Tommy is a hustler in Jazz Age Harlem, doing what needs to be done to help provide for himself and his ill father in a world that is at times hostile to their very existence as Black men. That includes doing some odd jobs like finding a forbidden tome for a mysterious old crone, or playing music for an eccentric old white man who seems to have one foot in our world and one in another. Tommy isn't a wizard or anything like that, but he has a wary appreciation for the existence of the unexplainable. 

When a routine job goes bad, Tommy finds himself pursued by abusive cops and dark magic and must decide just how far he will go down the rabbit hole of forbidden knowledge.

This is a riff on Lovecraftian themes and is loosely based on The Horror at Red Hook. (You can read it here if you're interested, but it's not that great and it's not necessary for appreciating LaValle's story. In fact, you really need no prior Lovecraft exposure to appreciate The Ballad of Black Tom.) 

I'm keeping this recommendation in my back pocket for patrons who are looking for a quick horror read.

This book is dedicated to librarians and I FEEL IT. <3

***

Irene continues to be my literary role model with her quick thinking, intense bravery, and stoic wit. She is remarkably unruffleable for someone who is frequently an assassination target. 

The book begins with violent shenanigans that erupt while Irene and Vale are out on a shouldn't-be-especially-dangerous adventure. In her escape, Irene discovers an unexpected and magical door, which opens to reveal someone dangerous who should already be dead.

Much more violent shenanigans ensue. Spectacular escapes. Verbal sparring and fisticuffs. If Vale is fulfilling a Sherlock archetype, his Moriarty is emerging. 

And of course, Irene, Kai, and Vale now have Lord Silver's niece Catherine tagging along as an apprentice. New characters into established series can be a gamble, but I'm looking forward to Catherine's contributions. 

Overall, this adventure was another engrossing read with new and old characters and villains, and a big reveal at the end that helps propel the plot forward. 

If you're not reading this series, you're missing out.

I am the head of youth services at my small suburban library, which has been closed to the public since the middle of March. I’ll leave the issue of whether or not to reopen in the hands of public health professionals and instead focus on what we can do in the time we are closed. 

Around May 2020 when it became apparent that we were in this for the long haul, I began experimenting with online programming. Videos would get a few dozen views, which slowly trickled to less than ten. Our adult programmer has been posting recipe and craft videos, some of which get 500 views, and some of which get less than five. We are seemingly at the capricious whims of Facebook algorithms. 

Let’s be honest: our patrons are burnt out on the internet, especially parents whose kids are e-learning, and it costs a lot of staff time and energy to film and edit these videos, not to mention the hassle of navigating copyright concerns of storytime. Can we acknowledge that there is already a vast pool of educational children’s videos and readalouds available at a higher quality than I can make with my inexpensive setup? Can I acknowledge that I have been going through the motions, doing what I think I should be doing, even though it is clearly not what our patrons want? Can I confess that these Sisyphean tasks are mainly to try and prove my relevance to my boss and peers, even though it’s clearly not vibing with my community?

I am officially calling it: I am giving up trying to do regular online children’s and teen’s programming for the time being, because it is failing and I’m tired of getting to the end of the month and counting my stats on one hand.

Some things have been working: mainly, the online book & movie displays I’ve been making on Google sites and linking to on our website and social media, like this one on horror movies I posted in October. People have been ordering these books and they have been getting clicks.

Also, the Facebook album of our new releases has been driving new release circulation. 

Interlibrary cooperation has been working. Our library and a few others nearby have gotten together the last few years to offer a once-monthly STEAM activity for area homeschool families, with each library taking a month in the school year to host them. This year, since most of our families are sort of homeschooling with e-learning, we’re posting these activities online on a shared Google site and promoting it to all families. We’re only on our second month but people seem interested. This cooperation conserves staff time, reduces burnout as each library only has to focus on one great program instead of several, and promotes networking and sharing among libraries. I’m interested in seeing what other kinds of shared programming we can do.

 

I tried doing craft and book giveaways in the late spring but no one was interested, possibly because we were still very worried at that time about the spread of COVID from touching items. Now that we know that is much lower risk than originally thought, I may try it again. Who knows, I may even start making some videos again in a month or two. I’ve already made a November Story Room, so I’ll monitor those stats this month, but we may take a break from that in December. Maybe I’ll see if I can get my husband to help me with some filmed storytimes to see if the addition of a new face changes things. Who knows what I’ll do. 

In sum, let’s be brave enough to admit we’re failing, fail quickly, and try something else. Repeat as necessary.

A delightfully spooky and short gothic haunted house adventure.

Beatrix Greene is a fake medium who uses her perception and acting talents to develop an impressive reputation as a leading spiritualist in London by convincing people she is communicating with their deceased loved ones. Dr. James Walker, a wealthy skeptic and researcher, hires her to accompany him and a few others to a reportedly haunted house to definitively determine if it is indeed haunted.

Upon arriving, Beatrix sets up her usual farcical séance and prepares to put on a show. However, something does, in fact, answer her, and it is angry and violent and will not let them leave until it is finished.

The plot moves along at a good clip and it is engrossing. Speaking of gross, there is one particularly gross and gruesome scene that will make horror fans darkly chuckle and turn up their nose. My only complaint is the instant romance that occurs, which felt rather unlikely and out of place. (To illustrate, when my husband and I were newlyweds we lived in a tiny and disgusting apartment with mice, and knowing there mice in the room with you at night is a bit of a mood-killer... so I imagine having a ghost/demon in the house would similarly douse the romance.)

Overall, I enjoyed it and would read a sequel.

This is being realized by SerialBox as a weekly serial, but I read it all at once. I believe it would be easy to read weekly, however, because the chapters are clearly delineated and the plot is not overly complicated.

For the last couple of years I've been trying to read more books that feature people and places abroad, and I picked this book out blindly to represent Liberia.

I am glad I stumbled upon it because is one of the best books I've ever read.

The prose is lovely and artistic but still makes for a smooth read, and is full of the kind of deep insights into our shared humanity that makes you feel a little more human having read them.

If you're going to read this book, allow yourself time to get into it. Don't try and speedread skim over it like it's a quick paperback you picked up at the airport. Let yourself really fall into the stories of Gbessa, June Dey, Norman, and the mysteriously omnipresent narrator, and savor them. You'll be glad you did.

It has a sheet for each month, with a final total sheet at the end that aggregates all of the monthly data into one sheet that will help in particularly if you are an Illinois librarian filling out our annual report, the IPLAR. If you are not an Illinois librarian, it should still be useful in tallying your monthly info for your own records.

There is a readme sheet in the workbook with more info on how it works and how best to use it.

Reach out if you have any questions. :)

Monthly Sheet Layout