Here is a quick look at the most noteworthy nonfiction titles being released this September. Visit our catalog for a more extensive list.
TOP PICKS
Having researched and written about Presidents for decades, it is fair to say that Doris Kearns Goodwin knows what it takes to be a good leader. In “Leadership: In Turbulent Times,” she draws upon the four presidents she has studied most closely — Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson — to show how they recognized leadership qualities within themselves and were recognized as leaders by others. A very good distillation of all things related to leadership.
Lisa Brennan-Jobs, the daughter of artist Chrisann Brennan and Apple founder Steve Jobs, relates her fascinating childhood in “Small Fry.” With a rapidly changing Silicon Valley as the background, this memoir takes a fascinating trip through the ’70s and ’80s and focuses on the authors complicated relationship with her father, one of the richest, most driven men in the world. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: September 2018”
Summer reading may be over, but don’t let that stop you from checking out these books by debut authors. Please visit our catalog for a complete list of titles.
“Vox” by Christina Dalcher
A governmental decree that women will now be limited to no more than 100 words per day is just the beginning. Fitted with wristbands that tally their words and provide shocks for overage, soon women aren’t allowed to have jobs and girls are not taught to read or write. More restrictions follow.
Dr. Jean McClellan was a highly recognized cognitive linguist before the government began restricting women’s rights. But when the President’s brother suffers an accident that impairs his brain’s speech functions, Jean is given back some of her freedom — and her voice — to work on a cure. And now that she has her voice back, Jean will stop at nothing to keep herself, her daughter and women everywhere from ever being silenced again.
“How Are You Going to Save Yourself” by J.M. Holmes
A coming of age tale for a group of young black men — Gio, Rolls, Rye and Dub — as they navigate being black in America. Gio recounts his friends’ highs and lows as they make their way into adulthood. There’s Gio, who has the best prospects as he attends Cornell. Then there’s Rolls, who pursues a career as a painter. Rye, failing to achieve his dreams of playing for the NFL, becomes a firefighter. And Dub moves around aimlessly as he tries to find his way.
This novel is an unflinchingly honest look at the realities of race, class and family in America.
Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: August 2018”
Sometimes you read a book that’s so good you want to recommend it every month, or at least quarterly. (But then you reflect on the swarms of rabid library blog readers and their hunger for fresh recommendations and the quiet disappointment they would feel should the same recommendation with slightly different wording and a varying quantity of references to the recommender’s fondness for snacks and monocles be what greets them as they enthusiastically “ask Jeeves” to retrieve the latest recommendation from “that book recommending gentleman,” and the recommender realizes, variety, even when what varies pales in comparison, can be useful, particularly in diets and reading material, and so you do the noble thing, and recommend a different author, at least until the author of that astounding novel you want to constantly recommend writes another book deserving of the recommender’s unhinged enthusiasm.) “A Naked Singularity” the first novel by Sergio de la Pava is such a book. Fortunately, his third novel, “Lost Empress,” is similarly magnificent, and so now I can recommend it and him again.
Devoted DBRL blog readers will no doubt remember de la Pava’s bio, and thus how massively deserving he is of his talents and success, but I will deliver a brief version: he is a public defender in New York, and he writes big, brilliant novels when he’s not publicly defending people for a slim fraction of what he could make if he was privately defending corporations. Given that he is a public defender, it’s logical that the justice system plays a large role in his fiction, and it’s even more logical that he would enumerate on the horrifying injustice that dominates our justice system. What might not seem logical is how his enumerations on injustice could be simultaneously compelling, hilarious and heartbreaking. Continue reading “The Gentleman Recommends: Sergio de la Pava (again)”
Summer reading is coming to a close here at the library and back to school season is just around the corner. I find myself thinking back to my high school days and how this is the exact time where I’d be playing last-minute catch-up on those pesky books assigned for the new school year. Those books assigned back in May? Yeah, those will get read eventually — I’ve got fun reading to do first! This August, I find myself in the same predicament. I’ve already completed most of my most enjoyable or “easy” tasks for the Read Harder Challenge, and I’m beginning to tackle some of the more difficult ones. For obvious reasons, I’d been dreading task 24: An assigned book you hated or never finished. Rereading loathed literature feels like punishment, but at best, the task may help you gain a new appreciation for the book. So in the spirit of the season, here are some books people are commonly assigned in school, and may have hated or left unfinished. Note: This task is super subjective and not intended to offend anyone’s personal tastes!
Continue reading “Assigned Books You Hated (or Never Finished): Read Harder 2018”
Many different cultural and historical threads intersect in David Grann’s outstanding work of investigative history, “Killers of the Flower Moon.” The rich combination of subjects, page-turning story and quality writing makes this book an excellent choice this year for One Read, Daniel Boone Regional Library’s community-wide reading program.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” is about a little-known chapter in American history when members of the Osage Nation ranked among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The discovery of oil beneath the Oklahoma land where they had been relocated led to immense wealth. But, by the 1920s, the tribe had suffered a series of mysterious deaths and outright murders that attracted the attention of a nascent FBI. Grann traces the course of the investigation and uncovers further information about this dark episode in American history. If you have already read and enjoyed Grann’s book, the following titles might interest you as well. Continue reading “Literary Links: Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Children of Blood and Bone” is a stunning YA debut from Tomi Adayemi. The book takes readers into an alt-West Africa, where magic users have been repressed into near-extinction by a brutal monarch. Zélie Adebola might be her peoples’ last hope, but she’ll need the help of a princess-gone-rogue. Too bad the princess’s rogue brother is out for her blood.
This book flies by in a flurry of quick pacing and excellent world development. Despite being a fairly standard hero’s journey, complete with magical MacGuffins, the unique setting and well-developed characters keep it fresh. But be warned: this book is brutal. People die. Children die. There’s more than one torture scene. Every time our heroes take a breath, a new tragedy comes crashing down. And it ends on a cliffhanger — please come soon, book two!
Three words that describe this book: Brutal, diverse, gripping
You might want to pick this book up if: You’ve got a strong stomach and you want to support Black voices in YA.
-Helen
Here is a quick look at the most noteworthy nonfiction titles being released this August. Visit our catalog for a more extensive list.
TOP PICKS
“Fly Girls” by Keith O’Brien traces the story of five women, including Amelia Earhart, who successfully fought to compete against men in the high-stakes national air races of the 1920s and 1930s.
Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: August 2018”
The heat gives us the perfect excuse to sit inside and read, and with these new titles, I can think of nothing else I’d rather be doing. August brings us sci-fi, crime fiction, magic and love, among other things. Check out this month’s LibraryReads: the top 10 books librarians across the country recommend.
“Vox”
by Christina Dalcher
“In the future world depicted in ‘Vox,’ women are limited to speaking 100 words per day. Readers will want to shout every word in their heads, hoard every book in their libraries and second guess the words of every person in their lives. A captivating, timely book that explores women’s rights in a fast-paced, compelling story.”
~Jennifer Gaenzle, Fort Fairfield Public Library, Fort Fairfield, ME Continue reading “August 2018 LibraryReads”
Here are some new titles by debut authors to help you get through this heat wave. Best read with a cold glass of lemonade in hand. For a longer list, please visit our catalog.
“City of Lies” by Sam Hawke
Jovan’s uncle is the poison master — responsible for detecting poisons and developing antidotes — for the Chancellor of Silasta. Jovan grew up being slowly poisoned as he trains to fill the same role as his uncle for the Chancellor’s heir, Tain. But Jovan is forced to step into his uncle’s shoes far too soon when an unidentified poison kills both his uncle and the Chancellor. Jovan must now keep Tain alive amid political intrigue, rebellion and betrayal.
“Fruit of the Drunken Tree” by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Bogotá, Colombia during the reign of drug lord Pablo Escobar is a violent, dangerous place, but young Chula and her older sister Cassandra live sheltered lives in their gated community. Then their mother hires a live-in maid from the slums — 13-year-old Petrona — and their two worlds collide, exposing Chula and Cassandra to the conflict and danger outside their gates.
Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: July 2018”
Anyone receive one of those new electric pressure cookers for Christmas? Still haven’t tried it? Now might be the best time to give it a go. With the ability to sauté, steam, slow and pressure cook (among other functions), you can make almost anything without heating up the kitchen. The icing on the cake? Only having one pot to wash out when you are done.
I did receive one for Christmas, but it took me a few weeks to try it. I grew up hearing pressure cooker horror stories — lids flying off and putting holes in ceilings, serious burns and huge messes. Needless to say, I was a little intimidated. I tried my first recipe with the oversight of a nuclear scientist handling an extremely volatile substance. And all it took was one recipe to make me a believer. I took kidney beans from dry to thoroughly cooked in 30 minutes. Unbelievable! So as the summer heat forces a more pared-down style of meal preparation, I encourage you to check out some of the books below to begin your love affair with minimalist cooking and electric pressure cookers. Continue reading “Too Hot to Turn on the Oven!”
