Here is a new DVD list highlighting various titles recently added to the library’s collection.
“Past Lives” – Website / Reviews
Two childhood sweethearts, after decades apart, are reunited for one fateful week in New York as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life in this dramatic modern romance.
“Poker Face” – Season 1 – Website / Reviews
A 10-episode mystery-of-the-week series following Natasha Lyonne’s “Charlie”, who has an ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road and encounters strange crimes she can’t help but solve.
“Spider-Man, Across the Spider-Verse” – Website / Reviews
In this animated film, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence.
“Air” – Website / Reviews
A dramatic film revealing the partnership between a then-rookie Michael Jordan and Nike’s fledgling basketball division which revolutionized the world of sports and culture with the Air Jordan brand.
“Joyce Carol Oates: A Body in the Service of Mind” – Website / Reviews
In this documentary literary icon Joyce Carol Oates, author of more than 100 novels, provides rare insight into her life and creative process. Featuring readings by Oscar winner Laura Dern. Continue reading “New DVD List: October 2023”
As fans of the X-Files will remember, “The Truth Is Out There” was a catchphrase for the show. Recently, our government has become more interested in searching for the truth about the possibility of extraterrestrial life and UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena) or UFOs (unidentified flying objects.) Once thought of as largely a conspiracy theory, there has been more attention by Congress on observations reported by reputable professionals, such as military/commercial pilots and other individuals that have a more complex knowledge of what current technology can produce than, well, someone like me.
A recent hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability featured several testimonies from former military pilots with firsthand accounts of UAPs along with testimony from David Grusch, whistleblower and former Defense Department employee. Retired Navy commander David Fravor, the commanding officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 41 in 2004, indicated the observation of an unrecognizable object by himself and his pilots that could rapidly descend from 80,000 to 20,000 feet and hover there for hours. There have been many visual sightings of different unexplained phenomena over the years, and part of the hearing discussed the difficulties with reporting these observations and repercussions for those that do.
Altogether it made very interesting listening, I have never thought a lot about this possibility (except during my children’s teen years). After listening to this thoughtful testimony by reputable professionals, my mind is open to some exploration, and I invite you to do the same. Continue reading “Literary Links: The Truth Is Out There”
When I saw that Box Brown was releasing a book focused on Andy Kaufman, the character that absolutely baffled me when I watched “Saturday Night Live” with my parents growing up, I could not have been more excited. “Is This Guy For Real” did not disappoint. This biography of an avant-garde, easily unlikable, enigma of a performer pulls no punches. Brown doesn’t pretend his subject is perfect, but he also doesn’t let Kaufman fall into the easy label of “stupid weirdo” (I’m looking at you, “Man on the Moon” movie). This book presents Kaufman as what he was: a performer who would stop at nothing to grab the attention of his audience.
It was not lost on me that this novel allowed Brown to return to the world of wrestling in the early days, a venue he was already intimately familiar with from his previous biography on “Andre the Giant,” where the lines between persona and life blurred all too easily. I think it was this knowledge and awareness of kayfabe that allowed Brown to truly reach for the reality of Kaufman’s life rather than falling for the trappings of who he was on TV.
Three words that describe this book: Unique, Honest, Beautiful
You might want to pick this book up if: You’ve ever had questions about the strange man you saw on “SNL.”
-Vera
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading. We will continue to share reviews throughout the year.
“Everything’s Still There” is a beautiful and brutal book that deals with all of the unique pressures that come with being a new mom in the modern era: social media “momfluencers,” mom-shaming, and the continued pressure to ignore post-partum depression. All of this is juxtaposed with insight from a flawed mother recounting raising her children 50 years ago. It also deals beautifully with friendship between women, and the lengths people will go to in order to deal with grief and pretend everything is okay. I found myself unable to put this one down, but sobbing through certain passages.
Three words that describe this book: Heart-breaking, startling, beautiful
You might want to pick this book up if: You like books that explore the dynamics of interpersonal relationships, particularly between women.
-Erin
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading. We will continue to share reviews throughout the year.
Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in October. All of the mentioned titles are available to put on hold in our catalog and will also be made available via the library’s Overdrive website on the day of publication in eBook and downloadable audiobook format (as available). For a more extensive list of new nonfiction books coming out this month, check our online catalog.
Top Picks
“The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA” by Liza Mundy (Oct 17)
Created in the aftermath of World War II, the Central Intelligence Agency relied on women even as it attempted to channel their talents and keep them down. Women sent cables, made dead drops, and maintained the agency’s secrets. Despite discrimination — even because of it — women who started as clerks, secretaries or unpaid spouses rose to become some of the CIA’s shrewdest operatives. They were unlikely spies — and that’s exactly what made them perfect for the role. Because women were seen as unimportant, pioneering female intelligence officers moved unnoticed around Bonn, Geneva and Moscow, stealing secrets from under the noses of their KGB adversaries. Back at headquarters, women built the CIA’s critical archives — first by hand, then by computer. And they noticed things that the men at the top didn’t see. As the CIA faced an identity crisis after the Cold War, it was a close-knit network of female analysts who spotted the rising threat of al-Qaeda — though their warnings were repeatedly brushed aside. After the 9/11 attacks, more women joined the agency as a new job, targeter, came to prominence. They showed that data analysis would be crucial to the post-9/11 national security landscape — an effort that culminated spectacularly in the CIA’s successful effort to track down bin Laden in his Pakistani compound. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: October 2023”
“Love, it seems, arrives not only unannounced, but so accidentally, so randomly, as to make you wonder why you, why anyone, believes even fleetingly in laws of cause and effect.”
So writes Michael Cunningham in his 2014 novel “The Snow Queen.“ It is a gentle novel, the kind that builds slowly, in waves, rather than the kind that whisks you away. But there are moments like this one, observations about love and life that induce a powerful feeling of clarity and reflection, that give the story real weight.
We meet Barrett first, in his own moment of observation. To be more precise, what Barrett observes is a giant light in the sky hovering above Central Park one winter night. The light arrives at a good time — Barrett is recovering from the sudden termination of another relationship, and coping with a general feeling of floundering as an adult human living in the new millennium. The light seems to promise something, though he’s not sure what. At the very least, just bearing witness to such a thing makes him feel like there might be something special, something worth examining about his earthly experience after all. Continue reading “Staff Review: The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham”
A few weeks ago, I started watching the old uncensored versions of Kitchen Nightmares. This led me to finally watch the short BBC series, Boiling Point. The Boiling Point mini-series followed Chef Gordon Ramsay in his quest to be the youngest chef to be awarded three Michelin Stars. And finally, I then became interested in some Gordon Ramsay cookbooks. I knew he had written a few (lol), but they were more mainstream, home-cook fare. Though, while writing this, I did find that he wrote a book about The Aubergine (the restaurant he left before opening Restaurant Gordon Ramsay), but we don’t have it in the collection. Coincidentally, he has a new effort devoted to his first (and best) location, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay; “Restaurant Gordon Ramsay: A Story of Excellence.” (Typical Gordon Ramsay modesty.) Continue reading “Read the Recipe! Gordon Ramsay: A Story of Excellence”
“If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.” ― Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father of the United States
Banned Books Week is upon us once again: October 1-7. The theme chosen this year by the American Library Association (ALA) is “Let Freedom Read” with the slogan “Free People Read Freely.” I love this theme. I love freedom. And really, who doesn’t? Some of our greatest leaders have supported the idea of the freedom to read. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave a commencement address at Dartmouth University on June 14, 1953 in which he said “Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in [sic] your library and read every book…” And from across the aisle, upon signing the amendment to the Library Services Act February 11, 1964, Lyndon B Johnson said “The central fact of our times is this: Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance.” Continue reading “Let Freedom Read!”
After her parents’ deaths, Louise goes back to her home where she must sort out selling their house with her estranged brother, Mark. However, when they ask a real estate agent to come take a look at the house, she refuses to list it because she has a personal policy against selling haunted houses. In order to un-haunt the house, Louise and Mark need to face up to the ghosts of their family’s past, the most vicious of which is Pupkin, their ventriloquist mom’s favorite puppet.
I love how well “How to Sell a Haunted House” dealt with complex family dynamics, and the way family secrets come back to haunt us.
Three words that describe this book: Quirky, complex, emotional
You might want to pick this book up if: You want to read about a post 9/11 radical puppet collective.
-Anonymous
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading. We will continue to share reviews throughout the year.
When A. unexpectedly inherits a ton of money and Axton House, a mysterious mansion in Virginia, from a dead relative he’s never met, it quickly becomes apparent that the house comes with its share of secrets and supernatural occurrences. The house is definitely haunted, but that pales in comparison to the mystery surrounding the secret society that meets there every Winter Solstice. Through a series of clues left by the house’s former owner, A. and his friend Niamh need to uncover what the secret society is chasing. Though the atmosphere is that of a horror novel, the plot of the book is much more mystery-driven.
I read “The Supernatural Enhancements” because it was recommended by the Book Oracle, and it is one of the best book recommendations I have ever gotten. I loved the pace at which the mystery unfolded, which was steady without ever feeling slow. I stayed up well past my bedtime because I could not go to sleep without finishing it (which was always my favorite summer reading feeling as a kid).
Three words that describe this book: Atmospheric, Puzzling, Strange
You might want to pick this book up if: you are looking for something similar to “House of Leaves,” or you like solving puzzles.
-Anonymous
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading. We will continue to share reviews throughout the year.
