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”
Bread is one of the least controversial things out there. Most would agree with the decorated food writer Michael Pollan that “Even bad bread is pretty good.” Pillowy, fragrant inner-crumbs with chewy, caramelized crusts, who can honestly claim they know restraint around those bottomless bread baskets certain restaurants dare offer? The gluten-free industry has flourished in the last decade to satisfy cravings for this universal carb. Now, while you could continue purchasing this diet staple from the grocery store, I’d argue that it is far more gratifying and delicious to bake it yourself. Continue reading “DIY Bread”
Here are just a few of the many novels by debut authors that are coming to our shelves in February. For a complete list, please visit our catalog.
“Winter’s Orbit” by Everina Maxwell
A famously disappointing minor royal and the Emperor’s least favorite grandchild, Prince Kiem is summoned before the Emperor and commanded to renew the empire’s bonds with its newest vassal planet. The prince must marry Count Jainan, the recent widower of another royal prince of the empire.
But Jainan suspects his late husband’s death was no accident. And Prince Kiem discovers Jainan is a suspect himself. But broken bonds between the Empire and its vassal planets leaves the entire empire vulnerable, so together they must prove that their union is strong while uncovering a possible conspiracy.
Their successful marriage will align conflicting worlds.
Their failure will be the end of the empire.
Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: February 2021”
As a fan of scary things that can’t hurt me, I’m always on the hunt for thrilling books and chilling portraits. When you regularly devote hours of your life to consuming media meant to disturb you, you begin to see a pattern in what is collectively considered spooky. Sure, we’d all prefer to avoid vampires and haunted dolls, but often the most chilling foes are more common (not to diminish the haunted doll population, which does seem to be getting out of hand, and is certainly too large at any non-zero number). I’m referring, naturally, to children and forests. And before a parent or park ranger takes offense, certainly children and forests can be both worthy of devotion and majestic, but once they get creepy, they can get really dang creepy. Continue reading “The Gentleman Recommends: Zoje Stage”
I’m beginning to feel an extreme wanderlust! We usually take at least two trips a year — one as a family vacation during the summer and one to visit distant relatives over the holidays. But since last March, four days in the Mark Twain Forest has been the extent of our travels. It was lovely but I need more. Since we can’t travel physically, I thought I would try to tour the country through literature. Every month, I plan on choosing a book per state and “travel” the country region by region. I’m going to begin in the Deep South. Continue reading “Travel Through Story: The Deep South”
My two kids grew up in a house filled with small pets, most adopted due to the pleading of said children. We’ve had cats, rats, gerbils, fish and a hedgehog, and loved them all, even during the times when it felt like we were making a second home at the veterinary clinic. In honor of National Love Your Pet Day on the 20th of this month, here’s a list of books by or about veterinarians.
“A Handful of Happiness” is a sweet little memoir written by Italian large animal vet Massimo Vacchetta, with Antonella Tomaselli, and translated by Jamie Richards. Vacchetta felt unfulfilled in a job dealing almost exclusively with livestock. Then someone brought him an orphaned baby hedgehog, a creature that quickly took over his life and heart. Pretty soon, he’d rescued a second hedgehog, and a third. Finding a new purpose, he set about establishing a rescue center for the rehabilitation of injured and ill hedgehogs, releasing them back to the wild when possible. Continue reading “Literary Links: Pets and Veterinarians”
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 
