Posted on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 by Decimal Diver
Here is a new DVD list highlighting various titles recently added to the library’s collection.
“The Outsider” Miniseries Website / Reviews
Based on the Stephen King best-selling novel, this miniseries begins by following a seemingly straightforward investigation into the gruesome murder of a young boy. But when an insidious supernatural force edges its way into the case, it leads a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator to question everything they believe in.
“Game Shelf” by 427 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
How many puzzles does it take to make it through quarantine?For my family, apparently 10 1,000 piece puzzles, four 3-D puzzles and counting. One puzzle was so difficult we may jokingly frame it (gasp!) with the caption being “The worst puzzle of Quarantine 2020.” And let’s not forget about the many board and card games we played to increase our pastime possibilities.
I have never been much of a game player, but even I succumbed during the boredom of quarantine. It made me wonder about the pastimes of people before modern technology made games so affordable and easy to obtain. Archaeologists continue to unearth many types of games; recently a 1,700 year-old Roman game was found in a burial ground. It is thought to be an ancient version of backgammon. I decided to do my own dig through the library’s collection and I found many books on the history and rules of games past and present. Continue reading “Literary Links: How Many Puzzles Does It Take to Make It Through Quarantine?”
Posted on Friday, September 11, 2020 by Abbey Rimel
Here is a watch list that explores themes from this year’s One Read title, and recommends films from the free streaming service offered by Daniel Boone Regional Library, Kanopy.
Tchaikovsky, one of the great Russian contributions to Western culture:
Posted on Wednesday, September 9, 2020 by Abbey Rimel
Inside the Hotel Metropol, a Life is Lived. Inside your Library, a World Awaits
This series of blog posts explores the rooms of the Hotel Metropol, setting of this year’s One Read title, and recommends books and films related to these scenes. For a true admirer of the written word, one book is never the end of the story.Continue reading “The One Read List, Part One”
Posted on Tuesday, September 8, 2020 by patron reviewer
I read “Blood Water Paint” as part of an online book club. I’m so glad that it was the club’s pick, because otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up — it was such a unique and intense experience! It is written mostly in verse, but don’t let that put you off — the poetry is beautiful and quite accessible. There are intermittent chapters written in prose, and they were my favorites due to their content: the main character, Renaissance artist Artemisia Gentileschi, remembering the stories that her mother had told her about strong women in history. There’s a theme throughout the book of women telling stories about women (especially those of women being abused and standing up for themselves) to girls/women because we need those stories and the boys have their own stories of warriors and kings . But I wish that the boys had BOTH stories — otherwise, how is anything ever supposed to change? I’m inspired by this book to strive to tell stories halfway as well to my own daughter as Artemesia’s mother did to her — and if I had a son, I’d sit him down right there next to her.
Three words that describe this book: Beautiful, raw, true
You might want to pick this book up if: You are interested in the Renaissance art world and/or gender issues. Trigger warning: rape.
Below I will be sharing some of the new nonfiction titles that will be released in September. All the titles are available to put on hold from our catalog and will also be made available on the library’s Overdrive account on the day of publication. For a more extensive list of new nonfiction books coming out this month check our online catalog.
Top Picks
“Love, Zac: Small-Town Football and the Life and Death of an American Boy” by Reid Forgrave (Sep 8)
“I just can’t live with this pain anymore,” were among the final words in the diary of Zac Easter, a young man from small-town Iowa. In December 2015, Zac decided to take his own life rather than continue his losing battle against the traumatic brain injuries he had sustained as a no-holds-barred high school football player. In this deeply reported and powerfully moving true story, award-winning sportswriter Reid Forgrave speaks to Zac’s family, friends and coaches; he explores Zac’s tightly knit, football-obsessed Midwestern community; he interviews cutting-edge brain scientists, psychologists, and sports historians; and he takes a deep dive into the triumphs and sins of the sports entertainment industry. Forgrave shows us how football mirrors America, from the fighting spirit it has helped inscribe in our national character to the problematic side effects of traditional notions of manhood that it affirms. But, above all, this is a story of how one young man’s obsession with football led him and many of those entrusted with his care to ignore the warning signs of CTE until it was too late. What do Zac’s life and death mean for a society addicted to a sport that can be thrilling and character forming but also dangerous and sometimes tragic for those who play it? Continue reading “Nonfiction Roundup: September 2020”
Posted on Tuesday, September 8, 2020 by patron reviewer
“A Good American” is about a family of German immigrants who settle in Missouri; the book follows several generations of the family circa 1900 and onward. I liked the book because I learned more about Missouri history and because it tells the story of immigrants. It was a very entertaining, absorbing, informative, moving and a richly drawn narrative. I think I would have liked to understand the main character (and narrator) better, especially as an adult.
Three words that describe this book: historical, colorful, moving
You might want to pick this book up if: You want to learn more about Missouri’s immigration history.
Here are just a few of the exciting debut adult fiction titles coming to bookshelves near you this month! To see a longer list of debuts, please visit our catalog.
2084: Global warming has proven worse than even the direst predictions scientists had made at the turn of the century. No country and no one has remained unscathed. Through interviews with scientists, political leaders, and citizens around the globe, this riveting oral history describes in graphic detail the irreversible effects the Great Warming has had on humankind and the planet.
In short chapters about topics like sea level rise, drought, migration, war, and more, this novel brings global warming to life, revealing a new reality in which Rotterdam doesn’t exist, Phoenix has no electricity and Canada is part of the United States. From wars over limited resources to the en masse migrations of entire countries and the rising suicide rate, the characters describe other issues they are confronting in the world they share with the next two generations. Simultaneously fascinating and frightening, “The 2084 Report“ will inspire you to start conversations and take action.
Posted on Thursday, September 3, 2020 by patron reviewer
What a tome! Stephen King really does a deep dive into history, into paradoxes, into love, into causes and effects. I don’t always get into King’s out and out horror, but something like “11/22/63” is perfect for me. Sure there are still the occasional gruesome images (I mean, this is a tale centered around that time in history a US president had his head blown off), but for the most part this an introspective adventure novel. For years we are tracking Jake/George in an almost minute by minute way, and we’re better for it. He is having the sort of experience that can only happen in books, and it’s fascinating. For weeks now this protagonist has been a present friend of mine and I’ll be sorry to leave him behind. Sometimes you pick up a massive book and while you might be enjoying it, you nonetheless look forward to completing it. That’s not the case here. I’d happily spend another thousand pages inhabiting Jake’s mind and admiring his experiences. I’d love to get to ask, “What next?”
Three words that describe this book: Paradoxes, Passion, Pressure
You might want to pick this book up if: You love an excellent adventure, a protagonist you can really get behind, a meditation on the immutable nature of time.
Posted on Wednesday, September 2, 2020 by Decimal Diver
Elisha Wells Stroupe is a Mid-Missouri author who recently came out with her debut book, “Desperate Farmwives.” She is the creator and author of a blog of the same name, which features humorous real-life tales of her and her family living on a farm near Armstrong, Missouri. Her book is a collection of selected blog entries, along with some new (and reportedly exaggerated) stories as well. I recently emailed some interview questions to her, and she was kind enough to take time out of her schedule to write back some answers. Continue reading “Author Interview: Elisha Wells Stroupe”
Here is a new DVD list highlighting various titles recently added to the library’s collection.
“The Outsider”
