CJPL's Beyond the Bookshelf Columbus Junction Public Library

This week we're talking about books that release in 2023 that we're super excited about! There's a whole lot of gushing and a whole lot of excitement - you can be sure your libraries will have these stocked as soon as we can, and we're going to love chatting them up with you after you've read them!



Make sure to hop on over to Libraries Beyond the Bookshelf to follow up with more episodes of our newly revamped podcast!

It's been a hot minute since we've been here chatting about books with you, but we're so excited to bring this joint venture between the Anamosa Library and Learning Center, where Erin is now director, and the Columbus Junction Public Library, where this all originated! We'll be in your ears every Wednesday for short, sweet, and *mostly* to the point conversations about books and their intersection with our daily lives. So, allow us to reintroduce ourselves to you and what we're reading now.

 

We'll be posting the first 5 episodes here, but please make sure to follow us on under our revamped podcast title Libraries Beyond the Bookshelf at:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/libraries-beyond-th/episodes/Whatcha-Reading-e23e670

We love a good pet story - the furry friends in our lives keep us entertained to no end! In this episode, we talk about a variety of picture books and juvenile fiction with pets as the central theme but tons of variations around it - dragons, seahorses, goldfish, horses, and more!

Alternative titles to this episode include "The One Where Mandy Definitely Does Not Have Gills" and "The One Where We Overshare Entirely too Much About Our Own Pets." But seriously, we'd love to see pictures of your pets, hear stories of your pets, meet your pets...it doesn't much matter! We want it all! Feel free to email us at: columbusjunctionlibrary@gmail.com

Exit music credit: AleXZavesa via Pixabay

We're taking a quick detour this episode from books and onto programs available within the Louisa County community. On this episode, MaKayla Glenn from the RSVP (Retired & Senior Volunteer Program) shares about the various programs the Iowa Department on Aging supports in our area, including services for aging in place and opportunities for volunteerism! We hope you take a listen about the amazing things she has to offer and get in contact with her directly if you're interested! MaKayla serves Iowa, Keokuk, Louisa, and Mahaska counties currently, but if you're in another area, we're sure she'll help you get in contact with the person you need to!

iowaaging.gov/rsvp

makayla.glenn@iowa.gov

Alternate title to this episode: "What is your drink of choice at work?" and honestly, it sounded a lot better in Mandy's head.



Exit music from: AleXZavesa via Pixabay

We're putting this year's favorite books up against each other in a single elimination style March Madness bracket! Each day during the month of March, visit our Facebook page (@ColumbusJctPublicLibrary) for a poll for that day's match up - the winning book (with the most votes) will move on to the next bracket until we have one final winner by the end of March! So in this episode, we give you a run down of all 38 eligible books!

Alternative titles to this episode include "The One Where Erin Discloses She Actually Has Gills" and "Patty Wilson."

As always, feel free to email us with all your burning questions and recommendations: columbusjunctionlibrary@gmail.com

Closing music credit: AleXZavesa (Via Pixabay)

We're back with PART II (*FINALLY*) with our interview with LeAnn Kunz, answering the burning question of which main character from a book would you like to be snowed into a cabin with? We also discuss side characters and authors. As you can imagine, there's a wide variety of reasons for our choices and we're excited to share with you! Alternative titles to this episode: "It All Comes Back to Outlander" and "LeAnn wins the podcast!"

We'd love to know which characters (and reasons why) you'd like to be snowed in with them! Email us at: columbusjunctionlibrary@gmail.com

Closing music credit: AleXZavesa (Via Pixabay)