Winter is upon us, and that means our Winter Reading Program is right around the corner!

This program is a month-long, all-ages, reading challenge that takes place in the middle of winter. So, for those of you who have said you wanted to read more in the new year, this is the program for you! This year, we have a board game challenge.

Pick up a game board from any of our library branches between January 21st and February 22nd and play your way across the board (a die will be provided). Or you can download the board and use your own die! Turn in your completed game board to any of the branches for a free book and a special edition sticker!

Playing is easy!

1. Roll a die and beginning from the “Start” position, count that number of circles.

2. Complete the challenge listed on the circle and ‘X’ out the circle once you complete that specific challenge. There’s one challenge per circle.

3. After your first challenge is completed, repeat steps 1-2 and move along the game board until you reach “Finish.”

4. When you’ve landed on “Finish,” congratulations! You’ve won Winter Reading.

Once you are finished, please bring your completed game board to any library location to claim your prize. We will be distributing Winter Reading prizes until MARCH 1^ST.

If you have finished the game once, you are more than welcome to play again. Just ask library staff for a fresh game board. Subsequent finished game boards are eligible to be returned to the library for a small prize.

Remember, audiobooks and graphic novels are considered books too!

Because this challenge is for all ages, please note that we did our best to make this game board for every age. We understand if you need to adapt a challenge for a younger reader.

Share how your game is going by connecting with us on social media. You can find us on Facebook and Instagram @alamancelibraries.

For more information, contact Emery Lai at elai@alamancelibraries.org or call (336) 790-0465.

Kashiwai, Hisashi. The Kamogawa Food Detectives. Translated by Jesse Kirwood, New York : G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2024.

Kashiwai, Hisashi. The Restaurant of Lost Recipes. translated by Jesse Kirkwood, New York : G. P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, [2024].

Moving and deliciously cozy, The Kamogawa Food Detectives shows that a meal is never just a meal: it can be both the window to a long-forgotten past and the key to a more fulfilling future. 

The book centers on the Kamogawa Diner, housed in a nondescript building along the backstreets of Kyoto. Run by Nagare Kamogawa and his daughter, Koishi, the diner provides delectable meals, along with a unique service for their customers… The two are culinary detectives, recreating special dishes from a person’s memory through painstakingly detailed investigations. 

Each chapter is its own vignette, detailing a meal that the father-daughter duo recreate for an inquiring customer of the Kamogawa Diner–from beef stew to tonkatsu to Napolitan spaghetti. Fair warning: do not read these on an empty stomach. The descriptions of the meals are mouth-watering and lush, often weaving a story of nostalgia into the ingredients and the way the dishes are prepared, pulling the reader even further into the story until their stomach rumbles with each turn of the page. Underneath the nostalgia and aromatic cuisine, the customers of the Kamogawa Diner find something remarkable: comfort, wisdom, or closure. 

We return to Kyoto in the sequel, The Restaurant of Lost Recipes, where Koishi and Nagare Kamogawa continue to put their detective work to the test with more culinary mysteries.

Perfect for fans of cozy literary fiction and magnificent food writing, these books are–at their heart–a love letter to the relationship between food, memory, and the power of human connection. Both The Kamogawa Food Detectives and The Restaurant of Lost Recipes are available as a physical copy at your local library and as an audiobook via Libby. 

 Sara Durbin is a Library Assistant at Graham Public Library. They can be reached at sdurbin@alamancelibraries.org

The end of the year means we’re sharing our favorite reads of 2024! Some of these are new books, while others are books from previous years that we (finally) got around to reading this year.

Thirsty by Jas Hammonds

A young woman struggles with fitting in, alcohol addiction, toxic friendships, and more in this moving, important young adult novel. – Mary Beth A., Outreach

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Big space opera that asks will people will learn from a traumatic history or attempt to suppress it while dealing with gangsters, spacers, various factions of governments, religious zealots, political intrigue, spying, angels who punch-you-in-the-face. – Adrian Z., Mebane

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

An isolated witch fights for love and her newfound family in this enchantingly cozy romance about healing and finding a place to call home. – Sara D., Graham

North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both by Cea Sunrise Person

“Filled with hard-to-believe yet true events, it flows seamlessly and tells a wonderful story of hardship and resilience, making it a true page-turner.” – Sharada F., Graham

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

This raw, hard-hitting YA revenge thriller set in a small coal mining town is surprisingly full of empathy for everyone caught up in the violence that the main character is trying to end. – Rebecca M., May Memorial

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

 It’s not always about your biological family. Sometimes your family is found. – Adrian Z., Mebane

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

More dragon books are needed in the world, and this one is sublime! It may be written for kids, but like Lewis and Pullman, Rundell has written a book that all ages will enjoy. – Mary Beth A., Outreach

The Eyes are the Best Part by Monika Kim

A story that hides itself as horror but touches on multi layered issues then throws you right back into the thrill and suspense you came for. – Bracey B., Mebane

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

This is a classic for a reason. It’s Capote’s scene creating prose which generates a perfectly rendered visual of a gruesome crime and its aftermath. – Adrian Z., Mebane

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

The Lost Story is a wonderful fantasy for anyone who loves Narnia and Neverland and wishes that they could find a door in a tree and bring a Lost Boy home. – Mary Beth A., Outreach

Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck

This book follows a newly wed couple as the husband slowly transforms into a great white shark and they prepare for his eventual release to the ocean. – Storey H., Outreach

Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce

Riley has to figure out how to combine musical theater (her passion) with Dungeons and Dragons (her dad’s passion) and rope in Nathan (her co-worker) to help her do it. – Kayleigh D., Tech Services

Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb

A Black music professor discovers that the world’s most famous composer may have stolen work from a young Black woman, and his dream job becomes a nightmare when he realizes that very powerful people want to stop him from revealing this shocking secret – at all costs. – Joan H-C., May Memorial

Assistant to the Villain Series by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Maehrer combines cozy fantasy vibes with silly hijinks and a sprinkle of danger in the first two books of her debut series. – Kayleigh D., Tech Services

Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea

Listen to this audiobook on Hoopla. If you haven’t read or listened to Charlie Donlea yet, you’re in for a real treat. He creates strong, smart female characters and rewards readers with familiar faces that evolve and grow in later books. – Tracy W., Mebane

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

A woman boards a plane and chillingly reveals to the passengers how and when they will die—told by Moriarty, this premise evolves into something far more captivating and unpredictable. – Tracy W., Mebane

54 Miles by Leonard Pitts

A family story set between “Bloody Sunday” and “The March to Montgomery” in 1965. – Varlese H-G., May Memorial

Leong, Julie. The Teller of Small Fortunes. New York : Ace, 2024.

Cozy fantasy readers, rejoice! The Teller of Small Fortunes will warm your heart and fulfill your magical fantasy needs this winter.

Tao tells small fortunes, things like that your cow will fall in a hole, or the sun will shine on Sunday. But don’t ask her to tell you who you will marry, or when you will die. She won’t tell you. She did that once before, and can’t escape the notion that by foretelling his death, she caused her father to die.

Tao is trying to fly under the radar and avoid the mages who control magic from the capital city, Margrave. She left there years ago, when she realized her stepfather would make her work with the mages and she’d lose her freedom. She has traveled around the country, alone, in her small caravan, setting up in town squares for a day or two. It’s a lonely existence, but a safe one.

One day, she meets two men, a former thief (Silt) and a mercenary (Mash), who are looking for Mash’s young daughter, Leah. She disappeared several months ago, and it’s possible she was stolen by bandits that were seen in the area. The two men are traveling from town to town, following hints of the bandits and asking everyone if they’ve seen a young girl. In the next town, they meet a beautiful woman, Kina, who is a baker’s assistant, and her semi-magical cat. Silt immediately falls in love with Kina, and she is ready for an adventure and a chance to share her baked goods across the country. Thus, their journey begins, looking to earn coin, find Mash’s daughter, and avoid the High Mage.

This book has heart, and I really enjoyed the ways friendships blossomed. Prejudice is discussed in several different ways (race, socioeconomic status, profession), and illuminates how often we judge quickly (and wrongly) when faced by something or someone unfamiliar. This was a great read for a cold fall weekend!

Mary Beth Adams is the Community Engagement Librarian for Alamance County Public Libraries. She can be reached at madams@alamancelibraries.org.

When Women Were Dragons

“When Women Were Dragons,” by Kelly Barnhill. Copyright 2022, Doubleday (340 pages, $28.00).

Content Warning: Death of a parent, abandonment, sexism, cancer, misogyny, homophobia.

 

“I was four years old when I first saw a dragon. I was four years old when I first learned to be silent about dragons. Perhaps this is how we learn silence – an absence of words, an absence of context, a hole in the universe where the truth should be.”

In her debut adult novel, Barnhill explores the rage and rigidity of forced limitations on women. Barnhill uses 1950s suburbia as the backdrop for a world that is unaccepting of anyone not maintaining the status quo that people in power have placed upon the masses. Alex, the main character, is a young girl the first time she sees a dragon. She stumbles upon it in her elderly neighbors’ yard and never speaks of it, somehow knowing that were she to ask questions, she would receive no answers.

As the story progresses, Alex grows up, always learning and always questioning, but is ultimately stopped and forced into roles that are not meant for a student or a child like her. She never wanted to teach alculus to a room full of high school boys, nor did she ask to be moved out of the only home she’s ever known, forced to raise her little cousin once her father remarries. All of these responsibilities are thrust upon her under the guise of “a nice girl would” and if Alex asks for anything that steps out of line of what a nice girl is, she is selfish, she is dragon-like.

When her cousin tries to live their authentic life and begins questioning the rigidness of what society has named “proper,” so too, does Alex. She fights to push aside the restrictions and biases learned from her parents and teachers; the rhetoric of believing that all dragons are inappropriate and horrible and selfish.

We see Alex’s life unfold, and how she’s able to learn and grow and accept the newness of things, even against a society that is so opposed to change. We see her accept that women turning into dragons is how women connected their hearts and their minds, making them harmonious, whole, and at peace.

After all, why be confined to a box when you can unfurl your wings? Why be conformed when you can live freely, without reservation?

That’s all Alex wants. What about you?

Kayleigh Dyer is a Library Technical Processing Assistant at May Memorial Library. Contact her at kdyer@alamancelibraries.org.

 

 

 

 

‘Tis the Season for Baking

As the joyous spirit of Christmas approaches, here is a curated list of books to inspire your baking creativity.

 

Martha Stewart’s Cookie Perfection

If you’re looking to bring a little bit of Martha Stewart’s magic into your kitchen, baking a cookie from her book “Martha Stewart’s Cookie Perfection” is a great choice. Martha offers a variety of classic recipes with tips to help you make cookies that are even more flavorful and bold.  Martha’s recipes are sure to delight anyone with a sweet tooth. 

Christmas Cookie: 50 Recipes to Treasure for the Holiday

“Christmas Cookie: 50 Recipes to Treasure for the Holiday” is your ultimate guide to festive baking. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or just starting out. With 50 recipes, you’re bound to find at least one that becomes a new family favorite. From classic gingerbread and sugar cookies to peppermint mocha cookies and spiced eggnog bars, there’s something to satisfy every taste. 

 

 

 

The Great British Baking show. Love to bake

Love to Bake is The Great British Bake Off’s best collection yet. For fans of this iconic show, this book is a must for this holiday season. The recipes included range from gooey cinnamon buns to show-stopping croquembouche (pastry puffs). It’s perfect for bakers who are looking to whip up something new or simply make something delicious to share with loved ones.

Holiday and Celebration Bread in Five Minutes

Holiday and Celebration Bread in Five Minutes is the perfect addition to your festive table. This book has quick and effortless bread recipes that require minimal effort and are ready to serve in no time. Whether accompanying a rich roast or a hearty stew, any bread recipe from this book is sure to be a hit with family.

 

 

 

 

Kids in the Holiday Kitchen

The holiday season is the perfect time to gather in the kitchen. Try getting the little ones involved in making a fun recipe from Kids in the Holiday Kitchen. Not only does this fun activity teach them valuable cooking skills with simple and fun recipes to follow, but you can also make wonderful memories, good enough to eat.

 

Ana Aguirre is a Library Assistant at Mebane Public Library. She can be reached at aaguirre@alamancelibraries.org.

 

Give Thanks

Explore these titles to honor Thanksgiving, a day dedicated to expressing gratitude for the things we cherish most. This year, I am especially thankful for my friends, family and my dog, along with the fantastic books in our library and the amazing programs available at ACPL.

I Am Thankful by Sheri Wall

“I Am Thankful” by Sheri Wall is a heartwarming children’s book that beautifully captures the spirit of gratitude. This book follows three different families as they celebrate the holiday with their own traditions and acts of kindness. A wonderful book that teaches readers the meaning of giving and sharing.

The Crayons Give Thanks by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers

Fans of The Day the Crayons Quit will love this holiday version with new characters. This book will surely deliver laughter and fun to readers of all ages. Follow along as the Crayons share what they are thankful for, from food to family and everything else in between.

 

 

Peyton Picks the Perfect Pie by Jack Bishop

Join Peyton as she discovers her favorite Thanksgiving pie. Despite trial and error, Peyton learns how to overcome her fear of trying new foods and uncovers her love of cooking. This book also includes an America’s Test Kitchen recipe for the perfect pie.

Happy Thanksgiving, Biscuit! by Alyssa Capucilli

This timeless story is bound to be a delightful read for the whole family. Follow the adventures of a curious puppy filled with gratitude. Find out how Biscuit and the little girl get ready for Grandma and Grandpa’s special visit.

 

 

 

 

 

Ana Aguirre is a Library Assistant at Mebane Public Library. She can be reached at aaguirre@alamancelibraries.org.

 

A New Look at History for Native American Heritage Month

In the past 5 years, several books have been published showing a different side of the conquering and “civilizing” of the Americas. Native Americans had lived on the continent for several thousand years when Europeans arrived (Native Americans arrived somewhere between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago), and had complex and sophisticated societies. But their societies looked different than what European settlers had seen before, and were judged as being primitive and uncivilized. The books listed below will give you a different view of the colonization of the Americas and how U.S. history has left out Indigenous contributions to our society.

Indigenous continent : a new history of America by Hämäläinen, Pekka

This book posits that history we were told in school didn’t tell the whole story of European settlement of the Americas. Indigenous tribes still controlled much of the Americas until the 1890s, according to the author, and won battles against the European settlers. Far from being primitive, Indigenous tribes had sophisticated diplomacy and leadership structures that helped them thrive and survive. If you’re interested in learning the history of Indigenous peoples in America and Canada, this is a fascinating read.

Native nations : a millennium of indigenous change and persistence by DuVal, Kathleen

One of the fascinating facts this book shares is that North American cities once rivaled cities elsewhere in size and influence. But after a period of instability, North America communities moved away from urbanization and many smaller nations immerged. Thus, when European settlers arrived, they assumed the Indigenous peoples were less developed groups, rather than groups that had developed differently because of circumstances of nature and experience. Like Indigenous Continent, this book presents a new way of looking at colonial history in the Americas.

 

The rediscovery of America : native peoples and the unmaking of U.S. history by Blackhawk, Ned

As more scholars research the beginnings of the United States, more information emerges to show that Native tribes were thriving before Europeans came, and continued to thrive for many years afterwards. They were a huge part of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and influenced law and policy. Blackhawk weaves new information into what we’ve always been taught, and a better picture of what happened in the past emerges.

Covered with night : a story of murder and indigenous justice in early America by Eustace, Nicole

 

True-crime aficionados as well as history buffs will enjoy this book about the murder of an Indigenous hunter by two fur traders in colonial Pennsylvania on the eve of a summit between the Iroquois and the colonists in 1722. The different types of justice championed by the two groups – restorative versus punitive, forgiveness versus harsh punishment – led to a clash of ideals and the fear of an all-out war.

 

 

 

 

Seeds : stories of Afro-Indigenous resilience by Hunter, Dominique Daye

While this book is not non-fiction, we couldn’t make this list without including this work by Daye, a local author. The book consists of poems and short stories about the Afro-Indigenous culture in this area. This provides local connection to issues that affect Indigenous people across the country, and highlights the ways we can support Afro-Indigenous people in our community.

 

Mary Beth Adams is the Community Engagement Librarian for Alamance County Public Libraries. She can be reached at madams@alamancelibraries.org.

 

New Worlds in YA

The best part of fantasy fiction? The incredible worlds the authors make up! These new(ish) YA books have compelling worlds for us to enjoy as readers, as well as rich characters to populate them.

Heir by Sabaa Tahir – The world is the Martial Empire, and there’s a killer loose. Three young people have to overcome history, huge mistakes, and bad reputations to come together to save the world. Aiz uses her anger to better the lives of her people, until she makes a mistake and ends up in jail. Sirsha is tasked with capturing the killer to improve her reputation and earn some coin, but it’s not just her life on the line, it’s also her heart. Quil is the crown prince who doesn’t want to take the throne because he sees how power corrupts, but can he overcome his doubts and be the heir his people need? This book is set in the same world as her previous series, An Ember in the Ashes.

Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas – The world is Reino del Sol, and the Obsidian gods have been released into the chaos. All because Teo refused to kill one of his fellow semidioses. What can he do but be the Hero he never thought he could be, and return to Sol with the Sol Stone? Luckily, he has his best friend Niya and his crush Aurelio to help him fight the monsters and retrieve the stone. This is the second of a duology, the Sunbearer Trials.

Hearts Still Beating by Brooke Archer – It’s our world, but after a deadly virus wipes out much of the population (which then came back to life as Ticks). Mara was a Tick, but now has been treated. She’s Mostly Dead, and sent to a resettlement program to live with her former friend Rory, who she kissed just before the end of the world. Rory is Barely Alive, and is expecting the worst at any time. She survived on the Island, one of the few places where people still live. But what does she do with her former best friend/crush who was a Tick, the monsters she’s learned to hate? This is a new twist on the zombie trope!

Draw Down the Moon by P.C. and Kristin Cast – The Academia de la Luna, a secret magic school off of the coast of Seattle, is the world. Wren isn’t supposed to have powers, but here she is, at the Academia, learning alongside Lee. Lee has been in love with Wren for years, but his original goal this year was to pass the trials, impress the Moon Council and improve his family’s standing in the world. Wren and Lee realize quickly that something is different this year with the trials, and Lee must to decide to save his family’s reputation, or the girl he loves. This is the first book of the series; the second will be released next spring.

 

 

Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender – The world is New Anglia, and Ash Wood is learning alchemy in secret because it is a crime to study magic without the direction of the Lancaster College of Alchemical Science. He’s caught by Ramsay Thorne, but instead of turning him in, she instead makes a deal with him. Help her find the Book of Source, and she’ll forget what she saw. Their journey leads to romance, danger and a reckoning – what is the price for power, and is it worth it? This is the first of a duology; the second will be released next spring.

 

A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faisal – The world is White Roaring, where Arthie’s teahouse turns into an illegal bloodhouse at night, serving the city’s working-class vampires. Her business is threatened by the powers that be, and she must partner with some strange bedfellows – a member of the Horned Guard, a vampire and a daughter of a shipping magnate – to take them down and save her shop. And maybe she’ll find some friends (and a love interest) along the way! This is the first of a series, with the sequel coming out in September 2025.

Mary Beth Adams is the Community Engagement Librarian for Alamance County Public Libraries. She can be reached at madams@alamancelibraries.org.

 

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Mandanna, Sangu. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. New York : Berkley, 2022.

Still craving a witchy read this fall?

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is a cozy fantasy romance about an isolated witch and an unconventional found family in the English countryside battling forces that seek to tear them apart. Simmering with a love of magic and a dash of the grumpy-meets-sunshine trope, Sangu Mandanna crafts an enchanted story that will warm your heart like one of Mika Moon’s magical cups of tea. 

Mika Moon is a witch—which means she has spent most of her life alone, keeping her head down, unable to share this core part of herself with anyone outside of a small group of witches scattered across Britain she calls The Very Secret Society of Witches and its straitlaced leader, Primrose. No one can know she is a witch. No one does… except, when Mika posts videos online “pretending” to be a witch as an outlet for her loneliness, someone seems to take her claims seriously. 

An anonymous message is sent to Mika that begins with “WITCH WANTED,” begging her to travel to the secluded and mysterious estate of Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to use and control their magic. At first, she thinks it’s a joke. Even if it weren’t, it breaks one of the most important rules she’s grown up learning: stay away from other witches, because too many witches in one place cause their powers to mingle and draw unwanted attention. Mika goes anyway and becomes entangled in their lives as the clock is ticking down before the girls must be able to control their magic, else they would be taken away from Nowhere House. 

I easily fell in love with this motley cast of characters: Nowhere House’s jovial housekeeper (Lucie), a retired actor with a love for flamingo pink yarn (Ian), a gardener (Ken), three lovely little witches with big personalities that occasionally clash, and a grumpy librarian who is fiercely protective of the young girls and deeply distrusting of Mika (Jamie). 

As Mika warms up to the inhabitants of Nowhere House and finds herself getting attached, she is confronted with the reality that her time there is limited and that she cannot stay—no matter how much she wants it. Despite her painful past, Mika Moon finds the courage to fight for the people she loves and, more importantly, for herself. There’s a comfort in seeing these characters, each isolated in their own way, finding a place to belong and people to call home. 

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches shows us the healing power of letting yourself be truly loved and that the family you choose is its own little kind of magic. 

It is available as a physical copy through Alamance County Public Libraries as well as an ebook or audiobook via Libby. 

Sara Durbin is a Library Assistant at Graham Public Library. They can be reached at sdurbin@alamancelibraries.org.