Recommendations

Personalized Picks

Need some book recommendations?

Fill out our Personalized Picks online form to tell us about what you want to read. Our experts will put together a custom book list based on your responses and e-mail it to you!

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Book Club Collection

Ames Public Library has multiple copies of many books that are popular with book clubs, and they can be checked out for 6 weeks! See the Book Club Collection list in the online catalog or view the PDF.

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NextReads. Meet your next read.

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Latest Library Notes

Growth Mindset

by Tracy Briseño

All my life I have had the opposite of a green thumb. I was notorious in my family for killing plants, no matter how much I strived to keep them alive. It was frustrating and disappointing and a bit embarrassing, too. I could keep my pets and my kids alive, but not plants?  Read full blog post

Illuminating the Past

by Cathy Cooney

Imagine you live in the 1800s. Your family read in the newspaper about a new form of entertainment and traveled in a wagon to the next town over. You hustle inside and gather closely with dozens of other excited participants, waiting for the show to begin. The lights go out. Sudden...

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Free Seeds at Your Library!

by Alissa Dornink

I’ve been checking out our new gardening books in preparation for the growing season ahead, but the best thing I have been taking home are the seeds from the Seed Library. The Ames Seed Library is a collaborative effort between the Ames Public Library, Iowa State University Exten...

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12 to Try Reading Challenge tracking sheet


Get recommendations for each month's "12 to Try" reading challenge category.  Find out more>> 

Gift Guides

Need gift ideas for a reader? Check out the lists below or download the printable lists:

 

 

 

Online Resources for Readers

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Novelist Plus

NoveList is a fiction database that provides subject heading access, reviews, annotations, and much more for over 120,000 fiction titles. It also includes other content of interest to fiction readers, such as Author Read-alikes, Book Discussion Guides, BookTalks, and Feature Articles. 

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