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”
Posted on Tuesday, September 1, 2020 by patron reviewer
“Exhalation” is a collection of science fiction short stories. The author works in the software industry and is clearly knowledgeable about scientific principles and technology and curious about its possibilities. His stories often blend the scientific with the spiritual, and invoke a lot of moral and ethical questions. My favorite stories were “Omphalos” which focuses on a narrator struggling to reconcile her faith and purpose in light of new scientific evidence, and “The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling” which deals with the flexibility of memory, how we construct narratives about ourselves and our worlds, and how different forms of technology can shape those narratives.
Three words that describe this book: Thought-provoking, enlightening, well-crafted
You might want to pick this book up if: You like humanistic science fiction.
Of all the Read Harder blog posts I signed up to write, I have put this one off the longest. The last thing I want to think about right now is that we have another imminent threat to humanity’s survival which is totally overcomeable but our ability to do so is dependent on our capability of taking in the research offered by credible scientific sources and working together to adjust our lifestyles in mildly inconvenient ways to help ourselves as a collective human species.
Unprecedented times indeed.
I will admit that I have had to set down and walk away from every book I tried to read for this task because I got so angry and frustrated with the state of things.
Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2020 by DBRL_Katie
We lose things all the time: keys, rings, our train of thought. In the following documentaries, entire film treasuries were lost, only to be rediscovered decades later by chance. Check out these films that follow the recovery of priceless collections. You’ll emerge appreciating the things you’ve long held onto. Continue reading “Hit the Mother Lode: Docs About Unearthed Collections”
My Best Friend’s Exorcism: Abby and Gretchen are high school BFFs whose friendship gets put to the ultimate test. After the two girls experiment with LSD, Gretchen disappears, later reemerging with some strange symptoms such as flashback, fits, and randomly bleeding. The horrifying reality dawns on Abby: Gretchen is possessed, and Abby must be the one to exorcise the demon. As a bonus, this book takes place in 1988 and is stuffed with 80s references. Continue reading “Read Harder 2020: A Horror Book by an Indie Press”
Rich Karlgaard believes our society suffers from an obsession with young prodigies, stars who peak at a young age. In “Late Bloomers,” he makes the case for allowing people the opportunity to blossom when they are ready. He backs this up with anecdotes of folks who found success long after crossing the threshold into adulthood and an examination of societal factors he believes contribute to the emphasis on early achievement. Continue reading “Late Bloomers”
“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.
