We Recommend

Looking for your next obsession? You're in the right place.

  • Browse the page below to see recent staff lists, recommendations to get started in a new genre, and reviews.
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Staff Booklists

Latest Staff Reviews

Staff Review
man in tan pants, brown jacket, and purple shirt standing in greenery

Humanity Writing Contest

By Boyd Bauman
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Helen H.
Feb 13, 2025

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Boyd Bauman has won our writing contest in the open category on the theme Humanity with his poem "Tasks I Hope A.I. Can Never Accomplish, #117."

Staff Review
A woman walking  down a residential street with her back turned in a Victorian dress.

A Curious Beginning

By Deanna Raybourn
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Karyn H
Jan 15, 2025

A Curious Beginning is the first book in a charming cozy mystery series set in London circa 1887 featuring lady detective and adventuress, Veronica Speedwell.  Veronica refuses to conform to Victorian society’s ideal image of a moral, domestic, and virtuous woman.  She’s a feisty, outspoken, and independent feminist who self-educated to become a natural historian and lepidopterist (someone who studies butterflies and moths), publishes scientific papers, travels solo, smokes, drinks, is an expert in self-defe