Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and librarians at the Maquoketa Public Library want to help set you up on a blind date with a book! 

Every other Wednesday, we check in on a new town for our traveling book club, “Current Reads,” during our 4 p.m. show, The Current. This time, we’re headed to Jackson County,  and the Maquoketa Public Library. 

The library is an Andrew Carnegie building that first opened in 1904. 

Every February, Library Director Katie Pauls opens up a questionnaire, where you can answer questions about yourself and what sort of book you want to read. From there, she assigns you a book – just like a blind date. This year’s form is open through Saturday, February 15. 

Pauls joined us on The Current to break down three of the blind date books readers in Maquoketa have been loving. They’ve all got some romance in them, but they’re three very different genres and tones. 

1. “The Littlest Library: A Novel” by Poppy Alexander” is all about a red telephone box full of stories. Jess Metcalf’s life is turned upside down when her grandmother passes away and she loses her job at the local library. 
2. “Heartsick: A Thriller” by Chelsea Cain is the first in a six book series. It follows Portland detective, Archie Sheridan. 
3. “A Plain Leaving” by Leslie Gould is book one of three in the Sisters of Lancaster County series. Jessica Bachman is twenty years old and forced to leave her Amish community after clashing with the new bishop about her role in the family.