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April 3-9 is National Library Week and this year’s theme is Connect With Your Library. In this episode we run down five ways to use the library that you may not have known about. Read Bronwyn’s National Library Week blog post Explore the Digital Studios Learn how to sign up for text notifications Visit our Genealogy page Check out Mango Languages and…

Becky and Nate are back on the podcast for the 7th year in a row to talk about last night’s Academy Awards ceremony. They share some of their own opinions about the nominees and other favorite movies of last year. Hear about the night’s memorable moments (and boy were there moments), the movies, the performances,…

To kick off the first podcast episode of the year, Andrea and Erica recommend four excellent books for your 2022 reading list. This is an edited version of January’s Bookies Live Facebook event. Follow the library on Facebook to catch future Bookies Live, every second Tuesday of the month. In This Episode Dan Harris, 10% HappierNita Prose, The MaidCharles Cumming, Box 88Malinda Lo, Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Believe it or not 2021 is wrapping up and Readers’ Advisor Jo is back for our annual episode recounting Cook Library’s favorite books of the year! Make sure you visit either Cook Park or Aspen Drive library to pick up your very own copies of our Fiction and Nonfiction Favorites booklets. Or take a look at them online anytime. Read Jo’s blog posts summarizing the 2021 national booklists for Fiction and Nonfiction.

The Bookies are back just in time for Thanksgiving with some stellar November reading selections all about families. This is an edited version of November’s Bookies Live Facebook event. Follow the library on Facebook to catch future Bookies Live. In This Episode Alice Hoffman, The Book of Magic Laura Dave, The Last Thing He Told Me Liane Moriarty, Apples Never Fall Angela Sanders, Bait and Witch Lauren Groff, Matrix Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, My Monticello

It’s the podcast’s 100th episode! And what better way to celebrate than by exploring the library’s own 100th birthday. As part of Cook Library’s Centennial Celebration, Local History Librarian Jenny Barry walks us through the first 40 years of the Cook Memorial Public Library up until 1960. Hear what it was like using the library when it was in the Cook house, the early days of the bookmobile, the first summer reading clubs, the cutting edge library technologies of the day, and more. Don’t miss our Centennial blog posts detailing the library’s history decade by decade. Register for Monday’s program The History of the Cook Memorial Public Library via Zoom.

Horror readers Lindsay, Mark, and Karen talk up some chilling October reads. This is an edited version of October’s Bookies Live Facebook event. Follow the library on Facebook to catch future Bookies Live. In This Episode Catriona Ward, The Last House on Needless Street Tiffany D. Jackson, White Smoke C.J. Tudor, The Burning Girls Caitlin Starling, The Death of Jane Lawrence V. Castro, The Queen of the Cicadas Josh Malerman, A House at the Bottom of a Lake

Readers’ Advisor Erica O’Rourke talks up some of the season’s best and most buzzed about books. If you need some new reading suggestions or just want to know what titles are worth adding to your TBR pile, you won’t want to miss this episode. In This Episode Returning FavoritesColson Whitehead, Harlem Shuffle Anthony Doerr, Cloud Cuckoo Land Liane Moriarty, Apples Never Fall TJ Klune, Under the Whispering Door Rachel Howzell Hall, These Toxic Things | register for the library’s Authors Out Loud program. Big BooksJonathan Franzen, Crossroads Monica Byrne, The Actual Star Neal Stephenson, Termination Shock Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois Diana Gabaldon, Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone SeriesAlexis Daria, A Lot Like Adiós Alice Hoffman, The Book of Magic Richard Osman, The Man Who Died Twice David Sedaris, A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003-2020 Elizabeth Strout, Oh William!

Head of Children’s Services Melissa Phillips is here to get you excited about summer reading! Get info on how to sign up, all the fun activities to participate in, and of course the prizes. Why wait? SIGN UP NOW!

For the 6th year in a row, AV Librarian Becky King is back to talk about the Academy Awards ceremony. Nate and Becky discuss the night’s biggest moments, the movies and performances of the year, plus share a few 2020 favorites that were shut out of the awards, but that you won’t want to miss.

We celebrate Women’s History Month and Cook Library’s Centennial by looking at the women who were key to the founding of the library and its early days. Local History Librarian Jenny Barry shares the stories of Emily Barrows Cook, Mabel MacGuffin, Norma Lee Peck, Clara Colby, Laura Taylor, August Lovell, and more. Keep checking the library’s Centennial Celebration page to stay updated on the festivities! Previous Women’s History Month Podcast Episodes Dr. Norma Munson3 Women of Libertyville Blog Posts Man at washtub, wife votes: an election year retrospectiveStitches in Time: Discovering Libertyville History through the 1889 Union Church Signature Quilt (part 1)Stitches in Time: Discovering Libertyville History through the 1889 Union Church Signature Quilt (part 2)Stitches in Time: Discovering Libertyville History through the 1889 Union Church Signature Quilt (part 3)The Oldest Drug Store in Town (Part 1)

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, Cook Library’s Romance book selector Erica O’Rourke shares a few of her favorite titles. Erica talks about what differentiates a romance from a love story then suggests books for fans of Bridgerton, those looking for something contemporary, and even some titles for anyone celebrating Galentine’s Day. MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE Bridgerton (series) by Julia Quinn The Wildes of Lindow Castle (series) by Eloisa James The Lady’s Guide To Celestial Mechanics and The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite Make Up Break Up by Lily Menon. Brown Sisters (series) by Talia Hibbert The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie Yes Please by Amy Poehler Bossypants by Tina Fey. Parks & Recreation Season 2 – includes the episode with Galentine’s Day.

Readers’ Advisor Jo is back for our annual episode on Cook Library’s favorite books of the year! Astute listeners will note it is no longer 2020, but with so many great books published and our annual library booklets being released despite a worldwide pandemic, we figured better late than never to do a little celebrating of our year in reading. Check out the online version of our Fiction and Nonfiction Favorites booklets or stop into the vestibule of either library location to pick up a physical copy today!

How has COVID-19 impacted the book publishing industry? Our guest Skip Dye – SVP of Library Sales & Digital Strategy and SVP Director of Sales Operations at Penguin Random House – knows a thing or two about how publishers are adapting to this very different world we find ourselves in. We pack a lot into this episode. Learn the ways in which Coronavirus affects a publisher’s supply chain, how PRH is responding to the Black Lives Matter movement, changes in reading tastes, how authors are still connecting to readers, the evolving publisher/library relationship, and of course what Skip’s been reading lately. BOOKS MENTIONED Intimations by Zadie Smith There There by Tommy Orange The Places That Scare You by Pema Chödrön Born A Crime by Trevor Noah https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/cooklib/Publishing_during_a_Pandemic_-_Penguin_Random_House_Skip_Dye.mp3

Author Photo: ©Kristee Mays Photography Why haven’t more people heard of Nancy Wake? An upper-class expat who smuggled documents and people out of WWII Paris, armed the French Resistance, and killed a Nazi commander bare-handed, this war heroine should be a household name — but she isn’t. Author Ariel Lawhon sets out to rectify the oversight in her latest novel, Code Name Hélène. The book is a meticulously researched and compulsively readable account of Nancy Wake’s life, tracing her journey from journalist to society wife to spy.  Erica spoke with Ariel about writing Code Name Hélène, why this story has been overlooked for so long, and the fascinating truth behind Nancy’s signature red lipstick. They also discuss Ariel’s approach to writing fiction about real people, her favorite fictional marriages, and even get a behind-the-scenes peek at her next project. Code Name Hélène is available to check out in regular print or large type, as well as ebook formats in CloudLibrary and Libby/Overdrive. You can also purchase it at your favorite bookstore. Find out more about Ariel here.   Books Discussed In This Episode All Arial Lawhon books Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/cooklib/Ariel_Lawhon.mp3

Image: Mapping Inequality Note: This episode is part three in a three-part series originally released by Drops of Ink – the student news publication of Libertyville High School. Drops of Ink explores different perspectives on race in Libertyville. Originally published September 14, 2016. Produced and hosted by Conor Kennedy. https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/cooklib/A_History_of_Racism_in_Libertyville_and_the_North_Shore_part_3.mp3

Note: This episode is part two in a three-part series originally released by Drops of Ink – the student news publication of Libertyville High School. Drops of Ink explores the history of the movement for housing equality. Originally published July 22, 2016. Produced and hosted by Conor Kennedy.

Note: This episode is part one in a three-part series originally released by Drops of Ink – the student news publication of Libertyville High School. Drops of Ink delves into the history behind the segregation of Libertyville and its surrounding communities. Originally published May 26, 2016. Produced and hosted by Conor Kennedy.

Phil Christman is the author of the new book Midwest Futures – a collection of interconnected essays about the Midwest. The book expands on Christman’s 2017 essay for The Hedgehog Review On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality. Both the essay and book start with a dissection of writing cliches about the Midwest as a way to begin unravelling how the region developed, what it means to live here, and what the area could become. Our conversation (much like the book) cruises around a lot of different topics. We talk about “Midwestern” as an idea – touching on history, politics, race, literature, and even the current pandemic. We end with some of Christman’s favorite Midwest books and authors, plus what he’s been reading lately. Midwest Futures published by Belt Publishing is available in eBook format in CloudLibrary, coming soon to the library in physical format, or you can purchase it. Books and authors cited in the episode Gwendolynn Brooks Louise Erdrich Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher William H. Gass The Last Children of Mill Creek by Vivian Gibson Rust Belt Femme by Raechel Anne Jolie Draft no. 4 by John McPhee David Rhodes Marilynne Robinson Wagnerism by Alex Ross The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein The Origins of the Urban Crisis by Thomas Sugrue Marguerite Young https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/cooklib/Phil_Christman_on_Being_Midwestern.mp3

Many of us find ourselves with a lot more time at home these days. Why not use that time to explore one of the library’s best digital resources – hoopla! Audiovisual librarian Becky King and host Nate Gass each share their Top 5 hoopla movie recommendations. Dive into hoopla right now Don’t have a library card? Apply for one online! http://traffic.libsyn.com/cooklib/10_movies_to_stream_on_hoopla_right_now.mp3