Hoisington Public Library will hold a technology afternoon 1:30 p.m. Feb. 15. We’ll introduce you to Hoopla, which offers free books, audio books, and movies to any internet-connected device. Bring your device, and we’ll help you set it up. We’ll also show you how to connect to the central Kansas book catalog so you can order your own books that are in the system. You can then pick them up at the library.

We’ll also introduce you to the Kansas State Library. You can research genealogy and ancestors military records in the U.S. 

If you have a teenager, the Kansas State Library has an ACT Prep program as well as ASVAB.

Light refreshments will be available.

Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs! We now have a Patrick Mahomes biography as well as many new current children’s books on sports. This covers tennis, football, soccer, basketball, gymnastics and figure skating that we just acquired.

We have many new books at Hoisington Library. A few are:

“A Sinister Splendor.” Mike Blakely. It’s 1845. Texas joins the union and Mexico threatens war over the disputed Texas border. Meanwhile, expansionists dream of an America that sprawls all the way to the Pacific Coast. Can a conflict with an already war-torn Mexico satisfy this lust for territory?

The Mexican-American War becomes the heroic proving ground for future Civil War generals and presidents of the U.S., Mexico, and the Confederacy. But the glories of victory are tempered by the horrors of war--lives lost, bodies battered, souls shattered, dreams crushed, whole cities razed, and innocence forever dashed.

“Lost.” James Patterson and James O. Born. Detective Tom Moon and his team face off against an international crime ring looking to seize control of America’s most vibrant city, Miami. The city of Miami is Detective Tom Moon’s back yard. 

Now, as the new leader of an FBI task force called “Operation Guardian,” it’s his mission to combat international crime. Moon’s investigative team discovers that the opportunistic “Blood Brothers” -- Russian nationals Roman and Emile Rostoff -- have evaded authorities while building a vast, powerful, and deadly crime syndicate throughout metropolitan Miami. Moon played offense for UM, but he’s on the other side of the field this time. And as the Rostoffs zero in on a target dear to Tom, they’re not playing by anyone’s rules.

“House on Fire.” Joseph Finder. Nick Heller, private spy, exposes secrets that powerful people would rather keep hidden. At the funeral of his good friend Sean, an army buddy who once saved Nick’s life, a stranger approaches Nick with a job. 

The woman is a member of the Kimball family, whose immense fortune was built on opiates. Now she wants to become a whistleblower. Nick agrees instantly, eager to avenge Sean’s death, but he quickly finds himself entangled in the complicated dynamics of the Kimball dynasty. The other Kimball siblings view Nick as the enemy. And Nick discovers he is not the only private investigator employed by a Kimball scion. His old lover Maggie has also been hired, reuniting the two after a conflict when they both had worked at the Pentagon. Nick and Maggie soon realize the sins of the Kimball patriarch are just the beginning. Beneath the surface are the barely concealed cabals and conspiracies.

“Dear Edward.” Ann Napolitano. Twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Halfway across the country, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor. Edward’s story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place in a world without his family. 

But then he makes an unexpected discovery - one that will lead him to the answers of some of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do you find the strength to put one foot in front of the other? How do you learn to feel safe again? 

Karen La Pierre is the director at the Hoisington Public Library. She can be reached by email at library@hoisingtonks.org