We're happy to welcome back Leigh Rubin, creator of the nationally syndicated cartoon Rubes®, as he promotes his 25th anniversary best-of collection. Rubin usually packs the house, and this visit is even more special. Five lucky audience members will take home a piece of Rubin's signed art. Find out how you can win.

Freya Hannen, sister of Egyptologist Alex Hannen, receives word of her sister’s death and travels to Egypt to tend to her final arrangements. While tending to Alex’s affairs, she becomes entangled into a race to find The Hidden Oasis.

If you are a fan of adventure with a spy vs. spy type of action then The Hidden Oasis is a very good way to spend a few days. Hang on for a high speed chase through the streets of Cairo to Egypt’s Western Desert. When the dust settles, you will be surprised to see what side of the game the characters end up on.

The Hidden Oasis by Paul Sussman

Reviewed by Kyle Stueven

 Do you want to Review New Books for the library? Find out how to get free copies of new books and how to submit your reviews here.

The sheer number and variety of books published about toddler behavior can be overwhelming. And trying to find time to actually READ any of these books while raising a toddler is another issue entirely. Here are recommendations for two toddler parenting books I read and enjoyed.

The Oscars were handed out last night with The Hurt Locker coming away as the big winner. It received six total awards including Best Picture and Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow. It is the first time a woman has taken home the Oscar for Best Director. Below are the winners and nominees in each category with links to the titles and names that are available in our collection:

Best Picture -...

For our fourth year, the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library participates in the Edible Books Festival!  This is an international festival, held around April Fool's Day.  Books of food, food of books, food about books, anything goes!  If you'd like to participate, call 580-4515 to sign up by April 1, 5 pm. 

Are you looking for something a bit spookier than Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark?  Well “The Last Apprentice” series is for you.  Tom Ward is a young apprentice to a fellow called the Spook.  It's the Spook's job to rid the county of all things dark such as ghosts, boggarts, and the occasional witch.  Unfortunately for Tom, it is a witch that gets him into trouble, and the result could lead...

That was disgusting!  Did you see the glob that Jason and Kelly brought into The Edge yesterday (Thursday)? It was representative of a pound of human fat. Yuck! The shocker, for every 3500 calories over what a person’s body burns the body retains that glob of fat.

The second session of No Couch Potatoes Needed drew a handful of teens.  The group discussed body fat , how to read nutrition labels, and theimportance of fiber and protein in the daily in-take.  Before ending the session, they discussed subject matter that interests the group.  The next session, March 4 at 3:30-4:30, the topic will be eating disorders.