Looking for Your Next Book?

Kennebunk Free Library staff love helping patrons find their next great read! We invite you to email us or call us at 207-985-2173, and we also welcome you to check out the online forms and resources on this page.

Please visit our New Materials page to learn about items that arrived at the library recently and to find out whether we have this week's New York Times bestsellers available in our various collections (print, large print, audio, ebook, eaudio)? 

 

For information about browsing the catalog and requesting items, please visit our Lending page.

Library Book Groups

Click on the links below to learn what our library book groups are reading in 2024!  Everyone is encouraged to join our book clubs, whether or not you read the book or not.
 

Fiction Book Discussion (trifold pamphlet with book descriptions)

The Reader's Choice Book Clubs allow readers to choose their own book to read, based on the monthly theme, and then join in for a casual and fun conversation.

Adult / Young Adult Book Request Form

KFL Librarians are happy to help our patrons find their next great read! Complete the form by clicking on the link below and enter as much information as you wish. The more information you provide, the easier it will be to create personalized selections for you. A KFL library card is required. Information will be kept in confidence between the patron and library staff. You will receive an email response or call within a week.

Adult / Young Adult Book Request Form

Request a Book Stack Customized for Your Child

Would you like a librarian to handpick a stack of books for your child? Request a book stack by filling out the Google Form below. A KFL library card is required. We'll let you know when your book stack is ready to pick up!

Children's Book Stack Request Form

Request a Customized DVD Bundle

Want some DVDs, but have no idea what exactly you want to watch? Let the librarians at KFL take care of that! Request a customized DVD Bundle by filling out the Google Form below. A KFL library card is required. We'll let you know when your bundle is ready to pick up!

DVD Bundle Request Form

Staff Picks for February 2024

Kat, Library Assistant

Outlive : The Science and Art of Longevity (Hardcover)

Outlive - The Science & Art of Longevity by Peter Attia, MD with Bill Gifford

The author’s thoughts on the development of medicine, diet, exercise and gaining mental health are presented in a way that makes options attainable and attractive. Even small improvements can make a big difference in not only how long you live but the quality of your life. The presentation of new cancer treatments, diabetes causes and prevention, dealing with obesity and addictions are understandable and valuable to the layperson. I listened to it and then got the book to look at the charts and graphs.  (Available from KFL and Minerva as a book and Libby as audio.)

 

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith

This classic has been on my “to read” list for years and its selection for the January Book Discussion group made it happen. So many people love this book and now I am one of them. Mary Frances Nolon lives in Brooklyn at the turn of the last century. Surrounded by recent immigrants from many countries, her childhood is full of diverse foods, customs, and religious practice. Her family is American, not Irish! Her second-generation parents were born in Brooklyn she insists when her class is asked where her family comes from. Life is surrounded by beauty but difficult, as her family struggles to put food on the table. When Francie learns to read, her world expands, only limited by her library. A great work of historical fiction and coming of age story.

 (Available from KFL as a book and through Minerva as audio cd, MP3, book and large print.)

 

JANUARY 2024

National Geographic – January 2024 Issue

The Monarch Butterfly cover caught my eye and the article about saving them was very informative, well worth borrowing the issue for this alone. I equally enjoyed In Search of Still Lifes, an article about Canadian photographer Julya Majnoczky still shots of portraits of ecosystems. We Need Play, Seriously by Sadie Dingfelder makes the case for the necessity of play in adult life. A Gift, When Is Mattered Most by Dave Yoder explains the backstory of how he got his amazing photo of Pope Francis gazing at the ceiling of the empty Sistine Chapel on Christmas Day. Hawaiian Nobles, Extending Fertility, Amazonian Tribe, Endangered Species, Alone On An Island and more, explained with photographs, maps, graphs and just enough text to quench your interest in the subject. It has been too long since I picked up an issue. I won’t let that happen again! (Available from KFL and through Minerva.)

 

Ian, Library Assistant

 

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Katherine Arden’s novel takes place in a medieval Russia where demons and spirits from Russian folklore exist alongside the villagers of a Northern Russian settlement, though few can see them. It’s a great mix of Russian history and folklore and is a good intro book for anyone interested in starting to read fantasy novels.

Websites for Readers

General

Perhaps the most famous website for readers, Goodreads is a kind of Facebook for book lovers.  Readers can create different lists, sorting their to read, have read, and current reads into different lists and share those with their Goodreads friends.  It is fun to see what your friends are reading or want to read.  Goodreads also has an immense community of reviewers that provide valuable insight into whether that hot new book is really worth your time reading.  They also have features to connect authors with readers and will sometimes offer giveaways.  Note: Goodreads is owned by Amazon.

LibraryThing is very similar to Goodreads.  If you are looking for a non-Amazon alternative to Goodreads, LibraryThing is for you.

Fantastic Fiction is the ultimate resource for author bibliographies and accurate series information.  If you want to know what order to read a series in or what books a specific author has written, chances are you’ll find it within their database of over 50,000 authors.  The pages are simple, but straightforward.  Fantastic Fiction also keeps running lists of new books being released along with debut authors.  They have recently added book list features similar to Goodreads, but their strength remains in accurate series information.

Shelf Awareness is a book review website that offers a twice weekly email newsletter with their reviews, author interviews, and other book related goodness.  They review fiction and non-fiction books of all genres, along with young adult and children’s books.

Kirkus is a well known and established book review magazine.  They review all genres of fiction and nonfiction, along with young adult and children’s books.  All of their detailed reviews are available for free on their website.  It’s a great way to see how good the latest bestsellers are and also discover other books and authors that are highly reviewed.

Book Riot is an extensive book review and recommendation website.  They present their information in more of a “news” story form that the traditional book lists and review format of other sites.  Some will find it more engaging.  They also have several very popular book related podcasts.

Book Marks describes itself as a “Rotten Tomatoes'' for books.  Their editors scour the internet for book reviews from credible, known sources.  Once a book has at least three reviews, they categorize those reviews as pan, mixed, positive, or rave giving readers a quick way to see what is being said about the hottest new releases.  Excerpts of the reviews are also provided so you can decide for yourself.

LoveReading is your standard book reviewing website: it provides listings of new and recommended books, along with providing a short review of each book.  They have an excellent and extensive themed book list section.  While the site is UK based, most books are published simultaneously or nearly these days.

Any New Books is a service that provides weekly emails with lists of new books in genres or topics that you can customize.  With 42 different fiction and nonfiction genres it’s easy to get specific about your own personal loves.  Want to know the latest computer programming, political, and history books each week?  Done.  This service tends to be stronger with its nonfiction coverage than fiction.  Also they will include self-published and books from lesser known publishers which may be of varying quality.

Historical Fiction  

If you are searching for your next historical fiction novel to read, head over to Historical Novels.  They list over 5,000 novels grouped by both time period and geographic location.  Their listing includes both straight historical fiction and also historical mystery fiction.  Reviews are included for some of the titles.  This isn’t the best site for keeping track of what is hot off the press, it has amazing listings of older historical fiction from the 2000s, 1990s, and beyond.  Perfect for when you want to get a book without a long waiting list.

Historical Novel Society has been reading and reviewing historical fiction since 1997 -- over 15,000 books.  While not all of those are listed on their website, there are still plenty of books to choose from.  They do keep up with the latest publications and have extensive reviews of recent releases.

Historical Fiction Online is a good old fashioned internet message board.  It is an online forum for lovers of historical fiction to post book reviews, reading logs, and have general discussions about all things historical fiction.  It is easy to go down into the rabbit hold on this site, but there is good information on books to be found here.

Mystery

Stop, You’re Killing Me is a massive resource for mystery lovers.  It tracks the latest releases by month for hardcover, paperback, large print, and audio formats.  You can also browse new and older titles grouped by location, job of the main character, historical time period, ethnic group of the main character, and subgenre (ie cozy, thriller, paranormal).  It’s easy to find some great mysteries perfectly suited to your tastes using these indexes.  They also have book reviews and book award listings.  What more could a mystery read want?

From the folks who bring you the general reading website “Book Marks”, Crime Reads is a website devoted to all things mystery from novels to true crime.  They present their book lists and recommendations in essay format as opposed to just straight lists.  This is a great resource to follow for their insightful posts on new and little known mystery writing.

The “Golden Age” of mystery novels -- Agatha Christie comes first to mind for many but there are so many other great mystery novels with shady looking characters in trench coats being followed by the hero detective (usually also wearing a trench coat) on the cover.  The blog In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel highlights those great classic mysteries of the 1920s-1950s, while also giving reviews of recently published books.  If you’re looking for a new mystery but especially if you’re looking for an old mystery, check this site out for some great ideas.

If you are a fan of the cozy mystery subgenre, then you need to spend some time on this website. Cozy Mystery List keeps up on the newest releases, along with directories of cozy mysteries by theme, time period, and author.  With loads of book reviews and recommendations, this site will quickly fill up your to-read list.

Science Fiction & Fantasy

SFBook is a straightforward book review blog.  They post a copious amount of book reviews specific to the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre.  There are book reviews the scroll through for days while seeking your next great space or fantasy adventure.

Locus Magazine is a monthly print magazine that covers all things news in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres, along with author and other interviews, book releases and reviews.  Many of their book reviews are also published on their website for free access.

Den of Geek is a website devoted to all things ‘geek’ culture from movies to games to comics to books.  Their book section features roundups on the latest monthly releases along with individual reviews and news.  This is especially a great place to keep up with all the books crossing over to tv and movie streaming services.

Romance

If you need any ideas for what romance book to read next, visit She Reads Romance Books!  It has dozens of reading lists by topic, subgenre, along with lists of what to read/what to skip for each month’s new book releases.  There are also a good number of book reviews to give you a little more information about a book, recommendation lists, and more.  It even has a quiz to help you “discover your next book boyfriend”!

Romance Junkies has an extensive list of book reviews for new releases and classics.  Their site is organized so that it makes it very easy to find reviews for romance sub-genres such as contemporary, romantic suspense, paranormal/futuristic, and historical romance.

All About Romance (or AAR as they call themselves) has tons of romance book reviews, along with industry news, author interviews and commentary.  Their website has a section devoted to the reviews (which are searchable), along with a blog with news, plus forums for you to get in touch with other romance book lovers.