The Collection Connection

What comes to mind when you think about spring in Kentucky? Bright new flowers, March Madness, horse racing, cold one day and warm the next? It's a beautiful season in the Bluegrass, but even as the great outdoors beckons, spare some time to feed your mind with one of our fresh new book titles. In this issue, check out our new and notable titles in bestseller fiction and non-fiction, employee wellness and workplace topics, and Kentucky books. Also in this issue: stakeholder survey, March webinar announcement, novel events for story lovers, spotlight on Kentucky Libraries Unbound, and staff title picks.

See something of interest? Click on the hyperlinked title to be taken to the item record in our catalog, sign in, and click Send to My Office. If the item is an eBook or eAudiobook, the link will go to Kentucky Libraries Unbound, our platform for downloadable materials. If you only like general and genre fiction, we have all types of fiction in large print and audiobooks in our collections, as well as plenty of fiction eBooks/audiobooks through Kentucky Libraries Unbound.

Bestsellers

• Battle Mountain by C.J. Box
• Blood Moon by Sandra Brown
• Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
• Far From Home by Danielle Steel
• The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom by Shari Franke
• On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
• Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
• Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond
• The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Ward D by Freida McFadden

Employee Wellness & Workplace

Finance/Legal

• Burdened: Student Debt and the Making of an American Crisis by Ryann Liebenthal

• Buy What You Love Without Going Broke: Transform Your Spending and Get More of What Money Can't Buy by Jen Smith and Jill Sirianni

• Checklist for My Family: A Guide to My History, Financial Plans, and Final Wishes by Sally Balch Hurme

• You Don't Need a Budget: Stop Worrying about Debt, Spend Without Shame, and Manage Money with Ease by Dana Miranda

Health/Wellness

• The End of Trauma: How the New Science of Resilience Is Changing How We Think About PTSD by George A Bonanno

• Life Time: Your Body Clock and Its Essential Roles in Good Health and Sleep by Russell Foster

• The Lupus Encyclopedia: A Comprehensive Guide for Patients and Health Care Providers by Donald E. Thomas Jr.

• The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain by Tara Swart MD, PhD

• Surrounded by Energy Vampires: How to Slay the Time, Energy, and Soul Suckers in Your Life by Thomas Erikson

• Thriving Beyond Fifty (Expanded Edition): 111 Natural Strategies to Restore Your Mobility, Avoid Surgery and Stay Off Pain Pills for Good by Will Harlow BSc, MSc, MCSP, Cert. MA

Parenting

• The 5 Principles of Parenting: Your Essential Guide to Raising Good Humans by Dr. Aliza Pressman

• The Joy of Slow: Restoring Balance and Wonder to Homeschool Learning by Leslie M. Martino

• Raising Securely Attached Kids: Using Connection-Focused Parenting to Create Confidence, Empathy, and Resilience by Eli Harwood

• The Ultimate Driving Book: The Essential Guide for First-Time Drivers and Car Owners by Emma Carlson Berne

• What They Don't Teach Teens: Life Safety Skills for Teens and the Adults Who Care for Them by Jonathan Cristall

• You Are Not Alone for Parents and Caregivers: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Your Child's Mental Health—With Advice from Experts and Wisdom from Real Families by Christine M. Crawford

Technology

• Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You: The Murky World of Online Romance Fraud by Becky Holmes

• The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World by Allison J. Pugh

• Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future by Jeremy Kahn

• Seen Yet Unseen: A Black Woman Crashes the Tech Fraternity by Bärí A. Williams

• Web Coding & Development All-in-One For Dummies by Paul McFedries

Workplace

• The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work by Ludmila N. Praslova

• Heal the Healer: A Self-Care Guide for Wellness Workers and Caregivers by Joshua Rosenthal

• I See You: A Guide for Women to Make More, Have More, and Be More-Without More Work by Amy Kemp

• Powerful Phrases for Dealing With Workplace Conflict: What To Say Next To De-Stress the Workday, Build Collaboration, and Calm Difficult Customers by Karin Hurt & David Dye

• Smart, Not Loud: How to Get Noticed at Work for All the Right Reasons by Jessica Chen

• What Makes Great Managers Great: How to Raise Engagement, Give Feedback, and Answer the Questions No One's Asking by Curtiss Murphy

• Kentucky Highlights in Fiction and Non-Fiction

• Dream Derby: The Myth and Legend of Black Gold by Avalyn Hunter

• Kentucky and the War of 1812: The Governor, the Farmers and the Pig by Doris D. Settles

• The Kentucky Oaks: 150 Years of Running for the Lilies by Avalyn Hunter

• Kentucky, Y'all: A Celebration of the People and Culture of the Bluegrass State by Blair Thomas Hess & Cameron M. Ludwick

• The Original Louisville Slugger: The Life and Times of Forgotten Baseball Legend Pete Browning by Tim Newby

• Pop: An Illustrated Novel by Robert Gipe

• Troublesome Rising: A Thousand-Year Flood in Eastern Kentucky by Melissa Helton

• The Unicorn Woman by Gayl Jones

• The Vice President's Black Wife: The Untold Life of Julia Chinn by Amrita Chakrabarti Myers

• The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

As the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA) develops its new strategic plan, we want to hear from you! Please take five minutes to answer our planning survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KDLA — we are looking for input from all of our stakeholders, including library staff, state employees, county records clerks, and more. The survey will be open through Monday, March 31.

Discovering Downloadable Titles in the Library that Never Closes – KY Libraries Unbound

Learn the ins and outs of KY Libraries Unbound, the 24/7 library that allows you to download eBooks, eAudiobooks, and popular magazines! We’ll discuss how to search for materials, borrow materials and place holds, use the Libby app, and cover the steps needed to download titles.

March-June - Big Blue Book Club - Various Locations in KY. The Big Blue Book Club will host meetings across Kentucky, exploring the state while reading My Old Kentucky Road Trip by UK alumni Cameron M. Ludwick and Blair Thomas Hess.

March 24 - November - Black & Lit Book Club 2025 - Carnegie Center, Lexington. Organized by The Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative this book club celebrates Black Kentucky writers’ recent books by exploring issues related to race and discussing the characters’ relationships, family, home life, dreams, and challenges. The group is open to KBWC members and anyone who wishes to attend.

April 8 - Jun 10 - Northern Kentucky Cincy Science Book Club - Newport. Love science? There's a book club for you! This book club covers non-fiction science books from a wide range of topics including chemistry, physics, environmental science, medicine, astronomy, and more.

April 24, 10:00 am EST - Kentucky Writers’ Day celebration - Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, Frankfort. Induction of the Kentucky Poet Laureate 2025 through 2026 and readings from Silas House, Kentucky Poet Laureate 2023 through 2024.

April 25 - 2025 Kentucky Writing Workshop - Kentucky International Convention Center, Louisville. A special one-day writing workshop full of classes and advice designed to give you the best instruction concerning how to get your writing & books published.

May 9-11 - Paris Storytelling Festival - Paris and Carlisle - This annual festival, held in the beautiful towns of Paris and Carlisle, features stories, music, history and hospitality as these two communities come together to celebrate and share their love of story.

Kentucky Libraries Unbound (KLU) is a group of Kentucky libraries that share electronic resources. Offering free, downloadable material through a company called Overdrive, KLU can be accessed with your State Library account 24/7, anytime, anywhere through the OverDrive website or the Libby app. You can borrow a wide range of digital content, including e-books, e-audiobooks, and digital magazines for both youth and adults, and download them to computers, smartphones, e-readers, or tablets. Items can be checked out for up to 21 days, and renewal is available if no holds are on the item. At the end of the loan period, titles expire and are automatically returned. You can check out up to 20 titles at a time and place up to 20 holds. Like to keep a wish list of titles? KLU allows you to keep up to 5,000! Be sure to check out this valuable resource for all your reading needs!

Hours 8:00 - 4:30 Monday - Friday

Email: KDLAReferenceDesk@ky.gov
Website: https://kdla.ky.gov/Pages/index.aspx
Location: 300 Coffee Tree Road, Frankfort, KY, USA
Phone: 502-564-8300
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