Keegan’s Companions by Mark McLaughlin has been released on Kindle! KEEGAN’S COMPANIONS is a short story on Kindle, available for only 99 cents. Also available on Kindle Unlimited. US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SPK2GC UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C9SPK2GC Like McLaughlin’s novel, HUMAN DOLL, it is a horror/science-fiction tale set in the entertainment industry. Keegan Bray is one of the world’s wealthiest men, and his latest business obsession is artificial intelligence. His new company, Keegan’s Companions, is making robotic AI consorts using doll technology. Keegan’s... Read More

Change. We undergo transformations every day of our lives, in ways small and significant, in ways good and bad. Sean Leary’s “Does The Shed Skin Know It Was Once A Snake?” offers 11 award-winning short stories dealing with the life changes many of us face, and the positive ways in which our lives can transform, even in difficult times. “Shed Skin” is available in bookstores and webstores worldwide  as a print book and eBook for every eReader format. It is also available direct from the author at seanleary@seanleary.com for $19 postpaid, through paypal at the same address. “Shed... Read More

When Jeff and Renae Hoskins of Rock Island adopted their adorable little girl from China in early 2008, they had no idea that eight years later, Ava and her family would be plunged into an unimaginable bout with a rare, advanced childhood cancer. Now 14 and starting her freshman year at Jeff’s alma mater, Alleman High School in Rock Island, Ava is in remission and wrote an introduction to Hoskins’ memoir of their extraordinary experiences – “From Cancer to Kinnick: Love Finds a Wave,” to be released Sept. 3 by Ice Cube Press of North Liberty, Iowa. “I hope that you will be inspired,”... Read More

The 28th novel collaboration of local authors Max Allan Collins and Matthew V. Clemens comes out today! It’s “To Live and Spy In Berlin,” a new thriller from the best-selling duo! The world thinks John Sand’s retired. No longer heading into the MI6 offices, he’s an energy company executive. He’s got a nice corner office, lavish dinners to attend, and no bullets flying at his head…yet. The truth is much deadlier. Sand’s hunting stolen uranium, and he knows if he doesn’t find it soon, he’ll be hunting something very different…a nuclear bomb. Deep in... Read More

St. Pius X church in Rock Island is holding a book reading with author of Saints Around the World, Meg Hunter-Kilmer, on Tuesday, July 13th at 1:30pm. The event will be held at St Pius X parish, McCarthy Hall in Rock Island. All are welcome! Meg Hunter-Kilmer is a speaker, a writer, and a missionary who has lived out of her car since 2012. Meg loves telling stories, learning about Saints, reading the Bible, and watching the Olympics. In Saints Around the World, you’ll meet over one-hundred Saints from more than sixty countries, including Saints with different disabilities, strengths, and struggles.... Read More

The discussion over mental health challenges can be a difficult one. Admitting concerns can be daunting and treatment options and social stigmas surrounding the issue are often intimidating to those suffering from this disease, as well as those whose lives are touched by those suffering. The issue of mental health and the facilitation of discussion about its perspectives is the driving force behind the inspirational book “Courage To Rise Above,” by Quad-Cities author Jennifer Sergeant. Sergeant’s book, which is available at the Davenport Book Rack store as well as online at all retailers,... Read More

Hibernate with a good book! Join the Library’s annual all-ages Winter Reading Program for a chance to win prizes this winter. From January 19th through February 27th, participants will receive one grand prize drawing entry for every book you read. Participate on Beanstack at davenportlibrary.beanstack.com or by picking up grand prize entry slips at our Fairmount and Eastern branches. Keep up with our virtual programming on our Virtual Branch Calendar of Events at https://davenportlibrary.libcal.com/calendar/virtual. This event is FREE and open to the public. For more information visit www.davenportlibrary.com... Read More

Welcome to a world of historical fact seen through the warped glass of hypnotic fiction, a place where imagination blurs with reality and local folklore acts as the seed to a blooming universe of oddity and the occult. Welcome to the imagination of local author Paul Ferguson. Ferguson’s fertile mind is apparent in his fourth novel, “Watershed (Vishnu Springs Volume One),” which is steeped in regional history and inspired by the works of masters of the macabre Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. “Obviously there’s a lot of Lovecraft in there,” Ferguson said. “I encountered his work... Read More

Jason Platt, an author/illustrator from Davenport, has once again made the Texas Library Association’s 2021 Little Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List for his “Middle School Misadventures: Operation Hat Heist.” The TLA is the country’s largest state library association and Platt’s 2019 debut graphic novel, “Middle School Misadventures,” was named to the 2020 list as well. Released on Dec. 1, the list is a recommended reading list of 83 graphic novels nationwide designed for children in grades K-5. The books were selected by public and school librarians who are members of the Texas... Read More

Rock Island author Michael McCarty will hold a Covid-safe book signing (masks required) this Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Igor’s Bistro, 3055 38th St., Rock Island. The 50-ish author’s latest is “Frankenstein’s Mistress: Tales of Love & Monsters,” published by Grinning Skull Press ($15 paperback). This collection of horror and science fiction stories includes a sequel to Mary Shelley’s classic “Frankenstein” – with Victor Frankenstein, the monster, and a blind fortune teller named Rose Blackthorn. In other tales, even the apocalypse won’t stop Leonard Cartwright from... Read More