Reading Recommendations
Don’t know what to read next? Your Next Great Story is a service designed to connect you with suggested books (ebooks, audiobooks, and print), television shows, and movies based on your preferences. Just fill out a quick form and we will send you a customized list by mail, email, or you can pick it up in person at your local library.
Book lists
Librarians create curated lists on a theme each month – and you can click through to put items on hold directly in our catalog. You can get these sent directly to your email every month in our email newsletter.
- October 2021
- September 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- March 2021
springfield reviews
Looking for more recommendations? Read reviews written by Springfield City Library staff and members of the Springfield community!
Book Recommendations from Our Instagram
Letter Writing Week is here - how better to spend an hour inside, when it's so cold outside! Warm someone else up with a personal letter to someone you care about. You can even get books about letter writing from the library! #LetterWritingWeek #SCLRecs #LetterWriting
The first Black performer to win the Academy Award for best actor, for ''Lilies of the Field,'' he once said he felt ''as if I were representing 15, 18 million people with every move I made.'' Sidney Poitier, whose portrayal of resolute heroes in films like ''To Sir With Love,'' ''In the Heat of the Night'' and ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' established him as Hollywood's first Black matinee idol and helped open the door for Black actors in the film industry, died on Thursday night at his home in Los Angeles. He was 94.
(Grimes, William. "Sidney Poitier, 94, Pioneering Black Oscar Winner, Dies." New York Times, 8 Jan. 2022, p. A1(L). Gale In Context: Biography) #SidneyPoitier #RIPSidneyPoitier #SCLRecs
Desmond Tutu, 1931-2021, was an archbishop in the South African Anglican church who helped dismantle the racist system of apartheid and then served as the leader of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to document apartheid's worst abuses and crimes. Balancing clear-eyed assessments of social injustice with a passionate commitment to nonviolence, Archbishop Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. Read more about the wisdom and courage of Desmond Tutu in these books, available through your library. #SCLRecs #DesmondTutu #RIPDesmondTutu #DesmondTutuRIP
Joan Didion proved herself one of the most acute observers of and commentators on American life in the latter half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. Her novels, along with her essays, gave laconic voice to the disillusionment and pessimism that is the other face of the radicalism of the 1960s. (St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture Online. Gale.)
#SCLRecs #JoanDidion #JoanDidionRIP #RIPJoanDidion
Writer, professor, and social critic bell hooks was undeniably one of the most successful "cross-over" academics of the late twentieth century. Her name, as well as the criticisms of racism and sexism that she penned, were central to many academic discussions, and they were also read widely outside of the educational arena. On December 15, 2021, hooks died at her home in Berea, Kentucky; she was 69. ("bell hooks." Contemporary Black Biography, Gale.) #bellhooks #ripbellhooks #SCLRecs
Anne Rice wrote best-selling novels that combined horror with sensuality in lavish historical settings. Ever popular, remind yourself why by picking up a book of hers at the library. #AnneRice #SCLRecs
Check out these books for podcast fans! #SCLRecs
Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance/Resilience: a day to honor lives lost to anti-trans hate, but also to do our part to support and celebrate our trans siblings, friends, relatives and/or selves who are still with us. To learn more about the Trans Day of Resilience project, visit https://tdor.co/ #SCLRecs #TDOR
Obsessed with the movie? Try these readalikes! #SCLRecs #Dune #DuneMovie #SCLRecs
Veteran’s Day is the day we remember the service and sacrifices made by veterans. Swipe to see books that to honor those who have served in the U.S. military. #SCLrecs #VeteransDay
November is Transgender Awareness Month, a time to honor, celebrate, and advocate for our transgender and gender diverse community.
#TransgenderAwarenessMonth #SCLRecs
November is Transgender Awareness Month, a time to honor, celebrate, and advocate for our transgender and gender diverse community.
#TransgenderAwarenessMonth #SCLRecs
Book Groups
413 Gourmet Club
A cooking class meets book club series for those who love to cook at home. Cook together – hands-on and in-person! | Adults
Afterthoughts Book Discussion Group
A traditional book discussion group where everyone reade and discusses the same book. Join us! | Adults
What’s Cooking Cookbook Club at Central Library
Do you enjoy cooking, or would you like to improve your cooking skills? | Adults
U.S. History Book and Media Discussion Group at Sixteen Acres
Members are encouraged to share any conversation-provoking history books that they are reading with the group. | Adults