Reader Review: Dear Martin

Posted on Thursday, June 20, 2019 by patron reviewer

Dear Martin” is about a high school senior, Justyce McAllister, and the issues he faces with racism as a black student attending a predominately white college prep school. He is a smart student but still encounters unjust suspicion and prejudice from fellow white students and members of the community, especially the police. Justyce writes letters to Martin Luther King, Jr in his journal in an effort to sort through his thoughts and find answers. This book is timely and relevant to issues we currently face in America today. It is a believable story that could easily be made into a movie.

Three words that describe this book: relevant, timely, believable

You might want to pick this book up if: You are a teen or you enjoyed the book “The Hate U Give.”

-Anonymous

Happy Audiobook Appreciation Month!

Posted on Monday, June 17, 2019 by Reading Addict

"His Master's Voice"
“His Master’s Voice, by Francis Barraud [Public domain]
OK, so “Audiobook Appreciation Month” doesn’t just roll off the tongue, but the sentiment is real. School’s out and it’s time for vacations. (Don’t make me come back there!) So it’s handy that June is also Audiobook Appreciation Month. You can make the miles fly by with a great audio book. Or you can make the time doing chores more interesting.

I have learned to love audio books, and I listen to them all the time now. I first started listening to them during long car trips with the kids, so naturally some of my very favorites are kid’s books. But don’t be afraid to grab a kid’s book for yourself. One of my favorites is The Bad Beginningby Lemony Snickett. It tells the story of three orphans who go to live with a greedy uncle who has designs on their fortune. There is incredible misfortune and a deep dark mystery to be solved but the children are strong, intelligent and brave. And with the audio book, how can you go wrong with Tim Curry as the narrator? And this is just the first book in a 13 book series. Continue reading “Happy Audiobook Appreciation Month!”

Debut Author Spotlight: June 2019

Posted on Friday, June 14, 2019 by Katherine

Summer reading is here and it’s not just for the kids! If you’re searching for books to fill those long summer days, look no further. These are just a few of the novels by debut authors finding a home on our shelves this month. Don’t forget to visit our catalog to see the rest.

Evvie Drake Starts Over” by Linda Holmes

In a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth “Evvie” Drake rarely leaves her large, painfully empty house nearly a year after her husband’s death in a car crash. Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesn’t correct them.

Meanwhile, in New York City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andy’s childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the “yips”: he can’t throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can’t figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button on Dean’s future.

When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house, the two make a deal: Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s late husband, and Evvie won’t ask about Dean’s baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken—and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. To move forward, Evvie and Dean will have to reckon with their pasts—the friendships they’ve damaged, the secrets they’ve kept—but in life, as in baseball, there’s always a chance—up until the last out.

Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: June 2019”

Reader Review: The Invention of Nature

Posted on Thursday, June 13, 2019 by patron reviewer

"The Invention of Nature" Book CoverThe Invention of Nature” is about Alexander von Humboldt, one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century. He influenced Darwin, George Perkins Marsh and John Muir, among many others. He developed the idea of the interconnectedness of all life on earth and with non-living geologic and meteorologic forces. He recognized early during Industrialization some of the future consequences we would be dealing with today. The book is well-written, thoroughly researched, and written in an easily readable style. Author Andrea Wulf brings Humboldt and his adventures to life.

Three words that describe this book: Currently applicable history.

You might want to pick this book up if: You’re interested in the origins of climate change and the change in attitudes toward science between the 19th century and early 21st.

-Anonymous

Read Harder 2019: A Translated Book Written and/or Translated by a Woman

Posted on Monday, June 10, 2019 by Ida

Task number 10 on the 2019 Read Harder Challenge is a translated book written and/or translated by a woman. Seeing this challenge listed brought back fond memories of the days I spent immersed in one of my favorite fiction series of the past decade.

My Brilliant FriendMy Brilliant Friend,” written by Elena Ferrante and translated by Ann Goldstein, starts off the “Neapolitan Quartet,” centering on the life-long friendship between two women, Elena and Lila. They meet as children in the 1950s and grow up together in a gritty, impoverished neighborhood in Naples, Italy. This first book follows the pair through childhood to the beginning of their adult years. Elena is the narrator, but Lila is the star. Lila is brilliant in school and full of spark out on the violent streets, fighting back against bullies while living large. Yet for all of Lila’s potential, her options are limited by family and economic circumstance.

Another good option for this challenge is Yoko Tawada’s novel, “The Emissary,” translatedThe Emissary by Margaret Mitsutani, and winner of the 2018 National Book Award for Translated Literature. It’s a dystopian story set in a future Japan, which is cut off from the rest of the world due to an unnamed disaster. Whatever has happened, it has upended the natural order of human life. The very aged are becoming stronger and more vigorous, while children seem to be weak and old.

An Elderly Lady is Up to No GoodMeanwhile, arriving here recently from Sweden is a thin volume of dark humor with a fabulous cover and an aspirational title.  “An Elderly Lady Is up to No Good” contains five related short stories written by  Helene Tursten and translated by Marlaine Delargy. The protagonist, Maud, is an octogenarian who has built a solitary and satisfying life for herself. If only other people didn’t keep getting in the way, requiring her to deal with them in drastic fashion.  Recommended for fans of the classic movie “Arsenic and Old Lace.”  Also recommended that readers keep their aspirations a lot milder than emulating Maud’s solutions.

The Complete Persepolis” combines the first two volumes of Marjane Satrapi’s graphicThe Complete Persepolis memoir about her childhood and young adult years in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution.  Her family is large and full of warmth, but life during cultural upheaval and war is no picnic.  Mattias Ripa translated Part 1 from the original French, and Blake Ferris translated Part 2.

More titles can be found in the DBRL catalog and on Book Riot.

Shiawasena dokusho. Buona lettura. Glad läsning. Bonne lecture. Happy reading.

Literary Links: One Read Finalists 2019

Posted on Sunday, June 9, 2019 by Lauren

Nomadland book coverThis September, our community will hit the road with a group of resilient and resourceful “houseless” Americans traveling from one temporary job to another to make ends meet. “Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century,” a work of immersive journalism by Jessica Bruder, beat out the novel “Sourdough” by Robin Sloan to be named this year’s One Read title.

Before the public vote, a panel of community members considered ten finalist books. This year’s titles sharply reflect current social consciousness and the political issues we are grappling with both locally and nationally.

Far Away Brothers book coverOne issue dominating news headlines is immigration. Lauren Markham’s “The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life” makes intimate and immediate the difficulties of undocumented minors in the Unites States by telling the story of twin brothers who left El Salvador to escape deadly gang violence. The novel “The House of Broken Angels” by Luis Alberto Urrea reflects the immigrant experience with a vibrant family drama. The extended family of patriarch Big Angel de la Cruz gathers in San Diego to mourn the passing of his mother and celebrate one last birthday before Big Angel succumbs to cancer. Sprawling and bittersweet, the story portrays the difficulties of living between cultures and explores a wide range of issues confronted by many American families, including PTSD, opioid addiction, mortality and the glorious mess love can leave in its wake. Continue reading “Literary Links: One Read Finalists 2019”

Nonfiction Roundup: June 2019

Posted on Monday, June 3, 2019 by Liz

A Man on the Moon Photo
Image credit: NASA

Special Edition: Apollo 11

With the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission coming up in July, I thought I’d highlight some books about Apollo 11 released this month. Visit our catalog for a list of additional titles being released this month.

One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon” by Charles Fishman
President John F. Kennedy astonished the world on May 25, 1961, when he announced to Congress that the United States should land a man on the Moon by 1970. No group was more surprised than the scientists and engineers at NASA, who suddenly had less than a decade to invent space travel. When Kennedy announced that goal, no one knew how to navigate to the Moon. No one knew how to build a rocket big enough to reach the Moon, or how to build a computer small enough (and powerful enough) to fly a spaceship there. Charles Fishman introduces readers to the men and women who had to solve 10,000 problems before astronauts could reach the Moon. From the research labs of MIT, where the eccentric and legendary pioneer Charles Draper created the tools to fly the Apollo spaceships, to the factories where dozens of women sewed spacesuits, parachutes and even computer hardware by hand, Fishman captures the exceptional feats of these ordinary Americans. “One Giant Leap” is the captivating story of men and women charged with changing the world as we knew it. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: June 2019”

Staff Book Review: No Exit by Taylor Adams

Posted on Friday, May 31, 2019 by Anne

No Exit by Taylor Adams

Book I Read: No Exit” by Taylor Adams

 

Why I Checked It Out: On a recent trip, I had the chance to drive through the Colorado mountains during the Winter. My experience went quite smoothly, but it was certainly easy to imagine the horror of being isolated in such a remote place during a blinding snowstorm. So when I came across “No Exit,” which has this very premise I had to check it out.

 

What It’s About: During an impromptu trip home to visit her dying mother, a young woman named Darby finds herself stranded at a remote highway rest stop during a blizzard in the Colorado mountains where she makes a horrific discovery — a young child is being held in a cage inside a van. She doesn’t know which of her fellow stranded travelers is the owner of the van, but she knows she must act. What follows are several tense hours as she attempts to save the child, even though she knows they are ultimately trapped with a very dangerous person. Continue reading “Staff Book Review: No Exit by Taylor Adams”

Read Harder 2019 Task #3: A Book by a Woman and/or Author of Color That Won a Literary Award in 2018

Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 by Reading Addict

RCA Records [Public domain]
There is a finite set of books that can fit this task because there are only so many awards given in a year. Hopefully this post will help to expand on some that you may have already seen. With so many people trying to expand their reading with audio books, I thought I would focus on the Audie Awards which are granted for outstanding audio books and spoken word entertainment by the Audio Publishers Association. Not all of these books won the 2018 Audie Award but if they didn’t then they also won another award within 2018.

"Children of Blood and Bone" Book CoverThe Children of Blood and Bone” by Tome Adeyemi is the first in what will be a young adult series.  It is an epic high fantasy about a young girl, her brother and a rogue princess who all fight to return magic to their land. It won the 2019 Audie Award for audio book of the year as well as the Kirkus Prize Nominee for Young Readers’ Literature (2018), and the Goodreads Choice Award for Debut Author and Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2018). Continue reading “Read Harder 2019 Task #3: A Book by a Woman and/or Author of Color That Won a Literary Award in 2018”

Know Your Dystopias: Battle Royale

Posted on Monday, May 27, 2019 by Eric

Imagine you go to school one morning to go on a field trip. Suddenly, you and your classmates wake up on an island. Each of you has an ominous metal collar around your neck. You are told you have to fight each other until only one of you is left alive. If you all refuse to kill each other those collars will start exploding. Worst day of school ever?"Battle Royale Remastered" Book Cover

That is the premise of “Battle Royal” by Koushun Takami. This violent, action-packed novel tinged with teen angst was a controversial and unexpected hit in Japan in 1999. It was even rejected in the final round of the 1997 Japan Horror Fiction Awards because of its controversial content. The book was later adapted into an equally controversial and commercially successful film in 2000. The controversy is understandable, as the subject matter can feel a bit exploitative. The story is a combination of fast-paced thriller and horror story, but there is a dystopian backdrop that also makes it a bit of an allegory, albeit one told with the subtlety of a hammer. Continue reading “Know Your Dystopias: Battle Royale”