We hope you enjoy our latest VPL Newsletter; to subscribe, email library@vintonia.gov. See you at the library!

This weekend I finished 'Sandwich' by Catherine Newman, and within the first couple of chapters I laughed so hard I spit out my coffee; then the laughter turned to tears, and back again to laughter. The book tells the story of a family of four while vacationing for a week in a rental home in Cape Cod. They've taken this trip every summer since the children were little and have continued the tradition into the children's adult lives.

I first became a fan of this author with her 2005 memoir 'Waiting for Birdy,' which detailed her pregnancy in all its beautiful, miraculous, hormonal, anxiety-ridden splendor. In 'Sandwich' she doesn't hold back any punches when ruminating on marriage, middle age, parenting adult children, life with aging parents, and more. No topic is taboo, so as a reader prepare yourself to be ready for anything while riding the narrator's emotional rollercoaster. I thoroughly enjoyed the laughs as well as the emotional release of the tears.

Happy reading!

~Kelly Henkle, Library Director

What a strange, wicked, and bizarre gem! I waited almost three months on the Libby app for Ottessa Moshfegh's 'Eileen' and was not disappointed! If you fancy thrillers that are also female character studies tackling heady topics such as body dysmorphia, alcoholism, and familial abuse, then this one is for you. Eileen Dunlop is a 24-year-old woman living in a New England town in the 1960's with her alcoholic father wearing her deceased mother's clothes & working as a secretary at a boys' home (which is pretty much a juvenile prison for boys.) Enter Rebecca: a woman who appears to be everything Eileen wishes she was and, ultimately, ends up freeing Eileen from herself in the darkest of manners. It's a dark and twisted story (3.57 rating on Goodreads) that I highly recommend, and check out the film adaptation starring Anne Hathaway afterwards! Happy reading, friends! ~Heather

I really enjoy watching documentaries and I stumbled upon 'Six Schizophrenic Brothers.' The title caught my attention, and I watched all 3 episodes in one sitting. If a show, book or event impacts me I have a hard time "letting it go" and need more information. I started searching the 'Six Schizophrenic Brothers' online and found that there was a book written; 'Hidden Valley Road Inside the Mind of an American Family' by Robert Kolker.

Here is the summary from Robert Kolker's website:

"Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don’s work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom. There was a script for a family like the Galvins—hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony—and they all tried to play their parts. But behind the closed doors of the house on Hidden Valley Road was a far different reality: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, and hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after the other, were diagnosed with schizophrenia. And the other six children stood by, horrified, with no way of knowing whether they would be next.

What took place on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. In a tour de force of narrative non-fiction, award-winning journalist Robert Kolker, author of the bestselling Lost Girls, tells the intimate story of the Galvins alongside the epic tale of science’s quest to uncover the true nature of a mystifying disease. Each mentally ill brother emerges as wholly individual, with remarkably different expressions of the same disorder. The two youngest Galvins, the only girls, are indelible characters: best friends, both victimized by their brothers, who make sharply different choices about how to cope. The Galvins’ story crests in a breakthrough that, thanks to their unique DNA, offers hope of eliminating schizophrenia forever. Hidden Valley Road is a captivating medical mystery and a heartbreaking drama. But above all, it is an unforgettable lesson in what it means to be a family."

https://hidden-valley-road.com/

~Kellie, Children's Librarian

Join us at Vinton's Celebration Park for lunch with the library staff! Bring a sack lunch and join us for a casual conversation about books; we’ll have a limited number of adult fiction titles available for checkout. We'll meet every Monday in September and October, beginning September 9th, from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. Everyone is welcome. Scheduling subject to staff availability and the weather.

• Monday, September 9th
• Monday, September 16th
• Monday, September 23rd
• Monday, September 30th

We had fun at the Vinton Parks & Rec Department Farmer's Market!

This friend has read 300 books! Great work!

We had a great time learning about Cicadas. Thank you, Benton County Conservation!

Now you can stop into the library Fridays at 7am and grab your weekend read on your way to work!

Hours of Operation:

Mondays: 9a-5p

Tuesdays: 9a-8p

Wednesdays: 9a-5p

Thursdays: 9a-8p

Fridays: 7a-4p

Saturdays: 9a-Noon

Sundays: Closed

Copy services: $0.20 per black and white, $0.25 per color

Fax services: $1.00 for 1-2 pages, $2.00 for 3+ pages

Notary services: No charge, call 319-472-4208 for availability

Free Wifi

Boardroom available at no charge; reservations required

Email: library@vintonia.gov
Website: vinton.lib.ia.us
Location: 510 2nd Avenue, Vinton, IA, USA
Phone: (319) 472-4208
Facebook: facebook.com/heartofvinton