Group Blog Home
Group Blog Home

Recent Posts
Three on a Theme: Double Double Toil and Trouble

Votes have been counted and it's time for October’s Three on a Theme recommendations!

October’s options were DOUBLE DOUBLE, TOIL & TROUBLE vs. FALL IN LOVE and the winner was... DOUBLE DOUBLE, TOIL & TROUBLE! Halloween may be over, but that doesn’t mean the magical fun has to end! Check out our below recommendations for books featuring witches, wizards and magic!

Let us know in the comments which ones you've read, which are your favorites and what's on your to-read list!

Adults
Cover of Bait and Witch
“Bait and Witch” by Angela M. Sanders (Witch Way Librarian Mystery Series)
Librarian Josie Way moved to small-town Oregon to lay low. Instead, thanks to newfound magic abilities-and a killer on the loose-she's leapt out of the frying pan and into a cauldron of trouble ... Josie Way loved working among the Library of Congress's leather-scented stacks-until she uncovered corruption and made herself a target. As Wilfred, Oregon's new librarian, Josie can stay undercover until the case goes to court. But life in this little town isn't as subdued as she expected. The library, housed in a Victorian mansion, is slated to be bulldozed. Still digesting the news that her safe haven is about to become scrap lumber, Josie discovers a body in the woods ... Almost as shocking, Josie learns that she's descended from a long line of witches-and her powers have suddenly sprung to life. With help from a spoiled alley cat who just may be her familiar, Josie's thumbing through a catalog of suspects, hoping she can conjure a way to save her library-and her life! Check out the whole series here.



Young Adults
Cover of The Scapegracers“The Scapegracers” by Hannah Abigail Clarke
An outcast teenage lesbian witch finds her coven hidden amongst the popular girls in her school, and performs some seriously badass magic in the process. Skulking near the bottom of West High's social pyramid, Sideways Pike lurks under the bleachers doing magic tricks for Coke bottles. As a witch, lesbian, and lifelong outsider, she's had a hard time making friends. But when the three most popular girls pay her $40 to cast a spell at their Halloween party, Sideways gets swept into a new clique. The unholy trinity are dangerous angels, sugar-coated rattlesnakes, and now-unbelievably-Sideways' best friends. Together, the four bond to form a ferocious and powerful coven. They plan parties, cast curses on dudebros, try to find Sideways a girlfriend, and elude the fundamentalist witch hunters hellbent stealing their magic. But for Sideways, the hardest part is the whole 'having friends' thing. Who knew that balancing human interaction with supernatural peril could be so complicated? Rich with the urgency of feral youth, The Scapegracers explores growing up and complex female friendship with all the rage of a teenage girl. It subverts the trope of competitive mean girls and instead portrays a mercilessly supportive clique of diverse and vivid characters. It is an atmospheric, voice-driven novel of the occult, and the first of a three-book series. 

Kids
Cover of the Worst Witch“The Worst Witch” by Jill Murphy
Catch up on Mildred Hubble's magical adventures at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches with these reissued editions featuring energetic new covers. Mildred Hubble is starting her first year at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches—and making a mess of it! She can't ride her broomstick without crashing, she's always getting her spells mixed up, and worst of all, the teacher's pet, Ethel, has just become her sworn enemy. Check out the whole series here.

Posted by [email protected]  On Nov 01, 2021 at 10:36 AM
  
Purple flames reveal tiny creatures, but what are they? Shadows in the Neighborhood.

"Shadows in the Neighborhood" was submitted by Mattix, Harry, Rachel and Dain, who wrote the story together as a family, each taking turns to add what came next. Congratulations to our winning Scary Stories in the Stacks submission!

Get in the spooky spirit and watch all Scary Stories in the Stacks here.

Posted by [email protected]  On Oct 30, 2020 at 11:03 AM
  
What happens when the storyteller is forced into the story? When fate doesn’t follow a script. Well today fate has found Brandon. It’s almost here.

Leave the comfort of your book covers this Halloween as we share haunted tales right here on your computer screen. Come back tomorrow, Oct. 30 for a spine-tingling tale submitted by patrons!

Posted by [email protected]  On Oct 30, 2020 at 10:59 AM
  
He never wanted to hurt anybody. He never wanted any of this to happen. But now what does he do? How does he stop this? Is it even him – or are there other forces at play? Just how far is the reach of The Long Arm?

Leave the comfort of your book covers this Halloween as we share haunted tales right here on your computer screen. Every Thursday at 8 p.m., tune into Facebook for new spine-tingling tales!



Do you have a spooky story of your own? We're taking scary, terrifying or spine-tingling submissions! Staff will choose their top five favorite stories to read on Facebook the day before Halloween, and allow Facebook to vote via reaction! The winner will receive a prize from Aurora Public Library. Submissions must be 1,000 words or less, rated PG-13 and under, and must be emailed to [email protected] by Sunday, Oct. 25.
Posted by [email protected]  On Oct 22, 2020 at 5:35 PM
  
Lions, tigers and bears - oh my! That's the old saying, right? People feel more comfortable with creatures of familiarity. that's what people like to say happened to Mr. Morgan...but there's no description. There's no way to describe the damned thing. 

Leave the comfort of your book covers this Halloween as we share haunted tales right here on your computer screen. Every Thursday at 8 p.m., tune into Facebook for new spine-tingling tales!



Do you have a spooky story of your own? We're taking scary, terrifying or spine-tingling submissions! Staff will choose their top five favorite stories to read on Facebook the day before Halloween, and allow Facebook to vote via reaction! The winner will receive a prize from Aurora Public Library. Submissions must be 1,000 words or less, rated PG-13 and under, and must be emailed to [email protected] by Sunday, Oct. 25.
Posted by [email protected]  On Oct 15, 2020 at 9:26 AM
  
Create It!

Create It! Trick or Treat Boxes
by Karen

It's #MakeItMonday during spooky season! With Halloween right around the corner, Karen shares a fun DIY to make giving friends candy and treats even more fun!

Posted by [email protected]  On Oct 12, 2020 at 12:53 PM
  
One batch, two batch, penny and dime – won’t join me for a game if you have the time? 
Just how much are you willing to risk? Do you know when to fold, or do you keep pushing? Are you ready to enter into a dark bargain?

Leave the comfort of your book covers this Halloween as we share haunted tales right here on your computer screen. Every Thursday at 8 p.m., tune in for new spine-tingling tales! 



Do you have a spooky story of your own? We're taking scary, terrifying or spine-tingling submissions! Staff will choose their top five favorite stories to read on Facebook the day before Halloween, and allow Facebook to vote via reaction! The winner will receive a prize from Aurora Public Library. Submissions must be 1,000 words or less, rated PG-13 and under, and must be emailed to [email protected] by Sunday, Oct. 25.
Posted by [email protected]  On Oct 08, 2020 at 11:56 AM
  
Debauchery and thrills are pleasing, but they are fleeting. Tragedy is permanent. Despair knows no limits. Old walls never forget old sins. Never has this held more true than in "The Empty House".

Leave the comfort of your book covers this Halloween as we share haunted tales right here on your computer screen. Every Thursday at 8 p.m., tune in for new spine-tingling tales! 



Do you have a spooky story of your own? We're taking scary, terrifying or spine-tingling submissions! Staff will choose their top five favorite stories to read on Facebook the day before Halloween, and allow Facebook to vote via reaction! The winner will receive a prize from Aurora Public Library. Submissions must be 1,000 words or less, rated PG-13 and under, and must be emailed to [email protected] by Sunday, Oct. 25.
Posted by [email protected]  On Oct 01, 2020 at 2:53 PM
  
The creak of floorboards in a silent house...a moaning wind at midnight...the click of a lock bolting closed behind you...

Leave the comfort of your book covers this Halloween as we share haunted tales right here on your computer screen with Scary Stories in the Stacks! Join us every Thursday in October at 8 p.m. on our Facebook for new spine-tingling tales!

Do you have a spooky story of your own? We're taking scary, terrifying or spine-tingling submissions! Staff will choose their top five favorite stories to read on Facebook the day before Halloween, and allow Facebook to vote via reaction! The winner will receive an prize from Aurora Public Library. Submissions must be 1,000 words or less, rated PG-13 and under, and must be emailed to [email protected] by Sunday, Oct. 25.

Posted by [email protected]  On Sep 24, 2020 at 3:27 PM