Blog: Aurora Public Library Blog

Aurora Public Library Blog

Welcome to Aurora Public Library’s blog. A place where our library staff share their thoughts, insider knowledge and overall love of all things book and community.

Feel free to comment on posts, re-blog and enjoy. To ensure a civil and focused discussion, comments will be held for a brief period before being published.

Recent Posts

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Create & DIY: Harry Potter Wands

Harry Potter Wands
with Ollivanders and Head Mistress Julie

Swish and flick! Take a behind-the-scenes trip to Ollivanders and learn how to make your own wand!

Posted by [email protected] On Jul 29, 2020 at 12:54 PM

Family Book Club: "The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles" (Part 3) & August Preview

Family Book Club
with Tess

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards

"The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles" - Part 3 (Chapters 1-8 + Epilogue)
- What is your favorite creature that the Potters and Professor meet in Whangdoodleland?
- Were you afraid they would never make it to the castle?
- Were you surprised that the Prock finally allowed them to meet the Whangdoodle?
- What did you think of the Whangdoodle?
- Did you think the Professor's experiment would work?
- How did you like the ending?
- How did you like the book overall?

Activity: Create your own Whangdoodle creature and send me a picture at [email protected]!

August Family Book Club

August's book is "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia, a work of historical fiction and the winner of the Newbery Medal Winner & Corretta Scott King Award Winner in 2011.

Summary:
In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Oakland, California to spend a month with the mother they barely know, Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet, is resentful of their intrusion and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

The reading schedule will be posted on Monday, Aug. 3. Be sure to get a copy! Call the Tallyn's Reach Library at 303.627.3050 or visit in person for a physical copy. It is also available as an audiobook via RBDigital Audiobooks and as an eBook via Overdrive (Libby) and HooplaDigital. Access all three digital platforms with your library card.

Posted by [email protected] On Jul 27, 2020 at 1:15 PM

Making Magic: Spell Books

Harry Potter-Inspired Spell Books
by Julie S.

Before you head to Hogwarts to start the school year, you'll need your spell books! Add a little magic to your notebooks with this Harry Potter-themed DIY!
Supplies - Composition Notebook (or other notebook with cardboard cover)
- Paint
- Paint Brushes
- Pencil

Posted by [email protected] On Jul 27, 2020 at 12:40 PM

APL Reader's Corner: "The Goblin Emperor" by Katherine Addison

**Video may contain spoilers**
Join APL staff each week for a discussion of some of their current reads! Each week they will discuss a book from a different genre. Join the discussion live on at Facebook.com/AuroraLibrary each Friday at 1 p.m. (MST) and leave your thoughts in the comments below!

The next discussion will be at 1 p.m. on July 31, 2020 on our Facebook page and will feature "FantasticLand" by Mike Bockoven (available instantly on hoopladigital.com).

Posted by [email protected] On Jul 26, 2020 at 8:50 AM

Read It!The Last Wish: Introducing The Witcher” by Andrzej Sapkowski

Review of "The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher" by Andrzej Sapkowski
by Nicole S.

Hello again! Like I said before I have been participating in a virtual book club with some of my friends from Wisconsin which has been incredibly enjoyable for me to be able to read other books I normally wouldn’t choose for myself and learning more about my friends’ reading tastes.

After reading two different suspenseful thrillers in a row we decided to dive into the fantasy genre with our next pick - “The Last Wish: Introducing The Witcher” by Andrzej Sapkowski. For those who don’t know this book is actually one of two collections of short stories that paves the way for the Witcher Saga novels surrounding the main character Geralt of Rivia.

This book was originially published in Polish in 1993 with an English translation later in 2007. This book contains six short stories which sheds a little light on Geralt’s many adventures. Having been injured in a battle and while resting at a temple, he is experiencing flashbacks from certain time’s in his life.

These short stories have been adapted to video games, film and a recent television series on Netflix starring Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia.

The character Geralt of Rivia, one of the few remaining witchers on the Continent, is a traveling monster slayer for hire, mutated and trained from an early age to slay deadly beasts. This puts the series of the Witcher in the fantasy genre. “Fantasy is defined as a form of literary genre in which a plot cannot occur in the real world. Its plot usually involves witchcraft or magic, taking place on an undiscovered planet of an unknown world. Its overall theme and setting involve a combination of technology, architecture, and language, which sometimes resemble European medieval ages. The most interesting thing about fantasies is that their plot involves witches, sorcerers, mythical and animal creatures talking like humans, and other things that never happen in real life (https://literarydevices.net/fantasy/)”

For those starting this book who haven’t read or watched any of its adaptations could make getting through the names and places a little difficult. One of the big reasons I wanted to start reading the Witcher novels was due to the first season of the “Witcher” on Netflix. I enjoy reading and watching anything fantasy and the different characters portrayed throughout the show were amazing. My favorite being Geralt of Rivia. Being trained to be a monster hunter from such an early age, Geralt is seen as both highly respected and highly feared. He has a gruff and cold demeanor towards everyone he meets yet at the same time he has a strict moral code when it comes to the monsters he hunts and kills. He is a very complex character and I thought that the books would give more of an insight to how he thinks because it is hard to portray someone’s inner conscience on the screen.

It is recommended to start with “The Last Wish” and even the other short story collection “Sword of Destiny” before diving into first of the “Witcher” novels, “Blood of Elves”. The reason behind this is because the first book in the series precedes the events that occur during the two short story collections. You follow Geralt of Rivia on his quests while meeting some key characters along the way.

If you do end up enjoying the short story collections then continue on and immerse yourself in Geralt’s journey through all six of the Witcher books! Check out the series from APL here.

Once you finish those and need to have more high fantasy novels check out “The Red Knight” by Miles Cameron or ‘”Assassin’s Apprentice” by Robin Hobb.

Check back for my next review of the next book club pick - “Ink and Bone” by Rachel Caine.

Posted by [email protected] On Jul 24, 2020 at 4:57 PM

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