Let National Geographic be your guide to the world after dark. In this beautifully illustrated volume you will discover all there is to see and do after the sun goes down. Whether you’re looking for a relaxing night sleeping under the stars or a high-energy party full of costumes and live music, there is something for everyone in this nocturnal collection. Spanning more than 30 countries, this book offers adventures big and small including:

• Snorkeling at night with manta rays off the coast of Kona, Hawaii
• Celebrating a New Year in Chiang Mai during Loy Krathong, Thailand’s Lantern Festival
• Searchingfor glowing mushrooms at night in the wilds of Australia
• Tubing under a “starry sky” of glow worms in New Zealand
• Wildlife spotting on a night safari game drive in Tanzania
• Hiking by moonlight in Arches National Park
• Skiing under the lights in Steamboat Springs, Colorado
• Chasing the aurora borealis in Svalbard, Norway
• Watching beloved films at the Celebrity Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California
• Listening to the singing trees in Singapore’s Supertree Grove
• Learning celestial navigation from Polynesian wayfinders
• Bringing Christmas cheer through a night of revelry during Austria’s Krampus festival
• Sleeping under the stars in the Sahara desert
• Ringing in the New Year as the ball drops in New York City’s Times Square
• Participating in a centuries-old celebration, China’s mid-autumn Moon Festival
• And so much more!

    Get ready to stay up late: this travel guide will delight wanderers, armchair travelers, and night owls alike and is a must-have collection for your coffee table.

And more night time wonders…

In this glorious celebration of the night, New York Times bestselling nature writer Leigh Ann Henion invites us to leave our well-lit homes, step outside, and embrace the dark as a profoundly beautiful part of the world we inhabit. Because no matter where we live, we are surrounded by animals that rise with the moon, and blooms that reveal themselves as light fades. Henion explores her home region of Appalachia, where she attends a synchronous firefly event in Tennessee, a bat outing in Alabama, and a moth festival in Ohio. In North Carolina, she finds forests alight with bioluminescent mushrooms, neighborhood trees full of screech owls, and valleys teeming with migratory salamanders. Along the way, Henion encounters naturalists, biologists, primitive-skills experts, and others who’ve dedicated their lives to cultivating relationships with darkness. 

Every page of this lyrical book feels like an opportunity to ask: How did I not know about this before? For example, we learn that it can take hours, not minutes, for human eyes to reach full night vision capacity. And that there are thousands of firefly species on earth, many with flash patterns as unique as fingerprints. In an age of increasing artificial light, Night Magic focuses on the amazing biodiversity that still surrounds us after sunset. We do not need to stargaze into the distant cosmos or dive into the depths of oceans to find awe in the dark. There are dazzling wonders in our own backyards. And readers of World of Wonders, Entangled Life, and The Hidden Life of Trees will discover joy in Night Magic.

Hildur Knútsdóttir‘sThe Night Guest is an eerie and ensnaring story set in contemporary Reykjavík that’s sure to keep you awake at night.

Iðunn is in yet another doctor’s office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something’s not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven’t revealed any cause.

When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same — have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps.

Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night . . .

What is happening when she’s asleep? Why is she waking up with increasingly disturbing injuries? And why won’t anyone believe her?

And a new novel set during World War Two…

For readers of Kate Quinn and Beatriz Williams, this sweeping story follows a fearless nurse who must leave love behind when duty calls her back to the front.

Somewhere in the Pacific, 1943. Kate Campbell is a nurse who bravely flies back and forth from the front to rescue wounded soldiers, amid long days, harsh conditions and often dangerous weather. Driven by a deep personal need to help in the war effort, she is disappointed when an accident leaves her injured and sends her home to New York. By the time she’s healed, the war has moved on, and rather than being returned to her post in the Pacific, Kate is sent to the English countryside.

There, Kate comes face-to-face with the enemy and confronts the heavy toll of violence while tending to the soldiers in her care. She never intended to fall in love, but despite herself, she falls for an officer with a broken femur, startling blue eyes and a wicked sense of humor. For the first time, Kate sees a future for herself. But before she can pursue it, a secret from her past calls her to duty, and she’ll have to travel back into danger one more time to rescue a part of herself she’d left behind. But will she make it back? And if she does, will her future still be waiting for her if she does? 

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts continues the hauntingly spectacular Lost Bride Trilogy with book two, The Mirror.

When Sonya MacTavish inherits the huge Victorian mansion on the coast of Maine, she has no idea that the house is haunted. The footsteps she hears at night, the doors slamming, the music playing, are not figments of her imagination. In her dreams she sees glimpses of the past. In the present she finds portraits of brides. And when she has visions of an antique mirror, she is drawn to it, sensing it holds dark family secrets.

Then one night the mirror appears and Sonya glides through this looking glass, into the past–and sees a bride murdered on her wedding day, the circle of gold torn from her finger. It is a scene that will play out again and again–a centuries-old curse that must be broken–and a puzzle she must solve if there is any hope of breaking the curse.

And for our mystery lovers…

From the #1 bestselling author of The Thursday Murder Club Series

A brand new mystery. An iconic new detective duo. And a thrilling new murder to solve . . .

Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He still does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers his familiar routines: the pub quiz, his favorite bench, his cat waiting for him at home. His days of adventure are over. Adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy’s job now.

Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul. Working in private security, every day is dangerous. She’s currently on a remote island protecting mega-bestselling author Rosie D’Antonio, until a dead body and a bag of money mean trouble in paradise. So she sends an SOS to the only person she trusts . . .

As a thrilling race around the world begins, can Amy and Steve outrun and outsmart a killer?

Solving murders. It’s a family business. 

Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024

LOUISIANA PUBLIC LIBRARY USAGE CONTINUES TO CLIMB
Visits, programs, and Wi-Fi usage grown by double digits in 2023

BATON ROUGE, La. — Public libraries in Louisiana recorded more than 10 million visits in 2023, marking double-digit growth over the prior year, newly released figures show, as libraries increased the number of programs offered, and the public used more Wi-Fi.

The State Library of Louisiana reported the numbers in the recently released 2023 edition ofPublic Libraries in Louisiana: Statistical Report. Sixty-seven of the 68 public library systems in the state provided data for the report.

“It’s really no surprise to see another year of growth for our public libraries. They offer some of the best services to the public, and people know that. That’s why they come back day after day,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “It’s always great to see this confirmed by the State Library, which does so much to make sure things keep progressing.”

In-person visits to the 333 public library locations and 28 bookmobiles across the state have continued to rebound after stay-at-home orders were put in place during the pandemic. In 2023, Louisiana’s public libraries recorded 10.4 million visits, up from 9.2 million the prior year.

Patrons borrowed items 39.8 million times in 2023. Of those loans, 6.6 million were for e-books. Library collections around the state grew to 26.6 million print and electronic items, an increase of almost 12 percent from 2022.

Meanwhile, use of electronic resources also continued to grow, the report shows, with patrons using Wi-Fi 5.6 million times, an increase of 19 percent from the prior years.

The report also notes that:

• There were 2.3 million library card holders in Louisiana in 2022, just more than 50 percent of the state.
• Librarians answered 2.6 million reference questions in person and online.
• Three-million people attended more than 91,000 in-person and live virtual events hosted by public libraries.
• Electronic databases were accessed 21.6 million times by library card holders.
• More than 70,000 items were borrowed for patrons by their home library from another library through the Interlibrary Loan System.

“It’s always great to confirm what we believe – the public still appreciates what their local library offers,” said State Librarian Meg Placke. “It is easy to discount libraries in this day and age, but the services they offer are more than just books.”

“There’s no better feeling collecting the data for this document every year and seeing growth,” said Associate State Librarian Michael Golrick, who compiles the annual report. “I know the final product is especially welcome by local libraries around Louisiana. They know their hard work is paying off.”

A complete copy of the 2023 statistical report and previous year’s editions can be found on the State Library’s website.