Looking for some books to read on a dark and stormy night?  KDL has created a selection of spooky stories that have guy appeal.  This list features short stories as well as books in series.

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy is a personal favorite which isn’t very spooky but does feature an animated skeleton detective!  Skullduggery and his apprentice Valkyrie work together to save the world from the return off the Faceless Ones.

For a spooky ghost story that also features videos that can be access online, try Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman.  Two teenagers set out to discover the spooky history of the old dredge but with disastrous consequences.

If you are a reader of Historical Fiction or Science Fiction, don’t miss the opportunity to read some Steampunk suggestions!  Steampunk is a wonderful blend of historical fiction and science fiction, taking a Victorian setting (traditionally) and adding steam-powered technology.

While KDL has a great selection of fiction titles, don’t pass up the nonfiction books.  The Steampunk Bible is a great introduction to the genre and demonstrates the versatility of the craft and role-playing.

Voting has started for YALSA’s Top Ten Teen Books!  24 books have been selected and now Teens can use the online voting form to nominate their favorite books until September 15.  The 10 books with the most votes will be announced during the week of October 14, which has been designated as Teen Read Week.  Following is the complete list of books:

• All Good Children by Catherine Austen
• Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick
• Abandon by Meg Cabot
• Tempest by Julie Cross
• What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
• Wither by Lauren DeStefano
• Where She Went by Gayle Forman
• Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
• Eona: The Last Dragoneye by Alison Goodman
• The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
• Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge
• Legend by Marie Lu
• Hourglass by Myra McEntire
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Shine by Lauren Myracle
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
• This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel
• Across the Universe by Beth Revis
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
• How To Save a Life by Sara Zarr
• All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

With The Hunger Games movie to be released on DVD tomorrow, the popularity of the books has continued. KDL has put together a list of books for younger readers who just might not be ready to read The Hunger Games trilogy. These books share characteristics to The Hunger Games but are more suited to a younger reader.

Gregor the Overlander is one of the books on the list and was written by Suzanne Collins before she wrote The Hunger Games. She wrote the series for her own kids to give them a modern urban fairy tale. The main character Gregor actually discovers a hidden world underneath New York City populated with humans and large rats, bats and spiders!

So check out the list of other great books today!

Beloved author Maeve Binchy passed away July 30 after a short illness.  Maeve Binchy published 16 books, selling more than 40 million copies worldwide.  She was a New York Times Best Selling Author and one of her books was selected for Oprah’s Book Club.

Her last book, titled A Week in Winter, is scheduled to be released later this year.

The Andrew Carnegie Medal was established this year by the American Library Association to recognize a fiction and a nonfiction book in the adult category.  ALA already has three popular youth/teen awards, the Caldecott, Newbery and Printz to recognized outstanding books for readers under 18 years old.  Hopefully this award will gain recognition as well as more books are added to the award.

Here are the winners of the 2012 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction:

The winner in Fiction: The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright

The winner in Nonfiction: Catherine the Great by Robert Massie

With the dry weather we are having this summer, it seems an appropriate time to read up on another dry and turbulent time.  The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl brought many hardships and many of our parents and grandparents still remember it.  If you are interested in reading about that time in our history, KDL has put together a selection of fiction, nonfiction and movies.

My personal favorite is Timothy Egan’s award-winning book, The Worst Hard Time.  Egan shows the devastation of some farms and towns and the lives of the people at the center of the dust bowl.

Author Donald J. Sobol of the popular Encyclopedia Brown series died July 11 at the age of 87.  The first Encyclopedia Brown book was published in 1963.  The series would grow to almost 30 books.  Sobol won an Edgar Award for Mystery Writers in 1976.  Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the series and a final book will be published this October, Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Soccer Scheme.

Are looking for something to read to your little princess?  Kent District Library has created a new booklist made just for the little princess in your life.  The stories showcase a wide variety of princesses including one featuring Princess Merida from Brave.  Be sure to checkout this great list and look for the books at your local library!

Even if you have already completed your summer reading, the fun at KDL doesn’t end there!  The Entertainment Badge is one of 10 different badges that can be earned online.  To earn the Entertainment Badge you need to complete one or more of the following:

• Read a play or a book that has been made into a movie for kids, teens or adults.
• Attend an entertaining KDL program.
• Attend a community performance or get your parents to tell you a family story.
• Watch a movie or play a video game with friends or family
• Be creative – choose your own option!

Let us know in the comments about your creative entertainment choice!