Crashing waves, falling leaves, a shadowy forest - books that provide a strong sense a place are what we're talking about on the latest episode of the DMPL Podcast. Book Chat team member Rebecca talks about three new books that she thinks of when she thinks "atmosphere."
Iowa Author Award Honoree Heather Gudenkauf is the latest guest on the DMPL Podcast! She discusses her newest book, The Overnight Guest, as well as her 14-year career.
Gudenkauf is one of three honorees at the 2022 Iowa Author Awards Dinner, which takes place Friday, October 14, at 6:30 PM at the Embassy Suites in downtown Des Moines. The program, titled The Magic of Libraries, will also feature honorees Art Cullen and Nate Staniforth.
This week is Banned Books Week! Veronica Fowler, the ACLU of Iowa Communications Director, joins us to discuss Banned Books and the Freedom to Read.
This is one of many things happening at the library this week celebrating the Freedom to Read. Check out our social media accounts, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter, to see videos from staff discussing banned books and which are their favorites.
Check out our Banned Books site, for a Q&A with our Director, Susan A. Woody. And then be sure to check out our new Raygun store, where you can purchase a “I Read Banned Books” shirt!
Rachel Mans McKenny, author of The Butterfly Effect, is the newest guest on the DMPL Podcast! Rachel stopped by as she gets ready to appear at the Iowa Author Spotlight Series on Thursday, September 15, at 5:30 PM at the Central Library. The Butterfly Effect was selected as the 2022 All Iowa Reads book.
During the podcast, Rachel and host Aaron Gernes chat about writing about Central Iowa, the ways in which writing a novel is different than short pieces, and how the pandemic impacted the cover of The Butterfly Effect.
AViD author Karin Slaughter joins host Aaron Gernes on the newest episode of the DMPL Podcast! Karin will be in Des Moines on Wednesday, August 24, at 7:00 PM as part of the AViD series. Her best selling novels include Cop Town, Pretty Girls, The Good Daughter, and Pieces of Her, among others. Her newest book, Girl, Forgotten, arrives at the library and in bookstores on Tuesday, August 23.
What's the "spark" that shaped the lives of our local leaders? Each month, librarian Elizabeth Hoover de Galvez as they share their "Spark Story," the specific experience that sparked them to create change in the community. In addition, we’ll hear details about the work they are doing and what keeps them motivated to stay involved. Previously a video series, Elizabeth is bringing the series to podcast form each month, found on the DMPL Podcast feed.
This month's guest is Dr. Richard L. Deming. Dr. Deming is the Medical Director of MercyOne Cancer Center in Des Moines and the founder of of Above + Beyond Cancer, a nonprofit organization dedicated to elevating the lives of those touched by cancer.
It's Iowa State Fair time, and the latest episode of the DMPL Podcast is sure to make you hungry to head to the fairgrounds. Kay Fenton Smith is the author of Baking Blue Ribbons: Stories and Recipes from the Iowa State Fair Food Competitions. Smith and host Aaron Gernes talk about what happens during the food competitions, popular foods throughout history, and some of her favorite recipes in the book.
Author Chuy Renteria joins the DMPL Podcast to talk about his memoir, We Heard It When We Were Young.' The book details Chuy's life growing up Mexican-American in West Liberty, Iowa, the first minority-majority town in Iowa. During the talk, Chuy and host Aaron Gernes talk about his experience dancing as a "b-boy," long summer nights in a small town, and how growing up in the 1990s and early 2000s was a different experience than what kids have today.
SHOW NOTES
On today's DMPL Podcast, Sarah from the Book Chat team is talking about some of her favorite recent romance reads. Listen to the podcast, and then be sure to come to Meet Cute, Book Chat's romance event on Wednesday, June 15!
AViD Author Jason Mott joins us on the newest episode of the DMPL Podcast! During this chat, he talks about the development of Hell of a Book, including when how the special cameo by Nic Cage came to be. He also talks about the book's amazing reception and what surprising nonfiction topic he enjoys reading.
Mott will take part in Authors Visiting in Des Moines on Wednesday, May 25, at 7:00 PM at the Central Library. The event is free and open to the public. Learn more on our AViD page.
On the latest episode of the DMPL Podcast, host Aaron Gernes sits down with Beth Hoffman, author of Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America. The book traces the journey Beth and her husband have taken as they started farming on a 5th generation family farm in south central Iowa.
Beth was a long-time food and agriculture reporter, covering the industry for 25 years before moving with her husband John to begin operating Whippoorwill Creak Farm. The book explores the challenges they faced as they transitioned the farm from a conventional operation to an organic and grass-fed operation, as well as the challenges faced in making money in agriculture as a whole.
Mark your calendars: Beth will be at the Central Library on Thursday, July 21, at 5:30 PM!
She is also the next author in our Authors Visiting in Des Moines series! Amanda will be in Des Moines on Thursday, April 21, at 7:00 PM at the Central Library. Doors open at 6:00 PM for this free event, and seating is first-come, first-served. More information can be found at dmpl.org/avid.
During today’s podcast Amanda talks about her family’s personal experience with cults, which cultish groups she wished she had the space to write about in her book, and what movie she says put linguistics on the map!
Amanda's Books
Angeline will be taking part in Authors Visiting in Des Moines (AViD) on Saturday, March 26, at 5:00 PM as part of the DSM Book Festival. The Book Festival takes place at Capital Square (400 Locust Street) from 9:00 AM-7:00 PM. The event is free, and seating is first-come, first-served. More information about AViD and the DSM Book Festival can be found in the Show Notes below.
Brad's newest book, The Lightning Rod, comes out on March 8!
The DMPL Podcast returns with Book Chat team member Carrie! She's chatting about books she loves that fulfill one or more categories of the 2022 Reading Challenge. If you haven't signed up for the Reading Challenge, do so now! It's a great chance to win books and win prizes in the process.
On the latest DMPL Podcast, Book Chat librarian Rebecca joins host Aaron Gernes and completes a Book Chat request for him! You'll find out what Book Chat is, how it works, and then hear an example of how librarians handpick titles for patrons using Book Chat as she picks out some books she thinks Aaron will enjoy.
On today's podcast, author Katherine Dykstra chats with host Aaron Gernes about her 2021 book What Happened To Paula: On the Death of an American Girl. The book details the 1970 disappearance and death of Cedar Rapids teenager Paula Oberbroeckling, reflecting on who or what may have caused her death, and also reflects on what it means to be a woman over the past half-century.
What Happened to Paula in the library
More on Katherine Dykstra:
On the latest episode of the DMPL Podcast, host Aaron is joined by Book Chat librarians Janeé and Steph to discuss their favorite books of 2021.
If you're interested in hearing more about our librarians' favorite books, be sure to take part in our Best of 2021 virtual program next Wednesday, December 15, at 6:30 PM on Zoom! Four more Book Chat librarians will be sharing their favorite reads and discussing books with each other and the audience. Register for the program soon, as spots are limited!
Today on the podcast, Annie Nelson, a Bereavement Coordinator at Hospice of the Midwest, joins the podcast. With the holidays coming up, she recommends some books about grief and grieving to help us make sense of what can be a tough time of year for many people.
On today's DMPL Podcast, host Aaron Gernes chats with Janeé, from the Book Chat team, about some of her favorite horror books in the past year. Janeé is DMPL's horror aficionado, so you can be sure that her picks are some of the best around!
October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. Heidi Kroner is the founder of Decoding Dyslexia Iowa as well as Aspire Academy, a group that raises dyslexia awareness, empowers families to support their children, and influence policymakers and educators on best practices to identify, remediate, and support Iowa students with dyslexia. She's also the founder of Aspire Academy, a tutoring center that helps bring children with dyslexia up to reading at grade level.
Steph from the Book Chat team joins us today on the DMPL Podcast to talk about books for Latinx Heritage Month! She has a book picked out for adults, young adults, and children and discusses what she loves about each. Be sure to check out the bookmarks in the Show Notes for more Latinx Heritage Month reading suggestions.
Printing Instructions: When looking at printing options, you must DESELECT “fit to print” or “fit to page.”
On the latest episode of the DMPL Podcast, Aaron Gernes chats with local author Anthony Paustian about his book, A Quarter Million Steps, and Bookpress Publishing, a local publisher where Paustian works as a writing coach. A Quarter Million Steps is an award-winning leadership book that utilizes the Apollo space program as a metaphor that allows you to create success through imagination, creative problem-solving, and more.