New Books for under the sparkly lights

Brand new books for your reading pleasure! Perfect timing to check out and relax during the holidays. 

 Adult Books

Daylight by David Baldacci

FBI Agent Atlee Pine's search for her sister Mercy clashes with military investigator John Puller's high-stakes case, leading them both deep into a global conspiracy -- from which neither of them will escape unscathed

Tom Clancy Shadow of the Dragon by Marc Cameron

When a high-level mole infiltrates American Intelligence, President Jack Ryan dispatches John Clark and the Campus team to track down a missing scientist who holds critical aerospace and naval technology.

Piece of My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark

A high-suspense follow-up to the best-selling "You Don't Own Me" finds the nuptials of television producer Laurie Moran and investigative host Alex Buckley nightmarishly upended by the sudden disappearance of Alex's seven-year-old nephew.

The Searcher by Tana French

Cal Hooper thought a fixer-upper in a bucolic Irish village would be the perfect escape. After twenty-five years in the Chicago police force and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens. But when a local kid whose brother has gone missing arm-twists him into investigating, Cal uncovers layers of darkness beneath his picturesque retreat, and starts to realize that even small towns shelter dangerous secrets

Advent: A Journey of Preparation

by Faith Tilley Johnson

A view of where the season of advent originated and readings to take the reader through the season in preparation.

Stardust: An Alzheimer's Love Story by Edward Morris

Entertainment reporter and playwright Edward Morris and his wife Norma had lived in separate houses for 34 years when they discovered Norma was in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Although each had established individual careers—she as a publicist for such Grammy winning artists as Ralph Stanley and Steve Wariner—Ed decided to move into the home Norma had purchased on her own as her caregiver. What they had in common was a love for songs from the Great American Songbook, particularly those recorded by Willie Nelson in his classic album, Stardust. That album would become a focal point of their lives as Norma's dementia progressed. Simultaneously, Ed began chronicling the ups and downs of caring for her on Facebook. These accounts became so popular that eventually Nelson sent Norma a video expressing his thanks and best wishes. This is no bleeding-heart book. There's plenty of humor and salty language. But it's absolutely honest (down to discussing their outside love affairs), and positively fascinating.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini 

A space voyager living her dream of exploring new worlds lands on a distant planet ripe for colonization before her discovery of a mysterious relic transforms her life and threatens the entire human race.

Of Blood & Fire by C.R.Quinn 

How does it feel to live in a lie? Beckett Dawes was barely making it through community college and still lived with his parents. He never felt completely comfortable in his life, there was always a yearning for something more, although he could never find his way. Today was like every other day in Beckett’s life, until a quiet girl from one of his classes said, “I know what you are, do you?” Never did he imagine those few words would cause his world to come crashing down around him. His entire life was a lie, and the monsters he thought were only in movies were real, very real. Natasha Cushlin had one dream - to become a Warrior. Her training was the only reason she noticed the two men following the boy in the library. Who knew that a simple act would cause her to question everything in her life. Could she give up everything she wanted just to be loved?

Young Adult

Winter, White and Wicked by Shannon Dittemore

Winter, White and Wicked tells the story of an island plagued by an eternal winter and when rig driver Sylvia takes on a new haul to bring her friend home she begins to wonder if the stories she knew and the history she had with the icy spirit are true or if they're all a ruse to keep her from looking to the sky and hoping for the sun.

Juvenile Fiction

Captain Underpantsand the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers by Dave Pilkey 

Captain Underpantsand the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers by Dave Pilkey 

Childrens

Alexander and theTerrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst 

New Books to enjoy while snuggled by the fire

 Adult

The Sentinel - Lee Child

Fortune and Glory - Janet Evanovich

Scarlet Odyssey - C.T. Rwizi
Although it is considered unmanly, Salo reads books and works in secret to awaken his latent magical powers, which allows him to defend his tribe when it is attacked by a cruel enchantress. His queen gratefully accepts his desire to be a mystic, but cannot allow him to stay, so he is sent on a quest to gather more information about the threat the sorceress poses -- which will lead him eventually to join other outcasts and discover how exactly his fate is entwined with the enchantress.

Three Women Disappear - James Patterson

Young Adult

Deathless Divide - Justina Ireland
The sequel to Dread Nation is a journey of revenge and salvation across a divided America.

After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler: Get out of town, stay alive, and head west to California to find her mother.

But nothing is easy when you're a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to a protected village called Nicodermus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880's America.

Juvenile

How to Draw Kawaii - Aimi Aikawa

Natalie Portman's Fables - Natalie Portman

State Series

Alaska

Arkansas

Colorado

Hawaii

Illinois

Massachusetts

Michigan

Texas

Washington

We've made it to December!

 Snow flurries on Monday have put us in the mood for the season! So here we go!

EVENTS

This month we have 6, yes 6! Take and Make crafts. They will be available on the date listed in the graphic until they are gone. We are able to provide the Take and Make Crafts because of donations from our patrons and the community.

We would love to see the results of the craft so make sure when you are done to share and tag #JWLwhitebluff

VISITORS

In all of the hustle last month, we failed to post our numbers of visitors and circulation. So, we will do that now.

    OCTOBER

• Visitors in the month of October 259.
• Patrons using online services 2.
• 16 new patrons to JWL.
• We had 201 books checked out.
• 2 CD-Books borrowed.
• Patrons borrowed 20 movies.
• The computers were used 36 times.
• We were closed 1 day for Veteran's Day.

    NOVEMBER

• Visitors in the month of November 186.
• Patrons using online services 5.
• 10 new patrons to JWL.
• We had 201 books checked out.
• 5 CD-Books borrowed.
• Patrons borrowed 26 movies.
• The computers were used 38 times.
• We were closed 3 days for Thanksgiving Day weekend.

COVID-19 

As part of the Town of White Bluff, we are abiding by the requirements that have been declared. You can see the full disclosure at COVID-19 effective immediately. Face coverings are required. Materials are in quarantine for 72 hours once they are returned.

Thanksgiving Week Information!

 There are a lot of things going on this year that was unexpected. Rather than focus on that, let's focus on the positive!

We are thankful for our patrons. While the coming and going traffic may look a bit different than before, we are still seeing most of our community. And we are glad.

We are thankful that our community has helped us with reaching our patrons. We now have our online catalog and our website that is accessible. We could not have done that without donations and support.

We are thankful for our parents and grandparents that come in and not only get the Take and Make crafts for the kids, they also are encouraging the children to read. We are bias, but we feel that literacy is very important for all people.

We are thankful we have been able to continue adding books to our collection.

We are thankful that we celebrated our 11th anniversary this year.

Plenty to be thankful for!

What are you thankful for? Tell us in the comments!

This week (November 23-28) we are closed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday so that our staff and volunteers can catch up on their reading lists. (*wink*)

We can take reserve requests Monday and Tuesday for Wednesday pickup. (Have your library card and check out our online library cat.jwlwhitebluff.com)

We also have a few of the Take and Make crafts left.

Veterans Day

Please note that in observance of Veterans Day, the Jennie Woodworth Library is closed.

In the United States of America, Veterans Day is observed on November 11th. This day is held to honor military veterans that have served specifically in the United States Armed Forces.

Veterans Day coincides with Armistice Day and Remembrance Day. Armistice Day is  to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France at 5:45 am, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. Remembrance Day (sometimes known informally as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of the remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. It was inaugurated by King George V in 1919.

Once we see that November 11th is a honored day and why, we can understand why many of the observances are for all military active, inactive, or no longer with us.

Reading List

• American Heroes on the on the Homefront - Oliver North
• Homeless Soldier - John Phantom
• To D-Day and Back - Bob Beardon

Don't forget you can view our entire library catalog at cat.jwlwhitebluff.com

New Books to Fall in Love With

Our new books to hit the shelves this month! Plenty to enjoy. Click on the Title to see the selection in our Catalog.

Hearthwizard by Ree Taylor

YA TAYLOR, REE

Ackley Oldstone has a secret. He isn’t who he says he is. Having lost his family at a young age, Ackley left his old life as Gregory Burl and spent the last decade becoming something no one ever expected. Now, he’s learned to control his magic and has made a happy life as a hearthwizard for the remote district of Syde. He lives simply, loves his work as a healer to his town, and has made lasting friends. However, a murk called the Blackness threatens Syde, and it seems Ackley alone can banish it. He soon finds himself on an epic journey to rid the world of this miasma for good, facing his past and his fears along the way.

The Return by Nicholas Sparks

FIC SPARKS, NICHOLAS*

In the romantic tradition of Dear John, #1 New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sparks returns with the story of an injured Navy doctor -- and two women whose secrets will change the course of his life. Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New Bern, North Carolina. But when a mortar blast outside the hospital where he worked sent him home from Afghanistan with devastating injuries, the dilapidated cabin he'd inherited from his grandfather seemed as good a place to regroup as any. Tending to his grandfather's beloved beehives, Trevor isn't prepared to fall in love with a local. . . yet, from their very first encounter, Trevor feels a connection with deputy sheriff Natalie Masterson that he can't ignore. But even as she seems to reciprocate his feelings, she remains frustratingly distant, making Trevor wonder what she's hiding. Further complicating his stay in New Bern is the presence of a sullen teenage girl, Callie, who lives in the trailer park down the road. Trevor hopes Callie can shed light on the mysterious circumstances of his grandfather's death, but she offers few clues -- until a crisis triggers a race to uncover the true nature of Callie's past, one more intertwined with the elderly man's passing than Trevor could ever have imagined. In his quest to unravel Natalie and Callie's secrets, Trevor will learn the true meaning of love and forgiveness. . . and that in life, to move forward, we must often return to the place where it all began. 

Born to Fly by Sara Evans.

BIO EVANS, SARA*

In this powerful, personal, and often humorous book, Sara opens up and shares stories from her career, describing what it’s like living in the spotlight and how her faith keeps her strong. She writes about overcoming life’s most challenging experiences, from a childhood accident that nearly took her life, to the loss she experienced when her parents divorced, and from her own painful and very public divorce, to finding incredible love when she least expected it with former pro quarterback-turned-sportscaster Jay Barker. Now, after over a decade of marriage, Sara and Jay’s blended family of nine is thriving, filling her life with focus and meaning.

As she weaves the narrative of her life, Sara candidly reveals the things that are most important to her and her family now, her favorite tips about staying true to herself and her faith, knowing when to ask for help, abandoning perfectionism, and the importance of a strong support group of friends and family. Fans old and new will enjoy this inspiring, heartfelt book. 

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

FIC RIVERS, FRANCINE*

California’s gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.

Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside.

Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything, Michael Hosea obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation until, despite her resistance her frozen heart begins to thaw.

But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband’s pursuing love, terrified of the truth she can no longer deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael Hosea does…the One who will never let her go.

A life-changing story of God’s unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love.

The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes

FIC MOYES, JOJO*

Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically.

The leader, and soon Alice’s greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who’s never asked a man’s permission for anything. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.

What happens to them–and to the men they love–becomes an unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity and passion. These heroic women refuse to be cowed by men or by convention. And though they face all kinds of dangers in a landscape that is at times breathtakingly beautiful, at others brutal, they’re committed to their job: bringing books to people who have never had any, arming them with facts that will change their lives.

Based on a true story rooted in America’s past, The Giver of Stars is unparalleled in its scope and epic in its storytelling. Funny, heartbreaking, enthralling, it is destined to become a modern classic–a richly rewarding novel of women’s friendship, of true love, and of what happens when we reach beyond our grasp for the great beyond

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

FIC GYASI, YAA*

Gifty is a sixth-year PhD candidate in neuroscience at the Stanford University School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her. But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family's loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive. Transcendent Kingdom is a deeply moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants ravaged by depression and addiction and grief--a novel about faith, science, religion, love.

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult

FIC PICOULT, JODI*

Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn Edelstein. She’s on a plane when the flight attendant makes an announcement: Prepare for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband but of a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong. Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life. Back in Boston, there is her husband, Brian, their beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, in which she helps ease the transition between life and death for her clients. But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a career Dawn once studied for but was forced to abandon when life suddenly intervened. And now, when it seems that fate is offering her second chances, she is not as sure of the choice she once made. After the crash landing, the airline ensures that the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers transportation to wherever they want to go. The obvious option for Dawn is to continue down the path she is on and go home to her family. The other is to return to the archaeological site she left years before, reconnect with Wyatt and their unresolved history, and maybe even complete her research on The Book of Two Ways—the first known map of the afterlife.

*New Books are in the New Book Section for 1 year.

Activities for the Family in October!

 We would love to be having Storytime and not so scary costume contest here at the library, but not this year. However, we want to still have fun with our patrons.

👻 - With a lot of gratitude to Sweet T's and Blackthorn Game Center we are hosting our virtual Costume Contest. The contest is on Facebook in our JWL 2020 Halloween Costume Contest Group. Submission guidelines are in the group description. Accepting entries until October 24th. Voting ends October 31st at noon.

🦇 - Starting October 19th, we will have color sheets available at the circulation desk. Just stop by and ask. We have some for all ages.  (We have these and a few others.)

🕸 - Monday, October 26th we will be having round two of our Kid's Make and Take. Make sure to stop by with your child and their library card.

🎃 - Wednesday, October 28th we will have Trick or Treat buckets available in part to the donation from the Dickson Insurance Agency, Inc

🍬 - Friday, October 30th we will have goodie bags for our juvenile patrons that stop by in costume.

🍫 - Saturday, October 31st we will have goodie bags for our juvenile patrons that stop by in costume.

 Many thanks to Joanna at Everything Real Estate for their generous donation to make this possible.

Halloween Week Activity Schedule

Yes, You can access our online catalog!

 Hello there! We have made a video showing off our online catalog! We can not wait for our patrons to start using it. We feel that having our catalog online will add to the overall experience of using the Jennie Woodworth Library.

This video shows you how to access our catalog, as well as how to use it briefly. In addition, we have featured the "Update Library Card Info" form so that you can keep your information up to date.

Jennie's Christmas Mercantile Announcement

 I know this is an announcement that many have been waiting for.

2020 is the year, huh?

I was really hoping that we would be able to pull this off. I know how important the vendor fairs are for the vendors as well as shoppers. Over the last couple of years, the Christmas Mercantile has also become our biggest fundraiser for the library.

Unfortunately, we will not be doing the Christmas Mercantile this year. This decision is not an easy one. We, the Jennie Woodworth Library, believe that keeping the community healthy is of the most importance. Having a large crowd in a closed-in
space is risky when it comes to any illness. This is especially true with an illness like COVID-19 which is still being researched and studied on how best to treat it.

We encourage our vendors to post their contact information so that the community can still support them. Our small businesses are hurting this year. Support them as you are able.

JWL will be planning fundraisers to help support our programs here at our community founded and supported library.

Remember that you can support JWL any time of the year and we appreciate that.

As far as having the mercantile in the future? We will.

Kid's Take and Make for October

 The Kid's Make and Take 

On Thursday, October 8th from 11-5, we will have a limited supply of our October Kids Craft. These are first come, first serve. Your child must be present and have their library card to receive one. 

The Rules:

1. Must be a card holding member in good standing.
2. Only one craft per person. The child must be present with their library card.
3. Understand that we have a limited supply and once they are gone, they are gone.

Make sure to keep an eye out for our November and December Take and Makes as well!

We may not be able to have on site programs, but we can have fun!

The Opportunity:

• We would love for businesses or individuals to sponsor a month.
• Or hope is to have a teen craft and a kids craft available monthly.
• These craft kits are take and make. They are simple crafts.
• We would love to include crafts for our older population as well. 

This opportunity is available because the community has always supported our library through volunteerism and donations. 

Falling in to autumn

 We have wrapped up September and jumping into October. This year is going by amazingly fast and extremely slow at the same time. What is important is that our library is here for our community and we love seeing our patrons.

For the month of September, we have had 199 people visit our library. We have welcomed 16 new patrons. This makes us excited! We love to share our resources here at the Jennie Woodworth Library.

Our circulation in September was good:

• 181 Books
• 3 Audio Books
  
• 18 DVDs
• And the computers were used 38 times.

We are moving along! BTW! If you need to update your existing library card information, you can check out the link in the side bar under Patron Information (Or click here)

October is read a book month!

Now that you have your library card (if you haven't, come on in and we will get you hooked up), it's time to read! Especially with fall break upon us.

COVID-19 

As part of the Town of White Bluff, we are abiding by the requirements that have been declared. You can see the full disclosure at COVID-19 effective immediately. Face coverings are required. Materials are in quarantine for 72 hours once they are returned.

Fall Activities

We have several things coming up. Coming up on Thursday is our October Take and Make for the kids. The juvenile has to be present and a library card holder. ALSO during the month of October we are holding a costume contest for the kids, birth - 18. 

The information for the Costume Contest can be found HERE

The Kid's Make and Take 

On Thursday, October 8th from 11-5, we will have a limited supply of our October Kids Craft. These are first come, first serve. Your child must be present and have their library card to receive one. 

The Rules:

1. Must be a card holding member in good standing.
2. Only one craft per person. The child must be present with their library card.
3. Understand that we have a limited supply and once they are gone, they are gone.

The Opportunity:

• We would love for businesses or individuals to sponsor a month.
• Or hope is to have a teen craft and a kids craft available monthly.
• These craft kits are take and make. They are simple crafts.
• We would love to include crafts for our older population as well. 

This opportunity is available because the community has always supported our library through volunteerism and donations. 

Costume Contest!

Submissions accepted until October 24, 2020.

Submissions can be sent to us via Facebook Messenger or dropped off at the library. Child’s name and age is to be included.
Submissions are a photo of a juvenile patron in their Halloween costume. Juvenile must be a patron of the Jennie Woodworth Library in good standing. Costumes are to be modest, nothing racy.

Event page - https://www.facebook.com/events/784472279068242/ 

Age groups for the contest are:

•        Birth thru 4 years of age
•        5 / 6
•        7 / 8
•        9 / 10
  
•        11 thru 13
•        14 thru 18

Our prizes will be:

•        Pull Along Book Caddy w/ 4 board books and small stuffed toy (b-4)
•        Funko Pop – Squirtle (5/6)
•        Baseball Collectors Kit (7/8)
•        Pokémon Card Game Kit (9/10)
•        Skittermander Gamer Pouch (11-13)
•        $10 Gift Card to Sweet T’s (14-18)

Eligibility:

Participant must be a patron of the Jennie Woodworth Library in good standing. Good standing means no overdue books and no outstanding fines. Please note that it is free to get a library card at JWL and $2 to replace a lost library card.
By entering our contest, you are giving us permission to use your photos in online promotion and in the contest.

Voting:

Photos will be posted on the Jennie Woodworth Library Facebook page in albums. Each album will be labeled with the age group on it. Albums will be posted October 25, 2020. The image with the most likes in the album at noon on October 31, 2020 is the winner. Announcement will be made at 1 pm October 31.

 

 * This contest is being run on our Jennie Woodworth Library Facebook Page. All entries will be submitted in person or by way of Facebook Messenger. Winners will be decided by people "liking" the photos.

From the Director… Banned Books Week

I have been thinking about banned books week for a while. Should we have a display? Should we feature the books we have that have been banned? What exactly should we do about banned books week? Should we do anything?

The premise of banned books week comes from the idea that libraries are information hubs and they are not censored. Thus, the attention to banned books at a library is to bring attention to the censorship of these books.

Why is it these books are banned though?

Most if not all the books that find themselves on the banned/challenged list are books that cover in some way controversial subjects. Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer was banned because of racism. Harriet the Spy was banned because she wore boy clothes(sexuality?). The themes that find themselves on the list vary every year. This year 8 of the top ten are related to LGBTQIA+. The other two that are listed are Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood because of profanity and for “vulgarity and sexual overtones” and then the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling for referring to magic and witchcraft, for containing actual curses and spells, and for characters that use “nefarious means” to attain goals.

It is my belief that books are written not just for entertainment but also to challenge us with our ideals.

Who is it that banned them?

Books are banned or challenged by review boards, individuals, administrators, etc. People that feel they need to protect others. There are individuals and organizations that believe it is their place to ban books to protect children. In reality, this is the job of the parent(s) or guardian(s), not anybody else.

You might ask, why is it bad to ban books?

It is bad to ban books because it is censorship. Censorship goes against the First Amendment. Authors in the United States have the freedom of speech. This includes the written word. This points to who is it that is wanting to ban books.

All of this said. Libraries have books that cover many themes and subjects. The Jennie Woodworth Library strives to meet the reading needs of the community in White Bluff and the surrounding area. We do have books that cover controversial topics. Yet, we also do not promote these topics. We encourage you to research. To help with this, we have a search computer in the library that allows you to search a book (or DVD) and read the summary and subjects. We also have the online catalog that has the same information available.

My thoughts as the library director and understanding that the premise of a library is encouraging the freedom of information, banned books week is every week. In a library, our focus is equal access to information. The intent is to give everyone in the community access to information and literacy. This is despite any barriers that may exist. Because of this, libraries are unable to censor books just because somebody does not like them.

Pick up a book and read. 

New Books to Finish September With

 We enjoy providing new books to the community here at our BIG little library. You will find the following books in the NEW section.

Fiction

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?

World Without End by Ken Follett

World Without End is a best-selling 2007 novel by Welsh author Ken Follett. It is the second book in the Kingsbridge Series, and is the sequel to 1989's The Pillars of the Earth. World Without End takes place in the same fictional town as Pillars of the Earth — Kingsbridge — and features the descendants of some Pillars characters 157 years later. The plot incorporates two major historical events, the start of the Hundred Years' War and the Black Death. The author was inspired by real historical events relating to the Cathedral of Santa María in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett

It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns.

In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined: A young boatbuilder's life is turned upside down when the only home he's ever known is raided by Vikings, forcing him and his family to move and start their lives anew in a small hamlet where he does not fit in. . . . A Norman noblewoman marries for love, following her husband across the sea to a new land. But the customs of her husband's homeland are shockingly different, and as she begins to realize that everyone around her is engaged in a constant, brutal battle for power, it becomes clear that a single misstep could be catastrophic. . . . A monk dreams of transforming his humble abbey into a center of learning that will be admired throughout Europe. And each in turn comes into dangerous conflict with a clever and ruthless bishop who will do anything to increase his wealth and power.

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

Lisa Wingate brings to life stories from actual "Lost Friends" advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the Civil War, as freed slaves desperately searched for loved ones who had been sold off.

Louisiana, 1875 In the tumultuous aftermath of Reconstruction, three young women set off as unwilling companions on a perilous quest: Lavinia, the pampered heir to a now-destitute plantation; Juneau Jane, her illegitimate free-born Creole half-sister; and Hannie, Lavinia's former slave. Each carries private wounds and powerful secrets as they head for Texas, following dangerous roads rife with ruthless vigilantes and soldiers still fighting a war lost a decade before. For Lavinia and Juneau Jane, the journey is one of inheritance and financial desperation, but for Hannie, torn from her mother and eight siblings before slavery's end, the pilgrimage westward reignites an agonizing question: Could her long-lost family still be out there? Beyond the swamps lie the seemingly limitless frontiers of Texas and, improbably, hope.

Louisiana, 1987 For first-year teacher Benedetta Silva, a subsidized job at a poor rural school seems like the ticket to canceling her hefty student debt--until she lands in a tiny, out-of-step Mississippi River town. Augustine, Louisiana, seems suspicious of new ideas and new people, and Benny can scarcely comprehend the lives of her poverty-stricken students. But amid the gnarled oaks and run-down plantation homes lies the century-old history of three young women, a long-ago journey, and a hidden book that could change everything.

Young Adult

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.