Avonlea Public Library

05/31/2026

We now have 6 Painted Ladies. They will be back in the Library. Come and see them released Weds June 3rd at 4pm.

05/30/2026

We have Painted Ladies. They just arrived today.

05/28/2026

05/28/2026

I just happen to come across this Historical Fiction novel by Jennifer Chiaverini,

This is an enthralling historical saga based on a true story that recreates the danger, romance, and sacrifice of an era and brings to life one courageous, passionate American—Mildred Fish Harnack—and her circle of women friends who waged a clandestine battle against Hi**er in N**i Berlin.

After Wisconsin graduate student Mildred Fish marries brilliant German economist Arvid Harnack, she accompanies him to his German homeland, where a promising future awaits. In the thriving intellectual culture of 1930s Berlin, the newlyweds create a rich new life filled with love, friendships, and rewarding work—but the rise of a malevolent new political faction inexorably changes their fate.

As Adolf Hi**er and his N**i Party wield violence and lies to seize power, Mildred, Arvid, and their friends resolve to join the WWII resistance. Mildred gathers intelligence for her American contacts, including Martha Dodd, the vivacious and very modern daughter of the US ambassador. Her German friends, aspiring author Greta Kuckoff and literature student Sara Weitz, risk their lives to collect information from journalists, military officers, and officials within the highest levels of the N**i regime.

For years, Mildred’s network stealthily fights to bring down the Third Reich from within. But when N**i radio operatives detect an errant Russian signal, the Harnack resistance cell is exposed, with fatal consequences.

Inspired by actual events, Resistance Women is an enthralling, unforgettable spy novel of female friendship and ordinary people determined to resist the rise of evil, sacrificing their own lives and liberty to fight injustice and defend the oppressed.

In a city falling to darkness, what does it take for ordinary people to risk everything?

05/28/2026

I could not pass this guy up. His name is Franklin and he is a new addition to the library. Welcome Franklin.

05/28/2026

Sworn to protect a scenic island meant to be far from the evils of the mainland, Detective Sergeant Stilwell can feel danger closing in.

Detective Sergeant Stilwell knows that his posting on Catalina Island is no paradise, but to most residents, it seems blissfully separated—by twenty-two miles of ocean—from the troubles of Los Angeles County. But now a threat is coming to his safe haven.

Acting on a tip from a confidential informant, Stilwell and his deputies watch a plane land in the middle of the night at the Airport in the Sky, a remote airstrip in the mountains. A duffel bag of drugs is dropped and the deputies move in, but things quickly go sideways. While Stilwell chases the fleeing pickup man into the mountainside brush, shots are fired on the runway and the plane flies off.

An internal inquiry follows, putting Stilwell on the bench until he is cleared of responsibility for the disastrous operation. But he is determined to find out who brought deadly violence to his island, and begins his own secret investigation into the drug deal gone wrong.

05/28/2026

Just arrived at the Avonlea Library.

A brand-new, gripping thriller from Freida McFadden, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Housemaid!

What is a happily ever after really worth?

Naomi was living the quintessential love story. Boy meets girl. They fall in love, get married, buy a dream house, start a family…

Then―he kicks her out, hires the city's best divorce lawyers, drains their accounts, and takes up with a 20-something.

It's a brutal end to the story. Naomi should accept defeat: move into a dingy apartment, get back into the workforce, and piece together the shattered remains of her life.

Except, why should she?

Instead, Naomi fixates on her husband's new girlfriend. What begins as cynical curiosity soon twists into obsession―and then into something far darker. As Naomi uncovers secrets she never imagined, she realizes her own life may be in danger.

But if it keeps her perfect family intact, isn't it worth it?

In The Divorce, delivers a razor-sharp, subversive thriller where love curdles into vengeance, and survival becomes the most dangerous game of all.

05/22/2026

The Painted Ladies have arrived.

I will must them with water. This mimics morning dew. The adult butterflies will emerge within 12 days from May 20th.

When the butterflies emerge they will hang for several hours to dry out their wings. At this time they can be fed orange slices which has the same composition similar to nectar.

I will keep posting pictures to mark their process. They will be back in the Library on Tuesday May 26th. Stop in a take a look.

05/21/2026

Progress on the door mats.

05/20/2026

Just arrived at the Avonlea Library. The latest novel by Louise Penny and Mellissa Fung.

The Last Mandarin: A gripping thriller about family and power co-written by Louise Penny, #1 bestselling author of the Gamache novels, and Mellissa Fung, an award-winning journalist.

A mother and a daughter race against time in this all-too-real thriller that reaches from Tiananmen Square all the way to the White House.

Alice Li, a first-generation Chinese American and former food blogger, has long lived in the shadow of her mother, Vivien Li— a Tiananmen Square dissident turned world-renowned human rights activist and passionate advocate for a free and democratic China.

When security and fire alarms go off simultaneously all around the world, setting off a panic, the signal is traced back to China. As world leaders scramble to respond, Vivien and Alice are called to the White House in hopes Madame Li can interpret the Chinese intentions. But why involve Alice?

If China isn’t behind the attack, Vivien warns, someone even more dangerous is pulling the strings. Mother and daughter must join together to overcome their estrangement if they have any hope of preventing global catastrophe. From DC to Ohio to Hong Kong, they work to prevent the next attack, along the way decoding an ancient legend and uncovering a secret language invented by women, for women.

The Last Mandarin is an electrifying study of absolute power and voracious greed, political terror and personal conviction. But it is also an intimate examination of choice, of sacrifice, of memory and myths, both cultural and personal. It is the story of a mother and daughter, as well as a compelling international thriller about the precarious balance of power across the world, and within a family. And what happens when both break down.

In a world ruled by power, even family can be a weapon.