The Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation will host a book sale in two locations on Saturday, July 21: Rooms A, B and C in the Library, and the Pop Up Store by the Playground on the Pedestrian Mall.

Featuring “Pay What You Want” prices on fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, audio books, DVDs and children’s books, everyone is sure to find something! All sales are final with proceeds benefiting the Library, courtesy of The Book End Committee of the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation.

Lib Con, the Library's first-ever comic con, will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 11.

Plans are underway for an amazing celebration that includes panelists, an artist alley, gaming, fandom crafts, anime movies, and cosplay.

This library-wide event is for Library fans of all ages and marks the end of the 2018 Summer Reading Program. We'll release more details as the date gets closer, but be sure to get Lib Con on your calendar now!

Join us for an afternoon of bicycle-themed movies on Friday, July 27, to celebrate RAGBRAI's return to Iowa City.

• Noon to 1:30 p.m.: Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
• 2 to 3:30 p.m.: The Triplets of Belleville
• 4 to 5:30 p.m.: The Flying Scotsman
• 6 to 9 p.m. double feature: For the Love of Mud and Breaking Away
  

We'll be showing the following films in Meeting Rooms A, B and C. The mini movie festival is free and open to the public.

Amanda has the perfect audiobook for a road trip: We Have Always Live in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. "This audiobook is probably the best I've ever listened to! The narrator masterfully tells the story and captures the unique voice of each character. This book is creepy, atmospheric, and intense."

Meredith can't say enough good things about The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir, which gives readers an inside look at a religious family's reality show. "The book begins with Essie’s secret: she’s pregnant. But that’s not her only secret. It’s the one her family knows, the one they’re scrambling to fix for the sake of their show, but she’s a step ahead of them, and the people she’s picked to help her soon will be, too. This is an addictive story with smart pacing and a satisfying conclusion."

Finally, for fans of historical fiction, Kara suggests giving The Alice Network by Kate Quinn a try. "A suspenseful story alternating between 1915 and 1947 that includes an English spy network of women, a heartbroken American college student searching for her French cousin who went missing in WWII, and a Scotsman with PTSD. Each character is haunted by their war experience and on a personal journey to find truth and hope. Kate Quinn is a great storyteller who expertly develops characters and only shares plot details when she is ready. I listened to the eAudio version and Saskia Maarleveld's narration is excellent."