A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

When my to-read list is overwhelming, I look up book award lists. One of my favorites is the National Book Awards and my latest read came from that list! A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2023. This graphic memoir caught my attention straight from the beginning and left me reminiscing about my middle grade years.

Dan Santat was an awkward kid. His middle grade school years were especially awkward, but thankfully a trip to Europe helped turn his life around just in time for high school. Dan may be a good kid, but that doesn’t stop him from being bullied. While he feels like he’s invisible some days, others he is constantly picked on while staying out of trouble. When his parents find a brochure talking about a class trip to Europe, they decide that Dan must go because when else is he going to have the chance. Dan has low expectations and is decidedly not excited to go.

When he shows up at the airport, his feelings are confirmed. He’s stuck with the same middle school girls who made fun of him, showcased through a series of flashbacks throughout the book. As he travels through Europe, seeing the sights in France, Germany, Switzerland, and England, Dan starts to open up as he experiences a series of firsts. He decides he wants to try all the different types of Fanta, has his first Fondue, accidentally steals a bike in Germany, and most importantly has his first love. Dan slowly breaks out of his shell while going through the big emotions that we all experienced as thirteen year old kids trying to find our way in the world.

This graphic memoir was funny and adorable. I found myself commiserating with Dan as he struggled to express himself and crying along with him as he had to say goodbye to his first love. The author acknowledges how even though his middle school years were awkward, they also changed his life. This is such a reflective and self-affirming graphic memoir for all of us that went through challenging middle school years.

Nostalgia Reads

If you’re feeling nostalgic for the past or want to learn more about different decades, check out any of the below nonfiction titles that dive into popular nostalgic items and trends from the last few decades. As of this writing all of these titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions provided by the publishers.


60 Songs that Explain the ’90s by Rob Harvilla

A companion to the #1 music podcast on Spotify, this book takes readers through the greatest hits that define a weirdly undefinable decade.

The 1990s were a chaotic and gritty and utterly magical time for music, a confounding barrage of genres and lifestyles and superstars, from grunge to hip-hop, from sumptuous R&B to rambunctious ska-punk, from Axl to Kurt to Missy to Santana to Tupac to Britney. In 60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE ’90s, Ringer music critic Rob Harvilla reimagines all the earwormy, iconic hits Gen Xers pine for with vivid historical storytelling, sharp critical analysis, rampant loopiness, and wryly personal ruminations on the most bizarre, joyous, and inescapable songs from a decade we both regret entirely and miss desperately. – Twelve


So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, & the Show that Started it All by Leisha Hailey and Kate Moennig

An intimate, hilarious memoir of art, friendship, queerness, and found family by Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey, stars of The L Word—including never-before-shared stories and photos from behind the scenes of the show and their personal lives.

“Are you comfortable with nudity?” my manager asked.

In the early 2000s, Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey—both young artists trying to figure it all out—met at auditions for an unknown little TV show. Given that it was a show about lesbians living in Los Angeles, with the first ever ensemble cast of openly queer female characters, Kate and Leisha knew the project was going to be unlike anything else out there—that is, if it even got picked up.

Then, one million people watched the premiere. The show, which came to be called The L Word, turned into a trailblazing phenomenon. Its influence on pop culture, in the political arena, and in the lives of viewers has been lasting, impactful, even life-saving. And in addition to changing the course of television history, The L Word changed Kate and Leisha’s lives forever. Suddenly, they were the faces of lesbian culture in a society still hostile to queerness. And one of them wasn’t even out yet.

Luckily, they had each other. From their first day on set, Kate and Leisha were so inseparable that the cast joked they were like a pair of pants—you couldn’t have one leg without the other. Hence the name for their branded partnership and podcast, PANTS, launched in 2020 and downloaded over twenty million times.

This friendship has seen Kate and Leisha through their greatest triumphs and most painful moments, stumbling from closeted queer kids to LGBTQ+ activists, actors, podcasters, and business owners. Full of never-before-shared glimpses into the making of The L Word, Kate and Leisha’s real-life loves and losses, and their experiences as queer icons, So Gay for You is a heartfelt, inspiring love letter to a ride or die friendship over the decades, and a testament to the liberating power of chosen family. – St. Martin’s Press


The Genius of Judy: how Judy Blume rewrote Childhood for all of us by Rachelle Bergstein

Everyone knows Judy Blume.

Her books have garnered her fans of all ages for decades and sold tens of millions of copies. But why were people so drawn to them? And why are we still talking about them now in the 21st century?

In The Genius of Judy, her remarkable story is revealed as never before, beginning with her as a mother of two searching for purpose in 1960s suburban New Jersey. The books she wrote starred regular children with genuine thoughts and problems. But behind those deceptively simple tales, Blume explored the pillars of the growing women’s rights movement, in which girls and women were entitled to careers, bodily autonomy, fulfilling relationships, and even sexual pleasure. Blume wasn’t trying to be a revolutionary—she just wanted to tell honest stories—but in doing so, she created a cohesive, culture-altering vision of modern adolescence.

Blume’s bravery provoked backlash, making her the country’s most-banned author in the mid-1980s. Thankfully, her works withstood those culture wars and it’s no coincidence that Blume has resurfaced as a cultural touchstone now. Young girls are still cat-called, sex education curricula are getting dismissed as pornography, and entire shelves of libraries are being banned. As we face these challenges, it’s only natural we look to Blume, the grand dame of so-called dirty books. This is the “ground-breaking” (BookPage) story of how a housewife became an artist, and how generations of empowered fans are her legacy, today more than ever. – Atria/One Signal Publishers


Into Every Generation a Slayer is Born: How Buffy Staked our Hearts by Evan Ross Katz

Explore the history and cultural impact of a groundbreaking television show adored by old and new fans alike: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.Over the course of its seven-year run, Buffy the Vampire Slayer cultivated a loyal fandom and featured a strong, complex female lead, at a time when such a character was a rarity. Evan Ross Katz explores the show’s cultural relevance through a book that is part oral history, part celebration, and part memoir of a personal fandom that has universal resonance still, decades later.

Katz—with the help of the show’s cast, creators, and crew—reveals that although Buffy contributed to important conversations about gender, sexuality, and feminism, it was not free of internal strife, controversy, and shortcomings. Men—both on screen and off—would taint the show’s reputation as a feminist masterpiece, and changing networks, amongst other factors, would drastically alter the show’s tone.

Katz addresses these issues and more, including interviews with stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield, Amber Benson, James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, Seth Green, Marc Blucas, Nicholas Brendon, Danny Strong, Tom Lenk, Bianca Lawson, Julie Benz, Clare Kramer, K. Todd Freeman, Sharon Ferguson; and writers Douglas Petrie, Jane Espenson, and Drew Z. Greenberg; as well as conversations with Buffy fanatics and friends of the cast including Stacey Abrams, Cynthia Erivo, Lee Pace, Claire Saffitz, Tavi Gevinson, and Selma Blair.

Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born engages with the very notion of fandom, and the ways a show like Buffy can influence not only how we see the world but how we exist within it. – Hachette


The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman

It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. Landlines fell to cell phones, the internet exploded, and pop culture accelerated without the aid of technology that remembered everything. It was the last era with a real mainstream to either identify with or oppose. The ’90s brought about a revolution in the human condition, and a shift in consciousness, that we’re still struggling to understand. Happily, Chuck Klosterman is more than up to the job.

In The Nineties, Klosterman dissects the film, the music, the sports, the TV, the pre-9/11 politics, the changes regarding race and class and sexuality, the yin/yang of Oprah and Alan Greenspan, and (almost) everything else. The result is a multidimensional masterpiece, a work of synthesis so smart and delightful that future historians might well refer to this entire period as Klostermanian. – Penguin Books


One in a Millennial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In by Kate Kennedy

One in a Millennial is an exploration of pop culture, nostalgia, the millennial zeitgeist, and the life lessons learned (for better and for worse) from coming of age as a member of a much-maligned generation.

Kate is a pop culture commentator and host of the popular millennial-focused podcast Be There in Five. Part-funny, part-serious, Kate navigates the complicated nature of celebrating and criticizing the culture that shaped her as a woman, while arguing that great depths can come from surface-level interests.

With her trademark style and vulnerability, One in a Millennial is sharp, hilarious, and heartwarming all at once. She tackles AOL Instant Messenger, purity culture, American Girl Dolls, going out tops, Spice Girl feminism, her feelings about millennial motherhood, and more. Kate’s laugh-out-loud asides and keen observations will have you nodding your head and maybe even tearing up. – St. Martin’s Press

Other Nostalgia Reads

Homebody by Theo Parish

“Living authentically in a world that takes every opportunity to squeeze you uncomfortably into a box of someone else’s design…that is the most radical act of self love. Blossoming in an environment where the odds are stacked immeasurably against you is a beautiful act of defiance.”
― Theo Parish, Homebody: A Graphic Memoir of Gender Identity Exploration

In Homebody, a graphic memoir, author and artist Theo Parish discusses their journey to finding a home within themselves. Told from the perspective of current Theo looking back at younger Theo at different ages, Theo highlights the spectrum of life events that pushed them towards their true selves. The unknown and arbitrary gender rules throughout life, but especially in high school, tripped Theo up, leading them to question their gender identity and sexuality. Theo discusses finding a haircut that fit them, changing their clothing style, choosing their new name, and how trusted friends and family helped influence their everyday comfort.

This introspective memoir speaks to how gender can shape identity in a multitude of ways. Theo’s artwork is gentle and loving in their descriptions and drawings of their own journey. What struck me the most is how loving and understanding Theo is. Throughout this memoir, they reiterate that finding yourself and feeling at home in your own body won’t be the same for every person. It’s okay to change your mind, it’s okay to not know who you are, and you can take as much time as you need. These are important truths to understand.

“We are all just trying to find a place to call our own. We are all deserving of comfort and safety, a place to call home.”
― Theo Parish, Homebody: A Graphic Memoir of Gender Identity Exploration

Better Living Through Birding by Chrisitan Cooper

In Better Living Through Birding, Christian Cooper uses his platform from the infamous “Central Park birdwatching incident” to shift focus on the joys of living life outside of stereotypes. 

In May 2020, Christian Cooper recorded a confrontation between himself and a white woman in New York’s Central Park where he asked her to leash her dog and she made a false police report saying he threatened her. The video went viral, partly because it happened around the same time George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. “The Incident” became part of a larger conversation about institutional racism. Details are covered in one chapter of this memoir. Cooper acknowledges a handful of times that “The Incident” is probably the reason you are reading the book, but Cooper uses the notoriety of “The Incident” to invite you into a much larger and more fulfilling part of his life: birdwatching.

It was no accident that Cooper was in Central Park that day. This wasn’t a “I need to get out of the house” Covid walk. This day was one among a string a days that Cooper had spent enjoying peak bird migration through the area. Cooper is a dedicated birdwatcher who has traveled the world for his hobby but calls New York home. He has built a community of friends with others who can identify sparrows, warblers, and finches by their song.

There are some other things you should know about Cooper. He has been a nerd since childhood, with Star Trek and Marvel comics being two of his obsessions. He attended Harvard and in the book describes how he came out to his dormmates and then became a gay activist. Protesting and being arrested are part of his activist journey. His relationship with his parents, especially his father, is complicated. He worked for Marvel and wrote the first lesbian character.

Through it all, even in his childhood, has been birding. He wants the readers of his book to be just as excited about being outdoors as he is. In spaces where he has been an outsider, he invites you to be part of the community, to find joy in spotting a bird under the cover of foliage or being able to identify it by its call.

While I listened to this audiobook, and there were a few bird calls between chapters that were a nice touch, I don’t think the audiobook experience is a must. As of the publication of this blog post, Better Living Through Birding by Chrisitan Cooper is available in regular print, large print and eAudiobook on Bridges through the Libby app.

And if Christian Cooper’s memoir inspires you to take up birding, remember the Davenport Public Library has many resources to get you started, including field guides and birding backpacks with all the tools you need.

New Self-Help Books

If you’re looking for ways to expand yourself, to learn more about yourself, or to accomplish something new, try one of these new self-help books that hit The Library’s shelves in 2025. As of this writing, these books are owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions are provided by the publishers.


The Book of Possibilities: Words of Wisdom on the Road to Becoming by Bee Quammie

Bee Quammie invites women and girls everywhere to embrace the power of possibility in this intimate and empowering collection.

A successful Black woman in media, Bee Quammie often finds herself being cast as a role model for young women—and especially Black women and other women of colour. But Bee has never quite been comfortable with the idea of being a role model for the next generation. Who is she to suggest anyone live the way she has? Follow a certain path? Who says the path she followed is the “right” one—that there even is a “right” one?

When Bee became a mother, the weight of responsibility became even heavier, and she spent hours agonizing over how she could be the guide her girls needed without getting in their way or imposing her agenda. That’s when Bee decided she needed a new model for understanding the role she should play for her children—and anyone else who might be looking to her for inspiration.

Instead of a role model, Bee prefers to think of herself as a possibility model—one example among many of how to live one’s life. But even more important, Bee wants to show her daughters and other women how ripe with possibility their lives really are, how many opportunities and avenues there are to explore. There is so much richness to be found in life, even if you end up somewhere that feels unconventional or unplanned.

In The Book of Possibilities, Bee shows us how small acts of bravery and paying careful attention to our inner voice can open up a world of opportunity and lead to a fulfilling life. – Penguin Canada


Change the Recipe: Because You Can’t Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs by José Andrés with Richard Wolffe

A unique collection of life lessons from renowned chef and humanitarian José Andrés

José Andrés is a chef, an entrepreneur, an author, a television host, and a tireless humanitarian leader across the globe. A Michelin-starred chef with more than forty restaurants, José is also the founder of World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit dedicated to feeding the hungry in the wake of natural and man-made disasters. His lifetime of experience—from kitchens to conflict zones—has given him a wealth of stories and teachable moments that are funny, touching, and insightful, all animated by the belief that food can bring us closer together and the conviction that each of us can change the world for the better.

Written in José’s unmistakable voice, Change the Recipe is a collection of his most affecting and powerful life lessons: hard-won wisdom from a man who has dedicated his life to changing the world through the power of food. – Ecco


How to Love Better: The Path to Deeper Connection through Growth, Kindness, and Compassion by Yung Pueblo

“Everyone enters relationships with imperfections and negative patterns that block the flow of love, but when you embrace growth, the new harmony within you will flow into your relationship.”

Love enters our lives in many forms: friends, family, intimate partners. But all of these relationships are deeply influenced by the love we have for ourselves. If we see our relationships as opportunities to be fully present in our healing and growth, then, Yung Pueblo assures us, we can transform and meet one another with compassion instead of judgment.

In How to Love Better, Yung Pueblo examines all aspects of relationships, from the rose-colored early days when you may be hesitant to show your full self, to the challenges that can arise without clear communication, to dealing with heartbreak and healing as you close a chapter of your life. The power of looking inward remains at the core of Yung Pueblo’s teachings. Ego and attachment can become barriers in a relationship, so the more self-aware you become, the more you can support both your partner and yourself.

How to Love Better includes:

  • How to build harmony in a relationship
  • How to see each other’s perspective
  • How to find the right partner
  • How to heal from heartbreak
  • How to overcome attachment
  • How to form commitments
  • How to argue

Yung Pueblo’s insights on embracing change, building a foundation of honesty, and learning to listen selflessly will resonate regardless of where you are in your healing journey. And his unique combination of poetry, personal experience, and thoughtful advice will help you grow and strengthen all of your relationships. – Harmony


I Don’t Believe in Astrology: A Therapist’s Guide to the Life-Changing Wisdom of the Stars by Debra Silverman

An accessible guide to the life-changing benefits of astrology by renowned psychotherapist and astrologer, Debra Silverman.

In a chaotic, confusing, and divisive world, Debra Silverman introduces astrology as the medicine for accepting our human nature–its idiosyncrasies and dilemmas. Through an application of both therapy and astrology, this breakthrough guide equips readers with tools that release self-judgment, inner criticism, negativity, and misunderstanding. Every sign struggles with psychological issues. Understanding the unique topics relative to your sign, it’s no surprise you are quirky. Learning how to accept who you are and love yourself unconditionally through the lens of astrology is at the heart of this book.

Debra Silverman teaches you how to step away from the struggle of your ego and see yourself with the calm objectivity of your soul. You will learn to love what you see—not just your best qualities but everything about you. She shows you how to aim for the high road of your personality. Most of all, you will cultivate compassion for all the other signs in the zodiac. Learn the meaning of the sun, moon, rising sign, Mercury, and Saturn. Using Debra’s method combining the wisdom of astrology and psychology, readers will remember the truth of their soul’s expression, seen through the eyes of self-love. – St. Martin’s Essentials


Secrets of Adulthood: Simple Truths for Our Complex Lives by Gretchen Rubin

The author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before distills her key insights into simple truths for living with greater satisfaction, clarity, and happiness.

The right idea, invoked at the right time, can change our lives. Drawing from her long studies of happiness, and also from the challenges she’s faced herself, writer Gretchen Rubin has discovered the “Secrets of Adulthood” that can help us manage the complexities of life. To convey her conclusions, she turned to the aphorism—the ancient literary discipline that demands that a writer convey a large truth in a few words.

Perhaps you’re paralyzed by indecision, struggling to navigate a big change, fighting a temptation, or puzzled by the behavior of someone you love; whatever you face, the right aphorism can help. From procrastination to the pursuit of happiness, Secrets of Adulthood is filled with witty and thought-provoking reflections such as:

  • “Recognize that, like sleeping with a big dog in a small bed, things that are uncomfortable can also be comforting”
  • “Accept yourself, and expect more from yourself”
  • “Easy children raise good parents”
  • “What can be done at any time is often done at no time”

For anyone undergoing a major life transition, such as graduation, career switch, marriage, or moving, or for those just encountering everyday dilemmas, these disarming aphorisms will inspire you by articulating truths that you may never have noticed but instantly recognize. – Crown


When Work Hurts: Building Resilience When You’re Beat Up or Burnt Out by Meryl Herr

We might be discouraged, disillusioned, or devastated by our work. We might experience trauma or harassment on the job, or we may have experienced work loss by getting fired. If you’ve been beat up, burnt out, or brokenhearted by work, you’re not alone.

The Bible tells us that work will be difficult—filled with thorns and thistles—but no one prepares us for the pain we experience on the job. In When Work Hurts Meryl Herr

  • Explores the emotional, relational, and vocational pain that work causes and helps us rebound and build resilience so we can fully participate with God in his mission,
  • Walks through the biblical story of the Israelites’ journey of exile, return, and rebuilding as a framework for spiritual and practical resources for navigating work loss, and
  • Shows that we can take comfort in the fact that God is at work in the midst of our work to bring healing and hope. – InterVarsity Press

Gone Fishin’

How do you like to spend your summers? Growing up, we spent hours fishing with family along the river. As an adult, I don’t spend as much time fishing as I would like, but luckily for me (and you), the library has many resources about fishing available for checkout. Below are some of the newer titles that I found while perusing the shelves.

As of this writing, all of these titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions are provided by the publishers.


Barr Flies: How to Tie and Fish the Copper John, the Barr Emerger, and Dozens of other Patterns, Variations, and Rigs by John S. Barr

In Barr Flies, John Barr shares his “confidence” patterns, the flies he has the most faith in to catch heavily pressured trout throughout the Rockies.

John Barr is the most successful designer of commercially distributed flies in the world. He has invented a number of indispensable flies such as the Barr Emerger, an unrivaled pattern for difficult trout across the country, and the Copper John, which has evolved into the most popular fly of the millenium.

In Barr Flies, John Barr shares his “confidence” patterns, the flies he has the most faith in to catch heavily pressured trout throughout the Rockies. Barr tells how he developed each fly, gives tips on when and how to fish them, and explains how he fishes multiple-fly rigs with the Copper John as the center of a three-fly system that consistently catches more fish. Most importantly, Barr reveals his methods for tying his favorite flies, with step-by-step instructions and clear color photos by Charlie Craven that enable even inexperienced tyers to create the Copper John, Barr Emerger, B/C Hopper, Tung Teaser, Slumpbuster, and many more patterns and variations. – Stackpole Books


The Blue Revolution: Hunting, Harvesting, and Farming Seafood in the Information Age by Nicholas P. Sullivan

Overfishing. For the world’s oceans, it’s long been a worrisome problem with few answers. Many of the global fish stocks are at a dangerous tipping point, some spiraling toward extinction. But as older fishing fleets retire and new technologies develop, a better, more sustainable way to farm this popular protein has emerged to profoundly shift the balance. The Blue Revolution tells the story of the recent transformation of commercial fishing: an encouraging change from maximizing volume through unrestrained wild hunting to maximizing value through controlled harvesting and farming. Entrepreneurs applying newer, smarter technologies are modernizing fisheries in unprecedented ways. In many parts of the world, the seafood on our plates is increasingly the product of smart decisions about ecosystems, waste, efficiency, transparency, and quality.

Nicholas P. Sullivan presents this new way of thinking about fish, food, and oceans by profiling the people and policies transforming an aging industry into one that is “post-industrial”—fueled by “sea-foodies” and locavores interested in sustainable, traceable, quality seafood. Catch quotas can work when local fishers feel they have a stake in the outcome; shellfish farming requires zero inputs and restores nearshore ecosystems; new markets are developing for kelp products, as well as unloved and “underutilized” fish species. Sullivan shows how the practices of thirty years ago that perpetuated an overfishing crisis are rapidly changing. In the book’s final chapters, Sullivan discusses the global challenges to preserving healthy oceans, including conservation mechanisms, the impact of climate change, and unregulated and criminal fishing in international waters.

In a fast-growing world where more people are eating more fish than ever before, The Blue Revolution brings encouraging news for conservationists and seafood lovers about the transformation of an industry historically averse to change, and it presents fresh inspiration for entrepreneurs and investors eager for new opportunities in a blue-green economy. – Island Press


Casting Onward: Fishing Adventures in Search of America’s Native Gamefish by Steve Ramirez

In writing this book, author, naturalist, and educator Steve Ramirez traveled thousands of miles by plane, motor vehicle, boat, and foot. In the course of this journey, Ramirez explores and fishes mountain streams, alpine lakes, National Wild and Scenic Rivers, desert canyons, brackish water estuaries, and the rolling ocean off the coast of Cape Cod. About half of this book was written while traveling through the COVID-19 pandemic and it touches on the lessons that COVID can teach us about nature and human nature. In Casting Onward, the author expands beyond the geographical scope of Casting Forward by fishing for native fish across American, within their original habitats and telling the story in part through the eyes of the people who have lived alongside, and come to love, these waters and fish. Woven throughout these adventures are the stories of the people he meets and befriends while pursuing a mutual love of nature as the first criterion for finding common ground. This is a hopeful story, in an all-too-often seemingly hopeless time. It is a story of fishing and friendship. It is a story of humanity’s impact on nature, and nature’s impact on humanity. – provided by the author


Illuminated by Water: Fly Fishing and the Allure of the Natural World by Malachy Tallack

In its blending of nature writing and memoir—also touching on the connection of time, beauty, and memory—Illuminated by Water is an elegiac tribute to fly fishing and the natural world.

Illuminated by Water is a book about the author’s own decades-long passion for ­fly fishing and how it has shaped the way he sees and thinks about the natural world. That passion is shared and made legible here, not just for other anglers, but for those who have never yet cast a line in the water. Why is it that catching ­fish—or even thinking about catching fish—can be so thrilling, so captivating? Why is it that time spent beside water can be imprinted so sharply in the memory? Why is it that what seems a simple act of casting a line and hoping can feel so rich in mystery?

Alternating between regional and thematic chapters, Tallack considers ‘wildness’, its pursuit, and its meanings; the compulsive appeal of tying flies; the ethics of catching and killing; the allure of big ­fish; and beauty—where it’s sought and where it’s found. He describes ­fly fishing trips to America, Canada, Shetland, and England. Throughout the book, certain themes recur—environmental harm and healing; the relationship between fishing and time; hope and its manifestations; and the ways in which angling can deepen engagement with the natural world. – Pegasus Books


Stillwater Fly Fishing: Competition-Inspired Strategies for Everyday Anglers by Devin Olsen

Stillwaters not only provide fishing opportunities for some of the largest trout in the United States, but they often provide the only dependable fishing (save some tailwaters in Colorado and New Mexico) in the early season (from ice-out to after runoff) for anglers in New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, California, Oregon, and Washington. Many anglers prefer to continue to fish lakes after the rivers drop to experience epic hatches of midges, Callibaetis mayflies, and damselflies, which all provide exceptional fly fishing for large trout. This is the definitive guide to fly fishing lakes and reservoirs fishing (written by the author of the best-selling book, Tactical Fly Fishing) and the only book on the market that covers competition and loch-style techniques used around the world. – Stackpole Books


The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing by Mark Kurlansky

From the award-winning, bestselling author of Cod-the irresistible story of the science, history, art, and culture of the least efficient way to catch a fish.

Fly fishing, historian Mark Kurlansky has found, is a battle of wits, fly fisher vs. fish–and the fly fisher does not always (or often) win. The targets–salmon, trout, and char; and for some, bass, tarpon, tuna, bonefish, and even marlin–are highly intelligent, wily, strong, and athletic animals. The allure, Kurlansky learns, is that fly fishing makes catching a fish as difficult as possible. There is an art, too, in the crafting of flies. Beautiful and intricate, some are made with more than two dozen pieces of feather and fur from a wide range of animals. The cast as well is a matter of grace and rhythm, with different casts and rods yielding varying results.

Kurlansky is known for his deep dives into the history of specific subjects, from cod to oysters to salt. But he spent his boyhood days on the shore of a shallow pond. Here, where tiny fish weaved under a rocky waterfall, he first tied string to a branch, dangled a worm into the water, and unleashed his passion for fishing. Since then, a lifelong love of the sport has led him around the world to many countries, coasts, and rivers-from the wilds of Alaska to Basque country, from the Catskills in New York to Oregon’s Columbia River, from Ireland and Norway to Russia and Japan. And, in true Kurlansky fashion, he absorbed every fact, detail, and anecdote along the way.

The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing marries Kurlansky’s signature wide-ranging reach with a subject that has captivated him for a lifetime–combining history, craft, and personal memoir to show readers, devotees of the sport or not, the necessity of experiencing nature’s balm first-hand. – Bloomsbury Publishing

This Beautiful, Ridiculous City: A Graphic Memoir by Kay Sohini

This Beautiful, Ridiculous City: A Graphic Memoir by Kay Sohini is a vividly drawn graphic memoir telling the story of a woman of many talents. Kay Sohini is an immigrant, a writer, a foodie, an optimist, and a survivor with a deep love of anything New York City. From a young age growing up in India, Kay found love and hope through anything related to New York City, be it movies, books, music, or anything else. She turns to New York City in her time of need, so it’s no surprise when Kay decides to move to New York City to escape an abusive relationship.

Switching back and forth between her past in India, her present in New York City, and her first night in New York City on the tarmac of JFK Airport, Kay reflects on how much her life has changed, what she has left behind, and what she has to look forward to. The trauma she left behind in India has forever changed her, but her story is far from over. In fact, she decides to examine her city through the eyes of her favorite writers. Her journey to create a new home in New York City begins with the groundwork of trying to put herself back together. Kay shows, rather than tells, her readers about the great sense of belonging she feels in her new home. This is evident through the evocative and beautiful artwork that radiates through this graphic memoir. Her journey to love herself as much as she loves New York City further highlights how trauma can highlight your truth and how a new city can ease your heart.

Introduction to Photography

Photography has never been more accessible with the rise of technology allowing us the ability to have a high-quality camera in our pocket at all times. Whether you just want to take better pictures while on a hike, during your summer travels, or even want to take a step towards photography becoming a career, here are some materials we have here at Davenport Public Library! Access through coming into the library, our online catalog, or the streaming service, Kanopy, with your Davenport Library card! All descriptions are provided by the publisher.

Book:

The beginner’s photography guide: the ultimate step-by-step manual for getting the most from your camera and phone

From choosing the right equipment and aperture exposure to adjusting focus and flash, The Beginner’s Photography Guide explains key concepts in clear and simple terms to help you maximize the features of your camera.

Getting Your Shot: stunning photos, how-to tips, and endless inspiration from the pros

In this inspirational how-to photography book, the photo experts at National Geographic share their invaluable tips, advice and insights alongside more than 200 breathtaking photos–from glorious landscapes to intimate moments, from black-and-white to exuberant color, from the exotic to the homespun. These stunning and evocative photos, drawn from National Geographic’s thriving online photography community “Your Shot,” provide inspiration for photographers of all skill levels. This book reveals inside stories on how the featured photographers were able to get these incredible shots, and is filled with encouragement and inspiration for the artist and dreamer inside all of us.

Lonely Planet’s Guide to travel photography

Return from your travels with the pictures you’ve always wanted in this fourth edition of Lonely Planet’s best-selling Travel Photography, internationally renowned travel photographer Richard I. Anson shows you how to avoid common photography mistakes and to develop your compositional and technical skills as a photographer.

The camera bag companion: your personal photography tutor

Imagine having your personal, professional photographer with you whenever you go out to shoot. There to guide you, share their knowledge, and inspire you to take better photographs. In his latest book, Benedict Brain puts himself in your kitbag, with a beautifully illustrated how-to guide that’s as essential as any lens or tripod, and cuts through the jargon to deliver clear advice in a friendly, conversational style.

DVD:

Binge box. Outdoor photography — beginner’s guide

Beginners guide to outdoor photography/Beginner’s guide to manual mode: The learning curve for photography can be very steep for many, and it’s often filled with frustration. Multiple camera settings can clutter the mind of someone simply trying to create a beautiful image. In this video instructional class, your Instructor David Johnston will teach you about camera settings that will simplify the photography process.

Streaming (Kanopy):

Fundamentals of Photography

With Fundamentals of Photography, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the art and craft of great photography straight from Joel Sartore, a National Geographer photographer with more than 30 years of experience. Designed for people at all levels, these 24 episodes are an engaging guide to how photographs work and how to make them work better for you.

Beginner’s Guide to Outdoor Photography

Master the basics of outdoor photography to create beautiful images. In this class you’ll learn all about camera settings for shutter speed, exposure, f-stops, range of focus and more. Once you understand camera settings and how to use them, you’ll be able make the camera work for you to find the best balance of light and compose your best photos yet.

Landscape & Wildlife Photography

National Geographic photographers Michael Melford and Tim Laman reveal stories and secrets about great landscape and wildlife photography. Taking you around the world, their 24 visually rich lectures present the art of seeing that’s key to taking unforgettable photos of desert cliffs, penguin colonies, dramatic waterfalls, and more.

 

What is your favorite thing to take pictures of? Let us know in the comments!

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

“Trauma isn’t just the sadness that comes from being beaten, or neglected, or insulted. That’s just one layer of it. Trauma also is mourning the childhood you could have had. The childhood other kids around you had. The fact that you could have had a mom who hugged and kissed you when you skinned your knee. Or a dad who stayed and brought you a bouquet of flowers at your graduation. Trauma is mourning the fact that, as an adult, you have to parent yourself. You have to stand in your kitchen, starving, near tears, next to a burnt chicken, and you can’t call your mom to tell her about it, to listen to her tell you that it’s okay, to ask if you can come over for some of her cooking. Instead, you have to pull up your bootstraps and solve the painful puzzle of your life by yourself. What other choice do you have? Nobody else is going to solve it for you.”
Stephanie Foo, What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma

Published in February 2022, What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo discusses complex PTSD and the uphill battle for a diagnosis and treatment. Stephanie, a journalist and former radio producer for This American Life, details her journey to diagnosis, the roadblocks she hit, and how she was able to reclaim her agency from the trauma she faced as a child. This book was powerful and hopeful, while at times completely devastating. Stephanie acknowledges at the beginning that this book may be difficult for some to get through and gives permission for those readers that need to to skip ahead as much as they need. What My Bones Know is a brave memoir that isn’t afraid to stare down the tough parts of the past in order to find a way to help the present.

As an adult, Stephanie had all the looks of success: her dream job at This American Life and a loving, supportive boyfriend. Even though she had all this, behind the scenes Stephanie was a mess. She found interactions with others to be difficult, often crying at her desk every morning and suffering from debilitating panic attacks, alternating with intense bouts of anger. What was causing this behavior? Stephanie sought out help from a therapist and was eventually diagnosed with complex PTSD, a condition that results from trauma that happens continuously over many years. This diagnosis didn’t immediately switch a flip in Stephanie, leading her to be instantly cured. Instead she found herself looking for ways to heal through research and interviews with experts.

As a child, Stephanie suffered years of neglect as well as physical and verbal abuse at the hands of her parents, which led to both of her parents abandoning her when she was a teenager. Stephanie always believed that she had dealt with her feelings regarding those situations and that she had ‘moved on’, but when examining her complex PTSD diagnosis, she realizes that her past was creeping into her present with the potential to destroy her career, her relationships, and her health. Her journey to healing was made difficult by lack of resources and limited study of complex PTSD, so Stephanie decided to treat her diagnosis as she would treat a new job: she would do her own research and conduct her own interviews. In this memoir, Stephanie seeks out experts in the field, travels to her California hometown to interview friends, and flies back to Malaysia where she was born to question her relatives. She tried new therapies, investigates the wider influence of immigrant trauma on families and communities as a whole, and looks into how trauma slides through generations, impacting those not yet born. Throughout her journey, Stephanie documents her ups and downs, highlighting how she has changed through the years, while also acknowledging that everyone’s journey will differ through their own individual processes of discovery.

“Being healed isn’t about feeling nothing. Being healed is about feeling the appropriate emotions at the appropriate times and still being able to come back to yourself. That’s just life.”
― Stephanie Foo, What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma

Books about Divorce

Books about divorces are trending right now. Whether it is a nonfiction memoir or an autofictional novel, the representation of divorce in these books is varied. Below you will find a list of nonfiction and fiction books about divorce published recently that are all owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions are provided by the publishers.

Nonfiction

This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life by Lyz Lenz

Studies show that nearly 70 percent of divorces are initiated by women—women who are tired, fed up, exhausted, and unhappy. We’ve all seen how the media portrays divorcées: sad, lonely, drowning their sorrows in a bottle of wine. Lyz Lenz is one such woman whose life fell apart after she reached a breaking point in her twelve-year marriage. But she refused to take part in that tired narrative and decided to flip the script on divorce.

In this exuberant and unapologetic book, Lenz makes an argument for the advantages of getting divorced, framing it as a practical and effective solution for women to take back the power they are owed. Weaving reportage with sociological research and literature with popular culture along with personal stories of coming together and breaking up, Lenz creates a kaleidoscopic and poignant portrait of American marriage today. She argues that the mechanisms of American power, justice, love, and gender equality remain deeply flawed, and that marriage, like any other cultural institution, is due for a reckoning. A raucous argument for acceptance, solidarity, and collective female refusal, This American Ex-Wife takes readers on a riveting ride—while pointing us all toward a life that is a little more free. – Crown


The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward by Melinda French Gates

Transitions are moments in which we step out of our familiar surroundings and into a new landscape—a space that, for many people, is shadowed by confusion, fear, and indecision. The Next Day accompanies readers as they cross that space, offering guidance on how to make the most of the time between an ending and a new beginning and how to move forward into the next day when the ground beneath you is shifting.

In this book, Melinda will reflect, for the first time in print, on some of the most significant transitions in her own life, including becoming a parent, the death of a dear friend, and her departure from the Gates Foundation. The stories she tells illuminate universal lessons about loosening the bonds of perfectionism, helping friends navigate times of crisis, embracing uncertainty, and more.

Each one of us, no matter who we are or where we are in life, is headed toward transitions of our own. With her signature warmth and grace, Melinda candidly shares stories of times when she was in need of wisdom and shines a path through the open space stretching out before us all. – Flatiron Books


No Fault: A Memoir of Romance and Divorce by Haley Mlotek

An intimate and candid account of one of the most romantic and revolutionary of relationships: divorce

Divorce was everything for Haley Mlotek. As a child, she listened to her twice-divorced grandmother tell stories about her “husbands.” As a pre-teen, she answered the phones for her mother’s mediation and marriage counseling practice and typed out the paperwork for couples in the process of leaving each other. She grew up with the sense that divorce was an outcome to both resist and desire, an ordeal that promised something better on the other side of something bad. But when she herself went on to marry—and then divorce—the man she had been with for twelve years, suddenly, she had to reconsider her generation’s inherited understanding of the institution.

Deftly combining her personal story with wry, searching social and literary exploration, No Fault is a deeply felt and radiant account of 21st century divorce—the remarkably common and seemingly singular experience, and what it reveals about our society and our desires for family, love, and friendship. Mlotek asks profound questions about what divorce should be, who it is for, and why the institution of marriage maintains its power, all while charting a poignant and cathartic journey away from her own marriage towards an unknown future.

Brilliant, funny, and unflinchingly honest, No Fault is a kaleidoscopic look at marriage, secrets, ambitions, and what it means to love and live with uncertainty, betrayal, and hope. – Viking

Fiction

All Fours by Miranda July

A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, checks into a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in an entirely different journey.

Miranda July’s second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July’s wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman’s quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive. – Riverhead Books


Liars by Sarah Manguso

A nuclear family can destroy a woman artist. I’d always known that. But I’d never suspected how easily I’d fall into one anyway.

When Jane, an aspiring writer, meets filmmaker John Bridges, they both want the same things: to be in love, to live a successful, creative life, and to be happy. When they marry, Jane believes she has found everything she was looking for, including—a few years later—all the attendant joys and labors of motherhood. But it’s not long until Jane finds herself subsumed by John’s ambitions, whims, and ego; in short, she becomes a wife.

As Jane’s career flourishes, their marriage starts to falter. Throughout the upheavals of family life, Jane tries to hold it all together. That is, until John leaves her.

Liars is a tour de force of wit and rage, telling the blistering story of a marriage as it burns to the ground, and of a woman rising inexorably from its ashes. – Hogarth


Animal Instinct by Amy Shearn

The world has stopped. But Rachel is just getting started…

It’s spring of 2020 and Rachel Bloomstein—mother of three, recent divorcée, and Brooklynite—is stuck inside. But her newly awakened sexual desire and lust for a new life refuse to be contained. Leaning on her best friend Lulu to show her the ropes, Rachel dips a toe in the online dating world, leading to park dates with younger men, flirtations with beautiful women, and actual, in-person sex. None of them, individually, are perfect . . . hence her rotation.

But what if one person could perfectly cater to all her emotional needs?
Driven by this possibility, Rachel creates Frankie, the AI chatbot she programs with all the good parts of dating in middle age . . . and some of the bad. But as Rachel plays with her fantasy to her heart’s content, she begins to realize she can’t reprogram her ex-husband, her children, her friends, or the roster of paramours that’s grown unwieldy. Perhaps real life has more in store for Rachel than she could ever program for herself. – G.P. Putnam’s Sons


Crush by Ada Calhoun

When a husband asks his wife to consider what might be missing from their marriage, what follows surprises them both—sex, heartbreak and heart rekindling, and a rediscovered sense of all that is possible

She’s happy and settled and productive and content in her full life—a child, a career, an admirable marriage, deep friendships, happy parents, and a spouse she still loves. But when her husband urges her to address what the narrow labels of “husband” and “wife” force them to edit out of their lives, the very best kind of hell breaks loose.

Using the author’s personal experiences as a jumping-off point, Crush is about the danger and liberation of chasing desire, the havoc it can wreak, and most of all the clear sense of self one finds when the storm passes. Destined to become a classic novel of marriage, and tackling the big questions being asked about partnership in postpandemic relationships, Crush is a sharp, funny, seductive, and revelatory novel about holding on to everything it’s possible to love—friends, children, parents, passion, lovers, husbands, all of the world’s good books, and most of all one’s own deep sense of purpose. – Viking