Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit.

Downton Abbey is a wildly popular British television series that has been airing on public television stations across the country for four years now.  The fourth series is nearly finished for now, although avid viewers can re-watch episodes online and even check out the DVDs for series one through three at the library.  The series follows the lives of the residents of Downton Abbey, a large manor in the English country side, as they deal with the changing culture in the years of 1912 up to 1932.  If you like the series but need something to fill the time between the series air dates, try author Fay Weldon.

Fay Weldon is a popular British author, recently published in the U.S. Her Love & Inheritance series begins with the book Habits of the House.  Set in the year 1899, the story follows Lord Robert, the Earl of Dilberne and his wife Lady Isobel.  At the end of the season in London, Lord Robert is in a tough spot.  Unwise financial investments have put the family and their estate, Dilberne Court, at risk.  An answer to their troubles might be to allow their son Arthur to marry the vulgar, but beautiful and rich, heiress from America. Meanwhile their daughter Grace is getting unsuitable ideas about dress and a woman’s independence.  Meanwhile the servants have daily worries and stories of their own.  Author Fay Weldon weaves all of it together with wit and sympathy towards her characters.  There are two more in this trilogy, although this author has no more set in this time period.  Her books are slowly being republished in the U.S., so if you find you like her be patient as her books slowly make it across the ocean to American audiences.

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus.  Just follow Hersey Avenue north, and at the end of the North Campus drive look east to see the library’s new exterior building sign.  This is director Rachel Malay, saying “Thanks for checking us out!”


Habits of the House by Fay Weldon
ISBN: 9781250042903, 336 p.
Adult Fiction

Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit.  

To tell you that James Patterson has released another book should come as no surprise. These days, the prolific writer releases several titles a year. Some are written with ghost writers, and Mr. Patterson has several series that he continues to add to. More recently, romances have been added to the lengthy list of adventure, mystery, and fantasy novels.  His latest romance is called First Love, and James Patterson has penned this novel with Emily Raymond.

First Love follows two teenagers, Axi and Robinson.  Both are in high school – Axi (short for Alexandra) is the eternal good girl; her friend, and secret crush Robinson, likes to push the boundaries quite a bit. So it comes as bit of a shock when Axi suggests skipping school and taking off on an early summer cross country road trip. Of course Robinson says yes, and that’s when the adventure begins. With Robinson, the two can’t simply ride a bus – they hot-wire a car. Across the country the two find adventure, new friends, and yes, romance. However, this trip isn’t quite the capricious whim of two teenagers. Both have serious problems they’re running from. And while Axi and Robinson add miles to their journey, their problems are not too far behind.

Both adults and teenagers should enjoy this title, though it will be shelved with most of the rest of James Patterson’s books in the adult fiction section.  And, lest you worry about inadvertently starting a new book series, this title is a stand-alone novel.

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus.  Just follow Hersey Avenue north, and at the end of the North Campus drive look east to see the library’s new exterior building sign.  This is director Rachel Malay, saying “Thanks for checking us out!”


First Love by James Patterson
ISBN: 9780316207041, 288 p.
Adult Fiction

Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit. This Friday is Valentine’s Day, and if you’re looking for a fun and free way to remember your sweetheart, come to the library Thursday afternoon from 3:30 – 6:00 pm and learn how to make tissue paper roses. The activity is free, and you can make up to a dozen roses to surprise that special someone. Librarians will be on hand to help the less crafty but well intentioned patrons.

The librarians hope all our patrons find time to cuddle up this Valentine’s Day, especially if it is with a good book.  If you’d like a cute children’s book to cuddle up with for a short read, try Love Monster by Rachel Bright. This brightly colored picture book is sure to bring a smile to your face. Our hero, simply named Monster, is out of place in his hometown of Cutesville.  Everyone else is cute, while Monster is, well, a little funny looking  And a little overly hairy.  One day Monster decides he’s had enough of being lonely and sets out to find someone who will love him just the way he is.  Monster looks high, low, and even in the middle. He looks inside and outside, but his search does not go well.  And then it doesn’t go well some more. Finally, it is getting dark, and Monster decides to take the bus home. When the bus doors open though, he sees someone with the most beautiful googly eyes and realizes that sometimes instead of finding love, love finds you.

The illustrations in this book are done through a method called solar etching, using ultraviolet light exposure to create the printing plates, which are then colored in with bright and fun colors.  This book is not exactly a Valentine’s book, which is nice since everyone needs to be reminded to pay attention to not just the cute and fluffy, but also the hairy and slightly monstrous as well.

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus.  Just follow Hersey Avenue north, and at the end of the North Campus drive look east to see the library’s new exterior building sign.  This is director Rachel Malay, saying “Thanks for checking us out!”


Love Monster by Rachel Bright
ISBN:9780374346461, full color illustrations
children's picture books

Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit.  

Crime dramas are fairly popular on television.  Shows like CSI, Law & Order, NCIS, and Sherlock take viewers through fictional mysteries of murders, bank heists, and elaborate schemes and by the end of nearly every episode show how it was all done.  It should come as little surprise to my listeners then, that true crime novels are popular, and the library has quite a selection in the non-fiction section.

Well, I have a new addition for you.  Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere is a rather more poetic piece of real-life drama.  Penned by essayist and novelist Poe Ballantine, Love and Terror is part memoir and part sensationalized real-life account of an unsolved death in Ballantine’s adopted hometown of Chadron, Nebraska.

Ballantine, a drifter by nature, first moved to Chadron in 1994.  Itchy feet took over after about a year, and Ballantine drifted south, eventually into Mexico where he met a younger Mexican woman who wanted to improve her English.  In 2001 the two moved back to the place Ballantine felt most at home: Chadron, Nebraska. Ballantine married his Mexican sweetheart and finally settled in Chadron, a son coming along in a few years.  

Finally, about a quarter into this memoir slash true crime, the action begins: a young math professor at the local community college goes missing in 2006. Three months later the professor’s burned body is found tied to a tree on a forested hill behind the college campus. The police are stumped, and Ballantine begins a six-year examination.  This is the easy part; in a town as small as Chadron Ballantine knows everyone involved.  

As for the conclusion to this mystery, I recommend you check out the book to find out!  It is a quick read – each chapter is less than five pages long, covering short scenes in the baffling case and chronicling the everyday lives of the residents.

You can get more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus. This is director Rachel Malay, saying “Thanks for checking us out!"

Love and Terror on the Howling Plains to Nowhere by Poe Ballantine
ISBN: 9780983477549, 282 pages
Adult non fiction - memoirs