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Cover ArtI got hooked on the first page, and I didn't put the book down for a long time after.  There's nothing more powerful than memory, and Rubin does an amazing job of capturing the memories of the last living WWI Veterans. Learn more about WWI from the mouths of those who fought it.
 
Publisher's description:
In 2003, eighty-five years after the armistice, it took Richard Rubin months to find just one living American veteran of World War I. But then, he found another. And another. Eventually he found dozens, aged 101 to 113, and interviewed them. All are gone now. A decade-long odyssey to recover the story of a forgotten generation and their war led Rubin across the United States and France, through archives, private collections, battlefields, literature, propaganda, and even music. But at the center of it all were the last of the last, the men and women he met: a new immigrant, drafted and sent to France, whose life was saved by a horse; a Connecticut Yankee who volunteered and fought in every major American battle; a Cajun artilleryman nearly killed by a German airplane; an eighteen-year-old Bronx girl "drafted" to work for the War Department; a machine gunner from Montana; a marine wounded at Belleau Wood; the sixteen-year-old who became America's last World War I veteran; and many more. They were the final survivors of the millions who made up the American Expeditionary Forces, nineteenth-century men and women living in the twenty-first century. Self-reliant, humble, and stoic, they kept their stories to themselves for a lifetime, then shared them at the last possible moment so that they, and the war they won-the trauma that created our modern world-might at last be remembered. You will never forget them. The Last of the Doughboys is more than simply a war story; it is a moving meditation on character, grace, aging, and memory.
 
Find The Last of the Doughboys in our online catalog
Cover ArtThis is the first book on the famous Iditarod sled race as told by one of the trail veterinarians. Morgan tells his stories of trial, tragedy, and triumph in each of the 26 checkpoints from Anchorage to Nome in his humorous and engaging way. If you love dogs, this book is a must-read!

Publisher description:
In Four Thousand Paws, award-winning veterinarian Lee Morgan―a member of the Iditarod’s expert veterinary corps―tells the story of these heroic dogs, following the teams as they traverse deep spruce forests, climb steep mountain slopes, and navigate over ice-bound rivers toward Nome, on the coast of the Bering Sea, where the famed Burled Arch awaits. From the huskies of Iditarods past to the intrepid dogs of today, Morgan shows how these fierce competitors surmount the dangers of the Arctic, aided, along the way, by attentive mushers and volunteer veterinarians. A world away from his Georgetown veterinary clinic, Morgan examines dogs at each checkpoint, and sees how their body language reflects the thrill of the race―and how, when pulled from it, they often refuse to eat. As in any team sport, distinct personalities among the sled dogs create complex group dynamics, and Morgan captures moments of intense rivalry, defeat, camaraderie, and, ultimately, triumph
 
Cover ArtWill Sherman, a donkey on the brink of death, find the courage, stamina, and determination to run a grueling 15-mile race in the Colorado Rockies? Filled with joy, sorrow, triumph, and nuggets of wisdom on life, animals, and the human spirit, this book will take you on a journey like none other.

Publisher's description:

When Chris McDougall agreed to take in a donkey from an animal hoarder, he thought it would be no harder than the rest of the adjustments he and his family had made after moving from Philadelphia to the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country. But when he arrived, Sherman was in such bad shape he could barely move and his hair was coming out in clumps. Chris decided to undertake a radical rehabilitation program designed not only to heal Sherman's body, but to heal his mind as well. It turns out, the best way to soothe a donkey is to give it a job and so Chris decided to teach Sherman how to run. He'd heard about burro racing -- a unique type of race out west where humans and donkeys run together in a call-back to mining days. In the course of Sherman's training, Chris would have to recruit several other runners, both human and equine, and call upon the wisdom of burro racers, goat farmers, Amish running club members, and a group of irrepressible female long-haul truckers. Along the way, he shows us the life-changing power of animals, nature, and community.

Find Running with Sherman in our online catalog

06/22/2024
Boulder Library
Cover ArtI really, really liked this! Like, a lot. I loved the Camelot/Arthurian setting, which is one of my favorite legends. I love that this retelling chose to spotlight Guinevere, an often underappreciated and maltreated heroine. The novel is fresh and fun. I never knew what was going to happen next. It really drew me in and captured me. I thought about it when I wasn't reading it! The author has found a way to modernize this ancient and well-known story by updating it with LGBTQIA+ characters. I would recommend this to fans of Kristen Cashore, Brigid Kemmerer, and Margaret Rogerson.
 
Publisher's description:
Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom's borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution--send in Guinevere to be Arthur's wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king's idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere's real name--and her true identity--is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.


To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old--including Arthur's own family--demand things continue as they have been, and the new--those drawn by the dream of Camelot--fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land.

Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

Find The Guinevere Deception in our online catalog

Cover ArtForced into serving as a Jewish  Blockälteste (block leader) in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Magda Hellinger would witness unimaginable cruelty and destruction. By using her new position of power in the camp she would also save thousands of innocent people from the Nazi ovens. A remarkable true story!
 
Publisher's description: 
In March 1942, at the age of 25, kindergarten teacher Magda Hellinger was deported from her hometown in Slovakia along with 998 other young women. They were some of the first Jews to be sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Very few would survive the next three years until liberation. The SS soon discovered that by putting prisoners in day-to-day charge of the accommodation blocks and even the camps at large -- so called Blockalteste and Lageralteste respectively -- they could both reduce the number of guards required and use these "leaders" to deflect attention away from themselves. Magda was one such Jewish prisoner selected for leadership. Like many others during the war she found herself constantly treading a fine line: how to save lives-if only a few at a time-while avoiding being too "soft" and likely sent to the gas chambers. Through her own inner strength and ingenuity, she was able to rise above the horror and cruelty of the camps and build pivotal relationships with the women under her watch, and some of Auschwitz's most notorious Nazi senior officers. Based on Magda's own personal account and completed by her daughter's extensive research, this awe-inspiring story offers us incredible insight into human nature under the pressure to survive, the power of resilience, and the goodness that can shine through even in the most horrific of conditions.
 
06/19/2024
Boulder Library
Cover ArtI read this on my commute to work, and I felt a bit sad every time I reached my destination. Sayuri Komachi is a librarian with the ability to match each person with the book that will lead them to the path their souls are craving. This book is a heartwarming tale about library magic.

Publisher description:
What are you looking for? So asks Tokyo's most enigmatic librarian. For Sayuri Komachi is able to sense exactly what each visitor to her library is searching for and provide just the book recommendation to help them find it. A restless retail assistant looks to gain new skills, a mother tries to overcome demotion at work after maternity leave, a conscientious accountant yearns to open an antique store, a recently retired salaryman searches for newfound purpose. In Komachi's unique book recommendations they will find just what they need to achieve their dreams. What You Are Looking For Is in the Library is about the magic of libraries and the discovery of connection. This inspirational tale shows how, by listening to our hearts, seizing opportunity and reaching out, we too can fulfill our lifelong dreams. Which book will you recommend?
 
Cover ArtMedusa wasn't always a monster... Or should I say, what if we looked at Medusa as a hero instead of a monster? Compelling and well-written, this novel brings a fresh new perspective to an old story. Fans of Madeline Miller's Circe will love Stone Blind.

Publisher’s description:
Attacked by Poseidon in Athene's temple, Medusa, the most beautiful of the Gorgon sisters, is punished for his actions and transformed into a monster whose gaze will turn any living creature to stone, forcing her into a life of solitude until Perseus embarks upon a fateful quest.

Find Stone Blind in our online catalog
Cover ArtBonnie Tsui takes a deep dive into all aspects of swimming, from being a means to survival to a source of exercise and well-being. She shares her own passion, which is to swim in the open water of the San Francisco Bay. As a reader who loves to swim, I thoroughly enjoyed Why We Swim.
 
Publisher's description:
Bonnie Tsui looks at our love affair with the water, from evolution to mythology, from survival and well-being, from community swim clubs to competitive races, and she goes around the world to explore its significance in many cultures.
 
 
 
Cover ArtA small, impactful book. Lovely writing and a heroic main character who is moved to do the right thing after thinking through all the small things in his life that made him who he is. The book sheds light on the Magdalene laundry scandal in such a way that both devastates and opens your heart.
 
Publisher description:
It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.
 
Cover ArtOne of the coziest magical romances I've ever read, it pairs wonderfully with a cup of tea before bedtime! Mia, a member of a secret society of witches, receives a message about tutoring three secluded young witches. Little does she know, this invitation will completely transform her life!

Publisher’s description: 

A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family-and a new love-changes the course of her life. As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos "pretending" to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously. But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic.

Find The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches in our online catalog.

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