This month there’s an abundance of debut novels being published. Here are just a few of the most noteworthy in the bunch. For a complete list, please visit our catalog.
“The Conductors” by Nicole Glover
Hetty Rhodes and her husband, Benjy, were Conductors on the Underground Railroad, ferrying dozens of slaves to freedom with daring, cunning and magic that draws its power from the constellations. With the war over, those skills find new purpose as they solve mysteries and murders that white authorities would otherwise ignore.
In the heart of Philadelphia’s Seventh Ward, everyone knows that when there’s a strange death or magical curses causing trouble, Hetty and Benjy are the only ones that can solve the case. But when an old friend is murdered, their investigation stirs up a wasp nest of intrigue, lies, and long-buried secrets — and a mystery unlike anything they handled before. With a clever, cold-blooded killer on the prowl testing their magic and placing their lives at risk, Hetty and Benjy will discover how little they really know about their neighbors … and themselves. Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: March 2021”
Where has the time gone?! It’s been over a year (again) since the last installment of this series. If you’ve been out of the loop, DC comics has undergone yet another revamp over the past few years. Many of our beloved characters have begun anew, with changes small and large made to their characters. Therefore, I hereby christen this the resurrection of Quintessential Comics! With the theme of beginning anew in mind, this list will focus on the event in DC Comics known as Rebirth. Rebirth follows the conclusion of the New 52 series in the comic universe, and showcases all of your favorite DC characters, aiming to return them to a more familiar status quo, while also attempting to rectify the events of post-Flashpoint and Post-Crisis events. Did any of that make sense? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, here we go!
DC Universe Rebirth Omnibus
If you’re looking for a place to get started with all of this craziness, why not here? This omnibus takes many of the individual fan-favorite series pertaining to Rebirth and crams them all into one epic book. The premise of the story is that the universe’s heroes have no recollection of the past 10 years of the timeline and only the return of Wally West, the Kid Flash, reminds them of what they have lost. This book features entire teams of characters, from the Justice League to the Teen Titans, so you’re sure to be entertained. There might even be some twists that pertain to other DC owned properties! This entry will function as more of a catch-all for the main story of the event. Therefore, it won’t focus on individual characters’ story-lines too much. If you don’t want to spend time reading every issue that connected to this event and just want to jump in, this is the one you want! Continue reading “Quintessential Comics: Rebirth”
Now that’s it’s Spring (almost) publishing is picking up and there are a lot of new book releases to look forward to! 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 eAudiobook format (as available). For a more extensive list of new nonfiction books coming out this month, check our online catalog.
Top Picks
“Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine” by Olivia Campbell (Mar 2)
In the early 1800s, women were dying in large numbers from treatable diseases because they avoided receiving medical care. Examinations performed by male doctors were often demeaning and even painful. In addition, women faced stigma from illness — a diagnosis could greatly limit their ability to find husbands, jobs or be received in polite society. Motivated by personal loss and frustration over inadequate medical care, Elizabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Sophia Jex-Blake fought for a woman’s place in the male-dominated medical field. For the first time ever, “Women in White Coats” tells the complete history of these three pioneering women who, despite countless obstacles, earned medical degrees and paved the way for other women to do the same. Though very different in personality and circumstance, together these women built women-run hospitals and teaching colleges — creating for the first time medical care for women by women. With gripping storytelling based on extensive research and access to archival documents, “Women in White Coats” tells the courageous history these women made by becoming doctors, detailing the boundaries they broke of gender and science to reshape how we receive medical care today. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: March 2021”
As we continue to celebrate the joys of winter, one requisite stop has to be the province of home cookery. Cold weather begs us to fire up our stoves and ovens. A heavy snow is incomplete without marshmallows melting in hot chocolate. If you’re not ready to slow cook a roast in the crock pot now, then when will you ever? Winter cries out for comfort food. When I speak of comfort food, I speak not only of the nurture of one’s body, but of one’s soul.
The Oxford Languages dictionary defines comfort food as “food that provides consolation or a feeling of well-being, typically any with a high sugar or other carbohydrate content and associated with childhood or home cooking.” While I would never disparage the power of carbohydrates to put a person into a satisfying state of oblivion, this definition seems a little limited. Continue reading “Comforts of the Kitchen”
Here are just a few of the many novels by debut authors that are coming to our shelves in February. For a complete list, please visit our catalog.
“Winter’s Orbit” by Everina Maxwell
A famously disappointing minor royal and the Emperor’s least favorite grandchild, Prince Kiem is summoned before the Emperor and commanded to renew the empire’s bonds with its newest vassal planet. The prince must marry Count Jainan, the recent widower of another royal prince of the empire.
But Jainan suspects his late husband’s death was no accident. And Prince Kiem discovers Jainan is a suspect himself. But broken bonds between the Empire and its vassal planets leaves the entire empire vulnerable, so together they must prove that their union is strong while uncovering a possible conspiracy.
Their successful marriage will align conflicting worlds.
Their failure will be the end of the empire.
Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: February 2021”
As a fan of scary things that can’t hurt me, I’m always on the hunt for thrilling books and chilling portraits. When you regularly devote hours of your life to consuming media meant to disturb you, you begin to see a pattern in what is collectively considered spooky. Sure, we’d all prefer to avoid vampires and haunted dolls, but often the most chilling foes are more common (not to diminish the haunted doll population, which does seem to be getting out of hand, and is certainly too large at any non-zero number). I’m referring, naturally, to children and forests. And before a parent or park ranger takes offense, certainly children and forests can be both worthy of devotion and majestic, but once they get creepy, they can get really dang creepy. Continue reading “The Gentleman Recommends: Zoje Stage”
I’m beginning to feel an extreme wanderlust! We usually take at least two trips a year — one as a family vacation during the summer and one to visit distant relatives over the holidays. But since last March, four days in the Mark Twain Forest has been the extent of our travels. It was lovely but I need more. Since we can’t travel physically, I thought I would try to tour the country through literature. Every month, I plan on choosing a book per state and “travel” the country region by region. I’m going to begin in the Deep South. Continue reading “Travel Through Story: The Deep South”
My two kids grew up in a house filled with small pets, most adopted due to the pleading of said children. We’ve had cats, rats, gerbils, fish and a hedgehog, and loved them all, even during the times when it felt like we were making a second home at the veterinary clinic. In honor of National Love Your Pet Day on the 20th of this month, here’s a list of books by or about veterinarians.
“A Handful of Happiness” is a sweet little memoir written by Italian large animal vet Massimo Vacchetta, with Antonella Tomaselli, and translated by Jamie Richards. Vacchetta felt unfulfilled in a job dealing almost exclusively with livestock. Then someone brought him an orphaned baby hedgehog, a creature that quickly took over his life and heart. Pretty soon, he’d rescued a second hedgehog, and a third. Finding a new purpose, he set about establishing a rescue center for the rehabilitation of injured and ill hedgehogs, releasing them back to the wild when possible. Continue reading “Literary Links: Pets and Veterinarians”
I read to my Mom on a weekly basis. (This can be done virtually through various video communication platforms such as Zoom or Duo or Facetime.) She has Alzheimer’s and vision issues. Reading aloud is something I can share with her and it makes us both feel good. She enjoyed the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, but we’ve read every one her caregivers and I could find. Because of her memory issues, reading a novel is out of the question. Recently I discovered “The Bake Sale.” It is the story of a grandmother whose 4-year-old granddaughter helps her bake cookies for a church bake sale. They have fun baking cookies, packaging them and taking them to the church. There, they purchase other baked goods for themselves. This is a short, upbeat story with an uncomplicated plot, simple language and a satisfying ending. It includes lovely photographs of a child and cookies. After reading we ate cookies and I shared a story about making cookies with my younger sisters when we were kids. This book was written specifically for adults with Alzheimer’s but the format was very similar to a book for a child. Continue reading “Picture Books For Everyone”
Join us to discuss “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” by Thomas C. Foster. Recognizing that a shared understanding of literature can serve as a cultural bond, Foster, professor emeritus of English at the University of Michigan, uses colorful language and storytelling to help interpret themes, concepts and symbols commonly found in literature, offering the reader roadmaps to help uncover hidden truths, just as a professor would. A fun read that does not present like a textbook, this book provides a solid and in-depth look into symbolism and other literary elements. This book is a great source of insight into becoming a better reader and a helpful reference in the process of writing. An extra treat is the bibliography that provides a great catalog of classics to read. Check out this list for other books that can help you improve your reading.
This discussion is geared for adults. Please register to get a link for this program.
