If you could have dinner with any five people, living or dead, who would you pick?
In Rebecca Serle’s novel, “The Dinner List,” the protagonist finds herself at dinner with the five people from a list she penned years earlier, including the deceased Audrey Hepburn.
I have to admit, that I was skeptical in the opening chapter of the book. Partly because the dinner list concept seems a little played out. It’s not a new concept or a particularly mind-bending idea, so I doubted if Serle was going to advance the discussion in a novel direction.
But I finished the book with my mind stretched in pleasant ways.
If you’ve never given this dinner list concept any thought before, and even if you have, I would encourage you to do so. Who would you invite? Why those people?
Read the book.
Return to your previous ruminations.
And bring your thoughts to the next First Thursday Book Discussion, on January 4, 2024.
Author Rebecca Serle will also appear live as part of the DBRL Online Author Series on Wednesday, January 10 at 7 p.m. Visit the author series site to register.
The concept of time travel opens a whole world of possibilities and complexities. If you could change the past, would you change a key moment in history or maybe just in your own life? What might the consequences be? Time travel in fiction ranges from fun, almost frivolous adventures, to stories that raise serious questions about the potential disasters that could await even the most careful time travelers.
Here are some books that explore different kinds of time travel. Some try to answer big questions, and others just have fun with it.
I had to start off this list with an older title and a personal favorite of mine: “To Say Nothing of the Dog” by Connie Willis. It combines many elements I love: time travel, romance and historical fiction, all with a dash of zaniness. Continue reading “Literary Links: Time Travel”
Kennon Sheldon is a Columbia, MO author whose latest book is “Freely Determined: What the New Psychology of the Self Teaches Us About How to Live.” In the book he argues the case for free will from a psychological perspective, and also draws on research into motivation and goal setting as a guide to how we might use our freedom wisely. Sheldon is professor of psychology at the University of Missouri. One of the founding researchers of positive psychology, he researches in the areas of well-being, motivation, self-determination theory, personality and positive psychology. He was kind enough to take the time to be interviewed via email.
Continue reading “Q&A With Kennon Sheldon, Author of “Freely Determined””
The next First Thursday Book Discussion will be December 7, from 12-1 p.m. at the Columbia Public Library. The featured book will be “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive,” by Stephanie Land.
37.9 million. That’s the number of people living in poverty in the U.S. in 2022*.
37.9 million. My brain can’t make much meaning out of that number. It’s really big. It’s more than one in ten people in our country. Just as it’s hard to understand really large numbers, I think it is hard, nearing impossible, to understand what it is like to live in poverty unless you’ve been there.
That’s one reason that Stephanie Land’s debut book, “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive,” is such a gift. By sharing her story, Land provides a rare glimpse into the life of a single mother living below the poverty line. Land’s family was hit hard by the 2008 recession, leaving her with almost no support from family when she became pregnant after graduating from high school. While parts of the Pacific Northwest are associated with wealth and affluence, many individuals — such as Land — are experiencing the impacts of generational poverty that dates back to one of many economic crises such as the 2008 Recession, the collapse of the logging industry or even the Great Depression. Continue reading “December First Thursday Book Discussion: Maid”
“Machine intelligence is the last invention that humanity will ever need to make.” – Nick Bostrom
As a child, I would watch reruns of “The Jetsons” and dream about the days when my car would fly and a robot would clean my house. It’s difficult to believe, but that future of which I dreamt is here. And although there is a lot that we still can’t do (flying cars I’m looking at you), technology is running more aspects of our lives every day. It’s also practically impossible to turn on the television, flip on the radio or check your social media feed without seeing mention of artificial intelligence (AI). Fears abound that this technology might someday overpower the human race. Will AI be the end of us or will it put us on an exciting new path? Let’s take a look at a few recent titles that explore the topic. Continue reading “Literary Links: Artificial Intelligence”
You might think I would have a healthier appreciation for Shakespeare, given how many times I watched and rewatched “The Lion King” growing up; the VHS would end, and I would immediately demand it be rewound and restarted. It is a Shakespeare retelling, after all, “Hamlet” specifically. A king murdered by his brother, his son cast out, only to come back and reclaim the throne. Maybe the Disney version is a little lighter and features the voice talents of James Earl Jones and Nathan Lane, but it’s still (mostly) “Hamlet” and sometimes just as dark. But as I entered high school and started reading more from the Bard, I found it difficult to follow characters and plots, and especially the language. Shakespeare has staying power though, and many authors have put pens to paper to revisit, recontextualize, and sometimes just rewrite the stories we know. Continue reading “Shakespeare, Retold”
Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in November. 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 downloadable audiobook format (as available). For a more extensive list of new nonfiction books coming out this month, check our online catalog.
Top Picks
“Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education” by Stephanie Land (Nov 7)
When Stephanie Land set out to write her memoir “Maid,” she never could have imagined what was to come. Later it was adapted into the hit Netflix series, which was viewed by 67 million households and was Netflix’s fourth most-watched show in 2021, garnering three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Stephanie’s escape out of poverty and abuse in search of a better life inspired millions. “Maid” was a story about a housecleaner, but it was also a story about a woman with a dream. In “Class,” Land takes us with her as she finishes college and pursues her writing career. Facing barriers at every turn including a byzantine loan system, not having enough money for food, navigating the judgments of professors and fellow students who didn’t understand the demands of attending college while under the poverty line — Land finds a way to survive once again, finally graduating in her mid-thirties. “Class” paints an intimate and heartbreaking portrait of motherhood as it converges and often conflicts with personal desire and professional ambition. Who has the right to create art? Who has the right to go to college? And what kind of work is valued in our culture? In clear, candid, and moving prose, “Class” grapples with these questions, offering a searing indictment of America’s educational system and an inspiring testimony of a mother’s triumph against all odds. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: November 2023”
Alex Demczak is a Columbia, MO author and speaker who has co-authored a book with Jon Gordon called “The Sale.” The book is a fictional business fable that teaches four lessons about integrity to create lasting success. Demczak is a former quarterback for the Missouri Tigers who has gone on to be a keynote speaker and entrepreneur, most recently co-founding Streamline Books. His first book, “Thrive U,” is an inspirational collection of stories from 100 collegiate and professional athletes from across the country. He was kind enough to take the time to be interviewed via email. Continue reading “Q&A With Alex Demczak, Co-author of “The Sale””
October 21, 2023 would have been Ursula K. Le Guin’s 94th birthday. On October 25, 2023, the winner of the second annual Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction will be announced. Ahead of the award announcement, we’re reflecting on some of Le Guin’s works in a series of blog posts: Le Guin and Her Legacy. Interested in some of the authors Ursula inspired? Click here to see the titles nominated for the prize, as well as titles by the judges!
Spoiler warning: Given how short this story is, and how integral the title is to any discussion, this post will discuss in detail the events within. If you have any interest, I highly recommend reading the story before continuing with this post. Content Warning: The subject of this post is a story that contains child abuse and neglect. (If these are subjects you are not comfortable reading about, you might check out these animal live cam feeds for something lighter.)
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” was originally published in 1973, in a collection of short science fiction stories from various authors. It was republished in Le Guin’s 1975 “The Wind’s Twelve Quarters,” and has since been widely published online and in other short story collections. Continue reading “Le Guin and Her Legacy: The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
Ahead of the second annual Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, we’re reflecting on some of Le Guin’s works in a series of blog posts: Le Guin and Her Legacy.
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929 – 2018) was an author and poet who wrote science fiction and fantasy for adults and young adults. Her works garnered her six Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, and many, many more accolades. 2023 marks the second annual Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. The award is intended to recognize those writers Ursula spoke of in her 2014 National Book Awards speech — realists of a larger reality, who can imagine real grounds for hope and see alternatives to how we live now. The Prize is given to a writer whose work reflects the concepts and ideas that were central to Ursula’s own work, including but not limited to: hope, equity, and freedom; non-violence and alternatives to conflict; and a holistic view of humanity’s place in the natural world. Continue reading “Le Guin and Her Legacy: Seasons of the Ansarac”
