“Floaters
” is a poetry collection covering a wide range of topics, but especially focusing on Latinx and tenant rights movements and grief. I’ve long admired Martín Espada’s work, and this is certainly one of his best.
The most impressive thing to me is Espada’s emotional range, how often he makes the reader laugh out loud or feel almost physically sick with anger or despair — sometimes in the same poem. This range is reflected in his choice of subjects too, how he connects policies and social movements affecting millions to personal matters such as the death of his father or his enduring love for his wife. From the first poem in the book he works to tie together images of his personal, specific experience with stories of others’ lives and histories.
While the book often focuses on the worst of life — racism, exploitation, death — it maintains a sense of both beauty and humor, finding joy and meaning in the lives of the people it fights for or elegizes. The effect these poems have by the end is essential and frankly amazing: the compression of so many events and feelings into a slim volume of poems, a world of near-infinite wonder and sadness in such a small space.
Three words that describe this book: moving, beautiful, surprising
You might want to pick this book up if: you already love poetry OR you’re totally new to it and don’t know where to start! Martín Espada’s narrative style and focus on strong emotions and current events make his work easier to get into than some other poets’, while his imagery, line work, and impeccable word choice and sense of rhythm will impress those who read poetry day in and day out.
-Eric
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading 2022. We will continue to share these throughout the year.
Let’s take a virtual tour of “reportedly” haunted locations in Callaway and Boone Counties; we have many of them between the two counties. And this being a library blog, I want to also encourage you to learn more about these locations. Come in and explore our collections when you finish scaring yourself silly! Continue reading “Let’s Tour Our Haunted Region!”
You already may know that you can check out a bag of books for your book group. Or a telescope for exploring the night sky. Here is another new type of kit, one I’m especially excited about. This Summer we are adding kits for people who would like to try knitting or crocheting for the first time, or who would like to return to the craft. Yes! I am so happy we are offering these physical kits. They live at Columbia Public Library and can be interlibrary loaned to any of the other regional branches.
These kits are made possible by the Verna Wulfekammer bequest. Continue reading “Fiber Art Kits”
I love the recent trend of books with Greek myths retold from a feminine perspective, and “Elektra” does not disappoint. This one focuses on three women during the Trojan War: Clytemnestra and Elektra of Mycenae, and Cassandra of Troy. However, we also have the voices of Helen, Penelope, and the men that enter the tale as well. Just as in her book “Ariadne,” author Jennifer Saint does a great job of integrating multiple Greek myths into her storytelling, along with the involvement of the gods and the power of women’s wrath. Overall, beautiful.
Three words that describe this book: Rage. Helplessness. Devotion.
You might want to pick this book up if: you enjoy mythology or fierce female protagonists.
-Anonymous
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading 2022. We will continue to share these throughout the year.
For a history geek, “When Women Ruled the World” is a treasure trove of information on four queens: Mary Tudor; Elizabeth I; Mary, Queen of Scots; and Catherine de’ Medici. Informative and entertaining, I loved the way the author rectified some incorrect or biased information that has come down through history on these highly influential women rulers. I also gained a new appreciation for Phillip II of Spain, whose historical accomplishments have been somewhat overlooked, and who figured in some ways in the lives of all these powerful women.
Three words that describe this book: Intriguing; Readable; Encouraging
You might want to pick this book up if: you want to learn more about the ways powerful women have made influential marks on Western/European history.
-Connie
This reader review was submitted as part of Adult Summer Reading 2022. We will continue to share these throughout the year.
While considering what to write about for this month’s Literary Links article, I stumbled across the fact that October is “Right Brainers Rule!” month. The human brain is divided into two hemispheres, and each side of the brain handles different jobs. The brain’s left side is stronger in dealing with facts and logic in an analytical and methodical way; whereas the right side of the brain appears to be the more creative side. Some theorize that each of us ends up having a side of the brain that dominates the other. Of course, there is so much about the brain that we do not yet fully understand. One thing we really know about the brain, though, is that it’s the body’s only organ that can contemplate its own existence! So, let’s take a look at some books that explore this delightfully complex organ that is such a driving force in our lives. Continue reading “Literary Links: All About the Brain”
In honor of spooky season, here are a few of the most notable (and creepiest) adult fiction debuts for October. These titles have all received positive reviews in library journals. For a longer list, please visit our catalog.
“The Immortality Thief” by Taran Hunt
Far off the edge of human existence, beside a dying star lies a nameless ship abandoned and hidden, lost for a millennium. But there are secrets there, terrible secrets that would change the fate of humanity, and eventually someone will come looking.
Refugee, criminal and linguist Sean Wren is made an offer he knows he can’t refuse: life in prison, “voluntary” military service — or salvaging data in a long-dead language from an abandoned ship filled with traps and monsters, just days before it’s destroyed in a supernova. Data connected to the Philosopher’s Stone experiments, into unlocking the secrets of immortality.
And he’s not the only one looking for the derelict ship. The Ministers, mysterious undying aliens that have ruled over humanity for centuries, want the data — as does The Republic, humanity’s last free government. And time is running out.
In the bowels of the derelict ship, surrounded by horrors and dead men, Sean slowly uncovers the truth of what happened on the ship, in its final days… and the terrible secret it’s hiding.
Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: October 2022”
Here is a new DVD list highlighting various titles recently added to the library’s collection.
“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”
Website / Reviews
This fictional comedy-drama tells the story of a widowed cleaning lady in 1950s London who falls madly in love with a couture Dior dress, and decides that she must have one of her own. After she works, starves and gambles to raise the funds to pursue her dream, she embarks on an adventure to Paris which will change not only her own outlook, but the very future of the House of Dior. Continue reading “New DVD List: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris & More”
Below I’m highlighting some nonfiction books coming out in October. 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
“Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions” by Temple Grandin (Oct 11)
A quarter of a century after her memoir, “Thinking in Pictures,” forever changed how the world understood autism, Temple Grandin, transforms our awareness of the different ways our brains are wired. Do you have a keen sense of direction, a love of puzzles, the ability to assemble furniture without crying? You are likely a visual thinker. With her genius for demystifying science, Grandin draws on cutting-edge research to take us inside visual thinking. Visual thinkers constitute a far greater proportion of the population than previously believed, she reveals, and a more varied one, from the photo-realistic object visualizers like Grandin herself, with their intuitive knack for design and problem solving, to the abstract, mathematically inclined “visual spatial” thinkers who excel in pattern recognition and systemic thinking. She also makes us understand how a world increasingly geared to the verbal tends to sideline visual thinkers, screening them out at school and passing over them in the workplace. Rather than continuing to waste their singular gifts, driving a collective loss in productivity and innovation, Grandin proposes new approaches to educating, parenting, employing and collaborating with visual thinkers. As this important book helps us see, in a highly competitive world we need every mind on board. Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: October 2022”
Recently I was in the mood to read a book that was uncanny, insightful, thrilling, beautiful, able to make me write better blog posts and, in a pinch, act as a meal replacement. Reasoning that if such a powerful book existed, I’d either have heard about it or it would be very new, I perused the new book shelf at the Columbia Public Library. In the sort of serendipitous moment that usually only occurs in telenovelas or upscale puppet shows, I noticed, while retrieving some dropped pudding, that my pudding had landed nearest a book with a blurb reading: “Uncanny, insightful, thrilling, beautiful… my favorite book by one of America’s great living writers.” Despite saying nothing about its qualifications as a meal replacement or blog-betterer, I figured I’d give the book a shot, plus it was going to take me a little time to get the pudding off of it. Continue reading “The Gentleman Recommends: Ken Kalfus”
