Author: Book Club Mom

Book Club Mom w/4 kids. Book blogger. Work in a library. Jersey Girl & all-around mom. https://linktr.ee/BookClubMom

Your online book world – reviews, talk and recommendations

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One of the best things about reading books is hearing what others are saying and learning about new books on the horizon.

To get started, you can access a wealth of information on our website  https://chescolibraries.org/books-movies-music and online with your library card. Take a look:

  • Library Reads – a monthly list highlighting library staff picks from across the country
  • Novelist Plus – recommended reads in fiction and nonfiction
  • NextReads – Sign up to receive free monthly or bimonthly NextReads emails loaded with great book suggestions.
  • Staff Picks – book recommendations by our library staff

For reviews in the The New York Times sign in here with your library card to access a wealth of book-related sections:

  • Best Sellers
  • Book Reviews
  • Book Review Podcasts
  • By the Book – Writers on literature and the literary life
  • Children’s Books
  • Crime – Roundups of crime novels by Marilyn Stasio in The New York Times Book Review
  • Globetrotting – Sneak preview of books coming out in 2020 from around the world
  • Now Read This – A book club from PBS NewsHour and The New York Times

Read book reviews on The Philadelphia Inquirer online or access the daily Philadelphia Inquirer here.

And on Flipster – access The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books

For more ideas and to reserve your next read, hop over to our digital collection of eBooks and eAudiobooks here.

Happy reading everyone!

 

Online book clubs for book lovers

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Image: Pixabay

Just because in-person book clubs are on hold, that doesn’t mean you have to stop talking about the books you’ve read. Celebrities, athletes and regular readers are out there ready to talk. Here are some online options for book clubs to keep that conversation going.

Addicted to YA on Goodreads

The Andrew Luck Book Club

Oprah’s Book Club

Poppy Loves Book Club

Reese’s Book Club – Hello Sunshine

Want a smaller group with people you know? You can create your own Facebook group and add your reading friends. If you have a website, designate a page for book discussions. Or start a free website on WordPress.com or Wix.com. Even a group chat on your phone can be a fun way to run a book discussion.

Are you in a book club? What adjustments have you made? What book do you want to talk about? Leave a comment – we’d love to hear from you!

100 years ago in the Philadelphia Inquirer

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The front page of the April 2, 1920 Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a Milford man, missing for 30 years, has returned “From Foreign Lands, Wealthy.” Inside, the “Housewife’s Economy Calendar” column offers advice on how to sew a blouse.

In the ads, Easter hats were $1.89 and men’s ties were $1.00.

And in the business section, American Can was trading at $48 a share.

Through our Philadelphia Inquirer Collection with Historical database, this and past issues of the Philadelphia Inquirer are available to view with your library card. We have scanned copies of the complete issues from 1829-1922 and January 2018 to current, including advertisements, classified, obituaries, etc.  Search the entire issue or current page; export features include citation format, print, e-mail, and download. Read full text of articles from 1981-current.

Sign in here with your library card and explore the news from the past!

 

Online high school and college resources

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Do you have high school and college kids at home, doing online coursework? The word “homework” has taken on a whole new meaning! Here are some great resources from our databases to help them get their work done:

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE:

  • Contemporary Authors – database of more than 135,000 modern novelists, poets, playwrights, nonfiction writers, prominent print and broadcast journalists, editors, photojournalists, syndicated cartoonists and screenwriters.
  • LitFinder (POWER Library) – literature content from full-text poems, poem citations and excerpts, full-text short stories and novels, essays, speeches, and plays. Plus biographies, work summaries, photographs, and a glossary.
  • Mango Languages – the fast, easy, and most effective way to learn to speak a foreign language.

NEWS & HISTORICAL RESEARCH:

SUBJECT RESEARCH:

  • Explora – subject overviews, full text magazine articles, images and AP clips on wide variety of subjects.
  • Gale Virtual Reference Library (POWER Library) – a collection of reference titles in the arts, biography, business, education, environment, general reference, history, literature, medicine, nation and world, science, and the social sciences.
  • Gale Virtual Reference Library (Chester County Library) – a collection of reference titles in the arts, biography, business, education, environment, general reference, history, literature, medicine, nation and world, science, and the social sciences. Includes Business Plans Handbook Series (volumes 1-35).
  • General OneFile (POWER Library) – general-interest periodical resource. Millions of articles available in PDF and HTML full-text, supplemented by reference, newspaper, and audio content.
  • GreenFILE (POWER Library) – information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment.
  • MasterFile Premier – subject overviews, full text magazine articles, an image collection and AP clips.
  • ONEFILE: High School Edition (POWER Library) – information from magazines, journals, newspapers, reference books, and engaging multi-media covering science, history, and literature, political science, sports, and environmental studies.
  • Informe Académico – supports Spanish-speaking researchers with full-text Spanish- and Portuguese-language scholarly journals and magazines both from and about Latin America.

SCIENCE RESEARCH:

  • IN CONTEXT: Environmental Studies (POWER Library) – Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources for environment and sustainability studies, materials and resources on energy systems, healthcare, food, climate change, population and economic development.
  • Science Reference Center (POWER Library) – full text science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, and other reliable sources. More than 280,000 high-quality science images.

Looking for something else? Click here for a full list of our databases by subject.

Keep pace on your next walk with these five bestselling author podcasts

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Image: Pixabay

Before you take your next walk, why not download a podcast to keep your pace? Here are five bestselling author podcasts, ready for your ears!

On Writer’s Bone:

Author Delia Owens joins Daniel Ford for Friday Morning Coffee to chat about her debut novel Where the Crawdads Sing. – 21 minutes

Author Alex Michaelides joins Daniel Ford on Friday Morning Coffee to chat about his best-selling debut The Silent Patient. –23 minutes

On the B&N Podcast:

Bestselling, award-winning novelist Harlan Coben talks about where his stories come from — and the surprising tale of how he came to be a novelist. – 36 minutes

Jeanine Cummins sits down with B&N’s Miwa Messer to take us behind the making of American Dirt. –25-minutes

On Author Stories with Hank Garner:

Interview with C. J. Box, author of the Joe PIckett series and the new mystery Long Range (A Joe Pickett Novel Book 20). – 38 minutes

Walk and listen – a great combo!

Start your genealogy research at home

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You can research your family history from home with these helpful library resources:

Access Heritage Quest Online, free with your library card.

Click here or visit chescolibraries.org, select Tools and Research from the menu bar and click on All CCLS Databases to locate Heritage Quest Online. Sign in with your library card.

Family Tree Magazine on Flipster

View this current issue and past issues of Family Tree Magazine through 2015 online.

Click here or visit chescolibraries.org, select Downloads from the menu bar and scroll down to click on Flipster and sign in with your library card.

General OneFile (POWER Library)

Our GALE General OneFile through POWER Library has millions of articles available in PDF and HTML full-text, supplemented by reference, newspaper, and audio content. Find relevant articles and periodicals by entering “genealogy” in the Search bar.

Click here or visit chescolibraries.org, select Tools and Research from the menu bar and click on All CCLS Databases to locate General OneFile and sign in with your library card.

Genealogy searches from home – a great way to learn your family history!

Visit museums from home!

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Image: Pixabay

Our local museum passes may be unavailable during closures, but you can still visit these selected sites for virtual tours, videos and displays. Click on the location to visit.

Academy of Natural Sciences
Battleship New Jersey
Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles
Chanticleer – A Pleasure Garden
Eastern State Penitentiary
Elmwood Park Zoo
John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove
Museum of the American Revolution
Mutter Museum
National Constitution Center
Pennsbury Manor
Penn Museum
The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Philadelphia Insectarium & Butterfly Pavilion
Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
Reading Public Museum

And for museums and sites across the country and globe:

British Museum
The Great Wall of China
Guggenheim Museum
Louvre
Metropolitan Opera House
Museum of Modern Art
San Diego Zoo
Sistene Chapel
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Van Gogh Museum
Yellowstone National Park
Yosemite National Park

Art, culture and adventure are just clicks away!

Mango Languages

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Are you looking for ways to be productive during your time home? Here’s a way for you and your family to learn a new language for free, at home with your library card! Mango Languages is an interactive language learning program that includes 66 foreign language courses for English speakers, 18 English as a Second Language (ESL) modules and cultural courses and movies.

Here’s how to get started:

Visit www.chescolibraries.org > Tools & Research > All CCLS Databases > Mango Languages

Either Log In, Create a Profile or select Quick Start. You will need to enter your library barcode number

You can access our full User Guide here: https://bit.ly/3b9SprA

Start a conversation with Mango Languages!