WooReads Spring Reading Challenge For Adults: Patron Book Reviews

 

Join the WooReads: Spring Reading Challenge for Adults for a chance to win a L.L. Bean tote bag featuring the WPL logo. All you have to do is log at least 9 books from March 1- May 31 to be entered into the drawing. 

Looking for your next great read? Try the Spring Staff Picks booklist featuring fiction and nonfiction books.

Try one of our Bundles if you'd like a librarian to select books, magazines or DVDs for you. For information on adult classes and programs, visit mywpl.org. 

Enjoy these book reviews submitted by your fellow patrons through our WooReads challenge.

Unrequited Infatuations by Stevie Van Zandt 

Although I was not familiar with much of Steven Van Zandt's solo music, I was a fan of the Sopranos, which is what drew me to the book. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about all the charitable organizations he has supported and the musicians he has worked with over the years. He's traveled the world, been an activist for the oppressed, and values the friendships he's made along the way. Always nice to read good things about good people. ~ Linda J. 

The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz

This series keeps sucking me in! Saddened by the loss of two characters and I can't wait to see how Jane recovers in the next book.     ~ Sandra B. 

A Consumer's Republic by Lizabeth Cohen

This book is loaded with information of how American society became one of mass consumption post WWII. An interesting read. ~ Mary T.

Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson 

Laurie Halse Anderson did it again! A gripping book that throws the reader right into the midst of the action from beginning to end. ~ Mario W.

Reading Resources

Learn to access the huge collection of free e-books, audiobooks, videos and music available through the library. All you need is a library card and our librarians can help you download to your device or smartphone. This class is a basic introduction into the expanding world of e-materials. Register here. 

New Releases: April Edition

Check out these highly anticipated April releases featuring fiction and nonfiction titles. Click on the title to request a copy or get your name on the waitlist. Don’t forget to watch for more featured releases next month! 

Featured Fiction

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

Alexis was supposed to just have a fling with the cute carpenter ten years younger than her. When it starts to become more, she has to decide if she can turn her back on her wealthy family or follow her heart and bring Daniel into her world. 

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

Named after the patron saint of Glasgow, Mungo Hamilton is coming to realize that he is gay in a merciless city that demands conformity. At its core, Glasgow is a working-class town where the jobs have been replaced by rampant poverty and alcoholism. It’s an insular place where the people identify as either Protestant or Catholic and often express their fealty with violence and hatred. At its core, this is the story of Mungo’s coming-of-age in such an environment.

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li

Ocean’s Eleven meets The Farewell in this lush, lyrical heist novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums, about diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of the Chinese American identity.

Featured Nonfiction

Finding Me by Viola Davis

Oscar winner Viola Davis’s life story told in her own words. It is a moving and personal memoir of a global icon that will be sure to capture your heart.

Bomb Shelter: Love, time & other explosives by Mary Laura Philpott

Anxious by nature, Mary Laura Philpott has always prepared for the worst yet still managed to look at the bright side of life. Then, when her teenage son has a middle-of-the-night seizure and is diagnosed with epilepsy, Philpott’s sunny disposition turned dark: If this happened, what else could happen? Philpott’s memoir in essays is a balancing act of anxiety and optimism, showing both the dark and the light sides of life.

We are The Middle of Forever by Dahr Jamail & Stan Rushworth

For the Indigenous people of the world, radical alteration of the planet, and of life itself, is a story that is many generations long. We Are the Middle of Forever places Indigenous voices at the center of conversations about today's environmental crisis.

WooReads Spring Reading Challenge For Adults: Patron Book Reviews

 

Hello WooReaders! We're back with a new challenge for the spring-which will hopefully be here soon! Join the WooReads: Spring Reading Challenge for Adults for a chance to win a L.L. Bean tote bag featuring the WPL logo. All you have to do is log at least 9 books from March 1- May 31 to be entered into the drawing. 

To find your next great read, check out Reader's Corner for books recommended by WPL librarians. Looking for gardening tips? No matter if you're a seasoned pro or trying to make your thumb a little greener, our Gardening eBooks list has everything you need. 

Try one of our Bundles if you'd like a librarian to select books, magazines or DVDs for you. For information on adult classes and programs, visit mywpl.org

Enjoy these book reviews submitted by your fellow patrons through our WooReads challenge.

Light Years From Home by Mike Chen

When drug addicted Jakob disappeared 15 years ago, his father was convinced it was an alien abduction. His sisters and mother each have a different opinion. Now Jakob has returned with a crazy story of UFOs, invasion plans and alien technology. His family must decide: is he mentally ill, running a con or telling the truth? How can they help him? The underlying themes of family and forgiveness make this a story that speaks to all of us. Outstanding novel! ~ Mary R. 

Clean by James Hamblin

Hamblin brilliantly moves from the micro-our skin microbiome -to the meso- soap and hygiene products industry-to the macro-the role of clean water, sanitation, clean air, and getting out into nature in our health and the development of public facilities for that, and the global inequities, where those in developed countries can spend lots of money on questionable skin care products, while those in undeveloped countries don't have access to the basics: clean water and soap. ~ Amy W. 

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 

Enjoyed reading this book. Loved the science, problem solving and unexpected twists and turns. ~ Sandra B. 

The Bogleheads' Guide to the Three-Fund Portfolio by Taylor Larimore

This is a thin book highlighting the advantages of investing in a Three-Fund Portfolio. Investing shouldn't be complicated and investing in Total (i.e. Stock, Bond, International Stock) Market Index Funds allows for a diversified portfolio, reducing overall risk. ~ Mary T.

Reading Resources

Coming to the Main Library to browse? Stop by our Urban Fiction collection on the first floor. Featuring today's most prolific Urban Fiction writers, including India, Honey, Kiki Swanson and JaQuavis Coleman, you're sure to find a thrilling story from this action packed genre. 

Virtual Money Smart Week, April 9 - 16, 2022

Virtual Money Smart Week is a national, free campaign that aims to help people better manage their personal finances through a coordinated effort of experts and educators across the country.

This year's line-up of free, virtual events include:

• Spend Smart. Eat Smart. | Monday, April 11 at 2:00 p.m. Presented by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach

• Credit: Build & Improve It! | Tuesday, April 12 at 2:00 p.m. Presented by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

• Buying or Refinancing a Home: Options & Tools | Wednesday, April 13 at 2:00 p.m. Presented by North West Housing Partnership

• Understanding Social Security Benefits | Thursday, April 14 at 2:00 p.m. Presented by the Social Security Administration

The Worcester Public Library has valuable resources to assist those wanting to improve their financial future and gain a better understanding of how to manage their personal finances. For further questions about the library's offerings, please contact Jackie, our Business Resources Librarian, at jdzugan@mywpl.org.

• The library offers monthly, in-person classes on DIY Investing: A Beginner's Class and Personal Investing with Morningstar Research Center. Register for those classes here.

• Also, a Staff Pick's book list for Financial Literacy can be found here.
• Helpful resources to enhance a better understanding of financial literacy skills are located here.     

Register for events and learn more details at www.moneysmartweek.org.  Events are free and open to the public, but registration is advised. To register for any of the events listed above, please click here.