Central Kansas Library System

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America, she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private. A deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily...

"A birthday excursion turns deadly when the SS Eastland capsizes with Olive Pierce and her best friend on board. Hundreds perish during the accident, and it's only when Olive herself barely escapes that she discovers her friend is among the victims. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Olive returns to her work at a Chicago insurance agency and is immersed in the countless investigations related to the accident. But with so many missing, there are few...

Born to a prominent Chicago judge and his stifled socialite wife, Mia Dennett moves against the grain as a young inner-city art teacher. One night, Mia enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. With his smooth moves and modest wit, at first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's...

"William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So it's a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college, far away from his childhood home. He soon meets Julia Padavano, a spirited and ambitious young woman who surprises William with her appreciation of his quiet steadiness. With Julia comes her family; she is inseparable from her three...

A holiday tale inspired by the biblical story of Joseph and the coat of many colors follows the modern story of Joe, who after being forced out of the family business by jealous siblings becomes the chief advisor to the CEO of another company and his own family's savior in the face of a troubled economy.

Being a cop runs in Billy Harney's family. The son of Chicago's Chief of Detectives whose twin sister, Patty, also followed in their father's footsteps, there's nothing Billy won't give up for the job, including his life. Left for dead alongside his tempestuous former partner and a hard-charging assistant district attorney out for blood, Billy miraculously survives. But he remembers nothing about the events leading up to the shootout. Charged with...

Launching an investigation of his own when his instincts tell him that more is behind a political shooting on Chicago's west side, SOS Detective Billy Harney uncovers a spate of murders connected to his troubled past. "To Detective Billy Harney, the newest member of Chicago PD's elite strike force--Special Operations Section-- getting shot in the head, stalked by a state's attorney, and accused of murder by his fellow cops is all part of breaking...

Chicago weatherman David Spritz (Nicolas Cage) is living the life most of us dream of: he's a celebrity, makes a six-figure salary working two hours a day, and is on the short list for the meteorologist job on a national morning show. But his professional successes are over-shadowed by his personal failures. He's divorced from his wife, his kids are slipping away from him and even his Pulitzer Prize-winning father (Michael Caine) won't take him seriously....

Calvin never wanted to take over the family business, a barbershop on the south side of Chicago. One morning he decides to sell the shop to a shady loan shark named Lester. Calvin spends the day cutting heads at the shop, and starts to understand the importance of the legacy left to him. Calvin learns to appreciate his barber friends, and discovers that the place where they work is more than just a place to get a haircut. Calvin gradually changes...

"Did the Great Chicago Fire really start after a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn? Find out the truth in this addition to the What Was? series. On Sunday, October 8, 1871, a fire started on the south side of Chicago. A long drought made the neighborhood go up in flames. And practically everything that could go wrong did. Firemen first went to the wrong location. Fierce winds helped the blaze jump the Chicago River twice. The Chicago Waterworks...