accessing book titles in all library systems statewide

Attention: Minnesota residents! I have an amazing new source of books! 

Did you know your local library card can provide a massive network of books far beyond your small town branch? 

Most people know you can request books from other branches within your regional library system. It is a fantastic service. (Fun fact: When I lived in Orlando, a courier service delivered library books right to my door! The only downside? Someone stole a package once, and I had to pay for the replacement. But otherwise, it was amazing!)

I have used regional requests for years. However, while hunting for books by Josh Silver, I stumbled upon two hidden features on the Kitchigami Regional Library website that completely blew my mind.

If you live in Minnesota, you need to start using these two tools right now. 

MN Link: Search the Entire State (and Beyond)

If your local library system does not have the book you want, do not give up. Look for the MN Link button on your library's home page (or just go directly to the MN Link site).

This tool lets you search the library catalogs of the entire state of Minnesota. This includes public libraries, university systems, and even some libraries in surrounding states! It drastically increases your chances of finding rare, out of print, academic, not as popular titles, or just more breadth than a smaller library system tends to purchase and make available.

- You request the book online through MN link.

- The book is shipped directly to your home library for free pickup.

Cloud Library: Skip the Hoopla Daily Limits

You might already use Hoopla for e-books, audiobooks, movies, and television shows. Hoopla is great, but libraries put a daily budget limit on it. If you try to download in the afternoon, you often get a "daily limit reached" error.

That is where Cloud Library comes in. 

- There are no limits because the digital titles are purchased directly for your library system.

- If a title is available, you can borrow it instantly without worrying about a system-wide daily cutoff.

With these two options, I've now been able to find every title I was hoping to read. 

What are your favorite library hacks? Have you used MN Link or Cloud Library yet? Let me know your experiences - or any other library secrets I missed - in the comments below!

book review: Erase Me, Happy Head, and Dead Head by Josh Silver

From my book review post yesterday it is clear that I discovered a new favorite author in Josh Silver! After devouring the over four-hundred pages of Fruit Fly in a single sitting, I immediately requested his three other novels from the library and proceeded to binge read every single one of them.

What makes Silver's writing so addictive? Each book is a dark, twisty, wild ride featuring complex, outwardly damaged characters that Silver infuses with a deeply compelling, lovable core. He expertly uses inner dialogue to inject unexpected humor into heavy topics -- including mental health, addiction, violence, rape, suicide, sexual identity, and domestic abuse. These spots of lightness serve as a brilliant reminder that, beneath it all, we are a beautifully messy work in process.

While each of Silver’s books are built around similar themes, each boasts a completely unique and highly original plot. I can’t get across just how impossible these books are to put down (and, I’m not alone in feeling this since all of these books get a solid 4.25 stars from other reviewers). Here is a breakdown of Josh Silver's other books.

Erase Me (published under the title Traumaland in the UK), is a total mind trip. Halfway through, I literally stopped and said out loud, "What?! This is bonkers." 

To preserve the jaw-dropping twists, I will just say this novel is about a seventeen year old, Eli, who was in a near fatal car crash and goes to extremes to try and get both his memories and his emotions back.

Happy Head and Dead Head are a duology that follow Seb and Finn at a facility for troubled teens. Run by Dr. Stone and Madame Manning, the facility claims to cure modern unhappiness by giving stressed teens the tools to cope. Unfortunately, not everything is what it appears and it ends up being more like a dystopian Squid Game than a place where “commitment, growth, and gratitude can lead to a happy head.” As these teens try to determine who can be trusted as they try and escape, they explore love and what it actually means to be happy - being who you are, not changing for anyone, and hoping to inspire those others to do the same.

All four of Silver's books are ripe for being adapted to the screen. So, I was so excited to see Happy Head and Dead Head were acquired in a “highly competitive auction,” according to the author’s wikipedia’s page. 

Silver’s unique background explains why his books are so deep and relatable. He originally attended the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and performed in the West End and on Broadway. At 30, he shifted paths going back to school to get training as a mental health nurse, saying he himself has struggled with mental health his whole life, and still can. While working in adult inpatient settings, in adolescent wards, and with younger children, he enjoys writing in spare moments. His joy for writing, and also his personal struggles with mental health and his clinical experiences, seep into the pages offering such a wonderful perspective. Be sure to read more about the author in a wonderful interview with him in the back of Happy Head. “The notion of happiness is prescribed to us. It’s everywhere. I mean, social media says I should make loads of smoothies and film myself drinking them. Those people look happy. Or do a dance to a song I hate so people like my stuff and follow me. Those dopamine hits will help. I can apparently care about the climate and important things, definitely, just need to make sure I look hot while I’m out protesting. Then post about it. If you’re gay, be a cool one, please. Effortlessly cool. Like it’s not been difficult.”

book review: Fruit Fly by Josh Silver

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 

Thank you Crooked Lane Books for providing an ARC for review consideration via NetGalley! All opinions are my own.

Fruit Fly by Josh Silver will easily be knocking a book off to take its place on my top five shelf! I desperately hope this gets adapted for the screen because I was so incredibly invested in these characters. The depth is just remarkable; the authors ability to read people and capture both their inner and outer dialogue is masterfully done.

Mallory seemingly has the perfect curated life - a stately house and a handsome husband. Yet, she's been unable to write another book since her debut novel and fights demons in both her marriage and her mind. On the flip side is Leo, a fellow writer of poetry, who battles addictions and demons of his own. Mallory attempts to claw her way back to the life she wants when she crosses paths with Leo, realizing his personal story is just the plot for her next novel. But, at what cost? And, is his story truly hers to tell?

As we navigate everything that unfolds, it's unclear whether either of them is a reliable narrator. Interjections of diegetic text from both Mallory and Leo provide an even deeper layer of these characters. Ultimately, in their similar lives - if not for money and location - they are both just trying to survive. I was wholly unprepared for the incredible ride of this book - it is a raw, dark, nail-biting, and deeply relatable.