Brown Bags & Books
Join us on the fourth Wednesday of the month at noon for Brown Bags and Books. Bring a sack lunch or enjoy our light refreshments as you listen to a book review.
January 22 – Roger Lyons – Resistance: Reclaiming an American Tradition by Jeff Biggers
February 26 – Jeff Campbell – When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father’s War and What Remains by Ariana Neumann
March 26 – Jason West – Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant
April 23 – Cathy Wall – James by Percival Everett
May 28 – Jonah Rice – Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau
June 25 – Marj DeNeal – Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
July 23 – Topper & Tina Ellis – The Red Suit Diaries: A Real-Life Santa on Hopes, Dreams, and Childlike Faith by Ed Butchart
August 27 – Gloria Tison – The Brightest Star by Gail Tsukiyama
October 1 – Arla Murphy – Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah (* Due to scheduling conflicts, September’s BBB will now be on October 1)
October 22 – Gillum Ferguson – Walking with Spring by Earl Shaffer
Cloud Library
The 3M Cloud Library app is available for Harrisburg District Library patrons to download e-books and e-audiobooks for free! All you need is your Harrisburg District Library card number and 4-digit PIN. The app is available for free download to iOS and Android devices. The Cloud Library has fiction and non-fiction for kids, teens, and adults.
https://www.yourcloudlibrary.com/
*Choose Illinois Heartland Library System when prompted to “Find Your Local Library.”
Hoopla
The Hoopla app is available for Harrisburg District Library patrons to download e-books, e-audiobooks, movies, TV shows, and music for free! All you need is your Harrisburg District Library card number and 4-digit PIN. The app is available for free download to iOS and Android devices. There are items available for all ages, with no wait times. Download the item immediately for easy access or stream online.
*Sign up with an email and password, choose your library, accept the terms and conditions, then enter your library card number and 4 digit PIN
Goodreads
Keep track of the books you’ve read and the books you want to read! See what your friends are reading and be a part of the world’s largest community of readers!
Fantastic Fiction
A great website where you can search for your favorite authors and easily see all of the books they have written. Plus, find all of your favorite series in order! https://www.fantasticfiction.com/
Explore More Illinois
“Explore More Illinois” is a free service offered to Harrisburg Public Library District cardholders to access discount offers from museums, cultural centers, and other attractions. Click on the following link “Explore More Illinois” to log in- choose our library and enter your library card number and PIN. Choose the attraction and date of your planned visit and submit your request. You will receive an email confirmation with details specific to the attraction. Current offers include Buy One, Get One Free admission from the Discovery Center in Rockford; $2.00 off regular adult admission from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield; Buy One, Get One Free admission to Edwards Place in Springfield; 25% off your gift store purchase at Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Museum in Oak Park; and more! Partnerships with other attractions are pending so check back periodically.
Emily’s Pick of the Month
Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller
Available at our library in print (MIL), as well as an audiobook and eBook on the Cloud Library and Hoopla apps.
Lula Dean attempts to gain attention by spearheading book banning in her small town and establishing a wholesome little free library on her lawn. Her teenage daughter secretly replaces her “wholesome” books with actual banned titles, leading to unexpected, transformative experiences for the townspeople who borrow them.
Sherry’s Pick of the Month
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
Available at our library in print (636.098 HER) and as an eBook on the Hoopla app.
Delve into the magical, unforgettable world of James Herriot, the world’s most beloved veterinarian, and his menagerie of heartwarming, funny, and tragic animal patients. For decades, Herriot roamed the remote, beautiful Yorkshire Dales, treating every patient that came his way from smallest to largest, and observing animals and humans alike with his keen, loving eye.
Evan’s Pick of the Month
The Women of Wynton’s by Donna Mumma
Available at our library in print (INS MUN) and as an audiobook on the Hoopla app.
A 1950s-era cozy mystery where four disparate women—Audrey, Mary Jo, Vivian, and Gigi—who initially dislike each other at Wynton’s, a prominent Florida department store, must band together to solve a series of murders and save the store and its owner from destruction.
Emma’s Pick of the Month
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Available at our library in print (SF NIF) and as an audiobook on the Cloud Library and Hoopla apps.
This is the extraordinary love story of Clare and Henry, who met when Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry was thirty. Impossible but true, because Henry suffers from a rare condition where his genetic clock periodically resets and he finds himself pulled suddenly into his past or future.
Hadleigh’s Pick of the Month
Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson
Available at our library in print (NEW JAC) and as an audiobook on the Hoopla app.
On the night of Halloween, 27-year-old Jet Mason is brutally attacked. She suffers a catastrophic head injury, leaving her with only a week to live before a fatal aneurysm is expected to rupture. As her condition deteriorates, she has only her childhood friend Billy for help. Nevertheless, she’s absolutely determined to solve her own murder.
Ray’s Pick of the Month
Nightshade by Michael Connelly
Available at our library in print (NEARLY NEW CON #1) as well as an eBook and audiobook on the Cloud Library app.
Newly-exiled Los Angeles County Sheriff Detective Sergeant Stilwell takes on a murder case on Catalina Island, which he finds is connected to a missing artifact from a private, exclusive club. As Stilwell investigates the victim’s dark past and a possible connection to a mutilated buffalo, he uncovers corruption and secrets beneath the island’s idyllic facade.
Maureen’s Pick of the Month
The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb
Available at our library in print. (NEW LAM)
Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown his marriage into a tailspin. And that’s before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, but he meets a prison librarian who sees his light and troubled teen desperate for a role model. Buoyed by them, Corby begins to transcend the boundaries of his confinement, sustained by his hope that mercy and reconciliation might still be possible. Can his crimes ever be forgiven by those he loves?