Your adventure begins at Shreve Memorial Library

School is out for summer, and you know what that means… Shreve Memorial Library’s annual Summer Reading Program is just around the corner. This year, the library is reminding everyone that adventure begins at the library! All summer-long, visit your favorite library branch to see the many ways that libraries encourage curiosity, stimulate imagination, and foster exploration and lifelong learning through a vast collection of materials and engaging programming for all ages.

While many of us remember the Summer Reading Program as a nostalgic part of our childhoods, I want to remind you that the Summer Reading Program is open to all ages. From birth to infinity and beyond, everyone is encouraged to spend the summer reading at the library and to see what adventures await with every turn of the page. If you need incentives to read, the library offers great prizes for those who complete the summer reading challenge, which may be easier than you think. Children, age birth to 10, are required to read at least five age-level books by end of summer, teens, age 11 to 17, are required to read at least three age-appropriate books, and adults are required to read at least two novels or nonfiction tomes by the end of the summer. Easy peasy!

One of the greatest things about the Summer Reading Program is that reading is only one part of the fun. The second part of the Summer Reading Program is the tremendous amount of free programs available at the library to supplement your reading adventures. This summer, Shreve Memorial Library is taking you on adventure through times with historical programs and inviting children on amazing adventures with magic and mystery. If animals and nature are your thing, then be sure to check out an animal adventure at the library featuring some of our local wildlife experts. You can also explore the arts, take a journey through music and melody, or make your own adventure in crafting classes. How fun is that?

Be sure to check out the Shreve Memorial Library website for a complete list of activities planned and sign up today for the Summer Reading Program! I cannot wait to see what adventures we find as we dream, discover, do this summer at the library. See you soon!

What’s New at the Library

The Bullet Swallower: A Novel by Elizabeth Gonzalez James (fiction)

In 1895, Antonio Sonoro is the latest in a long line of ruthless men. He’s good with his gun and is drawn to trouble but he’s also out of money and out of options. A drought has ravaged the town of Dorado, Mexico, where he lives with his wife and children, and so when he hears about a train laden with gold and other treasures, he sets off for Houston to rob it – with his younger brother Hugo in tow. But when the heist goes awry and Hugo is killed by the Texas Rangers, Antonio finds himself launched into a quest for revenge that endangers not only his life and his family, but his eternal soul. In 1964, Jaime Sonoro is Mexico’s most renowned actor and singer. But his comfortable life is disrupted when he discovers a book that purports to tell the entire history of his family beginning with Cain and Abel. In its ancient pages, Jaime learns about the multitude of horrific crimes committed by his ancestors. And when the same mysterious figure from Antonio’s timeline shows up in Mexico City, Jaime realizes that he may be the one who has to pay for his ancestors’ crimes, unless he can discover the true story of his grandfather Antonio, the legendary bandido El Tragabalas, The Bullet Swallower. A family saga that’s epic in scope and magical in its blood, and based loosely on the author’s own great-grandfather, The Bullet Swallower tackles border politics, intergenerational trauma, and the legacies of racism and colonialism in a lush setting and stunning prose that asks who pays for the sins of our ancestors, and whether it is possible to be better than our forebears.

The Chaos Agent by Mark Greaney (fiction)A car accident in Japan. A drowning in Seoul. A home invasion in Boston. Someone is killing the world’s leading experts on robotics and artificial intelligence. Is it a tech company trying to eliminate the competition or is it something even more sinister? After all, artificial intelligence may be the deadliest battlefield game changer since the creation of gunpowder. The first nation to field weapons that can act at the speed of computer commands will rule the battlefield. It’s an irresistible lure for most, but not for the Gray Man. His quest for a quiet life has led him to Central America where he and his lover, Zoya Zakharova, have assumed new identities. With a list of enemies that includes billionaires, terrorists, and governments, they need to keep a low profile, but the world’s deadliest assassin can’t expect to hide out forever. Eventually, they’re tracked down and offered a job by an old acquaintance of Zoya’s. He needs their help extracting a Russian scientist who is on the kill list. They reject the offer, but just being seen with him is enough to put assassins on their trail. Now, they’re back on the run, but no matter which way they turn, it’s clear that whoever’s tracking them is always going to be one step ahead. Since flight’s no longer possible, fight is the only option left, and no one fights dirtier than the Gray Man.

Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of the Velvet Underground by Dylan Jones (non-fiction)

Rebellion always starts somewhere, and in the music world of the transgressive teen – whether it be the 1960s or the 2020s – the Velvet Underground represents ground zero. Crystallizing the idea of the bohemian, urban, narcissistic art school gang around a psychedelic rock and roll band – a stylistic idea that evolved in the rarefied environs of Andy Warhol’s Factory – the Velvets were the first major American rock group with a mixed gender line-up. They never smiled in photographs, wore sunglasses indoors, and invented the archetype that would be copied by everyone from Sid Vicious to Bobby Gillespie. They were avant-garde nihilists, writing about drug abuse, prostitution, paranoia, and sado-masochistic sex at a time when the rest of the world was singing about peace and love. In that sense, they invented punk and then some. It could even be argued that they invented modern New York. Drawing on interviews and material relating to all major players, from Lou Reed, John Cale, Mo Tucker, Andy Warhol, Jon Savage, Nico, David Bowie, Mary Harron, and many more, award-winning journalist Dylan Jones breaks down the band’s whirlwind of subversion and, in a narrative rich in drama and detail, proves why the Velvets remain the original kings and queens of edge.

About Shreve Memorial Library

Shreve Memorial Library transforms Caddo Parish lives with resources, services and support to create a better world by focusing on developing young readers, sparking imaginations, encouraging curiosity, fostering connection, and providing comfortable places. Shreve Memorial Library’s 21-branch system is maintained by a parish-wide property tax millage to support the informational, educational and recreational needs of its constituents. For more information, visit www.shreve-lib.org, and like, follow and subscribe on social media channels including Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, Pinterest and YouTube. Dream, discover, do – Shreve Memorial Library and you!

This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Your adventure begins at Shreve Memorial Library