Grace M. Cho’s memoir “Tastes Like War” will be part of the Big Library Read. (Photo courtesy of the centerforthehumanities.org)

For more information, call the library at 309-467-2922 or visit the library’s website eurekapl.org.

Stop by to Ask a Genealogist

Researching your family tree, your old house, or curious about something in Eureka’s past? Stop by Eureka Public Library for some research assistance and hopefully some answers during our new fall genealogy/local history reference hours.

Ask a Genealogist will be on the first and third Monday of each month from 6 – 7:30 p.m. The next sessions will be on Monday, May 1 and Monday, May 15. For more information, call the library at 309-467-2922.

Worldwide Book Club with

National Book Award Finalist 

Readers in Eureka can enjoy a National Book Award Finalist novel during Big Library Read, the world’s largest digital book club.

From May 3-17, book lovers with a valid Eureka Public Library District library card join thousands of others around the globe in borrowing Grace M. Cho’s evocative memoir “Tastes Like War,” from their public library.

“Tastes Like War “ tells the story of Cho who grew up as the daughter of a white American merchant marine and the Korean bar hostess he met abroad. They were one of few immigrants in a xenophobic small town during the Cold War, where identity was politicized by everyday details — language, cultural references, memories, and food. When Cho was 15, her dynamic mother experienced the onset of schizophrenia, a condition that would continue and evolve for the rest of her life.

Part food memoir, part sociological investigation, “Tastes Like War” is a hybrid text about a daughter’s search through intimate and global history for the roots of her mother’s schizophrenia Library card holders may read the ebook and audiobook for free without waiting on the Libby app or by visiting https://alliance.overdrive.com/alliance-eureka/content. Readers can then discuss online at https://biglibraryread.com/join-the-discussion/.

This Big Library Read novel is available in more than 22,000 libraries around the world, including approximately 90 percent of public libraries in North America. During the program, readers participate in engaging online discussions about the title.

The program is facilitated by OverDrive, the leading digital reading platform for popular ebooks, audiobooks and magazines and creator of the Libby app.

Big Library Read is an international reading program that connects millions of readers around the world with an ebook through public libraries. “Tastes Like War” is the 30th selection of this program which began in 2013 and takes place three times per year. Readers can join an online discussion about the book at https://biglibraryread.com/join-the-discussion/.

“Tastes Like War” was published as an ebook by The Feminist Press and as an audiobook by Dreamscape Media. The title can be read on all major computers and devices through Libby or libbyapp.com, including iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phones and tablets and Chromebook™ without waitlists or holds. Through Libby, readers can also “send to Kindle®” [U.S. libraries only]. The title will automatically expire at the end of the lending period, and there are no late fees.