Native American Heritage Month
November is Native American Heritage Month! Native American Heritage Month is about recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments, history, and culture of Native Americans. In this blog, we’re taking the time to showcase groundbreaking works written by Native Americans authors about the Native American experience.
House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
“A young Native American, Abel has come home from war to find himself caught between two worlds. The first is the world of his father’s, wedding him to the rhythm of the seasons, the harsh beauty of the land, and the ancient rites and traditions of his people. But the other world—modern, industrial America—pulls at Abel, demanding his loyalty, trying to claim his soul, and goading him into a destructive, compulsive cycle of depravity and disgust.
An American classic, House Made of Dawn is at once a tragic tale about the disabling effects of war and cultural separation, and a hopeful story of a stranger in his native land, finding his way back to all that is familiar and sacred” (Amazon).
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
“Tayo, a young Native American, has been a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II, and the horrors of captivity have almost eroded his will to survive. His return to the Laguna Pueblo reservation only increases his feeling of estrangement and alienation. While other returning soldiers find easy refuge in alcohol and senseless violence, Tayo searches for another kind of comfort and resolution.
Tayo’s quest leads him back to the Indian past and its traditions, to beliefs about witchcraft and evil, and to the ancient stories of his people. The search itself becomes a ritual, a curative ceremony that defeats the most virulent of afflictions—despair” (Amazon).
There There by Tommy Orange
“Among them is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, pulling his life together after his uncle’s death and working at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil, coming to perform traditional dance for the very first time. They converge and collide on one fateful day at the Big Oakland Powwow and together this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American—grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism” (Amazon).
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
“…Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author’s own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character’s art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live” (Amazon).
Love Medicine by Louise Eldrich
“Set on a North Dakota Ojibwe reservation, Love Medicine—the first novel from master storyteller and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich—is an epic story about the intertwined fates of two families: the Kashpaws and the Lamartines.
With astonishing virtuosity, each chapter of this stunning novel draws on a range of voices to limn its tales. Black humor mingles with magic, injustice bleeds into betrayal, and through it all, bonds of love and family marry the elements into a tightly woven whole that pulses with the drama of life.
Erdrich has written a multigenerational portrait of strong men and women caught in an unforgettable whirlwind of anger, desire, and the healing power that is love medicine” (Amazon).
Everything You Know About Indians Is Wrong by Paul Chaat Smith
“Raised in suburban Maryland and Oklahoma, Smith dove head first into the political radicalism of the 1970s, working with the American Indian Movement until it dissolved into dysfunction and infighting.
…In his journey from fighting activist to federal employee, Smith tells us he has discovered at least two things: there is no one true representation of the American Indian experience, and even the best of intentions sometimes end in catastrophe.
Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong is a highly entertaining and, at times, searing critique of the deeply disputed role of American Indians in the United States.” (Amazon).
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
“Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team.
Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.
Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars.” (Goodreads).
-posted by MyEva Newsome
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )2022 Oakton Staff Picks
During Staff Day 2022, Oakton Staff from different department met virtually to discuss what they were reading and would recommend to our community. These were the books discussed:
The Book of Longings
by Sue Monk Kidd
“…, Sue Monk Kidd brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family in Sepphoris with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, a relentless seeker with a brilliant, curious mind and a daring spirit. She yearns for a pursuit worthy of her life, but finds no outlet for her considerable talents. Defying the expectations placed on women, she engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes secret narratives about neglected and silenced women.
When she meets the eighteen-year-old Jesus, each is drawn to and enriched by the other’s spiritual and philosophical ideas. He becomes a floodgate for her intellect, but also the awakener of her heart. Their marriage unfolds with love and conflict, humor and pathos in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, James and Simon, and their mother, Mary. Here, Ana’s pent-up longings intensify amid the turbulent resistance to the Roman occupation of Israel, partially led by her charismatic adopted brother, Judas.
She is sustained by her indomitable aunt Yaltha, who is searching for her long-lost daughter, as well as by other women, including her friend Tabitha, who is sold into slavery after she was raped, and Phasaelis, the shrewd wife of Herod Antipas. Ana’s impetuous streak occasionally invites danger. When one such foray forces her to flee Nazareth for her safety shortly before Jesus’s public ministry begins, she makes her way with Yaltha to Alexandria, where she eventually finds refuge and purpose in unexpected surroundings.
Grounded in meticulous historical research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus’s life that focuses on his humanity, The Book of Longings is an inspiring account of one woman’s bold struggle to realize the passion and potential inside her, while living in a time, place, and culture devised to silence her” (Primo).
How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery across America
by Clint Smith
“How the Word is Passed is Clint Smith’s revealing, contemporary portrait of America as a slave-owning nation. Beginning in his own hometown of New Orleans, Smith leads the reader through an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation’s collective history, and ourselves” (Primo).
Reasons to Stay Alive
by Matt Haig
“Like nearly one in five people, Haig suffers from depression. Here he explains how, minute by minute and day by day, he overcame the disease with the help of reading, writing, and the love of his parents and his girlfriend, and eventually learned to appreciate life all the more for it. Both inspiring to those who feel daunted by depression and illuminating to those who are mystified by it, Haig’s humor and encouragement never let us lose sight of hope” (Primo).
The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
“Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place” (Primo).
Throne of Glass
by Sarah J. Maas
After she has served a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, Crown Prince Dorian offers eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien her freedom on the condition that she act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin” (Primo).
Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir
“Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone. Or does he? (Primo).
The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future
by Ryder Carroll
“There’s a reason this system for time management, goal setting, and intentional living has been adopted by millions around the globe: it works. Not only will you get more done, but you’ll get the right things done. All you need is a pen, paper, and five spare minutes a day. In The Bullet Journal Method, Ryder Carroll, the system’s founder, provides an essential guide to avoiding all-too-common beginner mistakes and building a core discipline from which you can personalize your practice.
You’ll not only learn to organize your tasks, but to focus your time and energy in pursuit of what’s truly meaningful to you by following three simple steps:
- Track the past. Create a clear and comprehensive record of your thoughts.
- Order the present. Find daily calm and clarity by tackling your to-do list in a more mindful, systematic, and productive way.
- Design the future. Transform your vague curiosities into meaningful goals, and then break those goals into manageable action steps that lead to big change” (Overdrive).
American Gods
by Neil Gaiman
“Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the magic day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he deeply loved, and start a new life. But just days before his release, Laura and Shadow’s best friend are killed in an accident.
With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home, an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. A trickster and a rogue, Wednesday seems to know more about Shadow than Shadow does himself. Life as Wednesday’s bodyguard, driver, and errand boy is far more interesting and dangerous than Shadow ever imagined-it is a job that takes him on a dark and strange road trip and introduces him to a host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own” (Primo).
Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman
“…[Neverwhere] is the story of Richard Mayhew, a young London businessman with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he discovers a girl bleeding on the sidewalk. He stops to help her—an act of kindness that plunges him into a world he never dreamed existed.
Slipping through the cracks of reality, Richard lands in Neverwhere—a London of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels that exists entirely in a subterranean labyrinth. Neverwhere is home to Door, the mysterious girl Richard helped in the London Above. Here in Neverwhere, Door is a powerful noblewoman who has vowed to find the evil agent of her family’s slaughter and thwart the destruction of this strange underworld kingdom. If Richard is ever to return to his former life and home, he must join Lady Door’s quest to save her world-and may well die trying” (EReadIllinois).
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
by Neil deGrasse Tyson,
“What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There’s no better guide through these mind expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and bestselling author Neil deGrasse Tyson. But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in digestible chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day.
While waiting for your morning coffee to brew, or while waiting for the bus, the train, or the plane to arrive, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will reveal just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe” (Primo).
He Who Fights with Monsters
by Shirtaloon
“It’s not easy making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer. At least, Jason tries to be heroic, but it’s hard to be good when all your powers are evil.
He’ll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters—and that’s just on the first day. He’s going to need courage, he’s going to need wit, and he’s going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he’s going to need pants….
Experience an isekai culture clash as a laid-back Australian finds himself in a very serious world. See him gain suspiciously evil powers through a unique progression system combining cultivation and traditional LitRPG elements. Enjoy a weak-to-strong story with a main character who earns his power without overshadowing everyone around him, with plenty of loot, adventurers, gods and magic. Rich characters and world-building offer humor, political intrigue and slice-of-life elements alongside lots of monster fighting and adventure” (Goodreads).
The Book of Form and Emptiness
by Ruth Ozeki
“After the tragic death of his beloved musician father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house—a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. Although Benny doesn’t understand what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone; some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are snide, angry and full of pain. When his mother, Annabelle, develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous.
At first, Benny tries to ignore them, but soon the voices follow him outside the house, onto the street and at school, driving him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public library, where objects are well-behaved and know to speak in whispers. There, Benny discovers a strange new world, where ‘things happen.’ He falls in love with a mesmerizing street artist with a smug pet ferret, who uses the library as her performance space. He meets a homeless philosopher-poet, who encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice amongst the many.
And he meets his very own Book—a talking thing—who narrates Benny’s life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter” (EReadIllinois).
The Neighborhood
by Mario Vargas Llosa
“In the 1990s, during the turbulent and deeply corrupt years of Alberto Fujimori’s presidency, two wealthy couples of Lima’s high society become embroiled in a disturbing vortex of erotic adventures and politically driven blackmail.
One day Enrique, a high-profile businessman, receives a visit from Rolando Garro, the editor of a notorious magazine that specializes in salacious exposes. Garro presents Enrique with lewd pictures from an old business trip and demands that he invest in the magazine. Enrique refuses, and the next day the pictures are on the front page. Meanwhile, Enrique’s wife is in the midst of a passionate and secret affair with the wife of Enrique’s lawyer and best friend. When Garro shows up murdered, the two couples are thrown into a whirlwind of navigating Peru’s unspoken laws and customs, while the staff of the magazine embark on their greatest expose yet” (Goodreads).
The Greatest Love Story Every Told
by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman
“The year: 2000. The setting: Los Angeles. A gorgeous virtuoso of an actress had agreed to star in a random play, and a basement-dwelling scenic carpenter had said he would assay a supporting role in the selfsame pageant. At the first rehearsal, she surveyed her fellow cast members, as one does, determining if any of the men might qualify to provide her with a satisfying fling. Her gaze fell upon the carpenter, and like a bolt of lightning, the thought struck her: No dice. Moving on.
Yet, unbeknownst to our protagonists, Cupid had merely set down his bow and picked up a rocket launcher. Then fired a love rocket (not a euphemism). The players were Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman, and the resulting romance, once it ignited, was… epic. Beyond epic. It resulted in a coupling that has endured to this day; a sizzling, perpetual tryst that has captivated the world with its kindness, athleticism, astonishingly low-brow humor, and true (fire emoji) passion….
Eighteen years later, they’re still very much in love and have finally decided to reveal the philosophical mountains they have conquered, the lessons they’ve learned, and the myriad jigsaw puzzles they’ve completed” (Penguin Random House).
Lakesedge
by Lyndall Clipstone
“When Violeta Graceling and her younger brother Arien arrive at the haunted Lakesedge estate, they expect to find a monster. Leta knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem.
As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably drawn…
Now, to save Rowan—and herself—Leta must confront the darkness in her past, including unraveling the mystery of her connection to the Lord Under”(MacMillan).
The Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings
by Neil Price
“The Viking Age—between 750 and 1050—saw an unprecedented expansion of the Scandinavian peoples. As traders and raiders, explorers and colonists, they reshaped the world between eastern North America and the Asian steppe. For a millennium, though, their history has largely been filtered through the writings of their victims.
Based on the latest archaeological and textual evidence, Children of Ash and Elm tells the story of the Vikings on their own terms: their politics, their cosmology, their art and culture. From Björn Ironside, who led an expedition to sack Rome, to Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir, the most travelled woman in the world, Price shows us the real Vikings, not the caricatures they have become in popular culture and history” (Goodreads).
Anybody Out There?
by Marian Keyes
“…Life in the Big Apple is perfect for Anna. She has the best job in the world, a lovely apartment, and great friends. Then one morning, she wakes up in her mammy’s house in Dublin with stitches in her face, a dislocated knee, hands smashed up, and no memory at all of what happened.
As soon as she’s able, Anna’s flying back to Manhattan, mystified but determined to find out how her life turned upside down. As her past slowly begins coming back to her, she sets out on an outrageous quest—involving lilies, psychics, mediums, and anyone who can point her in the right direction.
Marrying life’s darker bits with wild humor and tender wit, Anybody Out There? is a strange and wonderfully charming look at love here and ever after” (HarperCollins).
Take My Hand
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
“Montgomery, Alabama 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend has big plans to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she intends to help women make their own choices for their lives and bodies.
But when her first week on the job takes her down a dusty country road to a worn down one-room cabin, she’s shocked to learn that her new patients are children—just 11 and 13 years old. Neither of the Williams sisters has even kissed a boy, but they are poor and Black and for those handling the family’s welfare benefits that’s reason enough to have the girls on birth control. As Civil grapples with her role, she takes India, Erica and their family into her heart. Until one day, she arrives at the door to learn the unthinkable has happened and nothing will ever be the same for any of them” (Goodreads).
Red Queen
by Victoria Aveyard
“This is a world divided by blood—red or silver. The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.
That is until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.
Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.
But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance—Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart” (Goodreads).
Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
“When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.” (Primo).
Dragon Song
by Kristie Clark
“Dr. Eva Paz wants only a peaceful life on Roatán for herself and her dolphins, continuing their research in dolphin communication and educating children on the importance of caring for the reef.
But when Eva discovers that the Caribbean’s wild dolphin pod has been captured, she must go back into action to find them. Her pursuit returns her to the Pacific, where she finds her newest nemesis has engineered yet more sea dragons, and this time she finds herself embroiled in an international struggle that could end in a World War.
Dragon Song is the fourth book in Kristie Clark’s Order of the Dolphin series. Dragon Song may be read as a standalone, but it is best enjoyed with the other Order of the Dolphin series books: Killing Dragons, Dragon Gold, and Dragon Clan” (Kristie Clark).
—posted by Kevin Purtell
Coming Together 2022: Sharing Experiences of Disability
Each year, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Skokie, and Niles come together as a community to build knowledge and understanding between people of different groups and ages in an event known as Coming Together. This event includes various book discussions, library events, and activities to expand people’s knowledge and appreciation of our diverse backgrounds. This year’s theme is Sharing Experiences of Disability. As part of the celebration, Oakton Community College will host the following events:
Book Discussion: Get a Life, Chloe Brown
Wenesday, April 6, 2022
7-8 p.m.
Des Plaines Campus Library, Lower Level
Join our next book discussion in collaboration with Coming Together 2022: Sharing Experiences of Disability as we read and talk about Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. Pick up a copy at the Oakton Library!
Get a Life, Chloe Brown is a witty romantic comedy about a woman who’s tired of being “boring” and recruits her mysterious, handsome neighbor to help her experience new things. Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list.
An Evening with Alice Wong
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
7-8 p.m.
Register for this event and receive the Zoom link here
Alice Wong, acclaimed disability rights activist and founder of advocacy group Disability Visibility, discusses the process of, and motivation behind, editing the powerful essay collection of the same name. Hear more about what inspired Wong to put together this collection, and bring your questions for a community Q&A at the end.
Live ASL interpretation and captioning will be available at this event.
Hosted by the Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles-Maine District, and Skokie Public Libraries, Niles Township Government, and Oakton Community College.
Additionally, the following are titles carefully selected for this event by librarians and community members.
About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the New York Times
Catapano, Peter, editor
“Boldly claiming a space in which people with disabilities can be seen and heard as they are—not as others perceive them—About Us captures the voices of a community that has for too long been stereotyped and misrepresented. Speaking not only to those with disabilities, but also to their families, coworkers and support networks, the authors in About Us offer intimate stories of how they navigate a world not built for them.
Since its 2016 debut, the popular New York Times’ ‘Disability’ column has transformed the national dialogue around disability. Now, echoing the refrain of the disability rights movement, ‘Nothing about us without us,’ this landmark collection gathers the most powerful essays from the series that speak to the fullness of human experience—stories about first romance, childhood shame and isolation, segregation, professional ambition, child-bearing and parenting, aging and beyond. Reflecting on the fraught conversations around disability—from the friend who says ‘I don’t think of you as disabled,’ to the father who scolds his child with attention differences, ‘Stop it stop it stop it what is wrong with you?’—the stories here reveal the range of responses, and the variety of consequences, to being labeled as ‘disabled’ by the broader public.
Here, a writer recounts her path through medical school as a wheelchair user—forging a unique bridge between patients with disabilities and their physicians. An acclaimed artist with spina bifida discusses her art practice as one that invites us to ‘stretch ourselves toward a world where all bodies are exquisite.’ With these notes of triumph, these stories also offer honest portrayals of frustration over access to medical care, the burden of social stigma and the nearly constant need to self-advocate in the public realm.
In its final sections, About Us turns to the questions of love, family and joy to show how it is possible to revel in life as a person with disabilities. Subverting the pervasive belief that disability results in relentless suffering and isolation, a quadriplegic writer reveals how she rediscovered intimacy without touch, and a mother with a chronic illness shares what her condition has taught her young children” (Primo).
Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism
by Elsa Sjunneson
“A deafblind writer and professor explores how the misrepresentation of disability in books, movies, and TV harms both the disabled community and everyone else.
As a deafblind woman with partial vision in one eye and bilateral hearing aids, Elsa Sjunneson lives at the crossroads of blindness and sight, hearing and deafness—much to the confusion of the world around her. While she cannot see well enough to operate without a guide dog or cane, she can see enough to know when someone is reacting to the visible signs of her blindness and can hear when they’re whispering behind her back. And she certainly knows how wrong our one-size-fits-all definitions of disability can be.
As a media studies professor, she’s also seen the full range of blind and deaf portrayals on film, and here she deconstructs their impact, following common tropes through horror, romance, and everything in between. Part memoir, part cultural criticism, part history of the deafblind experience, Being Seen explores how our cultural concept of disability is more myth than fact, and the damage it does to us all” (Amazon).
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice
by Piepzna-Samarasinha, Leah Lakshmi
“In this collection of essays, Lambda Literary Award-winning writer and longtime activist and performance artist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha explores the politics and realities of disability justice, a movement that centers the lives and leadership of sick and disabled queer, trans, Black, and brown people, with knowledge and gifts for all. Care Work is a mapping of access as radical love, a celebration of the work that sick and disabled queer/people of color are doing to find each other and to build power and community, and a tool kit for everyone who wants to build radically resilient, sustainable communities of liberation where no one is left behind. Powerful and passionate, Care Work is a crucial and necessary call to arms.
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
“On the heels of Woodstock, a group of teen campers are inspired to join the fight for disability civil rights. This spirited look at grassroots activism is executive produced by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama” (You Tube).
Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally
by Emily Ladau
“People with disabilities are the world’s largest minority, an estimated 15 percent of the global population. But many of us—disabled and nondisabled alike—don’t know how to act, what to say, or how to be an ally to the disability community. Demystifying Disability is a friendly handbook on the important disability issues you need to know about, including how to appropriately think, talk, and ask about disability; recognizing and avoiding ableism (discrimination toward disabled people); practicing good disability etiquette; ensuring accessibility becomes your standard practice, from everyday communication to planning special events; appreciating disability history and identity; and identifying and speaking up about disability stereotypes in media. Authored by celebrated disability rights advocate, speaker, and writer, Emily Ladau, this practical, intersectional guide offers all readers a welcoming place to understand disability as part of the human experience” (Primo).
From the Periphery: Real-Life Stories of Disability
edited by Pia Justesen
“From the Periphery consists of more than thirty first-person narratives by activists and everyday people who describe what it’s like to be treated differently by society because of their disabilities. Their stories are raw and painful but also surprisingly funny and deeply moving—describing anger, independence, bigotry, solidarity, and love, in the family, at school, and in the workplace. Inspired by the oral historians Studs Terkel and Svetlana Alexievich, From the Periphery will become a classic oral history collection that increases the understanding of the lived experiences of people with disabilities, their responses to oppression, and the strategies they use to fight for empowerment” (Primo).
The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love With Me
by Keah Brown
“Keah Brown loves herself, but that hadn’t always been the case. Born with cerebral palsy, her greatest desire used to be normalcy and refuge from the steady stream of self-hate society strengthened inside her. But after years of introspection and reaching out to others in her community, she has reclaimed herself and changed her perspective.
In The Pretty One, Brown gives a contemporary and relatable voice to the disabled—so often portrayed as mute, weak, or isolated. With clear, fresh, and light-hearted prose, these essays explore everything from her relationship with her able-bodied identical twin (called ‘the pretty one’ by friends) to navigating romance; her deep affinity for all things pop culture—and her disappointment with the media’s distorted view of disability; and her declaration of self-love with the viral hashtag #DisabledAndCute.
By ‘smashing stigmas, empowering her community, and celebrating herself’ (Teen Vogue), Brown and The Pretty One aims to expand the conversation about disability and inspire self-love for people of all backgrounds” (Primo).
—Posted by Kevin Purtell and Gretchen Schneider
Women in Government
March is Women’s History Month. Jimmy Carter signed a Presidential proclamation in 1980 declaring the week of March 8th National Women’s Week. In 1987, Congress passed a law making the entire month of March Women’s History Month. This month is commemorated to recognize the achievements of women in our society and history. This year we decided to share books we own on women in government in order to to acknowledge their amazing work and accomplishments.
“Make sure to wear shoes, ladies. There’s glass everywhere.”
-Kamala Harris
AOC: The Fearless Rise and Powerful Resonance of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
edited by Lynda Lopez
AOC investigates her symbolic and personal significance for so many, from her willingness to use her imperfect bi-lingualism, to the threat she poses by governing like a man, to the long history of Puerto Rican activism that she joins. Contributors span a wide range of voices and ages, from media to the arts and politics; they include Rebecca Traister, Jennine Capo Crucet, Andrea Gonzalez-Ramirez, Patricia Reynoso, Pedro Regalado, Natalia Sylvester, Carmen Rita Wong, Tracey Ross, Erin Aubry Kaplan, Mariana Atencio, Wendy Carrillo, Nathan J. Robinson, Elizabeth Yeampierre, Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodriguez, and Maria Cristina ‘MC’ Gonzalez Noguera” (Primo).
My Beloved World
by Sonia Sotomayor
“An instant American icon—the first Hispanic on the U.S. Supreme Court—tells the story of her life before becoming a judge in an inspiring, surprisingly personal memoir. With startling candor and intimacy, Sonia Sotomayor recounts her life from a Bronx housing project to the federal bench, a progress that is testament to her extraordinary determination and the power of believing in oneself. She writes of her precarious childhood and the refuge she took with her passionately spirited paternal grandmother. She describes her resolve as a young girl to become a lawyer, and how she made this dream become reality: valedictorian of her high school class, summa cum laude at Princeton, Yale Law, prosecutor in the Manhattan D.A.’s office, private practice, federal district judge before the age of forty. She writes about her deeply valued mentors, about her failed marriage, about her cherished family of friends. Through her still-astonished eyes, America’s infinite possibilities are envisioned a new in this book” (Primo).
The Truths We Hold: An American Journey
by Kamala Harris
“Senator Kamala Harris’s commitment to speaking truth is informed by her upbringing. The daughter of immigrants, she was raised in an Oakland, California community that cared deeply about social justice; her parents—an esteemed economist from Jamaica and an admired cancer researcher from India—met as activists in the civil rights movement when they were graduate students at Berkeley.
Growing up, Harris herself never hid her passion for justice, and when she became a prosecutor out of law school, a deputy district attorney, she quickly established herself as one of the most innovative change agents in American law enforcement. She progressed rapidly to become the elected District Attorney for San Francisco, and then the chief law enforcement officer of the state of California as a whole. Known for bringing a voice to the voiceless, she took on the big banks during the foreclosure crisis, winning a historic settlement for California’s working families. Her hallmarks were applying a holistic, data-driven approach to many of California’s thorniest issues, always eschewing stale “tough on crime” rhetoric as presenting a series of false choices. Neither “tough” nor “soft” but smart on crime became her mantra. Being smart means learning the truths that can make us better as a community, and supporting those truths with all our might. That has been the pole star that guided Harris to a transformational career as the top law enforcement official in California, and it is guiding her now as a transformational United States Senator, grappling with an array of complex issues that affect her state, our country, and the world, from health care and the new economy to immigration, national security, the opioid crisis, and accelerating inequality.
By reckoning with the big challenges we face together, drawing on the hard-won wisdom and insight from her own career and the work of those who have most inspired her, Kamala Harris offers in [this book] a master class in problem solving, in crisis management, and leadership in challenging times. Through the arc of her own life, on into the great work of our day, she communicates a vision of shared struggle, shared purpose, and shared values. In a book rich in many home truths, not least is that a relatively small number of people work very hard to convince a great many of us that we have less in common than we actually do, but it falls to us to look past them and get on with the good work of living our common truth. When we do, our shared effort will continue to sustain us and this great nation, now and in the years to come” (Primo).
Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Woman Living History
by Karen Blumenthal
“As a young girl, Hillary Diane Rodham’s parents told her she could be whatever she wanted—as long as she was willing to work for it. Hillary took those words and ran. In a life on the front row of modern American history, she has always stood out—whether she was a teen campaigning for the 1964 Republican presidential candidate, winning recognition in Life magazine for her pointed words as the first student commencement speaker at Wellesley College, or working on the Richard Nixon impeachment case as a newly minted lawyer.
For all her accomplishments, scrutiny and scandal have followed this complex woman since she stepped into the public eye—from her role as First Lady of Arkansas to First Lady of the United States to becoming the first female U.S. senator from New York to U.S. secretary of state. Despite intense criticism, Hillary has remained committed to public service and dedicated to health-care reform, children’s issues, and women’s rights.
In Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Woman Living History, critically acclaimed author Karen Blumenthal gives us an intimate and unflinching look at the public and personal life of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs and political cartoons, this is a must-have biography about a woman who has fascinated—and divided—the public, who continues to push boundaries, and who wasn’t afraid to reach for one more goal, becoming the first woman nominated as the presidential candidate for a major U.S. political party” (Barnes & Noble).
Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter’s Story
by Mazie Hirono
“Mazie Hirono is one of the most fiercely outspoken Democrats in Congress, but her journey to the U.S. Senate was far from likely. Raised poor on her family’s rice farm in rural Japan, Hirono was seven years old when her mother left her abusive husband and sailed with her two elder children to the United States, crossing the Pacific in steerage in search of a better life. Though the girl then known as ‘Keiko’ did not speak English when she entered school in Hawaii, she would go on to hold state and national office, winning election to the U.S. Senate in 2012.
This intimate and inspiring memoir traces her remarkable life from her upbringing in Hawaii, where the family first lived in a single room in a Honolulu boarding house while her mother worked two jobs to keep them afloat; to her emergence as a highly effective legislator whose determination to help the most vulnerable was grounded in her own experiences of economic insecurity, lack of healthcare access, and family separation. Finally, it chronicles her evolution from dogged yet soft-spoken public servant into the fiery critic and advocate we know her as today.
For the vast majority of Mazie Hirono’s five decades in public service, even as she fought for the causes she believed in, she strove to remain polite and reserved. Steeped in the non-confrontational cultures of Japan and Hawaii, and aware of the expectation that women in politics should never show an excess of emotion, she had schooled herself to bite her tongue, even as her male colleagues continually underestimated her. After the 2016 election, however, it was clear that she could moderate herself no longer. In the face of an autocratic administration, Hirono was called to at last give voice to the fire that had always been inside her. The moving and galvanizing account of a woman coming into her own power over the course of a lifetime in public service, and of the mother who encouraged her immigrant daughter’s dreams, Heart of Fire is the story of a uniquely American journey, written by one of those fighting hardest to ensure that a story like hers is still possible”
Woman and Leadership: History, Theories, and Case Studies
edited by Goethals, George R.
“Countries with female leaders in 2016 include Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, and Poland, and the front-running Democratic Party candidate for the US presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016 was a woman. Debates about leadership styles, about whether the world would be a better place if women were in charge, and about whether women should always support women candidates are increasingly loud.
This compact volume, edited by George R. Goethals and Crystal L. Hoyt of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond, provides valuable research by experts on leadership theory as well as women’s history. It has been designed to help students and citizens who want a more nuanced explanation of what we know about women as leaders—and about how they have led in different fields, in different parts of the world, and in past centuries. It includes twenty-five biographies of women leaders in many domains, not only politics but education, fashion, sports, and social and environmental movements” (Primo).
—posted by Kevin Purtell and Gretchen Schneider
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Pride Month 2021
Happy Pride Month! Pride Month is celebrated every June to commemorate the Stonewall Riots that occurred on June 28th, 1969. On that day, the police raided Stonewall Inn, a gay club, in New York City, and were immediately met with retaliation from the patrons, staff, and neighborhood people, who held riots in the street outside. In 1970, the first pride march was held in New York City. Pride Month is a way for all of us to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, including artists and authors. For this event, the library has gathered books in our collection, both fiction and non-fiction, from brilliant authors who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. Read memoirs by writers who share their unique experiences, including the Stonewall uprising or check out touching fictional stories featuring strong LGBTQ+ characters.
The Stonewall Reader edited by New York Public Library, forward by Edmund White
“For the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, this is an anthology chronicling the tumultuous fight for LGBTQ rights in the 1960s and the activists who spearheaded it, with a foreword by Edmund White. June 28, 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, which is considered the most significant event in the gay liberation movement, and the catalyst for the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States.
Drawing from the New York Public Library’s archives, The Stonewall Reader is a collection of first accounts, diaries, periodic literature, and articles from LGBTQ magazines and newspapers that documented both the years leading up to and the years following the riots. Most importantly the anthology spotlights both iconic activists who were pivotal in the movement, such as Sylvia Rivera, co-founder of Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR), as well as forgotten figures like Ernestine Eckstein, one of the few out, African American, lesbian activists in the 1960s. The anthology focuses on the events of 1969, the five years before, and the five years after” (Primo).
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
“Acclaimed author of Ash Malinda Lo returns with her most personal and ambitious novel yet, a gripping story of love and duty set in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the 1950s. ‘That book. It was about two women, and they fell in love with each other.’ And then Lily asked the question that had taken root in her, that was even now unfurling its leaves and demanding to be shown the sun: ‘Have you ever heard of such a thing?’ Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.
America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day” (Axis360).
Fairest: A Memoir by Meredith Talusan
“Fairest is a memoir about a precocious boy with albinism, a ‘sun child’ from a rural Philippine village, who would grow up to become a woman in America. Coping with the strain of parental neglect and the elusive promise of U.S. citizenship, Talusan found childhood comfort from her devoted grandmother, a grounding force as she was treated by others with special preference or public curiosity.
As an immigrant to the United States, Talusan came to be perceived as white. An academic scholarship to Harvard provided access to elite circles of privilege but required Talusan to navigate through the complex spheres of race, class, sexuality, and her place within the gay community. She emerged as an artist and an activist questioning the boundaries of gender.
Talusan realized she did not want to be confined to a prescribed role as a man, and transitioned to become a woman, despite the risk of losing a man she deeply loved. Throughout her journey, Talusan shares poignant and powerful episodes of desirability and love that will remind readers of works such as Call Me By Your Name and Giovanni’s Room. Her evocative reflections will shift our own perceptions of love, identity, gender, and the fairness of life” (Overdrive).
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
“Set in the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality. With a sharp, probing imagination, James Baldwin’s now-classic narrative delves into the mystery of loving and creates a moving, highly controversial story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart” (Primo).
Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt
“When Wayne and Kelly Maines adopted identical twin boys, they thought their lives were complete. But by the time Jonas and Wyatt were toddlers, confusion over Wyatt’s insistence that he was female began to tear the family apart. In the years that followed, the Maines came to question their long-held views on gender and identity, to accept Wyatt’s transition to Nicole, and to undergo a wrenching transformation of their own, the effects of which would reverberate through their entire community” (Primo).
History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera
“When Griffin’s first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, dies in a drowning accident, his universe implodes. Even though Theo had moved to California for college and started seeing Jackson, Griffin never doubted Theo would come back to him when the time was right. But now, the future he’s been imagining for himself has gone far off course. To make things worse, the only person who truly understands his heartache is Jackson.
But no matter how much they open up to each other, Griffin’s downward spiral continues. He’s losing himself in his obsessive compulsions and destructive choices, and the secrets he’s been keeping are tearing him apart. If Griffin is ever to rebuild his future, he must first confront his history, every last heartbreaking piece in the puzzle of his life” (Axis360).
“With her newly completed PhD in astronomy in hand, twenty-eight-year-old Grace Porter goes on a girls trip to Vegas to celebrate. She’s a straight A, work-through-the-summer certified high achiever. She is not the kind of person who goes to Vegas and gets drunkenly married to a woman whose name she doesn’t know, until she does exactly that. This one moment of departure from her stern ex-military father’s plans for her life has Grace wondering why she doesn’t feel more fulfilled from completing her degree.
Staggering under the weight of her parent’s expectations, a struggling job market and feelings of burnout, Grace flees her home in Portland for a summer in New York with the wife she barely knows. In New York, she’s able to ignore all the constant questions about her future plans and falls hard for her creative and beautiful wife, Yuki Yamamoto. But when reality comes crashing in, Grace must face what she’s been running from all along: the fears that make us human, the family scars that need to heal and the longing for connection, especially when navigating the messiness of adulthood” (Axis360).
Zami: A New Spelling of my Name by Audre Lorde
“In a title that combines autobiography and fiction, activist, writer, and librarian Lorde describes her life as a daughter of immigrants and as a lesbian in 1950’s Harlem. She expresses the loneliness of being an outsider and the discovery of a talent for writing that shaped her life” (Primo).
-posted by Huma Abdulaziz
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Oakton Reads Jewish Literature 2020
Oakton Reads Jewish Literature
Wednesdays, 7-8:30 p.m., Room A145-152, Skokie Campus
Registration is free through the Alliance for Lifelong Learning Office
Every Spring Semester Oakton Community College Library hosts a Jewish Literature series entitled Oakton Reads Jewish Literature. This year’s five-part series of readings, lectures, and discussions will be led by 2 distinguished professors: Davis Schneiderman and Josh Corey from Lake Forest College and Elana Barron from Oakton Community College. The books being discussed this current semester are:
Memento Park
by Mark Sarvas
Meeting Date: January 29
“After receiving an unexpected call from the Australian consulate, Matt Santos becomes aware of a painting that he believes was looted from his family in Hungary during the Second World War. To recover the painting, he must repair his strained relationship with his harshly judgmental father, uncover his family history, and restore his connection to his own Judaism. Along the way to illuminating the mysteries of his past, Matt is torn between his doting girlfriend, Tracy, and his alluring attorney, Rachel, with whom he travels to Budapest to unearth the truth about the painting and, in turn, his family. As his journey progresses, Matt’s revelations are accompanied by equally consuming and imaginative meditations on the painting and the painter at the center of his personal drama, Budapest Street Scene by Ervin Kalman. By the time Memento Park reaches its conclusion, Matt’s narrative is as much about family history and father-son dynamics as it is about the nature of art itself, and the infinite ways we come to understand ourselves through it. Of all the questions asked by Mark Sarvas’s Memento Park—about family and identity, about art and history—a central, unanswerable predicament lingers: How do we move forward when the past looms unreasonably large?” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
The Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare; edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine
Meeting Date: February 19
“In The Merchant of Venice, the path to marriage is hazardous. To win Portia, Bassanio must pass a test prescribed by her father’s will, choosing correctly among three caskets or chests. If he fails, he may never marry at all. Bassanio and Portia also face a magnificent villain, the moneylender Shylock. In creating Shylock, Shakespeare seems to have shared in a widespread prejudice against Jews. Shylock would have been regarded as a villain because he was a Jew. Yet he gives such powerful expression to his alienation due to the hatred around him that, in many productions, he emerges as the hero” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
The Day of Atonement: A Novel
by David Liss
Meeting Date: March 25
“Sebastião Raposa is only thirteen when his parents are unjustly imprisoned, never to be seen again, and he is forced to flee Portugal lest he too fall victim to the Inquisition. But ten years in exile only serve to whet his appetite for vengeance. Returning at last to Lisbon, in the guise of English businessman Sebastian Foxx, he is no longer a frightened boy but a dangerous man tormented by violent impulses. Haunted by the specter of all he has lost—including his exquisite first love—Foxx is determined to right old wrongs by punishing an unforgivable enemy with unrelenting fury.
Well schooled by his benefactor, the notorious bounty hunter Benjamin Weaver, in the use of wits, fists, and a variety of weapons, Foxx stalks the ruthless Inquisitor priest Pedro Azinheiro. But in a city ruled by terror and treachery, where money and information can buy power and trump any law, no enemy should be underestimated and no ally can be trusted. Having risked everything, and once again under the watchful eye of the Inquisition, Foxx finds his plans unraveling as he becomes drawn into the struggles of old friends—and new enemies—none of whom, like Lisbon itself, are what they seem.
Compelled to play a game of deception and greed, Sebastian Foxx will find himself befriended, betrayed, tempted by desire, and tormented by personal turmoil. And when a twist of fate turns his carefully laid plans to chaos, he will be forced to choose between surrendering to blood lust or serving the cause of mercy” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian
by Avi Steinberg
Meeting Date: April 22
“Avi Steinberg is stumped. After defecting from yeshiva to attend Harvard, he has nothing but a senior thesis on Bugs Bunny to show for himself. While his friends and classmates advance in the world, Steinberg remains stuck at a crossroads, his ‘romantic’ existence as a freelance obituary writer no longer cutting it.
Seeking direction (and dental insurance) Steinberg takes a job running the library counter at a Boston prison. He is quickly drawn into the community of outcasts that forms among his bookshelves—an assortment of quirky regulars, including con men, pimps, minor prophets, even ghosts—all searching for the perfect book and a connection to the outside world. Steinberg recounts their daily dramas with heartbreak and humor in this one-of-a-kind memoir—a piercing exploration of prison culture and an entertaining tale of one young man’s earnest attempt to find his place in the world” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Sinners and the Sea: The Untold Story of Noah’s Wife
by Rebecca Kanner
Meeting Date: May 13
“The young heroine in Sinners and the Sea is destined for greatness. Known only as ‘wife’ in the Bible and cursed with a birthmark that many think is the brand of a demon, this unnamed woman lives anew through Rebecca Kanner. The author gives this virtuous woman the perfect voice to make one of the Old Testament’s stories come alive like never before.
Desperate to keep her safe, the woman’s father gives her to the righteous Noah, who weds her and takes her to the town of Sorum, a land of outcasts. Noah, a 600-year-old paragon of virtue, rises to the role of preacher to a town full of sinners. Alone in her new life, Noah’s wife gives him three sons, but is faced with the hardship of living with an aloof husband who speaks more to God than with her. She tries to make friends with the violent and dissolute people of Sorum while raising a brood that, despite a pious upbringing, have developed some sinful tendencies of their own. But her trials are nothing compared to what awaits her after God tells her husband that a flood is coming—and that Noah and his family must build an ark so that they alone can repopulate the world. As the floodwaters draw near, she grows in courage and honor, and when the water finally recedes, she emerges whole, displaying once and for all the indomitable strength of women.
Kanner weaves a masterful tale that breathes new life into one of the Bible’s voiceless characters. Through the eyes of Noah’s wife we see a complex world where the lines between righteousness and wickedness blur. And we are left wondering: would I have been considered virtuous enough to save?” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
-posted by Kevin Purtell
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Spring 2019 Nightstand Event
During the Spring semester “What’s on Your Nightstand” event at the Des Plaines campus, the following books were discussed.
Remember, if Oakton doesn’t own the book or our copy is checked out, you can order a copy to be sent from one of our consortium libraries for FREE! Most books take less than a week to arrive.
Commando Dad: New Recruits: A Guide to Pregnancy and Birth for Dads-to-Be
Neil Sinclair
“This essential guide to pregnancy offers everything the expecting father needs to know in the run-up to the birth, or ‘deployment day.’ Packaged like an army training manual and written in guy-friendly, no-nonsense military speak, it presents month-by-month overviews of the baby’s development, the lowdown on pregnancy symptoms, tips for supporting the mom-to-be, a guide to prenatal care, and what to expect during labor and beyond.
With expert advice, easy-to-follow information, and commentary from other first-time fathers, it’s the go-to reference for the dad-to-be who wants to prepare himself—mentally, physically, and emotionally—for the arrival of his new recruit (description from Barnes & Noble).
Vox
by Christina Dalcher
“On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than one hundred words per day, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial. This can’t happen here. Not in America. Not to her.
Soon women are not permitted to hold jobs. Girls are not taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words each day, but now women have only one hundred to make themselves heard.
For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
A Long Way Home
by Saroo Brierly
DVD based on book, Lion
“At only five years old, Saroo Brierley got lost on a train in India. Unable to read or write or recall the name of his hometown or even his own last name, he survived alone for weeks on the rough streets of Calcutta before ultimately being transferred to an agency and adopted by a couple in Australia.
Despite his gratitude, Brierley always wondered about his origins. Eventually, with the advent of Google Earth, he had the opportunity to look for the needle in a haystack he once called home, and pore over satellite images for landmarks he might recognize or mathematical equations that might further narrow down the labyrinthine map of India. One day, after years of searching, he miraculously found what he was looking for and set off to find his family” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Every Heart a Doorway
by Seanan McGuire
“Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children No Solicitations No Visitors No Quests. Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere—else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced—they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world. But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of things. No matter the cost” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
by Kathleen Rooney
“‘In my reckless and undiscouraged youth,’ Lillian Boxfish writes, ‘I worked in a walnut-paneled office thirteen floors above West Thirty-Fifth Street…’
She took 1930s New York by storm, working her way up writing copy for R.H. Macy’s to become the highest paid advertising woman in the country. It was a job that, she says, ‘in some ways saved my life, and in other ways ruined it.’
Now it’s the last night of 1984 and Lillian, 85 years old but just as sharp and savvy as ever, is on her way to a party. It’s chilly enough out for her mink coat and Manhattan is grittier now—her son keeps warning her about a subway vigilante on the prowl—but the quick-tongued poetess has never been one to scare easily. On a walk that takes her over 10 miles around the city, she meets bartenders, bodega clerks, security guards, criminals, children, parents, and parents-to-be, while reviewing a life of excitement and adversity, passion and heartbreak, illuminating all the ways New York has changed—and has not” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
The End of Stress: Four Steps To Rewire Your Brain
by Don Joseph Goewey
“We all know that stress is serious. If ignored too long, it becomes life-threateningly serious. Yet 83 percent of Americans are doing nothing about it. Don’t be one of them. There’s now a solution to stress that literally rewires your brain for a life of doing well, and being well, on your way to flourishing.
The most important brain discovery in the last 400 years concerns a simple but powerful shift in attitude that can change a brain wired for stress into a brain powered for success. This specific shift literally rewires the brain to deliver the full measure of intelligence, creativity, and emotional balance that enables you to flourish instead of struggle. It’s a higher state of mind anyone can attain stimulating the higher brain function that unblocks the health, wealth, and love we all desire.
Fail to make this shift and you will lack the brainpower to fulfill your dreams. Your stress provoking brain will continue to dump toxic stress hormones into your system, shrinking brain mass, limiting brain bandwidth, depressing your emotional set point, and shortening your lifespan.
You can solve these problems and fulfill your aspirations. The End of Stress: Four Steps to Rewire Your Brain guides you through an evidence-based process that achieves this powerful shift. The book is designed as a workshop-in-a-book, supported by a website of tools, audio files, and materials that make it easy (description from Barnes & Noble).
Becoming Kareem: Growing Up on and off the Court
by Kareem Abdul Jabbar
“At one time, Lew Alcindor was just another kid from New York City with all the usual problems: He struggled with fitting in, with pleasing a strict father, and with overcoming shyness that made him feel socially awkward. But with a talent for basketball, and an unmatched team of supporters, Lew Alcindor was able to transform and to become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
From a childhood made difficult by racism and prejudice to a record-smashing career on the basketball court as an adult, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s life was packed with ‘coaches’ who taught him right from wrong and led him on the path to greatness. His parents, coaches Jack Donahue and John Wooden, Muhammad Ali, Bruce Lee, and many others played important roles in Abdul-Jabbar’s life and sparked him to become an activist for social change and advancement. The inspiration from those around him, and his drive to find his own path in life, are highlighted in this personal and awe-inspiring journey” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Shakespeare Requirement
by Julie Schumacher
“The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune keep hitting beleaguered English professor Jason Fitger right between the eyes in this hilarious and eagerly awaited sequel to the cult classic of anhedonic academe, the Thurber Prize-winning Dear Committee Members. Once more into the breach…
Now is the fall of his discontent, as Jason Fitger, newly appointed chair of the English Department of Payne University, takes arms against a sea of troubles, personal and institutional. His ex-wife is sleeping with the dean who must approve whatever modest initiatives he undertakes. The fearsome department secretary Fran clearly runs the show (when not taking in rescue parrots and dogs) and holds plenty of secrets she’s not sharing. The lavishly funded Econ Department keeps siphoning off English’s meager resources and has taken aim at its remaining office space. And Fitger’s attempt to get a mossbacked and antediluvian Shakespeare scholar to retire backfires spectacularly when the press concludes that the Bard is being kicked to the curricular curb.
Lord, what fools these mortals be!” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing As We Age
by Mary Pipher
“Women growing older contend with ageism, misogyny, and loss. Yet as Mary Pipher shows, most older women are deeply happy and filled with gratitude for the gifts of life. Their struggles help them grow into the authentic, empathetic, and wise people they have always wanted to be.
In Women Rowing North, Pipher offers a timely examination of the cultural and developmental issues women face as they age. Drawing on her own experience as daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, caregiver, clinical psychologist, and cultural anthropologist, she explores ways women can cultivate resilient responses to the challenges they face. ‘If we can keep our wits about us, think clearly, and manage our emotions skillfully,’ Pipher writes, ‘we will experience a joyous time of our lives. If we have planned carefully and packed properly, if we have good maps and guides, the journey can be transcendent’” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
-posted by Gretchen Schneider
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Summer “Whats on My Nightstand” Event
During the Summer “What’s on Your Nightstand” event at the Des Plaines campus, the following books were discussed.
Remember, if Oakton doesn’t own the book or our copy is checked out, you can order a copy to be sent from one of our consortium libraries for FREE! Most books take less than a week to arrive.
Fiction Titles
The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas
“Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
The End of the World Running Club
by Adrian J. Walker
“When the world ends and you find yourself stranded on the wrong side of the country, every second counts. No one knows this more than Edgar Hill: over five hundred miles of devastated wasteland stretch between him and his family. To get back to them, he must push himself to the very limit—or risk losing them forever.
His best option is to run. But what if his best isn’t good enough? A powerful post apocalyptic thriller, The End of the World Running Club is an otherworldly yet extremely human story of hope, love, and the endurance of both body and spirit” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Every Note Played
by Lisa Genova
“An accomplished concert pianist, Richard received standing ovations from audiences all over the world in awe of his rare combination of emotional resonance and flawless technique. Every finger of his hands was a finely calibrated instrument, dancing across the keys and striking each note with exacting precision. That was eight months ago.
Richard now has ALS, and his entire right arm is paralyzed. His fingers are impotent, still, devoid of possibility. The loss of his hand feels like a death, a loss of true love, a divorce—his divorce.
He knows his left arm will go next.
Three years ago, Karina removed their framed wedding picture from the living room wall and hung a mirror there instead. But she still hasn’t moved on. Karina is paralyzed by excuses and fear, stuck in an unfulfilling life as a piano teacher, afraid to pursue the path she abandoned as a young woman, blaming Richard and their failed marriage for all of it.
When Richard becomes increasingly paralyzed and is no longer able to live on his own, Karina becomes his reluctant caretaker. As Richard’s muscles, voice, and breath fade, both he and Karina try to reconcile their past before it’s too late.
Poignant and powerful, Every Note Played is a masterful exploration of redemption and what it means to find peace inside of forgiveness” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
The Evolution Man, or, How I Ate My Father
by Roy Lewis
“Here is a typical Stone Age family, reimagined by Roy Lewis in this hilarious novel as characters in some glittering drawing-room comedy.
Father, who has a scientific turn of mind, has just discovered fire. Mother makes sure the children finish supper, even when the plat du jour is toad. Uncle Vanya thinks that the species has been flirting with disaster ever since it began to chip flint into tools. While little Alexander has gotten himself in deep trouble by making the first cave painting: artists are always so misunderstood.
Long out of print, The Evolution Man would make Charles Darwin turn over in his grave. Lewis has written a witty, intelligent satire of the lives of our remote ancestors, complete with highly revisionist accounts of everything from the origins of courtship to the staples of Pleistocene cuisine. It’s the funniest thing to happen to prehistory since Raquel Welch donned a fur bikini in One Million B.C” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
The Woman in the Window
by A.J. Finn
“It isn’t paranoia if it’s really happening…
Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times…and spying on her neighbors.
Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.
What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.
Twisty and powerful, ingenious and moving, The Woman in the Window is a smart, sophisticated novel of psychological suspense that recalls the best of Hitchcock” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr
“Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home.
When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah
“In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.
FRANCE, 1939
In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.
Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth; While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely; But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.
With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France—a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
by Mark Sullivan
“Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.
In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier—a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.
Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Gentleman in Moscow
by Amor Towles
“In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.
Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Jackaby
by William Ritter
“Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary—including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant.
On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it’s an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain the foul deeds are the work of the kind of creature whose very existence the local authorities—with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane—seem adamant to deny” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Nonfiction Titles
The Hidden Life of Trees: What they Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World
by Peter Wohlleben
“Are trees social beings? In this international bestseller, forester and author Peter Wohlleben convincingly makes the case that, yes, the forest is a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, and even warn each other of impending dangers.
Wohlleben also shares his deep love of woods and forests, explaining the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in his woodland. After learning about the complex life of trees, a walk in the woods will never be the same again” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Walk to Beautiful
by Jimmy Wayne with Ken Abraham
“That’s the real life story of country music star Jimmy Wayne. It’s a miracle that Jimmy survived being hungry and homeless, bouncing in and out of the foster care system, and sleeping in the streets. But he didn’t just overcome great adversity in his life; he now uses his country music platform to help children everywhere, especially teenagers in foster care who are about to age out of the system.
Walk to Beautiful is the powerfully emotive account of Jimmy’s horrendous childhood and the love shown him by Russell and Bea Costner, the elderly couple who gave him a stable home and provided the chance to complete his education. Jimmy says of Bea, ‘She changed every cell in my body.’
It also chronicles Jimmy’s rise to fame in the music industry and his Meet Me Halfway campaign: his walk halfway across America, 1,700 miles from Nashville to Phoenix, to raise awareness for foster kids” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times
by Nancy Koehn
“What do such disparate figures have in common? Why do their extraordinary stories continue to amaze and inspire? In her “enthralling…fascinating look at a varied group of heroes” (Publishers Weekly), Nancy Koehn offers a remarkable template by which to measure our aspirations and, also, to judge those in our time to whom we’ve given our trust.
Featuring ‘five stand-alone case studies that are well-written and interesting’ (The New York Times), Koehn begins each section by showing her protagonist on the precipice of a great crisis: Shackleton marooned on an Antarctic ice floe; Lincoln on the verge of seeing the Union collapse; escaped slave Douglass facing possible capture; Bonhoeffer agonizing over how to counter absolute evil with faith; Carson racing against the cancer ravaging her in a bid to save the planet. Readers then learn about each person’s childhood and see the individual growing—step by step—into the person he or she will ultimately become.
Significantly, as we follow each leader’s against-all-odds journey, we begin to glean an essential truth: leaders are not born but made. In a book dense with epiphanies, the most galvanizing one may be that the power and courage to lead resides in each of us” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
-posted by Kevin Purtell & Gretchen Schneider
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Fall Nightstand Event 2017
During the fall “What’s on Your Nightstand” event at the Des Plaines campus, the following books were discussed.
Remember, if Oakton doesn’t own the book or our copy is checked out, you can request a copy to be sent from one of our consortium libraries for FREE! Most books take less than a week to arrive.
Fiction
Behold the Dreamers
by Imbolo Mbue
“Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty—and Jende is eager to please. Clark’s wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses’ summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future.
However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ facades.
When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Let Me Wake
by Adrienne Stoltz and Ron Bass
“What if you could dream your way into a different life?
Sloane is a straight-A student from a small coastal town. Maggie is a glamorously independent up-and-coming actress in New York. The two girls couldn’t be more different—except for one thing
At night, they dream they’re each other. They live each other’s lives, they know each other’s secrets.
They each fall in love. But their two lives have never converged—until now. Which life is just a dream? Which is real?
Eventually, they will have to figure out the answer, or risk spiraling into insanity. But for one girl, that means giving up everything—her life, her love, herself—just when she finally has something worth holding on to” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Little Fires Everywhere
by Celeste Ng
“In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned—from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.
Enter Mia Warren—an enigmatic artist and single mother—who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.
When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town—and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Nonfiction
World’s Strongest Librarian: A Book Lover’s Adventure
by Josh Hanagarne
“Josh Hanagarne couldn’t be invisible if he tried. Although he wouldn’t officially be diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome until his freshman year of high school, Josh was six years old when he first began exhibiting symptoms. When he was twenty and had reached his towering height of 6’7”, his tics escalated to nightmarish levels. Determined to conquer his affliction, Josh tried countless remedies, with dismal results. At last, an eccentric, autistic strongman taught Josh how to “throttle” his tics into submission using increasingly elaborate feats of strength. What started as a hobby became an entire way of life–and an effective way of managing his disorder.
Today, Josh is a librarian at Salt Lake City’s public library and founder of a popular blog about books and weight lifting–and the proud father of five-year-old Max. Funny and offbeat, The World’s Strongest Librarian traces this unlikely hero as he attempts to overcome his disability, find love, and create a life worth living” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Heal Your Body: The Mental Causes for Physical Illness and the Metaphysical Way To Overcome Them
by Louise Hay
“This handy ‘little blue book’ offers positive new thought patterns to replace negative emotions. It includes an alphabetical chart of physical ailments, the probable causes, and healing affirmations to help you eliminate old patterns.” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Truth and Beauty: A Friendship
by Ann Patchett
“Ann Patchett and the late Lucy Grealy met in college in 1981, and, after enrolling in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, began a friendship that would be as defining to both of their lives as their work. In Grealy’s critically acclaimed memoir, Autobiography of a Face, she wrote about losing part of her jaw to childhood cancer, years of chemotherapy and radiation, and endless reconstructive surgeries. In Truth & Beauty, the story isn’t Lucy’s life or Ann’s life, but the parts of their lives they shared. This is a portrait of unwavering commitment that spans twenty years, from the long winters of the Midwest, to surgical wards, to book parties in New York. Through love, fame, drugs, and despair, this is what it means to be part of two lives that are intertwined . . . and what happens when one is left behind.
This is a tender, brutal book about loving the person we cannot save. It is about loyalty, and being lifted up by the sheer effervescence of someone who knew how to live life to the fullest” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Go for It!: Success Tips
by Lee Ann Piano
“Life is about dreaming, doing and enjoying the process. Sometimes it might seem as if your dreams are impossible, or there are too many obstacles standing in your way, or you’ve missed your window of opportunity. But the Go For It!: Success Tips can catapult your dreams into reality!” (Descriptive content provided by Amazon).
-posted by Gretchen Schneider
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Summer Nightstand Titles
During the summer “What’s on Your Nightstand” event at the Des Plaines campus, the following books were discussed.
Remember, if Oakton doesn’t own the book or our copy is checked out, you can request a copy to be sent from one of our consortium libraries for FREE! Most books take less than a week to arrive.
Nonfiction
The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit
by Michael Finkel
“In 1986, a shy and intelligent twenty-year-old named Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the forest. He would not have a conversation with another human being until nearly three decades later, when he was arrested for stealing food.
Living in a tent even through brutal winters, he had survived by his wits and courage, developing ingenious ways to store edibles and water, and to avoid freezing to death. He broke into nearby cottages for food, clothing, reading material, and other provisions, taking only what he needed but terrifying a community never able to solve the mysterious burglaries.
Based on extensive interviews with Knight himself, this is a vividly detailed account of his secluded life—why did he leave? what did he learn?—as well as the challenges he has faced since returning to the world. It is a gripping story of survival that asks fundamental questions about solitude, community, and what makes a good life, and a deeply moving portrait of a man who was determined to live his own way, and succeeded” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives
by Martin Ganda and Caitlin Alifrenka
“The true story of an all-American girl and a boy from Zimbabwe and the letter that changed both of their lives forever.
It started as an assignment. Everyone in Caitlin’s class wrote to an unknown student somewhere in a distant place.
Martin was lucky to even receive a pen-pal letter. There were only ten letters, and fifty kids in his class. But he was the top student, so he got the first one.
That letter was the beginning of a correspondence that spanned six years and changed two lives.
In this compelling dual memoir, Caitlin and Martin recount how they became best friends—and better people—through their long-distance exchange. Their story will inspire you to look beyond your own life and wonder about the world at large and your place in it” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
It Looked Different on the Model
by Laurie Notaro
“Everyone’s favorite Idiot Girl, Laurie Notaro, is just trying to find the right fit, whether it’s in the adorable blouse that looks charming on the mannequin but leaves her in a literal bind or in her neighborhood after she’s shamefully exposed at a holiday party by delivering a low-quality rendition of ‘Jingle Bells.’
Notaro makes misstep after riotous misstep as she shares tales of marriage and family, including stories about the dog-bark translator that deciphers Notaro’s and her husband’s own ‘woofs’ a little too accurately, the emails from her mother with ‘FWD’ in the subject line (‘which in email code means Forecasting World Destruction’), and the dead-of-night shopping sprees and Devil Dog-devouring monkeyshines of a creature known as ‘Ambien Laurie.’ At every turn, Notaro’s pluck and irresistible candor set the New York Times bestselling author on a journey that’s laugh-out-loud funny and utterly unforgettable” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss One Song at a Time
by Rob Sheffield
“Mix tapes: Stick one into a deck and you’re transported to another time in your life. For Rob Sheffield, author of Turn Around Bright Eyes that time was one of miraculous love and unbearable grief. A time that spanned seven years, it started when he met the girl of his dreams, and ended when he watched her die in his arms.
Using the listings of fifteen of his favorite mix tapes, Rob shows that the power of music to build a bridge between people is stronger than death. You’ll read these words, perhaps surprisingly, with joy in your heart and a song in your head—the one that comes to mind when you think of the love of your life” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love and Karaoke
by Rob Sheffield
“Once upon a time I was falling apart. Now I’m always falling in love.
Pick up the microphone.
When Rob Sheffield moved to New York City in the summer of 2001, he was a young widower trying to start a new life in a new town. Behind, in the past, was his life as a happily married rock critic, with a wife he adored, and a massive collection of mix tapes that captured their life together. And then, in a flash, all he had left were the tapes.
Beyonce, Bowie, Bon Jovi, Benatar . . .
One night, some friends dragged him to a karaoke bar in the West Village. A night out was a rare occasion for Rob back then.
Turn around
Somehow, that night in a karaoke bar turned into many nights, in many karaoke bars. Karaoke became a way out, a way to escape the past, a way to be someone else if only for the span of a three-minute song. Discovering the sublime ridiculousness of karaoke, despite the fact that he couldn’t carry a tune, he began to find his voice.
Turn around
And then the unexpected happened. A voice on the radio got Rob’s attention. The voice came attached to a woman who was unlike anyone he’d ever met before. A woman who could name every constellation in the sky, and every Depeche Mode B side. A woman who could belt out a mean Bonnie Tyler.
Bright Eyes
Turn Around Bright Eyes is an emotional journey of hilarity and heartbreak with a karaoke soundtrack. It’s a story about finding the courage to move on, clearing your throat, and letting it rip. It’s a story about navigating your way through adult romance. And it’s a story about how songs get tangled up in our deepest emotions, evoking memories of the past while inspiring hope for the future” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
Grant
by Ron Chernow
The author of Hamilton and Washington has written a new biography about Ulysses S. Grant to be published in the fall.
“Ulysses S. Grant’s life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman, or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War. But these stereotypes don’t come close to capturing him, as Chernow sows in his masterful biography, the first to provide a complete understanding of the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency.
Before the Civil War, Grant was flailing. His business ventures had ended dismally, and despite distinguished service in the Mexican War he ended up resigning from the army in disgrace amid recurring accusations of drunkenness. But in war, Grant began to realize his remarkable potential, soaring through the ranks of the Union army, prevailing at the battle of Shiloh and in the Vicksburg campaign, and ultimately defeating the legendary Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Along the way, Grant endeared himself to President Lincoln and became his most trusted general and the strategic genius of the war effort. Grant’s military fame translated into a two-term presidency, but one plagued by corruption scandals involving his closest staff members.
More important, he sought freedom and justice for black Americans, working to crush the Ku Klux Klan and earning the admiration of Frederick Douglass, who called him ‘the vigilant, firm, impartial, and wise protector of my race.’ After his presidency, he was again brought low by a dashing young swindler on Wall Street, only to resuscitate his image by working with Mark Twain to publish his memoirs, which are recognized as a masterpiece of the genre” (book details from Barnes & Noble).
Fiction
Homegoing: A Novel
by Yaa Gyasi
“Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle’s dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast’s booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery.
One thread of Homegoing follows Effia’s descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nati
ons wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, Homegoing makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.
Generation after generation, Yaa Gyasi’s magisterial first novel sets the fate of the individual
against the obliterating movements of time, delivering unforgettable characters whose lives were shaped by historical forces beyond their control” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos: A Novel
by Dominic Smith
“Amsterdam, 1631: Sara de Vos becomes the first woman to be admitted as a master painter to the city’s Guild of St. Luke. Though women do not paint landscapes (they are generally restricted to indoor subjects), a wintry outdoor scene haunts Sara: She cannot shake the i
mage of a young girl from a nearby village, standing alone beside a silver birch at dusk, staring out at a group of skaters on the frozen river below. Defying the expectations of her time, she decides to paint it.
New York City, 1957: The only known surviving work of Sara de Vos, At the Edge of a Wood, hangs in the bedroom of a wealthy Manhattan lawyer, Marty de Groot, a descendant of the original owner. It is a beautiful but comfortless landscape. The lawyer’s marriage is prominent but comfortless, too. When a struggling art history grad student, Ellie Shipley, agrees to forge the painting for a dubious art dealer, she finds herself entangled with its owner in ways no one could predict.
Sydney, 2000: Now a celebrated art historian and curator, Ellie Shipley is mounting an exhibition in her field of specialization: female painters of the Dutch Golden Age. When it becomes ap
parent that both the original At the Edge of a Wood and her forgery are en route to her museum, the life she has carefully constructed threatens to unravel entirely and irrevocably” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
No One is Coming to Save Us
by Stephanie Powell Watts
This book was named the first ALA Book Central choice.
“JJ Ferguson has returned home to Pinewood, North Carolina, to build his dream house and to pursue his high school sweetheart, Ava. But as he reenters his former world, where factories are in decline and the legacy of Jim Crow is still felt, he’s startled to find that the people he once kne
w and loved have changed just as much as he has. Ava is now married and desperate for a baby, though she can’t seem to carry one to term. Her husband, Henry, has grown distant, frustrated by the demise of the furniture industry, which has outsourced to China and stripped the area of jobs. Ava’s mother, Sylvia, caters to and meddles with the lives of those around her, trying to fill the void left by her absent son. And Don, Sylvia’s unworthy but charming husband, just won’t stop hanging around.
JJ’s return—and his plans to build a huge mansion overlooking Pinewood and woo Ava—not only unsettles their family, but stirs up the entire town. The ostentatious wealth that JJ has attained forces everyone to consider the cards they’ve been dealt, what more they want and deserve, and how they might go about getting it. Can they reorient their lives to align with their wishes rather than their current realities? Or are they all already resigned to the rhythms of the particular lives they lead?” (Descriptive content provided by Syndetics).
It Takes a Village
by Hillary Clinton
illustrations by Marla Frazee
This book is coming out September 12, 2017.
“Inspired by the themes of her classic bestselling book It Takes a Village, Secretary of State and Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton’s first picture book tells a heartwarming and universal story of how a community coming together can make a difference. All kinds of people working together, playing together, and living together makes their village a better place and many villages coming together can make a better world.A children’s version of Secretary Clinton’s best-seller that is coming out in the fall” (book details from Barnes & Noble).
—posted by Gretchen Schneider
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