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Find the Missing Piece: The Fellowship of Puzzle Makers, Puzzle Palace, and Puzzles at the Library

10 Apr

The Fellowship of Puzzle Makers
by Samuel Burr
Looking for a sweet gentle read with a hint of romance and a lot of heart? The Fellowship of Puzzle Makers is your solution. The story interweaves the journey of Clayton Stumper to find out who his birth parents were with the life of his adoptive mother, who was the recently deceased leader of the Fellowship of Puzzle Makers who range from crossword creators to painters of puzzles to creators of intricate hedge labyrinths. The story will resonate for those who are looking for found families and a sweet lgbtq story in the vein of TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea or Under the Whispering Door. Though the Puzzle Makers lack actual fantastic powers, there is a sense of whimsy and joy that feel a bit fairy tale like with one character living on a house boat and a female taxi driver who has every country’s capital memorized. Because he was raised by the mostly aged puzzle makers, Clayton has adopted many old-fashioned affectations and interests and yet he at times seems also more childlike then many in their early 20’s would be. This was a fast paced read which slowly reveals the truth of Clayton’s heritage. There are also several puzzles throughout that you can try to solve.

Puzzle Palace
from Hoopla
When our Hoopla rep would ask me what I thought they could do to make Hoopla even better for our patrons, one of my suggestion was to add some sort of games to their selections since I know our patrons often enjoy interactive options like video games or crossword puzzles. Puzzle Palace Binge Pass is Hoopla’s first foray into gaming and if you are a Soduko lover you will be in heaven with 10 variations available including Stacked Sudoku, King Mini Sodoku, Classic Sudoku, and more. Plus crossword puzzle fans have 5 choices including the Premier Sunday Crossword to choose from. There is also puzzles like Namester, Guesstionary, and Word Sleuth to keep your mind sharp. The Puzzle Palace Binge Pass is good for 7 days and counts as just one of 20 checkout choices you have a month towards ebooks, comics, music, movies, and TV shows. New games are added daily!

Puzzles and Games for in Library Use
Some days you may feel like getting out of the house and what better than a visit to the library, but if you feel like something other than reading you can stop by the reference desk and borrow one of our puzzles, games, or drawing supplies. Perfect for family or friends. We hope you’ll stay for awhile and see what you can piece together. And if you have a puzzle or game that you no longer want, please consider donating it to our collection!

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Cozy Science Fiction: Floating Hotel and Prime Deception

20 Mar

Floating Hotel
by Grace Curtis
The Grand Abeona Hotel isn’t your average hotel. This is a hotel on a spaceship traveling across the galaxy. At one point only the richest of the rich could board, though it isn’t quite as exclusive as it once was and things especially below deck aren’t as pristine, it is still a magical place of relaxation and discovery. The Floating Hotel is made of interlocking stories focusing on different quirky, diverse crew members or passengers on the ship. This gives enjoyable insights into different aspects of the Abeona and the varied connections the staff has made within their found family in the stars. The hotel with its combination of travel and destinations reminds me in a lot of ways of being on a cruise ship. There is a definite cozy vibe, but there is also suspense of an underlying story about a corrupt emperor and a secret journalist that may be traveling with the ship, and who is giving away the emperor’s secrets. With a master thief and trained spies on board not everything is a relaxing day at the spa. The ending took me a bit by surprise, but felt overall satisfying. Fans of Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus and Tao Wong’s The Nameless Restaurant should enjoy this story.

Prime Deceptions
Valerie Valdes
I had greatly enjoyed, Chilling Effect, the first in Valerie Valdes, charming, humorous, space opera series about the Crew of La Sirena Negra (the Black Mermaid) so was interested to sample the sequel, Prime Deceptions. Despite her sister’s deception, in the previous novel, Eva again agrees to help her, this time to try and find a missing scientist related to a member of Eva’s crew. It will require her to reconnect with her estranged mother and go to the site of one of the most disastrous moments of Eva’s past. The found family and well as blood family drama and a sweet romance all combine to make an enjoyable story. As with the previous novel there are some fun pop culture in jokes such as when the crew visit a Sci-Fi Convention that spans a space station and much of the drama in the novels second half revolves around “ball buddies,” possible nefarious robotic replicas (Digimon, perhaps?) of actual psychic companion creatures (very clearly Pokémon inspired since the book’s dedication is a reference to Team Rocket). The trilogy is wrapped up in Fault Tolerance, which I’m hoping to also checkout soon since Prime Deceptions ends by setting up an epic alien battle the series has been building towards.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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