Holidays fill the air at the public library

Are you looking for a unique holiday gift for someone special? The Friends of the Library is selling Superior Library coffee mugs for $10 each. The mug features Carl Gawboy’s lovely painting of Superior’s old Carnegie Library on Hammond Avenue during the 1950s. The mugs can be purchased at the library’s service desk, or stop by and pick one up while shopping at the Friends’ Merry Little Book Sale on a Wednesday.

Each Wednesday through Dec. 19, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., the Friends of the Library sells gently used books just in time for the holiday season. Free gift-wrapping is provided. Books make great Christmas gifts.

Enjoy the holiday music of the Downbeats, an easy listening vocal group from Duluth, at 7 p.m. Dec. 17 in the chandelier area. Refreshments provided by the Friends of the Library.

There’s still time to donate to the Grandmothers for Peace annual toy drive. The library will be collecting unwrapped, nonviolent toy donations at the Children’s Desk now through the second week in December.

Our featured artist, Cari Reader, will display original drawings, watercolors and oils through December. Stop by and see these beautiful works in our lobby display.

There are quite a few movies in the theater this holiday season based on books: The Hobbit, Anna Karenina, Life of Pi, just to name a few. Why not read (or re-read) the book before seeing the movie? It might give you a new understanding of the film and the choices the director made. Besides, everybody knows “the book is better,” right?

New fiction: “Death in the Floating City” by Tasha Alexander, “The Giving Quilt; an Elm Creek Quilts novel” by Jennifer Chiaverini, “The Panther” by Nelson DeMille, “Astray” by Emma Donoghue, “The Shadow Girls” by Henning Mankell, “Back to Blood: A Novel” by Tom Wolfe, “In the Shadow of the Banyan” by Vaddey Ratner, “Love’s Winning Plays” by Inman Majors, “The Racketeer” by John Grisham, “The Other Half of Me” by Morgan McCarthy, “Advent: A Novel” by James Treadwell and “The Forgiven” by Lawrence Osborne.

Non-fiction: “Reading Women: A Book Club Guide for Women’s Fiction,” “Bowhunting Tactics that Deliver Trophies: A Guide to Finding & Taking Monster Whitetail Bucks,” “Tracing Your European Roots,” “Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot,” “The Year of Learning Dangerously: Adventures in Homeschooling,” “The Easy Disney Fake Book: Melody, Lyrics & Simplified Chords,” “Who I Am: A Memoir,” “Ten Dollar Dinners: 140 Recipes & Tips to Elevate Simple, Fresh Meals any Night of the Week,” “Make It and Mend It,” and “The Color Scheme Bible: Inspirational Palettes for Designing Home Interiors.”

Juvenile: “A Berry Bitty Christmas,” “The Berenstain Bears’ Old-Fashioned Christmas,” “Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?” “Merry Christmas, Maisy,” “Hot Wheels Extreme Stunts,” “Mia and the Tiny Toe Shoes,” “Secret Santa,” “Star Wars, Who saved the galaxy?” “The Thankful Book,” “Dinosaur vs. Santa” “The Three Ninja Pigs,” “Hunter Moran Saves the Universe,” “Kingdom Keepers, Shell Game,” “Following Grandfather,” “Finicky,” “Because Amelia Smiled,” and “Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Christmas.”

Young adult: “Crewel” by Gennifer Albin, “The Secret Prophecy” by Herbie Brennan, “Ruins” by Orson Scott Card, “Starstruck” by Lauren Conrad, “The Empty City” by Erin Hunter, “Free-Fire Zone” by Chris Lynch, “Armageddon” by James Patterson, “Scrivener’s Moon” by Philip Reeve, “Destiny Rising” by L. J. Smith “Passion Blue” by Victoria Strauss, “Prettiest Doll” by Gina Willner-Prado and “Finale” by Becca Fitzpatrick.

Audiobooks: “The Time Keeper” by Mitch Albom, “The Panther” by Nelson DeMille, “Angels at the Table” by Debbie Macomber, “NYPD Red” by James Patterson, “NW” by Zadie Smith, “Safekeeping” by Karen Hesse, “Under Wildwood” by Colin Meloy, “Armageddon” by James Patterson, “D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths” by Ingri D’Aulaires, “Bicycle Mystery” by Gertrude Chandler Warner, “Sapphire Blue” by Kerstin Gier, and “Confessions of a Murder Suspect” by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.

Library hours are 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in Superior; 2-7 p.m. Monday and 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday in Solon Springs; and 2-7 p.m. Wednesday in Lake Nebagamon. Call 394-8860 in Superior, (715) 378-4452 in Solon Springs, or (715) 374-3477 in Lake Nebagamon.

Sue Heskin is the director of the Superior Public Library.

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