February Staff Picks

Check out what the staff of the Livingston Public Library is reading / listening to this month with our February staff picks…

Amy: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

Joe:  Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami (also available as an ebook and e-audiobook)

Hongmei: The Many Daughters of Afong Moy: A Novel by Jamie Ford (available in print, large print, ebook, and e-audiobook)

Jessica: The Shore by Katie Runde (also available as an ebook)

Jason: Vial of Tears by Cristin Bishara, The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill, and Red Palace by June Hur (also available as an e-audiobook)

Danielle: A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella; How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are: Love, Style, and Bad Habits by Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline de Maigret, Sophie Mas; and The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Archana: Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica, The Villa by Rachel Hawkins, and Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

Melanie: Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton, and Lore Olympus, Vol. 1 by Rachel Smythe

Melissa: A Career in Books: A Novel About Friends, Money, and the Occasional Duck Bun by Kate Gavino; Slenderman: Online Obsession, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale; and Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America’s Cemeteries by Greg Melville

Fun & Games on Lunar New Year with Yut Nori

Children love playing Yut Nori! 

As part of the Lunar New Year celebrations, Korean families enjoy playing a board game called Yut Nori. The game has its origins in Korea’s Three Kingdoms period (57 B.C. – 668 A.D.). It started out as a form of fortune telling to predict whether the new year would bring good fortune and harvest. 

Livingston resident Diane Choi taught the children how to “throw” the Yut sticks to see how many spaces to move their game pieces on the board.  She explained the different strategies the children could choose as they raced to get their team’s game pieces all around the game board before the other team.  After a few turns, the teams excitedly discussed their options each time it was their turn.  They cheered when a team member made a “throw” of the Yut sticks and when their team pulled ahead.  It was a close game until the very end.  Both teams agreed that, win or lose, Yut Nori is a lot of fun.

After the game, they each got to decorate their own Yut Nori game set to take home and play with their families.

-Amanda Winter, Youth Services Librarian