This September, our community will have the chance to dive into a work of true crime that explores a dark chapter of U.S. history involving the murder of Osage Indians in 1920s Oklahoma. David Grann’s National Book Award finalist, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI” beat out “News of the World,” a post-Civil War historical fiction by Paulette Jiles, when both titles were put to a public vote earlier this year.
Before the vote, a reading panel of community members considered 10 books in all. The list included science fiction, westerns and nonfiction and addressed a wide array of timely topics, from race to consumer habits to mortality. Here is an overview of the remaining eight finalists. Continue reading “Literary Links: One Read Finalists 2018”
“Stealing All Transmissions: A Secret History of the Clash”
Music elicits a visceral reaction, especially music that falls under the broad umbrella of pop and rock. It’s loud and raucous, meant to get you out of your seat and to irritate your parents. Whether it’s the beat, the melody or some sick guitar shredding, something flips our normal mode of operation as our intellect and ego become subservient to our ID. So it’s understandable if the idea of quietly reading a book about this music seems too tame. But books about our pop and rock icons can be as thrilling as they are interesting. They provide a window into the craft of the music, but also the cultural moment it was created in. With decades of quality writing on pop music, a comprehensive list of the best this genre has to offer would be insurmountable. Instead, and in the creative spirit of music itself, I offer you a highly subjective list of recommendations of books that I’ve either read and loved or that linger tantalizingly on my “To Be Read” shelf.
Music fans can develop strong feelings about their favorite bands, and music collectors can get downright obsessive. “Do Not Sell at Any Price” explores the subculture of 78 rpm record collecting. Amanda Petrusich’s book evokes the thrill of the hunt for these collectors while also broadening the discussion to cultural appropriation and the romanticization of history. Continue reading “These Books go to Eleven: Recommended Readings on Rock and Pop Music”
As I am writing this blog, sheets of rain are pouring down — the perfect time to talk about or read a mystery. Read Harder 2018 challenges you to read a mystery by a person of color and/or a LGTBQ author, and I have a few to recommend. We have a more extensive list in our catalog if none of these make you want to curl up under your covers with a cup of hot tea.
If you like the mystery genre, but feel the stories are all starting to sound the same, try Rachel Howzell Hall’s “The Land of Shadows.” Hall begins this series about Detective Lou Norton, a female detective who is investigating the death of a 17-year-old girl in gritty South Los Angeles. The death of this girl strangely mirrors the disappearance of Norton’s teenage sister 25 years ago. The author really shines in the development of her characters and the community in which they live. With snappy dialogue, brisk pacing and just enough plot twists, this is a refreshing new voice in the police procedural. Continue reading “A Mystery By a Person of Color or LGBTQ+: Read Harder 2018”
Here is a quick look at the most noteworthy nonfiction titles being released this June. Visit our catalog for a more extensive list.
TOP PICKS
“First in Line” by Kate Anderson Brower, the best-selling author of “First Women” and “The Residence,” explores the lives and roles of 13 vice presidents of the modern era, from Richard Nixon to Mike Pence, discussing the complicated relationship between president and vice president and how this connection influenced each vice president’s political future.
For all the scores of biographies of Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the most famous detective in the world, there is no recent book that tells this remarkable story — in which Conan Doyle becomes a real-life detective on an actual murder case. In “Conan Doyle for the Defense”, Margalit Fox takes us step by step inside Conan Doyle’s investigative process and illuminates a murder mystery that is also a morality play for our time — a story of ethnic, religious and anti-immigrant bias. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: June 2018”
It’s an exciting evening for pre-history buffs, as they flock to a 3-D screening of the movie “Pangea: the Biggest Breakup in History.” The event has been organized by a local scientist, Dr. Viola Figueroa. Unfortunately, she is unable to attend, having taken ill. In her place, she has sent her nephew Alfredo. He arrives at the last minute, flustered, clutching a list of written instructions that he has not yet had time to read.
As the lights dim and the movie begins, a narrator’s voice says, “Prepare to journey more than 250 million years into the past, to a time when the earth contained only one supercontinent, known as Pangea.” Dozens of large dragonflies dart right out of the screen and the audience gasps in amazement at the realistic effects.
A buzz of cicadas fills the air, while huge ferny plants appear all around. Audience members realize they are no longer in theater seats, but rather are perched on rocks or sitting flat on the ground. Colorful beetles scurry about, and in the distance a lizard-like animal with a fin on its back lumbers between the trees. This is no mere movie. Continue reading “Escape Room: Breaking Up Pangea”
The Columbia City Cemetery is the oldest and longest running business in Columbia. Burials began as early as 1821. The original entrance to the cemetery was actually on the east side where Locust Street becomes the entrance of Lucky’s Market. You will notice that most of the stones face the east. It was much later that the current entrance on the north side — off Broadway — became the main entrance. The cemetery’s original gates were removed and placed at the entrance of what is now the Maplewood Home in Nifong Park.
Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 by Decimal Diver
The Star Trek franchise launched in the 1960s, giving viewers a unique view of our culture as reflected through science fiction. The actors who have portrayed characters on Star Trek have themselves lived interesting lives due to the cultural influence of their work. Check out these documentaries featuring actors from the Star Trek franchise. Continue reading “Act Long & Prosper: Docs Featuring Actors From Star Trek”
Beginning May 22, PBS is hosting The Great American Read, “an eight-part series that explores and celebrates the power of reading, told through the prism of America’s 100 best-loved novels.” (Sorry nonfiction readers.) To choose the 100 novels, a public opinion poll surveyed approximately 7,200 people and the list was narrowed to the top 100 responses, filtering for just one title per author and combining series titles into one. You can find the list of 100 here. Over the course of the PBS series, there will be a nationwide vote to choose one book as America’s most loved novel.
I was surprised about many of the books on the list and wondered how in the world they made it. There are many on the list that I love and many that I just really didn’t like. I have seen, in post after post, people say they think they have to read them all. I have personally read 55 of the 100, and I will probably try to read a few more during the course of the series, but I resist the inclination to HAVE to read all of them. There are some that I just have no interest in reading. So, I have come up with a few alternatives. Continue reading “The Great American Read: Some Alternate Reads”
The Friends of the Historic Columbia Cemetery will be hosting their second annual History Comes Alive event on Memorial Day, May 28 from 1-4 p.m. Seven different “well-knowns” who are buried in the cemetery will come alive in monologues given by local actors. Chris Campbell, executive director of the Boone County History and Culture Center, wrote the scripts for these actors. In charge of costuming for the event is Monica McMurry of the Stephens College Theatre Department.
