Free Online Books

All you need is 5 minutes a day and an email address to join one of our FREE online book clubs!

Are you looking for great new authors? Looking for a great book? Would you like to sample a book before you commit to checking it out? Do you like Chocolate Chip cookies? If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions then you need to join one of online book clubs. How does it work? Every week we sample a new book. Monday through Friday, a quick 5 minute read is delivered to your email box and waiting for you to peruse with your morning cup of coffee. At the end of Friday's read the ending page number is given so when you pick up the book from the library you know where you left off. (There is also a link on the emails to quickly and easily reserve the book from the library.)

There's a book club for just about everyone, including: fiction, non-fiction, romance, mystery, science fiction, audio, business, pre-publication (be the first to see these soon-to-be-released books), teen, good news, and horror. On Mondays and Thursdays, Suzanne, your book club editor, offers a link to AuthorBuzz, where she introduces you to 3 or 4 authors and their books. Suzanne also holds giveaways where you can win funny or cool prizes--and once a month, Suzanne bakes homemade chocolate chip cookies for the winners of her monthly Chocolate Chip Cookie giveaway.

The online book clubs are a fun and stress free way to read. And, as Suzanne always ends her columns, "It's so good to read with friends."

Go to www.hibbing.lib.mn.us and click on the “Online Book Clubs” icon to get started.

True Grit: Read the book and watch the films.

True Grit by Charles Portis first started out as a serial in The Saturday Evening Post in 1968. Mattie Ross, 14 years old, tracks Tom Chaney, the man who murdered her father. Mattie hires U. S. Marshall, Rooster Cogburn to apprehend her father’s murderer. Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf, soon joins them on the hunt for Tom Chaney into Indian Territory.

Shortly thereafter, in 1969, the book was adapted for the screen starring John Wayne as Cogburn with Kim Darby as Mattie Ross and Glen Campbell as LaBoeuf.

In 2010, True Grit was remade with Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, Haliee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross and Matt Damon as LaBoeuf.
Very successful at the box office, True Grit garnered many Academy Award nominations and Academy Awards for John Wayne and Jeff Bridges.
True Grit: book and movie versions are available in our library and through the Arrowhead Library System Interlibrary Loan.

Fraud and Scams

Falling for a scam can turn your whole world--and your bank account--upside down. Get prepared now so you'll be protected later.



Protect yourself from fraud with these timely tips from the Federal Citizen Information Center


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Kiwanis Little Ones Indoor Park

The Kiwanis Little Ones Indoor Park located in the library auditorium has reopened.  The park was closed during the State of MN shut down.  There are regularly scheduled hours but, the schedule does change when there is a conflict with other library programs.  Generally, the Indoor Park is scheduled to be open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM and Tuesday and Thursday from 3:00 PM until 7:00 PM.  Please check the library calendar for the days and times the park will be closed. 

Cost is $1/child per day OR $60 for an annual family membership (unlimited usage) payable to the Indoor Park attendant.  All children must be accompanied and monitored by their caretakers.  If you have questions or comments about the park please direct them to Melissa Grzybowski at 218-929-3125.

Hotwire by Alex Kava

Special Agent for the FBI, Maggie O’Dell, is sent to Nebraska to check out cattle mutilations on her way to teach at a law enforcement seminar. The x-file style of cattle mutilations becomes less important when high school students partying out in the woods, see a mysterious light show ending in the death of two students and injuries of others. Maggie with local state patrol investigator, Donald Fergusson, conduct interviews where the victims stories are hallucinogenic in nature. Were students attacked and electrocuted by governmental experiments or UFOS or something more sinister?

Army Colonel Ben Platt is investigating an outbreak of suspected food poisoning at a local school in Washington D.C. Platt, new- found friend of Maggie’s is just as stumped with the origin of the poisoning as Roger Bix, both experts on infectious diseases.

The two stories run parallel until the last few pages when suddenly the investigations shockingly merge. Hotwire is ninth in the Maggie O’Dell series. Alex Kava has a website: http://www.alexkava.com/

Flying Yo-Yo's!

The last show for the Summer Reading Program will feature the energy and fun of Yo-Yo Master Dazzling Dave.  A former middle school teacher, Dave’s heart and soul are still in teaching – but now he’s found a better way. Delivering intensely fun freestyle performances followed by friendly hands-on instruction, Dave teaches his “students” hand-eye coordination, goal setting & achievement, performance techniques, and the fundamentals of physics, all through the Science of Spin program and his hand-held classroom on a string.

The show starts at 2:00pm on Tuesday, July 26.  As always, this show is free and open to the all ages.

Speaking of the Summer Reading program, if you have reached your reading goal, make sure you get to the library by 5:00pm on Friday, July 29 to pick up your prizes.

The Wikkelinng by Steven Arntson

Illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini, c 2011.
Cataloged in Juvenile Fiction at the Hibbing Public Library, this book drew my attention because it is slightly wider than the average hardcover and it had no jacket.  The cover art is printed right on the fabric cover.  What is this book? 

A strange tale of three children who attend the same school, all get terrible headache and can sometimes see, or at least feel, a strange presence near them.  They live in a huge metropolis where the Old City and the Addition is divided by a large highway that keeps growing wider.  But Henrietta finds a wild house cat in the attic of her family's old house where she and her new friends can see how the town looked long ago, when people walked rather than driving in cars with computers telling them every turn to make and every thought to think.  Car horns don't honk, they blare advertisements.  These children meet because they are different than others.  They learn that there is much to be valued, including books: handwritten or printed on paper, like the mysterious Bestiary (sample pages included) that describes animals they've never seen or even learned about in their school where "Sensible Students Succeed Splendidly" and safety is all important.
A great adventure ensues as Henrietta and her new friends Gary and Rose gather information about what the Wikkeling is and why it follows them.

Read Lee Child's Jack Reacher Series This Summer

Author, Lee Child was born in 1954 in Coventry, England but grew up in the nearby city of Birmingham.  He attended law school and eventually had an 18 year career as the presentation director for British TV.  He was fired in 1995 and decided to try something new.  Child’s biography says he bought six dollars’ worth of paper and pencils, sat down, and wrote “Killing Floor”, the first novel in the Jack Reacher series.  The 16^th Jack Reacher installment, “The Affair”, will be available on September 27, 2011.

Jack Reacher is a former United States Army Military Police Major. He was born on a military base in Berlin on October 29, 1960. At age 24, he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. After graduation, he served 13 years as a Military Policeman, during which time he became part of a fictional military police unit, the 110th Special Investigations Unit, formed to handle exceptionally tough cases, especially those involving members of the United States Army Special Forces.

Since leaving the military, Reacher spends his time travelling.  He owns nothing.  The only things that he carries with him are money, a foldable toothbrush, and the clothes on his back.  One of his strict rules is – never leave a paper trail.  Rather than spend time at a laundromat he stops at a discount store every couple of days and buys something new.  There is a quick change of clothes in the dressing room and the old clothes go to the trash.   Nothing in this description describes a dependable person but what Jack Reacher does have is a very strong moral code.  If you are the underdog and you have been wronged by an evil person; Jack Reacher is the man you want at your back.

The Reacher character develops a little more in each book.  The reader eventually finds out what type of music he likes, his religious beliefs, bits and pieces of his years growing up, and why he doesn’t want the responsibility of ownership.  Jack is not adverse to using violence to solve problems and never shows any remorse for his actions.  He is great in any type of a fight and an excellent marksman.

The Reacher series is an excellent summer vacation choice. 

The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough: Audiobook

Listen to the book about Paris between 1830 and 1900 when many great American writers and authors lived and created in Paris. Writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain and Henry James as well as artists Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent flourished and were inspired by French masters and their lives in Paris. David McCullough is also known for Truman and John Adams as well as many other historical subjects.
David McCullough has a publisher's page: http://pages.simonandschuster.com/greaterjourney

The Rich and the Dead: Audiobook

Mystery Writers of America presents The Rich and The Dead, new short stories by many of your favorite mystery writers: Nelson DeMille, S. J. Rozan, Lee Child, Jonathan Santlofer, Michael Connelly and many more.
Check out our audiobook collection when you have a long drive, household and outdoor chores, or some other mind numbing exercise to get through.
We have many audiobooks available through our audiobook collection: http://www.hibbing.mn.us/ or you can download books through Arrowhead Library System on many electronic devices: http://arrowhead.lib.overdrive.com/

Where the sidewalk ends...

Shari Sweetnam, author and story teller, will present a special story time based on the works of children's author Shel Silverstein.  It will begin at 10:00am, Monday, July 18, in the kid's room.

This program is free and open to all ages.

Indoor Park Fundraising Festival

In addition to having ice cream with the Friends in front of the library on Thursday, July 21st at 1:00 p.m., you will want to take your little ones to the Sidewalk Day Festival.

The Hibbing Kiwanis Little Ones Indoor Park supporters will be having a fundraising festival on Howard Street from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.  Enjoy bounce-houses, face-painting, food, beverages, and take a turn at the dunk tank.  Money from the fund raiser will be used to pay for site supervision at the indoor park.

The Kiwanis Little Ones Indoor Park is located in the library auditorium and is managed by the Indoor Park’s Board of Directors. Scheduled hours do change when they conflict with other library programs. Please check the library calendar for the days and times the park will be closed. Cost is $1/child per day OR $60 for an annual family membership (unlimited usage) payable to the Indoor Park attendant. All children must be accompanied and monitored by their caretakers. Generally, the Indoor Park is scheduled to be open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM and Tuesday and Thursday from 3:00 PM until 7:00 PM. If you have questions or comments about the park please direct them to Melissa Grzybowski at 218-929-3125.  Questions about the fund raiser should be directed to Miriam Kero 218-262-3486, ext 743 or email her at miriamkero@ci.hibbing.mn.us.

Friends of the Library Event

The Friends of the Hibbing Public Library will be serving ice cream on the front lawn on Thursday, July 21st starting at 1:00 p.m.

Stop by and visit with them and then check out the rest of the Sidewalk Day Bargains on Howard Street.

Lincoln Lawyer

If you have not read Michael Connolly’s The Lincoln Lawyer then it is definitely a recommended vacation read.

Mick Haller is a defense lawyer who works out of his Lincoln. When a wealthy realtor is accused of raping a prostitute, Haller is asked to defend him and it is the case of a life time. The man claims that the woman is trying to get some money out of him. But when Haller looks at the evidence against the realtor, he learns that this case might be linked to an older case of his. 

Mick Haller is a great, likable character. His ethics are not always the best but he realizes this and knows it is a weakness he really should work on.  The story is told from the first person point of view, so you always know what Mick is thinking. 

Michael Connolly writes a good, solid mystery.  The courtroom scenes are well crafted.

The Lincoln Lawyer, starring Matthew McConaughey and Marisa Tomei is now available on DVD.  Rolling Stone called it “A slam-bang twister of a legal thriller”.  McConaughey is the perfect Mick Haller – sleek and charismatic. 

Pick up the book at the library before you see the movie.  It is available in both hardcover and paperback.

Harry Potter Film Festival

Get ready for the final installment of the Harry Potter film series by watching the first seven on the library's big screen!  Admission is free...and so is the popcorn!



July 11 at 10:00am:                       
HP & the Sorcerer’s Stone (PG)                            
July 11 at 1:30pm:                         
HP & the Chamber of Secrets (PG)
July 12 at 1:30pm:                      
HP & the Prisoner of Azkaban (PG)              
July 13 at 10:00am:                     
HP & the Goblet of Fire (PG-13)                      
July 13 at 1:30pm:                         
HP & the Order of the Phoenix (PG-13)                                         
July 14 at 1:30pm:                       
HP & the Half-Blood Prince (PG)                         
July 15 at 10am:                           
HP & the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (PG-13)

Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

Alway a delight to read for the humor and situations that Stephanie Plum and friends get themselves into, this latest madcap adventure features more bail bond antics. Stephanie continues to see Morelli and Ranger while her mother finds her a new boyfriend who can cook. Vinnie is operating the bail bond business out of Mooner's bus while trying to rebuild the office. Progress slows to a halt when a body is recovered on the building site. Beach reading at its finest, Janet Evanovich has a website: http://www.evanovich.com/

The Help

Kathryn Stockett’s first novel, The Help, became wildly popular after its publication in 2009 and has been on the NYT’s bestseller list for months.  The movie version starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer is due out in August.  Stockett grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and had a close relationship with her family’s maid.  Her book is based on this experience in her life.

The story is set in the South during the 1960s.  Skeeter Stone, a privileged society girl returns home from college with her sights set on becoming a writer.  In the process she manages to cause uproar in the community.  Skeeter actually decides to interview the black women who have worked for and taken care of the children of the town’s prominent families.  She wants to tell their stories.  “The Help” definitely had special relationships with their employers and their children but racism and enforced segregation kept these feelings buried.  Making them public is against everything that society believed to be proper.

In the book, the various women alternate in telling their stories.  Even though the powerful message concerning these volatile times in the South is always present the individual characters and their complicated racial relationships do not get lost.  One story is about a woman whose own son was tragically killed in an accident and how she lovingly dedicates herself to raising the children of the families she works for.  Eventually, new friendships are forged but not everyone in the community is willing to accept that times may be changing.

In addition to the printed copy, The Help, is available on compact disc and as a downloadable title.  Put your name on the reserve list today, so you can read it before the movie opens in August.

Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo

Third in the Chief of Police Kate Burkholder series, Kate investigates the hate crimes against the Amish as well as an accidental death of three Amish family members in a manure pit. John Tomasetti, recently transferred to the a small BCI field office near Cleveland, again works with Kate to solve recent crimes in Painters Mill.
Tomassetti and Kate find themselves stymied when Amish locals refusing to press charges against assault and vandalism because they don’t want to deal with non Amish people or “The English” and the courts.
Are the “accidental” deaths linked to hate crimes? Does Kate want a more permanent commitment from Tomasetti? Read what happens next.
Website: http://www.lindacastillo.com/

Scavenger Hunt

Stop by the library anytime between 9:00am and 5:00pm, Thursday, July 7, to participate in an inside scavenger hunt. Complete the hunt and win a special prize offered that day only!