Staff Picks

Tan diverges from her normal fare to share personal bird observations. I read this during a time when I added my own backyard birdfeeders and began observing my avian neighbors up close. Tan's book makes one understand the amazing intricacies that are easily missed if we don't observe closely!

 

Publisher's description:

In 2016, author Amy Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world: Hatred and misinformation became a daily presence on social media, and the country felt more divisive than ever. In search of peace, Tan turned toward the natural world just beyond her window and, specifically, the birds flocking to the feeders in her yard. But what began as an attempt to find solace turned into something far greater--an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time, connect to nature in a meaningful way, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired. Tracking the natural beauty that surrounds us, The Backyard Bird Chronicles maps the passage of time--from before the pandemic to the days of quarantine--through daily entries, thoughtful questions, and beautiful original sketches. With boundless charm and wit, Amy Tan charts her foray into birding and the natural wonders of the world.

 

This book about Captain James Cook's third voyage is much more interesting and exciting than I expected. I learned a lot and respected that the author, in addition to having us experience life on the boat and the unraveling of Captain Cook on his third voyage, highlights the damage done to native populations by explorers and colonizers. The book gets more exciting and heartbreaking as it continues.

 

Publisher's description:

An epic account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, which culminated in Captain James Cook's death in Hawaii, and left a complex and controversial legacy still debated to this day ... On July 12th, 1776, Captain James Cook, already lionized as the greatest explorer in British history, set off on his third voyage in his ship the HMS Resolution. Two-and-a-half years later, on a beach on the island of Hawaii, Cook was killed in a conflict with native Hawaiians. How did Cook, who was unique among captains for his respect for Indigenous peoples and cultures, come to that fatal moment? Hampton Sides' bravura account of Cook's last journey both wrestles with Cook's legacy and provides a thrilling narrative of the titanic efforts and continual danger that characterized exploration in the 1700s. Cook was renowned for his peerless seamanship, his humane leadership, and his dedication to science--the famed naturalist Joseph Banks accompanied him on his first voyage, and Cook has been called one of the most important figures of the Age of Enlightenment. He was also deeply interested in the native people he encountered. In fact, his stated mission was to return a Tahitian man, Mai, who had become the toast of London, to his home islands. On previous expeditions, Cook mapped huge swaths of the Pacific, including the east coast of Australia, and initiated first European contact with numerous peoples. He treated his crew well, and endeavored to learn about the societies he encountered with curiosity and without judgment. Yet something was different on this last voyage. Cook became mercurial, resorting to the lash to enforce discipline, and led his two vessels into danger time and again. Uncharacteristically, he ordered violent retaliation for perceived theft on the part of native peoples. This may have had something to do with his secret orders, which were to chart and claim lands before Britain's imperial rivals could, and to discover the fabled Northwest Passage. Whatever Cook's intentions, his scientific efforts were the sharp edge of the colonial sword, and the ultimate effects of first contact were catastrophic for Indigenous people around the world. The tensions between Cook's overt and covert missions came to a head on the shores of Hawaii. His first landing there was harmonious, but when Cook returned after mapping the coast of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, his exploitative treatment of the Hawaiians led to the fatal encounter.

 

I've spent a long time looking for a really good book on Wynette and Jones--imagine my excitement to find the couple centered in this conversational history of 20th century country (with occasional detours to topics like bullfighting or jukebox legislation). A long read worth getting lost in.

 

Publisher's description:

By the early 1960s nearly everybody paying attention to country music agreed that George Jones was the greatest country singer of all time. After taking honky-tonk rockers like 'White Lightning' all the way up the country charts, he revealed himself to be an unmatched virtuoso on 'She Thinks I Still Care,' thus cementing his status as a living legend. That's where the trouble started. Only at this new level of fame did Jones realize he suffered from extreme stage fright. His method of dealing with that involved great quantities of alcohol, which his audience soon discovered as Jones more often than not showed up to concerts falling-down drunk or failed to show up at all. But the fans always forgave him because he just kept singing so damn good. Then he got married to Tammy Wynette right around the time she became one of the most famous women alive with the release of 'Stand by Your Man.' Tammy Wynette grew up believing George Jones was the greatest country singer of all time. After deciding to become a country singer herself, she went to Nashville, got a record deal, then met and married her hero. With the pop crossover success of 'Stand by Your Man' (and the international political drama surrounding the song's lyrics) came a gigantic audience, who were sold a fairy tale image of a couple soon being called The King and Queen of Country Music. Many fans still believe that fairy tale today. The behind-the-scenes truth is very different from the images shown on album covers. Illustrated throughout by singular artist Wayne White, Cocaine & Rhinestones is an unprecedented look at the lives of two indelible country icons, reframing their careers within country music as well as modern history itself.

 

The Woman All Spies Fear is an amazing non-fiction book about Elizebeth Smith Friedman, an American code breaker and cryptanalyst who worked on breaking codes during both World Wars. The book tells everything we know about her life, from when she was a kid to when she died, and the recently revealed cases she and her husband helped solve. There are so many facts in it, and it tells you how she figured out many of the codes she had worked on. This is an awesome non-fiction book that gives you a lot of information in an attention-grabbing way. I highly recommend it.

- Kyra, ninth-grade volunteer

 

Publisher's description:

Elizebeth Smith Friedman had a rare talent for spotting patterns and solving puzzles. These skills led her to become one of the top cryptanalysts in America during both World War I and World War II. She originally came to code breaking through her love for Shakespeare when she was hired by an eccentric millionaire to prove that Shakespeare's plays had secret messages in them. Within a year, she had learned so much about code breaking that she was a star in the making. She went on to play a major role decoding messages during WWI and WWII and also for the Coast Guard's war against smugglers. Elizebeth and her husband, William, became the top code-breaking team in the US, and she did it all at a time when most women weren't welcome in the workforce. The author aims to shed light on this female pioneer of the STEM community.

 

From its concise yet deep narrative of Baldwin's experience to the powerful, evocative illustrations, this picture book celebrates the complex life of a great author. Be sure to spend some time enjoying the delightful photos that bookend this marvelous middle grade biography.

Publisher's description:
Celebrate James Baldwin's one-hundredth birthday anniversary with the first-ever illustrated biography of this legendary writer, orator, activist, and intellectual. Before he became a writer, James 'Jimmy' Baldwin was a young boy from Harlem, New York, who loved stories.

Find Jimmy's Rhythm & Blues: The Extraordinary Life of James Baldwin in our online catalog

 

 

Forced 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.

 

Few people realize just how much inspiration Nabokov drew from real life for his notorious novel, but by researching extensive legal and public records, interviews, and investigations, Weinman is able to reveal that the subject of Nabokov's novel was heavily influenced by the real-life abduction of Sally Horner in 1948. She shows just how much Nabokov drew on this case for his book, and how much he tried to disguise his knowledge of the crime throughout his writing process. The story is a thrilling one, weaving together cultural history with a suspenseful, investigative narrative, and lending a voice to Sally's story.

 

Publisher's description:

Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is one of the most beloved and notorious novels of all time. And yet, very few of its readers know that the subject of the novel was inspired by a real-life case: the 1948 abduction of 11-year-old Sally Horner.

Weaving together suspenseful crime narrative, cultural and social history, and literary investigation, The Real Lolita tells Sally Horner’s full story for the very first time. Drawing upon extensive investigations, legal documents, public records, and interviews with remaining relatives, Sarah Weinman uncovers how much Nabokov knew of the Sally Horner case and the efforts he took to disguise that knowledge during the process of writing and publishing Lolita.

Sally Horner’s story echoes the stories of countless girls and women who never had the chance to speak for themselves. By diving deeper in the publication history of Lolita and restoring Sally to her rightful place in the lore of the novel’s creation, The Real Lolita casts a new light on the dark inspiration for a modern classic.

Find The Real Lolita in our online catalog

 

This is the amazing true story of the first women to raft the Colorado river. Their motivation was not fame or adventure but rather to complete the first botanical survey of the Grand Canyon. Their tale is told through the history of botany, feminism, academia, and white-water rafting in the USA.

 

Publisher description:

In the summer of 1938, botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter set off to run the Colorado River, accompanied by an ambitious and entrepreneurial expedition leader, a zoologist, and two amateur boatmen. With its churning waters and treacherous boulders, the Colorado was famed as the most dangerous river in the world. Journalists and veteran river runners boldly proclaimed that the motley crew would never make it out alive. But for Clover and Jotter, the expedition held a tantalizing appeal: no one had yet surveyed the plant life of the Grand Canyon, and they were determined to be the first. Through the vibrant letters and diaries of the two women, science journalist Melissa L. Sevigny traces their daring forty-three-day journey down the river, during which they meticulously cataloged the thorny plants that thrived in the Grand Canyon’s secret nooks and crannies. Along the way, they chased a runaway boat, ran the river’s most fearsome rapids, and turned the harshest critic of female river runners into an ally. Clover and Jotter’s plant list, including four new cactus species, would one day become vital for efforts to protect and restore the river ecosystem.