Episode Transcript
[00:00:16] Speaker A: Greetings readers. Welcome to the 1 September edition of Library News.
September brings a sense of new beginnings. School is back in session, bringing fresh routines, new learning opportunities, and a return to familiar schedules at the Library. We're excited to support you through this seasonal shift with resources, programs and services designed to keep you connected, informed and inspired.
In this episode, we discuss fall programming, Bard Top 10 fiction, and much more.
[00:00:47] Speaker B: Save the Date the Library is thrilled to welcome visitors to an extraordinary Multi sensory Journey through Space.
We are proud to announce that the Experience the Cosmos, the James Webb Space Telescope Traveling Tactile Exhibit will be on display in our building from September 14 through December 21, 2026. This exhibition was developed by Tactile Images in association with the National Federation of the Blind and Getty Images and was created in collaboration with the Space Telescope Science Institute.
The exhibit features 10 tactile renderings of images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope and is paired with audio commentary from astronomers and scientists.
The exhibit offers visitors of all ages a chance to explore the farthest reaches of the universe through both touch and sound. Beginning September 14th, the exhibit will be open Mondays from 8:00am to 8:00pm, Tuesday through Friday 8:00am To 4:30pm and the first Saturday of October, November and December, 9:00am to 1:00pm. On Saturday, October 3rd, we'll be hosting a grand opening celebration from 9:00am To 1:00pm featuring Hands on activities including an arts project led by artist Jill Wells.
[00:02:10] Speaker C: The Library will also partner with the South Central STEM Hub and the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council to to host a fully accessible STEM Fest on October 24, 2026 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm this event will feature hands on science, technology, engineering and math activities designed so participants of all abilities can join in the discovery and fun.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: The eighth stop in our 2026 Peekabox journey was Beijing, China, a city that made Olympic history by hosting both the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics. The they were the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Games. The 2022 Winter Games featured over 100 events across multiple winter sports and reused several iconic venues from 2008, showing how Olympic spaces can be transformed over time. For example, the water Cube became the Ice Cube for curling. Do you want to learn and read all about Olympic host cities? It's not too late to get signed up for Peekabox. Call the library to get signed up today or go to IowaLibrary blog now
[00:03:16] Speaker B: for our top 10 fiction books downloaded from Bard Ironwood DB13000 7790 by Michael Connolly sworn to protect a scenic island meant to be far from the evils of the mainland, Detective Sergeant Stilwell can feel danger closing in. Detective Sergeant Stilwell knows that his posting on Catalina island is is no paradise. But to most residents, it seems blissfully separated by 22 miles of ocean from the troubles of Los Angeles County.
But now a threat is coming to a safe haven. Acting on a tip from a confidential informant, Stilwell and his deputies watch a plane land in the middle of the night at the airport. In the sky A remote airstrip in the mountains. A duffel bag of drugs is dropped and the deputies move in. But things quickly go sideways. While Stillwell chases the fleeing pickup man into the mountainside brush. Shots are fired on the Runway and the plane flies off. An internal inquiry follows, putting Stilwell on the bench until he is cleared of responsibility for the disastrous operation.
But he is determined to find out who brought deadly violence to his island and begins his own secret investigation into the drug deal gone wrong.
26 A women's murder club thriller DB137550 by James Patterson SFPD's Sergeant Lindsey Boxer's best friend Claire Washburn is named Medical examiner of the Year. But an uninvited guest crashes the Women's Murder Club's party. A concerned father seeking investigative reporter Cindy Thomas help in locating his missing daughter.
And she's not the only one. Lindsay's been investigating the deaths of Jane Doe, washed up on a nearby beach, and a young woman found in Golden Gate Park. What if all these cases are connected? The answers lie with the 26 beauties on the Run and in the wind.
The Calamity Club A Novel DB 138089 by Katherine Stockett Oxford, Mississippi, 1933 Abandoned by her mother one Christmas Eve, 11 year old Meg LaFleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one.
Now one of the unadoptable big girls at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed. Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she's left behind.
But as the depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister's seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies. Then Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman running low on luck with little left to lose. When their fates and Meg's converge, Charlie comes up with an audacious plan for them to take control of their lives. But in a place and a time where hypocrisy is rife and Women's freedom is fragile, and even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences.
[00:06:23] Speaker C: Yesteryear DB137558 by Claire Caro Burke Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic. Her husband a handsome cowboy. Her six children each more delightful than the last.
So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes? Her kitchen hiding industrial grade fridges and ovens. Her husband, the heir to a political dynasty. What Natalie's followers, all 8 million of them, don't know, won't hurt them. And the angry women, the privileged Ivy League coastal elite haters who call her an anti feminist econoclast. They're sick with jealousy because Natalie isn't simply living the good life. She's living the idea. And just so happens to be building an empire from it. Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn't hers. Her home, her husband, her children. They're all familiar. But something's off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity. Her children are dirty and strange. And her soft handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram and now she's expected to haul firewood and hand wash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a ruthless reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things. This is not her beautiful life and she must escape by any means possible. Hope rises DB136934 by David Balducci Walter Nash, working under the alias of Dylan Hope, is on the road to revenge after becoming an informant for the FBI against a global criminal operation headed up by Victoria Steers.
Steers has ripped everything Nash held dear away from him. He has nothing left to lose. And with long, rigorous training under his belt, the gentle and sensitive Nash has transformed into something he never thought he'd be. A physically imposing man with lethal skills. And now he has only one goal left in taking down Victoria Steers. In order to succeed, he's going to need to cross enemy lines and work the job from the inside. But Steers is shrewd and only brings those she trusts completely into her inner circle.
Nash must rely on every ounce of his hard earned skills in order to prove himself an ally to Stiers if he's ever going to get close enough to decimate her criminal empire. Yet despite hating the woman for destroying his life, Nash finds himself oddly drawn to Steers in ways that he could never imagined. And what he ultimately discovers will turn all he believed upside down, forcing Nash to do something truly unfathomable. So will the truth set Nash free or end him?
Mad Mabel DB137144 by Sally Hepworth There are two kinds of people no one ever expects to be Murderers. Little girls and old ladies. Meet Mad Mabel Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is 81 years old. She's lived on her idyllic street, Kinney Lane, for 60 years longer than anyone else. Aside from being a curmudgeon who minds everyone else's business, few would suspect that Elsie has a past that she has worked exceedingly hard at concealing.
Because when it comes to murder, no one ever suspects little girls or old ladies. And Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick, once a little girl and now an old lady, has a strange history of people in her life coming to a foul end.
When a new little girl, talkative, curious and nosy, moves into the neighborhood and stops at nothing to befriend Elsie, her carefully constructed life threatens to come crashing down as the secrets in Elsie's past start coming to light.
Theo of Golden A Novel DB131887 by Alan Levi Questions linger about Theo, a pleasant but mysterious stranger, after his arrival in the southern city of Golden. Who is he and why is he here? He arrives early one spring and by chance, or is it, he visits a coffee shop where 92 framed pencil portraits are on display. Inspired, the Theo sets out on a mission of purchasing all the portraits one at a time and quietly bestowing them on their rightful owners.
Stories are told, friendships are born and lives are changed. Theo of golden is a beautifully crafted story about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the far reaching possibilities of anonymous kindness.
[00:10:41] Speaker A: Stewart Woods's Deep Water A Stone Barrington Novel DB 13819 by Brett Battles When Stone Barrington meets one of his clients, Trenton Sydney, for a sunset drink on Trenton's new yacht, the last thing he expects is to be a victim of a shipwreck. As one of the four survivors of the incident, but with little memory of the sinking, Stone finds himself diving straight back into work. His first task? To reach out to the beneficiaries in Trenton's will.
But when new evidence that points to foul play comes to light, Stone must probe the tragedy in more ways than one in order to uncover the identity of the perpetrator before they find another lethal way to get themselves out of deep water.
The Divorce DB13 8563 by Freda McFadden Boy meets girl. They fall in love. They get married and start a family, buy a house, build a life.
Then boy forces girl out of the house, retains the services of all the best family lawyers in town, starts dating a 20 year old and files for divorce. It's a tale as old as time. Naomi knows she should accept her fate, move into a dingy one bedroom and try to land a job since Jeremy drained their joint accounts. But Naomi won't settle for anything but a happy ending. Instead, she finds herself becoming increasingly obsessed over Veronica, her husband's new girlfriend. But soon Naomi loses her grip on the situation and starts to build a body count, unearthing more from the past than she could have ever bargained for. But it's worth it if it means keeping her perfect family, right Judge stone A Novel DB 136049 by Viola Davis and James Patterson in Union Springs, Alabama, population 3314, Judge Mary Stone is a local celebrity. Born a farmer's daughter in a town where dogwoods bloom every spring and churches rise on every street corner, Judge Mary Stone holds her courtroom to the highest standard in the land. Do the right thing or don't do it at all.
Then she draws the biggest case Alabama has ever seen. Criminally, it's open and shut. Ethically, there's no middle ground. Essentially, it's a choice between life and death.
As she fights to determine the wisest course, Judge Stone will make history or die trying.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: The National Library Service's Many Faces of Bard program has been moved to Thursday, September 3rd at 6pm the topic will be Introducing the Web Player.
After the presentation and demonstration, we will take your questions about all things Bard for the remainder of the hour.
NLS's Smart Speaking to the Smart speaker will be held Thursday, September 17th at 6pm and that all May Eread will be held on Tuesday, September 22nd at 6:00pm all programs are held via Zoom and the topics for some have not been released yet.
Check our blog, IowaLibrary blog for updated information.
Contact the library to get more information or go to www.loc.govnlS.
[00:14:08] Speaker C: the library will be closed on Monday, September 7th in observance of Labor Day. Please don't hesitate to contact the library with any questions or comments at 515-281-1323 or by email at Libraryline State IA US.
The library is open Monday through Friday, 8aM to 4:30pM Happy reading.
