“Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude”
(From “As You Like It” by William Shakespeare, Act II, Scene VII)
In past eons, the earth without ice was not a particularly habitable place for humans. It was a scene of relentless volcanism, vast continental swamps and humid rainforests that extended as far south as Antarctica. We are currently in a very different age, the Holocene, represented by the ebb and flow of massive ice sheets. This age may rapidly be coming to an end, replaced by something many scientists call the Anthropocene. Recent books examine both the influence of the ice age on human culture and also what its absence portends. It may soon be a very strange world indeed. Continue reading “Literary Links: The Legacy of Ice”
Welcome back to another post for our monthly nonfiction roundup! Look below for some suggested titles to put on hold and check our catalog for a more extensive list. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: November 2019”
The end of fall and beginning of winter is generally a slow time for publishing, as evidenced by this month’s small list of titles by debut authors. There aren’t too many more than the ones here, but if you’re interested in a (slightly) longer list of debut titles for November, please visit our catalog. Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: November 2019”
The concept of dystopian living is pretty scary stuff. You know, because everything is generally horrible. But there are some dystopian visions that lean more overtly into horror as a genre than others. Supernatural elements combine with, or are the cause of, some sort of societal collapse or takeover. The horror is doubled! For this Halloween, let’s have a look at some of the spookier takes on dystopian worlds.
Can you imagine if a technology company could link users’ emails, social media accounts, banking, and purchasing with a universal operating system? I know, it sounds totally far fetched. Well, this crazy idea is what Dave Eggers explores in “The Circle.” Mae Holland is hired to work for the world’s most powerful tech company, the Circle. The idyllic corporate campus starts to reveal itself to be more of a creepy totalitarian compound. Continue reading “Know Your Dystopias: Halloween Edition!”
K.L. Harris is a Columbia, MO author who just came out with her debut book, “Equillian’s Key.” The book is the first in her fantasy adventure series, Archives of the Night-Watchers, and it introduces us to the nautical world of Equillian, where magic is outlawed, pirates plague the seas, and the fates of humankind are destined by the stars. You can find out more about the book on her website, where she has a book trailer, picture boards and even some additional short stories about the world of Equillian. I recently emailed some interview questions to her and she was kind enough to take time out of her schedule to write back some answers. Continue reading “Author Interview: K.L. Harris”
The August 19, 2019 edition of “High Country News,” the award-winning magazine that has been reporting on the American West since 1970, reported the news for 2068. Conceding that “Global warming is a human-caused phenomenon that exceeds the human capacity for understanding” the editorial staff decided to try
an imaginative experiment and publish an issue of “speculative journalism.” For the issue, writers read research papers, interviewed scientists and used the projections of the Fourth National Climate Assessment as a starting point. Each piece imagines what the West would look like 50 years from the release of that climate assessment.
The cover story for the September 23, 2019 issue of “Time Magazine” dedicated to climate change is titled, “Hello From the Year 2050. We Avoided the Worst of Climate Change — But Everything Is Different.” In it, Bill McKibben writes a report from the future that suggests a path for hope, but not without significant loss and disruption. Continue reading “Know Your Dystopias: Speculative Nonfiction”
Here are just a few of the books by debut authors that are being published this October. As our long-awaited fall weather moves in, these are best enjoyed curled up under a blanket with a hot beverage and the furry animal of your choice. For a longer list, don’t forget to visit our catalog.
“The Library of the Unwritten” by A. J. Hackwith
Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing — a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.
But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil’s Bible. The text of the Devil’s Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell … and Earth. Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: October 2019”
I have five older siblings. Yet it wasn’t until I came along that my parents had to create specific rules around tree climbing and how high was too high. A line of trees stood along the border of our modest back yard. I loved to scramble up in their branches and gaze out on my surroundings. My love of trees never waned, though I haven’t climbed one lately. Here’s a book list for my fellow enthusiasts. Continue reading “Tree Affection”
As the nights get longer and colder, readers often crave books that remind them of the many terrors thriving in the dark. Such readers have likely read dozens of books about ghosts, draculas and biting corpses, but it’s possible they’ve never read about a detective who, after removing his hand to get out of a sticky situation, is essentially kidnapped by a cult composed of folk who love to lop of portions of their body. These practitioners of unnecessary amputations believe one becomes more holy with each part one removes, and while there’s debate about whether it’s fair to count the removal of two fingers as two amputations, their biggest problem, other than their shared psychosis and the damage it’s inflicted to their bodies, is a crime they need solved. So when they hear about the detective who performed his own amputation and cauterization, they’re convinced he’s the man for the job. Even for a book about a cult that cuts each other’s body parts off, there’s quite a few body parts getting sawed off, but there’s also a lot of dark, ultra-dry humor. If you need your reads not to unsettle your stomach and to answer the bulk of your questions, this book (“Last Days” by Brian Evenson) may not be for you. Continue reading “The Gentleman Recommends: Brian Evenson”
In 1959, several mid-Missouri library districts formed the Daniel Boone Regional Library (DBRL) system. Our early collection contained 51,839 printed books and 280,940 items were checked out annually. 60 years later, DBRL continues to serve Boone and Callaway Counties with libraries in Ashland, Columbia, Fulton and Holts Summit. The bookmobile visits other communities in the two-county area, and our Book Bike and Book Rover can often be seen at local events. Across these branches, the DBRL system now houses 403,871 printed books. Changing technology has brought new formats like eBooks and audiobooks. With this expansion of services, the number of annual check-outs has climbed to 2,318,218. To celebrate our anniversary, we’re highlighting some titles that have continued to fly off the shelves over the years. Continue reading “Bestsellers Through the Decades: Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of DBRL”
