Category: Books

Inaugural Inside Literary Prize: South to America by Imani Perry

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Winner of the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction, South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry has been selected as the inaugural Inside Literary Prize. This is the first major US book prize that is judged exclusively by incarcerated people.

Want to learn more about South to America? The description has been provided by the publisher.

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry

An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South—and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America

We all think we know the South. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole.

This is the story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people. She renders Southerners from all walks of life with sensitivity and honesty, sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life.

Weaving together stories of immigrant communities, contemporary artists, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes, her own ancestors, and her lived experiences, Imani Perry crafts a tapestry unlike any other. With uncommon insight and breathtaking clarity, South to America offers an assertion that if we want to build a more humane future for the United States, we must center our concern below the Mason-Dixon Line. – Ecco

This title is also available in large print and as an eAudiobook.

QCL August Wrap-Up

- Brittany Leave a comment

In August, Morgan and I read Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino to celebrate Family Fun Month. Below is a short synopsis of the book and what I thought of it! 

When Marilyn is discovered making out with the Rabbi’s son in front of the congregation, her parents are distraught. Afraid their reputation will be ruined, Marilyn’s parents send her off to her great aunt’s house in Philadelphia for the summer until the scandal dissipates. Marilyn knows nothing of her great aunt before arriving at her home but soon discovers that Aunt Ada is not at all what she expected.

The pair journey to the Jersey Shore for the summer and unlock a bond like no other.

This book was beautiful and sad and I am so, so glad that I read it!!

Morgan and I have a very exciting lineup of book options for September, below are our 4 options including our winning title! Feel free to check them out from Davenport Public Library! 

Big Chicas Don’t Cry by Annette Chavez Macias (In Honor of Hispanic Heritage Month)  

“Cousins Mari, Erica, Selena, and Gracie are inseparable. They aren’t just family but best friends — sharing secrets, traditions, and a fierce love for their abuelita. But their idyllic childhood ends when Mari’s parents divorce, forcing her to move away. With Mari gone, the girls tight-knit bond unravels. Fifteen years later, Mari’s got the big house and handsome husband, but her life is in shambles. Erica’s boyfriend just dumped her, and her new boss hates her. Selena can’t seem to find her place in the world — not Mexican enough for her family, not white enough for her colleagues. And Gracie is a Catholic school teacher with an all-consuming crush, but she can’t trust herself when it comes to romance. As rocky as the cousins’ lives have become, nothing can prepare them for the heartbreaking loss of a loved one. When tragedy reunites them, will they remember their abuelita’s lessons about family and forgiveness — or are fifteen years of separation too much to overcome?” – provided by our catalog 

Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack (In Honor of World Beach Month) 

“Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies . . . one trip to die for. “Quick, captivating, and oh-so-much-fun! This delicious mystery is as spellbinding as Knives Out.”–Elle Cosimano, New York Times bestselling author of the Finlay Donovan series. All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next in her Vacation Mysteries series–is that too much to ask? Clearly, because when an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life–the handsome but infuriating con man she got mixed up with ten years ago and now can’t get out of her life–Eleanor’s enlisted to help solve the case. Contending with literary rivals, rabid fans, a stalker–and even her ex, Oliver, who turns up unexpectedly–theories are bandied about, and rivalries, rifts, and broken hearts are revealed. But who’s really trying to get away with murder? Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is the irresistible and hilarious series debut from Catherine Mack, introducing bestselling fictional author Eleanor Dash on her Italian book tour that turns into a real-life murder mystery, as her life starts to imitate the world in her books”– provided by our catalog 

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (In Honor of Read a Book Day on September 6th) 

“Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose—in both the mysterious book and in his own life.” – provided by Goodreads.com 

**September Book Club Book** White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson (In Honor of Friday the 13th)  

“Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper. The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its . . . secrets. That’s only half the problem: household items vanish, doors open on their own, lights turn off, shadows walk past rooms, voices can be heard in the walls, and there’s a foul smell seeping through the vents only Mari seems to notice. Worse: Piper keeps talking about a friend who wants Mari gone. But ‘running from ghosts’ is just a metaphor, right? As the house closes in, Mari learns that the danger isn’t limited to Maple Street. Cedarville has its secrets, too. And secrets always find their way through the cracks” – provided by our catalog 

If you are interested in any of these titles, or have read them, I want to talk about them! Please consider leaving a comment!  

Want to converse with other QCL Book Club followers? Consider joining our Goodreads Group!  

You can also access our recorded interviews by visiting the QCL Book Club Page! 

5 Under 35

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The National Book Foundation started the 5 Under 35 prize in 2006 to acknowledge outstanding debut fiction writers under the age of 35. The 2024 honorees are Antonia Angress, Maya Binyam, Zain Khalid, Tyriek White, and Jenny Tinghui Zhang. We have gathered the list of their debut works below.  All titles are currently owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. Descriptions have been provided by the publishers.

Antonia Angress – Sirens & Muses

It’s 2011: America is in a deep recession and Occupy Wall Street is escalating. But at the elite Wrynn College of Art, students paint and sculpt in a rarefied bubble. Louisa Arceneaux is a thoughtful, observant nineteen-year-old when she transfers to Wrynn as a scholarship student, but she soon finds herself adrift in an environment that prizes novelty over beauty. Complicating matters is Louisa’s unexpected attraction to her charismatic roommate, Karina Piontek, the preternaturally gifted but mercurial daughter of wealthy art collectors. Gradually, Louisa and Karina are drawn into an intense sensual and artistic relationship, one that forces them to confront their deepest desires and fears. But Karina also can’t shake her fascination with Preston Utley, a senior and anti-capitalist Internet provocateur, who is publicly feuding with visiting professor and political painter Robert Berger—a once-controversial figurehead seeking to regain relevance.

When Preston concocts an explosive hoax, the fates of all four artists are upended as each is unexpectedly thrust into the cutthroat New York art world. Now all must struggle to find new identities in art, in society, and among each other. In the process, they must find either their most authentic terms of life—of success, failure, and joy—or risk losing themselves altogether.

With a canny, critical eye, Sirens & Muses overturns notions of class, money, art, youth, and a generation’s fight to own their future. – Ballantine Books

Maya Binyam – Hangman

An enthralling and original first novel about exile, diaspora, and the impossibility of Black refuge in America and beyond.

In the morning, I received a phone call and was told to board a flight. The arrangements had been made on my behalf. I packed no clothes, because my clothes had been packed for me. A car arrived to pick me up.

A man returns home to sub-Saharan Africa after twenty-six years in America. When he arrives, he finds that he doesn’t recognize the country or anyone in it. Thankfully, someone recognizes him, a man who calls him brother—setting him on a quest to find his real brother, who is dying.

In Hangman, Maya Binyam tells the story of that search, and of the phantoms, guides, tricksters, bureaucrats, debtors, taxi drivers, relatives, and riddles that will lead to the truth.

This is an uncommonly assured debut: an existential journey; a tragic farce; a slapstick tragedy; and a strange, and strangely honest, story of one man’s stubborn quest to find refuge—in this world and in the world that lies beyond it. – Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Zain Khalid – Brother Alive

In 1990, three boys are born, unrelated but intertwined by circumstance: Dayo, Iseul, and Youssef. They are adopted as infants and share a bedroom perched atop a mosque in one of Staten Island’s most diverse and underserved neighborhoods. The three boys are an inseparable trio, but conspicuous: Dayo is of Nigerian origin, Iseul is Korean, and Youssef indeterminately Middle Eastern. Youssef shares everything with his brothers, except for one secret: he sees a hallucinatory double, an imaginary friend who seems absolutely real, a shapeshifting familiar he calls Brother. Brother persists as a companion into Youssef’s adult life, supporting him but also stealing his memories and shaking his grip on the world.

The boys’ adoptive father, Imam Salim, is known in the community for his stirring and radical sermons, but at home he often keeps himself to himself, spending his evenings in his study with whiskey-laced coffee, reading poetry or writing letters to his former compatriots back in Saudi Arabia. Like Youssef, he too has secrets, including the cause of his failing health and the truth about what happened to the boys’ parents. When, years later, Imam Salim’s path takes him back to Saudi Arabia, the boys, now adults, will be forced to follow. There they will be captivated by an opulent, almost futuristic world, a linear city that seems to offer a more sustainable modernity than that of the West. But this conversion has come at a great cost, and Youssef and Brother too will have to decide if they should change to survive, or try to mount a defense of their deeply-held beliefs.

Stylistically brilliant, intellectually acute, and deft in its treatment of complex themes, Brother Alive is a remarkable debut by a hugely talented writer that questions the nature of belief and explores the possibility of reunion for those who are broken. – Grove

Tyriek White – We Are a Haunting

A poignant debut for readers of Jesmyn Ward and Jamel Brinkley, We Are a Haunting follows three generations of a working class family and their inherited ghosts: a story of hope and transformation.

In 1980’s Brooklyn, Key is enchanted with her world, glowing with her dreams. A charming and tender doula serving the Black women of her East New York neighborhood, she lives, like her mother, among the departed and learns to speak to and for them. Her untimely death leaves behind her mother Audrey, who is on the verge of losing the public housing apartment they once shared. Colly, Key’s grieving son, soon learns that he too has inherited this sacred gift and begins to slip into the liminal space between the living and the dead on his journey to self-realization.

In the present, an expulsion from school forces Colly across town where, feeling increasingly detached and disenchanted with the condition of his community, he begins to realize that he must, ultimately, be accountable to the place he is from. After college, having forged an understanding of friendship, kinship, community, and how to foster love in places where it seems impossible, Colly returns to East New York to work toward addressing structural neglect and the crumbling blocks of New York City public housing he was born to; discovering a collective path forward from the wreckages of the past.

A supernatural family saga, a searing social critique, and a lyrical and potent account of displaced lives, We Are a Haunting unravels the threads connecting the past, present, and future, and depicts the palpable, breathing essence of the neglected corridors of a pulsing city with pathos and poise. – Astra House

Jenny Tinghui Zhang – Four Treasures of the Sky

A dazzling debut novel set against the backdrop of the Chinese Exclusion Act, about a Chinese girl fighting to claim her place in the 1880s American West

Daiyu never wanted to be like the tragic heroine for whom she was named, revered for her beauty and cursed with heartbreak. But when she is kidnapped and smuggled across an ocean from China to America, Daiyu must relinquish the home and future she imagined for herself. Over the years that follow, she is forced to keep reinventing herself to survive. From a calligraphy school, to a San Francisco brothel, to a shop tucked into the Idaho mountains, we follow Daiyu on a desperate quest to outrun the tragedy that chases her. As anti-Chinese sentiment sweeps across the country in a wave of unimaginable violence, Daiyu must draw on each of the selves she has been—including the ones she most wants to leave behind—in order to finally claim her own name and story.

At once a literary tour de force and a groundbreaking work of historical fiction, Four Treasures of the Sky announces Jenny Tinghui Zhang as an indelible new voice. Steeped in untold history and Chinese folklore, this novel is a spellbinding feat. – Flatiron Books

This title is also available as a CD audiobook and in large print.

Online Reading Challenge – September

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Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge travels to the 2000s to the present (that’s a large time period which means lots of books to choose from!). Our main title for September is Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team.

Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.

Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. At the same time, she grows concerned with an investigation that seems more focused on punishing the offenders than protecting the victims.

Now, as the deceptions—and deaths—keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known. – Henry Holt and Co. Books for Young Readers

Looking for some other books set in the 2000s to the present? Try any of the following.

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!

Online Reading Challenge – August Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read something set in the 1990s that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart. This title took me almost the whole month to finish, but that wasn’t because I didn’t like it, quite the opposite in fact. This book was memorable and required me to walk slowly with the characters as they fought through their day-to-day lives.

Mungo is a fifteen-year-old boy growing up in a housing estate in Glasgow in the early 1990s. His mother, a struggling alcoholic, is hardly ever home, leaving Mungo and his two older siblings to figure out life on their own. Mungo’s older brother, Hamish, is a brutal local gang leader unafraid of anything with a menacing reputation and future laid out in front of him. He demands Mungo accompany him to show that the Hamilton name will live on. Mungo’s older sister, Jodie, is left to take care of Mungo in their mother’s absence, even though she yearns to escape Glasgow and not fall down the disastrous path laid out to their mother. With such large personalities filling up his family, it’s no wonder that Mungo is shy to be his true self among them.

Mungo has made a friend that he shouldn’t have. Mungo is a Protestant and his new friend, James, is a Catholic, a fact that could bring the wrath of Hamish down on them both, destroying their friendship and what little happiness that two have managed to carve out together. Mungo and James become friends, best friends, hanging in the pigeon doocot that James has built to house his prize racing pigeons. It isn’t long before the two fall in love. With love come big dreams of moving somewhere they will both belong and will be accepted for who you are. Mungo’s family and James’ father will never accept the two. They have ideas of what is best. Mungo’s mom decides that he needs to be straightened out and that a fishing trip with two men she hardly knows will be just the thing. After all, he’s been bothering her and she needs a break. Mungo will have to call on all of his inner strength if he wants to make it home and see James again. He wants a safe future where he can be himself without judgment. What’s so wrong with that?

This title was gorgeously written, yet incredibly heartbreaking and breathtaking. The writing style is beautiful and I found myself scribbling down quotes as I worked my way through the book. This is not a book that I could rush through. Mungo, James, and their families are trekking through some dangerous and life-changing situations that required me to sit and feel with them as I read. My only complaint is that the timeline was hard to follow as the chapters are not sequential which took me a while to figure out. Highly recommend this book if you haven’t given it a read yet. This memorable title will stick with me for a long time.

What book did you read that was set in the 1990s? Let us know in the comments!

Next month, we are traveling to the 2000s to the present.

The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok

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“Always know your own weaknesses,” her father told her. “Know them better than your worst enemy and no one will be able to pull the wool over your eyes.”
― Jean Kwok, The Leftover Woman

Two women from vastly different circumstances face impossible choices in Jean Kwok’s newest novel, The Leftover Woman.

Jasmine has arrived in New York City with little money, no family support, and no plan. All she knows is that she needs to get money together to pay off her smugglers so she won’t be forced into servitude. Jasmine escaped her rural Chinese village after learning that her controlling husband had lied to her about her stillborn daughter. Her daughter is actually alive, was taken from Jasmine at birth and sent away. When Jasmine finally finds a steady way to make money in New York City, she knows that her freedom is limited. It’s only a matter of time before her husband tracks her down and drags her back home with him. If she hopes to find her daughter, she must act fast.

Rebecca Whitney is a publishing executive whose high-powered career, adoring husband, and adopted Chinese daughter keep her beyond busy. To help her family stay on track, they have hired a Chinese nanny to make sure their daughter is immersed in her birth culture and to give them some free time. Rebecca is grateful for the nanny, especially when she finds herself part of a publishing scandal that could destroy her career, her family, and the business her father worked so hard to secure. Her family name won’t be enough to shield Rebecca and her family from the disaster lurking in the shadows.

Though Rebecca and Jasmine couldn’t be more different, they face similar issues. Running from their problems won’t work forever, forcing the two to confront their issues in order to move forward. This book is full of unreliable narrators, a staple of this author’s writing style. The characters explore issues of identity, belonging, family, and what it means to be a mother. Economic and cultural differences may separate them, but the issues they face are all similar deep down.

Hold the Line

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“I‘ve got one of them…Shoot him with his own gun!”  Michael Fanone was one of dozens holding off thousands in a key Capitol access tunnel.  For his trouble, he found himself frog-marched through the horde, speared with a Blue Lives Matter flag, tased repeatedly at the base of his skull, and beaten within an inch of his life.   He suffered a heart attack, traumatic brain injury, and lasting PTSD.  Bear spray inhalation damaged his lungs for months, but the most injurious and lasting remnant of the day were proclamations from half the still-living Congresspeople calling January 6th rioters…peaceful tourists.

Shocking to no one, the Trump and Obama voter Fanone marches to his own drummer.  The DC punk turned Virginia backwoods huntsman is known as  “Spiderman” by perps due to his neck tattoo and proclivity for tackling fleeing drug dealers from above.  Looking like the kind of guy who enjoys recreational narcotics, Michael spent the majority of his law enforcement career in the undercover vice sector.  His best friend was his transgender sex worker drug informant, Leslie.  Now he chats with Nancy Pelosi at 3am, dines with Sean Penn, and maintains a lasting friendship with Don Lemon.  When the curtain was drawn on his MPD career, he spent his last months ostracized behind a desk after speaking truth about the event which left 140 officers injured and five dead.

You astute newshounds have likely read anecdotes from January 6th.  Pass the popcorn, however, when Hold the Line recounts FBI interviews of suspects who assaulted him that day apprehended by surveillance cameras and their own sagely social media posts.  In today’s Washington climate of macho posturing theatre, there are a few examples of legit tough-guys.  After self-deploying to the Capitol on January 6th to back up fellow officers, the author of Hold the Line, Michael Fanone and his compatriots stand as the sole reason the former are still in one piece.

New Cinema Books

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We have some new books connected to the world of filmmaking and cinema hitting our catalog! I wanted to highlight just a couple of our newest titles. At the time of this writing, the below titles are available at the Davenport Public Library. The descriptions have been provided by the publishers.

The Future Was Now: Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982 by Chris Nashawaty

In the summer of 1982, eight science fiction films were released within six weeks of one another. E.T., Tron, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, The Thing, and Mad Max: The Road Warrior changed the careers of some of Hollywood’s now biggest names—altering the art of movie-making to this day.

In The Future Was Now, Chris Nashawaty recounts the riotous genesis of these films, featuring an all-star cast of Hollywood luminaries and gadflies alike: Steven Spielberg, at the height of his powers, conceives E.T. as an unlikely family tale, and quietly takes over the troubled production of Poltergeist, a horror film he had been nurturing for years. Ridley Scott, fresh off the success of Alien, tries his hand at an odd Philip K. Dick story that becomes Blade Runner—a box office failure turned cult classic. Similar stories arise for films like Tron, Conan the Barbarian, and The Thing. Taken as a whole, these films show a precarious turning-point in Hollywood history, when baffled film executives finally began to understand the potential of high-concept films with a rabid fanbase, merchandising potential, and endless possible sequels.

Expertly researched, energetically told, and written with an unabashed love for the cinema, The Future Was Now is a chronicle of how the revolution sparked in a galaxy far, far away finally took root and changed Hollywood forever. – Flatiron Books

Viewfinder: A Memoir of Seeing and Being Seen by Jon M. Chu

Long before he directed Wicked, In The Heights, or the groundbreaking film Crazy Rich Asians, Jon M. Chu was a movie-obsessed first-generation Chinese American, helping at his parents’ Chinese restaurant in Silicon Valley and forever facing the cultural identity crisis endemic to children of immigrants. Growing up on the cutting edge of twenty-first-century technology gave Chu the tools he needed to make his mark at USC film school, and to be discovered by Steven Spielberg, but he soon found himself struggling to understand who he was. In this book, for the first time, Chu turns the lens on his own life and work, telling the universal story of questioning what it means when your dreams collide with your circumstances, and showing how it’s possible to succeed even when the world changes beyond all recognition.

With striking candor and unrivaled insights, Chu offers a firsthand account of the collision of Silicon Valley and Hollywood—what it’s been like to watch his old world shatter and reshape his new one. Ultimately, Viewfinder is about reckoning with your own story, becoming your most creative self, and finding a path all your own. – Random House

The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir by Griffin Dunne

Griffin Dunne’s memoir of growing up among larger-than-life characters in Hollywood and Manhattan finds wicked humor and glimmers of light in even the most painful of circumstances

At eight, Sean Connery saved him from drowning. At thirteen, desperate to hook up with Janis Joplin, he attended his aunt Joan Didion and uncle John Gregory Dunne’s legendary LA launch party for Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. At sixteen, he got kicked out of boarding school, ending his institutional education for good. In his early twenties, he shared an apartment in Manhattan’s Hotel Des Artistes with his best friend and soulmate Carrie Fisher while she was filming some sci-fi movie called Star Wars and he was a struggling actor working as a popcorn concessionaire at Radio City Music Hall. A few years later, he produced and starred in the now-iconic film After Hours, directed by Martin Scorsese. In the midst of it all, Griffin’s twenty-two-year-old sister, Dominique, a rising star in Hollywood, was brutally strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend, leading to one of the most infamous public trials of the 1980s. The outcome was a travesty of justice that marked the beginning of their father Dominick Dunne’s career as a crime reporter for Vanity Fair and a victims’ rights activist.

And yet, for all its boldface cast of characters and jaw-dropping scenes, The Friday Afternoon Club is no mere celebrity memoir. It is, down to its bones, a family story that embraces the poignant absurdities and best and worst efforts of its loveable, infuriating, funny, and moving characters—its author most of all. – Penguin Press

The Davenports by Krystal Marquis

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“Olivia remembered the moment she’d realized that every Black person she knew was touched by the horror of slavery. Sometimes Olivia felt it like a wound hidden deep under smooth skin—one that she didn’t remember receiving but that ached nonetheless.”
― Krystal Marquis, The Davenports

Looking for a new young adult read? Look no further than The Davenports by Krystal Marquis. This new series started introduces readers to the world of the Davenports, one of the few immensely wealthy black families in 1910 Chicago. The Davenport sisters, their friend, and their maid are forced to reevaluate their friendships, familial relationships, and what they are willing to risk to find love as they struggle to keep society satisfied. With their parents determined to find them suitable matches, the two Davenport daughters, Helen and Olivia, push back against their parents’ decisions as they realize how big the world outside their estate is. All four girls soon learn that forging their own paths could mean throwing society’s and their families’ expectations to the wayside. What are they willing to risk for love and to follow their dreams?

This book was gorgeously written. Inspired by the life of C.R. Patterson and sons, Marquis infuses this book with rich historical references that are well-told and will have readers itching to learn more. This is the story of black excellence during a time period that is usually forgotten. I was invested in the lives of the characters and found myself continuously returning to this book as quickly as I could.

This title is also available as a Playaway audiobook.

“It’s no easy task balancing what you want for yourself and what your family wants for you.”
― Krystal Marquis, The Davenports

New Sports and Recreation Books

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The ‘Sports and Recreation’ section in nonfiction covers a wide variety of topics ranging from football to hiking to puzzles. Here we have a list of new sports and recreation books that have just hit the new shelves at the Davenport Public Library! Stop by our locations today and find more books on this topic!

These titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. Descriptions are provided by the publisher.

Drive: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods by Bob Harig

Bob Harig’s latest deep-dive into Tiger Woods’ thrilling career, as seen through his iconic 2019 Masters comeback and win.

In April of 1997, the world of golf was forever changed. At the age of 21, a young Tiger Woods won the most prestigious golf tournament in the world, the Masters, by a record of 12 strokes. Woods became the youngest golfer ever to win the Masters and the first African or Asian-American player to win a major. History had been made – and would continue to be made over the next 15 years.

Woods transformed the game, turning golf geeks into keen observers, casual golf fans into ardent followers and even indifferent sports fans into curiosity mavens. He will undoubtedly be known for the raw numbers: 82 PGA Tour titles, 15 major championships, and according to Forbes, a billionaire who amassed more than $110-million in official PGA Tour earnings. Woods has proven to be a complicated figure through his decades in the spotlight. Plagued by marital scandal, a DUI arrest, and severe back injuries that resulted in what even he believed would be a career-ending spinal fusion surgery in 2017, Woods’ career finally seemed to be coming to an end. That all changed through 2018 and into 2019 as Woods returned slowly from the surgery. In 2019, on the same course where he won for the first time in 1997, Tiger Woods made history once again, winning the Masters one final time. The 2019 Masters brought together all the qualities that ultimately make up someone who has been an enduring figure for 30 years.

In this captivating and emotional portrait of one of the most famous figures in sports, Bob Harig brings readers the true story of the grit and perseverance of Tiger Woods in the final years of his career. Drive will show that Woods’ true legacy is one of resolve and redemption. – St. Martin’s Press

The Price: What It Takes to Win in College Football’s Era of Chaos by Armen Keteyian

Two of the nation’s most respected sports journalists team up for a vital, hard-hitting investigation into the tumultuous state of big-time college football.

We are living in the Wild West of college sports. Name, Image and Likeness endorsements, the transfer portal, collectives, conference realignment, the powerful influence of media companies have all rendered the notion of amateur athletics a quaint relic of the past, replaced by a Brave New World where money and self-interest rule.

The Price is a sweeping, in-depth, thought-provoking look at an inflection point in big-time college football. Six time New York Times bestselling author Armen Keteyian and award-winning national college football reporter John Talty conducted more than two hundred wide-ranging interviews with head coaches, athletic directors, conference commissioners, administrators, politicians, power brokers, agents and media executives from one corner of the sport to the other. They reveal never-before-reported details on major players such as Nick Saban, Jim Harbaugh, Kirby Smart, Jimbo Fisher, and Lane Kiffin. Keteyian and Talty’s reporting also lays bare the machinations that destroyed the historic conference that was the Pac-12, purely in the name of greed.

As the sport’s premier coaches race for the exits, Keteyian and Talty reveal deep, dark truths about a beloved game under siege—and the financial, physical, emotional and psychological toll taken on everyone whose dreams and fortunes often depend on the final score on a Saturday afternoon. – Harper

The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle by Anna Shechtman

Combining the soul-baring confessional of Brain on Fire and the addictive storytelling of The Queen’s Gambit, a renowned puzzle creator’s compulsively readable memoir and history of the crossword puzzle as an unexpected site of women’s work and feminist protest.

The indisputable “queen of crosswords,” Anna Shechtman published her first New York Times puzzle at age nineteen, and later, helped to spearhead the The New Yorker’s popular crossword section. Working with a medium often criticized as exclusionary, elitist, and out-of-touch, Anna is one of very few women in the field of puzzle making, where she strives to make the everyday diversion more diverse.

In this fascinating work—part memoir, part cultural analysis—she excavates the hidden history of the crossword and the overlooked women who have been central to its creation and evolution, from the “Crossword Craze” of the 1920s to the role of digital technology today. As she tells the story of her own experience in the CrossWorld, she analyzes the roles assigned to women in American culture, the boxes they’ve been allowed to fill, and the ways that they’ve used puzzles to negotiate the constraints and play of desire under patriarchy.

The result is an unforgettable and engrossing work of art, a loving and revealing homage to one of our most treasured, entertaining, and ultimately political pastimes. – HarperOne

Thruhikers: A Guide to Life on the Trail by Renee Miller and Tim Beissinger

Explore the outdoors in a whole new way with this comprehensive guide to hiking, camping, and backpacking, from @thruhikers Renee and Tim

Renee Miller and Tim Beissinger, also known as @thruhikers, share their experiences exploring the outdoors—hiking, backpacking, canoeing, and camping—with millions of people. They break down every aspect of their adventures—trail routes, gear, recipes, and more—and share stories from their time out on the trail.

Their first book is packed with advice, techniques, gear recommendations, and troubleshooting tips for beginner and experienced outdoorsy people alike. They take you through the entire experience: before the trail, on the trail, and after the trail. Plus, they include over 20 plant-based dehydrated recipes, like Curry Rice and Cold-Soaked Shepherd’s Pie, to bring on your adventures.

Learn how to plan your trip, pack your gear, deal with animals and leave no trace, eat and drink safely, avoid and care for injuries, pass the time, navigate all types of weather, get over the post-trail blues, and more. With this guide, you’ll be prepared for anything. – DK

Wild Wisdom: Primal Skills to Survive in Nature by Donny Dust

Survive anything nature throws your way with these survival tips and wilderness philosophy from renowned outdoorsman and now beloved TikTok star Donny Dust.

Donny Dust is a US Marine Corps veteran who now owns and operates Colorado’s premier survival and wilderness self-reliance school. He’s amassed two decades worth of primitive living skills everywhere from the jungles of Asia to the mountains of North America. He’s appeared on reality TV series like History Channel’s Alone and hosted USA Channel’s Mud, Sweat & Beards. Now, Donny brings all he’s learned to Wild Wisdom. He teaches you how to be more observant to help avoid danger, problem-solve, prioritize finding shelter, and to be flexible and creative when you need the right supplies for a task. He also focuses on essential gear, sheltering, building fire, staying hydrated, food, foraging, and trapping. Beautiful and instructive illustrations throughout make this is must-carry for anyone venturing into nature.

Millions of people now follow Donny Dust on TikTok to watch him craft objects from nothing but what he finds in the wilderness. Even the tools he uses to do the crafting are made from scratch, whether it’s a saw, chisel, hammer, or cordage. He’s made bows, arrows, axes, rope, sandals, backpacks, bowls, swords, and of course, fire—lots of fire—but Wild Wisdom offers so much more. Written by one of the country’s foremost experts, it’s a book for almost anyone, whether you’re a longtime outdoorsperson hoping to hone your skills and deepen your appreciation and understanding of the wilderness, or a newcomer looking to take your first adventures in nature. – S&S / Simon Element