Episode Transcript
[00:00:16] Speaker A: Welcome to the second episode of our August 2025 Library News. The Iowa State Fair is here, and so are the corn dogs, lemonades and deep fried everything you didn't know you needed.
And here at the Iowa Library for the Blind, we're serving up our own sizzling lineup of fun.
Get ready for this month's Dela Spotlight, a can't miss magazine of the month, an awesome tech tip from Leland Jody's staff pick, and all the latest buzz from around the library. So keep your sunblock handy and settle in as we kick things off with this month's D list. Deep fried Drama Crimes, Carnivals and Cows.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: Meet me on the A History of Wisconsin Feas by Gerald W. Apps, DBC 24900 Jerry Apps explores the history of county and state fairs in Wisconsin, from their earliest incarnations as livestock exhibitions to their later multitudes of exhibits and demonstrations, grandstand entertainment, games and rides, and competitions of all sorts.
Drawing on his extensive research, interviews and personal experience as a 4H leader, county extension agent, county fair judge, and lifelong fair goer, Apps takes readers back through 178 years of Wisconsin fair history.
Covering everything from horse pulling and calf showing contests to flower arrangement judging to the roar of gasoline engines powering the midway rides.
He invokes the sights and sounds of fairs through the ages while digging into the political and social forces that shape the fair into an icon of our rural heritage.
Iowa State Fair County Comes to Town by Thomas Leslie and Jen McKinley, DBC 15054 A History of the Iowa State Fair from the fairytale State Fair of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical to Norma Duffield Lyons 2000 pound butter sculpture of the Last Supper.
Leslie recounts the fair's fascinating background, why today it is more popular than ever, and what it holds for the future.
State Fair by Philip D. Strong, DBC 15308 Abel Frake, a successful, intelligent farmer, his wife and their son and daughter spend a week at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines.
Abel's cherished hog, Blue Boy, is judged the champion, Mrs. Frakes Pickles wins first prize, and Wayne and Marjorie learn a great deal about life and love.
[00:03:05] Speaker C: State Fair By Erlene Fowler, DB 91173 Folk Art Museum curator, rancher, and sometimes sleuth Benny Harper is attending the San Salena Mid State Fair, a place for caramel apples and 4H calves, colorful quilts and homemade jams, and maybe just a little murder.
Joyland By Stephen King, DB76799 1973 Heartbroken New Hampshire college student Devin takes the summer job at a North Carolina amusement park.
He is intrigued by tales of the ghost of a murdered girl and by a young neighbor in her ill son.
You Can't Stop Me by Max A. Collins, DBO 15384 Small Town Iowa Sheriff J.C. harrow made headlines when he apprehended a would be presidential assassin at the Iowa State Fair, only to come home that night and find his wife and son brutally murdered. This tragic twist of fate launched his career as the host of reality TV smash hit Crime Zane. But while media star Harrow tracks down dangerous criminals coast to coast with the help of viewer tips, a killer with a twisted agenda is making his own bloody path to fame.
Calamity Jane Rides Again By Kathleen Bagges, DBC 01580 Truss's uncle Frank has opened his soft frozen ice cream booth at the Iowa State Fair and as always, members of the family have been recruited to work the concession stand, including Tressa. But this year, things go terribly wrong.
It's bad enough that someone is sabotaging Uncle Frank's frozen delights with such things as an army of cockroaches, but things really take a turn for the worst when Tressa's cousin Frankie disappears.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: Death Trap By Sue Henry, DB58678 Forced by an injury to miss this year's Iditarod race, mushered Jesse Arnold works the booth at the Alaska State Fair. The festivities are interrupted when a murder occurs. Jessie's beloved lay dog disappears and Jessie herself goes missing.
Old flame Alex Jensen returns to launch a search.
Bingo Night at the Fire hall the Case for Cows, Orchards, Bake Sales, and Fairs By Barbara Holland, DBC09928 In 1990, the author inherited her mother's summer cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She quit her job in Philadelphia, said goodbye to family and friends, and moved into a different world, where she wrestled with winter isolation and learned to live with wildlife. Just as she began to get used to this world, it began to change. Suburbs, malls and highways took the place of pigs and peaches. She explores the changing of the community with an irresistible wit.
Key Lime Pie Murder By Joanne Fluke, DB65255 Hannah Swenson of Lake Eden, Minnesota, helps judge the baking contest at the county fair. When a fellow judge, home economics teacher Willa Sundquist, drops dead, Hannah seeks justice.
Meanwhile, both a dentist and a detective are courting Hannah, and her cat refuses to eat.
[00:07:23] Speaker B: For August, our magazine of the month is the New York Times Book Review.
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly magazine that provides library articles and book reviews from the Sunday New York Times.
This magazine is available in audio and braille formats on cartridge or download through.
[00:07:40] Speaker C: Bard Leland here with this month's Tech tip.
The Bard website just got a update and we've been hearing this a lot.
Hey, where did the download button go? Don't worry, it's still there, just hiding behind a new button called Take Action.
Here's how it works. If you're browsing Bard, maybe the newest books recently added titles were the most popular downloads. You'll now see Take Action. Instead of the download link under the description, click it and a little menu will pop up with your old friend the download link plus a bonus option to add the title right to your wish list.
So next time your book hunting, remember to hit that button and well, take action.
[00:08:44] Speaker D: Hi there Jodi, here with this month's staff pick. My favorite author as of late is Freda McFadden. If you like to be kept on your toes and you like twists and turns, you will love her.
The latest book I have read of hers is the tenant DB W 129492.
The main character, Blake, is at the top of his game at a marketing firm until he is abruptly fired.
He has difficulty finding work that can maintain the lifestyle that he's used to, especially the brownstone that he shares with his fiance. They decide to take in a tenant to help with the mortgage. Whitney is young and charming and in need of a place to live.
All goes well until strange things start happening. Blake is unnerved when he begins to smell decay and it persists no matter how much he cleans.
Weird noises wake him during the night and the laundry soap he uses for his sensitive skin suddenly breaks him out into a rash.
It's an entertaining read that keeps you guessing. I highly Recommend All Freda McFadden's books. She's a great author of cycle thrillers.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: Happy Reading Join the Library for a New Kind of Book Club in the library's newest book club, the no Book Book Club, there are no assigned titles. You choose what you want to read and bring whatever title you're reading and share it with the group. The no Book Book Club will have its first meeting on Wednesday, September 17th from 2 to 3pm and will meet bimonthly. After that, call or email the library to get signed up.
[00:10:29] Speaker B: Exciting news for patrons of the Iowa Library for the Blind and Print disabled. We are part of the NLS pilot program that is offering patrons the new digital talking book machine, DA2. The DA2 boasts significant upgrades including built in Wi Fi and Bluetooth connectivity along with a substantial 28 gigabytes of internal storage.
This means user can now directly connect a Bard and NLS Braille and audio Reading download to easily download books and magazines, store them on the device and enjoy listening through Bluetooth enabled speakers or headphones offering an even more convenient and seamless reading experience.
Give the library a call at 515-281-1323 if you would like to be part of this pilot program.
[00:11:16] Speaker C: Smart Speaking to the Smart speaker by NLS will be held Thursday, August 21 at 6pm that all may eread. The monthly NLS program that focuses on the NLS Braille Ereader will be held Tuesday, August 26th at 6pm via Zoom.
Topics for these NLS programs have not been released yet.
Check our blog, IowaLibrary blog for updated information.
Contact the Library if you need assistance getting registered for any of these NLS events.
The library will be closed Monday, September 1st 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 librarylind state ia us.
The library is open Monday through Friday, 8am to 4:30pm Happy reading.
