Ashland Books at Noon June 2019 Picks

1) Born a crime: stories from a South African childhood

Author

Noah, Trevor

Series

Audible Studios on BrillianceAudio

Notes

The discussion of We Cast a Shadow made Bonnie think of this wonderful book by Trevor Noah.

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eBook, Kindle

Description

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Noah's path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother, at the time such a union was punishable by five years in prison. As he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist, his mother is determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life. With an incisive...

2) We cast a shadow: a novel

Author

Ruffin, Maurice Carlos

Notes

Kristin said this book made her feel uncomfortable in a good way. She found this novel an interesting way of looking at race in America.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

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"In a near-future Southern city, everyone is talking about a new experimental medical procedure that boasts unprecedented success rates. In a society plagued by racism, segregation, and private prisons, this operation saves lives with a controversial method--by turning people white. Like any father, our unnamed narrator just wants the best for his son Nigel, a biracial boy whose black birthmark is getting bigger by the day. But in order to afford...

3) The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks

Author

Skloot, Rebecca

Series

Thorndike Press large print nonfiction

Formats:

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

Description

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Documents the story of how scientists took cells from an unsuspecting descendant of freed slaves and created a human cell line that has been kept alive indefinitely, enabling discoveries in such areas as cancer research, in vitro fertilization, and gene mapping.

4) The lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood monsters and the lost legacy of Milicent Patrick

Author

O'Meara, Mallory

Series

Thorndike Press large print nonfiction

Notes

Cathy shared this title about the woman who didn't ever receive credit for her creation. It is as much about the woman as it is about the process of researching the book. Kristin noted that this sounded like a similar structure to that of Henrietta Lacks, linked below.

Formats:

Book, eBook, Large Print - Hardback

Description

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"The Lady from the Black Lagoon uncovers the life and work of Milicent Patrick--one of Disney's first female animators and the only woman in history to create one of Hollywood's classic movie monsters"--Provided by the publisher.

5) Spying on the South: an odyssey across the American divide

Author

Horwitz, Tony

Notes

Bonnie found this non fiction look at the racial and class divides in America fascinating.

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD

Description

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"The author retraces Frederick Law Olmsted's journey across the American South in the 1850s, on the eve of the Civil War. Olmsted roamed eleven states and six thousand miles, and the New York Times published his dispatches about slavery and its defenders. More than 150 years later, Tony Horwitz followed Olmsted's route, and whenever possible his mode of transport--rail, riverboats, in the saddle--through Appalachia, down the Ohio and Mississippi,...

6) All the names

Author

Saramago, José

Notes

Claudia had been looking for a book with beautiful language...and a friend recommended this one to her. She says it was an excellent fit for what she was looking for.

Description

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Senhor José, a low-grade clerk in the Central Registry, the office that keeps the vital records of all the country's citizens, comes across the birth certificate of an anonymous young woman and becomes obsessed with finding her. As he gets close to a meeting with her, he discovers more about her and about himself than he would have wished.

7) The red address book

Author

Lundberg, Sofia

Series

Thorndike Press large print basic

Notes

Pat said she had read this tale of a woman towards the end of her life revisiting moments in her life by reviewing the people who she had known in her address book.

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle, Large Print - Hardback

Description

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"Meet Doris, a 96-year-old woman living alone in her Stockholm apartment. She has few visitors, but her weekly Skype calls with Jenny--her American grandniece, and her only relative--give her great joy and remind her of her own youth. When Doris was a girl, she was given an address book by her father, and ever since she has carefully documented everyone she met and loved throughout the years. Looking through the little book now, Doris sees the many...

8) The friend

Author

Nunez, Sigrid

Series

Thorndike Press large print basic

Notes

...and this one. All sounded excellent!

Formats:

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

Description

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"A moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog. When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatized by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in...

9) Notes from a young Black chef: a memoir

Author

Onwuachi, Kwame

Notes

...and this one...

Description

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As a boy Onwuachi was sent from the Bronx to rural Nigeria by his mother to 'learn respect.' Through food, he broke out of a dangerous downward spiral and embarked on a new beginning at the bottom of the culinary food chain before going on to train in the kitchens of some of the most acclaimed restaurants in the country and appearing as a contestant on Top Chef. His love of food and cooking was a constant, even when the road to success was riddled...

10) A woman is no man: a novel

Author

Rum, Etaf

Notes

...and this one...

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle

Description

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A Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist for Best Fiction and Best Debut • BookBrowse's Best Book of the Year • A Marie Claire Best Women's Fiction of the Year • A Real Simple Best Book of the Year • A PopSugar Best Book of the Year All Written By Females • A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • A Washington Post 10 Books to Read in March • A Newsweek Best Book of the Summer • A USA Today

...

11) The old drift: a novel

Author

Serpell, Namwali

Notes

Sandra mentioned this title

Formats:

Book, Book - Hardback, eAudiobook

Description

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On the banks of the Zambezi River, a few miles from the majestic Victoria Falls, there was once a colonial settlement called The Old Drift. Here begins the epic story of a small African nation, told by a mysterious swarm-like chorus that calls itself man's greatest nemesis. The tale? A playful panorama of history, fairytale, romance and science fiction. The moral? To err is human.

12) Miracle Creek

Author

Kim, Angie

Notes

Pat read this story about an unconventional autism treatment and immigration.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

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"A literary courtroom thriller about a mother accused of murdering her eight-year-old autistic son"-- In rural Virginia, Young and Pak Yoo run an experimental medical treatment device known as the Miracle Submarine-- a pressurized oxygen chamber that patients enter for therapeutic 'dives' with the hopes of curing issues like autism or infertility. When the Miracle Submarine mysteriously explodes, killing two people, a dramatic murder trial upends...

13) Dandelion wine: a novel

Author

Bradbury, Ray

Series

Greentown

Notes

Brenda said she always reads this book at this time of year.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook

Description

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Ray Bradbury's moving recollection of a vanished golden era remains one of his most enchanting novels. Dandelion Wine stands out in the Bradbury literary canon as the author's most deeply personal work, a semi-autobiographical recollection of a magical small-town summer in 1928. Twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding knows Green Town, Illinois, is as vast and deep as the whole wide world that lies beyond the city limits. It is a pair of brand-new tennis...

14) Peter and the Starcatchers

Author

Barry, Dave

Series

Peter & the Starcatchers volume 1

Notes

Since Dave Barry came up, Kristin mentioned this novel by Dave Barry, a play adaptation of which will be included in the OSF 2020 season.

Formats:

Audiobook CD, Book - Hardback, eBook, Kindle

Description

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Soon after Peter, an orphan, sets sail from England on the ship Never Land, he befriends and assists Molly, a young Starcatcher, whose mission is to guard a trunk of magical stardust from a greedy pirate and the native inhabitants of a remote island.

15) Lessons from Lucy: the simple joys of an old, happy dog

Author

Barry, Dave

Series

Thorndike Press large print core

Notes

Because the Huntress is long and serious, Patricia needed something a little lighter to mix things up, so she is also reading this Dave Barry title.

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook, Large Print - Hardback

Description

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"A bestselling humorist shows how to age gracefully, taking cues from his dog, Lucy"-- "Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and bestselling author of Dave Barry Turns 40 now shows how to age gracefully, taking cues from his beloved and highly intelligent dog, Lucy. Faced with the obstacles and challenges of life after middle age, Dave Barry turns to his best dog, Lucy, to learn how to live his best life. From "Make New Friends" (an unfortunate fail...

16) The Huntress: A Novel

Author

Quinn, Kate

Notes

Patricia was just starting this historical novel and enjoying. Pat had recently finished and also liked!

Formats:

eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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"...compulsively readable historical fiction...[a] powerful novel about unusual women facing sometimes insurmountable odds with grace, grit, love and tenacity." - Kristin Hannah, The Washington Post

Named one of best books of the year by Marie Claire and Bookbub

"If you enjoyed "The Tattooist of Auschwitz," read "The Huntress," by Kate Quinn." The Washington

...

17) The gift of El Tio

Author

Buchanan, Larry

Notes

This memoir, written by a local couple, was read by a book group Bonnie is in. It had been read by many members of the group, all of whom really enjoyed it.

18) Where the crawdads sing

Author

Owens, Delia

Notes

Kristin is just finishing this title. It is a first novel for the author (she has published non-fiction prior) and is evocative of Kingsolver...but it also is a mystery! Kristin is really enjoying!

Formats:

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

Description

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"Fans of Barbara Kingsolver will love this stunning debut novel from a New York Times bestselling nature writer, about an unforgettable young woman determined to make her way in the wilds of North Carolina, and the two men that will break her isolation open. For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She's barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase...

19) Death comes for the archbishop

Author

Cather, Willa

Series

Easyread volume 11

Notes

Claudia found this classic in a little free library and was grateful to have an opportunity to revisit this classic author.

Formats:

Book, Book - Hardback, eBook

Description

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An American classic widely considered to be one of the best novels of the 20th century In 1851, Father Jean Marie Latour becomes the Apostolic Vicar to New Mexico. While the area is American by law, it's still Mexican and Indian by custom and belief. During the years that follow, Latour tirelessly but gently spreads his faith while facing external and internal obstacles. Loosely based on the life of Jean-Baptiste Lamy and the construction of the Cathedral...

20) Walking each other home: conversations on loving and dying

Author

Ram Dass

Notes

Wendy really really loved this book. It deals with end of life issues in a soothing way...and she would heartily recommend it to anyone!

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

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We all sit on the edge of a mystery. We have only known this life, so dying scares us-and we are all dying. But what if dying were perfectly safe? What if you could approach dying with curiosity and love? What if dying were the ultimate spiritual practice? Walking Each Other Home: Conversations on Loving and Dying reunites lifelong friends Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush, who speak on the spiritual opportunities in the dying process. They share intimate...