Ocean State Libraries

"In our always-on, productivity-addicted lifestyles, we tend to think of the pursuit of fun as being indulgent, even immature and childish. When we do find the time to relax or care for ourselves, we tend to turn to activities that are not actually restorative: binging Netflix, scrolling through Twitter, or indulging our FOMO on Instagram. Through years of research, journalist Catherine Price has learned the truth: far from being frivolous or a distraction,...

"It is the week before Halloween and Theodosia Browning, proprietor of the Indigo Tea Shop, and her tea sommelier, Drayton, are ghosting through the dusk of a cool Charleston evening on their way to the old Bouchard Mansion. Known as the Gray Ghost, this dilapidated place was recently bequeathed to the Heritage Society, and tonight heralds the grand opening of their literary and historical themed haunted house. Though Timothy Neville, the patriarch...

"On April 27, 1997, four contestants make it to the final cell of the Quigley House, a full-contact haunted escape room in Lincoln, Nebraska, made famous for its monstrosities, booby-traps, and ghoulishly costumed actors. If the group can endure these horrors without shouting the safe word, "reprieve," they'll win a substantial cash prize... But before they can complete the challenge, a man breaks into the cell and kills one of the contestants. Those...

"From the New York Times-bestselling author of How We Got to Now and Where Good Ideas Come From, a look at the world-changing innovations we made while keeping ourselves entertained. This lushly illustrated history of popular entertainment takes along-zoom approach, contending that the pursuit of novelty and wonder is a powerful driver of world-shaping technological change. Steven Johnson argues that, throughout history, the cutting edge of innovation...

When the bus breaks down, passengers make the time for repairs pass more quickly by entertaining themselves with an impromptu talent show.

"Unbored is the most original, entertaining, and instructive all-in-one book for kids ever published--jam-packed with information, ideas, and activities for children and their parents to share together. Vibrantly designed and illustrated, it's crammed with activities that are not only fun and doable, but get kids engaged in the wider world--and provides information to expand their worldviews, too, inspiring them to learn more. Right at the age where...

"When strange things start happening at night near a new, supposedly haunted, rural attraction, including a creepy man stalking young Indigenous women, Hughie Wolfe and his friends set out to discover the truth in order to protect themselves and their community."--