Megan Ball – Derby Public Library's Blog

The Lineup: Megan

The lineup of what the DPL staff have been up to lately.

Megan’s Lineup

Books: The Friend Zone series by Abby Jimenez

I started this series on a whim needing something to listen to. I was instantly hooked. I am a big audiobook listener because life is crazy and I need to multitask! What I like about these books are the wit and humor, while underlying a serious topic that the character is going through. The narration is *chef’s kiss*. I am now going down a rabbit hole of reading/listening to every book this author has written, and I’m not one bit sorry about it.

Availabe to check out here or on Libby.

Hobbies: Plants

For the longest time I would buy a plant, and it would be dead within a week. A few years back I made it my goal to learn how to care for them. I started off with a Pothos and Snake plant, both easy plants for beginners. And guess what?! THEY ARE STILL ALIVE! Since then I have accumulated more and now am a proud plant mama of 21! I am most proud of the one pictured, String of Tutles. I got it from Renata’s Plant Bus as a scrap she had. She told me to throw it on some dirt, and it would grow, and it has!

Games: Black Fleet

My husband & I have regular game nights at our best friends house, and have been introduced to many different board games. My current favorite is Black Fleet. It’s a pretty easy game that consists of delivering your merchant ship with goods and trying to get to another port without pirates stealing those goods. Even though the object isn’t to go after each other’s ships per se you can’t help the evil mwahahaha laugh or jokes that comes out when it happens. It makes us laugh every time we play it.

Pets: Tuna & Calvin

I have two pets, a corgi named Tuna, and a cat named Calvin. I’ve had Tuna since he was a wee little pupper, and he’s been my bestest boy for almost 13 years now. I got Calvin in September 2024 from the Wichita Animal Action League. We needed a chill adult cat who would get along with Tuna, and we definitely hit the jackpot with him.

Music: Lady Gaga

I have been a Gaga fan since the beginning, I love how she takes her time with albums and really makes them different and her own. Her newest album “Mayhem” is no exception! I was talking to some friends about it, and it was mentioned that it reminds them of her bold and weird side, which I absolutely love. My current favorite song from Mayhem is “The Beast”. Go take a listen or check out Mayhem here!

Take a Listen: March 2025

Welcome to our monthly series, where we explore the music tastes of our staff.

A new favorite album of mine is “The Stranger” by Billy Joel. It’s so beautiful and relaxing and honestly perfect!

~Maycie

I love the ocean, and this song reminds me of the soothing waves.

~Alyssa

I like this song because it has funky, melodic bass music and is very unique.

~Tabbitha

Another weird song from a weird band that I can’t get enough of. Vibing with the love them for Valentine’s Day. The music video is especially odd, I warned you.

~Shane

It has a somber and ghostly quality to it that just hits the right way.

~Justin

Just makes me want to dance no matter where I’m at or what I’m doing.

~Megan

Happy listening!

Take a Listen: January 2025

Welcome to our new monthly series, where we explore the music tastes of our staff.

A song I’m currently jamming out to a lot is “Steal the Show” by Lauv from the Elemental Soundtrack.

–Alyssa

I am a big music person typically and I have A LOT of favorites. After seeing them in concert earlier this year my current favorite song would be “Down Below” by Creeper.

-Shane

My current bop is Diva by Beyonce. I’m also always listening to “All Things End” by Hozier – it’s such a beautiful song!

–Maycie

I’ve been listening to Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion album!

-Jessie

I’m currently enjoying the new “Wicked” soundtrack.

-Shelia

Everything (acoustic version) by Stereo Fuse. I like the acoustic version because it gets rid of the unnecessary stuff in the background.

–Justin

Before Christmas music became the go to in December, I consistently would have Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour playlist on Amazon playing.

–Ashley

I’ve been listening to Tamino, Hozier and “Lonely Boy” by The Black Keys. –Trinity

I came across MUNA as I was listening to YouTube music on shuffle, and I liked the vibe.

–Megan

Happy listening!

Book Review: The End of Everything

The End of Everything by Megan Abbott

First Line: She, light-streaky out of the corner of my eye.

Summary: Thirteen-year-old Lizzie and Evie have always been best friends. They know everything about each other, no secrets . . . or at least they thought. Then one day Evie disappears, and Lizzie tries to find out what happened and along the way learns things about herself and her best friend’s “picture-perfect” family that makes her love and hate them even more.

Highlights/Lowlights: Seeing things from a 13-year-old’s perspective is both intriguing and frustrating.

FYI: Not for the faint of heart. It’s dark, raw, and graphic in some parts of the book. If you like Gillian Flynn, you will like this.

Overheard in the Library

Over the years, we’ve had conversations and interactions with patrons that, let’s just say are interesting. We’ve also overheard things that make us laugh out loud as well. So we thought we’d share some of those ‘interesting’ interactions with you guys.

-While helping a patron in the computer lab, he wanted to save his documents to a ‘slash drive.’

-A patron called in to see when his items were due back. He was afraid they were due today…nope, you just checked them out today.

-A little boy is in the computer lab playing a game. He brought a ziplock bag with a slice of pizza, and a snack cake for his lunch.

-The library was pranked by some kids. They asked me, while giggling uncontrollably, if our refrigerator was running, and then after a brief pause hung up. I didn’t even get to tell them we had two refrigerators running!

-An older patron came in wanting some advice (not a book), on how to get rid of rodents in his garden, After Googling some DIY’s, I told the patron I had a groundhog in my backyard, and he said “You should catch it, they are good eating.”

Hope you enjoy these as much as we did!