Shelf Life Blog

07/21/2017 - 12:30am
If you like the Midnight Crossroads series

This readalike is in response to a customer's book-match request. If you would like personalized reading recommendations, fill out the book-match form and a librarian will email suggested titles to you. Available for adults, teens, and kids. You can browse the book matches here.

Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris
Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It's a pretty standard dried-up western town. There's a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There's a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there's new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he's found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own). Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth. (catalog summary)

Midnight, Texas is an upcoming American drama television series set to be broadcast on NBC as a midseason entry to the 2016–17 network television schedule. The series is based on the book series of the same name by author Charlaine Harris, who also created the books True Blood is based on.

Did you like Midnight Crossroad? Check out the other titles in the series, along with addtional, spooky book titles.

Day Shift by Charlaine HarrisNight Shift by Charlaine Harris


Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

Beautiful Creatures
by Kami Garcia

In a small South Carolina town, where it seems little has changed since the Civil War, sixteen-year-old Ethan is powerfully drawn to Lena, a new classmate with whom he shares a psychic connection and whose family hides a dark secret that may be revealed on her sixteenth birthday. (catalog summary)
 

 


07/19/2017 - 12:28am
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Meet Nimona, the girl who desperately wants to be sidekick to the evil villain Sir Ballister Blackheart.

Meet Sir Ballister Blackheart, who really does not want a kid as a sidekick.

After an awkward beginning, settled when Sir Ballister learns of Nimona’s shapeshifting abilities, a team is born!

In Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson, this unlikely duo join forces to take on The Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics. The Agency, whose frontman, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, is the archnemesis of Sir Ballister, is an organization of heroes out to rid the world of evil . . . or are they? When Nimona and Sir Ballister uncover an evil plot led by the Institution, they set out to thwart it. But, will anybody believe that an evil villain and his dubious sidekick could be out to do good?

07/18/2017 - 12:28am
Ancient America: Fifty Archaeological Sites to See For Yourself

Many Americans are largely unaware of the fascinating Native American sites that dot our landscapes and can be visited by the public. From tall mounds, akin in function to the ancient pyramids, to haunting images etched in desert stone, there are many sites to see off the beaten tourist trails. They can tell us a lot about the people who made this continent their home hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago.

In his Ancient America: Fifty Archaeological Sites to See For Yourself, author Kenneth L. Feder gives you a wonderfully friendly tour of 50 such sites. Some are located in state or national parks. Some are found as local museums. All are worth a look. As a professor of anthropology, Dr. Feder is extremely knowledgeable, but his conversational tone makes this is a genuinely accessible guide.

07/17/2017 - 9:43am
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

This readalike is in response to a customer's book-match request. If you would like personalized reading recommendations, fill out the book-match form and a librarian will email suggested titles to you. Available for adults, teens, and kids.  You can browse the book matches here.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
The Starks of Winterfell are a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. (catalog description)

If you like A Game of Thrones, read the rest of The Song of Fire and Ice series:

A Clash of Kings by George RR MartinA Storm of Swords by George RR MartinA Feast for Crows by George RR MartinA Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin

Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Set on the fictional continents of Westeros and EssosGame of Thrones has several plot lines and a large ensemble cast but centers on three primary story arcs. Game of Thrones has attracted record viewership on HBO and has a broad, active, international fan base. The series has received 38 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series in 2015 and 2016, more than any other primetime scripted television series. Its other awards and nominations include three Hugo Awards for Best Dramatic Presentation (2012–2014), a 2011 Peabody Award, and four nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama (2012 and 2015–2017). Of the ensemble cast, Peter Dinklage has won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2011 and 2015) and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (2012) for his performance as Tyrion LannisterLena HeadeyEmilia ClarkeKit HaringtonMaisie WilliamsDiana Rigg, and Max von Sydow have also received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for their performances in the series.¹ The seventh season begins on July 16th on HBO. This is the second to last season of the entire series, with fewer episodes than the previous six seasons.

07/13/2017 - 12:24am
Cover to Caroline’s Comets: A True Story by Emily Arnold McCully

Caroline Herschel had a very hard life early on. Born into a family of royal musicians in what is now Germany, two childhood illnesses left her face pockmarked and her body stunted. Her mother treated her very much as a servant while worrying that no man would ever want to marry her. In the 1700s, this was a real concern, for it was hard for women to make enough money to survive on their own. Caroline's life was pretty miserable as she was expected to do exhausting housework, including knitting stockings for everyone, over and over again.

Fortunately, Caroline’s older brother William wanted to help her. He had moved to England where he was working as a choral conductor and piano teacher. William had the idea that Caroline could learn to sing and be paid for it, and that is exactly what she did. But that is not where her story ends.

07/12/2017 - 12:23am
The Sword and the Broom: The Exceptional Career and Accomplishments of John Mercer Langston

When Glory came out in 1989, movie audiences were excited to see a relatively unknown side of the Civil War that highlighted the sacrifices of the Massachusetts 54th, a “colored” volunteer regiment. Gripping as the story that unfolded on the screen was, there was much more to it, of course. In real life, other people’s stories became part of the regiment’s history as the Civil War gripped the nation.

John Mercer Langston, along with Frederick Douglass, acted as a recruiter for the 54th. As an abolitionist and orator, he was an excellent choice, and this task was just one of Langston’s civic accomplishments. Although he had spent most of his life in a free state, John was familiar with plantation life. His father had been a white plantation owner in Louisa County, Virginia—not far from Spotsylvania. His mother had been his father’s slave. But his parents’ story was not a common one for the era. His father freed his mother, and, although they were not allowed to marry for legal reasons, they lived together as man and wife for the rest of their days, their children considered to be freeborn.

07/11/2017 - 12:22am
Dying Breath: A Krewe of Hunters Novel by Heather Graham

When she was a teenager, Boston native Vickie Preston and the little boy she babysat were almost killed by an escaped serial killer, who chose them at random. Her escape was aided by none other than a real life ghost—the ghost of the little boy's 17-year-old brother who lost his life in a car crash. 

Vickie, now a historian, has returned to her hometown many years after the incident. But she doesn't return alone. The teenage ghost has followed her around most of her life, acting as her spectral protector. Overall, Vickie doesn't mind the company.

07/10/2017 - 12:22am
Cover to Knit, Hook, and Spin: A Kid’s Activity Guide to Fiber Arts and Crafts by Laurie Carlson

Is Arts & Crafts class your favorite camp activity? Does working with yarn, felt, and fabric put you in a happy, creative place? Then, Knit, Hook, and Spin: A Kid’s Activity Guide to Fiber Arts and Crafts, by Laurie Carlson, might be the best book ever.  It has directions for all kinds of fun. With its very clear instructions, you can learn to weave, knit, crochet, and even spin your own yarn if you like.

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