Closed May 27 - Check out our resources for readers

All four Chandler Public Libraries will be closed Monday, May 27 for Memorial Day. You can still use some of our reading resources while the library's closed - take a look at our Books and Reading page on our website.

Try Novelist or Books & Authors to get suggestions for your next great read. (Note: these two resources require logging in with your library card and PIN numbers.) Find out what the next book is in your favorite series with the What's Next database. Get the scoop on your favorite mysteries with Stop You're Killing Me. Find lots of book lists at our Book Lists page, with links right into the library catalog so you don't have to do a separate search to place your holds.

Don't forget! The Summer Reading Program starts May 30. Pre-readers, kids, teens, and adults can read to get prizes. This year every participant must register online and log their books online, but kids can also pick up an optional gameboard on or after May 30. Visit the Summer Reading website for more information. And take a look at our calendar of events to see what special summer activites your branch has planned - magicians, crafts, author visits, and more!

Sorry, this year the Arizona Diamondbacks are not Summer Reading Program partners.

Book Review: Gulp

What makes whale skin delicious to the Inuit but gross to the average American? Why did an early 20th-century nutritionist encourage chewing each bite seven hundred times? Did constipation kill Elvis? Science journalist Mary Roach set out to answer these question in her new book Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal. With a humorous and thoroughly engaging tone, she takes us through the process of eating and digestion, uncovering unusual bits of medical history (like the man whose colon, at his death, had a diameter of 28 inches) and interviewing doctors and researchers working with everything from saliva to fecal transplant (first performed in the 1950s, when, according to the doctor who pioneered the procedure, "...if we had an idea, we simply tried it"). You might not want to read this on your lunch break, but you'll probably discover that your digestive tract is more interesting than you ever imagined. - Michelle (Sunset)

New @ Chandler Library: ed2go

Update: ed2go is now Learn4Life. The same classes are available for free, but no passcode is required, just your library card number. Visit our Learn4Life page for more information.

Looking for free educational courses and career training programs?** You can now find them at Chandler Public Library! Visit our website to get started with ed2go, and get enrolled for classes on business, health care, computers and technology, languages, and more. All classes are free with a Chandler Library card and an enrollment passcode that you can get through the library's ed2go site. Most classes run for six weeks, two classes per week. Get more details and enrollment instructions at our ed2go launch page, or see this video tutorial on how to get started:

**Please note that ed2go classes do NOT carry college credit and will not show on any college transcripts.

Book Review: Women of the Frontier

Imagine leaving your home to take a months-long, hazardous journey through bad weather, lack of food and water, and unmaintained roads, to reach the destination of your dreams. Imagine finding it full of outlaws and rabble-rousers to deal with, when you're not dealing with more bad weather, ruined crops, and the loss of your money and the few belongings you were able to salvage. Now imagine doing all this while juggling housework and childcare, wearing clothes definitely not suited to the wilds of the west, and possibly being the only woman for miles around.

Women of the Frontier tells the stories of women in the West during the pioneer days of the 19th century. Luzena Wilson came to California during the Gold Rush and endured the ups and downs of that turbulent economy, alternating between successful hotel businesses and ruined farms. Narcissa Whitman came to the Pacific Northwest as a missionary, gave birth to the first child of American citizens in the area, then watched her mission fall apart amid misunderstandings with the Native peoples that escalated into violence. Sarah Winnemucca repeatedly petitioned the government to address the terrible conditions suffered by her Paiute people. Mary Lease also petitioned the government, about women's right to vote, and after a debt-filled life as a homesteader she turned to a new career in law and helped organize two political parties, rallying people to elections she wasn't able to vote in. These stories and many others help paint a fascinating picture of the West, one that may be much richer than you previously imagined. - Michelle (Sunset)