Gifts for the Holidays

Tis the season to find the perfect gift for your friends and family. Books are a great gift idea, but how do you find the right one?

Does your friend like movies? There are a number of films out recently that were based on novels, such as J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit", or Suzanne Collins' "Mockingjay" (but maybe start with "Hunger Games", the beginning of the series). For love stories, go with John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars" or Nicholas Sparks' "The Best of Me". Teens might be interested in Veronica Roth's "Divergent" series, or James Dashner's "The Maze Runner".  For more books connected with films you will want to visit /Film's list of The Best Movie & TV Book Gifts of 2014.

It can be tough to find books for girls that encourage their imagination and curiosity or help them form  positive self-esteem. The website A Mighty Girl has recommendations for all ages, in a variety of languages, in different subjects and for a wide range of prices. Biographies of famous women like Eleanor Roosevelt or Wilma Rudolph, works of fiction like "Pippi Longstocking", and a large number of award-winning books can be found on this site. Sites like Kirkus Reviews and the New York Times (linked below) have additional suggestions for books for kids.

And if you know someone who is fascinated by Schuylkill County history, there are a few books available you'll want to consider. The Pottsville Free Public Library has a few copies left of "Schuylkill Stories: The Chronicles of Ione Geier", a compilation of some of Mrs. Geier's favorite columns from her years of writing for the Pottsville Republican newspaper. Michael J. Lisicky recently published "Shop Pomeroy's First", about the popular department store in eastern and central Pennsylvania. Or for the true-crime reader you could go with Stephanie Hoover's "The Kelayres Massacre: Politics and Murder in Pennsylvania's Anthracite Coal Country".

E-books are great in some ways, for some readers. Most e-readers (either dedicated or on a tablet) permit you to make the text larger and easier to read, and they all make it easier to take many, many books with you for a fraction of the space of print books. If you are thinking of buying a dedicated e-reader for someone, take a look at reviews like those of CNET or The Digital Reader for more information before making your purchase.

Cookbooks are a really popular book gift for any occasion. There are so many different diets and health trends, you are sure to find something to fit the needs of the recipient. Or, instead of one book, you could look into gift subscriptions of a magazine like Cooking Light, Gluten-Free Living, Taste of Home, or Vegetarian Times. All of these titles are at the Pottsville Library if you want to take a look at them before buying them for others.

Here are some other sites that identify great gift books for various subjects:

The Slate writers chose their favorite books for 2014

(And if you want to give an e-book, one web page has several suggestions how to wrap it!)

New York Times Sunday Book Review 100 Notable Books of 2014

NBCNews Brainy Reads: Top Science and Tech Books of 2014

Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Books of 2014
(This page also has links to the best nonfiction, children's, and teen books.)


Do you have a favorite site for finding gift books? Let us know!

Tis the Season for Giving... What?

As a library, we often promote the idea of giving books as gifts any time of year, but especially in December. Books are a way to bring people together to share a story, or to help a child develop their imagination, or to share cherished traditions. We argue that reading expands minds, helps the armchair traveler explore new cultures, and provides escape and leisure in a hectic world.

If you are thinking about giving someone a book as a gift, here's a thought: is it the right gift for that person? Maybe a book isn't always the best idea. Beth Carswell of AbeBooks posted a thought-provoking article a couple of years ago that is still relevant, "The Best Book Gifts, And When Not To Give A Book." She lists ten situations where giving a book as a gift may not be the best idea, like for college students who already are overwhelmed with course reading and may not have time to enjoy "fun" stuff.

If you still really want to give someone a book as a gift, what format is the best? So many people have switched to ebooks, and you need to know what kind of device they use to read their ebooks. Do they use a tablet with an app from each major ebook retailer? Do they have a Kindle, Nook, or Kobo ereader and buy only from that company? Are they anti-Amazon, or anti-DRM? (This is really, really important to know when you want to give an ebook to someone.) How does one even give someone else an ebook as a gift? Juli Monroe over at TeleRead has a good description of how you can do this: "Giving eBooks as Gifts."

Don't forget that a great opportunity to support local authors is coming this Saturday, November 30. The Local Author Showcase at the Pottsville Library is part of the national Small Business Saturday event going on in downtown Pottsville. More than 25 authors from Schuylkill County will be at the library from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., selling print copies of their books (and some might have other media formats as well, like musical CDs). You can read the Republican Herald's story about the events for more about other businesses taking part in the event. Saturday is also the day of the Santa parade in town, the lighting of the city's Christmas tree, and the children's Christmas party at the Humane Fire Company.

Let the holiday season begin!

April at the Pottsville Library

April means art month at the Pottsville Free Public Library! All this month, members of the Schuylkill County Allied Artists will be displaying their works around the library. Most of the artwork will be available to purchase, so here's your chance to add some original art from local artists to your collection.

Don't forget to join us for National Library Week, which is observed April 11th - 17th.

And later this month, we will be part of the 4th Annual Block of Art, which takes place in downtown Pottsville from April 23rd - 25th. Stores and galleries will be open to show local artists and celebrate the best Schuylkill County has to offer.

Need some help getting started on your own creative projects? Check out our collection of magazines and books for projects from wood to wool, cotton to cameras, or printing to painting, and get inspired to create your own art.

Happy art month to all!