Check this out, at the library this week
Howard County Library will be closed Monday, February 15 in observance of Presidents Day, we will reopen Tuesday, February 16. You can still access our digital collection with your library card. You have three options with Libby, Overdrive, and Simplye, they all access the same digital collection which have e-books and audiobook options. Follow the instructions on how to download and use these E-readers, on our website under the “Digital Collections” side menu. Also, for kids there is now E-read Texas For Kids, for children in kindergarten through 8th grade. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission state that “More than 600 E-read Texas for Kids titles can be accessed at https://e-readtxkids.biblioboard.com/home. Users in Texas can access the site with no login nor password required. There’s no need to “check-out” the books—just click and access. And there are no simultaneous user restrictions, so that means there are no holds and no waitlists.” The E-read Texas for kids can be accessed through the website listed above and in the Simplye app under the “Children and Middle Grade” section.
This week’s reviews include mystery and fiction titles.
When a body is found at the lake in Paradise, police chief Jesse Stone is surprised to find he recognizes the murder victim in “Fool’s Paradise” Jesse Stone Series BK# 19 (M PAR R) by Robert B Parker, Mike Lupica. The man had been at the same AA meeting as Jesse the evening before. But otherwise, Jesse has no clue as to the man's identity. He isn't a local, nor does he have an ID on him, nor does any neighboring state have a reported missing person matching the man's description. Their single lead is from a taxi company that recalls dropping off the mysterious stranger outside the gate at the mansion of one of the wealthiest families in town. Meanwhile, after Jesse survives a hail of gunfire on his home, he wonders if it could be related to the mysterious murder. When both Molly Crane and Suit Simpson also become targets, it's clear someone has an axe to grind against the entire Paradise PD.
Cal Hooper thought a fixer-upper in a bucolic Irish village would be the perfect escape in “The Searcher” (M FRE T) by Tana French. After twentyfive years in the Chicago police force and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens. But when a local kid whose brother has gone missing arm-twists him into investigating, no one, least of all the police, seems to care. Cal wants nothing to do with any kind of investigation, but somehow, he can’t make himself walk away. Against his will, he discovers that even the most idyllic small town, secrets lie hidden, people aren’t always what they seem, and trouble can come calling at the door.
Harry has faced terrible odds before in “Battle Ground” The Dresden Files BK #17 (F BUT J) by Jim Butcher. He has a long history of fighting enemies above his weight class. The Red Court of vampires. The fallen angels of the Order of the Blackened Denarius. The Outsiders. But this time it’s different. A being more powerful and dangerous order of magnitude beyond what the world has seen in a millennium is coming. And she’s bringing an army. The Last Titan has declared war on the city of Chicago, and has come to subjugate humanity, obliterating any who stand in her way. Harry’s mission is simple but impossible: Save the city by killing a Titan. And the attempt will change Harry’s life, Chicago, and the mortal world forever.
Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island in “Leave the World Behind” (F ALA R) by Rumaan Alam. They are expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older couple it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area, with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service, it’s hard to know what to believe. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?
“We write for the same reason that we walk, talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans – because we can. We have some impulse within us that makes us want to explain ourselves to other human beings.” – Maya Angelou
Howard County Library is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, for Grab & Go access to the library. Customers have 30 minutes to browse the shelves, checkout items, make copies and send a fax, an appointment is still required to use a computer. Please visit our website at http:// howard-county.ploud.net and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/howardcolibrary for more information. You may reach us at 432-264-2260 and our fax number is 432-264-2263.