Category: Books

Never Stop Learning

- Ann Leave a comment

One of the ways we can cope with difficult times in a positive and constructive manner is to educate ourselves. Take the time and effort to seek out the facts. It’s not easy and it’s not comfortable and for most of us (myself included) it’s a continual learning experience. As citizens – of this city, this state, this country, this world – it’s our job to do this.

Here are some resources from the library and some links that can help.

Stamped: Racism, Anti-racism and You by Jason Reynolds (also available on Overdrive)

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Brown

Just Mercy: a Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson (also available on Overdrive)

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

Please note that there are waiting lists on most of these titles. The Library is working on adding more copies both in hard copy and e-book form. Please place a reserve on any you find interesting and we’ll get a copy to you asap!

Online Reading Challenge – June

- Ann Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

Welcome to our June Reading Challenge! This month our inspirational film is: 12 Angry Men

Although it has been remade several times, the most famous version of 12 Angry Men is probably the 1957 film starring Henry Fonda. A jury of 12 men are tasked with deciding the fate of a man accused of murder. Eleven of them are ready to convict, but one man has serious doubts and stands resolute that the defendant is innocent. It is a powerful exploration of values and morals, and the ability of one person to affect change.

This month, look for books that feature lawyers and/or courtroom dramas. That’s a pretty big field to choose from, as lawyers and the law have long been popular. The classic, and one of the best, is of course To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee which fits into our theme perfectly – the courage of one person standing against popular opinion in search of justice. A modern classic would be Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent, a book that is not only excellent, but is in part what started the recent popularity of lawyer-based novels.

There are lots of authors who write largely about the law including the very popular John Grisham (The Firm), Michael Connelly (The Lincoln Lawyer), Lisa Scottoline (Mistaken Identity), Phillip Margolin, Steve Martini, Marcia Clark, Margaret Maron, Linda Fairstein, Paul Levine and many more.

Of course, you can go with non-fiction as well. Historic books such as an exploration of Abraham Lincoln as a lawyer (Lincoln’s Last Trial by Don Abrams), a closer look at the Supreme Court in The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin or examine the current state of the American legal system in books like Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

I am planning on reading A Lawyer for the Cat by Lee Robinson. According to the description and reviews, it’s supposed to be humorous without being cute-sy, realistic and suspenseful. I am looking forward to reading something on the lighter side!

Usually at this point I encourage you to stop by one of our Davenport Library locations and browse our displays, but because of the current need to maintain social distancing, I’m going to urge you to place books on hold and take advantage of our curbside pick up at Main and Eastern and our drive up window at Fairmount. To help you get some book ideas, simply go to the catalog and type in “lawyers fiction” in the keyword search. You can put a hold on the book you’re interested in right from your computer, or give us a call at the Library and one of our staff will be happy to assist you.

Online Reading Challenge – Wrap-Up

- Ann 2 Comments

Hello Fellow Readers!

How did your “spy reading” go this month? Did you read something that kept your interest during this difficult and confusing time?

I read Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon, a fictionalized account about a real person. Well, I meant to read this book this month, but, sadly, it didn’t happen. I blame the pandemic as I found myself constantly distracted. They claim that Shakespeare wrote King Lear while in isolation during the Black Plague, but he didn’t have 24/7 news or social media to block out! Here’s to hoping my reading mojo comes back soon!

I did get started on Code Name Helene and it certainly has potential. So here’s a quick overview of what it’s about and my initial impressions.

Nancy Wake left Australia in the 1930s as a young woman, seeking adventure. She traveled throughout Europe as a journalist and socialite, making contacts with the wealthy and the powerful. She was free-spirited, independent and stubborn, walking into danger without hesitation. As the Nazi’s gain power in Germany, she struggles to raise the alarm but finds that many people, such as her editor, don’t want to hear what she is telling them. Unable to stand aside and do nothing, Nancy becomes a spy for the Allies. Known for her signature red lipstick, ferocious wit and her fearlessness, Nancy eventually becomes one of the most powerful leaders of the French Resistance, frequently putting herself and her loved ones in danger.

The story jumps across timelines, from the late 1930s to the end of World War II and from the point-of-view of several characters. I often enjoy this style of storytelling, feeling that it gives a more complete view of what happened and the results and consequences. However, I was having more trouble keeping track of characters, locations and dates with this book – perhaps it was my pandemic-induced distraction, but I found it hard to really fall into the world of this novel.

Nevertheless, Code Name Helene has great potential as a superior spy novel with it’s brave heroine set during one of the pivotal periods of history.

Now it’s your turn. What did you read this month? Tell us in the comments!

Jenna Bush Hager Celebrity Book Club

- Stephanie Leave a comment

All Adults Here by Emma Straub is Jenna Bush Hager’s #ReadWithJenna book club pick for May. Jenna Bush Hager started her book club in March 2019 as a was to create a community around reading. Growing up surrounded by books, Hager wanted to spread her love of reading and share it with others.

Jenna Bush Hager has her own book club that you can watch on the TODAY show and follow online through the website. You can also search for any information about the book club by using the hashtag #ReadWithJenna

Let’s dive into her May book selection: All Adults Here by Emma Straub. Curious what the book is about? Check out this description from the publisher below:

When Astrid Strick witnesses a school bus accident in the center of town, it jostles loose a repressed memory from her young parenting days decades earlier. Suddenly, Astrid realizes she was not quite the parent she thought she’d been to her three, now-grown children. But to what consequence?

Astrid’s youngest son is drifting and unfocused, making parenting mistakes of his own. Her daughter is intentionally pregnant yet struggling to give up her own adolescence. And her eldest seems to measure his adult life according to standards no one else shares. But who gets to decide, so many years later, which long-ago lapses were the ones that mattered? Who decides which apologies really count? It might be that only Astrid’s thirteen-year-old granddaughter and her new friend really understand the courage it takes to tell the truth to the people you love the most.

In All Adults Here, Emma Straub’s unique alchemy of wisdom, humor, and insight come together in a deeply satisfying story about adult siblings, aging parents, high school boyfriends, middle school mean girls, the lifelong effects of birth order, and all the other things that follow us into adulthood, whether we like them to or not.

Want to make sure you don’t miss any of Jenna’s future book selections? Join our Best Sellers Club and automatically have those books put on hold for you as soon as they are announced.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Love, Death & Rare Books

- Lynn Leave a comment

Robert Hellenga’s latest is told from the point of view of Gabe Johnson, the last in a line of booksellers. His grandfather and father operated a Chicago institution, Chas. Johnson & Sons, a bookstore and rare book dealer. If you’re interested in learning arcane details about the physical book – such as binding, end papers, foxing, plates, tooling and watermarks – Love, Death & Rare Books is for you. As is usual with Hellenga’s books, there are a lot of references to the classics. Erudite throwaways about French literature,  Native American rarities, sailing, shipping, the Great Lakes and philosophy abound.

The first part of the book is set in Chicago – from mid-century to the early 2000’s, when independent bookstores were battling chains and then online sellers. It ends on the shores of Lake Michigan, where Gabe starts over in a new venture, adapting to a new way of selling books, a new part of the country, an idiosyncratic house and its previous owner. Throughout, there is rich evocation of the natural world, geographical landmarks, businesses and neighborhoods.

Hellenga is from Galesburg, and it’s fun to pick up on references you’d recognize if you lived in central Illinois, or the Quad Cities. A coffee shop in the town where Gabe eventually settles is named after “Innkeeper’s” (a marvelous cafe and store in Galesburg), and a municipal worker in Gabe’s new town embezzles city funds so she can buy expensive, purebred horses, not unlike a similar occurrence in Dixon.

There are always many layers and levels of enjoyment to be found in Hellenga’s novels, and this one certainly follows in that tradition.

Reese Witherspoon Celebrity Book Club – May pick

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine has announced a new book pick! Every month, Reese picks out a book that she loves to share with her book club. All of the books that she chooses have a woman at the center of the story. Since the launch of this book club in 2017, Reese has hand-picked over 35 books for her community to read.

Her May pick is The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi. For more information about what the book is about, check out the blurb below provided by the publisher.

Escaping from an arranged and abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone from her 1950s rural village to the vibrant pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the henna artist—and confidante—most in demand to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own…

Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow—a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does.

Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman’s struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel.

Want to make sure that you don’t miss any of Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine book club picks? Join our Best Sellers Club and have her picks automatically put on hold for you when they are announced every month.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Virtual Book Club – The Hate U Give

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Practice social distancing with us and join our Virtual Book Club this Wednesday, May 20th at 2pm, to discuss The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. We discuss a new book every week! Information about how to join the book club is listed further down in this post.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is a riveting read. Curious what this book is about? Check out the description from the publisher below:

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

This book is available in the following formats:

The Hate U Give is also available as a movie in two formats: DVD and blu-ray.

Virtual Book Club
Wed, May 20, 2020 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (CDT)

Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/147920589
Access Code: 147-920-589

You can also dial in using your phone.
(For supported devices, tap a one-touch number below to join instantly.)

United States: +1 (571) 317-3122
– One-touch: tel:+15713173122,,147920589#

New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts: https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/147920589

Bix by Scott Chantler

- Beth Leave a comment

Despite living in the Quad Cities nearly 20 years I have only a rudimentary knowledge of local jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke. I feel like I am missing out on an important part of local lore.

In the graphic biography Bix by Scott Chantler, the musician’s story is illustrated rather than told. With the use of wordless, static, straight panels we get a sense of Bix’s confining young life when in school and interacting with his parents, particularly his father. As a reader, I can feel the panels trying to fit him into a box, making me feel claustrophobic for the protagonist. Finally the panels begin to float and dance on the page whenever music is in the scene — whether hearing it pass on a riverboat, trying the trumpet for the first time or upon entering a Chicago jazz club.

Once Bix makes the decision to leave Iowa and dedicate his career to music he leads a life typical of young adults: work, good times, and romance. Just when I started to think of Bix as a nice guy who got swept up in talent and fame come scenes that show an in-demand, cocky musician willing to lie and manipulate. In this graphic biography, we don’t hear Bix speak until this part of the book — about a third of the way through. His first conversation? A lie he tells his girlfriend. Bix becomes difficult to work with and unreliable. Static panels return to show drinking as a default reaction to everything — both good and bad. As his drinking spiraled out of control, my heart broke for the lost talent.

I was pleased to catch the familiar scenes of Davenport in the early pages. It took me the better part of an afternoon to read, but the time was spent getting a better sense of of who Bix was beyond his connection to the Quad-Cities. The life of Bix Beiderbecke doesn’t fit neatly into a box. He wasn’t just a ground-breaking, successful jazz soloist. He wasn’t just a wide-eyed innocent guy in over his head. This graphic novel treats its subject with compassion and care while not forgiving him for his self-destructive behavior. Through artful storytelling I have a better understanding of Bix’s multilayered life.

Bix is available on Overdrive as well as physical format.

Virtual Book Club – American Dirt

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Practice social distancing and join us on Wednesday May 13th to discuss American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. Virtual Book Club meets every Wednesday at 2pm to discuss a different book every week. For information about how to join in the virtual book club, directions are further down below.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins was chosen as an Oprah book club book. Curious what the book is about? Check out the below description from the publisher:

“También de este lado hay sueños. Lydia Quixano Perez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with four books he would like to buy-two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same. Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia-trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to? American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed when they finish reading it. A page-turner filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page, it is a literary achievement.”

Virtual Book Club
Wed, May 13, 2020 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (CDT)

Click the link below or copy/paste to join our book club. Join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone. You will need the access code listed below to join.

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/905164389
Access Code: 905-164-389

You can also dial in using your phone.

United States: +1 (872) 240-3311
– One-touch: tel:+18722403311,,905164389#

New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts: https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/905164389

Want to check out the book from the library? We have this book available in the following formats. Reminder that the library is currently closed, so the OverDrive options are your only ways to get this book at the moment.

Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing : A Zofia Turbotynska mystery by Maryla Szymicazkowa

- Michelle Leave a comment

Set in southern Poland at the turn of the century in 1890, Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing , is the first book in a new series by Maryla Szymiczkowa, a pseudonym for two Polish authors.  The book offers a  unique look at the culture, lifestyle and social climbing of the upper class society in Cracow, which comes alive through our heroine, Zofia Turbotynska.  Zofia is the  wife of a university medical professor who is looking to strengthen (and elevate) her social status with a variety of charitable endeavors but finds her true calling as a newly minted sleuth.

Her favorite organization of the moment, Helcel House, is a retirement home run by a bevy of nuns who she finds in panic one morning upon the disappearance of an elderly resident, Mrs. Mohr.  Mrs. Mohr is finally located dead in an attic room that would be impossible for her to reach in her immobile condition.  Zofia starts her own investigation after the police rule the death an accident.  Soon thereafter, another resident of Helcel House goes missing and then a third disappears and Zofia is confident that someone is targeting the elderly residents of the home.  Investigating the cases with only her cook and one inquisitive nun in her confidence, Zofia is able to solve the complex case near the end of the book while gathering all the parties together at the Helcel House for an unveiling of the real killer.

Its glimpse into the changing landscape of Poland is what initially caught my attention.  As mysteries are my genre of choice, the cultural context and hierarchy of their society was fascinating as well.  The author provides a nice summary at the beginning of the book that details the complex history of Poland during the 1800s, which includes being partitioned by the empires of Prussia, Russia and Austria.  If you like the feel of a cozy mystery with a rich historical glimpse into the past, Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing is a great choice.