Halloween is right around the corner, and so is the tradition of the Whitefish Bay Great Pumpkin Festival. The festival runs from Wednesday, October 26 through Saturday, October 29 from 6-9pm each night. The pumpkins are located right across the street from the library in Old Schoolhouse Park. On Sunday, October 30 and Monday, October 31, there will be a lighted display only from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. with no additional activities. See all the details at: https://www.wfbcivicfoundation.org/communityevents Want to get into the Halloween spirit and read about things that go bump in the night? Here are some scary Halloween reads.

August 14th is National Navajo Code Talkers Day, a day to celebrate the contributions made by Native Americans during World War ll. The day was officially recognized in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan and in 2001 President George Bush presented each of the original 29 Navajo marines with a Congressional Gold Medal. The Navajo Code Talkers played a critical role in the war effort by using their complex language for coding and transmitting messages in a time when secrecy was crucial. This code was so complex that it was never broken by the Japanese military. The Navajo Code Talkers transmitted over 800 messages successfully and were instrumental in the success of World War ll. To learn more about these amazing Code Talkers and other spy related novels try:

Here are some book recommendations that shed light on the refugee experience.

For me the summer means more time to read, and specifically, if the weather is decent, more time to listen to audiobooks. I love to listen to audiobooks when I walk, either running errands or just walking by the lake. It seems that many people are now listening to podcasts while they commute to work, but I haven’t made that leap. I often choose audiobooks that I don’t think I will be able to read in the traditional manner. A few years ago, I listened to War and Peace in its entirety while I walked to work. This summer, I have chosen Middlemarch. This is a book I have always wanted to read, but never have. One of my favorite customers at the bookstore where I used to work told me that it was her favorite book ever, and I often wished that I could have discussed it with her.

There is only about a month left in the spring semester at UWM, and that means that soon I will be free from academic responsibilities for the summer. I haven’t been this excited about a summer off since I was a kid. For some people, summer means family vacations, camping, and all kinds of outdoor activities. For me, it means more time to read! Here are some of the titles coming out this summer that I am excited about.

The display in front of the reference desk on the adult side is a perennial favorite - World War II. Both fiction stories and nonfiction books about the Second World are always popular. I like historical fiction myself, and I chose one of my favorite novels of all time - The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy.