Happy Boxing Day last Saturday everyone!  Do any of my listeners celebrate this European holiday?  Traditionally, this is the day when servants and tradesmen received presents from their employers. It’s a good day to remember anyone working in the service and hospitality industry during the holidays. The library will be closed December 31st and January 1st for the New Year’s holiday, and will reopen on Saturday, January 2nd at our regular time.

​A new TV series has been added to the library’s DVD section.  Eureka is a small town in an unnamed location in the US. It seems like an idyllic place, but is hiding a big secret.  The government set up Eureka as a planned community where all the smartest scientists gather to work on top-secret experiments that seem to come right out of the pages of a science fiction novel. Enter into this unusual town Sheriff Jack Carter, a former US Marshall. He is stranded in Eureka after a freak car accident allows him to enter. Although the town didn’t have a sheriff before, the locals aren’t perfect and there are some who come to Eureka to expose the town’s secrets. The series aired in television from 2006-2012 for 5 seasons.  Season 4 is divided into two parts. The library now has the entire series ready for check out. If you’ve found the series on Netflix, be warned that only the first two seasons are available! Our DVDs circulate for a week at a time, and this one’s sure to keep you entertained!

You can get more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit.

If you’re the type of reader who likes to read books in a series back-to-back, this week’s review will be helpful. Wild West Brides by Lori Copeland collects three stories previously published by the author in one volume.  The library previously had the first story in the book, but the proceeding two add to the series.  All the stories are set in the mid-1800s in the Midwest.

First up is The Peacemaker. Wynne Elliott is furious at Cass Claxton for leaving her at the altar and is bent on revenge.  But when Cass’ older brother appears and seemingly tries to rob Wynn’s stagecoach, she may not have the restraint to keep her hand off her gun. The second story is titled The Drifter.  Another Claxton brother, Beau, is at death’s door after a tragedy in life makes him a drifter. After riding for days a fight with a wolf leaves him injured and in the care of Charity, a young widow with a Kansas farm claim to work all alone. The third in the series revisits Cass Claxton from the first story. He had a good reason for leaving a woman at the altar – he was already married to another woman in a shotgun ceremony years before. But now his wife is back with more sneaky plans that leave Cass and his wife on the wagon trail to Kansas, with nine orphans in tow!

Lori Copeland is a well-known Christian fiction author, and this book will be shelved in the Christian fiction section after its time on the regular library shelves. Although each story is a light read, they are each full-length novels.

You can get more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit.

This Friday the library will host its second annual “Aisle of Lights” – a smaller indoor version of the display at Chautauqua Park. Come stroll through the bookshelves lighted with Christmas lights only, enjoy some cookies and hot cider, and even listen to a story in the children’s department.  We’ll close the library early at 4 pm to set up, then the Aisles of Lights will be available from 6:00 – 9:00 pm.

For fans of historical fiction and dramas, this review is for you. Naked: A Novel of Lady Godiva by Eliza Redgold retells the famous story of Lady Godiva and her ride.  The tale says that Lady Godiva was forced by her husband to ride through the English town of Coventry with nothing covering her but her hair.  However, one person looked, which is where we get the term “peeping Tom.”  Instead of making Lady Godiva’s husband a villain, Lord Leofric plays an important counterpoint to the lady. The story starts right before Godiva’s famous ride and then fills in the reader on the dramatic events leading up to it.  Set in 1023 in the Middle Ages, this book immerses you with period descriptions and a few vocabulary words, but is easy to catch on to. The author has carefully researched the real story and fills the readers in with a short introduction. This story is a full novel with passion, adventure, battles, obsession, greed, and mercy.  It’s not easy to put down once you start it – but a quick warning to readers of cozy mysteries and soft romances – this is more the book form of an HBO drama than a Hallmark channel movie.

You can get more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit.