One of the most treasured books in my home library is “One Hundred and One Famous Poems,” a book that belonged to my mother. This anthology helped plant the seed for my own life-long love of poetry, introducing me to some of the greats I still frequently revisit, such as Emily Dickinson and Robert Browning. I realize now that the works in it came from a fairly narrow — mostly dead — demographic, but it provided a starting point from which to branch out. With the approach of World Poetry Day on March 21, and National Poetry Month in April, the time feels right to mention a few poets whose work I’ve enjoyed recently. They are all alive and still writing.
Like so many others, I was mesmerized by poet Amanda Gorman’s
performance during the presidential inauguration in January. Her powerful cadences and message of hope resonated deeply. Now, Viking Press is publishing “The Hill We Climb” as a book, due to be released March 30. Continue reading “Poetry is Alive and Well”
In Honor of Women’s History Month, let’s take a look at several books on the topic of women in medicine and women’s health. With everything that’s happened in the last year, health feels like a very important topic to consider. Women have had to work very hard to make inroads into the field of medicine and also advocate for their health. It is a testament to that hard work that one of the more recent innovations in medicine, the creation of a vaccine to fight COVID-19, was made in part by the Black female scientist Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett.
In the early 1800s women were dying in large numbers from treatable diseases because they avoided medical care. Motivated by personal loss and frustration over inadequate medical care, Elizabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Sophia Jex-Blake decided to pursue medical careers in the male-dominated field of medicine. Their stories are explored in “Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine” by Olivia Campbell. Continue reading “Literary Links: Women, Medicine and Health”
Here is a new DVD list highlighting various titles recently added to the library’s collection. Click on the website links to see the trailers.
“All Creatures Great and Small”
Season 1
Website / Reviews
A new adaptation of the popular book series airing on PBS. Fresh out of Glasgow Veterinary College, James Herriot follows his dream to become a vet in the magnificent Yorkshire Dales. He soon discovers that treating the animals is as much about treating their owners, and the Dales farmers are a tough crowd to please. Continue reading “New DVD List: All Creatures Great And Small & More”
I love Antiques Roadshow. The history, stories, and surprised owners always make me smile. A few weeks ago, I was watching an old episode before bed, and a young man had a collection of items related to Bessie Raiche, who is credited as the first woman to fly an airplane solo — an airplane, I should add, which she built in her yard. Raiche was also a dentist, a physician, a businesswoman, an athlete and an artist. Sadly, I had never heard of her! So, I looked her up. That search led me to other women I should have heard of but haven’t, and thus, this list was born. Obviously, it is in no way an exhaustive list, but it’s my hope that it will encourage you to seek out other amazing women. Let’s learn their names and stories. Let’s honor the amazing contributions women have made and continue to make. And let’s celebrate Women’s History Month by finding those women, past and present, who don’t always make it onto the ‘famous women’ lists.
“Alone Atop the Hill: The Autobiography of Alice Dunnigan, Pioneer of the National Black Press” by Alice Allison Dunnigan
Alice Dunnigan was the first credentialed White House correspondent, and the first African-American female member of the House and Senate press galleries. She was a recipient of over 50 journalism awards, a noted civil rights activist, and was known to ask the hard questions about race, gender and rights. Continue reading “Women You Should Know”
This month there’s an abundance of debut novels being published. Here are just a few of the most noteworthy in the bunch. For a complete list, please visit our catalog.
“The Conductors” by Nicole Glover
Hetty Rhodes and her husband, Benjy, were Conductors on the Underground Railroad, ferrying dozens of slaves to freedom with daring, cunning and magic that draws its power from the constellations. With the war over, those skills find new purpose as they solve mysteries and murders that white authorities would otherwise ignore.
In the heart of Philadelphia’s Seventh Ward, everyone knows that when there’s a strange death or magical curses causing trouble, Hetty and Benjy are the only ones that can solve the case. But when an old friend is murdered, their investigation stirs up a wasp nest of intrigue, lies, and long-buried secrets — and a mystery unlike anything they handled before. With a clever, cold-blooded killer on the prowl testing their magic and placing their lives at risk, Hetty and Benjy will discover how little they really know about their neighbors … and themselves. Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: March 2021”
Where has the time gone?! It’s been over a year (again) since the last installment of this series. If you’ve been out of the loop, DC comics has undergone yet another revamp over the past few years. Many of our beloved characters have begun anew, with changes small and large made to their characters. Therefore, I hereby christen this the resurrection of Quintessential Comics! With the theme of beginning anew in mind, this list will focus on the event in DC Comics known as Rebirth. Rebirth follows the conclusion of the New 52 series in the comic universe, and showcases all of your favorite DC characters, aiming to return them to a more familiar status quo, while also attempting to rectify the events of post-Flashpoint and Post-Crisis events. Did any of that make sense? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, here we go!
DC Universe Rebirth Omnibus
If you’re looking for a place to get started with all of this craziness, why not here? This omnibus takes many of the individual fan-favorite series pertaining to Rebirth and crams them all into one epic book. The premise of the story is that the universe’s heroes have no recollection of the past 10 years of the timeline and only the return of Wally West, the Kid Flash, reminds them of what they have lost. This book features entire teams of characters, from the Justice League to the Teen Titans, so you’re sure to be entertained. There might even be some twists that pertain to other DC owned properties! This entry will function as more of a catch-all for the main story of the event. Therefore, it won’t focus on individual characters’ story-lines too much. If you don’t want to spend time reading every issue that connected to this event and just want to jump in, this is the one you want! Continue reading “Quintessential Comics: Rebirth”
Now that’s it’s Spring (almost) publishing is picking up and there are a lot of new book releases to look forward to! All of the mentioned titles are available to put on hold in our catalog and will also be made available via the library’s Overdrive website on the day of publication in eBook and eAudiobook format (as available). For a more extensive list of new nonfiction books coming out this month, check our online catalog.
Top Picks
“Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine” by Olivia Campbell (Mar 2)
In the early 1800s, women were dying in large numbers from treatable diseases because they avoided receiving medical care. Examinations performed by male doctors were often demeaning and even painful. In addition, women faced stigma from illness — a diagnosis could greatly limit their ability to find husbands, jobs or be received in polite society. Motivated by personal loss and frustration over inadequate medical care, Elizabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Sophia Jex-Blake fought for a woman’s place in the male-dominated medical field. For the first time ever, “Women in White Coats” tells the complete history of these three pioneering women who, despite countless obstacles, earned medical degrees and paved the way for other women to do the same. Though very different in personality and circumstance, together these women built women-run hospitals and teaching colleges — creating for the first time medical care for women by women. With gripping storytelling based on extensive research and access to archival documents, “Women in White Coats” tells the courageous history these women made by becoming doctors, detailing the boundaries they broke of gender and science to reshape how we receive medical care today. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: March 2021”
Join us on March 4 for a Zoom book discussion of “Things You Save in a Fire” by Katherine Center. As the only female firefighter in her Texas firehouse, Cassie Hanswell is excellent at dealing with other people’s tragedies, but she never anticipated that her estranged and ailing mother would ask her move to Boston. The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie’s old job as it could possibly be. Will she successfully manage this new environment and perhaps even find love?
This discussion is geared for adults. Please register to get a link for this Zoom meeting.
And a fun bonus: author Katherine Center joined DBRL for a live virtual author talk on February 18. Find the recorded program on our YouTube channel.
As we continue to celebrate the joys of winter, one requisite stop has to be the province of home cookery. Cold weather begs us to fire up our stoves and ovens. A heavy snow is incomplete without marshmallows melting in hot chocolate. If you’re not ready to slow cook a roast in the crock pot now, then when will you ever? Winter cries out for comfort food. When I speak of comfort food, I speak not only of the nurture of one’s body, but of one’s soul.
The Oxford Languages dictionary defines comfort food as “food that provides consolation or a feeling of well-being, typically any with a high sugar or other carbohydrate content and associated with childhood or home cooking.” While I would never disparage the power of carbohydrates to put a person into a satisfying state of oblivion, this definition seems a little limited. Continue reading “Comforts of the Kitchen”
Here’s a trivia question. How many elephants currently reside in Tennessee? I don’t know the precise number, but it’s at least 11. That’s the population of The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, which provides a 2,700-acre home for retired circus and zoo elephants. One of the organization’s stated goals is to give the animals “the opportunity to live out their lives in a safe haven dedicated to their well-being.”
Since the focus is on what’s best of for the elephants, their habitats are off limits to the public. Fortunately, for those who have a deep fascination with these magnificent creatures, there are elecams. Even better, DBRL has arranged a special opportunity to make a visit from the comfort of your own home. Continue reading “Elephants on World Wildlife Day”
