Hello, there, readers! Welcome back once again to Quintessential Comics! So, last issue we went ahead and covered a handful of Marvel’s most famous events. I thought it would be fun to do the same for DC Comics. So, here we are with another list of five events that have had a major impact on the DC universe! I don’t want to keep you all waiting, so here we go.
The Man of Steel. The Big Blue Boy Scout. The Man of Tomorrow. The Last Son of Krypton. Only a superhero as prolific as Superman could be so deserving as to have so many monikers. Since his debut in Action Comics in 1938, Kal-El has been and remains an ideal to strive towards for generations of readers. His unwavering sense of right and wrong inspires others. Plus, he’s got it all: Faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive. He’s even able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. What happens, though, when Superman comes face to face with a creature so powerful that even the combined efforts of the Justice League are not enough to thwart it? Quite the controversial story-line when it debuted in the 90’s, this graphic novel is now considered a landmark in Superman’s history as it’s not just about the hero’s strength or speed, but his ability to stand tall in the face of unbeatable odds. Continue reading “Quintessential Comics: DC Events!”
Maybe it’s your 2022 resolution to read more, read more diversely or Read Harder. Maybe you read so much that you have trouble remembering what you’ve already read. Maybe you just love creating organizational systems (in which case, let’s hang out and organize our bullet journals together). There are a lot of fun reasons and methods for tracking your reading.
One thing that you may not know is that the library’s catalog is set up to help you to track your reading. Logging in with your library card number and PIN (your birthday, MMDDYYYY) at the top right corner of the catalog logs you into an account where you can track what you’ve read, what you’re reading, and what you want to read later. You can also create lists on any theme your heart desires, like books featuring taxidermy or the favorite books of your worst online dates, and you can choose to make your profile private or public and follow other people. It is not unlike apps such as Goodreads or Storygraph. Continue reading “The Joys of Tracking Your Reading”
We’re a week out from this year’s True/False Film Festival! A few of the directors appearing this year have past documentaries and feature films available through DBRL. Most are streaming through Kanopy. For all of the True/False films currently available through DBRL, see this master list. Continue reading “Previous Movies From True/False 2022 Directors”
Posted on Wednesday, February 23, 2022 by Jason Delpire
Cooking hacks. We’ve all seen them on various social media sites, and we’ve all been lured to watching a video proclaiming to save time or simplify an overly-complicated technique. In my opinion, some hacks are just trying to sell us gadgets for specific tasks. Whenever I see a hack video or a gadget ad, I think of Rene Russo’s character from “Tin Cup.” When we meet her character, she’s laden with a variety of junk that’s supposed to make her a better golfer, but instead it just confuses and complicates the process. I think time-tested versatile techniques are vastly more useful than so-called hacks (but, if you’ve read anything I’ve written previously, you probably could have guessed that would be my opinion). Though, to be fair, there are some tricks kitchen folk use, but these are usually to avoid moving from our prep station or to avoid clutter, and not to magically complete a task. Continue reading “Read The Recipe! Vol. 6”
Posted on Monday, February 21, 2022 by patron reviewer
“The Travelling Cat Chronicles” follows a cat and his human through the adoption of the cat and the subsequent attempts to re-home the cat due to unforeseen circumstances (the revelation of which is part of the story). The pair travel Japan together visiting old friends, and each stop includes a retelling of the history of the friends. It is a whimsical, bittersweet story displaying the beauty of friendships, good memories, and quirky cats. This is one of those books that is a journey more than a story, and you just sit back and leisurely walk through it. The main human character’s story hit too close to home to say I 100% liked it, but it is a unique book.
Three words that describe this book: thoughtful, descriptive, big-hearted
You might want to pick this book up if: you like to read a little before bed.
-Anonymous
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading 2021. We will continue to share these throughout the year.
Posted on Wednesday, February 16, 2022 by patron reviewer
“The River” is the adventure of two best friends on a canoeing trip down a river close to their home town. A fun and relaxing adventure planned in nature can become something totally different, not fun and not relaxing but an adventure of life and death as Jack and Wynn discover. I enjoyed this book for the story of the men’s friendship, how their personalities compliment each other and how they were able to work together in the face of the difficulties they faced.
Three words that describe this book: Adventure, friendship, loss
You might want to pick this book up if: you like unexpected twists and turns in a story of best friends.
-Susan
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading 2021. We will continue to share these throughout the year.
Please join us for a live Zoom discussion of books by award-winning author Peter Hessler on Thursday, March 3 from 12-1 p.m. The author will join us for the first part of the discussion. Hessler’s books include “River Town,” “Oracle Bones,” “Country Driving” and “Strange Stones.” Come prepared to discuss a book of your choice. This program is geared towards adults.
February is Black History Month so I will be calling attention to some great books about and by Black activists. Highlighted below are activists young and old, from Amanda Gorman, who at 22-years-old became the youngest poet to read a poem at a presidential inauguration, to Ida B. Wells, who was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize almost 90 years after her death for her outstanding and courageous reporting on the horrific and vicious violence against African Americans during the era of lynching. There are also a couple great books that focus on the importance of activism in the African American community.
For more than 50 years, Angela Y. Davis has been known for her political activism at the cutting edge of the black liberation, feminist, queer and prison abolitionist movements. Her life is beautifully illustrated in the newly updated “Angela Davis: An Autobiography,” which features a new introduction from Davis.Continue reading “Literary Links: Black Activists and Activism”
There’s never a bad time for poetry, but winter seems to be a season especially well-suited for contemplative reading. DBRL’s reading program, The Comforts of Winter, allows us to set our own goals. “Read a book of poetry” would be a good one.
Amanda Gorman has a new collection out: “Call Us What We Carry.” Some of the works in here are as uplifting as the one she read at President Biden’s inauguration, while others are more sobering. All of them plumb the depths. She does an amazing job with form — a poem about whaling shaped like a whale, for instance. A selection I re-read a couple of times was “Pan.” “Pandemic, meaning all people. / Pandemonium, meaning/ all demon. Pandora, / meaning all-gifted…”Continue reading “Poetry to Get You Through the Winter”
