Animation isn’t just for kids’ movies. It’s a useful and increasingly common medium for nonfiction storytelling, particularly when live footage doesn’t exist or won’t suffice to engage viewers. Directors can turn to animation when a subject recollects scenes from their memories or fantasies, to bring life to a dense interview or to simply visualize content in a new way. Check out the following documentaries that get creative with animation. Continue reading “Drawn to It: Docs Involving Animation”
“So difficult it is to show the various meanings and imperfections of words when we have nothing else but words to do it with.”
~John Locke (1632-1704)
Humans love naming things and experiences. Without language we wouldn’t have stories and without words we wouldn’t have books. But sometimes words can become a cage. Lulu Miller, in her beautifully written memoir, “Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life,” explores some of the restrictions of language, explaining that there is really no such thing as a “fish.” It’s not a scientific term. What might look like a fish could actually be a mammal. She explains it with a metaphor — “It was the dandelion principle! To some people a dandelion might look like a weed, but to others that same plant can be so much more. To an herbalist, it’s a medicine — a way of detoxifying the liver, clearing the skin, and strengthening the eyes. To a painter, it’s a pigment; to a hippie, a crown; a child, a wish. To a butterfly, it’s sustenance; to a bee, a mating bed; to an ant, one point in a vast olfactory atlas.” She says, “I have come to believe that it is our life’s work to tear down this order, to keep tugging at it, trying to unravel it, to set free the organisms trapped underneath. That it is our life’s work to mistrust our measures. Especially those about moral and mental standing. To remember that behind every ruler there is a Ruler. To remember that a category is at best a proxy; at worst, a shackle.” Continue reading “Literary Links: Words, Words, Words”
Here are a few of the most exciting debut novels coming out in July. These have all received starred reviews in library journals. For a longer list, please visit our catalog.
“She Who Became the Sun” by Shelley Parker-Chan
In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…
In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.
When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.
After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother’s abandoned greatness.
Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: July 2021”
In “That Sounds Like Fun,” Annie Downs turns her podcast into a book. It’s about why it is important to be an amateur and find a hobby to bring more fun into your life. She talks about ways to find fun in the everyday and to savor the moments you’ve created. The book is a bit of a remembrance of simpler times in her life, but also shows readers/listeners how to craft a life of adventures, big and small.
Three words that describe this book: Uplifting, encouraging, hopeful
You might want to pick this book up if: You feel like there’s not any excitement or adventure in your life and you’re looking for a change.
-Laura
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading. Submit your own book review here for a chance to have it featured on the Adults Blog.
Polly Conner & Rachel Tiemeyer are Columbia, MO authors whose latest book is “From Freezer to Cooker.” It’s a cookbook full of recipes for the Instant Pot or slow cooker, as well as simple freezer meal instructions at the bottom of every recipe so readers will never be more than a few minutes away from a tasty and healthy homemade meal. Conner & Tiemeyer are the founders of Thriving Home, a down-to-earth lifestyle blog that has become a leader in the freezer cooking space — these time-strapped moms of three (each!) jokingly refer to themselves as “freezer meal evangelists.” They have previously written “From Freezer to Table,” a cookbook that contains more than 75 simple recipes for freezer cooked meals. I emailed some interview questions to them, and they were kind enough to take time to write back some answers. Continue reading “Q&A With Polly Conner & Rachel Tiemeyer, Authors of “From Freezer to Cooker””
Although “Bitter Greens” is a historical fiction novel with a fairy tale added in the mix, the author artfully weaves the plot so that the magical story line fits right in with actual events. Intriguing to the end, I found myself thinking about the characters several days after finishing the book. A great summer read!
Three words that describe this book: Magical; Heart-breaking; Hopeful
You might want to pick this book up if: you read or watched “Rapunzel” and have an interest in French/Italian history.
-Anonymous
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading. Submit your own book review here for a chance to have it featured on the Adults Blog.
I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in July. 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
“This Is Your Mind on Plants” by Michael Pollan (Jul 6)
Of all the things humans rely on plants for — sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber — surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Take coffee and tea: People around the world rely on caffeine to sharpen their minds. But we do not usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use as an addiction, because it is legal and socially acceptable. So, then, what is a “drug”? And why, for example, is making tea from the leaves of a tea plant acceptable, but making tea from a seed head of an opium poppy a federal crime? In “This Is Your Mind on Plants,” Michael Pollan dives deep into three plant drugs — opium, caffeine, and mescaline — and throws the fundamental strangeness, and arbitrariness, of our thinking about them into sharp relief. Exploring and participating in the cultures that have grown up around these drugs while consuming (or, in the case of caffeine, trying not to consume) them, Pollan reckons with the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants. Why do we go to such great lengths to seek these shifts in consciousness, and then why do we fence that universal desire with laws and customs and fraught feelings? In this unique blend of history, science, and memoir, as well as participatory journalism, Pollan examines and experiences these plants from several very different angles and contexts, and shines a fresh light on a subject that is all too often treated reductively — as a drug, whether licit or illicit. But that is one of the least interesting things you can say about these plants, Pollan shows, for when we take them into our bodies and let them change our minds, we are engaging with nature in one of the most profound ways we can. Based in part on an essay published almost 25 years ago, this groundbreaking and singular consideration of psychoactive plants, and our attraction to them through time, holds up a mirror to our fundamental human needs and aspirations, the operations of our minds, and our entanglement with the natural world. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: July 2021”
During these hot, steamy days of summer, we’re often stuck inside. I love to curl up with a good book or movie and a cold drink. I imagine many of you do as well. But sometimes we need a bit more stimulation, something to give the brain a bit of a workout. If that sounds appealing to you, you might want to give our digital escape room a try.
A digital escape room works very much like one of our in-person rooms in that you work to solve puzzles that will help you come up with the combinations for a variety of types of locks. In this newest digital escape room, Trapped in a Folk Tale, a visit to your local library leads you into a world of folk and fairy tales. Characters have gone missing from the stories and it’s up to you to help them get back to their worlds. Do you think you have what it takes to find all the clues?
This room is geared towards adults, but would be fine for ages 12 and up (maybe even younger if you have some little problem-solvers in your household). It’s something you can work on by yourself or you could pair up with members of your household to solve. Because it’s available online, you might even set up an escape room night with family or friends who live far away and have a little friendly competition to see who can escape first.
Give it a try and let us know if you were able to get out!
Image credit: Summerly, Felix, Little Red Riding Hood via Flickr (license)
In “I Am the Night Sky & Other Reflections by Muslim American Youth” 10 teens draw on their experience as Muslims living in the U.S. to create a powerful collection of poetry, artwork, mini-memoir and short fiction. A combined effort of the Next Wave Muslim Initiative in Washington, DC and Shout Mouse Press, this book was selected by Missouri Librarians as part of the new Dogwood Readers Award for Nonfiction titles for grades 9-12 and is a must read for any teen or adult seeking an understanding of and empathy toward Muslim American youth.
Three words that describe this book: moving, enlightening, uplifting
You might want to pick this book up if: You want an own-voices look into the experiences of Muslim American youth
-Katie
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading. Submit your own book review here for a chance to have it featured on the Adults Blog.
The Fourth of July weekend is nearly upon us. For many, it is the unofficial start of summer; and with Summer comes cookouts, my favorite consequence of any seasonal shift. In my eyes, the star of every cookout is barbecue. Will you be making food for your next gathering? Is it your first time and you need guidance? Do you want to know why some use a dry rub while others marinate? Are you a pitmaster but are interested in trying a new style?
So. Many. Styles. Memphis, Carolina (with differences between North and South), Kansas City, Texas (also remember there are regional differences within the state), Korean, Alabama and Kentucky, among others. Continue reading “Cue the BBQ!”
