The Library Vault

Would you invest in a business that gives a 400% return?

By Ramona Burkey Over the past ten years, the S&P 500 has achieved an average annual rate of return of just over 12%. Not too bad. Now imagine an investment that produced a return of 400%. That would be absolutely incredible. Since you’re reading this blog, you’re probably already familiar with this particular investment. I’m…

Mary

July 29, 2024

Inside Stories, Libraries, Library Services, Middletown, CT

Downtown, Goman+York, Investment, LocalRevenue, ManchesterCT, RamonaBurkey, S&P, S&P500, Standard&Poor, WHO

Want To Become A Bookstagrammer? Here Are A Few Tips To Get Started! (From Your Local Librarian/Bookstagrammer)

By Briana G I know what some of you may be thinking: what the heck is Bookstagram? A Bookstagram is simply an Instagram account dedicated to books/bookish topics. Those accounts share giveaways, book reviews, book challenges, and general posts about their love of books, reading, and libraries too! I created mine in February of 2023…

brianarusselllibrary

July 22, 2024

Library Services, Recommendations, Technology, Trending

bookstagram, BookTok, Canva, CharterBooks, Instagram, Props, QOTD, TikTok

Wine & Words: The Unexpected

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Great Expectations was not what I expected. No, I did not read Dickens in high school and yes, this was my first time reading Dickens. The inclination to read Dickens was due to an entirely different author. This author is from the modern era, but is an acquired taste. A…

sbarillari

July 15, 2024

Book Reviews, Recommendations, Wine & Words

CharlesDickens, Dönnhoff, Dickens, Germany, GreatExpectations, MissHaversham, MrPip, NaheRegion, Riesling, VictorianEngland

Classic Mysteries: Brother Cadfael

Who is Brother Cadfael? A Benedictine monk like no other. Set in the mid 12th century, the Brother Cadfael Chronicles by Ellis Peters are a set of twenty incredibly satisfying stories detailing the mystery-solving skills of one former crusader turned Medieval monk. The best description of Cadfael is in the opening of the first book,…

Mary

July 1, 2024

Book Reviews, Recommendations

Book Reviews, Brother Cadfael, Medieval Stories, Mysteries

Gothic Mysteries for the Summer

When it’s too hot outside to even go to the beach, run yourself a cool bath or take a cold shower and keep the chill on with a gothic mystery. Nothing keeps you from overheating like reading about cold tombs and drafty cathedrals. The following are some of my favorite gothic chillers. The Curse of…

Amy S.

June 24, 2024

Book Reviews

ACuriousBeginning, BarbaraMichaels, CharlotteBronte, DaphneDuMaurier, DeannaRaybourn, ElizabethPeters, GothicMystery, JaneEyre, JessArmstrong, RachelHawkins, Rebecca, SecretsOfRussellLibrary, TheCurseOfPenrythHall, TheDeedsOfTheDisturber, TheVilla, ThornfieldHall, VeronicaSpeedwell