I’m trying to be less reliant on my phone for everything. Between work, playing games, and those time sucking social media apps whose purpose I’m always questioning, I am on my phone way too much. I didn’t want to find another use for it, but then two great forces converged and made it well worth… View more
I’m fascinated with epic stories tied to different religions. Although I was familiar with some of principles of Buddhism and knew some details on the story of Gautama Buddha, I didn’t realize how much of the story I was unaware of till I read Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha that is available from the Downtown Library. This… View more
I fell in love with the wonders of Mythology in college. It was the similarities between mythologies that grabbed me at first, like the reoccurring stories of younger gods defeating older gods. But as I delved deeper into it, I became equally fascinated with how different cultures in different landscapes view the world with fascinating originality. There… View more
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
