A6 THE SPOKESMAN • TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022
Discover literary treasures on library shelves
BY GRAHAM FOX
Community librarian
“What to read,
what to read?”
That’s the question
on every reader’s
mind as they hurdle
closer to the finish
Fox
line of their latest
book. How do I find my next great
read? With hundreds of thousands of
books published each year and all of
the incredible titles of the past to pick
from, it can be a little overwhelm-
ing. Fortunately, I’ve got a few tips on
how to have the best chance at find-
ing a great book.
Browse the ‘New Book’ and ‘Popu-
lar’ shelves
Ah yes, browsing, the old standby!
Sometimes it really can be the best
way to find a book. You don’t have
to read reviews, compare ratings,
or look at Goodreads — I’ve found
some of my favorite books this way.
You also get a better idea of how big a
book is and how long it will take you
to read. Although I love epic space
operas and fantasy, the 1,000-page
reads can be a bit daunting — and a
big-time commitment. I can tell right
away if it’s a giant book or a book
with tiny text.
At Deschutes Public Library you
can find a “new” bookshelf in all of
our libraries. Look for the books near
the front of the library with round
yellow stickers on them that indicate
a book was published and purchased
less than six months ago. Of course,
choosing a new book comes with a
risk. Unproven to readers, these could
be spectacularly good or bad. Ask the
staff for a recommendation.
We also have a popular bookshelf for
books that have been popular over the
last year. Here you can find a lot of books
that have been on top lists. This shelf is a
little less risky than the new shelf.
Don’t forget about your local in-
dependent bookstore. Used and new
bookstores are a great place to browse.
Herringbone Bookstore in Down-
town Redmond is a wonderful place
to browse and talk books with the ev-
er-knowledgeable owner Brandon.
Use the library’s “Your Next Book”
service and browse reading recom-
mendations
Another option is to submit a
“Your Next Book” request on the
library’s website. Go to www.de-
schuteslibrary.org. Then use the
“Books, Movies, and Music” menu to
select “Reading Recommendations”
and then “Your Next Book.” After
filling out a simple request form, a
librarian will review the books, au-
thors, and formats you like and email
back with 3 to 5 recommendations.
The more detail you can fill in, the
better the recommendations will be.
As one of the people who fulfill
these requests, it’s a real joy to be able
to discover and recommend excellent
books to people. With ten different
librarians staffing the request line, we
have experts in almost every genre.
Want a real surprise? Check the
“place holds for me” option. You’ll get
three surprise books on hold for you
ready to be picked up. Order yourself
a little reading gift!
Online recommendations
Want to do it all yourself? There are
plenty of places to vet books and get
new book ideas on your own, both
through the library and on the inter-
net. Here are a few of my favorites:
• Spend some time on www.de-
schtueslibrary.org “Recommenda-
tions”
• NoveList Plus is an amazing way
to find new books. It’s full of lists,
genre guides and more. Try search-
ing for a favorite book or author and
then look for the read-alikes. You’ll
find lots of books and authors recom-
mended that have similar writing and
plot styles.
• NextReads delivers monthly
newsletters to your inbox full of new
book recommendations that link di-
rectly to the library so you can easily
place a hold and get the book deliv-
ered to the library for pick-up.
• Check out the “Web Quick
Links” on the left. “FantasticFiction”
is one of my favorite ways to research
book series. Want to
know what book is
next up? Search for
the author to find
complete lists.
• Try out Literary
Hub’s BookMarks.
Here, they collect
reviews from news
outlets and review
websites across the
internet to find out which new books
are the highest-rated overall. Try out
the “Biggest New Books” menu or
the “All Categories” to sort by genre.
Mouse over any cover to see how
many reviews were given overall and
if the reviews were “Rave” “Positive”
“Mixed” or “Pan.”
• To see what is going on in the
world of small publishers and book
shops try www.indiebound.org/indie-
next-list. You’ll find a nice visual dis-
play of recommendations from indie
booksellers. Discover a new author
or that a favorite old one has a new
book out.
█
Graham Fox is a community librarian for the
Deschutes County Library.
234RF
FLASHBACK
Midstate plans to make flight to Klamath Falls in 1947
The Spokesman
100 YEARS AGO
May 18, 1922 — From ‘Lo-
cal Happenings’
The Tumalo study club gave
a mother’s reception at the
home of Mrs. R.R. Churchill,
Saturday afternoon, May 13. A
splendid program was rendered
of music and readings pertain-
ing to “Mother.”
The guests were seated at a
table beautifully decorated in
white and yellow, white carna-
tions being used as favors. Deli-
cious refreshments were served.
ath Falls
Redmond, Bend and
Prineville pilots will fly to
Klamath Falls early Sunday
morning on a breakfast hop,
leaving at 6 a.m., it was an-
nounced today.
Some 12 or 15 planes from
the three Central Oregon
towns will make the trip, tak-
ing more than 30 persons to
be guests of the Klamath fliers
at the breakfast. Pete Newbill
and Ray Royce of Klamath
Falls are making arrangements
there for the affair.
50 YEARS AGO
75 YEARS AGO
May 22, 1947 — Midstate
plans to make flight to Klam-
May 17, 1972 — Rick
Brown elected RHS student
prexy
According to results of the
Redmond High School stu-
dent body election, announced
during an assembly Monday,
Rick Brown will lead the Pan-
thers during the ‘72–‘73 school
year as student body president,
succeeding Bruce Barrett.
Other officers elected were
Chris Hallstrom, vice presi-
dent; Carol Whittier, secretary;
Margaret Sturza, treasurer;
Nancy Wareing, assistant
treasurer; Roberta Eggleston,
student store manager; Jack
Abbas, student manager, and
Dean McClain, assistant stu-
dent manager.
Heading the varsity rally
squad next year will be queen
Val Earp. Assisting her cheer
the Panthers on will be Betty
Audrain, Patty Madden, Jackie
DeLude and Sandy Trow-
bridge.
The junior varsity rally will
be composed of Terry Berg-
strom, Jamie Eby, Susie Broad-
dus and Linda Wilde.
25 YEARS AGO
May 21, 1997 — Former of-
ficer indicted, plea set
A former Redmond police
officer was indicted last week
on one count of second-de-
gree official misconduct.
Richard “Dick” Allen Lil,
54, is scheduled to enter a
plea and be sentenced on the
charge Tuesday.
Little resigned from the
Redmond Police Department
May 2 following an internal
investigation. He had been
on paid administrative leave
since mid January, when a
Redmond woman filed a com-
plaint alleging inappropriate
sexual overtures by Little while
he was on duty. According to
the indictment, the alleged
incident occurred in March
1996.
“The Redmond Police De-
partment has very high moral
and ethical standards for its
employees,” said Redmond
Police Chief Jim Carlton.
Carlton said the investiga-
tion began after he received
a complaint from a citizen
about “behavior that would
have reflected on the moral
standards of the department.”
Because the complaint was
against an employee of a lo-
cal law enforcement agency,
the criminal investigation was
contacted by an Oregon State
Police detective from The
Dalles and the Lane County
District Attorney’s office.
The nearly four-month
investigation ended last
Wednesday afternoon when
a special grand jury indicted
Little on the misconduct
charge.
Little joined the depart-
ment full-time in July 1974 af-
ter serving as a reserve officer.
He was the department’s first
detective and was a corporal
for a time before being asked
to resign that rank about two
years ago.
Little is taking early retire-
ment, after nearly 23 years
and the force.
AMAZING 50% OFF DEALS
ONLY
AT
EN D S 9
MAY 2
C entral O regOn D eals . COm
M. JACOBS GIFT CERTIFICATES
1/2
OFF
LIMITED TIME
OFFER WHILE
SUPPLIES
LAST!
$500 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $250
$750 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $375
$1000 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $500
$1250 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $625
$1500 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $750
$1750 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $875
$2000 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $1000
$2250 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $1125
$2500 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $1250
$2750 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $1375
$3000 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $1500
$3500 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $1750
$4000 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $2000
$4500 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $2250
$5000 GIFT CERTIFICATE
only $2500
84 YEARS OF GUARANTEED LOWEST PRICES IN OREGON!
www.mjacobsfurniture.com
541-382-5900
Bend River Promenade
THESE DEALS ARE AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY AT
CentralOregonDeals.com
This is not a coupon. Central Oregon Deals can only be purchased online.
You will receive a printable voucher at the time of purchase. See site for details.