Anythink blog
Getting teens involved in Colorado Blue Spruce Book Awards
Nov 19 2019
The Colorado Blue Spruce Award is a unique award where submissions are nominated by and voted on by teens. No adults allowed – including publishers. With a nod to the official state tree, this award is specific to teens in Colorado. There is a...
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The ugly Christmas sweater: an origin story
Nov 19 2019
You see them at parties. You see them in pictures. You see them on Christmas cards. Suddenly, they are everywhere and yet most of the year they are nowhere, buried in the back of the closet until they burst out in glorious tackiness.
They are garish. They are loud. They hurt your eyes. They are...
The books that inspired your favorite 2019 Hallmark movies
Nov 14 2019
Hallmark Christmas movies have arrived! Beginning Oct. 25 (which seems ludicrously early), you can watch all of the Hallmark Christmas movies that your candlelight-loving,-marshmallow heart can take. However, did you know you can check out or order most of the books that inspired the movies before ...
New programs coming to Anythink Bennett
Nov 13 2019
Thanks for our awesome guides, Eric and Molly, Anythink Bennett has some new programming coming for all ages.
First, we invite you to our weekly Creation Lab that will run every Thursday from 2 pm-6 pm. The Creation Lab is...
Yes, thank you, Pete Holmes
Nov 8 2019
What is this?
It’s a common refrain from a Pete Holmes, a successful comedian, podcaster, television star and, now, author. His new book,...
Book Review: 'The Whisper Man' by Alex North
Nov 5 2019
Let me tell you how worth the wait for The Whisper Man by Alex North was. I couldn't put this book down. From the title of...
6 new and notable novels
Oct 31 2019
I was captivated by Kate Quinn’s 2019 novel, The Huntress. It’s an epic work of historical fiction that adeptly covers...
Book Review: 'Before We Were Yours' by Lisa Wingate
Oct 24 2019
For the hundreds who vanished
and for the thousands who didn't.
May your stories
not be forgotten.
For those who help today's orphans
find forever homes.
May you always know the value
of your work
and your love.
These words are printed at the beginning of...
Challenges we face with ebooks
Oct 22 2019
Why do we have to wait so long for ebooks?
At Anythink, our mission is to “open doors for curious minds.” Getting people what they want, when they want it is an important part of making Anythink a destination for our community. Since we launched ebooks and downloadable audiobooks at Anythink 10...
Elevated Reading: The Highlands and 'Kazu Jones and the Denver Dognappers'
Oct 17 2019
As Denver grows, so does its national recognition as a hip, up-and-coming place to live. Denver’s hippest places are on full display in...
Protecting your skin: Resources for understanding melanoma
Oct 17 2019
Imagine having an appointment with your doctor, a regular yearly checkup, and everything is going well as usual – that is, until your doctor says,"Hmm, this mole looks kinda funky. You mind if I do a quick biopsy just to check it?" When this happened to me, I felt confident – I'm a young and...
The thrill of the heist
Oct 9 2019
A heist story turns its audience into the accomplices of a crime. Other stories ask us to like or empathize with their characters. A heist story asks us to discard the ethics and morals we abide by in our daily lives. The main characters are criminals, stealing something that was never theirs to...
Elevated Reading: 'Tallgrass' and the history of Japanese internment camps in Colorado
Oct 3 2019
This is the first post in Elevated Reading, reviews that will focus on both fiction and non-fiction books that take place in Colorado, and the history behind those subjects.
Tallgrass, a novel by Sandra Dallas, is a fictional novel inspired by the very real internment camp of Granada, also called...
So you want to write a book: Steps to take before Chapter 1
Oct 3 2019
It starts with the whisper of an idea; a concept, an inspiration, a fresh take on something that has already been done. Perhaps it’s something you’ve seen, or a song that you heard. Perhaps you’ve read something and thought “I can do better.” Perhaps you’ve read something and thought, “What great...
New haunted reads for Halloween
Sep 20 2019
Halloween season is here and I, for one, am ready for it. My family lives for trick-or-treating, Halloween costumes, pumpkin patches, copious amounts of candy and flickering candles. To help set the ominous atmosphere, I decided years ago that I would only read creepy books for the entirety of...
Review: 'Rumple Buttercup' by Matthew Gray Gubler
Sep 20 2019
Sometimes it's necessary to depart from your normal and branch out into something fun and youthful. Being a fan of Matthew Gray Gubler's work in the show Criminal Minds, I have been waiting for his children's book...
Book review: 'The Stranger in the Woods' by Michael Finkel
Aug 20 2019
I was slightly intrigued by The Stranger in the Woods when I sat in on...
Boarding school reads for back to school
Aug 20 2019
The summer is winding down (thank goodness), and it’s that time where parents and kids alike are ready to head back to school. Like many of you, I grew up reading boarding school books, and would wistfully imagine returning to ivy-laden dorms tucked under stone walkways, where teachers wore robes...
Year of the Rocket Man
Aug 16 2019
As a child Reginald Dwight was shy and lonely, but possessed of an astonishing natural gift for the piano. Flash forward to Aug. 25, 1970, when the then 23-year-old would give a mind-blowing performance at the ...
In praise of Pixar
Aug 16 2019
It happens to every adult: that moment – after years of loving Pixar movies as hilarious, exciting yarns about anthropomorphic toys and fish and, well, Cars – when you...