Mercer County Library Blog

BookCon, a two-day event held at the Javits Center in New York City, is a convention that focuses on bringing the reading community together. Readers, publishers, and authors come together and eat, sleep, and breathe all things books. The first BookCon was in 2014, and the previous BookCon event was back in 2019. There were plans for one in 2020, but it was cancelled because of the pandemic. However, it was announced in late 2025 that the Con was back in action and would once again be held at the Javits Center in April 2026. My coworker, Alyssa, and I agreed we HAD to go! And somehow (pure luck) we were able to buy tickets on the first day they went on sale. It’s good that we did, because about 30 minutes later, both Saturday and Sunday tickets were sold out. Once those tickets were secured? Game. On. We mapped out the day to ensure we’d be able to visit author signings, panels, and booths. We even created bookmarks and keychains with book quotes on them during our spare time at hom...

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...

A list of books. This is the time of year that everyone produces their annual Best of… book lists. Given that there are at least 500,000 books published in a year (not counting self-published titles), it has to be assumed that these lists are just the tip of the iceberg! I have my own lists. The first is my book club’s list of everything we have read – affectionately called the Big List. I hand it out at the club’s December meeting. It’s fun to see what we have read and gives new (and old) members a chance to see what they have missed. I also have my own personal book log. This started years ago as an attempt to keep track of what was the last book I read by a particular author – very necessary for someone who cannot read a series book out of order. I began with just a list (title, author and series). Finish a book – write it down. Very bare bones. Then I started jotting down a note or two – never very much – since it’s just for me. Sometimes the note is just that I am not readin...

There is a phrase that has been used forever that says “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” But, often there are times where people decide to pick up a book and read it simply because of its cover. Think about it. You’ve just finished a book and now you are in your local branch of the Mercer County Library System. As you look at the titles of the new books on display, what might catch your eye? Most likely, the cover. On the Behind the Books podcast that my colleague Anna and I put together for MCLS, we often get a chance to talk to authors about books they are about to have published. And one of the big events leading up to publication is the cover reveal. It amazes us that quite often, especially with picture books and children's books, the author has very little input into what the cover will look like. When a book has an eye-catching cover, it can certainly lead to a reader picking the book up and taking a look. Granted, it doesn’t always mean the person who picks it up is ...

Our website is full of helpful information regarding the services and items we provide system-wide and individually at the library. One of the most popular new pages and information we have is our book club lists page! Located at https://mcl.org/events/book-clubs/ or via the navigation menu: Events → Book Clubs, you can find a list of all the book clubs we offer at all the branches (including our virtual ones)! On this page, you will find the date, time, and location of each book club along with the next upcoming book. If you select (click on or tap) “Click here to go to…”, you will be taken to the book club’s page that includes all of the past and any upcoming books selected for the club. This is useful if you are trying to understand what type of novels the book club reads to see if it’s in line with what you are looking for (see what kind of vibes the book club gives off). If you click on the image of the book or the button that says, “Borrow It” you will be taken to the item in ...

Sometimes it’s nice to just be told what to do. In this blog post, I offer you recommended books from a variety of celebrities. Is it possible in our jaded and superficial world that some of these choices were chosen for publicity reasons? Yes, that is very possible. Don’t worry, though - PR representatives have good taste, and I wouldn’t recommend these titles to you if I didn’t support them. They are all available through the Mercer County Library System. If you read any of these books, whether you love or hate them, give Andrew at the Lawrence Branch Reference Desk a call and he’ll try to get your thoughts into our MCLS universe. Or, let us know in the comments. I hope you enjoy them! The Candy House by Jennifer Egan ISBN: 9781476716763 Celebrity Fan: Barack Obama Summary: “The Candy House opens with the staggeringly brilliant Bix Bouton, whose company, Mandala, is so successful that he is "one of those tech demi-gods with whom we're all on a first name basis." B...

Did your New Year resolutions (or goals, or intentions) include something about reading more? Or maybe you would like to talk about what you are reading – you’d like to know if anyone else thought a book was as good (or bad) as you did? If so, it’s time to look into Book Clubs. There are a lot of Book Clubs out there, so you can probably find one to suit – or you could start your own (more on that later). I will discuss a few here, but this is certainly not an exhaustive list. Feel free to tell us about your club in the comments! There are virtual book clubs – which is a solution to the ‘no time for meetings’ problem. These clubs live online so you can pop in whenever you have time – you can read the current book or you can look at past selections to find other books to try. The Mercer County Library System hosts its own virtual book club on Facebook . The best known of the celebrity clubs is Oprah’s Book Club . Reese Witherspoon has also been hosting one for some time ...