Mercer County Library Blog

Even being a librarian, it can be hard to make time to read the latest titles. With new TV shows, old favorite books, and hanging out with friends, fitting in a recent book can be difficult. Over the holidays, my sister and I were talking about New Year's resolutions and how hard it is to follow them on your own – including to read more. We agreed to hold each other accountable and read at least one book every month. After, we ended up talking with a friend and she wanted in on this as well… And then another friend was roped in… And then we mentioned it to our mom. Needless to say, I accidentally started a book club for 2026 with my friends and family. It might be a little difficult to find things we all want to read, considering we have different tastes in books, but that will be part of the fun. This month we plan on reading The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, since the movie just came out on Netflix and we all really want to watch it. We have a group chat where we can...

Every once in a while, I notice a quiet pattern in my reading — the kind that makes me pause and think, Wow… my subconscious is clearly obsessed with something. Recently, I realized that many of the books currently drawing me in share a powerful common thread: stories of women who were silenced, dismissed, punished, or quietly erased for being “too much,” “too different,” or simply unwilling to stay quiet. The status quo clearly does not like when women dare to stand up for themselves. Across so many different eras, you can find stories where fear shapes who is believed — and who is pushed aside. Time and again, women find themselves at the center of that fear. I’ve always found that I understand history best through its emotional undercurrents — through the lived experiences of the people inside it. The books I’m sharing here don’t just tell us what happened; they let us feel what it was like to live through it. Some of these books are still on my nightstand, while others I read year...

It is easy to think of art and science as separate realms. Art is often associated with creativity. It taps into our emotions and allows us to look beyond the concrete world around us and into our imaginations. Science, by contrast, is commonly linked to logic. It seeks to understand the tangible world through structured methods, rules and observations. And yet, the two are far more connected than they may seem. Beautiful artistry exists in the natural world and is inspired by it. One striking example that comes to mind is the Fibonacci sequence. Fibonacci numbers are part of a sequence in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34…). When visualized a certain way they create a spiral pattern that is often found in the natural world – seen in seashells, the arrangement of flower petals, and in works of art. If you’d like to learn more about the Fibonacci sequence, check out Do Plants Know Math?: Unwinding the Story of Plant Spirals, from...

Here are some of the events and programs from around the Mercer County Library System for the month of January. For a complete list of events at your local branch, visit the MCLS Events Calendar . Start the new year with MCLS! This January features winter-themed crafts and activities, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service programs supporting Meals on Wheels , New Jersey Muslim Heritage Month celebrations, and opportunities for personal growth through our "New Year, New You" programming. For Kids Hot Chocolate Slime Saturday, January 3, 2:30 pm Hickory Corner Branch Movie: March of the Penguins Sunday, January 4, 2:00 pm West Windsor Branch Winter Crafternoons Thursday, January 8, 4:30 pm Thursday, January 15, 4:30 pm Thursday, January 22, 4:30 pm Thursday, January 29, 4:30 pm Hickory Corner Branch Big STEAMers: States of Matter Thursday, January 8, 4:45 pm West Windsor Branch MLK, Jr. Card Decoration Station Monday, January 12, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm Hollowbrook Branch ...

In May 2025, my youngest (adult) child graduated from college. After living with us for the summer, she moved into her first apartment in September. Our older daughter went to school in Washington, D.C., and has been living down there for the three years since she graduated. My spouse and I are now officially empty nesters! Although apparently, some people are now calling this situation “free bird” instead of “empty nest” https://www.shelovpsychologygroup.com/blog/free-bird . This newer term is intended to emphasize the positive aspects of having more freedom, and to avoid some of the negative associations with being an empty nester. Our younger daughter lives about twenty minutes away from us, and one of her jobs is in our town, so she has been stopping by our house regularly. Honestly, right now we see her more often than we did when she was in school! But it is probably just a matter of time before she moves further away and my husband and I will see her less. Of course, technology ...

As a librarian, I often get asked the question, “What do you like to read?” Generally, this is a loaded question in itself, as I like to read anything that sounds remotely interesting to me. I’ll read historical fiction (my favorite is East Asian history), literary fiction (I majored in English Lit…what can I say?), or non-fiction (a rare choice, but sometimes it calls to me). No matter what I read and given free will, I always come back to my comfort genres: Science Fiction and Fantasy, or SFF for short. Growing up, these imaginary worlds expanded my creativity, cultivated my interests, encouraged me to critically think about real life, and wonder about their impact on fiction as a whole. At the Robbinsville Branch, one could say that I’m the curator of the SFF collection. My input is valued when ordering new science fiction and fantasy books and I adapt the collection based on what’s popular with our patrons or out in the world. I also run a book club called Imaginary Universes ,...