped by the two brides, who see the obvious chemistry between Ama and Elliot and are determined to set them up, not knowing their complicated history. Add in a meddling ex-boss, and a reality TV film crew documenting every step of the wedding prep, and Ama and Elliot's hearts are not only in jeopardy again, but this time, their livelihoods are too.

He thinks she’s an elderly widow. She’s convinced he’s a grumpy old man. Neither could be further from the truth. Reminiscent of the beloved classic You’ve Got Mail comes a delightful new romantic comedy about mistaken identities, second chances, and finding love in unexpected places.