Reviews

Teen Review

Just Ella

By Margaret Peterson Haddix
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Anne G
Oct 21, 2019

                “Why did everyone like that story so much when it wasn’t true?  Why was everyone so eager to believe it?  Was it because, in real life, ever after’s generally stink?”

Staff Review

Hook: A Memoir

By Randall Horton
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Lisa A.
Oct 18, 2019

“We script our lives on reaction rather than action, meaning daily life is always in response to, or a reply to, a command or demand. The world uses us in that way...The world does this--holds us down.”― Randall Horton, Hook: A Memoir

Staff Review

Waking Up

By Sam Harris
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Michelle H.
Oct 16, 2019

Waking Up is a firsthand account of a scientist using his own mind to respond to the question, "what is the nature of awareness?"  It’s great reading, has lots of level headed advice, and looks squarely at a question with a bias against it so strong there isn’t another book out there like it. The subject of consciousness is usually handled in one of two ways, either with no use of the intellect or with a skepticism so strong exploration into the topic never even occurs.

Staff Review

A Hero Born

By Jin Yong

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Oct 11, 2019

Touted as a Chinese Lord of the Rings, Jin Yong's A Hero Born, makes it's debut English translation. This story follows Guo Jing who was born during the Song empire. After his father, a Song Patriot, is murdered, he is taken up into the Mongolian steppes. There he is raised in Genghis Kahn's army before meeting The Seven Heroes of the South who tell him he is fated to fight in a competition to determine who is the greatest master.

Staff Review

New Releases in Fiction - October 2019!

Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Gregg W.
Oct 10, 2019

Hello and welcome to our look at some new releases this month at the Johnson County Library! Every month we look at five fiction titles making their debut that we think you absolutely need to know about. Give one - or more - of these titles a chance to make it in your hold list. We hope you find something new!

Staff Review

Flash Count Diary: Menopause and the Vindication of Natural Life

By Darcey Steinke
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Lisa A.
Oct 9, 2019

“Every ten years or so, I either go back to therapy or I write a book in order to tell myself again, in a new way, my life story. This current version is death heavy, feminism heavy, whale heavy, but also multilayered, even multigenerational. I’m not only fifty-six but also seven, twelve, twenty-seven, thirty-four, and forty-eight. My story is like a choral piece with many different parts.

Teen Review

Scarlet

By Marissa Meyer

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Oct 8, 2019

The second book in the Lunar Chronicles, Scarlet, is a take on the well known tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The main character and namesake is Scarlet, a farm girl living on the outskirts of a small French town. Scarlet’s spunkiness and courageous attitude makes her an almost shockingly dynamic character compared to Cinder from the first book.

Staff Review

The Giver of Stars

By Moyes, Jojo
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Lisa H
Oct 7, 2019

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes is historical fiction at its very best!  Set in 1939 Southern Kentucky, the lives of five strong female characters come together to form and operate the Packhorse Library, where they deliver by horseback, books, magazines and newspapers to those living in remote, rural areas.