Mission Creek Festival in Iowa City is April 2-7th at various venues around town. The festival is mixture of literature, music and film. There will be several indie recording artists performing: Mitski – whose album ‘Be the Cowboy’ has gotten great press has sold out the Englert on Friday, April 5th, and Jenny Lewis, on… View more
As we wrap up another wonderful year at the Cedar Rapids Public Library, we would like to express our gratitude to our patrons, our volunteers, our community partners, and our donors for their endless support. You have walked with us on our mission to serve as a beacon of literacy to those in our community… View more
Hulu’s adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is the latest example of fine literature being adapted for the small screen. In the past few years, dozens of successful books have turned into thoughtful, exciting, or fantastic screen versions of themselves. The Handmaid’s Tale, a streaming television event on Hulu, has already proven itself… View more
I love character driven thrillers with a perfect sense of place. Tight plotting. Page turning. I read thrillers to transport myself. My love affair with (…the books of…) Harlan Coben, Lee Child, and David Baldacci is rooted in their characterizations of hero: Everyman against the world. Sinister sucks. These seasoned writers are tough to compete… View more
Ever since its expansion from Women’s History Week in the 1980’s March is known as Women’s History Month. During this time it’s appropriate to appreciate, recognize, and salute those ground breaking females that have blazed trails in front of all of us. As former President Carter said in 1980: “From the first settlers who came… View more
Winner of the 2015 Newbery Medal for The Crossover, poet Kwame Alexander draws on rules of sports as the background for life lessons of hardship, perseverance, and focus. In The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life, he uses sports analogies (predominately basketball as you might imagine from the cover)… View more
Last month, I was the lucky recipient of a big, beautiful easel. For painting. For painting paintings! Having only produced a few dozen paintings over the course of my fifty plus years, I thought I’d try to actually learn how to do it. Enter Sam Piyasena and Beverly Philp’s Just Paint It! I’m an admittedly… View more
It’s official! It’s 2017! You’ve started on that vision board. You have your Fitbit ready to measure your every move. But have you considered managing your microbiology? More and more, the tiny, non-human make-up of your body has become increasingly interesting to scientists. Microbiology plays an integral role in your life and your body is… View more
Where Did They Go? a spotting book by Emily Barnoff Emily Barnoff’s new “seek and find” book for children takes us on a world tour searching the pages for a tree sloth, a bison, a tapir, and other rare animals. Children will see – quite literally – how hard it is to spot these creatures…. View more
Winter weather is creeping in and children are reveling in freshly fallen snow. What better time to get the hot cocoa going and curl up with them and a great book? CRPL has you covered. Below is a list of great reads for elementary aged children from the past year. These books are a perfect… View more
