Cook Memorial Public Library Podcast

Horror readers Lindsay, Mark, and Karen talk up some chilling October reads.

This is an edited version of October's Bookies Live event. Follow the library on Facebook to catch future Bookies Live.

In This Episode

Catriona Ward, The Last House on Needless Street

Tiffany D. Jackson, White Smoke

C.J. Tudor, The Burning Girls

Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence

V. Castro, The Queen of the Cicadas

Josh Malerman, A House at the Bottom of a Lake

Readers' Advisor Erica O'Rourke talks up some of the season's best and most buzzed about books. If you need some new reading suggestions or just want to know what titles are worth adding to your TBR pile, you won't want to miss this episode.

Returning FavoritesColson Whitehead, Harlem Shuffle

Anthony Doerr, Cloud Cuckoo Land

Liane Moriarty, Apples Never Fall

TJ Klune, Under the Whispering Door

Rachel Howzell Hall, These Toxic Things | register for the library's Authors Out Loud program.

Big Books

Jonathan Franzen, Crossroads

Monica Byrne, The Actual Star

Neal Stephenson, Termination Shock

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

Diana Gabaldon, Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone

Series

Alexis Daria, A Lot Like Adiós

Alice Hoffman, The Book of Magic

Richard Osman, The Man Who Died Twice

David Sedaris, A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003-2020

Elizabeth Strout, Oh William!

Head of Children's Services Melissa Phillips is here to get you excited about summer reading! Get info on how to sign up, all the fun activities to participate in, and of course the prizes.

Why wait? SIGN UP NOW!

For the 6th year in a row, AV Librarian Becky King is back to talk about the Academy Awards ceremony. Nate and Becky discuss the night's biggest moments, the movies and performances of the year, plus share a few 2020 favorites that were shut out of the awards, but that you won't want to miss.

We celebrate Women's History Month and Cook Library's Centennial by looking at the women who were key to the founding of the library and its early days.

Local History Librarian Jenny Barry shares the stories of Emily Barrows Cook, Mabel MacGuffin, Norma Lee Peck, Clara Colby, Laura Taylor, August Lovell, and more.

Keep checking the library's Centennial Celebration page to stay updated on the festivities!

Previous Women's History Month Podcast Episodes

• Dr. Norma Munson
• 3 Women of Libertyville

Blog Posts

• Man at washtub, wife votes: an election year retrospective
• Stitches in Time: Discovering Libertyville History through the 1889 Union Church Signature Quilt (part 1)
• Stitches in Time: Discovering Libertyville History through the 1889 Union Church Signature Quilt (part 2)
• Stitches in Time: Discovering Libertyville History through the 1889 Union Church Signature Quilt (part 3)
• The Oldest Drug Store in Town (Part 1)

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, Cook Library's Romance book selector Erica O'Rourke shares a few of her favorite titles. Erica talks about what differentiates a romance from a love story then suggests books for fans of Bridgerton, those looking for something contemporary, and even some titles for anyone celebrating Galentine's Day.

MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE

Bridgerton (series) by Julia Quinn

The Wildes of Lindow Castle (series) by Eloisa James

The Lady's Guide To Celestial Mechanics and The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite

Make Up Break Up by Lily Menon.

Brown Sisters (series) by Talia Hibbert

The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Bossypants by Tina Fey.

Parks & Recreation Season 2 - includes the episode with Galentine's Day.

Readers Advisor Jo is back for our annual episode on Cook Library's favorite books of the year!

Astute listeners will note it is no longer 2020, but with so many great books published and our annual library booklets being released despite a worldwide pandemic, we figured better late than never to do a little celebrating of our year in reading.

Check out the online version of our Fiction and Nonfiction Favorites booklets or stop into the vestibule of either library location to pick up a physical copy today!

How has COVID-19 impacted the book publishing industry? Our guest Skip Dye - SVP of Library Sales and Digital Strategy and SVP Director of Sales Operations at Penguin Random House - knows a thing or two about how publishers are adapting to this very different world we find ourselves in.

We pack a lot into this episode. Learn the ways in which Coronavirus affects a publisher's supply chain, how PRH is responding to the Black Lives Matter movement, the changes in reading tastes, how authors are still connecting to readers, the evolving publisher/library relationship, and of course what Skip's been reading lately.

BOOKS MENTIONED

Intimations by Zadie Smith

There There by Tommy Orange

The Places That Scare You by Pema Chödrön

Born A Crime by Trevor Noah