Win signed new books from Roseburg library

ROSEBURG, OR – Roseburg Public Library Director Kris Wiley recently returned from the Public Library Association Conference in Portland with a lot of ideas and a bagful of books.

Roseburg Public Library will implement some of those ideas over the next few months, according to Wiley.

As for the books: Wiley can’t wait to share them, so she set up a giveaway on the library’s website at www.roseburgpubliclibrary.org. Click the link titled “Library Signed Books Giveaway” that can be found in the middle of the library’s homepage. Paper copies of the form are available at the library’s front desk.

Participants have the opportunity to win up to five signed books. Each of the books is listed with a prompt for participants to answer. For example, one of the prompts is, “Provide the title and author of your favorite read so far this year, and tell us about the book in two or three sentences.”

A Roseburg Public Library card is not required to participate. There is a limit of one entry per book per person. Winners will be drawn randomly from all submissions.

The deadline for entries is 2 p.m. Saturday, April 23.

Participants also have the option to allow the library to use their first name and book reviews in library displays and publicity. This will be an extension of library staff picks, which are incredibly popular.

More about the books available:

“The Ways We Hide” is the new novel from Kristina McMorris, who probably is best known for the hit “Sold on a Monday.” “The Ways We Hide” tells the story of Fenna Vos, a stage performer from Michigan who is recruited by British military intelligence during World War II. The book doesn’t publish until September, so here is a chance to read early like a librarian, Wiley said.

Inspirational romance author Melody Carlson’s latest book is “Looking for Leroy.” Brynna Phillips decides to get over a bad breakup by joining her friend on a camping trip in California Wine Country. That leads her to reminisce about her teenage romance with a boy named Leroy, and she sets about searching for him and another chance at love.

Wiley first recommended “The Night Always Comes” by Willy Vlautin last year, and she continues to think about the book. Vlautin examines gentrification through the experience of Lynette, who is trying to better herself through home ownership. Just as Lynette is ready to finalize the deal to buy her home in Portland, her mother announces she’s backing out and won’t sign the loan, which Lynette needs because she has bad credit. Her mother’s decision rocks Lynette to her core and leads to a night of poor decisions as she takes matters into her own hands.

“Beasts of a Little Land” by Juhea Kim is an epic that examines the lives of several people affected by the Korean Independence Movement from 1917 to 1965. Jade is the character who resonated with Wiley. She was given away by her mother to become a courtesan, and the book follows her to Seoul, where she develops a friendship with a kid who becomes a revolutionary. Over time, Jade becomes a famous actor who falls in love with a man who will not marry her, and, with war raging, Jade is just one of millions of Koreans who are starving. There is love, betrayal, desperation, hope – all of the emotions of a sweeping novel.

Finally, “The Diamond Eye” is Kate Quinn’s latest historical novel. Mila Pavlichenko is a student when Hitler invades Russia, but she quickly pivots to become a sniper known by the Germans as Lady Death. Mila becomes famous but lonely until she strikes up a friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt and a fellow sniper. However, just when she might find happiness, enemies old and new stand in her way.