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 Liz
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.
“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 Friday, September 4, 2020 by Katherine
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.
“The 2084 Report” by James Lawrence Powell
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 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 Monday, August 31, 2020 by Alyssa
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.
Anyway, here are some books about climate change. Continue reading “Read Harder 2020: A Book About Climate Change”
Posted on Friday, August 28, 2020 by Reading Addict
Hopefully your humming right along with your Read Harder Challenge. I thought I would update you on some brand new books that fit task #24 for a book in any genre by a Native, First Nations or Indigenous author. Continue reading “Books by Native, First Nations and Indigenous Authors: Read Harder 2020”
Posted on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 by Alyssa
What’s better than supporting indie presses? Getting to redirect your ever-present sense of dread onto a fictional horror narrative to help you cope with anxiety of course! The books will help you do both.
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”
Posted on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 by Ida
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”
Posted on Wednesday, August 12, 2020 by Decimal Diver
Stan Adams is a mid-Missouri author who recently came out with his debut book “Mokane to Mole City.” Adams grew up in the small town of Mokane, Missouri, and was drafted in the Summer of 1968, spending a year as a combat infantryman on the front lines of the Vietnam War. Fifty years later, through a photographic history, this book recounts his journey from rural Missouri to the jungles of Vietnam. Last year he gave a talk about the book at the Callaway County Public Library and also showcased the book at the Local Authors Open House at the Columbia Public Library. I recently emailed some interview questions to him about the book, and he wrote back some answers. Continue reading “Author Interview: Stan Adams”
Posted on Sunday, August 9, 2020 by Eric
Our 2020 One Read selection, “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles, was picked before the pandemic hit, but it shares an uncanny connection with what many of us have experienced — the theme of confinement. The book is about Count Alexander Rostov, who is sentenced to house arrest in the luxurious Hotel Metropol in Moscow by the Bolsheviks (later known as the Communist Party). Count Rostov experiences a tumultuous 30 years of Russian history from the limited perspective of his attic room with news of the world filtered through the hotel guests and employees that he encounters. It is remarkable how much The Count still witnesses, despite his confinement, and how much subject matter the author covers. Life continues, and, sometimes, we can have a wide range of experiences within a limited space. So, here are some other novels that explore a diverse array of human experience within very limited settings.
“One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, is also about a Russian prisoner, but here the conditions are far worse than the Hotel Metropol. Ivan Desinovich is a Russian soldier serving a 10-year sentence in a Siberian labor camp after being falsely accused of treason. The book chronicles a single routine, dehumanizing day in the camp, from when Ivan gets up to when he goes to sleep. His struggle to maintain dignity throughout the day is the heart of this story.
“The Mayakovsky Tapes” by Robert Littell, takes us back to the famous Hotel Metropol, specifically room 408, in 1953. There, four women have gathered to reminisce about Vladimir Mayakovsky, a poet who became a national idol of Soviet Russia after his death. Each woman was a muse of the poet, and through their reminiscence a complex character emerges. Mayakovsky’s history reflects Russian history, from his time as a leader of the Futurist movement to his work as a propagandist for the Revolution and later censorship battles that turned him against the state.
Some borders are more confining than others. The one that separates North Korea from the rest of the world is so confining that life behind it is a mystery to most of the world. “The Accusation” by Bandi is a collection of short stories that offers a glimpse behind the border. Published by an anonymous writer, and snuck into South Korea for publication, the book contains seven stories set during the period of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il’s leadership. These stories provide a vivid depiction of life in a dictatorship and a rare look at the people living in that very isolated nation.
“The Lady Matador’s Hotel” by Cristina Garcia takes place in an unnamed Central American capital in the midst of political turmoil. It follows six men and women, residents of the eponymous hotel, during a week when their lives become entangled and conflicts erupt. The intertwining stories form a caustic social critique of the horrors of oppression and violence.
“The Mezzanine” by Nicholson Baker, takes place during a one-story escalator ride. While embarking on this simple task, the narrator contemplates some of the mundane objects in our lives and activities we engage in. This defamiliarizes the familiar, and becomes an exploration of the importance of everyday human experiences and the things around us.
The setting for “Cosmopolis” by Don DeLillo is the interior of a white stretch limousine. Inside rides a 28-year-old billionaire asset manager on his way across town to get a haircut. During this journey, he is in the middle of a risky bet against the yen and has many visitors and detours. The result is a perceptive, surreal and surprisingly epic story about a limo ride.
In “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” by Ottessa Moshfegh, the unnamed narrator wants to spend a year in the confines of her bed. After inheriting a large sum of money, she quits her job at an art gallery and somehow finds a doctor willing to supply her with the right combination of drugs to sleep a year away. Despite the absurd conceit, the book is about very real concerns, like alienation and loneliness. Will this long nap heal the narrator?
I hope that you’ve been able to read “A Gentleman in Moscow,” and that it has helped expand your experience of the world, as many books can, during this time of social distancing. Perhaps some of these other titles can do the same. In September, you will be able to explore the topics and themes of the book online through discussions, an art exhibit and other programs, culminating with an author’s talk live via Zoom on September 22. For more information, visit the One Read website at www.oneread.org.