book recommendations – Derby Public Library's Blog

Meet Grace, our newest Youth Services Assistant!

This blog post was written by Grace Cavin, our newest Youth Services Assistant.

Hello new friends!

My name is Grace, and I just started as a Youth Services Assistant here at the library! I thought I’d share a few of my favorite books with you so you can get to know me.

I graduated this past May with a degree in English, and during my studies, I read The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It radicalized me in college. You may know Dostoyevsky as the author of Crime and Punishment, but The Brothers Karamazov is a 700+ page read written very densely and full of weepy moments of despair, redemption, and maybe murder. It completely changed me as a person.

When it comes to my interests, I enjoy reading, writing, and learning all I can about quantum physics. It all began when I was probably ten or so and first read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. I don’t want to spoil it by over summarizing the plot for you, but space and time travel are definitely involved. Also, if you’ve seen either film adaptation without reading the book, I would say that the heart of the book is lost in both of the adaptations so please read it if you haven’t (or if you have, maybe it’s time to read it again)!

Growing up, I moved every few years (I think I’ve moved about a dozen times so far) and often the first friends I made were the stray neighborhood cats and the local librarians. Books on animals, especially mice, always ended up in the ginormous stack I’d take home every week from my local library.

A few I remember enjoying that you could check out are:

The Redwall Series by Brian Jacques. These books will keep you occupied for a long time.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. Ignore the animated movie that was released a few years ago and read this book instead, please. Or, if you are going to watch the movie, at least read this first.

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

The End of the Beginning : Being the Adventures of a Small Snail (and an even smaller ant) by Avi

Roverandom by J.R.R Tolkien

A Beginning, a Muddle, and an End : the Right Way to Write Writing by Avi

Toes by Tor Seidler.

As for the books I’m currently reading, they’re a mixture of classics, fantasy, and mystery, which is just how I like it:

Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley—a retelling of a classic that I’ve enjoyed for over a decade.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke—a book that I currently have no clue what is happening in, but I am loving the journey and the way the story is told.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott—a long overdue comfort read that I’ve been meaning to return to for years.

Thanks for reading my first blog post! Come by the Youth Services Desk sometime, and let’s chat! I’m happy to help you find your next great book!

Amelia’s Favorites: Monkey & Me

Monkey & Me by Emily Gravett

Summary: This book was especially fun. It’s about a little girl and her monkey saying “Monkey and me, Monkey and me, Monkey and me, we went to see, we went to see…” and each time they see a different animal.

My Thoughts: This book was actually recommended to me by the Beanstack App. Which if you haven’t signed up for you really should. I use the app to log books for the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program for Amelia. Each week it sends me an email with book recommendations and this week’s was Monkey and Me.

Now, I don’t know if they intended it to be this way, but I made it into a song, and after a few times Amelia was singing along which I couldn’t even take. It was SO CUTE! After we read it a few times through, the rest of the day I would hear her sing it, which it turn made me sing it too, and became somewhat of a learning game. I would sing the phrase, then choose an animal and ask her what noise that animal makes. SO MUCH FUN!

Amelia’s Rating: I think she would give it a solid 5 stars, I foresee us checking this book out several times!

I Dream of Dragons

So I’ve got a little confession to make…I am so obsessed with dragons right now. To be fair, I think everyone is a little obsessed with dragons what with Game of Thrones and this new Starbucks “secret menu” Dragon Frappuccino that’s riding on the coattails of the Unicorn Frap. Even though I get that it’s a mythological being, I totally want to own (or be) a dragon.

The infamous “secret menu” dragon frappuccino from Starbucks!

It all started innocently enough. I binge watched Game of Thrones to catch up for the upcoming season, and I was on the hunt for a fun and easy IOS game that had a similar fantasy feel. Then I stumbled upon DragonVale, this adorable game that lets you collect and hatch all kinds of dragons, and I was hooked! I mean, I get to literally be a Mother of Dragons!! The game has been around for a few years, and the design, the animation, and the little story lines are so cool!

Now if you’re like me, when you get into something, you REALLY get into it. It’s like finding an awesome song and playing it on repeat for three days until you start hallucinating a little. So, naturally, if I was watching shows with dragons and playing a game with dragons, I had to start reading a book with dragons too, and I found the Wings of Fire series by Tui Sutherland!

If you know a reluctant reader, young or old, or someone who loves adventure, fight scenes, and mysterious prophecies, these books are the perfect fit. The series begins in the wake of this terrible war between three Sand Dragon sisters who are battling for the throne. A prophecy appears promising five dragonets of destiny who will choose the right leader and save the world, but Clay, Tsunami, Sunny, Glory, and Starflight aren’t sure if they can save anyone, even themselves.

If you are a dragon lover like me, throw on your Mother of Dragons t-shirt, cozy up with a Dragon Frappuccino, and be it with a show, a game, or a book, dive into a dragon’s world of flight, fire, and fantasy!