Victoria

Almost nothing, yet everything : a book about water

by Hiroshi Osada

jE Osada

Artist Ryōji Arai and poet Hiroshi Osada, the Japanese team behind critically acclaimed Every Color of Light, offer up another meditation on the natural world in this ode to water. A lyrical moment between parent and child in a boat on a river unfolds into an examination of the water that surrounds them, and the nature and life sustained by it: "It's only oxygen and hydrogen. Simple as could be, and yet nothing means more to life as we know it." Arai's lush art and Osada's evocative poetry, beautifully translated from Japanese by David Boyd, work together to enchant readers and refresh their spirit, opening their eyes to the wonders of water, the universe, and life.

What an absolutely stunning book! The text is sparse and the illustrations are riveting; showcasing the importance of one of our most valuable commodities; water! I love how the pictures incorporate us humans as part of nature as opposed to being the overlords of our planet. There is so much wonder and reverence in this book. A perfect read during Earth Month, Earth Day or any day! if you like this title, try A River, by Marc Martin. -Victoria

The Korean vegan cookbook : reflections and recipes from Omma's kitchen

by Joanne Lee Molinaro

641.59519 /Lee Molinaro

Korean cooking is synonymous with fish sauce and barbecue, and veganism remains extremely rare in Korean culture. Many of the ingredients are fully plant-based and unbelievably flavorable, and Korean plant-based eating is not a new idea: vegan cuisine prepared by Korean Buddhist monks has been around for more than a thousand years. Lee Molinaro shares recipes (and narrative snapshots) of the food that shaped her family history-- only with a plant-based take. -- adapted from inside front cover and the chapter, The Korean vegan.

This is a gorgeous book of delicious Korean vegan recipes that are easy to replicate. Equally wonderful are the detailed family histories that exemplify how food and family are interwoven and how special signature family recipes can almost feel like we're reviving a sacred time and place at the dinner table with our loved ones who originally created them. -Victoria

There's a ghost in this house

by Oliver Jeffers

jE Jeffers

"A young girl lives in a haunted house, but she has never seen a ghost. Are they white with holes for eyes? Are they hard to see? Step inside and help the girl as she searches under the stairs, behind the sofa, and in the attic for the ghost." -- Amazon.

What an incredibly innovative story of a girl, some ghouls and breaking down the fourth wall! The juxtaposition of the gorgeous reality and furniture of an old house with the surreal ghosts is stunning and I've never read a picture book with translucent pages and added surprises before. I love Oliver's picture books but this is definitely one of my favorites! -Victoria

Ain't burned all the bright

by Jason Reynolds

ON ORDER BOOK
Young Adult

"Jason Reynolds, using three longggggggg sentences, and Jason Griffin, using three hundred pages of a pocket-size moleskine, have mind-melded this fierce-vulnerable-brilliant-terrifying-whatiswrongwithumans-hopefilled-hopeful-tendere-heartbreaking-heartmaking manifesto on what it means not to be able to breathe, and how the people and things at your fingertips are actually the oxygen you most need." -- jacket flap

2020 was unprecedented. The news rarely had anything good to say and we're still on our way out of a social isolation experiment that has profoundly impacted the way we connect. Melding the pandemic, what has changed and what is painfully still the same for a black family in America, this book delves in and out of living and loving. The sparse text is brought to life when needed and muted at times by explosive and illuminating illustrations. I would read the back of a cereal box if it was written by Jason Reynolds. Though his words are few in this book, he has distilled them into what really matters. -Victoria

Tales from the ant world

by Edward O. Wilson

595.796 /Wilson

"Summary Edward O. Wilson recalls his lifetime with ants-from his first boyhood encounters in the woods of Alabama to perilous journeys into the Brazilian rainforest." Ants are the most warlike of all animals, with colony pitted against colony. ... Their clashes dwarf Waterloo and Gettysburg," writes Edward O. Wilson in his most finely observed work in decades. In a myrmecological tour to such far-flung destinations as Mozambique and New Guinea, the Gulf of Mexico's Dauphin Island and even his parents' overgrown yard back in Alabama, Wilson thrillingly evokes his nine-decade-long scientific obsession with more than 15,000 ant species. Wryly observing that "males are little more than flying sperm missiles" or that ants send their "little old ladies into battle," Wilson eloquently relays his brushes with fire, army, and leafcutter ants, as well as more exotic species: the Matabele, Africa's fiercest warrior ants; Costa Rica's Basiceros, the slowest ants in the world; and New Caledonia's Myrmecia apicalis, the most endangered of them all. A personal account by one of our greatest scientists, Tales from the Ant World is an indispensable volume for any lover of the natural world"--

As a child, I was an avid collector of woodlice; observing their habits and putting them up in makeshift "habitat hotels" to experiment with their dietary needs and preferences. Needless to say I more than appreciated Tales from the Ant World. Edward O.Wilson is the ant king and instead of painting these insects in a good or bad light, he simply documents them with impeccable accuracy and detail. This is a fascinating read about a fantastically curious mind with almost 50 years of experience. -Victoria

Coffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost

by Betina Birkjær

jE Birkjaer

Stump always has a fantastic time with his grandparents, filled with flowers, puzzles, crosswords, and endless love. But one day, Stump's grandfather starts to lose his memory--and his words, which literally fall from him. Stump tries his best to keep the lost words safe, collecting them in a special box. But Grandpa seems to forget more and more everyday, and the situation comes to a head one snowy night when Stump wakes up to find Grandpa missing. Together, Stump and Grandma must find new ways to connect with Grandpa, and show him that he's not alone. This poignant, tender picture book depicts the struggle of coping with a loved one's dementia with honesty and sensitivity, with a message of hope that affirms the deep bonds of love between grandchild and grandparent. This book includes an afterword to the adult reader about dementia and recollection, written by Ove Dahl, a historian and head of the Danish Center for Reminiscence. He provides some practical tips, as illustrated in the story with Stump, for establishing a meaningful way of being together when caring for a relative with dementia.

This is one of the best children's books I've read about coming to terms with a relative with memory loss. The intergenerational connection between the grandchild and grandfather is realistic and beautiful. The author captures the feelings a family unit has when they witness their loved one gradually becoming a shell of their former self. The illustrations are gorgeous and artistically amplify the hopeful story that unfolds. All ages will appreciate this book. -Victoria

Imaginary Borders

by Xiuhtezcatl Martinez

363.73874 /Martinez

If we wait for the floodwater to reach our doorstep, it will be too late. Earth Guardians youth director and hip-hop artist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez uses his art and activism to show that climate change is a human issue. In Imaginary Borders, Martinez visualizes a future that allows us to direct our anger, fear, and passion toward creating change. Because we all have a part to play.

This paper-thin pocket-sized manifesto highlights the inequity in climate change and amplifies ways we can get involved to advocate for real change. A great quick read. -Victoria

Somebody's daughter : a memoir

by Ashley C. Ford

BIOGRAPHY Ford, Ashley C.
Memoir

"One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path we must take to both honor and overcome our origins. For as long as she could remember, Ashley has put her father on a pedestal. Despite having only vague memories of seeing him face-to-face, she believes he's the only person in the entire world who understands her. She thinks she understands him too. He's sensitive like her, an artist, and maybe even just as afraid of the dark. She's certain that one day they'll be reunited again, and she'll finally feel complete. There are just a few problems: he's in prison, and she doesn't know what he did to end up there. Through poverty, puberty, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley returns to her image of her father for hope and encouragement. She doesn't know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates; when the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley finally finds out why her father is in prison. And that's where the story really begins. Somebody's Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she provides a poignant coming-of-age recollection that speaks to finding the threads between who you are and what you were born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them. 'Ashley Ford's prose is glass-so clear, sharp and smooth that the reader sees, in vivid focus, her complicated childhood, brilliant mind, and golden heart. The gravity and urgency of Somebody's Daughter anchored me to my chair and slowed my heartbeat-like no book has since Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Ashley Ford is a writer for the ages, and Somebody's Daughter will be a book of the year.'-- Glennon Doyle, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Untamed and founder of Together Rising" --

This was such a raw, honest and hopeful book about making sense of our past to put our best selves forward into the future. I couldn't get enough of this book. -Victoria

The Year of Magical Thinking

by Joan Didion

OverDrive eBook

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • From one of America’s iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion that explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage—and a life, in good times and bad—that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child. Several days before Christmas 2003, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their only daughter, Quintana, fall ill with what seemed at first flu, then pneumonia, then complete septic shock. She was put into an induced coma and placed on life support. Days later—the night before New Year’s Eve—the Dunnes were just sitting down to dinner after visiting the hospital when John Gregory Dunne suffered a massive and fatal coronary. In a second, this close, symbiotic partnership of forty years was over. Four weeks later, their daughter pulled through. Two months after that, arriving at LAX, she collapsed and underwent six hours of brain surgery at UCLA Medical Center to relieve a massive hematoma. This powerful book is Didion’ s attempt to make sense of the “weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness ... about marriage and children and memory ... about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself.

Although not like the other prolific fictional works of Didion, this book examines the timeline of grief after we lose someone close in an interesting and solitary way. While some references to her ritzy lifestyle were lost on me, I appreciated many merits of this one. -Victoria

Wishes

by Muon Van

jE Van
Picture Books

"In this spare, poetic picture book based on author Muon Van's family history and told through a series of wishes, a family packs up everything they own and embarks on a perilous oceanic voyage toward a better life"--

This is a simple but absolutely stunning little story about leaving your motherland and hoping for a brighter future. The text, though sparse soundly resonates and aligns perfectly with the richly detailed and beautiful illustrations. -Victoria

Bright star

by Yuyi Morales

jE Morales
Picture Books

"A nurturing voice reassures the lonely and afraid in difficult times"--

This is a breathtakingly beautiful read and Morales reigns supreme in matching powerful text with absolutely gorgeous illustrations you'll want to fawn over again and again! -Victoria

Fuzz : when nature breaks the law

by Mary Roach

591.5 /Roach

"Join "America's funniest science writer" (Peter Carlson, Washington Post) Mary Roach on an irresistible investigation into the unpredictable world where wildlife and humans meet. What's to be done about a jaywalking moose? A grizzly bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? As New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology. Roach tags along with animal attack forensics investigators, human-elephant conflict specialists, bear managers, and "danger tree" faller-blasters. She travels from leopard-terrorized hamlets in the Indian Himalaya to St. Peter's Square in the early hours before the Pope arrives for Easter Mass, when vandal gulls swoop in to destroy the elaborate floral display. Along the way, Roach reveals as much about humanity as about nature's lawbreakers. Combining little- known forensic science and conservation genetics with a motley cast of laser scarecrows, langur impersonators, and mugging macaques, Fuzz offers hope for compassionate coexistence in our ever-expanding human habitat"--

Witty, dry, and as thoroughly researched as anything Mary Roach ever delves into, Fuzz is a hoot! The author has a brilliant knack for roping you into subjects you never knew you wanted to learn about! Fans of Sarah Vowell and Bill Bryson will enjoy this read. -Victoria

Aristotle and Dante dive into the waters of the world

by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

YOUNG ADULT FICTION/Saenz, Benjamin
Diverse Characters, Young Adult

High school seniors Aristotle and Dante find ways to spend time together despite being at different schools, having to keep their love secret, and nightly news of gay men dying from AIDS.

This second novel is equally as eloquent, captivating and heart-wrenching as the first. Characters are beautifully life-like, multi-faceted and layered and the story is realistic, thought-provoking and well worth waiting nine years for! -Victoria

How the word is passed : a reckoning with the history of slavery across America

by Clint Smith

973.00496 /Smith
History, Black Lives Matter

"'How the Word is Passed' is Clint Smith's revealing, contemporary portrait of America as a slave owning nation. Beginning in his own hometown of New Orleans, Smith leads the reader through an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks - those that are honest about the past and those that are not - that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nations collective history, and ourselves."--

A thoroughly researched exploration of the impact of slavery and how it's history has been recorded through various monuments and landmarks. You may never see the Statue of Liberty or Wall Street the same way again! -Victoria

Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe

by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Saenz Benjamin
LGBTQ+, Young Adult

Fifteen-year-old Ari Mendoza is an angry loner with a brother in prison, but when he meets Dante and they become friends, Ari starts to ask questions about himself, his parents, and his family that he has never asked before.

I'm not sure how this book has escaped my clutches. It is a heart-warming, beautiful, soul-touching reminder that love is love! The sequel, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World is released later this month so you have time for a re-read before it comes out! -Victoria

The snail with the right heart : a true story

by Maria Popova

jE Popova
Science, Nature

This is the real-life story of Jeremy, a rare garden snail found in 2015 by a retired London scientist. Jeremy's shell spiraled to the left, indicating reversed internal anatomy--including a heart positioned on the right. As a result, a similarly rare mate was needed in order to procreate.

I've been waiting for the prolific blogger of Brain Pickings, Maria Popova to finally write a book and it's as delightful, observant, dry and fascinating as she is. This is a children's book but should be enjoyed by all ages. If you like this, check out You are Stardust by Elin Kelsey (a book Popova once recommended on her blog!). -Victoria

Home is Not a Country

by Safia Elhillo

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Elhillo, Safia
Young Adult

"Nima doesn't feel understood. By her mother, who grew up far away in a different land. By her suburban town, which makes her feel too much like an outsider to fit in and not enough like an outsider to feel like that she belongs somewhere else. At least she has her childhood friend Haitham, with whom she can let her guard down and be herself. Until she doesn't. As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple with the phantom of a life not chosen, the name her parents didn't give her at birth: Yasmeen. But that other name, that other girl, might just be more real than Nima knows. And more hungry. And the life Nima has, the one she keeps wishing were someone else's...she might have to fight for it with a fierceness she never knew she had."--

I absolutely loved the brutal honesty, the language and slight mysticism of this book. The author tackles the Islamophobia of a post 9/11 world in a delicately poetic and human way. This is a great read into the lives of those forced to flee their motherland for hopes of better opportunities only to find the grass is often anything but greener on the other side. -Victoria

Ace of spades

by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Abike-Iyimide, Faridah
Young Adult, Thriller, Suspense, LGBTQ+

At Niveus Private Academy, Devon and Chiamaka are the only students chosen to be Senior Prefects who are also black, which makes them targets for a series of anonymous texts revealing their secrets to the entire student body. Both students were on track toward valedictorian and bright college futures, but this prank quickly turns into a very dangerous game and they are at more than one disadvantage as it looks like things could turn deadly.

This is a fantastic page-turner with a delectable plot, well-developed characters and an overall killer debut! Fans of One of Us is Lying, Get Out and Gossip Girl will delight in this read. -Victoria

This is your mind on plants

by Michael Pollan

581.6 /Pollan
Nature, Science

Of all the things humans rely on plants for-- sustenance, beauty, fragrance, flavor, fiber-- surely the most curious is our use of them is to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Pollan dives deep into three plant drugs-- opium, caffeine, and mescaline-- and explores the cultures that have grown up around these drugs. He examines the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants, and the equally powerful taboos with which we surround them. The result is a unique blend of history, science, memoir-- and participatory journalism. -- adapted from jacket

Absolutely fascinating read on the relationships and complications of how humans have defined, legitimized, legalized or criminalized our interactions with plants. For centuries we have relied on plants for, among other things their sustenance and nourishment. We've used them ceremoniously and of course for their mind-altering properties. In this book Pollan highlights the narrow lens and dogma of "The War on Drugs," and instead presents a more open discussion of the layered properties of plants (opium, caffeine, and mescaline) and their potential. -Victoria

We are each other's harvest : celebrating African American farmers, land, and legacy

by Natalie Baszile

630.973 /Baszile
Black History, Black Lives Matter, Nonfiction

"In this impressive anthology, Natalie Baszile brings together essays, poems, photographs, quotes, conversations, and first-person stories to examine black people's connection to the American land from Emancipation to today. In the 1920s, there were over one million black farmers; today there are just 45,000. Baszile explores this crisis, through the farmers' personal experiences. In their own words, middle aged and elderly black farmers explain why they continue to farm despite systemic discrimination and land loss. The Returning Generation--young farmers, who are building upon the legacy of their ancestors, talk about the challenges they face as they seek to redress issues of food justice, food sovereignty, and reparations."--

An absolutely fascinating exploration of African American connection to land past, present and future. I loved the acknowledgment of historical truths and hopes for restorative futures in this series of essays, poems and photography. -Victoria

World travel : an irreverent guide

by Anthony Bourdain

910.202 /Bourdain
Travel

"A guide to some of the world's most fascinating places, as seen and experienced by writer, television host, and relentlessly curious traveler Anthony Bourdain"--

If you're looking to fill the indelible void Anthony Bourdain left in our hearts, this book will not do that. It will offer glimmers of him via his insightful quotes sprinkled throughout and essays by those who were close to him. At the very least it will whet your whistle to delve back into Kitchen Confidential, Parts Unknown, No Reservations and your other favorites. -Victoria

You are your best thing : vulnerability, shame resilience, and the Black experience -- an anthology

by

152.44 /You
Black Lives Matter, Self Help

This stark, potent collection of essays on Black shame and healing present a space to be vulnerable and affirm the fullness of Black love and Black life. They allow readers to recognize and process the trauma of sexual assault, and white supremacy and sexual assault, in order to work toward healing. Through lived experiences, we can work to dismantle oppressive systems-- of all types-- in this country. -- adapted from jacket and Introduction.

I've read much of Brené Brown's work, but I think this one is my favorites so far because it builds on her framework in a different way. These essays lay out what vulnerability, shame resilience and determination can look like in BIPOC places and spaces. By cracking open who can authentically feel and more importantly learn to thrive by being vulnerable and succeeding despite what has happened to them in the past, her contributing authors offer insight and solace for the reader. The reader can feel more resonance with the authenticity of her work in a way they may never have been able to before. As we begin to see each other on a spectrum of cultural experiences, backgrounds, social statuses, mental health and gender, we have a greater capacity to learn, empathize, communicate and share in each other's vulnerabilities. I loved this book! -Victoria

The lost soul

by Olga Tokarczuk

jE Tokarczu
Picture Books

"'Once upon a time there was a man who worked very hard and very quickly, and who had left his soul far behind him long ago. In fact his life was all right without his soul--he slept, ate, worked, drove a car and even played tennis. But sometimes he felt as if the world around him were flat, as if he were moving across a smooth page in a math book that was covered in evenly spaced squares...' The Lost Soul is a deeply moving reflection on our capacity to live in peace with ourselves, to remain patient, attentive to the world. It is a story that beautifully weaves together the voice of the Nobel Prize-winning Polish novelist Olga Tokarczuk and the finely detailed pen-and-ink drawings of illustrator Joanna Concejo, who together create a parallel narrative universe full of secrets, evocative of another time. Here a man has forgotten what makes his heart feel full. He moves to a house away from all that is familiar to him to wait for his soul to return. The Lost Soul is a sublime album, a rare delicacy that will delight readers young and old. 'You must find a place of your own, sit there quietly and wait for your soul.'"--

This is a stunning picture book I found in the Children's collection but this title will very possibly be enjoyed more by adults. The author reminds us that often, when we are hurrying around with our jobs, our families, and all of the countless other things on our to-do lists, our hearts move on from our souls and our souls get lost. In some ways the pandemic forced many of us to examine our priorities and what really matters in life. If there was ever a time to reconnect with our souls, that time is now! The illustrations are pensive and gorgeous and align perfectly with the moral of the story. If you like this, check out Cicada by Shaun Tan. -Victoria

We do this 'til we free us : abolitionist organizing and transforming justice

by Mariame Kaba

303.372 /Kaba
Black Lives Matter, Political

"What if social transformation and liberation isn't about waiting for someone else to come along and save us? What if ordinary people have the power to collectively free ourselves? In this timely collection of essays and interviews, Mariame Kaba reflects on the deep work of abolition and transformative political struggle."--Page 4 of cover.

Seasoned activist, abolitionist, community organizer and Founder/Director of Project NIA (an organization that works to end the incarceration of children and young adults by promoting restorative and transformative justice practices,) Mariame Kaba's latest book is a collection of essays that have been described as a "pragmatic playbook" that reimagines institutionalized systems and how ordinary people can collectively implement change. In her essays she describes what it means to defund and abolish the police and how we as communities can contribute to making our spaces more equitable through strategic, collective action. In the beginning of her book she cites a quote from her father: "Everything worthwhile is done with other people". Everything she has done in her work has amplified this sentiment and I think is a truly beautiful mantra. Well worth reading! -Victoria

Tom Waits

by Matt Mahurin

779.2 /Mahurin
Nonfiction

"A collection of portraits of musician Tom Waits, the result of a 30-year collaboration with photographer and illustrator Matt Mahurin This book is a testament to the unique collaboration, going back three decades, between the photographer and illustrator Matt Mahurin and the musician Tom Waits. Having shot magazine portraits, album covers, and music videos of Waits, Mahurin was inspired to resurrect 100 dormant film negatives as a jumping off point to explore his own surreal, poetic, and occasionƯally dark vision. The images vary from traditional porƯtraits to ones that capture Waits in concert--but the majority are imagined scenes in which Waits is more muse than musician. In addition to the diverse images, the book includes a foreword by Waits, an essay by Mahurin on their longtime collaboration, and 20 original paintings, drawings, photographs, and digital images inspired by Waits's song titles."--Publisher's website.

An incredible illustrated foray into Wait's career. If you can't have this as a coffee table book at home, you should at least check it out and ogle it! -Victoria

Whereabouts

by Jhumpa Lahiri

FICTION Lahiri Jhumpa
Fiction

"A marvelous new novel from the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Lowland and Interpreter of Maladies--her first in nearly a decade. Exuberance and dread, attachment and estrangement: in this novel, Jhumpa Lahiri stretches her themes to the limit. The woman at the center wavers between stasis and movement, between the need to belong and the refusal to form lasting ties. The city she calls home, an engaging backdrop to her days, acts as a confidant: the sidewalks around her house, parks, bridges, piazzas, streets, stores, coffee bars. We follow her to the pool she frequents and to the train station that sometimes leads her to her mother, mired in a desperate solitude after her father's untimely death. In addition to colleagues at work, where she never quite feels at ease, she has girl friends, guy friends, and "him," a shadow who both consoles and unsettles her. But in the arc of a year, as one season gives way to the next, transformation awaits. One day at the sea, both overwhelmed and replenished by the sun's vital heat, her perspective will change. This is Jhumpa Lahiri's first novel she wrote in Italian and translated into English. It brims with the impulse to cross barriers. By grafting herself onto a new literary language, Lahiri has pushed herself to a new level of artistic achievement"--

It's always fascinating to me when authors learn a language and create new literary works in their new tongue. In this book Lahiri, born to Bengali parents and immersed in English as a child, moved to Italy as an adult to learn yet a third language. Whereabouts; a frameless, semi-plotless novel written in Italian and translated back to English by Lahiri is a story that follows a woman in the middle of her life's journey and, in succinct chapters describes among other things a year of her living, loving and losing. The author's language is sparse, pared down and distilled completely to only what is necessary. Her observational insights and metaphors are astute and deep. I listened to the audiobook while meandering around and while unlike anything she's written before, this is an introspective and contemplative read I would recommend. -Victoria

The Tree in Me

by Corinna Luyken

jE Luyken
Picture Books

Through text and illustrations of children reveling in nature, explores the various ways we as human beings are strong, creative, and connected to others. Each of us is like a tree, with roots and fruit, and an enduring link to everything else in nature.

Corinna Luyken has done it again! Author of The Book of Mistakes and My Heart, The Tree in Me is an ode to the connection and bond that inextricably links us to the natural world: how we are in nature and nature is in us. The illustrations are absolutely delightful and this is an ode to that feeling you get when you're admiring everything that is blooming around you right now. Perfect for ages 4-8, though adults will appreciate this little treasure as well! -Victoria

Broken: (in the best possible way)

by Jenny Lawson

2nd Floor Shelf BIOGRAPHY/Lawson, Jenny
Humor, Self Help

As Jenny Lawson's hundreds of thousands of fans know, she suffers from depression. In Broken (in the best possible way), she explores her experimental treatment of transcranial magnetic stimulation with brutal honesty. But also with brutal humor: "People do different things to distract themselves during each treatment. I embroider. It feels fitting. I'm being magnetically stabbed in the head thousands of times as I'm stabbing the embroidery myself. I don't embroider the same patterns my grandmother did. I embroider girls with octopus faces, David Bowie, a flowery bouquet with FUCK YES written in the middle. They let you do anything as long as it's 'positive.'" Jenny discusses the frustration of dealing with her insurance company in "An Open Letter to My Insurance Company," which should be an anthem for anyone who has ever had to call their insurance company to try and get a claim covered. On the lighter side, she tackles such timelessly debated questions as "How do dogs know they have penises?" We see how her vacuum cleaner almost set her house on fire, how she was attacked by three bears, business ideas she wants to pitch to Shark Tank, and why she can never go back to the post office. Of course, Jenny's long-suffering husband Victor-the Ricky to Jenny's Lucille Ball-is present throughout. A treat for Jenny Lawson's already existing fans, and destined to convert new ones, Broken is a beacon of hope and a wellspring of laughter.

Thank you Jenny Lawson for another hilarious, mortifying and insightful sojourn into your wacky and entirely relatable world. Lawson hits all of the important things you may have thought about yourself but have never admitted out loud. I definitely received some suspicious looks on the bus ride home for giggling to myself- not sorry! Fallible is the new flawless y'all! Fans of David Sedaris, Allie Brosh and Samantha Irby will appreciate this one. -Victoria

Darius the Great is Not Okay

by Adib Khorram

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Khorram Adib
Diverse Characters, Young Adult

Clinically-depressed Darius Kellner, a high school sophomore, travels to Iran to meet his grandparents, but it is their next-door neighbor, Sohrab, who changes his life.

A great story about friendship, finding value, purpose and acceptance of yourself for who you really are at your core. I really loved how this book realistically tackled mental illness and the interactions Darius has with his family and friends about it. Soccer, Iran, bullying, depression, and tea; this book has it all! -Victoria

Concrete Rose

by Angie Thomas

YOUNG ADULT FICTION/Thomas, Angie
Young Adult

Maverick feels strongly about family ties, making choices he feels necessary to help support his mom while his King father serves time, and leave him literally holding his son in a doctor's waiting room after he gets paternity test results back and his babymomma ghosts. Now the child he's raising is impacting the lives of his family and his girlfriend, and the gang life he led to support them all financially could leave them all bearing his responsibilities since it endangers his life. It looks like he may have been offered a chance to go straight, but leaving the King Lords won't be easy, and a "real" job has high demand for low return.

Incredible prequel to Angie Thomas' The Hate U Give. Learning about who Maverick and Lisa are as teenagers as well as looking at exploring a different generation in Garden Heights felt like I gained so much perspective into Starr's life and upbringing. In a recent interview I watched with Thomas, she said the novels are stand-alone in a way and could be read in any order so if you missed The Hate U Give, check it out while you wait! -Victoria

The Patron Saints of Nothing

by Randy Ribay

YOUNG ADULT FICTION/Ribay Randy
Read Woke, Young Adult

When seventeen-year-old Jay Reguero learns his Filipino cousin and former best friend, Jun, was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, he flies to the Philippines to learn more.

This is the story of Jay- a Filipino-American straddling two countries; the US where he's spent most of his life and the Philippines, where his parents chose to leave shortly after he was born in pursuit of a better life. Author Randy Ribay excels in exploring identity, what it means to look a certain way and be interpreted in another. Another theme I appreciated was no matter how much you feel a part of the country you left behind, you will often be seen as an outsider once you leave making you question where your home really is. This book is an excellent read for young adults and adults. It humanizes victims of the war on drugs in the Philippines and allows the reader to explore the conflict from alternative perspectives. This is an exceptional read and provides many opportunities for discussion around immigration, politics, family tradition and connections. -Victoria

King and the Dragonflies

Black History, Diverse Characters

"In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him beyond the bayous of his backyard, to learn that there is no right way to be yourself"-- Provided by publisher.

Kacen Callendar's 2021 Coretta Scott King Author Honor is a fantastic read. This book will have you hooked from the beginning; highly descriptive locations, complex and relatable characters and important themes that will evoke discussion with young readers. I would recommended this for ages 10 and up. -Victoria

How to be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals

by Sy Montgomery

590/Montgomery
Memoir, Animals, Nature

A naturalist and adventurer discusses the personalities and quirks of thirteen animals who have profoundly affected her, exploring themes of learning to become empathetic, creating families, coping with loss, and the otherness and sameness of people and animals.

A delightful book for anyone who admires the sentient intellect and all the life lessons animals outside of own species can share with us-if we're paying attention. -Victoria

Caste : the origins of our discontents

by Isabel Wilkerson

305.5122 /Wilkerson

The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power-- which groups have it and which do not. Wilkerson explores how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. She discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity. -- adapted from jacket

This book has helped me to process much of what has happened in the US recently. Inequity goes beyond racism and classism. Rather, Wilkerson contends it's rooted in caste; an historically manufactured human pecking order set on ranking humanity that has had lasting impacts not only on our institutions but also in framing our daily individual biases and worldviews. Though originally designed to produce well-oiled economic systems and societies (at the behest of those who were subjugated,) today caste still effectively divides; foreshadowing how others see us, how we see them and our perceived place in economies. Insightful, impactful and I could not put this down until I had read every last word! A fantastic piece of Nonfiction! -Victoria

The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse

by Charlie Mackesy

GRAPHIC NOVEL Mackesy
Graphic Novels

"A modern, illustrated fable for readers of all ages that explores life's universal lessons from beloved British illustrator Charlie Mackesy"--

Absolutely beautiful illustrations to accompany simple yet sage wisdom for the young and the young at heart. This book is the magic bullet elixir your soul needs right now. My family and friends will definitely be receiving a copy this gift-giving season! Available at ICPL as a book and an eBook. -Victoria

The book of two ways : a novel

by Jodi Picoult

FICTION Picoult Jodi
Fiction

Dawn Edelstein is on a plane when she is told to prepare for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband but of a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong. Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life. Back in Boston, there is her husband, Brian, their beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula. But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a career Dawn once studied for but was forced to abandon. The airline ensures that the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers offers transportation to wherever they want to go. The obvious destination is to fly home, but she could take another path: return to the archaeological site she left years before, reconnect with Wyatt and their unresolved history. As the story unfolds, Dawn's two possible futures unspool side by side, as do the secrets and doubts long buried with them.--Adapted from publisher description.

The new Picoult is highly anticipated. If you're waiting for this one, try a favorite Picoult of mine, Small Great Things; a gripping novel about power, privilege and race. Also try Ruth Hogan's The Keeper of Lost Things. -Victoria