Books @ Noon December 2020 picks | Main library

1) Novels, 1967-1972

Author

Series

Library of America volume 158

Notes

Finally, Wendy missed the meeting, but I spoke to her on the phone shortly afterwards. She has read Portnoy's Complaint, which she had had a hard time finding a copy of. She's now read it and will share next month. We missed you, Wendy!

2) Three hundred cups of tea ; and the toughest job you'll ever love: riding the Peace Corps rollercoaster in Mali, West Africa

Author

Notes

Bonnie mentioned that the local author of this book had a new self published book out. Information about her new book is up next. Bonnie, Kristin checked worldcat and there is not currently a catalog record we could use. I'd recommend giving your donation to Hannon since they have a cataloger on staff and may be able to get a record created, which would make it possible for us to buy a copy.

Description

Side-by-side memoirs of serving in the Peace Corps on the edge of the Sahara Desert, in one of the hottest and poorest parts of Africa. The accounts tell the story of the Malian people, set against a background of approaching famine and political unrest that culminated a military coup and Peace Corps evacuation from Mali in 2012.

3) Madame Tussaud: a novel of the French Revolution

Author

Moran, Michelle

Notes

Kathy mentioned that she could remember reading a novel about Madame Tussaud. If you want another novelized view of her life, here's another option.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle, Large Print - Hardback

Description

While the tensions rise between the royalty and the people, Madame Tussaud is requested to tutor the King's sister in wax sculpting and must find a way for her family to survive the coming revolution.

4) Little: a novel

Author

Series

Thorndike Press large print historical fiction

Notes

Kristin shared this historical novel told from the point of view of the woman who eventually became Madame Tussaud. Kristin thought this would appeal to fans of Gregory Maguire and also said after reading she was going to be looking forward to reading his soon-to-be published book which is told by Pinnochio's Geppetto from inside the whale! The link to the goodreads page for his new book is below.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, Large Print - Hardback

Description

"The wry, macabre, unforgettable tale of an ambitious orphan in Revolutionary Paris, befriended by royalty and radicals, who transforms herself into the legendary Madame Tussaud"--Provided by the publisher.

5) The book of two ways: a novel

Author

Notes

Carolyn has been on an Egypt kick. She read a harder to find book called "Women Travelers in Egypt" (a link to the goodreads page for that book is next) and then read this recent title by Picoult, much of which is set at an Egyptian archaeological dig. Kristin had also read and enjoyed.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle, Large Print - Hardback

Description

"After my son Kyle Ferriera van Leer declared his major in Egyptology at Yale in 2010, he mentioned the Book of Two Ways in passing. Without knowing a thing about it, I said, "That's a great title for a novel." It was only after he began to explain what it actually was that I realized what I needed to write about - the construct of time, and love, and life, and death"--

6) Exact thinking in demented times: the Vienna Circle and the epic quest for the foundations of science

Author

Notes

Bill read this nonfiction book about the philosophy of science that sounds fascinating. Demented Times sounds like it would refer to the present, but, no, this book takes us back to post-WWI Vienna. Bill said it inspired him to try picking up Wittgenstein again, and that he wished he could get has hands on the books of some of the members of the circle..

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

The philosophy of science between the two world wars, 1920s-1930s.

7) The death of Vivek Oji

Author

Notes

and this! She specifically mentioned the presence of trans characters in the last three and how much she enjoyed each of them. Because this run of titles jogged my memory, I mentioned that it's "best of the year" season and promised to share links to some best of lists...those lists are up next:

Formats:

Book, Book - Paperback, eAudiobook

Description

"A tender, potent, and compulsively readable novel of a Nigerian-Indian family and the deeply held secret that tests their traditions and bonds"--

Author

Majumdar, Megha

Notes

and this...

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

"After a fiery attack on a train leaves 104 people dead, the fates of three people become inextricably entangled. Jivan, a bright, striving woman from the slums looking for a way out of poverty, is wrongly accused of planning the attack because of a careless comment on Facebook. PT Sir, a slippery gym teacher from Jivan's former high school, has hitched his aspirations to a rising right wing party, and his own ascent becomes increasingly linked to...

9) The vanishing half

Author

Notes

and this...

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, Book - Hardback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle, Large Print - Hardback

Description

"The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and...

10) Mexican Gothic

Author

Moreno-Garcia, Silvia

Series

Thorndike Press large print core

Notes

Attendees may remember that last month Sandra had been in a reading slump. Not so this month. She read this...

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle, Large Print - Hardback

Description

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemi Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She's not sure what she will find--her cousin's husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemi knows little about the region. Noemi is also an unlikely rescuer: She's a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited...

11) Congratulations, by the way: some thoughts on kindness

Author

Saunders, George

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle

Description

Drawing on his well-received convocation address at Syracuse University, one of today's most influential and original writers shows how to lead a kinder, more fulfilling life.

12) This is water: some thoughts, delivered on a significant occasion about living a compassionate life

Author

Wallace, David Foster

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

How does one keep from going through their comfortable, prosperous adult life unconsciously? How do we get ourselves out of the foreground of our thoughts and achieve compassion? This speech captures Wallace's electric intellect as well as his grace in attention to others. After his death, it became a treasured piece of writing reprinted in The Wall Street Journal and the London Times, commented on endlessly in blogs, and emailed from friend to

...

13) Navigate your stars

Author

Notes

Sandra enjoyed this commencement speech in book form. Kristin mentioned the library had more where that came from. There are two more listed below.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

A revelatory, uplifting, and gorgeously illustrated meditation on dedication, hard work, and the power of perseverance from Jesmyn Ward. For Tulane University's 2018 commencement, Jesmyn Ward delivered a stirring speech about the value of hard work and the importance of respect for oneself and others. Speaking about the challenges she and her family overcame, Ward inspired everyone in the audience with her meditation on tenacity in the face of hardship....

14) The museum of extraordinary things: a novel

Author

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, Large Print - Hardback

Description

The daughter of a Coney Island boardwalk curiosities museum's front man pursues an impassioned love affair with a Russian immigrant photographer who after fleeing his Lower East Side Orthodox community has captured poignant images of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.

15) Practical magic

Author

Series

Practical magic novels volume 1

Formats:

Audiobook CD, Book - Paperback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

*25th Anniversary Edition*—with an Introduction by the Author!
The Owens sisters confront the challenges of life and love in this bewitching novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Rules of Magic, Magic Lessons, and The Book of Magic.
For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town. Gillian and Sally have...

16) The once and future witches

Author

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

"In the late 1800s, three sisters use witchcraft to change the course of history in Alix E. Harrow's powerful novel of magic and the suffragette movement. In 1893, there's no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box. But when the Eastwood sisters -- James...

17) We ride upon sticks

Author

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

"From the author of the widely acclaimed She Weeps Each Time You're Born--a new novel, at once comic and moving, set in 1989 Danvers, Massachusetts, where a high school field hockey team discovers that the witchcraft of their Salem forebears may be the key to a winning season. In this tour de female force, the Danvers High School Falcons Varsity is on an unaccountable streak. In chapters dense with '80s iconography--from Heathers to Big Hair--Quan...

18) Magic lessons

Author

Series

Practical magic novels

Notes

Kathy suggested that this might be a bit "light weight" after our heady conversation about Caste...but there was good conversation around this title as well...from those who were excited to see another book to continue her Salem reading kick (see next 2 titles) and those who were wanting an entry point to Alice Hoffman (the following 2 titles were suggested by Kathy). The 3rd title she mentioned, Illumination Night, is not available through the library, but a link to the goodreads page for that book is also below.

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle, Large Print

Description

"In an unforgettable novel that traces a centuries-old curse to its source, beloved author Alice Hoffman unveils the story of Maria Owens, accused of witchcraft in Salem, and matriarch of a line of the amazing Owens women and men featured in Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic"--

19) The warmth of other suns: the epic story of America's great migration

Author

Wilkerson, Isabel

Series

Brilliance Audio on compact disc

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eBook, Kindle

Description

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this beautifully written masterwork, the Pulitzer Prize–winnner and bestselling author of Caste chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life.
“Profound, necessary and an...

20) Caste: the origins of our discontents

Author

Wilkerson, Isabel

Notes

Bonnie kicked us off this this amazing read taking a unique look at the evolution of American racism. several of us had also read and/or were familiar with her from other works. Her first book is linked next. If you follow Oprah's Book Club, an interview with the author can be found there as well.

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

""As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power--which groups have it and which do not." In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched...