The O'Neal Reader

paleontology

2026-05-27T12:22:38.926-05:00

As a reminder, the O’Neal Library building is closed to begin a major interior renovation, but we will be opening a temporary location on Monday, June 1^st across the street at Mountain Brook City Hall! More information here: https://oneallibrary.org/temporary-location

The next Books & Beyond (BAB) meeting will be Tuesday, June 30^th at 6:30pm at the Levite Jewish Community Center (LJCC). Thanks so much to the J for hosting us!! You will need your ID/driver’s license to sign in at their front desk if you plan to join us 😊Take note that Books & Beyond will continue to meet at the LJCC for the duration of renovation.

Last night, BAB met at La Paz restaurant to discuss paleontology!

EXPERIENCES

Melbourne Museum exhibition, Triceratops: Fate of theDinosaurs

Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs is an immersive voyage into a lost world, where visitors will explore the landscapes of the Cretaceous and get to know the creatures that thrived there. Don't miss your chance to meet the most complete real dinosaur in Australia, Horridus the Triceratops, only at Melbourne Museum.

Danger Semiotics/long-term nuclear waste warning messages
“The mind-bending challenge of warning future humans about nuclear waste” (Scientific American November 17, 2025

"If built properly, NWMO’s deep geological repository will outlast governments, economies and the very languages that name it. It will join a global lineage of reverse arks: monuments to societies that dared to think beyond themselves. If the facility is someday uncovered by a far-future archaeologist, its depth, placement and engineered barriers could reveal what our civilization judged to be dangerous, how we calculated risk and how we imagined future humans would think, live and interpret signs."

Hoover Dam Star Map

“For those encountering the Star Map for the first time: it’s the terrazzo floor at the base of Hansen’s massive Winged Figures of the Republic bronze statues on the Nevada side of Hoover Dam, in the area known as Monument Plaza. Oskar Hansen designed the terrazzo as a celestial map, a 26,000-year astronomical “clock” that tracks the “precession of the equinoxes,” the fascinating astronomical and astrological fact that because of the subtle tilt and wobble of the Earth’s axis, over the course of every 2,166 years the position of the Zodiac constellations in the sky shift one at a time in a full circle, creating each “Zodiacal Age” (ie, the Age of Pisces or the Age of Aquarius). Using the complex mapping of this 26,000-year star cycle, and a precise placement of its stars and planets, Oskar Hansen designed a perpetual “clock” that could be used for thousands of years to pinpoint the exact moment President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated the Hoover Dam on September 30, 1935.”

Voyager missions’ Golden Records

“Pioneers 10 and 11, which preceded Voyager, both carried small metal plaques identifying their time and place of origin for the benefit of any other spacefarers that might find them in the distant future. With this example before them, NASA placed a more ambitious message aboard Voyager 1 and 2, a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.”

Jobs you may not have known existed - Paleontological Monitors

They work to make sure that paleontological resources are protected in compliance with the Paleontological Preservation Act (PRPA) and also follow the impact mitigation guidelines set by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. As described by Eocene Environmental Group:

“We work to make sure paleontological resources are protected in compliance with the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act. Our paleontologists are practiced at identifying fossils to taxon and element, assessing their scientific significance, recording site geology and sedimentology, and developing mitigation measures to protect paleontological resources.

We have experience coordinating with agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Forest Service, Department of Transportation, and state agencies to ensure that projects do not have adverse impacts to paleontological resources.”

ON SCREEN

The Farthest: Voyager in Space

This PBS documentary tells the captivating tales of the people and events behind one of humanity’s greatest achievements in exploration: NASA’s Voyager mission, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in August 2017. The twin spacecraft—each with less computing power than a cell phone—used slingshot trajectories to visit Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. They sent back unprecedented images and data that revolutionized our understanding of the spectacular outer planets and their many peculiar moons.

Still going strong four decades after launch, each spacecraft carries an iconic golden record with greetings, music and images from Earth—a gift for any aliens that might one day find it. Voyager 1, which left our solar system and ushered humanity into the interstellar age in 2012, is the farthest-flung object humans have ever created. A billion years from now, when our sun has flamed out and burned Earth to a cinder, the Voyagers and their golden records will still be sailing on—perhaps the only remaining evidence that humanity ever existed

PODCASTS

The Ancients

A podcast for all ancient history fans! The Ancients is dedicated to discussing our distant past. Featuring interviews with historians and archaeologists, each episode covers a specific theme from antiquity. From Neolithic Britain to the Fall of Rome. Hosted by Tristan Hughes.

ADULT NONFICTION

Annals of the Former World books by John McPhee

Basin and Range
The first of John McPhee's works in his series on geology and geologists, Basin and Range is a book of journeys through ancient terrains, always in juxtaposition with travels in the modern world―a history of vanished landscapes, enhanced by the histories of people who bring them to light.
In Suspect Terrain
In Suspect Terrain is a narrative of the earth, told in four sections of equal length, each in a different way reflecting the three others―a biography; a set piece about a fragment of Appalachian landscape in illuminating counterpoint to the human history there; a modern collision of ideas about the origins of the mountain range; and, in contrast, a century-old collision of ideas about the existence of the Ice Age.
Rising from the Plains (not available in the JCLC, access via WorldCat)
Rising from the Plains continues to present a cross section of North America along the fortieth parallel.
Assembling California
At various times in a span of fifteen years, John McPhee made geological field surveys in the company of Eldridge Moores, a tectonicist at the University of California at Davis. The result of these trips is Assembling California, a cross-section in human and geologic time, from Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada through the golden foothills of the Mother Lode and across the Great Central Valley to the wine country of the Coast Ranges, the rock of San Francisco, and the San Andreas family of faults.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

In Sapiens, Professor Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the earth to the radical—and sometimes devastating—breakthroughs of the Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific Revolutions. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, paleontology, and economics, and incorporating full-color illustrations throughout the text, he explores the origin of our species and how the currents of history have shaped our human societies, the animals and plants around us, and even our personalities.

Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party: How an Eccentric Group ofVictorians Discovered Prehistoric Creatures and Accidentally Upended the World by Edward Dolnick

“Exuberant” (Kirkus Reviews), entertaining, erudite, and featuring an unconventional cast of characters, Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party tells the story of how the accidental discovery of prehistoric creatures upended humanity’s understanding of the world and its own place within it.

A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth by Henry Gee

In A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth, Henry Gee zips through the last 4.6 billion years with infectious enthusiasm and intellectual rigor. Drawing on the very latest scientific understanding and writing in a clear, accessible style, he tells an enlightening tale of survival and persistence that illuminates the delicate balance within which life has always existed.

Divine Magnet: Herman Melville’s Letters to Nathaniel Hawthorne edited by Mark Niemeyer (not available in the JCLC, access via WorldCat)

These letters are full of passion, humor, doubt, and spiritual yearning, and offer an intimate view of Melville's personality. Lyrical and effusive, they are literary works in themselves.

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

The World Without Us is a penetrating, page-turning tour of a post-human Earth. Drawing on the expertise of engineers, atmospheric scientists, art conservators, zoologists, oil refiners, marine biologists, astrophysicists, religious leaders from rabbis to the Dalai Lama, and paleontologists, Alan Weisman deftly illustrates what the planet might be like today, if not for us.

ADULT FICTION

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

Alongside his nephew, Axel, Professor Lidenbrock finds a secret message hidden in one of the runic notes of a newly acquired manuscript from Iceland. Once deciphered, the message reveals that a volcano was discovered, which acted as a passage to the center of the Earth. Determined to discover this phenomenon for himself, Lidenbrock, Axel, and their guide, Hans, set off on an adventure full of surprises, which include a deep ocean, giant mushrooms, and lightening-filled gas that lights up the unknown world. The trio encounters numerous pre-historic animals, including dinosaurs and other gigantic beasts. They build a raft out of tree limbs and travel far and wide. They become separated, and must rely on the unique way sound is carried underground in order to communicate and reunite. Although they do eventually escape from their adventure, the imaginative and awe-inspiring world inside the Earth will never be forgotten.

Taunt by Eve Dangerfield (not available in the JCLC or via WorldCat)

Daniel Schwartz is a free-spirited, independent woman living her life however she pleases. Until she accidentally uncovers the world is about to end. Now the eco-terrorist is imprisoned by a shadowy organization trying to make her talk. Locked in a beachside mansion, the only upside Daniel can see to imprisonment is that the private security guards hired to keep her under constant surveillance are all incredibly sexy...As each man becomes increasingly drawn to the weird, pop-obsessed Daniel, she is equally drawn to them. How is a girl supposed to choose between three gorgeous, ex-paramilitary men? And does she even really want to escape this ménage à quatre? A Reverse Harem, Why Choose, ménage, Bodyguard romance with three Alpha Heroes and one independent woman.

The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas

A haunted paleontologist returns to the museum where his sister was abducted years earlier and is faced with a terrifying and murderous spirit in this chilling novel.

Extinction by Douglas Preston

(Haha! For those who were there: I totally misremembered a lot of the plot of this last night, sorry!)
Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation. When a billionaire's son and his new wife are kidnapped and murdered in the Erebus back country by what is assumed to be a gang of eco-terrorists, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators.

Eruption by James Patterson & Michael Crichton

As the Big Island of Hawai'i faces an eruption of unprecedented intensity, the U.S. military contends with the consequences of a long-held doomsday secret. Eruption is the passion project Michael Crichton, creator of Jurassic Park, ER, Twister, and Westworld, had been pursuing for years ahead of his untimely passing in 2008. After discovering his notes and the partial manuscript, his wife, Sherri Crichton, searched for more than a decade until she found the perfect partner: James Patterson

YOUTH FICTION

West of the Sea by Stephanie Willing (Reading age: 8-12 years)

Paleontology-loving Haven West and her older sister, Margie, have hardly talked with their mom since she retreated into a deep depression. Each morning Haven wonders if it’s going to be a “good” or “bad” day, and the only thing that seems to occupy her mom is collecting fossils for her bone garden.

But one night, after an ominous moonlight heart-to-heart, her mom disappears—right before Haven discovers she’s inherited a monstrous family trait. It turns out that she is the latest in a long line of cryptids, a past her mom has been hiding. Suddenly, the Texas terrain is full of ghostly dinosaur silhouettes and Haven is breaking out in scales at all the wrong moments. Even worse, she doesn’t know whom she can trust with this information.

Since the only person who could guide her through this has vanished, Haven sets off on the road trip of a lifetime with Margie and their new friend Rye in tow. Together, they’re determined to find her mom and finally get some answers, hopefully before Haven’s secret is revealed . . .

Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce (Reading age: 12 years and up)

When Daine is sent to Carthak as part of a Tortallan peace delegation, she finds herself in the middle of a sticky political situation. She doesn’t like the Carthaki practice of keeping slaves, but it’s not her place to say anything—she’s only there to heal the emperor’s birds. Her worries only expand once she learns that her own power has grown in a dark and mysterious way.

As the peace talks stall, Daine puzzles over Carthak’s two-faced Emperor Ozorne. How can he be so caring with his birds, and so cruel to his people? Daine is sure he’s planning something—a terrible, power-hungry scheme. And she knows that she must fight this powerful Emperor Mage; the life of her beloved teacher is at risk.

Item descriptions pulled from Amazon, PBS, NASA, et al.

Photo by Jordyn St. John on Unsplash

historical novels

2026-04-30T10:55:00.003-05:00

Upcoming programs:

--Register for Smells Like Teen Spirit: Scents of the 90s (ages 18+)
https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/16262449

--Books & Beyond May 26^th – Location TBD – Topic: Paleontology
Visit the Shelf Care page of our website for suggestions on the topic! https://oneallibrary.org/adults---reading-recommendations

This week, the Books & Beyond discussion club met to chat about historical fiction. Have a look!

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

Member comment: “It was published in 1993 and won the National Book Award. This fictional story is based on the true story of a young black man who survived a failed execution by electrocution in Louisiana in 1946. The book focuses primarily on a young black teacher, Grant Wiggins, who is asked to speak to Jefferson, a young black man who has been sentenced to die in the electric chair in rural Louisiana. Grant’s task is to make Jefferson feel human before he goes to the chair. It’s an interesting contrast between Grant who feels trapped in his hometown and Jefferson who is actually trapped in his hometown. The book is powerful but the last couple of chapters are truly incredible. The last chapter is written in the words of Jefferson and brought me to tears.”

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup.

Daisy Jones and the Six (Rated TV-MA, 1 season, Amazon PrimeVideo)

In 1977, Daisy Jones & The Six were on top of the world; the band had risen from obscurity to fame, and then, after a sold-out show at Chicago's Soldier Field, they called it quits; now, decades later, the band members agree to reveal the truth.

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends who come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility—but also danger.

Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Little do the two friends know that forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful. With the period detail and deep resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship.

A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing by Alice Evelyn Yang

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION – Qianze (member comment: this character Americanizes her name to Kenzie) has not seen her father in eleven years, since he walked out of her life the night of her fourteenth birthday and disappeared without a trace. But then she gets a call—there is a man on the porch of her childhood home, and he’s asking for her. This man isn’t the Ba Qianze remembers: he is much older, more fragile, and worst of all, haunted by a half-forgotten prophecy.

Spanning decades and continents, A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing employs a combination of stunningly rendered folklore and atmospheric prose to examine the legacy of colonialism through the eyes of three generations. Alice Evelyn Yang’s debut novel is a story of family and forgiveness, of folklore and fate, that will leave you unsettled and undone.

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sasha Lamb

Uriel the angel and Little Ash (short for Ashmedai) are the only two supernatural creatures in their shtetl (which is so tiny, it doesn't have a name other than Shtetl). The angel and the demon have been studying together for centuries, but pogroms and the search for a new life have drawn all the young people from their village to America. When one of those young emigrants goes missing, Uriel and Little Ash set off to find her.

Stolen By the Wolves by Lyx Robinson (only available on eaudio on Hoopla)

It is the year 870. Hordes of Vikings sweep through the green lands of Northumbria and Ireland, raiding and pillaging. Soon, no kingdom will be safe from their bloodlust. Tamsin has always been safe behind the walls of her sanctuary. Safe enough to yearn for a glimpse of the world beyond. But with the Viking threat looming, even her secretive kingdom must open its gates to invite allies. And she gets far more than a glimpse. STOLEN BY THE WOLVES is a fantasy non-shifter omegaverse romance that is based loosely on real historical events. It is the first of a 6-book series, slow-burn with eventual Reverse Harem romance.

The Quick by Lauren Owen

1892: James Norbury, a shy would-be poet newly down from Oxford, finds lodging with a charming young aristocrat. Through this new friendship, he is introduced to the drawing-rooms of high society and finds love in an unexpected quarter. Then, suddenly, he vanishes without a trace. Alarmed, his sister, Charlotte, sets out from their crumbling country estate determined to find him. In the sinister, labyrinthine London that greets her, she uncovers a hidden, supernatural city populated by unforgettable characters: a female rope walker turned vigilante, a street urchin with a deadly secret, and the chilling “Doctor Knife.” But the answer to her brother’s disappearance ultimately lies within the doors of the exclusive, secretive Aegolius Club, whose predatory members include the most ambitious, and most bloodthirsty, men in England.

Love & Other Monsters by Emily Franklin

During the dangerous storms of The Year Without Summer, a group of famous young writers gathered at a mansion on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Brilliant Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, her fiery fiancé Percy Shelley, the famously promiscuous Lord Byron, and John Polidori, his sexually tormented personal physician. At the group’s center was Claire Clairmont, Mary’s impressionable, clever, and dangerously loyal stepsister. In this intense and propulsive story of love, lust, art and betrayal Claire tells her story, trying to solve the mystery of why she was all but erased from history.

The novels of Patrick O’Brian

In addition to twenty volumes in the highly respected Aubrey-Maturin series, Patrick O'Brian's many books include A Sea of Words: ALexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O’Brian, and the novels Testimonies, The Golden Ocean, and The Unknown Shore. O'Brian also wrote acclaimed biographies of Pablo Picasso and Sir Joseph Banks and translated many works from the French, among them the novels and memoirs of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Lacouture's biographies of Charles de Gaulle. He was also the stepfather of Nikolai Tolstoy. He passed away in January 2000 at the age of 85. The Patrick O’Brian Appreciation Society on Facebook hosts discussions among avid fans who describe reading all of his books as completing a “circumnavigation!”

The novels of Kenneth Roberts

Kenneth Lewis Roberts was an American author of historical novels. Roberts worked first as a journalist, becoming nationally known for his work with the Saturday Evening Post from 1919 to 1928, and then as a popular novelist. Born in Kennebunk, Maine, Roberts specialized in Regionalist historical fiction. He often wrote about his native state and its terrain, also depicting other upper New England states and scenes.

The novels of C. S. Forester

Cecil Scott Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of adventure and military crusades. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, about naval warfare during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen (1935; filmed in 1951 by John Huston). His novels A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours were jointly awarded the 1938 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Member recommendation: Brown on Resolution

Greyhound (Rated PG-13, 1h30m, 2020, Apple TV)

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ernest Krause (Tom Hanks) is assigned to lead an Allied convoy across the Atlantic during World War II. His convoy, however, is pursued by German U-boats. Although this is Krause's first wartime mission, he finds himself embroiled in what would come to be known as the longest, largest and most complex naval battle in history: The Battle of the Atlantic. This is the adaptation of C. S. Forester’s novel titled The GoodShepherd.

The Temeraire series of fantasy novels by Naomi Novik

The first in the series is His Majesty's Dragon. Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain’s defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons. When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future–and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature.

Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Sepra

It’s 1924 in Branchville, South Carolina and three women have come to a crossroads. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters. Retta, a first-generation freed slave, comes to Gertrude’s aid by watching her children, despite the gossip it causes in her community. Annie, the matriarch of the influential Coles family, offers Gertrude employment at her sewing circle, while facing problems of her own at home. These three women seemingly have nothing in common, yet as they unite to stand up to injustices that have long plagued the small town, they find strength in the bond that ties women together.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Originally published in 1937, Their Eyes Were Watching God has become one of the most important and enduring works of modern American literature. Written with Zora Neale Hurston’s singular wit and pathos, this Southern love story recounts Janie Crawford’s “ripening from a vibrant, but voiceless, teenage girl into a woman with her finger on the trigger of her own destiny.”

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

The unforgettable New York Times best seller begins with the story of two half-sisters, separated by forces beyond their control: one sold into slavery, the other married to a British slaver. Written with tremendous sweep and power, Homegoing traces the generations of family who follow, as their destinies lead them through two continents and three hundred years of history, each life indeliably drawn, as the legacy of slavery is fully revealed in light of the present day.

A Net for Small Fishes by Lucy Jago

…a gripping dark novel based on the true scandal of two women determined to create their own fates in the Jacobean court. When the beautiful, unhappy Frances Howard meets the astute, diminished Anne Turner, the two women strike up an unlikely yet powerful friendship. Frankie quickly pulls Anne into her close confidence, sweeping her new companion into an extravagant world of glamour and decadence. But navigating the Jacobean court is a dangerous game, and one misstep could mean losing everything - including their lives....

Wench by Dolan Perkins-Valdez

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is a startling and original debut novel that raises provocative questions of power and freedom, love and dependence. An enchanting and unforgettable novel based on little-known fact, it tells the story of four black enslaved women in the years preceding the Civil War.

Bog Queen by Anna North

When a body is found in a bog in northwest England, Agnes, an American forensic anthropologist, is called to investigate. But this body is not like any she's ever seen. Though its bones prove it was buried more than two thousand years ago, it is almost completely preserved. As Agnes faces the deep history of what she has unearthed, she's also forced to question what she thought she knew about her talent, her self-reliance, and her place in the world.Flashing between the uncertainty of post-Brexit England and the druidic order of Celtic Europe at the dawn of the Roman era, Bog Queen brims with contemporary urgency and ancient wisdom as it connects across time two gifted, farsighted young women learning to harness their strange strengths in a landscape more mysterious and complex than either can imagine.

Ancient Bodies: Secrets Revealed (2024, 4 episodes, Nat Geo TV & Amazon Prime Video purchase)

Ancient human remains reveal prehistoric murders and rituals. Archaeologists uncover clues about lives lost, uncovering tales of how these people lived and died.

The Murder at World’s End by Ross Montgomery

Knives Out meets Downton Abbey! Secrets, murder, and mayhem collide as this unlikely sleuthing duo—an under-butler and a foul-mouthed octogenarian—hunt a killer in a manor sealed against the end of the world, in this historical locked-room mystery set during the 1910 pass of Halley’s Comet.

Item descriptions by member comment, Amazon, IMDB, and Rotten Tomatoes.

sports & athletics

2026-04-01T15:49:00.000-05:00

Upcoming April programs

Crafterday: Drop-in Social Meetup on Saturday April 11^th 10am-2pm
REGISTER HERE à https://oneallibrary.org/event/15416861

Poetics of Film: An Evening with John Wall Barger on Monday April 20th 6:30-7:30pm
REGISTER HEREà https://oneallibrary.org/event/15794519

The Books & Beyond Discussion Group (BAB) met yesterday to chat about sports & athletics and had a lively discussion that ranged from Heated Rivalry to comparisons of The Natural to The Odyssey. If you aren’t visiting with BAB, you’re missing out! Put our next meeting, chatting about historical fiction, on your calendar: Tuesday, April 28^th @ 6:30pm
REGISTER HEREà https://oneallibrary.org/event/14436793

Here are all the great titles we discussed last night:

The Favorites by Layne Fargo

An epic frenemies drama set in the sparkling, savage sphere of elite figure skating, starring a woman determined to carve her own path on and off the ice and a man struggling to overcome a hardscrabble youth. (I forgot to mention this at the meeting, but while reading this book, I could not stop thinking about the early aughts masterpiece that is The Cutting Edge!)

Unstoppable: My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova

From Maria Sharapova, one of our fiercest female athletes, the captivating—and candid—story of her rise from nowhere to tennis stardom, and the unending fight to stay on top.

Bluebird Day by Megan Tady

In this hilarious, heartwarming tale, mother-daughter skiing champs face the bumps in their own relationship when an avalanche in a Swiss village forces them together.

Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H. G. Bissinger

Named Sports Illustrated's best football book of all time and a #1 NYT bestseller, this is the classic story of a high school football team whose win-loss record has a profound influence on the town around them.

Bleachers by John Grisham

A former high school football star bids farewell to his glory days in this poignant and nostalgic novel that’s “as taut and twisting as a well-thrown spiral” (People).

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

Pro hockey star Shane Hollander isn't just crazy talented, he's got a spotless reputation. Hockey is his life. Boston Bears captain Ilya Rozanov is everything Shane's not. The self-proclaimed king of the ice, he's as cocky as he is talented. No one can beat him - except Shane. They've made a career on their legendary rivalry, but when the skates come off, the heat between them is undeniable. This is book #2 in the Game Changers series that inspired the hit show.

The Natural by Bernard Malamud

The Natural, Bernard Malamud's first novel, published in 1952, is also the first―and some would say still the best―novel ever written about baseball. In it Malamud, usually appreciated for his unerring portrayals of postwar Jewish life, took on very different material―the story of a superbly gifted "natural" at play in the fields of the old daylight baseball era―and invested it with the hardscrabble poetry, at once grand and altogether believable, that runs through all his best work.

The Natural (1984, 2h25m, Rated PG)

On the way to a tryout with the Chicago Cubs, young baseball phenom Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is shot by the unstable Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey). After 16 years, Hobbs returns to pro baseball as a rookie for the last-place New York Knights. Despite early arguments with his manager, Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley), Hobbs becomes one of the best players in the league, and the Knights start winning. But this upsets the Judge (Robert Prosky), their owner, who wants Hobbs to lose games, not win.

The First Saturday in May (2007, 1h36m, Rated PG-13)

This touching documentary about the horses and trainers behind the Kentucky Derby leads up to the two most exciting minutes in sports.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Questfor Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown

For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.

Cheer (Netflix, 2020, 2 Seasons, Rated TV-MA)

In the small town of Corsicana, Texas, hard-driving head cheer coach Monica Aldama demands perfection from her team of competitive college athletes.

Pinned by Love by Elaine Daniels (not in the JCLC system, but available from Amazon)

To the whole world, Athena Rainstorm is the most hated villain in Elite Monster Wrestling. Away from the boos and jeers that slice deep, she’s just Iris, a sensitive harpy who’s only ever wanted one thing: to spread her wings and win an elusive championship title. Her fiercest rival is Lena, the perfect minotaur who has it all, winning fights, fans, and adulation with the greatest of ease. Their hatred for each other in and out of the ring is legend. But when the wrestlers are forced to spend time together prepping for the biggest event of the year, their masks begin to crack.

There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib

There’s Always This Year is a triumph, brimming with joy, pain, solidarity, comfort, outrage, and hope. No matter the subject of his keen focus—whether it’s basketball, or music, or performance—Hanif Abdurraqib’s exquisite writing is always poetry, always profound, and always a clarion call to radically reimagine how we think about our culture, our country, and ourselves.

Lords of the Fly: Madness, Obsession, and the Hunt for theWorld Record Tarpon by Monte Burke

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, something unique happened in the quiet little town on the west coast of Florida known as Homosassa. The best fly anglers in the world all gathered together to chase the same holy grail - the world record for the most glamorous and coveted fly-rod species, the tarpon. Alongside the story of the world-record pursuit, Burke also chronicles the heartbreaking destruction of the fishery brought on by greed, environmental degradation, and the shenanigans of a notorious Miami gangster - and how all of it has shaped contemporary tarpon fishing.

I’m That Girl: Living the Power of My Dreams by Jordan Chiles

The sensational two-time Olympian Jordan Chiles’s heartfelt, inspiring memoir chronicling her unlikely path to the podium—including the unprecedented challenges, the joy of winning, the crushing pain of defeat, and the love and support of her devoted family and teammates that helps her stay strong.

The Jump by Natalie Keller Reinert
(This title was just published last week and hasn't yet made its way into the library system, but it is on order!)

Against the riveting high-stakes backdrop of the equestrian eventing world, Reinert explores the passions that drive us, the love affairs that fuel us, and the partnerships—both animal and human—that help us thrive and find ourselves.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Figure skating podcast, The Runthrough

Olympians Adam Rippon and Ashley Wagner join forces with Sarah Hughes (no relation to 2002 Olympic Champion Sarah Hughes) to tackle the most important questions figure skaters have been asking themselves for years. Questions like: “Why does this short program feel so long?” or “Is there such a thing as your costume being too tight?” and the most important question of all: “Will changing my hair color fix all my problems?” Join the team as they cover all the news, competitions, and drama of the figure skating season. Will they kiss? Will they cry? There’s only one way to find out. Follow them on Instagram @therunthroughpodcast

The Gilded Age tv show
An interview with show director Deborah Kampmeier talking about directing the Newport Tennis Match episode, from 11:10-16:20 in the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crneziKfHQI

Also, here is a brief BFI video of Wimbledon in 1920: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruTTO9hU_6E

Other baseball titles of note:

Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series by Eliot Asinof

The headlines proclaimed the 1919 fix of the World Series and attempted cover-up as "the most gigantic sporting swindle in the history of America!" Eliot Asinof has reconstructed the entire scene-by-scene story of the fantastic scandal in which eight Chicago White Sox players arranged with the nation's leading gamblers to throw the Series in Cincinnati.

Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella

Adapted to screen in the beloved film Field of Dreams, Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella is the story of Ray Kinsella, inspired by the mysterious words of an Iowa baseball announcer, “if you build it, he will come,” to carve a baseball diamond in his cornfield in honor of his hero, the baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson. What follows is both a rich, nostalgic look at one of our most cherished national pastimes and a remarkable story about fathers and sons, love and family, and the inimitable joy of finding your way home.

Iowa Baseball Confederacy by W.P. Kinsella (not available in Jefferson County, request from Interlibrary Loan)

Gideon Clarke is a man on a quest. He is out to prove to the world, as his father tried before him, that the world-champion Chicago Cubs traveled to Onamata, Iowa, in the summer of 1908 for an exhibition game against all-stars from the Iowa Baseball Confederacy, an amateur league. The game, which was to be short, pleasant, and the Cubs thought, one-sided, turned into a titanic battle of over 2,000 innings, played mostly in the pouring rain. This game is not on the record books. No one remembers it or the Confederacy. But Gideon Clarke knows it happened, and he is determined to set the record straight.

Box Socials by W.P. Kinsella (not available in Jefferson County, request from Interlibrary Loan)

This is the story of how Truckbox Al McClintock, a small-town greaser whose claim to fame was hitting a baseball clean across the Pembina River, almost got a tryout with the genuine St. Louis Cardinals—but instead ended up batting against Bob Feller of Cleveland Indian fame in Renfrew Park, Edmonton, Alberta. Along the way to Al's moment of truth at the plate, we learn about the bizarre, touchingly hilarious lives and loves of just about anyone who ever passed through New Oslo, Fark, or Venusberg. Full of the crackle of down-home folk tales, by turns randy, riveting, and heartbreaking, Box Socials is a triumph.

Chasing the Bear: How Bear Bryant and Nick Saban Made Alabama the Greatest College Football Program of All Time by Lars Anderson

Both Bear Bryant and Nick Saban are undeniable kings of college football, two coaches at Alabama who have each won more national championships -- six apiece -- than anyone else in the history of the game. Chasing the Bear examines how they did it, revealing along the way their similarities in style, background, football philosophy, and recruiting methods, while providing readers a rare inside look at two of the greatest leaders in the history of sports.

The Heritage: Black Athletes, a Divided America, and thePolitics of Patriotism by Howard Bryant

The Heritage is the story of the rise, fall, and fervent return of the athlete-activist. Through deep research and interviews with some of sports’ best-known stars—including Kaepernick, David Ortiz, Charles Barkley, and Chris Webber—as well as members of law enforcement and the military, Bryant details the collision of post-9/11 sports in America and the politically engaged post-Ferguson black athlete.

Item descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes. Podcast description pulled from Apple Podcasts.

romance

2026-02-26T16:07:00.002-05:00

Register for upcoming programs:

Writing workshops:
Thu Mar 12 5:30-7pm: https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/15672103
Tue Mar 24 5:30-7pm: https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/15672130

Crafterday open crafting social:
Sat Mar 14 10am-2pm: https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/14685161

Medicare Made Clear:
Sat Mar 14 10:30am-12:30pm: https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/15403048

Puzzle Piece Mosaics:
Thu Mar 19 6-8pm: https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/15764038

Alabama Symphony ticket vouchers:
Fri Mar 20 Coffee Concert 11am-noon: https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/14817030
Fri Mar 20 full concert 7-9pm: https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/14817031
Sat Mar 21 full concert 7-9pm: https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/14817032

Jigsaw Puzzle Competition:
Wed Mar 25 6-8pm: https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/15766310

The next Books & Beyond (BAB) discussion group meeting is Tuesday, March 31st at 6:30pm and the topics we’ll be chatting about are sports & athletics. Read, watch, and/or listen to anything within the selected topic, and come tell us about it: https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/14436792

This month, BAB chatted about all things romance.

The Elopement by Gill Hornby

Mary Dorothea Knatchbull is living under the sole charge of her widowed father, but when he marries Miss Fanny Knight of Godmersham Park, Mary’s life is suddenly changed. Her new stepmother comes from a large, happy and sociable family and Fanny’s sisters become Mary’s first friends. Her aunt, Miss Cassandra Austen, is especially kind. Her brothers are not only amusing, but handsome and charming. As Mary Dorothea starts to bloom into a beautiful young woman, she forms an special bond with one Mr. Knight in particular. Soon, they are deeply in love and determined to marry. Each is from a good family and has known the other for some years. It promises to be the most perfect match. Who would want to stand in their way?

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternack

First published in Italy in 1957 amid international controversy, Doctor Zhivago is the story of the life and loves of a poet/physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Taking his family from Moscow to what he hopes will be shelter in the Ural Mountains, Zhivago finds himself instead embroiled in the battle between the Whites and the Reds. Set against this backdrop of cruelty and strife is Zhivago's love for the tender and beautiful Lara, the very embodiment of the pain and chaos of those cataclysmic times.

Doctor Zhivago (1965, 3h17m, PG-13)

During the Russian Revolution, Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif) is a young doctor who has been raised by his aunt and uncle following his father's suicide. Yuri falls in love with beautiful Lara Guishar (Julie Christie), who has been having an affair with her mother's lover, Victor Komarovsky (Rod Steiger), an unscrupulous businessman. Yuri, however, ends up marrying his cousin, Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin). But when he and Lara meet again years later, the spark of love reignites.

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

A smart, funny, gorgeous retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable. When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can’t stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding.

Fate by Pamela Leigh Starr (This title is not available in the JCLC)

Desperately trying to deny her attraction to Scott Halloway, Vanessa Lewis wonders if she can cast aside their racial differences and embrace the promise of love.

Blood Orange by Karina Halle (sequel is Black Rose)

From New York Times bestselling author Karina Halle comes a dark and delicious Dracula retelling filled with secrets and lies, dangerous liaisons and a forbidden, student-teacher, second chance love story with a twist.

Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon

As the daughter of an ambitious merchant, Guinevere’s path has been predetermined: marry into a noble house of the Dwendalian Empire, raise her family’s station, and live quietly as a lordling’s obedient wife. But Guinevere longs for a life unbounded by expectations, for freedom and passion and adventure. Those distant dreams become a sudden reality when her caravan is beset by bandits, leaving her guards slain and Guinevere stranded alone on the dangerous Amber Road. Her only chance of survival is to travel alongside Oskar, the aloof half-orc who saved her during the attack.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Persuaded by her wealthy family to break off her engagement to the young Frederick Wentworth, Anne Elliot finds herself unmarried nearly eight years later. By now, with the Elliot family all but ruined by the spendthrift Sir Walter and his enabling daughter Elizabeth, the prospect of marriage is not only a distant hope for Anne, but a bitter reminder of what could have been. When chance reunites her with Frederick, now the esteemed Captain Wentworth for his accomplishments in the Napoleonic Wars, she will have to navigate feelings both old and new with the reversal brought on by their opposing fortunes. As the two are drawn closer together, they will have to decide if it is possible to rekindle a love that has lain dormant much longer than their engagement was allowed to last.

One of this meeting’s participants let us know that The Jane Austen Society of North America has a regional chapter in Alabama! The group is hosting a Regency Ball at the Homewood Public Library on Saturday, March 21st. Doors open at 6:30pm, with dancing commencing at 7pm. Regency-era attired strongly encouraged. Practice dance sessions will be offered at the Homewood Library on the following evenings from 6:30-8:30pm:

February 26

March 5

March 12

March 19

Find out more about the Alabama chapter of The Jane Austen Society of North America at https://austenalweb.wixsite.com/alabama

The Return (2024, 1h56m, R)

After 20 years away, Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. The King has returned from the Trojan War, but much has changed in his kingdom. His beloved wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche) is a prisoner in her own home, hounded by suitors vying to be king. Their son Telemachus faces death at the hands of these suitors, who see him as merely an obstacle to their pursuit of the kingdom. Odysseus has also changed--scarred by his experience of the Trojan war, he is no longer the mighty warrior from years past--but he must rediscover his strength in order to win back all that he has lost.

The Odyssey by Homer

Composed at the rosy-fingered dawn of world literature almost three millennia ago, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home.

Time to Shine by Rachel Reid

For Landon Stackhouse, being called up from the Calgary farm team is exciting and terrifying, even if, as the backup goalie, he rarely leaves the bench. A quiet loner by nature, Landon knows he gives off strong “don’t talk to me” vibes. The only player who doesn’t seem to notice is Calgary’s superstar young winger, Casey Hicks. They couldn’t have less in common, but Landon needs a place to live that’s not a hotel room and Casey has just bought a massive house—and hates being alone.

And They Were Roommates by Page Powars

You can't resist this hilarious, unputdownable second-chance-romance about the most unlikely, gay roommate mishap. Romance is the last thing on Charlie’s mind. On his first day at Valentine Academy for Boys, Charlie’s carefully crafted plan to hide his identity as the school’s only trans student is set in motion. Only to be immediately destroyed. Charlie has been assigned the worst roommate in the world (possibly the universe): Jasper Grimes, the boy who broke Charlie’s heart the year before he transitioned. Except, Jasper doesn’t recognize Charlie.

The Incubus’s Assistant by Amy Padilla (Not available in the JCLC)

When Avery showed up for his temp job on Monday morning, he had certain expectations in mind. He was not expecting to end up as a feeder to his incubus boss. It was an innocent mistake, and he's determined to move on, but the experience left him breathless and more than a little curious. So when his new boss is left without a feeder, he volunteers to help. After all, that's what any good assistant would do. Right?

Sky Daddy by Kate Folk

Linda is doing her best to lead a life that would appear normal to the casual observer. Weekdays, she earns $20 an hour moderating comments for a video-sharing platform, then rides the bus home to the windowless garage she rents on the outskirts of San Francisco. But on the last Friday of each month, she indulges her true passion, taking BART to SFO for a round-trip flight to a regional hub. The destination is irrelevant, because each trip means a new date with a handsome stranger—a stranger whose intelligent windscreens, sleek fuselages, and powerful engines make Linda feel a way that no human ever could. . . . Both subversive and unexpectedly heartwarming, Sky Daddy hijacks the classic love story, exploring desire, fate, and the longing to be accepted for who we truly are.

Dandelion is Dead by Rosie Storey

When Poppy discovers unanswered messages from a charming stranger in her late sister's dating app, she makes an impulsive choice: She'll meet him, just once, on what would have been Dandelion's fortieth birthday. It's exactly the kind of wild adventure her vivacious sister would have pushed her toward. Jake is ready to find something real—and not least because his ex-wife's twentysomething boyfriend has moved into their old family home. When he meets the intriguing woman who calls herself Dandelion, their connection is undeniable, and he can think of little else. With sparkling wit and aching tenderness, debut author Rosie Storey gives us a modern love story about the courage it takes to live again after loss and finding hope in the most unexpected places.

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

If you've ever experienced the one true love of your life, a love that for some reason could never be, you will understand why readers all over the world are so moved by this small, unknown first novel that they became a publishing phenomenon and #1 bestseller. The story of Robert Kincaid, the photographer and free spirit searching for the covered bridges of Madison County, and Francesca Johnson, the farm wife waiting for the fulfillment of a girlhood dream, The Bridges of Madison County gives voice to the longings of men and women everywhere -- and shows us what it is to love and be loved so intensely that life is never the same again.

Item descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes.

gold rushes

2026-01-28T14:34:00.002-05:00

Mark your calendars for the Friends of the O’Neal Library annual book sale! The invitation-only Preview Party takes place on Thursday, February 19^th, then the sale is open to the public Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. For more information about the Preview Party, click here https://oneallibrary.org/support-friends

The next Books & Beyond Discussion Club will be on Tuesday, February 24^th at 6:30pm. A slight venue change will be in effect as we’ll be meeting in the 2^nd floor Quiet Room. As always, if you’d rather attend online, register an email address to receive a Zoom link: https://oneallibrary.org/support-friends

Enjoyable:

Golden Omegaverse duology by R. L. Randolph, Gold Rush and Gold Mine

Gold Rush is book one in a why choose (MMMMF) omegaverse duology set in the Golden Omegaverse. Part one ends on a cliffhanger, June's happily ever after is guaranteed in part two. Juniper Walden has lived a life of quiet obscurity as a Beta and romance author. When one of her novels gains traction and she's suddenly trapped in a broken elevator with two strangers the night before her UK book tour, she realizes her future might not be so clear-cut.

The Poker Bride: The First Chinese in the Wild West by Christopher Corbett

The Poker Bride vividly reconstructs a lost period of history when the first Chinese sojourners flooded into the country and left only glimmering traces of their presence scattered across the American West.

The Rush: America’s Fevered Quest for Fortune 1848-1853 by Edward Dolnick

In the spring of 1848, rumors began to spread that gold had been discovered in a remote spot in the Sacramento Valley. A year later, newspaper headlines declared "Gold Fever!" as hundreds of thousands of men and women borrowed money, quit their jobs, and allowed themselves- for the first time ever-to imagine a future of ease and splendor. In The Rush, Edward Dolnick brilliantly recounts their treacherous westward journeys by wagon and on foot and takes us to the frenzied gold fields and the rowdy cities that sprang from nothing to jam-packed chaos.

Journey by James Michener

In 1897, gold fever sweeps the world. The promise of untold riches lures thousands of dreamers from all walks of life on a perilous trek toward fortune, failure—or death. Journey is an immersive account of the adventures of four English aristocrats and their Irish servant as they haul across cruel Canadian terrain toward the Klondike gold fields.

The Sisters Brothers (2018)

It's 1851, and Charlie and Eli Sisters are both brothers and assassins, boys grown to men in a savage and hostile world. The Sisters brothers find themselves on a journey through the Northwest, bringing them to the mountains of Oregon, a dangerous brothel in the small town of Mayfield, and eventually, the gold rush land of California -- an adventure that tests the deadly family ties that bind.

Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016)

In 1978 Canada, a bulldozer digs up a long-lost collection of 533 nitrate film prints from the early 1900s. Streams free with a valid library card for residents of cities that subscribe to Kanopy and/or Hoopla. Streams on Tubi with free account.

Our Moon: How Earth’s Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet,Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are by Rebecca Boyle

“A riveting feat of science writing that recasts that most familiar of celestial objects into something eerily extraordinary, pivotal to our history, and awesome in the original sense of the word.”—Ed Yong, New York Times bestselling author of An Immense World

The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal1870-1914 by David McCullough

The National Book Award–winning epic chronicle of the creation of the Panama Canal, a first-rate drama of the bold and brilliant engineering feat that transformed global trade routes and shaped modern American history, as told by Pulitzer Prize–winning author and master historian David McCullough.

Not as enjoyable:

Ghosts of Crook County: An Oil Fortune, a Phantom Child, andthe Fight for Indigenous Land by Russell Cobb

In the early 1900s, at the dawn of the “American Century,” few knew the intoxicating power of greed better than white men on the forefront of the black gold rush. When oil was discovered in Oklahoma, these counterfeit tycoons impersonated, defrauded, and murdered Native property owners to snatch up hundreds of acres of oil-rich land.

Writer and fourth-generation Oklahoman Russell Cobb sets the stage for one such oilman’s chicanery: Tulsa entrepreneur Charles Page’s campaign for a young Muscogee boy’s land in Creek County. Problem was, “Tommy Atkins,” the boy in question, had died years prior—if he ever lived at all. Ghosts of Crook County traces Tommy’s mythologized life through Page’s relentless pursuit of his land.

Silicon Gold Rush: The Next Generation of High-Tech Stars Rewritesthe Rules by Karen Southwick

Originally published in 1999, this hasn’t aged well. BAB reader described it as “boring.”
“A hotbed of activity for far-sighted thinkers and determined doers, the high technology industry has given rise to a pioneering group of entrepreneurs and executives which is not only behind today's most innovative technological advances, but at the forefront of a dynamic new movement in business.”

General Discussion:

CBS 42: “Alabama’s Gold Rush: A Tiny Town Once Worth Millions”

https://www.cbs42.com/news/alabamas-gold-rush-a-tiny-town-once-worth-millions/

The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator by Timothy Winegard

A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing how through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity’s fate.

This Podcast Will Kill You https://thispodcastwillkillyou.com

This podcast might not actually kill you, but Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke cover so many things that can. In each episode, they tackle a different topic, teaching listeners about the biology, history, and epidemiology of a different disease or medical mystery. The do the scientific research, so you don’t have to.

BAB member (ME) shared information and a couple of published articles about controversies surrounding fanfiction and current evolutions in the subject.

“Should Stephenie Meyer have sued E.L. James when she had the chance?” by Danielle Binks https://daniellebinks.substack.com/p/should-stephenie-meyer-have-sued

“3 Harry Potter fan fiction authors are coming to a bookstore near you” by Dhanika Pineda
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/14/nx-s1-5261003/harry-potter-fanfiction-authors-publish-books

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden "the first book," and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.

Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party: How an Eccentric Group ofVictorians Discovered Prehistoric Creatures and Accidentally Upended the World by Edward Dolnick

In Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, celebrated storyteller and historian Edward Dolnick leads us through a compelling true adventure as the paleontologists of the early 19th century puzzled their way through the fossil record to create the story of dinosaurs we kn
ow today.

Scavengers by Kathleen Boland

A rollicking debut novel about a cautious daughter and her eccentric, estranged mother venturing west in search of buried treasure—and a way back to each other—before they run out of patience, money, and options. Seems loosely inspired by the real 2010 hunt for buried treasure as explored in the Netflix docuseries, Gold & Greed: The Hunt for Fenn’s Treasure (An eccentric man named Forrest Fenn sets off a real-life treasure hunt when he hides a chest of gold in the Rockies and leaves clues in a cryptic poem. https://www.netflix.com/title/81636832)

Book and DVD descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes.

Books & Beyond

2026-01-05T15:07:00.006-05:00

The next Books & Beyond Discussion Group (BAB) meeting will be Tuesday, January 27 at 6:30pm and the topic up for discussion is gold rushes. Don’t get too bogged down in what that means! If you’re looking for ideas, click here to find the BAB area on our Shelf Care page to see some of the books out on display at the 2^nd floor service desk.

Last week, BAB met for our final chat of 2025 and there was no assigned topic. I’m always surprised and pleased at the great variety of information our members bring to the table!

A Taste of Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the KillersWho Use Them by Neil Bradbury

As any reader or listener of murder mysteries can tell you, poison is one of the most enduring—and popular—weapons of choice for a scheming murderer. It can be slipped into a drink, smeared onto the tip of an arrow or the handle of a door, even filtered through the air we breathe. But how exactly do these poisons work to break our bodies down, and what can we learn from the damage they inflict? In a fascinating blend of popular science, medical history, and true crime, Dr. Neil Bradbury explores this most morbidly captivating method of murder from a cellular level.

Hidden Killers BBC series (streaming on Tubi, the Roku Channel, and Youtube)

Suzannah Lipscomb reveals the killers that lurked in every room of the Tudor, Victorian, Edwardian, and Post-war home.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

The first in a series of outlandishly clever adventures featuring the resourceful, fearless literary detective, Thursday Next. In Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. Fforde's ingenious fantasy unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix.

The Black Girl Survives in This One: Horror Stories

Celebrating a new generation of bestselling and acclaimed Black writers, The Black Girl Survives in This One makes space for Black girls in horror. Fifteen chilling and thought-provoking stories place Black girls front and center as heroes and survivors who slay monsters, battle spirits, and face down death. Prepare to be terrified and left breathless by the pieces in this anthology.

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman

It’s been a quiet year for the Thursday Murder Club. Joyce is busy with table plans and first dances. Elizabeth is grieving. Ron is dealing with family troubles, and Ibrahim is still providing therapy to his favorite criminal. But when Elizabeth meets Nick, a wedding guest asking for her help, she finds the thrill of the chase is ignited once again. And when Nick disappears without a trace, his cagey business partner becomes the gang’s next stop. It seems the duo have something valuable—something worth killing for.

Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

December 1952. While the young Queen Elizabeth II finds her feet as the new monarch, she must also find the right words to continue the tradition of her late father’s Christmas Day radio broadcast. But even traditions must evolve with the times, and the queen faces a postwar Britain hungry for change.

As preparations begin for the royal Christmas at Sandringham House in Norfolk, old friends—Jack Devereux and Olive Carter—are unexpectedly reunited by the occasion. Olive, a single mother and aspiring reporter at the BBC, leaps at the opportunity to cover the holiday celebration, but even a chance encounter with the queen doesn’t go as planned and Olive wonders if she will ever be taken seriously.

Jack, a recently widowed chef, reluctantly takes up a new role in the royal kitchens at Sandringham. Lacking in purpose and direction, Jack has abandoned his dream to have his own restaurant, but his talents are soon noticed and while he might not believe in himself, others do, and a chance encounter with an old friend helps to reignite the spark of his passion and ambition. As Jack and Olive’s paths continue to cross over the following five Christmases, they grow ever closer. Yet Olive carries the burden of a heavy secret that threatens to destroy everything.

Christmas Day, December 1957. As the nation eagerly awaits the Queen’s first televised Christmas speech, there is one final gift for the Christmas season to deliver…

The Gown by Jennifer Robson

An enthralling historical novel about one of the most famous wedding dresses of the twentieth century—Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown—and the fascinating women who made it.

The Twelve Topsy-Turvy, Very Messy Days of Christmas by James Patterson

At Christmastime, the Sullivans are missing someone dear to them ... until unexpected guests begin to arrive at their empty brownstone in Harlem—and they keep coming. And they stay. For twelve long, hard, topsy-turvy, messy days. But that’s when the Sullivans discover that the moments in life that defy hope, expectation, or even imagination, might be the best gifts of all.

Miranda Mills Youtube channel

Subscribe for weekly reading vlogs and seasonal living inspiration in the English countryside. I especially enjoy reading golden age mysteries, classic literature, vintage books and nature writing. Join me as I share reading vlogs, literary adventures, book hauls and reviews.

Lords & Ladles (requires an Acorn TV subscription, but there are many clips on Youtube)

Lords and Ladles feature three of Ireland's top chefs - Derry Clarke, Catherine Fulvio and Paul Flynn - who are challenged to recreate elaborate menus from different centuries in some of Ireland's grandest Country Homes.

London Rules by Mick Herron

Ian Fleming. John le Carré. Len Deighton. Mick Herron. The brilliant plotting of Herron’s twice CWA Dagger Award-winning Slough House series of spy novels is matched only by his storytelling gift and an ear for viciously funny political satire.

The Powers That Be by David Halberstam

Crackling with the personalities, conflicts, and ambitions that transformed the media from something that followed the news to something that formed it, The Powers That Be is David Halberstam's forceful account of the rise of modern media as an instrument of political power, published here with a new introduction by the author.

Slayer Slang: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lexicon by Michael Adams (not available in the JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

In its seven years on television, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has earned critical acclaim and a massive cult following among teen viewers. One of the most distinguishing features of the program is the innovative way the show's writers play with language: fabricating new words, morphing existing ones, and throwing usage on its head. The result has been a strikingly resonant lexicon that reflects the power of both youth culture and television in the evolution of American slang. Using the show to illustrate how new slang is formed, transformed, and transmitted, Slayer Slang is one of those rare books that combines a serious explanation of a pop culture phenomena with an engrossing read for fans of the show, word geeks, and language professionals.

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

Meg Mackworth’s hand-lettering skill has made her famous as the Planner of Park Slope, designing custom journals for her New York City clientele. She has another skill too: reading signs that other people miss. Knowing the upcoming marriage of Reid Sutherland and his polished fiancée was doomed to fail is one thing, but weaving a secret word of warning into their wedding program is another. Meg may have thought no one would spot it, but she hadn’t counted on sharp-eyed, pattern-obsessed Reid. A year later, Reid has tracked Meg down to find out how she knew that his meticulously planned future was about to implode.

Law & Order (tv show)

A BAB member reports that all 25 seasons have dropped for streaming on Hulu! Lives hang in the balance as detectives and prosecutors pursue justice in New York City. In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place -- and keep the worst offenders off the streets.

The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

Set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first century, The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect: Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history. Electrifying and ambitious, The Weight of Ink is about women separated by centuries—and the choices and sacrifices they must make in order to reconcile the life of the heart and mind.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity by an acclaimed and beloved author. Called “a tour de force” by the San Francisco Chronicle, this ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century Spain. When it falls to Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, to conserve this priceless work, the series of tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding—an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—only begin to unlock its deep mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultranationalist fanatics.

A Traitor to Memory by Elizabeth George

When Eugenie Davies is killed by a driver on a quiet London street, her death is clearly no accident. Someone struck her with a car and then deliberately ran over her body before driving off, leaving nothing behind but questions.

What brought Eugenie Davies to London on a rainy autumn night? Why was she carrying the name of the man who found her body? Who among the many acquaintances in her complicated and tragic life could have wanted her dead? And could her murder have some connection to a twenty-eight-year-old musical wunderkind, a virtuoso violinist who several months earlier suddenly and inexplicably lost the ability to play a single note? For Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, whose own domestic life is about to change radically, these questions are only the first in an investigation that leads him to walk a fine line between personal loyalty and professional honor.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together.

How High We Go In the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, a spellbinding and profoundly prescient debut that follows a cast of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague—a daring and deeply heartfelt work of mind-bending imagination from a singular new voice.

Children of Men by P.D. James

Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. Oxford historian Theodore Faron, apathetic toward a future without a future, spends most of his time reminiscing. Then he is approached by Julian, a bright, attractive woman who wants him to help get her an audience with his cousin, the powerful Warden of England. She and her band of unlikely revolutionaries may just awaken his desire to live . . . and they may also hold the key to survival for the human race. Told with P. D. James’s trademark suspense, insightful characterization, and riveting storytelling, The Children of Men is a story of a world with no children and no future.

1923 (tv show)

This prequel spinoff from the Yellowstone series follows an earlier generation of The Duttons as they face a new set of challenges in the early 20th century, including the rise of Western expansion, Prohibition, and the Great Depression.

We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of ModernIreland by Fintan O’Toole

In We Don't Know Ourselves, Fintan O'Toole weaves his own experiences into Irish social, cultural, and economic change, showing how Ireland, in just one lifetime, has gone from a reactionary "backwater" to an almost totally open society - perhaps the most astonishing national transformation in modern history.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.

Ireland’s Dirty Laundry documentary film (I don't find this readily streaming anywhere)

Built on the testimony of those who worked in Ireland's notorious Magdalene Laundries, this documentary tells the full, shocking story of a shameful system, created by the Irish State but supported by all levels of Irish society, which enslaved over 10,000 women for decades. The film bears witness to the women's experiences in their own words, before during and after their time in the laundries, and show how, even today, attempts are being made to try to silence them. We examine not only why and how the Magdalene phenomenon arose, but also how it was allowed to continue unchallenged for so long. At every level - family, parish and state - Irish society, at best, turned a blind eye; at worst, it supported, facilitated and even profited from the operation of these institutions, while perpetuating the stigma and shame of the women imprisoned there.

The Chieftans: Live Over Ireland, Water from the Well (I don't find this readily streaming anywhere)

Journey with The Chieftains to the special places and people of the home counties that formed the band’s musical soul. Derek Bell, Kevin Conneff, Martin Fay, Sean Keane, Matt Molloy, and Paddy Moloney tell the tales of their earliest memories of Irish music. Their thoughtful and often amusing stories capture the emotion behind the scenes of every performance.

Remastered: The Miami Showband Massacre (streaming on Netflix)

In 1974, while on the way home from a gig, the apolitical Irish rock group, The Miami Showband, fell into the crosshairs of a Protestant unionist paramilitary group that planted explosives on their bus when it was stopped at a fake checkpoint.

Philomena (film)

A world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.

New Orleans' Irish Channel neighborhood

Bound by Jackson Avenue and Delachaise, Magazine, and Tchoupitoulas streets, New Orleans’ Irish Channel is a quaint neighborhood named in honor of the wave of Irish immigrants who first settled there in the 1830s. Then, it was known for its shotgun homes, working-class community, and the ports and breweries where many residents worked. Today, the Irish Channel remains a mainly residential neighborhood with a thriving brewery scene and a number of local hangouts and restaurants.

Item descriptions pulled from Amazon, Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, and Youtube.

Forensic Sciences

2025-12-03T17:52:00.000-05:00

The November meeting for Books & Beyond to chat about forensics was a novel one for the group…we had a special guest, Dr. Greg Davis, Chief Coroner/Medical Examiner for Jefferson County!

He shared aspects of his education, career path, and job with us and it was fascinating! I asked him if there were any movies, tv shows, books, etc. that got the job right, and he shared a few things.

Coroner to the Stars (2025) (I saw this film at this year's Sidewalk Film Festival in downtown Birmingham and loved it!)

Coroner to the Stars chronicles the extraordinary journey of Dr. Thomas Noguchi, the former Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner whose groundbreaking autopsies forever shaped American culture. From Marilyn Monroe and Robert Kennedy to Sharon Tate and Natalie Wood, Noguchi's outspoken expertise pushed forensic science into the spotlight-even as Hollywood elites and political adversaries sought to silence him. A Japanese immigrant who unwittingly rose to fame in a city driven by stardom, Noguchi's fearless pursuit of truth often placed him in the cross hairs of controversy.

Dial M for Murder (1954)

Ex-tennis pro Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) wants to have his wealthy wife, Margot (Grace Kelly), murdered so he can get his hands on her inheritance. When he discovers her affair with Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings), he comes up with the perfect plan to kill her. He blackmails an old acquaintance into carrying out the murder, but the carefully orchestrated set-up goes awry, and Margot stays alive. Now Wendice must frantically scheme to outwit the police and avoid having his plot detected.

M.A.S.H. (1970) (Dr. Davis specifically mentioned the surgery scenes in this film as accurately reflecting a full and busy medical examiners office.)

Based on the novel by Richard Hooker, M*A*S*H follows a group of Mobile Army Surgical Hospital officers at they perform surgery and pass the time just miles from the front lines of the Korean Conflict. Led by Captains Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland) and Trapper John McIntyre (Elliott Gould), they add to the chaos and hilarity of the situation.

A few of our group members shared some titles, either in the meeting during the discussion, or via email afterward.

Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell

A killer is stalking the streets of Richmond, Virginia. When the bodies begin to mount, Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta is pulled into a chilling investigation that blends high-stakes forensics with psychological warfare. Armed with cutting-edge science and unflinching resolve, Scarpetta must navigate hostile forces both inside and outside the investigation—because someone isn’t just trying to hide the truth. They’re trying to kill her.

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

Adelia Aguilar is a rare thing in medieval Europe - a woman who has trained as a doctor. Her specialty is the study of corpses, a skill that must be concealed if she is to avoid accusations of witchcraft. But in Cambridge a child has been murdered, others are disappearing, and King Henry has called upon a renowned Italian investigator to find the killer - fast. What the king gets is Adelia, his very own Mistress of the Art of Death.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

An oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers (some willingly, some unwittingly) have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.

The Spectacular by Fiona Davis

New York City, 1956: the city is reeling from a string of bombings orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the “Big Apple Bomber,” who has been terrorizing the citizens of New York for sixteen years by planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces. With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a yearslong manhunt, the police turn in desperation to a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical new technique: psychological profiling.

The Science of Murder: The Forensics of Agatha Christie by Carla Valentine

Christie wouldn't have talked of "forensics" as it is understood today—most of her work predates the modern developments of forensics science—but in each tale she harnesses the power of human observation, ingenuity, and scientific developments of the era. A fascinating, science-based deep dive, The Science of Murder examines the use of fingerprints, firearms, handwriting, blood spatter analysis, toxicology, and more in Christie's beloved works.

Royal Autopsy, BBC documentary series, 2 seasons

Autopsy and dramatized reconstructions explore the deaths of King Charles II and Queen Elizabeth I, examining the final days of these British monarchs through a fusion of investigation and historical reenactment.
The lives and deaths of King Charles II and Queen Elizabeth I are investigated in this fusion of cold case investigation and lavish historical drama. A modern day autopsy is conducted to help determine the cause of death of these two key British monarchs while the final dying days are brought to life in emotional dramatic reconstructions.

18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics by Bruce Goldfarb

Frances Glessner Lee, born a socialite to a wealthy and influential Chicago family in the 1870s, was never meant to have a career, let alone one steeped in death and depravity. Yet she developed a fascination with the investigation of violent crimes and made it her life's work. 18 Tiny Deaths, by official biographer Bruce Goldfarb, delves into Lee's journey from grandmother without a college degree to leading the scientific investigation of unexpected death out of the dark confines of centuries-old techniques and into the light of the modern day.

The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death by Corinne May Botz (Not held in the Jefferson County Library Cooperative)

Frances Glessner Lee, a wealthy grandmother, founded the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard in 1936 and was later appointed captain in the New Hampshire police. In the 1940s and 1950s she built dollhouse crime scenes based on real cases in order to train detectives to assess visual evidence. Still used in forensic training today, the eighteen Nutshell dioramas, on a scale of 1:12, display an astounding level of detail: pencils write, window shades move, whistles blow, and clues to the crimes are revealed to those who study the scenes carefully.

Corinne May Botz's lush color photographs lure viewers into every crevice of Frances Lee's models and breathe life into these deadly miniatures, which present the dark side of domestic life, unveiling tales of prostitution, alcoholism, and adultery. The accompanying line drawings, specially prepared for this volume, highlight the noteworthy forensic evidence in each case. Botz's introductory essay, which draws on archival research and interviews with Lee's family and police colleagues, presents a captivating portrait of Lee.

Of Dolls & Murder (2010, available on Youtube)

John Waters narrates Susan Marks’ documentary film exploring the field of murder-scene dioramas, and their originator, who intended them as training tools for detectives in the 1930s and '40s.

Maggots, Murder, and Men: Memories and Reflections of a Forensic Entomologist by Zakaria Erzinclioglu (Not held in the Jefferson County Library Cooperative)

The science of forensic entomology-the application of insect biology to the investigation of crime-is extremely specialized, combining as it does an expert knowledge of entomology with keen powers of observation and deduction. Before his untimely death in 2002, Dr. Erzinclioglu had been a practitioner for over twenty-five years and was involved in a great number of investigations, including high-profile cases, where his evidence was critical to the outcome.

A great admirer of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Erzinclioglu compares his own techniques with those of his fictional hero, and takes the reader behind the often gruesome but deeply fascinating scenes of a murder investigation. This absorbing book ranges over cases from history, prehistory and mythology to the present day and is as gripping and readable as a good thriller.

The Skin Collector by Jeffrey Deaver

In his classic thriller The Bone Collector, Jeffery Deaver introduced readers to Lincoln Rhyme-the nation's most renowned investigator and forensic detective. Now, a new killer inspired by the Bone Collector is on the loose and Rhyme must untangle the twisted web of clues before the killer targets more victims-or Rhyme himself. The killer's methods are terrifying. He stalks the basements and underground passageways of New York City. He tattoos his victims' flesh with cryptic messages, using a tattoo gun loaded with poison, resulting in an agonizing, painful death. When a connection is made to the Bone Collector-the serial killer who terrorized New York more than a decade ago-Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are immediately drawn into the case.

Forever Ours: Real Stories of Immortality and Living from aForensic Pathologist by Janis Amatuzio

Forensic pathologist Janis Amatuzio first began recording the stories told to her by patients, police officers, and other doctors because she felt that no one spoke for the dead. She believed the real experience of death, namely the spiritual and otherworldly experiences of those near death and their loved ones, was ignored by the medical professionals, who thought of death as simply the cessation of breath. She knew there was more. From the first experience of a patient in her care dying to the miraculous "appearances" of loved ones after death, she began recording these experiences. Dr. Amatuzio found that by telling the story of their death to a loved one, she could help bring some sense of completion to the grieving family and friends. Written by a scientist in approachable, nonjudgmental language for anyone who has lost someone they love, this book offers stories that can't be explained in purely physical terms.

Title descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes.

oh, the horror!

2025-11-04T19:52:00.001-05:00

The next Books & Beyond meeting will be on Tuesday, November 25 at 6:30pm in the Library’s Conference Room. The topic up for discussion is forensic sciences. There are many topics within forensics, but I have invited the Jefferson County Medical Examiner to the meeting to speak about that aspect in particular.

In October, Books & Beyond met to chat about all things horror. If you aren't ready to give up those spooky books quite yet, read on!

Horror: A Thematic History in Fiction and Film by Darryl Jones

As Darryl Jones shows, the horror genre is huge. Ranging from vampires, ghosts, and werewolves to mad scientists, Satanists, and deranged serial killers, the cathartic release of scaring ourselves has made its appearance in everything from Shakespearean tragedies to internet memes. Exploring the key tropes of the genre, including its monsters, its psychological chills, and its love affair with the macabre, this thematic history discusses why horror stories disturb us, and how society responds to literary and film representations of the gruesome and taboo.

The Elementals by Michael McDowell

After a bizarre and disturbing incident at the funeral of matriarch Marian Savage, the McCray and Savage families look forward to a restful and relaxing summer at Beldame, on Alabama's Gulf Coast, where three Victorian houses loom over the shimmering beach. A haunted house story unlike any other, Michael McDowell's The Elementals (1981) is one of the finest novels to come out of the horror publishing explosion of the 1970s and '80s.

Frankie’s Funhouse: Animatronic Horror Romance by Beatrix Hollow (This title not available via the JCLC, but some of the author's other work is available on Hoopla)

Desperation for cash has led me down a rainbow painted hallway to Frankie’s Funhouse—a children’s gambling casino. Or as my boss likes to call it, a pizza arcade. The coworkers are strange, the patrons are disturbing, and the animatronics are possessed. Which I was willing to put up with until my boss died. Well, he was murdered, actually. Now I have to serve pizza and birthday cake while thinking about burning down the mall to hide a body for an animatronic that keeps hitting on me.

The Guy Sure Looks Like Plant Food to Me by Santana Knox (This title is not available via the JCLC, but it is on Amazon.)

This is a killer rom-com, feel-good, magical short story homage to Little Shop of Horrors about fated love blooming in the most unexpected of places.

Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Griffin

After losing her job and her fiancé and moving back from the city to live with her parents, Shell Pine needs some help. And according to the sign in the window, the florist shop in the mall does too. Shell gets the gig, and the flowers she works with there are just the thing she needs to cheer up. Or maybe it’s Neve, the beautiful shop manager, who is making her days so rosy?

But you have to get your hands dirty if you want your garden to grow—and Neve’s secrets are as dark and dangerous as they come. In the back room of the flower shop, a young sentient orchid actually runs the show, and he is hungry . . . and he has a plan for them all.

The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs

When Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan. comes to stay with his uncle Jonathan, he expects to meet an ordinary person. But he is wrong. Uncle Jonathan and his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmermann, are both magicians! Lewis is thrilled. At first, watchng magic is enough. Then Lewis experiments with magic himself and unknowingly resurrects the former owner of the house: a woman named Selenna Izard. It seems that Selenna and her husband built a timepiece into the walls--a clock that could obliterate humankind. And only the Barnavelts can stop it! Adapted to a movie, starring Jack Black as Uncle Jonathan.

Whales on Stilts by M. T. Anderson

Sure, Lily Gefelty is just an average twelve-year-old girl. But her dad—a normal-enough-seeming guy—just so happens to work for an evil genius who plans to unleash an army of extremely cranky, stilt-walking, laser-beam-eyed whales upon the world.

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

When a young woman clears out her deceased grandmother’s home in rural North Carolina, she finds long-hidden secrets about a strange colony of beings in the woods.

The Witch (2015, rated R)

In 1630 New England, panic and despair envelops a farmer, his wife and their children when youngest son Samuel suddenly vanishes. The family blames Thomasin, the oldest daughter who was watching the boy at the time of his disappearance. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, twin siblings Mercy and Jonas suspect Thomasin of witchcraft, testing the clan's faith, loyalty and love to one another.

Guillermo del Toro, At Home with Monsters: Inside His Films,Notebooks, and Collections

In 2016, a new exhibit on the work of visionary director Guillermo del Toro debuted at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This book focuses on del Toro’s creative process, including the well-defined themes that he obsessively returns to in all his films, the journals in which he logs his ideas, and the vast and inspiring collection of art and pop culture ephemera that he has amassed at his private “man cave,” Bleak House. This book delivers an engrossing look into the mind of one of the great creative visionaries of our time.

Crimson Peak (2015, rated R)

After marrying the charming and seductive Sir Thomas Sharpe, young Edith (Mia Wasikowska) finds herself swept away to his remote gothic mansion in the English hills. Also living there is Lady Lucille, Thomas' alluring sister and protector of her family's dark secrets. Able to communicate with the dead, Edith tries to decipher the mystery behind the ghostly visions that haunt her new home. As she comes closer to the truth, Edith may learn that true monsters are made of flesh and blood.

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.

But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie––not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.

With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won’t stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature’s most twisted love triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending?

City of Masks by Daniel Hecht

When Lila Beauforte takes up residence in her ancestral home, the 150-year-old Beauforte House in the Garden District of New Orleans, she is terrified by ghostly apparitions. The family reluctantly calls Cree Black for help. Based out of Seattle, Cree, a parapsychologist with a degree from Harvard, is a "ghost buster." But as Cree gets closer to the truth, the proverbial skeletons in the closet of the prestigious Beauforte family come crashing down on her, and she must struggle to keep her own ghosts at bay.

Diavola by Jennifer Thorne

The gorgeous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness, until things start going off the rails―the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark, violent past of the villa itself. Beautifully unhinged and deeply satisfying, Diavola is a sharp twist on the classic haunted house story, exploring loneliness, belonging, and the seemingly inescapable bonds of family mythology.

Camino Ghosts by John Grisham

Mercer Mann, a popular writer from Camino Island, is back on the beach, marrying her boyfriend, Thomas, in a seaside ceremony. Bruce Cable, infamous owner of Bay Books, performs the wedding. Afterward, Bruce tells Mercer that he has stumbled upon an incredible story. Mercer desperately needs an idea for her next novel, and Bruce now has one. The true story is about Dark Isle, a sliver of a barrier island not far off the North Florida coast. It was settled by freed slaves three hundred years ago, and their descendants lived there until 1955, when the last one was forced to leave. Something about the island seriously clouds the dollar signs in the developer’s eyes: the island is cursed. It has remained uninhabited for nearly a century for some very real and very troubling reasons. The deep secrets of the past are about to collide with the enormous ambitions of the present, and the fate of Dark Isle—and Camino Island, too—hangs in the balance.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

One of our members saw a fun (and funny!) production of Dracula put on by the Bell Tower Players at East Lake United Methodist Church. Find more information about their performances here: https://www.eastlakeunitedmethodist.org/btp/

We discussed a novel we couldn’t remember, told from Bertha’s (Jane Eyre) perspective. Perhaps it is Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys?

With Wide Sargasso Sea, her last and best-selling novel, she ingeniously brings into light one of fiction’s most fascinating characters: the madwoman in the attic from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. This mesmerizing work introduces us to Antoinette Cosway, a sensual and protected young woman who is sold into marriage to the prideful Mr. Rochester. Rhys portrays Cosway amidst a society so driven by hatred, so skewed in its sexual relations, that it can literally drive a woman out of her mind.

If you want a long-term, self-paced fun deep dive into literature, explore the Youtube channel of the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia. There are multi-week, multi-episode explorations of Dracula, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, and Sherlock Holmes. Explore here: https://www.youtube.com/@RosenbachMuseum/playlists

We also discussed how sound effects and music are an integral part of horror movies. Lots of fun discussion on this topic!

Every Frame a Painting on Youtube is no longer active but was a series of video essays about film form. The episode we discussed in the meeting was The Marvel Symphonic Universe. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vfqkvwW2fs

Films with music, sound effects, or lack thereof:

The Birds (1963, rated PG-13)

Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) meets Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a San Francisco pet store and decides to follow him home. She brings with her the gift of two love birds and they strike up a romance. One day birds start attacking children at Mitch's sisters party. A huge assault starts on the town by attacking birds. This was adapted from a short story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier.

Zone of Interest (2023, rated PG-13)

The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp. This was adapted from a book of the same name by Martin Amis.

Paranormal Activity (2009, rated R)

Soon after moving into a suburban tract home, Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) become increasingly disturbed by what appears to be a supernatural presence. Hoping to capture evidence of it on film, they set up video cameras in the house but are not prepared for the terrifying events that follow.

Item descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes. Photo by Stefano Pollio on Unsplash

100 years of The Great Gatsby

2025-10-17T11:38:00.000-05:00

"Misunderstanding has been a part of The Great Gatsby's story from the very start. Grumbling to his friend Edmund Wilson shortly after the novel was published in April 1925, Fitzgerald declared that "of all the reviews, even the most enthusiastic, not one had the slightest idea what the book was about". Fellow writers like Edith Wharton admired it plenty, but as the critic Maureen Corrigan relates in her book So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures, popular reviewers read it as crime fiction, and were decidedly underwhelmed by it at that. Fitzgerald's Latest A Dud, ran a headline in the New York World. The novel achieved only so-so sales, and by the time of the author's death in 1940, copies of a very modest second print run had long since been remaindered.
Gatsby's luck began to change when it was selected as a giveaway by the US military. With World War Two drawing to a close, almost 155,000 copies were distributed in a special Armed Services Edition, creating a new readership overnight. As the 1950s dawned, the flourishing of the American Dream quickened the novel's topicality, and by the 1960s, it was enshrined as a set text. It's since become such a potent force in pop culture that even those who've never read it feel as if they have, helped along, of course, by Hollywood."

Read the whole article here: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210209-the-worlds-most-misunderstood-novel

Interested in reading The Great Gatsby, or some of the books about or inspired by this great American novel and writer? Try one of these!

young adult

Tell Me My Name by Amy Reed

For fans of The Grace Year and We Were Liars comes a mesmerizing, can't-put-it-down psychological thriller—a gender-flipped YA Great Gatsby that will linger long after the final line.

adult nonfiction

On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life Through Great Books by Karen Prior

Prior takes readers on a guided tour through works of great literature both ancient and modern, exploring twelve virtues that philosophers and theologians throughout history have identified as most essential for good character and the good life.

Literary Yarns: Crochet Projects Inspired by Classic Books by Cindy Wang

Learn how to make adorable crochet dolls of your favorite literary characters, including Anne of Green Gables, Elizabeth Bennet, and Sherlock Holmes!

F. Scott Fitzgerald on Writing

A collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s remarks on his craft, taken from his works and letters to friends and colleagues—an essential trove of advice for aspiring writers.

Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel by Bob Batchelor

A cultural historian, Batchelor explains why and how the novel has become part of the fiber of the American ethos and an important tool in helping readers to better comprehend their lives and the broader world around them.

So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures by Maureen Corrigan

Offering a fresh perspective on what makes Gatsby great - and utterly unusual - So We Read On takes us into archives, high school classrooms, and even out onto the Long Island Sound to explore the novel's hidden depths.

Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda: The Love Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald

Through his alcoholism and her mental illness, his career lows and her institutional confinement, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's devotion to each other endured for over 22 years. Now, for the first time, we have the story of their love in the couple's own letters.

The Gatsby Affair: Scott, Zelda, and the Betrayal that Shaped an American Classic by Kendall Taylor

Both a literary study and a probing look at an iconic couple's psychological makeup, The Gatsby Affair offers listeners a bold interpretation of how one of America's greatest novels was influenced.

Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of The Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell

Fitzgerald set his novel in 1922, and Careless People carefully reconstructs the crucial months during which Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald returned to New York in the autumn of 1922 - the parties, the drunken weekends at Great Neck, Long Island, the drives back into the city to the jazz clubs and speakeasies, the casual intersection of high society and organized crime, and the growth of celebrity culture of which the Fitzgeralds themselves were the epitome.

fiction

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby is considered F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnum opus, exploring themes of decadence, idealism, social stigmas, patriarchal norms, and the deleterious effects of unencumbered wealth in capitalistic society, set against the backdrop of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties.

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor

Bestselling author Jillian Cantor reimagines and expands on the literary classic in this atmospheric historical novel told in three women’s alternating voices.

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Fowler

With brilliant insight and imagination, Fowler brings us Zelda's irresistible story as she herself might have told it.

Beautiful Fools by R. Clifton Spargo

Iin 1939, Scott is living in Hollywood, a virulent alcoholic and deeply in debt. Despite his relationship with gossip columnist Sheila Graham, he remains fiercely loyal to Zelda. In an attempt to fuse together their fractured marriage, Scott arranges a trip to Cuba. After a disastrous first night in Havana, the couple runs off to a beach resort outside the city.

Montauk by Nicola Harrison

Montauk captures the glamour and extravagance of a summer by the sea with the story of a woman torn between the life she chose and the life she desires.

Another Side of Paradise by Sally Koslow

Working from diaries and other primary sources from the time, Sally Koslow revisits a scandalous love affair in this compelling historical novel saturated with the color, glitter, magic, and passion of 1930s Hollywood and London.

The Great Mann by Kyra Lurie

In this poignant retelling of The Great Gatsby, set amongst L.A.’s Black elite, a young veteran finds his way post-war, pulled into a new world of tantalizing possibilities—and explosive tensions.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, Ernest Hemingway and Hadley Richardson set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris.

Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami

A tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art - as well as a loving homage to The Great Gatsby - Killing Commendatore is a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers.

Nick by Michael F. Smith

A critically acclaimed novelist pulls Nick Carraway out of the shadows and into the spotlight in this "masterful" look into his life before Gatsby (Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author)

Daisy by Libby Sternberg

While simultaneously remaining true to the original and adding new information, Sternberg weaves Daisy's perspective and Nick Carraway's account together, correcting what Daisy knows is inaccurate from her cousin's novel.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

From the number one New York Times best-selling author, this is a “sharply stylish” (Boston Globe) book about a young woman in post-Depression era New York who suddenly finds herself thrust into high society.

A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams

Williams brings the Roaring '20s brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively listenable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm.

The Gatsby Gambit by Claire Anderson-Wheeler

Deftly subverting romantic notions about money, power, and freedom that still stand today, The Gatsby Gambit is a sparkling homage to, and reinvention of, a world American readers have lionized for generations.

Mansion Beach by Meg Moore

A sparkling, escapist novel following a young woman entwined in the opulent lives of her neighbors, set against a backdrop of scandal, secrets, and a not-so-subtle love triangle.

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

Nghi Vo’s debut novel reinvents a classic of the American canon as a coming-of-age story full of magic, mystery, and glittering excess, and introduces a major new literary voice.

film

There are two Great Gatsby films. Robert Redford starred in the 1974 version and Leonardo DiCaprio headlined the 2013 adaptation.

2025 Kirkus Prizes

2025-10-09T10:39:00.002-05:00

Lucas Schaefer, Scott Anderson, and Thao Lam are the winners of this year’s Kirkus Prizes, given annually to works of exceptional merit in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, and young readers’ literature.

The winners of the awards were announced Wednesday night during a ceremony at the TriBeca Rooftop in New York. The event was also livestreamed on Kirkus’ YouTube channel.

Schaefer won the fiction prize for The Slip, his debut novel about the characters associated with an Austin, Texas, boxing gym and a 16-year-old boy who goes missing. In a citation, the prize jurors wrote, “This debut novel fearlessly explores issues of race, class, sex, and gender through a wildly inventive group of characters and events…Franzen/Roth/Irving comparisons are earned and deserved.”

The judges for the fiction award were Thérèse Purcell Nielsen, a Kirkus reviewer and former public librarian; Oscar Villalon, a journalist and editor of the literary journal ZYZZYVA; and Kirkus fiction editor Laurie Muchnick.

Anderson took home the nonfiction award for King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation, a history of the 1979 revolution that forever changed the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. “It’s a masterful and propulsive account that chronicles a devastatingly transformative series of events whose aftereffects reverberate to this day,” the judges said in a citation.

This year’s nonfiction jurors were Calvin Crosby, an owner of the King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City and executive director of the nonprofit Brain Food Books; Anita Felicelli, the books editor of Alta Journal and author of the books Chimerica, Love Songs for a Lost Continent, and How We Know Our Time Travelers; and Kirkus nonfiction editor John McMurtrie.

Lam won in the young readers’ literature category for Everybelly, her picture book about a young child who encounters neighbors of different shapes and sizes at the local swimming pool. In the prize citation, the judges said, “This joyful celebration of humanity springs to life through masterful, vibrant collages and text that’s both poignant and witty.”

Judging this year’s young readers’ literature award were Annette Y. Goldsmith, a librarian and co-founder of “Building a Global Youth Literature Collection 101”; Erika Long, a librarian, lecturer, and founder/consultant at Not Yo Mama’s Librarian, LLC; and Kirkus young readers’ editors Mahnaz Dar and Laura Simeon.

The winners of the prizes were chosen from books that received a starred review from Kirkus during the eligibility period of November 1, 2024 to October 31, 2025: 383 fiction titles, 290 nonfiction titles, and 497 young readers’ titles. The winning authors each received a trophy created by the London design team of Vezzini & Chen, along with a cash prize of $50,000. In a statement, Tom Beer, the editor-in-chief of Kirkus, said, “This year’s Kirkus Prize winners bring us vital messages for our time—messages about the joys of community, the power of self-transformation, and the mutability of historical events—all conveyed through exhilarating prose and pictures.” The Kirkus Prize was first awarded in 2014. Previous winners include Percival Everett for James, Brian Broome for Punch Me Up to the Gods, and Harmony Becker for Himawari House.

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/winners-of-the-2025-kirkus-prize-revealed

Agatha Christie

2025-10-01T15:54:00.002-05:00

UPCOMING O'NEAL LIBRARY PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS:

Every Tuesday morning 10-11am – Gentle Yoga with Marie Blair (drop in)

Tue, Oct 7 6-8pm – Sustainable Style: Clothing Swap

Thu, Oct 9 5:30-7pm – Writing Workshop with Miriam Calleja

Sat, Oct 11 10:30-noon – Medicare Made Clear

Sun, Oct 12 3-4:30pm – Poetry as Prayer

Mon, Oct 13 6:30-7:30pm – Great Short Stories discussing“Cyclists’ Raid” by Frank Rooney

Tue, Oct 14 10-11:30am – The Bookies Bookclub discussing“The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (drop in)

Tue, Oct 14 5:30-7pm – Writing Workshop with Miriam Calleja

Sun, Oct 19 3-4:30pm – Poetry as Prayer

Wed, Oct 22 10-11:30am – Medicare Made Clear

Wed, Oct 22 10am @ Junior League of Birmingham (2212 20th Ave South) - O'Neal Library presents Technology Tips for Everyday Life in collaboration with ALL IN Mountain Brook's Silver Spartans

Wed, Oct 22 5:30-8pm – (ages 18+) Nightmare on Oak Street:DIY Sweater Pumpkins

Thu, Oct 23 6-7pm – Neurodivergent Community Group

Fri, Oct 24 6:30-8:30pm – Traditional Music of Scotland withmusician Jim Malcolm

Fri, Oct 24 – Ticket vouchers available for Alabama SymphonyOrchestra Masterworks concert

Sat, Oct 25 – Ticket vouchers available for Alabama SymphonyOrchestra Masterworks concert

Sun, Oct 26 3-4:30pm – Poetry as Prayer

Tue, Oct 28 6:30-8pm – Books & Beyond discussing horror (drop in)

Every year, Books & Beyond (BAB) takes one month for an author study, where any work by or about an author is fair game. This week, BAB met to chat about all things Agatha Christie!

FILM & TELEVISION:

Miss Marple, starring Joan Hickson

Miss Marple, titled Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the series, is a British television series based on the Miss Marple murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie, starring Joan Hickson in the title role. It aired from December 26, 1984 to December 27, 1992 on BBC One. All twelve original Miss Marple novels by Christie were dramatized.

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

The affable Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power) is being tried for the murder of a wealthy woman, and legendary lawyer Sir Wilfrid Robarts (Charles Laughton) has chosen to represent him. Unfortunately, Leonard's alibi depends on the testimony of his callous wife, Christine (Marlene Dietrich) -- who, after the discovery of a legal loophole, makes the shocking decision to appear in court against him. To Sir Wilfrid's surprise, this is only the first in a series of puzzling revelations and reversals.

Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen (2022)

Historian Lucy Worsley explores the life of Agatha Christie through documents and interviews and tries to understand what inspires her to write her novels.

Evil Under the Sun (1982)

Agatha Christie's Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov), solves the murder of an actress at a Balkan resort.

Ordeal by Innocence (1984)

A 1950s U.S. scientist (Donald Sutherland) probes the murder of a British friend's (Christopher Plummer) wife (Faye Dunaway).

4:50 from Paddington (1987)

Miss Marple (Joan Hickson) investigates her friend's (Mona Bruce) claim that she witnessed a murder on a train.

Murder She Said (1961)

When aging sleuth Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) witnesses a murder through the window of her passing train car, she alerts the authorities. Unfortunately, the police are hesitant to take the word of an old lady in lieu of an actual body. Taking matters into her own hands, Marple gets a job as a maid at Ackenthorpe Hall, where she believes the murder took place. There, she must match wits with blowhard Luther Ackenthorpe (James Robertson Justice) if she wants to solve the mystery.

BOOKS SIMILAR TO OR ABOUT AGATHA CHRISTIE:

Marple: Twelve New Stories

Bringing a fresh twist to the hallmarks of a classic Agatha Christie mystery, these twelve esteemed writers have captured the sharp wit, unique voice, and droll ingenuity of the deceptively demure detective. A triumphant celebration of Christie’s legacy and essential reading for crime lovers, Marple is a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains one of the most famous detectives of all time.

A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup

Fourteen novels. Fourteen poisons. Just because it's fiction doesn’t mean it's all made-up ...Agatha Christie revelled in the use of poison to kill off unfortunate victims in her books; indeed, she employed it more than any other murder method, with the poison itself often being a central part of the novel. Christie's extensive chemical knowledge provides the backdrop for A is for Arsenic, in which Kathryn Harkup investigates the poisons used by the murderer in fourteen classic Agatha Christie mysteries.

The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujanta Massey

Mistry Law has been appointed to execute the will of Mr. Omar Farid, a wealthy Muslim mill owner who has left three widows behind. But as Perveen examines the paperwork, she notices something strange: all three of the wives have signed over their full inheritance to a charity. What will they live on? Perveen is suspicious, especially since one of the widows has signed her form with an X—meaning she probably couldn't even read the document. The Farid widows live in full purdah—in strict seclusion, never leaving the women's quarters or speaking to any men. Are they being taken advantage of by an unscrupulous guardian? Perveen tries to investigate, and realizes her instincts were correct when tensions escalate to murder. Inspired in part by the woman who made history as India's first female attorney, The Widows of Malabar Hill is a richly wrought story of multicultural 1920s Bombay as well as the debut of a sharp new sleuth.

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job.

Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

In December 1926, Agatha Christie goes missing. Investigators find her empty car on the edge of a deep, gloomy pond, the only clues some tire tracks nearby and a fur coat left in the car―strange for a frigid night. Eleven days later, she reappears, just as mysteriously as she disappeared, claiming amnesia and providing no explanations for her time away. Agatha Christie novels have withstood the test of time, due in no small part to Christie's masterful storytelling and clever mind that may never be matched, but Agatha Christie's untold history offers perhaps her greatest mystery of all.

Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict

London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment.

BOOKS BY AGATHA CHRISTIE:

There are a variety of Miss Marple ebooks and eaudiobooks available on the Libby and Hoopla apps!

And Then There Were None

Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to an isolated mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die…which among them is the killer and will any of them survive?

Endless Night

When penniless Michael Rogers discovers the beautiful house at Gypsy’s Acre and then meets the heiress Ellie, it seems that all his dreams have come true at once. But he ignores an old woman’s warning of an ancient curse, and evil begins to stir in paradise. As Michael soon learns: Gypsy’s Acre is the place where fatal “accidents” happen.

Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories

Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories is a collection of eleven tantalizing tales of murder and other criminal pursuits—including the classic title story, the basis for the 1957 Oscar-nominated Billy Wilder film starring Marlene Dietrich, Tyrone Power, and Charles Laughton.

Sparkling Cyanide (previously published as Remembered Death)

Six people sit down to a sumptuous meal at a table laid for seven. In front of the empty place is a sprig of rosemary - "rosemary for remembrance." A strange sentiment considering no one is likely to forget the night, exactly a year ago, that Rosemary Barton died at exactly the same table, her beautiful face unrecognizable, convulsed with pain and horror. But then Rosemary had always been memorable - she had the ability to arouse strong passions in most people she met. In one case, strong enough to kill....

Evil Under the Sun

It was not unusual to find the sun-loving Arlena Stuart stretched out on a beach, face down. Only, on this occasion, there was no sun…she had been strangled. Ever since her arrival, the air had been thick with sexual tension and each of the seaside guest had a motive to kill her, including Arelena’s new husband. But Hercule Poirot suspects that this apparent ‘crime of passion’ conceals something much more evil.

Item descriptions pulled from Rotten Tomatoes and Amazon.

Women in Translation

2025-08-28T16:24:00.000-05:00

The next Books & Beyond (BAB) meeting will be Tuesday, September 30^th at 6:30pm https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/11282327 and it’s time for our annual author study! This year, we’ll be chatting about all things Agatha Christie. There is a display at the 2^nd floor service desk and on the Shelf Care page of our website: https://oneallibrary.org/adults---reading-recommendations

This week, BAB met to celebrate Women in Translation month. This includes books written in other languages by women that have been translated into English and books translated into English by women.

The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir, translated by Mary Robinette Kowal

Iðunn is in yet another doctor's office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something's not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven't revealed any cause. When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same ― have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps. Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night…What is happening when she’s asleep? Why is she waking up with increasingly disturbing injuries? And why won’t anyone believe her?

We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda

Tucked away in an old building at the end of a narrow alley in Kyoto, the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul can only be found by people who are struggling in their lives and genuinely need help. The mysterious clinic offers a unique treatment to those who find their way there: it prescribes cats as medication. Patients are often puzzled by this unconventional prescription, but when they “take” their cat for the recommended duration, they witness profound transformations in their lives, guided by the playful, empathetic, occasionally challenging yet endearing cats.

Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, translated by Cathy Hirano

Japanese decluttering guru Marie Kondo has revolutionized homes—and lives—across the world. Now, Kondo presents an illustrated guide to using her acclaimed KonMari Method to create a joy-filled home that works the way you need it to.

Jawbone by Monica Ojeda, translated by Sarah Booker

When Fernanda, Annelise, and their friends from the Delta Bilingual Academy convene after school, Annelise leads them in thrilling but increasingly dangerous rituals to a rhinestoned, Dior-scented, drag-queen god of her own invention. Even more perilous is the secret Annelise and Fernanda share, rooted in a dare in which violence meets love. Interweaving pop culture references and horror concepts drawn from from Herman Melville, H. P. Lovecraft, and anonymous “creepypastas,” Jawbone is an ominous, multivocal novel that explores the terror inherent in the pure potentiality of adolescence and the fine line between desire and fear.

Variations on Silence by Nadia Mifsud, translated by Miriam Calleja

"Variations on Silence is Calleja first translated poetry book from the Maltese. The collection by Nadia Mifsud is the prize-winning Varjazzjonijiet tas-Skiet (EDE Books, 2021), handmade by Kotba Calleja (no relation). It is the collection that made Mifsud the Poet Laureate of Malta in 2022." Read more about the collection here.

Reeds in the Wind by Grazia Deledda, translated by Martha King (not available in JCLC, contact the library to request a copy from Interlibrary Loan)

The rugged landscape of Baronia on Sardinia sets the scene for this novel of crime, guilt and retribution. This novel presents the story of the Pintor sisters - from a family of noble landowners now in decline - their nephew Giacinto, and their servant Efix, who is trying to make up for a mysterious sin committed many years before. Around, below, and inside them the raging Mediterranean storms, the jagged mountains, the murmuring forests, and the gushing springs form a Greek chorus of witness to the tragic drama of this unforgiving land.

The Governesses by Anne Serre, translated by Mark Hutchinson

In a large country house shut off from the world by a gated garden, three young governesses responsible for the education of a group of little boys are preparing a party. The governesses, however, seem to spend more time running around in a state of frenzied desire than attending to the children’s education. One of their main activities is lying in wait for any passing stranger, and then throwing themselves on him like drunken Maenads. The rest of the time they drift about in a kind of sated, melancholy calm, spied upon by an old man in the house opposite, who watches their goings-on through a telescope.

The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani, translated by Sam Taylor

When Myriam decides to return to work as a lawyer after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect nanny for their son and daughter. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite, devoted woman who sings to the children, cleans the family’s chic Paris apartment, stays late without complaint, and hosts enviable kiddie parties. But as the couple and the nanny become more dependent on one another, jealousy, resentment, and suspicions mount, shattering the idyllic tableau. Building tension with every page, The Perfect Nanny is a compulsive, riveting, bravely observed exploration of power, class, race, domesticity, motherhood, and madness—and the American debut of an immensely talented writer.

The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, translated by Lucy North

Almost every afternoon, the Woman in the Purple Skirt sits on the same park bench, where she eats a cream bun while the local children make a game of trying to get her attention. Unbeknownst to her, she is being watched--by the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan, who is always perched just out of sight, monitoring which buses she takes, what she eats, whom she speaks to. Studiously deadpan and chillingly voyeuristic, and with the off-kilter appeal of the novels of Ottessa Moshfegh, The Woman in the Purple Skirt explores envy, loneliness, power dynamics, and the vulnerability of unmarried women in a taut, suspenseful narrative about the sometimes desperate desire to be seen.

Out by Natsuo Kirino, translated by Stephen Snyder

A young mother who works the night shift making boxed lunches strangles her abusive husband and then seeks the help of her coworkers to dispose of the body and cover up her crime. The coolly intelligent Masako emerges as the plot’s ringleader but quickly discovers that this killing is merely the beginning, as it leads to a terrifying foray into the violent underbelly of Japanese society.

The Vanishing by Tim Krabbe, translated by Claire Nicolas White

When Saskia Ehlvest, a young Dutch girl, disappears from a rest stop along a highway in rural France, her lover, Rex Hofmann, cannot accept her disappearance and embarks on an obsessive search for her that spans years.

The Vanishing (Dutch, 1990, 1h 46m)

Rex (Gene Bervoets) and Saskia (Johanna Ter Steege) are enjoying a biking holiday in France when, stopping at a gas station, Saskia disappears. Confounded, Rex searches everywhere, but to no avail. Three years later, he's still obsessed with finding her, pleading his case on television, putting up posters and ruining his new relationship in the process. Eventually an unassuming chemistry teacher, Raymond (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu), approaches Rex, intimating that he knows what happened.

The Vanishing (Hollywood, 1993, 1h 50m)

Barney (Jeff Bridges) is a disturbed man intent on abducting a woman. After numerous failed attempts, he manages to kidnap young Diane (Sandra Bullock), who is on vacation with her boyfriend, Jeff (Kiefer Sutherland). As time passes, Jeff remains determined to find out what happened to Diane. When Barney unexpectedly confronts Jeff, it leads to a tense life-or-death situation. Meanwhile, Jeff's current girlfriend, Rita (Nancy Travis), manages to follow him in hopes of keeping him out of harm.

FURTHER READING:

Mariana Enriquez's books

1) Our Share of Night, translated by Megan McDowell

A woman’s mysterious death puts her husband and son on a collision course with her demonic family in the author’s first novel to be translated into English.

2) The Dangers of Smoking In Bed, translated by Megan McDowell

“The beautiful, horrible world of Mariana Enriquez, as glimpsed in The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, with its disturbed adolescents, ghosts, decaying ghouls, the sad and angry homeless of modern Argentina, is the most exciting discovery I’ve made in fiction for some time.”—Kazuo Ishiguro, The Guardian

3) A Sunny Place for Shady People: Stories, translated by Megan McDowell

Lyrical and hypnotic, heart-stopping and deeply moving, Enriquez’s stories never fail to enthrall, entertain, and leave us shaken. Translated by the award-winning Megan McDowell, A Sunny Place for Shady People showcases Enriquez’s unique blend of the literary and the horrific.

The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories

From an award-winning team of authors, editors, and translators comes a groundbreaking short story collection that explores the expanse of Chinese science fiction and fantasy.

The Lost Village by Camilla Sten, translated by Alexandra Fleming

Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left―a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn―have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened. But there will be no turning back. Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice: They are not alone.

Confrontations by Simone Atangana Bekono, translated by Suzanne Heukensfeldt Jansen

Raw and unsentimental yet lyrical, Confrontations captures the paradoxical demands society makes on Black women, the way communities, schools, and the prison system perpetuate racism, and the cost of Black female defiance.

PEN America Women in Translation Month Reading List

Legends of Sardinia by Grazia Deledda, edited by Carlos Mulas (not available in JCLC, contact the library to request a copy from Interlibrary Loan)

Grazia Deledda (1871 - 1936) was the first Italian woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, “for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general”. Sardinia is a land of legends and mysteries. Every country church, every castle or monastery ruin, every village, every cussorgia (region or area), every cave, every cliff, every mountain… every valley has its own legend.

Tristan and the Classics podcast

The podcast specializes in creating book reviews of classic books and literature with in depth analysis of themes and characters.

Descriptions from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes, unless otherwise noted.

travel the world

2025-07-23T13:59:00.002-05:00

The Adult Summer Reading Finale is Wednesday, July 30^th at 6pm. Register for the event and come on in to work on DIY reading journals, spin the prize wheel for those last minute goodies, and enjoy the company of other readers after an epic summer filled with fantastic books! We’ll be drawing for the grand prize the first week of August, so time is winding down to log your reading!

The next Books & Beyond (BAB) meeting is on Tuesday, August 26^th at 6:30pm and the topic up for discussion is Women in Translation Month, an annual celebration of women writers from around the world, writing in languages other than English.

Looking ahead to September, we’ll be exploring the work andlife of Agatha Christie! Mark your calendars and plan to join us!

This week, BAB met to discuss travel writing, journeys, and really anything with a great sense of movement. We chatted for well over an hour about a tremendous variety of titles and had a great time. Peruse our discussion list and get ready for your TBR to explode!

On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making ofa Travel Writer by Rick Steves

Stow away with Rick Steves for a glimpse into the unforgettable moments, misadventures, and memories of his 1978 journey on the legendary Hippie Trail.

Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick

Does George Washington still matter? Bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick argues for Washington’s unique contribution to the forging of America by retracing his journey as a new president through all thirteen former colonies, which were now an unsure nation. Travels with George marks a new first-person voice for Philbrick, weaving history and personal reflection into a single narrative.

Following Caesar: From Rome to Constantinople, the PathwaysThat Planted the Seeds of Empire by John Keahey

A travel narrative following three ancient roads and looking at more than two thousand years of history of Ancient Rome through the modern eye.

Traveling Blind: Adventures in Vision with a Guide Dog by MySide by Susan Krieger

Although an intensely personal account, Traveling Blind is not simply memoir, for it extends beyond one person's experience to illuminate our understandings of vision informed by the academic fields of disability studies, feminist ethnography, and the study of human-animal bonds.

Grave Situation by Louisa Masters

With a ridiculously attractive healer (who may or may not hate him), his sister (who he miiiight have a forbidden telepathic link with), a sentient god-like rock (that can only communicate via yes/no vibes), a disdainful dragon, and a rude matchmaking horse by his side, Talon just might be able to save the world. He’s not the hero they deserve, but he’s the hero they’ve got.

Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine

Join bestselling author Douglas Adams and zooligist Mark Carwardine as they take off around the world in search of exotic, endangered creatures. Hilarious and poignant--as only Douglas Adams can be—Last Chance to See is an entertaining and arresting odyssey through the Earth's magnificent wildlife galaxy.

The Museum of Whales You Will Never See: And OtherExcursions to Iceland’s Most Unusual Museums by A. Kendra Greene

Mythic creatures, natural wonders, and the mysterious human impulse to collect are on beguiling display in this poetic tribute to the museums of an otherworldly island nation, for readers of AtlasObscura and fans of the Mütter Museum, the Morbid Anatomy Museum, and the Museum of Jurassic Technology.

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey

With boundless curiosity, Dickey conjures the dead by focusing on questions of the living—how do we, the living, deal with stories about ghosts, and how do we inhabit and move through spaces that have been deemed, for whatever reason, haunted? Paying attention not only to the true facts behind a ghost story, but also to the ways in which changes to those facts are made—and why those changes are made—Dickey paints a version of American history left out of the textbooks, one of things left undone, crimes left unsolved.

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo—Mongol emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts his host with stories of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. As Marco Polo unspools his tales, the emperor detects these fantastic places are more than they appear.

If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

Originally published in 1979, Italo Calvino's singular novel crafted a postmodern narrative like never seen before—offering not one novel but ten, each with a different plot, style, ambience, and author, and each interrupted at a moment of suspense. Together, the stories form a labyrinth of literature known and unknown, alive and extinct, through which two readers pursue the story lines that intrigue them and try to read each other. Deeply profound and surprisingly romantic, this classic is a beautiful meditation on the transformative power of reading and the ways we make meaning in our lives.

A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, andShipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst

Maurice and Maralyn make an odd couple. He’s a loner, awkward and obsessive; she’s charismatic and ambitious. But they share a horror of wasting their lives. And they dream – as we all dream – of running away from it all. What if they quit their jobs, sold their house, bought a boat, and sailed away? Taut, propulsive, and dazzling, A Marriage at Sea pairs an adrenaline-fueled high seas adventure with a gutting love story that asks why we love difficult people, and who we become under the most extreme conditions imaginable.

The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick

Here, in a remote stretch of the California desert, lies an experimental and controversial treatment center that allows those suffering from the heartache of loss to sleep through their pain...and keep on sleeping. A high-concept speculative novel about heartache, hope, and human resilience, The Poppy Fields explores the path of grief and healing, a journey at once profoundly universal and unique to every person, posing the questions: How do we heal in the wake of great loss? And how far are we willing to go in order to be healed?

Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal

Racing toward Vladivostok, we meet the young Aliocha, packed onto a Trans-Siberian train with other Russian conscripts. Soon after boarding, he decides to desert and over a midnight smoke in a dark corridor of the train, he encounters an older French woman, Hélène, for whom he feels an uncanny trust. In mysterious, winding sentences gorgeously translated by Jessica Moore, De Kerangal gives us the story of two unlikely souls entwined in a quest for freedom with a striking sense of tenderness, sharply contrasting the brutality of the surrounding world.

The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse,and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts

In 1954, sixty-three-year-old Maine farmer Annie Wilkins embarked on an impossible journey. She had no money and no family, she had just lost her farm, and her doctor had given her only two years to live. But Annie wanted to see the Pacific Ocean before she died. She ignored her doctor’s advice to move into the county charity home. Instead, she bought a cast-off brown gelding named Tarzan, donned men’s dungarees, and headed south in mid-November, hoping to beat the snow. Annie, Tarzan, and her dog, Depeche Toi, rode straight into a world transformed by the rapid construction of modern highways. Between 1954 and 1956, the three travelers pushed through blizzards, forded rivers, climbed mountains, and clung to the narrow shoulder as cars whipped by them at terrifying speeds. Annie rode more than four thousand miles, through America’s big cities and small towns. Along the way, she met ordinary people and celebrities—from Andrew Wyeth (who sketched Tarzan) to Art Linkletter and Groucho Marx.

Annie appears on Groucho Marx's tv show, You Bet Your Life, in 1956. In this clip, she comes out for her interview at around the 12:20 mark.

Tramps Like Us by Joe Westmoreland (Not available in the JCLC, but you may be able to request this title from Interlibrary Loan)

A treasured cult classic following a young gay man crisscrossing 1970s and ’80s America in search of salvation. Now reissued with an introduction from Eileen Myles and an afterword from the author. Told with openhearted frankness, Joe Westmoreland’s Tramps Like Us is an exuberantly soulful adventure of self-discovery and belonging, set across a consequential American decade. Back in print after two decades and with an introduction by Myles and an afterword by the author, Tramps Like Us is an ode to a nearly lost generation, an autofictional chronicle of America between gay liberation and the AIDS crisis, and an evergreen testament to the force of friendship.

Long Way documentary series staring Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman (consists of the following seasons: Long Way Round, Long WayDown, Long Way Up, and Long Way Home) Explore the complete series at https://www.longway.tv/

This collection of shows is a fascinating, frank and highly entertaining adventure about two friends riding round the world together and, against the odds, realizing their dreams. Riding motorcycles the entire way, exhaustion, injury and accidents tested their strength, while treacherous roads, unpredictable weather and turbulent politics challenged their stamina.

General discussion, not travel related:

A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 by Frederic Morton (Not available in the JCLC, but you may be able to request this title from Interlibrary Loan)

On January 30, 1889, at the champagne-splashed hight of the Viennese Carnival, the handsome and charming Crown Prince Rudolf fired a revolver at his teenaged mistress and then himself. The two shots that rang out at Mayerling in the Vienna Woods echo still. Frederic Morton deftly tells the haunting story of the Prince and his city, where, in the span of only ten months, "the Western dream started to go wrong."

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette’s brilliant and charismatic father captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn’t want the responsibility of raising a family. The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered. The Glass Castle is truly astonishing—a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family.

Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams

In 1911, Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes Mountains of Peru and “discovered” Machu Picchu. While history has recast Bingham as a villain who stole both priceless artifacts and credit for finding the great archeological site, Mark Adams set out to retrace the explorer’s perilous path in search of the truth—except he’d written about adventure far more than he’d actually lived it.

Title descriptions pulled from Amazon.com and p
hoto by Julentto Photography on Unsplash

summer reading

2025-07-02T12:16:00.003-05:00

Upcoming programs:

Monday, July 14 @ 6:30pm – Great Short Stories discussing “My Friend Flicka” by Mary O’Hara REGISTER HERE

Tuesday, July 15 @ 6pm – Adult Summer Reading: Carrie Rollwagen presents “Finding Your Genre”
REGISTER HERE

Tuesday, July 22 @ 6:30pm – Books & Beyond discussing travel writing
REGISTER HERE

Wednesday, July 30 @ 6pm – Adult Summer Reading Finale: DIY Reading Journal Meetup
REGISTER HERE

At the June meeting we had no assigned topic, so participants chatted about anything they’d been listening to, reading, and watching 😊

Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez

New York Times bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez delivers a mesmerizing novel about a first-generation Ivy League student who uncovers the genius work of a female artist decades after her suspicious death. Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love, and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite.

Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim

Ever since she can remember, Vanessa has been able to see people's fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To avoid blurting out their fortunes, she converts to coffee, but somehow fortunes escape and find a way to complicate her life and the ones of those around her. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert from Shanghai.

After her matchmaking appointment, Vanessa sees death for the first time. She decides that she can't truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric Aunt Evelyn shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to California and bonjour to Paris. There, Vanessa learns more about herself and the root of her gifts and realizes one thing to be true: knowing one's destiny isn't a curse, but being unable to change it is.

The Tanglewood Tea Shop by Lilac Mills

Patisserie-Chef Stevie is stuck in a rut. Her beloved Great Aunt Peggy has passed away and she’s lost both her job and the love of her life. Then she gets the call from the solicitor's office about Peggy’s will, and everything changes. When Stevie sees a quirky tea shop up for sale in the beautiful village of Tanglewood, she decides to take Peggy’s advice and turn her life around. But the village isn't as idyllic as it may at first have seemed, and when the gorgeous but grouchy local stable-owner, Nick, shows up he seems like just another fly in the pastry batter…

A Pack for Winter by Emilia Emerson (not available within JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

Ivy Noelle Winter is content with being a 31-year-old unbonded omega with no prospects of a pack. She adores teaching fifth grade, she has wonderful friends — and that baking show marathon isn’t going to watch itself. Until a snowstorm and power outage traps Ivy in her classroom after hours…with three men. Rome, the new alpha music teacher. James, the flirtatious beta vet he’s bonded to. And Logan, the town’s grumpy alpha electrician.

Their scents call to Ivy and her body answers, setting off her first-ever mini heat. When the pheromones settle, she gets a proposition beyond her wildest dreams — a chance to be a pack. But there’s no such thing as a perfect courtship, especially when the biggest roadblock to happiness might be Ivy herself.

A Pack for Autumn by Emilia Emerson (not available within JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

Starlight Grove needs a new Lighthouse Keeper and Olive Autumn Harvest needs a fresh start. Preferably one with as much solitude as possible. So, her new job and isolated ocean cottage is perfect—except for the eccentric, meddling townspeople, and the cat who’s adopted her.

When the town wins a grant for lighthouse restoration, Olive is forced to let the contractors into her space…a company comprised of three hot alphas: Easton, her golden retriever stalker. Lars, the steady, protective viking. And Finn, who’s hiding a pain that matches her own. Suddenly, these guys are everywhere—and they’re completely unfazed by Olive’s prickly personality as they try to care for her, protect her, and court her. But everyone in this relationship is holding on to secrets… and it might not just be the lighthouse that needs restoration.

Gold Rush by R. L. Randolph (not available within JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

Juniper Walden has lived a life of quiet obscurity as a Beta and romance author. When one of her novels gains traction and she’s suddenly trapped in a broken elevator with two strangers the night before her UK book tour, she realizes her future might not be so clear-cut. Seth Harding is a happily bonded Beta, but he can’t get the pretty stranger’s honey-sweet scent out of his head. Imagine his and his Alpha’s surprise when they see her face on the news, because it’s unheard of for a designation to emerge late.

In a world where Omega rights are not their own, Omegas and their golden-hued blood are coveted and exchanged like property because of their rarity. June finds herself stranded in a foreign country, with no legal protection and an oncoming heat to navigate. Her only choice might just be the Beta she keeps meeting by happenstance— and his pack of three Alphas.

Lola and the Millionaires by Kathryn Moon (not available within JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

Lola Barnes only wants one thing, to get her life under control. No more chasing alphas who abuse and toss away betas like her. No more hiding in her cousin’s apartment licking wounds that won’t heal. Armed with her dream job and her less than dreamy apartment, Lola is ready to start a new chapter of her life without alphas.

But that’s easier said than done when one stumbling incident after another leads Lola closer to an alluring pack of captivating men. These alphas are everything Lola dreamed of, but they already have an omega—a playful male model who won’t stop flirting with her. And Lola is only a beta, one who comes with deep scars and an unshakeable aversion to alphas and their powerful presences.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

In her great historical epic Kristin Lavransdatter, set in fourteenth-century Norway, Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset tells the life story of one passionate and headstrong woman. Painting a richly detailed backdrop, Undset immerses readers in the day-to-day life, social conventions, and political and religious undercurrents of the period.

Allegro by Ariel Dorfman

In 1789 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart visits the grave of Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig, looking for a sign, a signal, an answer to an enigma that has haunted him since childhood: Was Bach murdered by a famous oculist? And years later, was Handel a victim of the same doctor? Allegro follows his investigation, from the salons of London to the streets of Paris, recreating an enthralling and turbulent time, full of rogues and brilliant composers, charlatans and presumptuous nobles.

Sgt. Reckless: America’s War Horse by Robin Hutton

She might not have been much to look at—a small "Mongolian mare," they called her—but she came from racing stock, and had the blood of a champion. Much more than that, Reckless became a war hero—in fact, she became a combat Marine, earning staff sergeant's stripes before her retirement to Camp Pendleton. This once famous horse, recognized as late as 1997 by Life Magazine as one of America's greatest heroes—the greatest war horse in American history, in fact—has unfortunately now been largely forgotten.

But author Robin Hutton is set to change all that. Not only has she been the force behind recognizing Reckless with a monument at the National Museum of the Marine Corps and at Camp Pendleton, but she has now recorded the full story of this four-legged war hero who hauled ammunition to embattled Marines and inspired them with her relentless, and reckless, courage.

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes

Lila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in. Her career is in freefall and her love life is . . . complicated. So when her real dad—a man she has barely seen since he ran off to Hollywood thirty-five years ago—suddenly appears on her doorstep, it feels like the final straw. But it turns out even the family you thought you could never forgive might have something to teach you: about love, and what it actually means to be family.

The Sicilian Avengers by Luigi Natoli (Not available within JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

Reminiscent of a Dumas novel, Sicilian Avengers is a vibrant, atmospheric fresco of early eighteenth-century Palermo. Onto the stage of the ancient city, Blasco da Castiglione, a bold, brash, orphan adventurer, arrives on a quest to discover his origins and seek his destiny. But this fearless, swashbuckling D’Artagnan-esque hero unwittingly gets caught up in a devious and murderous succession plot involving a powerful noble family.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region. Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

Black River by Nilanjana Roy (eaudio available on Hoopla; book not available within JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

Offering readers a gripping mystery and a sweeping state-of-the-nation saga, Black River stands as a searing critique of modern India, weaving an intricate narrative that captures the essence of a nation grappling with its own complexities and contradictions.

Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada (Not available within JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

Berlin, 1940, and the city is filled with fear. At the house on 55 Jablonski Strasse, its various occupants try to live under Nazi rule in their different ways: the bullying Hitler loyalists the Persickes, the retired judge Fromm and the unassuming couple Otto and Anna Quangel. Then the Quangels receive the news that their beloved son has been killed fighting in France. Shocked out of their quiet existence, they begin a silent campaign of defiance, and a deadly game of cat and mouse develops between the Quangels and the ambitious Gestapo inspector Escherich. When petty criminals Kluge and Borkhausen also become involved, deception, betrayal and murder ensue, tightening the noose around the Quangels' necks ...

James by Percival Everett

A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view.

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

Philip Ashley's older cousin Ambrose, who raised the orphaned Philip as his own son, has died in Rome. Philip, the heir to Ambrose's beautiful English estate, is crushed that the man he loved died far from home. He is also suspicious. While in Italy, Ambrose fell in love with Rachel, a beautiful English and Italian woman. But the final, brief letters Ambrose wrote hint that his love had turned to paranoia and fear.

Now Rachel has arrived at Philip's newly inherited estate. Could this exquisite woman, who seems to genuinely share Philip's grief at Ambrose's death, really be as cruel as Philip imagined? Or is she the kind, passionate woman with whom Ambrose fell in love? Philip struggles to understand Rachel's intentions, knowing Ambrose's estate, his future, and his sanity, hang in the balance.

Tramps Like Us by Joe Westmoreland (eaudio available on Hoopla; book not available within JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

Told with openhearted frankness, Joe Westmoreland’s Tramps Like Us is an exuberantly soulful adventure of self-discovery and belonging, set across a consequential American decade. In New Orleans and San Francisco, and on the roads in between, Joe and Ali find communities of misfits to call their own. The days and nights blur, a blend of LSD and heroin, new wave and disco, orgies and friends, and the thrilling spontaneity of youth―all of which is threatened the moment Joe, Ali, and seemingly everyone around them are diagnosed with HIV. But miraculously, the stories survive.

Back in print after two decades and with an introduction by Myles and an afterword by the author, Tramps Like Us is an ode to a nearly lost generation, an autofictional chronicle of America between gay liberation and the AIDS crisis, and an evergreen testament to the force of friendship.

The Son of Man by Jean-Baptiste del Amo (eaudio & ebook available on Hoopla)

From the author of the “extraordinary” Animalia (Sunday Times, ebook available on Hoopla), winner of the Republic of Consciousness Prize and finalist for the Lambda Literary Award and Best Translated Book Award, a blazing new novel exploring nature, family, and violence, set on a hostile and glorious mountainside haunted by transgressions of the past.

Slewfoot by Brom

Connecticut, 1666: An ancient spirit awakens in a dark wood. The wildfolk call him Father, slayer, protector. The colonists call him Slewfoot, demon, devil. To Abitha, a recently widowed outcast, alone and vulnerable in her pious village, he is the only one she can turn to for help.

Together, they ignite a battle between pagan and Puritan – one that threatens to destroy the entire village, leaving nothing but ashes and bloodshed in their wake. This terrifying tale of bewitchery features more than two dozen of Brom’s haunting full-color paintings and brilliant endpapers, fully immersing readers in this wild and unforgiving world.

I See You’ve Called in Dead by John Kenney (eaudio available in Hoopla)

Obituary writer Bud Stanley isn’t really living his best life. He’s fallen into a funk after a divorce. (She left him for another man, who, in fairness, was far more interesting.) He’s not doing his job well. He’s given up on dating. And he’s about to be fired for accidentally publishing his own obituary one mildly drunken night (though technically the company can’t legally fire a dead person). As Bud awaits his fate at work, he does the only logical thing: He goes to the wakes and funerals of total strangers to learn how to live again.

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki

Marjorie’s journey began gluing cereal boxes in her father’s barn as a young girl. No one could have predicted that C. W. Post’s Cereal Company would grow into the General Foods empire and reshape the American way of life, with Marjorie as its heiress and leading lady. Not content to stay in her prescribed roles of high-society wife, mother, and hostess, Marjorie dared to demand more, making history in the process. Before turning thirty she amassed millions, becoming the wealthiest woman in the United States. But it was her life-force, advocacy, passion, and adventurous spirit that led to her stunning legacy.

apocalypse WOW

2025-05-28T16:00:00.001-05:00

We have an Adult Summer Reading program this season! Visit our SRP page for all the upcoming happenings!

The next Books & Beyond discussion club will be Tuesday, June 24^th at 6:30pm in the Library’s Conference Room. This is one of our biannual Salon Discussions where there is no assigned topic. Read, watch, and listen to anything you’d like and come share with the group! If you’d rather attend online, register with your email address to receive a Zoom link a week ahead of the meeting: https://oneallibrary.org/event/11282324

This week, BAB met to talk about apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, and dystopian books and films. Read on to see what we chatted about!

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

In Margaret Atwood’s dystopian future, environmental disasters and declining birthrates have led to a Second American Civil War. The result is the rise of the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that enforces rigid social roles and enslaves the few remaining fertile women. Offred is one of these, a Handmaid bound to produce children for one of Gilead’s commanders. Deprived of her husband, her child, her freedom, and even her own name, Offred clings to her memories and her will to survive. At once a scathing satire, an ominous warning, and a tour de force of narrative suspense, The Handmaid’s Tale is a modern classic.

The Last of Us (series)

After a global pandemic destroys civilization, a hardened survivor takes charge of a 14-year-old girl who may be humanity's last hope.

Donate by Emma Ellis (not in the JCLC)

Mae finds herself pregnant in a world where the global population has hit twenty billion, and governments decree that no child may be born without a life being sacrificed in return. With growing unrest and violence towards pregnant women, Mae must navigate a hostile world to secure a future for her unborn child — no matter the cost. When the stakes are so high, how far would you go to protect your family?

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.

Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far-removed from America’s own in this explosive, hotly-anticipated debut.

Rollerball (1975)

The year is 2018 in a futuristic society where corporations have replaced countries. A violent futuristic game known as Rollerball is the recreational sport of the world, with teams representing various areas. One player, Jonathan E., fights for his personal freedom and threatens the corporate control.

Running Man (1987)

In the year 2019, America is a totalitarian state where the favorite television program is "The Running Man" -- a game show in which prisoners must run to freedom to avoid a brutal death. Having been made a scapegoat by the government, an imprisoned Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has the opportunity to make it back to the outside again by being a contestant on the deadly show, although the twisted host, Damon Killian (Richard Dawson), has no intention of letting him escape.

Grievers by Adrienne Maree Brown

Dune’s mother is patient zero of a mysterious illness that stops people in their tracks—in mid-sentence, mid-action, mid-life—casting them into a nonresponsive state from which no one recovers. Dune must navigate poverty and the loss of her mother as Detroit’s hospitals, morgues, and graveyards begin to overflow. As the quarantined city slowly empties of life, she investigates what caused the plague, and what might end it, following in the footsteps of her late researcher father, who has a physical model of Detroit’s history and losses set up in their basement. She dusts it off and begins tracking the sick and dying, discovering patterns, finding comrades in curiosity, conspiracies for the fertile ground of the city, and the unexpected magic that emerges when the debt of grief is cleared.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate. This far from civilization they can do anything they want. Anything. But as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far removed from reality as the hope of being rescued.

Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut

Deadeye Dick is Kurt Vonnegut’s funny, chillingly satirical look at the death of innocence. Amid a true Vonnegutian host of horrors—a double murder, a fatal dose of radioactivity, a decapitation, an annihilation of a city by a neutron bomb—Rudy Waltz, aka Deadeye Dick, takes us along on a zany search for absolution and happiness. Here is a tale of crime and punishment that makes us rethink what we believe . . . and who we say we are.

Viriconium by M. John Harrison (not in the JCLC)

Available to American readers for the first time, this landmark collection gathers four groundbreaking fantasy classics from the acclaimed author of Light. Set in the imagined city of Viriconium, here are the masterworks that revolutionized a genre and enthralled a generation of readers: The Pastel City, A Storm of Wings, In Viriconium, and Viriconium Nights.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore. A novel of breathtaking twists, dizzying beauty, and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us disappears.

All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall

All the Water in the World is told in the voice of a girl gifted with a deep feeling for water. In the years after the glaciers melt, Nonie, her older sister and her parents and their researcher friends have stayed behind in an almost deserted New York City, creating a settlement on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History. The rule: Take from the exhibits only in dire need. They hunt and grow their food in Central Park as they work to save the collections of human history and science. When a superstorm breaches the city’s flood walls, Nonie and her family must escape north on the Hudson. They carry with them a book that holds their records of the lost collections. Racing on the swollen river towards what may be safety, they encounter communities that have adapted in very different and sometimes frightening ways to the new reality. But they are determined to find a way to make a new world that honors all they've saved. Inspired by the stories of the curators in Iraq and Leningrad who worked to protect their collections from war, All the Water in the World is both a meditation on what we save from collapse and an adventure story―with danger, storms, and a fight for survival.

Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

On an ordinary Saturday, Julia awakes to discover that something has happened to the rotation of the earth. The days and nights are growing longer and longer, gravity is affected, the birds, the tides, human behavior and cosmic rhythms are thrown into disarray. In a world of danger and loss, Julia faces surprising developments in herself, and her personal world—divisions widening between her parents, strange behavior by Hannah and other friends, the vulnerability of first love, a sense of isolation, and a rebellious new strength. With crystalline prose and the indelible magic of a born storyteller, Karen Thompson Walker gives us a breathtaking story of people finding ways to go on, in an ever-evolving world.

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

In this revelatory account, Alan Weisman explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; which everyday items may become immortalized as fossils; how copper pipes and wiring would be crushed into mere seams of reddish rock; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, and radio waves may be our most lasting gifts to the universe.

As he shows which human devastations are indelible, and which examples of our highest art and culture would endure longest, Weisman draws on every field of science to present an environmental assessment like no other. This is narrative nonfiction at its finest―one of the most affecting portraits yet of humankind's place on this planet.

How It Ends (2018, Netflix)

Worried about his pregnant fiancée amid a sudden cataclysm, a young lawyer embarks on a dangerous road trip west with his future father-in-law.

The Midnight Sky (2020, Netflix)

A lone scientist in the Arctic races to contact a crew of astronauts returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.

Paradise (series, Hulu)

“Paradise” is set in a serene community inhabited by some of the world’s most prominent individuals. But this tranquility explodes when a shocking murder occurs and a high-stakes investigation unfolds.

The series stars Sterling K. Brown, James Marsden, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Aliyah Mastin and Percy Daggs IV.

Silo (series, Apple TV+)

In a ruined and toxic future, a community exists in a giant underground silo that plunges hundreds of stories deep; there, people live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Based on the Silo Saga novels by Hugh Howey.

Touched by Walter Mosley

Martin Just wakes up one morning after what feels like, and might actually be, a centuries-long sleep with two new innate pieces of knowledge: Humanity is a virus destined to destroy all existence. And he is the Cure.

Martin begins slipping into an alternate consciousness, with new physical strengths, to violently defend his family—the only Black family in their neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles— against pure evil.

High Times in the Low Parliament by Kelly Robson

Lana Baker is Aldgate’s finest scribe, with a sharp pen and an even sharper wit. Gregarious, charming, and ever so eager to please, she agrees to deliver a message for another lovely scribe in exchange for kisses and ends up getting sent to Low Parliament by a temperamental fairy as a result.

As Lana transcribes the endless circular arguments of Parliament, the debates grow tenser and more desperate. Due to long-standing tradition, a hung vote will cause Parliament to flood and a return to endless war. Lana must rely on an unlikely pair of comrades―Bugbite, the curmudgeonly fairy, and Eloquentia, the bewitching human deputy―to save humanity (and maybe even woo one or two lucky ladies), come hell or high water.

Users by Colin Winnette

Miles, a lead creative at a midsize virtual reality company known for its “original experiences,” has engineered a new product called The Ghost Lover. Wildly popular from the outset, the “game” is simple: a user’s simulated life is almost identical to their reality, except they’re haunted by the ghost of an ex-lover.

However, when a shift in the company's strategic vision puts The Ghost Lover at the center of a platform-wide controversy, Miles becomes the target of user outrage, and starts receiving a series of anonymous death threats. Typed notes sealed in envelopes with no postage or return address, these persistent threats push Miles into a paranoid panic, blurring his own sense of reality, catalyzing the collapse of his career, his marriage, and his relationship with his children.

Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama (manga)

In this post-apocalytpic sci-fi story, humanity has been devastated by the bizarre, giant humanoids known as the Titans. Little is known about where they came from or why they are bent on consuming mankind. Seemingly unintelligent, they have roamed the world for years, killing everyone they see. For the past century, what's left of man has hidden in a giant, three-walled city. People believe their 100-meter-high walls will protect them from the Titans, but the sudden appearance of an immense Titan is about to change everything.

Attack on Titan (anime series, 2013)

When man-eating Titans first appeared 100 years ago, humans found safety behind massive walls that stopped the giants in their tracks. But the safety they have had for so long is threatened when a colossal Titan smashes through the barriers, causing a flood of the giants into what had been the humans' safe zone. During the carnage that follows, soldier Eren Jaeger sees one of the creatures devour his mother, which leads him to vow that he will kill every Titan. He enlists some friends who survived to help him, and that group is humanity's last hope for avoiding extinction at the hands of the monsters.

Villainous Things and Villains in Space by C. Rochelle (not available in JCLC)

MM romance between superheros and villains. This is not your kid’s superhero book. This is Sin City and The Boys having a love child with extra spicy Spideypool and is meant for 18+ adults who can handle such things.

Literary Hub recently published a great article discussing nonfiction in this genre: https://lithub.com/nonfiction-against-the-end-of-the-world-an-apocalypse-reading-list

Descriptions pulled from Amazon, Rotten Tomatoes, Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV+.

real books, no cap

2025-05-22T12:15:00.004-05:00

Don’t worry, a real human librarian vetted this list 😊

Pack your pool bag and don’t forget the books!

These 25 new titles are on everyone's hotlist this summer. The wait-times may be long, but I've offered plenty of companion reading suggestions to tide you over in the meantine!

Contact the O’Neal librarians at adult@oneallibrary.org if you need assistance meeting your summer reading goals!

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

Beth and Frank’s marriage is only long and happy because they work diligently to keep their pasts a secret. And they’ve managed to do just that, until one gunshot changes everything. Now Beth’s first love Gabriel is back in their small town and with him is his young son, who’s a startlingly reminder to Beth of the son she lost. As Beth gets more and more tangled in Gabriel’s life, the one she built with Frank comes unraveling, and she will be forced to choose between her past and her future.

This title is experiencing significant wait times in Libby, but try The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield or Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase if you want to read about more dark family secrets while you wait.

The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr

In this moving debut novel set on the west coast of Ireland, a baby boy is discovered on the beach beside a small fishing town in 1973. A fisherman and his family take the baby, Brendan, in as one of their own, and the whole community becomes devoted to the boy.

If you’re waiting on this title, try The Butcher’s Blessing by Ruth Gilligan (eaudio available in Hoopla) or What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad.

The Perfect Divorce by Jeneva Rose

Eleven years after defending her ex-husband, Adam, who was charged with murdering his mistress, Sarah has moved on. But when she files for divorce from her new cheating husband, Bob, DNA evidence emerges in Adam’s case, and police reopen the investigation. And then, the woman Bob had an affair with disappears…

This title has a waitlist on Libby, but there are several of her backlist titles available in eaudio on Hoopla, no lines and no waiting!

The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue

In 1895, a train headed to the Paris Montparnasse station is carrying passengers from all over the world when disaster strikes. From train porters to medical students, and from anarchists to Parliament officials, no one is immune from danger once the wheels of fate begin turning. Don’t miss this captivating read based on true events!

Other ebooks and eaudios by this author are available on Libby and Hoopla! Other great books inspired by true events include Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano and Drood by Dan Simmons.

Parent's Weekend by Alex Finlay

Five college students mysteriously disappear during a festive gathering for their parents, sparking panic and a campus-wide search. As FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller investigates, she uncovers secrets from both the students’ close-knit friend group and their families’ troubled pasts.

While you wait, try some other thrillers like The Dinner by Herman Koch or Bright and Tender Dark by Joanna Pearson.

Nothing Ever Happens Here by Seraphina Nova Glass

Fifteen months after surviving a brutal attack, Shelby Dawson is finally starting to feel safe again — until a threatening note reignites her worst fears. As strange accidents multiply and her best friend’s missing husband becomes a key piece of the puzzle, Shelby races to uncover the truth before someone else vanishes for good.

Many of her backlist titles are available in ebook and eaudio in Hoopla, no lines and no waiting! You may also enjoy the suspense novels of Mary Kubica, Riley Sager, Lucy Foley, and Ruth Ware.

Adventures in the Louvre by Elaine Sciolino

Even if you’ve visited the Louvre in Paris before, you’ll fall in love with it anew through the eyes of Elaine Sciolino, who takes readers on a tour through the museum’s incredible works of art and the people who help create, maintain, and protect them.

Journey to a variety of other museums through story in Metropolitan Stories by Christine Coulson (eaudio available in Hoopla), The Museum of Whales You Will Never See by A. Kendra Greene, or The Feather Thief by Kirk Johnson.

Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice Monroe

In 1908 South Carolina, young Eliza Rivers treasures her days growing up on her family’s estate, but war looms on the horizon in Europe, threatening to endanger even those in her sleepy Lowcountry town. Decades later, Eliza is an octogenarian attempting to preserve her family’s estate — and every decision she makes has consequences that will ripple through generations for years to come.

If family drama is your jam, you may also enjoy Wally Lamb, Helen Simonson, and Dorothea Benton Frank.

Liquid by Mariam Rahmani

When a witty young woman mired in academia comes to the conclusion that it’s more realistic to marry rich than to make it as a professor, she creates a plan to go on 100 dates over the upcoming summer. Her best friend, Adam, isn’t so thrilled by the idea. Yet the narrator’s quest comes to an abrupt halt when a family crisis pulls her to Tehran and causes her to rethink her strategy — and to finally realize what will make her truly happy.

Young women on the cusp of adulthood make a splash in other novels, like Holiday Country by Inci Atrek (ebook available in Hoopla), Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez, and Gabriele by Anne Berest (not yet available in ebook/eudio in the library system).

Kate & Frida by Kim Fay

In 1991, two young women strike up a correspondence that will last for years and change their lives. Frida Rodriguez is newly arrived in Paris, ready to make her way as a war correspondent. Kate Fair is a bookseller in Seattle. Their friendship will transform them, carrying them through romance, tragedy, and the changing world.

This is definitely a book about books and the top recommendation you’ll get from it is Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (ebook & eaudio in Hoopla, no lines and no waiting) and M.F.K. Fisher (some also in Hoopla)! Other titles by Kim Fay are available on Libby.

See How They Fall by Rachel Paris (not yet available in the library system)

Skye’s not comfortable with her husband’s family billions, but she tries to make it work for their daughter. When her father-in-law dies, his luxury goods empire isn’t split among the three sons as expected — instead, an illegitimate heir appears to claim it. The family gathers at their seaside estate to meet the newcomer, but the weekend goes terribly wrong… As Sergeant Mei O’Connor works alongside Skye to unearth answers, they discover the dark secrets of the ultrarich.

If dark-secrets-of-the-ultrarich is your reading jam, definitely try The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins! Also of note, Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, and The Club by Ellery Lloyd.

The Gods Time Forgot by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez

In Gilded Age New York, Rua has no memory of her life, so when she’s mistaken for the wealthy, notorious Emma Harrington, she plays along. When she meets Irish lord Finn Donore at a society party, sparks fly — but Finn and Rua soon realize those sparks represent an old, magical connection. Slowly, Rua uncovers her lost memories, but every revelation deepens the mystery of their shared past…

For mistaken identity minus the fantasy, try Allie Larkin’s Why Can’t I Be You. A newer fantasy series launch may capture your imagination, The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig!

Matriarch by Tina Knowles

From her childhood in Galveston, Texas, to raising Beyoncé and Solange Knowles, Tina Knowles has impressed many with her tenacity, ambition, and wisdom. She grew up determined to live in a better world, one where a talented girl could thrive without the limitations placed on her due to her race or upbringing. Businesswoman, fashion designer, art collector, activist — Knowles has quite the list of titles, but, as she relates in this memoir, the role she values most is her place within her own family.

Other books about strong women and mothers include Dirtbag Queen by Andy Corren, Blood by Allison Moorer, Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, and Sara and Eleanor by Jan Pottker (ebook available in Hoopla).

Insignificant Others by Sarah Jio

Lena’s expecting her boyfriend of two years to propose, so when she’s instead left heartbroken, she heads to her aunt’s house for comfort. To her surprise, she wakes in Paris — and finds herself married to a man from her past. Next, she’s in Ireland, then New York, each time with a former love interest. Could one of them be the one?

Exploring how different choices would create different lives is something that Rebecca Serle and Matt Haig do very well!

Just Our Luck by Denise Williams

Sybil Sweet is determined to change her life — and that means both buying a lottery ticket for $250 million and hooking up with Kieran Anderson, a med student running his family’s struggling bakery. But when Sybil leaves her lottery ticket behind with Kieran — and it turns out to have the winning number — the two of them wind up in a fake relationship as they try to sort out their finances, baked goods, and hearts.

Poolside reading and romance go together like peanut butter and jam! Try It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake by Claire Christian (ebook/eaudio available in Hoopla), or any books by Lyla Sage, Christina Lauren, Tessa Bailey, or Piper Rayne.

Francine’s Spectacular Crash and Burn by Renee Swindle (not yet in the library system)

After Francine Stevenson rescues 10-year-old Davie from bullies, she’s surprised when he continues to show up on her doorstep. Soon, they strike up an unusual friendship, and Francine knows she must introduce herself to Davie’s foster mom — who turns out to be Jeanette, Francine’s high school crush. As Francine tries to navigate the sticky situation she’s found herself in, she learns to draw on her own inner strength in a way she never has before.

Until we can get this one on the shelf, try Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake, The Pairing by Casey McQuiston, or Trouble by Lex Croucher.

The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien

When Lina and her father flee their home, they arrive at The Sea — a strange place where time and space have folded in on themselves. Lina’s neighbors come from Tang Dynasty China, 17th-century Amsterdam, and 1930s Germany. When Lina’s father takes ill and begins telling Lina the truth about his past and their need to flee their home, her perception of everything changes.

Liminal spaces abound in these great reads: The Wandering Season by Aimie K. Runyan, The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young, Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, and Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.

Summer Light on Nantucket by Nancy Thayer

Forty-five-year-old Blythe Benedict may be newly divorced, but she’s managing her four children and career just fine from their Boston home. The family’s annual summer trip to Nantucket is always a welcome escape, but this year it proves to be filled with drama in the form of everything from teenage outbursts to shocking secrets involving her ex — not to mention a couple of handsome suitors. This beach vacation won’t be like any other, but with the strength of her family and friends, it just might be Blythe’s best summer yet!

Families, warts and all, are on full display in full-hearted reads like We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes, Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead, and the novels of Elizabeth Berg.

This Dog Will Change Your Life by Elias Weiss Friedman

Elias Weiss Friedman, known as The Dogist, has spent a lifetime living with, documenting, and appreciating dogs. Here, he offers a deceptively simple suggestion: Dogs make our lives better. To support this, he offers a myriad of dog stories — about dogs he’s known intimately, dogs he’s met, and dogs in general — which underscore the fact that dogs have a strong tendency to help us strive for betterment, increase our empathy, and give us a reason to get up in the morning. This book will give you a greater appreciation for man’s best friend.

Meet some of the bestest boys in the novel The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, and the memoirs Marley and Me by John Grogan and James Herriot's Dog Stories.

The Fourth Girl: A Novel by Wendy Corsi Staub

In 1997, teens Talia, Caroline, Kelly, and Midge are best friends in the peaceful town of Mulberry Bay, New York. They each have big plans for their future — but on prom night, Caroline disappears, and three years later the surviving friends are estranged and hiding a secret — a secret so dark it has poisoned their young lives. Decades later, when Caroline’s old boyfriend, Gordy, turns up dead, Midge — now a detective — launches an investigation. She soon has reason to believe that they didn’t bury the past’s secrets deep enough — and they may be coming back to haunt them all.

These may have a short wait, but also try Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera or God of the Woods by Liz Moore.

Lethal Prey by John Sandford

Sandford’s latest Lucas Davenport thriller focuses on a very cold case: Twenty years ago, accountant Doris Grandfelt was stabbed to death. Her body was found at a park near St. Paul, Minnesota, but the exact location of the murder was never determined. Despite her best efforts, Doris’s sister Lara couldn’t persuade the authorities to keep working on the case. After a terminal diagnosis, Lara decides to go all in: She uploads the entire case file to every true crime podcast or blogger she can find and offers a $5 million award. As clues and tips flood in, Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are brought in — but soon realize the killer is watching everything.

Follow the clues and solve the cold case in these stellar novels as well: All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers, Red River Road by Anna Downes, and Head Cases by John McMahon.

The River Knows Your Name by Kelly Mustian

For decades, Nell has kept a secret buried in the pages of Jane Eyre — a birth record revealing that she does not share the same mother as her sister, Evie. As Nell digs into their past, hazy childhood memories lead to a shocking truth hidden in Depression-era Mississippi. Dual storylines converge as buried secrets come to light in this tale of betrayal and redemption.

Secret births, dark pasts, family secrets....find them all in these: The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods, The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, and Chord of Evil by Sarah Rayne (ebook available in Hoopla).

The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel

Colette Marceau learns everything she knows about being a thief from her Parisian mother, Annabel… including only stealing from the corrupt and giving the profits to the needy. But in 1942, Annabel is arrested by the Nazis and executed, and the body of Colette’s younger sister is found in the Seine. Years later, a bracelet that belonged to Colette’s sister is shown in a Boston museum exhibit — and it might lead Annabel to the answers she’s been seeking about her past…

I love a museum, any museum. In addition to the suggestions listed earlier for Adventures in the Louvre, try The Stolen Queen by Fiona Barton, Relic by Douglas Preston, and The Museum Detective by Maha Khan Phillips.

The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes

In order to save her reputation in the backlash of a political scandal, editor Millie Lang is reassigned to work in Montana to produce travel guides. Millie is soon wrapped up in a local mystery involving the Boxcar Library, an organization created to circulate books amongst the wide-spread mining towns. A miner’s daughter, Collette Durand, has disappeared — and suspicious evidence points to the apparent involvement of librarian Alice Monroe. This novel, based on a true story, is the latest from the author of The Librarian of Burned Books.

If you haven’t read The Librarian of Burned Books, the ebook and eaudio are available on Hoopla. Also worth mentioning are The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Richardson and The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes.

Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan

Years into the future, the formerly bustling city of San Francisco has been flooded, the majority of its inhabitants having either died or fled long ago. Bo, a struggling artist, finds unexpected purpose when she becomes the caregiver for Mia, a 130-year-old woman who refuses to leave their disappearing city. As their bond deepens, Bo rediscovers her artistic calling — and learns profound lessons about memory, loss, and what it truly means to put down roots.

In the subgenre of Cli-Fi (climate fiction), All the Waterin the World by Eiren Caffall, Private Rites by Julia Armfield, and Wild DarkShore by Charlotte McConaghy are also excellent. They are new as well and may also be a bit difficult to get hold of right now, so look for Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker or The Naming Song by Jedediah Berry.

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff

Follow four generations of the Texas Bright family in this engaging saga. When Lillian and Ryan marry, they’re both keeping secrets from each other: Lillian has a son already, and Ryan is addicted to alcohol. Their daughter, Georgette, tries to separate from her parents, but when Lillian’s son reappears, Georgette must truly consider the meaning of forgiveness and family.

Other family sagas of note include The Son by Philipp Meyer and Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. More brutally beautiful (or beautifully brutal?) are Animalia and Son of Man, both by Jean-Baptiste del Amo, and Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pedersen.

The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

A lottery winner with a failing heart, PJ Halliday sets off on a cross-country road trip to reunite with his high school crush — but his plans take an unexpected turn when he becomes the guardian of his estranged brother’s orphaned grandchildren. Joined by his adult daughter and a death-predicting cat, PJ sets out on a journey that could give him a second chance at love and family.

From road trips to journeys of growth, these other titles will also move you: How Does that Make You Feel, Magda Eklund? By Anna Montegue, How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Doktorski (YA and oh so fun!), and The Guncle by Steven Rowley.

The Tenant by Freida McFadden

When Blake Porter’s boss at his advertising firm dies by suicide, Blake gets a big promotion. To celebrate, he and his fiancée, Krista, purchase an expensive brownstone. When Blake is laid off almost as soon as they close on the house, they’re plunged into financial crisis. Against their better judgment, they decide to rent out the spare bedroom to make ends meet, feeling lucky when bright, affable Whitney Cross signs a lease. But their relief soon curdles as Whitney becomes increasingly hostile and unpleasant, and Blake begins to wonder if she’s a sociopath — but is Blake himself all that he seems?

When rentals go horribly, terribly wrong! For more thrilling and chilling stories of rogue housemates, try The Tenant by Roland Topor, The Quiet Tenant by Clemence Michallon, and Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch.

Swept Away by Beth O’Leary

When their one-night stand turns into a nautical nightmare, Zeke and Lexi wake up adrift on an untethered houseboat. With limited supplies and endless hours together, survival isn’t their only challenge… falling in love might just be the riskiest part of it all! Jodi Picoult raves: “Suffice to say I drowned — happily — in this book.”

Close quarters in a boat also bring Daisy and Theo together in the sweet romance, New Beginnings at Wildflower Lock by Hannah Lynn. Hannah Lynn's complete catalog is availabe in ebook and eaudio on Hoopla.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick (ebook and eaudio are available in Hoopla, no lines and no waiting!)

Margaret Ryan’s suburban life in 1960s Virginia seems picture-perfect, but she still feels an inexplicable sense of discontentment. When intriguing new neighbor Charlotte Gustafson moves to the area, Margaret engineers a book club to find reasons to bond with her, leading to a year that the women in their quiet neighborhood won’t likely forget.

Women banding together makes for compelling narratives in these titles as well: The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods (ebook and eaudio on Hoopla!), Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (ebook and eaudio on Hoopla!), The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, and Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid.

What Is Wrong with You? By Paul Rudnick

A collection of quirky characters all head to a billionaire’s destination wedding on a private island. Each and every one of them just wants to celebrate with the lucky couple, have a good time — and maybe discover why they haven’t found love themselves.

If a bad mood cure is what you’re after, also try The Schoolof Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister, I See You’ve Called in Dead by John Kenney (eaudio available in Hoopla, no lines and no waiting!), and My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith.

Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein

Every summer, a charming lake house in Maine is visited in turn by Vivian Levy and Lucy Webster — half sisters who don’t know the other exists. After their father’s death, each woman is shocked to find the other grieving at the cabin. They both must face the betrayals of their parents’ pasts… and discover how to build a new kind of family for the future.

Catch up on some Orenstein's backlist titles in eaudio on Hoopla! Explore more of the Maine scenery or complicated family relationships in these: Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan, The Half Sister by Sandie Jones, Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, and Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie.

Passion Project by London Sperry

Grieving and directionless, Bennet Taylor feels stuck after the death of her first love. When she drunkenly confesses to the man she stood up that she’s not ready to date, Henry Adams proposes a challenge: Every Saturday, they’ll try an activity to help her rediscover passion. As their adventures push Bennet out of her comfort zone, her connection with Henry grows deeper…

Relationship-forward and poignant, these are also very empathetic tales: Sipsworth by Simon van Booy (ebook and eaudio on Hoopla), Weekends with You by Alexandra Paige (ebook and eaudio on Hoopla), P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern (ebook and eaudio on Hoopla), The Life List by Lori Spielman, and The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin (ebook and eaudio on Hoopla).

https://www.bookbub.com/blog/new-books-to-read-by-the-pool-2025

reading the law

2025-04-30T13:37:00.001-05:00

Upcoming O’Neal Library events for adults:

Saturday, May 10th 10am-noon: Crafterday, bring your own craft and visit with fellow crafters

Saturday, May 10th 3-5:30pm: Great Short Stories on Film presents Minority Report (PG13/2h25m)

Monday, May 12th 6:30-7:30pm: Great Short Stories discussing “Minority Report” by Philip K. Dick

Tuesday, May 27th 6:30-8pm: Books & Beyond discussing dystopian/apocalyptic/postapocalyptic books and films

This week, the Books & Beyond Discussion Club met to chat about books, films, and podcasts with legal themes.

The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt

In 1951, a monumental book by a relatively unknown German-Jewish émigré addressed the terrifying new mode of political organization underlying the twin horrors of Stalinism and Nazism. Herself a refugee from Nazi persecution, Hannah Arendt sought, from her exile in New York City, to answer the unfathomable questions raised by the Soviet gulag and the Holocaust: How could there be such barbarism in the midst of civilization? How had governments exerted such absolute control over citizens, terrorizing them and enlisting them to commit atrocities on their behalf?

Conclave by Robert Harris

The best-selling author of Enigma and Fatherland turns to today's Vatican in a ripped-from-the-headlines novel and gives us his most ambitious, pause-resisting thriller yet - where the power of God is nearly equaled by the ambition of men.

Conclave (Rated PG, 2h0m)

CONCLAVE follows one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events -- selecting the new Pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence uncovers a trail of deep secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake, secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church.

Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum

Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 2004
Applebaum intimately recreates what life was like in Soviet concentration camps and links them to the larger history of the Soviet Union. Immediately recognized as a landmark and long-overdue work of scholarship, Gulag is an essential book for anyone who wishes to understand the history of the 20th century.

The Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956 by Anne Applebaum

In the long-awaited follow-up to her Pulitzer Prize-winning Gulag, acclaimed journalist Anne Applebaum delivers a groundbreaking history of how Communism took over Eastern Europe after World War II and transformed in frightening fashion the individuals who came under its sway.

The Grim Reaper’s Lawyer by Mea Monique

When having to decide between spending her afterlife in hell or as the Grim Reaper’s Lawyer, it's not even a hard choice for Joyce Parker. Of course she’d choose hell. Joyce thought her prayers were finally answered when her client killed her. Yes, she knows, it's morbid. But, so is being a lawyer. Now dead, Joyce thought it was blue skies, angel wings, mimosas and Jesus. Well, she was embarrassingly wrong. The insufferable, but good-looking Grim Reaper needs a favor. He needs her to represent him in the newly formed Reaper’s Court. That is, of course, if she wants to go to heaven rather than to hell, which is exactly where she was heading.

What starts off as a favor turns into a whirlwind of chaos with Joyce and the Grim Reaper being in the center of it all. Not only does Joyce have to help the grumpy Reaper, but she also has to save the whole Afterworld—a job she most definitely did not sign up for. Joyce’s life on earth was boring, but her afterlife ends up being the most alive she’s ever felt. Trials, secrets, evil reapers, missing souls, traitors, stolen mimosas and unexpected romance—all the elements for one hell (literally) of a life after death.

PODCASTS

-You’re Wrong About (The McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case)

Mike tells Sarah how a tragic story became a national punchline and a decades-long moral panic. Digressions include a sympathetic psychic, a paternalistic principal and a manure mishap. Mike appears to be unaware of the difference between a cousin and a nephew.

-70 Million (A Special Court Keeping Native Americans Out of Jail)

Kirsten made her way out of jail and addiction with the help of a special court on the Penobscot Nation reservation in Maine. There, culture and justice work together to bypass traditional punitive measures for more restorative ones. Reporter Lisa Bartfai visits the Healing to Wellness Court to see how it all works.

-Slow Burn (10 seasons available)

Slow Burn illuminates America’s most consequential moments, making sense of the past to better understand the present. Through archival tape and first-person interviews, the series uncovers the surprising events and little-known characters lurking within the biggest stories of our time.

-This Land (Season 2)

Host Rebecca Nagle reports on how the far right is using Native children to attack American Indian tribes and advance a conservative agenda.

-5-4 (190 episodes available)

5-4 is a progressive and occasionally profane take on the ideological battles at the heart of the Court’s most important landmark cases; an irreverent tour of all of the ways in which the law is shaped by politics.

The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter

Talcott Garland is a successful law professor, devoted father, and husband of a beautiful and ambitious woman, whose future desires may threaten the family he holds so dear. When Talcott’s father, Judge Oliver Garland, a disgraced former Supreme Court nominee, is found dead under suspicioius circumstances, Talcott wonders if he may have been murdered. Guided by the elements of a mysterious puzzle that his father left, Talcott must risk his marriage, his career and even his life in his quest for justice. Superbly written and filled with memorable characters, The Emperor of Ocean Park is both a stunning literary achievement and a grand literary entertainment.

The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen L. Carter

Stephen L. Carter’s thrilling new novel takes as its starting point an alternate history: President Abraham Lincoln survives the assassination attempt at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Two years later he is charged with overstepping his constitutional authority, both during and after the Civil War, and faces an impeachment trial.... Here is a vividly imagined work of historical fiction that captures the emotional tenor of post-Civil War America, a brilliantly realized courtroom drama that explores the always contentious question of the nature of presidential authority, and a galvanizing story of political suspense.

Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy by Stephen L. Carter

Taking inspiration from the Abolitionist sermons of the nineteenth century, Carter proposes to rebuild our public and private lives around the fundamental rule that we must love our neighbors, a tenet of all the world's great religions. Drawing on such diverse disciplines as law, theology, and psychology, he investigates many of the fundamental institutions of society-including the family, churches, and schools-and illustrates how each one must do more to promote the virtue of civility.aThrough it all, Carter emphasizes that loving our neighbors has little to do with how we feel and everything to do with how we choose to act. The true test of civility is whether out of love and concern for others, we will discipline our individual desires and work for the common good.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

This 1942 novella is the first of Camus' novels published in his lifetime. The story follows Meursault, an indifferent settler in French Algeria, who, weeks after his mother's funeral, kills an unnamed Arab man in Algiers.

The Law of Similars by Chris Bohjalian

When one of homeopath Carissa Lake's patients falls into an allergy-induced coma, possibly due to her prescribed remedy, Leland Fowler's office starts investigating the case. But Leland is also one of Carissa's patients, and he is begining to realize that he has fallen in love with her. As love and legal obligations collide, Leland comes face-to-face with an ethical dilemma of enormous proportions. Graceful, intelligent, and suspenseful, The Law of Similars is a powerful examination of the links between hope and hubris, love and deception.

The Anatomy of a Fall (Rated R, 2h 30m)

For the past year, Sandra, her husband Samuel, and their eleven-year-old son Daniel have lived a secluded life in a remote town in the French Alps. When Samuel is found dead in the snow below their chalet, the police question whether he was murdered or committed suicide. Samuel's suspicious death is presumed murder, and Sandra becomes the main suspect. What follows is not just an investigation into the circumstances of Samuel's death but an unsettling psychological journey into the depths of Sandra and Samuel's conflicted relationship.

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

Murder on Shades Mountain: The Legal Lynching of Willie Peterson and the Struggle for Justice in Jim Crow Birmingham by Melanie Morrison

One August night in 1931, on a secluded mountain ridge overlooking Birmingham, Alabama, three young white women were brutally attacked. The sole survivor, Nell Williams, age eighteen, said a black man had held the women captive for four hours before shooting them and disappearing into the woods. That same night, a reign of terror was unleashed on Birmingham's black community: black businesses were set ablaze, posses of armed white men roamed the streets, and dozens of black men were arrested in the largest manhunt in Jefferson County history. Weeks later, Nell identified Willie Peterson as the attacker who killed her sister Augusta and their friend Jennie Wood. With the exception of being black, Peterson bore little resemblance to the description Nell gave the police. An all-white jury convicted Peterson of murder and sentenced him to death.

Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution by Diane McWhorter

A Pulitzer Prize-winning, dramatic account of the Civil Rights Era’s climactic battle in Birmingham as the movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., brought down the institutions of segregation.

Children of Darkness and Light: Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell: A Story of Murderous Faith by Lori Hellis

A blonde beauty queen, missing children, six suspicious deaths, and the twisted Mormon doomsday writings of her fifth husband are only the beginning of a tragic crime saga that gripped Americans and instigated frantic searches all over the country. Clinging to and manipulating one another, Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell believed the return of Jesus Christ was imminent and that God had chosen them to lead the 144,000 and usher in the new millennium. When the people closest to them began dying, it became clear they would stop at nothing to be together and fulfill their mission. When the bodies of Lori’s missing children—J.J. and Tylee—were discovered in Chad’s backyard, the strange and complex story of their fundamentalist Mormon beliefs were revealed in all their true horror.

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

Exploding the myth of de facto segregation arising from private prejudice or the unintended consequences of economic forces, Rothstein describes how the American government systematically imposed residential segregation: with undisguised racial zoning; public housing that purposefully segregated previously mixed communities; subsidies for builders to create whites-only suburbs; tax exemptions for institutions that enforced segregation; and support for violent resistance to African Americans in white neighborhoods. A groundbreaking, “virtually indispensable” study that has already transformed our understanding of twentieth-century urban history (Chicago Daily Observer),
The Color of Law forces us to face the obligation to remedy our unconstitutional past.

Item descriptions pulled from Amazon, Rotten Tomatoes, and podcast aggregator sites.

art fact and fiction

2025-03-26T10:52:00.000-05:00

The next Books & Beyond (BAB) meeting is on Tuesday, April 29^th at 6:30pm and the topic up for discussion will be law/legal books and films.

If you’d rather attend online, register for a Zoom link: https://oneallibrary.org/event/11282322

If you’re looking for suggestions, visit the Shelf Care page of the Library’s website and scroll down to the Books & Beyond row: https://oneallibrary.org/adults---reading-recommendations

Last night, BAB met to discuss books and films about art topics!

Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Wassily Kandinsky

(The BAB participant noted that this was an incredibly academic title.)
Featuring an enlightening introduction by the book's translator, Michael T. H. Sadler, providing generational and cultural context for Kandinsky and his work, Concerning the Spiritual in Art gives testimony to the mind and creative expression of Kandinsky and other artists of his generation. This seminal and thought-provoking book exploring the heart of the artistic endeavor belongs in the library of every serious artist and student of modern art.

Understanding Art: The Hidden Lives of Masterpieces

Works are removed from their frames and set up for curators, historians, restorers and scientists to view and discuss freely. The five major artists whose pieces are examined include: Raphael, Rembrandt, Poussin, Watteau and Leonardo.

The Art Detective: Fakes, Frauds, and Finds and the Search for Lost Treasures by Philip Mould

What separates a masterpiece from a piece of junk? Thanks to the BBC's Antiques Roadshow and its American spin-off, everyone is searching garage sales and hunting online for hidden gems, wondering whether their attics contain trash or treasures. In The Art Detective, Philip Mould, one of the world's foremost authorities on British portraiture and an irreverent and delightful expert for the Roadshow, serves up his secrets and his best stories, blending the technical details of art detection and restoration with juicy tales peopled by a range of eccentric collectors, scholars, forgers, and opportunists.

Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay

Roman emperors used to wear togas dyed with a purple color that was made from an odorous Lebanese shellfish–which probably meant their scent preceded them. In the eighteenth century, black dye was called logwood and grew along the Spanish Main. Some of the first indigo plantations were started in America, amazingly enough, by a seventeen-year-old girl named Eliza. And the popular van Gogh painting White Roses at Washington’s National Gallery had to be renamed after a researcher discovered that the flowers were originally done in a pink paint that had faded nearly a century ago. Color is full of extraordinary people, events, and anecdotes–painted all the more dazzling by Finlay’s engaging style.

Stealing the Mystic Lamb: The True Story of the World’s Most Coveted Masterpiece by Noah Charney

Jan van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece is on any art historian's list of the ten most important paintings ever made. Often referred to by the subject of its central panel, The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, it represents the fulcrum between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It is also the most frequently stolen artwork of all time. In this fast-paced, real-life thriller, art historian Noah Charney unravels the stories of each of these thefts. In the process, he illuminates the whole fascinating history of art crime, and the psychological, ideological, religious, political, and social motivations that have led many men to covet this one masterpiece above all others.

What the Ermine Saw: The Extraordinary Journey of Leonardo da Vinci’s Most Mysterious Portrait by Eden Collinsworth

Five hundred and thirty years ago, a young woman sat before a Grecian-nosed artist known as Leonardo da Vinci. Her name was Cecilia Gallerani, and she was the young mistress of Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan. Sforza was a brutal and clever man who was mindful that Leonardo’s genius would not only capture Cecilia’s beguiling beauty but also reflect the grandeur of his title. But when the portrait was finished, Leonardo’s brush strokes had conveyed something deeper by revealing the essence of Cecilia’s soul. Even today, The Woman with an Ermine manages to astonish.

Despite the work's importance in its own time, no records of it have been found for the two hundred and fifty years that followed Gallerani’s death. Readers of The Hare with the Amber Eyes will marvel at Eden Collinsworth’s dexterous story of illuminates the eventual history of this unique masterpiece, as it journeyed from one owner to the next–from the portrait’s next recorded owner, a Polish noblewoman, who counted Benjamin Franklin as an admirer, to its exile in Paris during the Polish Soviet War, to its return to WWII-era Poland where—in advance of Germany’s invasion—it remained hidden behind a bricked-up wall by a housekeeper who defied Hitler’s edict that it be confiscated as one of the Reich’s treasures.

My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

At once a fiendishly devious mystery, a beguiling love story, and a brilliant symposium on the power of art, My Name Is Red is a transporting tale set amid the splendor and religious intrigue of 16th-century Istanbul, from one of the most prominent contemporary Turkish writers.

The Sultan has commissioned a cadre of the most acclaimed artists in the land to create a great book celebrating the glories of his realm. Their task: to illuminate the work in the European style. But because figurative art can be deemed an affront to Islam, this commission is a dangerous proposition indeed. The ruling elite therefore mustn't know the full scope or nature of the project, and panic erupts when one of the chosen miniaturists disappears. The only clue to the mystery - or crime? - lies in the half-finished illuminations themselves. Part fantasy and part philosophical puzzle, My Name is Red is a kaleidoscopic journey to the intersection of art, religion, love, sex, and power.

Anita De Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez

In 1985 Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isn’t. By 1998 Anita’s name has been all but forgotten—certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student is preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by privileged students whose futures are already paved out for them, Raquel feels like an outsider. Students of color, like her, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret.

But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita’s story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist. Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love, and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite.

Gabriele by Anne Berest (this title will be published April 22, 2025)

The year is 1908, the height of the Belle Époque, and a brilliant, young French woman named Gabriële, newly graduated from the most elite music school in Europe, meets a volcanic Spanish artist named Francis. Following a whirlwind romance, they marry and fall headlong into a Paris that is experimenting with new forms of living, thinking, and creating. Soon after marrying Francis, Gabriële meets Marcel, another young artist, five years her junior. Soon, Francis, Marcel, and Gabriële are all involved in a fervent affair that will change the course of art history and redefine the avant-garde.

As the Belle Epoque gives way to rebellion and revolution, and the world descends into the devastation of World War I, Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp, and Gabriële Buffet revolutionize art and open up new ways of seeing and thinking, along the way posing a vital question for their age and ours: what is the connection between new ways loving and new ways of creating?

Moving between Paris, New York, Berlin, Zurich, Barcelona, London, and Saint-Tropez, Gabriële is as audacious, uninhibited, intimate, and unforgettable as its central character, the mercurial, pioneering Gabriële Buffet.

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Italy, 1347. While Brother William of Baskerville is investigating accusations of heresy at a wealthy abbey, his inquiries are disrupted by a series of bizarre deaths. Turning his practiced detective skills to finding the killer, he relies on logic (Aristotle), theology (Thomas Aquinas), empirical insights (Roger Bacon), and his own wry humor and ferocious curiosity. With the aid of his young apprentice, William scours the abbey, from its stables to the labyrinthine library, piecing together evidence, and deciphering cryptic symbols and coded manuscripts to uncover the truth about this place where "the most interesting things happen at night." Adapted to a famed film starring Sean Connery.

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlow, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient, Marlow finds that order destroyed. Desperate to understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert Edsel

At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. The Fuhrer had begun cataloguing the art he planned to collect as well as the art he would destroy: "degenerate" works he despised. In a race against time, behind enemy lines, often unarmed, a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others, called the Monuments Men, risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture. Focusing on the eleven-month period between D-Day and V-E Day, this fascinating account follows six Monuments Men and their impossible mission to save the world's great art from the Nazis. Adapted to a famed film starring George Clooney.

Leviathan by Paul Auster (not available in the JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

“Six days ago, a man blew himself up by the side of a road in northern Wisconsin.” So begins Peter Aaron’s story about his best friend, Benjamin Sachs. Sachs had a marriage Aaron envied, an intelligence he admired, a world he shared. And then suddenly, after a near-fatal fall that might or might not have been intentional, Sachs disappeared. Now Aaron must piece together the life that led to Sach’s death. His sole aim is to tell the truth and preserve it—before those who are investigating the case invent an account of their own.

Loving Vincent (2017)

Mystery surrounds the death of famed painter Vincent van Gogh in 1890 France.

---

If, like me, you found yourself curious about Noah Charney and The Association for Research into Crimes Against Art, learn more here: https://www.artcrimeresearch.org/our-work/

Title descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes.

literary magical realism

2025-02-27T16:59:00.001-05:00

The next Books & Beyond (BAB) social group will meet on Tuesday, March 25th at 6:30pm and the topic up for discussion is art. Novels, nonfiction, biography, and film are all encouraged! If you’d rather attend online, click here to register for a Zoom link.

This week, BAB met to discuss a literary style, magical realism!

Betrayed by Rita Hayworth by Manuel Puig (not available in the JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

When it appeared in 1968, Manuel Puig’s debut—a portrait of the artist as a child in small-town Argentina—was hailed as revolutionary. Borrowing from the language of "true romance" and movie magazines, the techniques of American modernism, and Hollywood montage, Puig created an exuberant queer aesthetic while also celebrating the secret lives of women.

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman: Stories by Haruki Murakami

Here are animated crows, a criminal monkey, and an ice man, as well as the dreams that shape us and the things we might wish for. From the surreal to the mundane, these stories exhibit Murakami’s ability to transform the full range of human experience in ways that are instructive, surprising, and entertaining.

The Charmed Wife by Olga Grushin

Cinderella wants her Prince Charming dead in this sophisticated fairy-tale for the twenty-first century.

Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian

A magical realist coming-of-age story, Gold Diggers skewers the model minority myth to tell a hilarious and moving story about immigrant identity, community, and the underside of ambition.

La Dalma del Elba (The Lady of Dawn) by Alejandro Casona (Download a California State University thesis translation from the original Spanish in PDF)

A Spanish play written by playwright Alejandro Casona, first performed in 1944. The play takes place in a small unnamed Spanish town (believed to be the author's) on the fourth anniversary of the day Angelica, the eldest daughter of the local Narces family, died by drowning in a river, just days after getting married. Since they never found the body, no proper burial could be performed and her death still haunts her loved ones. Then, a mysterious woman, known only as The Pilgrim, comes along. Since it is believed that hosting religious pilgrims brings blessings, they allow her to stay. Then the old man remembers who she is: Death herself, whom he met when several men died in a mining accident several years before. He pleads with her not to claim another member of the family, but she explains she has no choice in the matter. However, since she overslept, she now cannot claim her target- Martin, Angelica's widower. She leaves, but warns that she will return in 'seven moons'- on the Day of Saint John, a local holiday.

Ask Baba Yaga by Taisia Kitaiskala (not available in the JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

With a strange, otherworldly style, poetic clarity, and striking honesty, Ask Baba Yaga contains beautifully skewed wisdom to be consulted in times of need.

Pony Confidential by Christina Lynch

In this one-of-a-kind mystery with heart and humor, a hilariously grumpy pony must save the only human he’s ever loved after discovering she stands accused of a murder he knows she didn’t commit.

The Swarm by Frank Schatzing

Whales begin sinking ships. Toxic eyeless crabs poison Long Island’s water supply. Around the world, countries are beginning to feel the effects of the ocean’s revenge. In this riveting novel, full of twists, turns, and cliffhangers, a team of scientists discovers a strange, intelligent life force called the Yrr that takes form in marine animals in order to wreak havoc on man for his abuses. The Day After Tomorrow meets The Abyss in his gripping, scientifically realist, utterly imaginative thriller. With the compellingly creepy and vivid skill of this author to evoke story, character, and place, Frank Schatzing’s book are certain to find a home with fans of Michael Crichton.

Sister Snake by Amanda Lee Koe

Sisterhood is difficult for Su and Emerald. Su leads a sheltered, moneyed life as the picture-perfect wife of a conservative politician in Singapore. Emerald is a nihilistic sugar baby in New York, living from whim to whim and using her charms to make ends meet. But they share a secret: once, they were snakes, basking under a full moon in Tang dynasty China. Razor-sharp, hilarious, and raw in emotion, Sister Snake explores chosen family, queerness, passing, and the struggle against conformity. Reimagining the Chinese folktale “The Legend of the White Snake,” this is a novel about being seen for who you are—and, ultimately, how to live free.

Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg

First published in 1992, Smilla's Sense of Snow instantly became an international sensation. When caustic Smilla Jaspersen discovers that her neighbor--a neglected six-year-old boy, and possibly her only friend--has died in a tragic accident, a peculiar intuition tells her it was murder. Unpredictable to the last page, Smilla's Sense of Snow is one of the most beautifully written and original crime stories of our time, a new classic.

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez

A woman’s mysterious death puts her husband and son on a collision course with her demonic family in the first novel to be translated into English by the International Booker Prize–shortlisted author of The Dangers of Smoking in Bed.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

In Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career.

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

heartwarming new fiction

2025-02-11T17:25:00.006-05:00

Some of the Most Anticipated Heartwarming Fiction of This Year

If you’re looking for that cozy, feel-good vibe, add these to your hold lists and TBRs! These new titles will tug at your heartstrings, bring a tear to your eye, or a smile to your face 😊

Already published:

Better Than Friends by Jill Shalvis

Old flames reignite in Sunrise Cove in this charming enemies-to-lovers, second-chance, small-town, forced-proximity love story about family, friendships, and true love.

The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds by Jennifer Moorman

Infused with magical detail and heartfelt storytelling, The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds is a tale of resilience in the face of loss and a testament to the timeless bond of family.

The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang

On the outskirts of Rainbow Town, there is an old, abandoned house. They say that if you send a letter detailing your misfortunes there, you could receive a ticket. If you bring this ticket to the house on the first day of the rainy season, you'll be granted entrance into the mysterious Rainfall Market—where you can choose to completely change your life.

The Snowbirds by Christina Clancy

Is it ever too late to become the person we wanted to be—and is there still time to change into someone better? The exhilarating, but often confusing transitions of midlife are pitched against the promise and glamour of Palm Springs in this tender, honest story of what it takes to commit to someone for a lifetime.

This Is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer

An homage to New York City, to romance, and even to loss, This Is a Love Story tenderly and suspensefully captures deep truths about life and marriage in radiant prose. It is about love that endures despite what life throws at us, or perhaps even because of it.

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

Told with deep sensitivity and a tart sense of humor, full of the joys and heartbreaks of love and marriage and family life, this is the story of a socially awkward mother of the bride navigating the days before and after her daughter's wedding.

Forthcoming:

Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone

Grieving the loss of her best friend, a young woman’s life is turned upside down when she meets a grumpy stranger who swears he can help her live again. Release date: March 5

One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter

A remarkable tale of friendship, motherhood, and survival, One Good Thing is a tender reminder that love for another person, even amidst darkness and uncertainty, can be reason to keep going. Release date: March 4

The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry

Inspired by a true literary mystery, Henry returns with the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both. Release date: March 18

Beach Vibes by Susan Mallery

An unforgettable beach read about love, secrets, betrayal and the family we’re born into—and the one we choose for ourselves. Release date: March 18

All Our Beautiful Goodbyes by Julianne MacLean

A shining thread of hope illuminates this epic tale of lost love and fallen dreams, set in the remote splendor of Nova Scotia and spanning decades. Release date: March 25

The World’s Fair Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini

A timely celebration of quilting, family, community, and history. Release date: April 1

Spilling the Tea by Brenda Jackson

Ninetysomething Mama Laverne is determined to find all of her great-grandchildren their perfect match before going home to glory. So far, her success rate is 100 percent—and she intends to keep it that way. Release date: April 1

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

There might be no such a thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life—and even a love—worth remembering. Release date: April 1

Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory

Avery Jensen is almost thirty, fresh off a breakup, and she’s tired of always being so uptight and well-behaved. She wants to get a hobby, date around (especially women), flirt with everyone she sees, wear something not from the business casual section of her closet—all the fun stuff normal people do in their twenties. One problem: Avery doesn't know where to start. Enter Taylor Cameron, Napa Valley's biggest flirt and champion heartbreaker. Taylor just broke up with her most recent girlfriend, and her best friend bet her that she can't make it until Labor Day without sleeping with someone. (Two whole months? Without sex? Taylor?!?!) So, she offers to give Avery flirting lessons. Release date: April 8

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner

A glimmering novel set in the world of pop music about sisters, motherhood, young love, and the dreams we chase. Release date: April 8

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick

The Book Club for Troublesome Women is a humorous, thought provoking, and nostalgic romp through one pivotal and tumultuous American year--as well as an ode to self-discovery, persistence, and the power of sisterhood. Release date: April 22

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve. Release date: April 22

Summer Light on Nantucket by Nancy Thayer

A touching novel about parenthood, first love, family bonds, and rekindled relationships. Release date: April 22

Gold Coast Dilemma by Nana Malone

A romance about a Ghanaian American heiress faced with the dilemma of choosing between culture and a love connection. Release date: April 29

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

An unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life twenty-five years later. This tale is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art. Release date: May 20

The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club by Martha Hall Kelly

Two sisters living on Martha’s Vineyard during World War II find hope in the power of storytelling when they start a wartime book club for women in this spectacular novel inspired by true events. Release date: May 27

The Guest Cottage by Lori Foster

Love, forgiveness, and renewal take center stage in the haven of a quiet lakeside town when two very different women bond over one man’s betrayals. Release date: May 27

These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

A razor-sharp, wildly sexy novel about a wealthy New England family's long-overdue reckoning…and one week that threatens to tear them apart. Release date: July 8

The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham

Elin Hilderbrand teams up with her daughter, Shelby Cunningham, to deliver a dishy, page-turning novel following an intertwined cast of characters over the course of one drama-filled year at a New England boarding school. Release date: September 16

Calling All Blessings by Beverly Jenkins

Tamar July, town matriarch of Henry Adams, KS, is being haunted by dreams of her humiliating wedding day, sixty years ago, when she discovered her intended, Joel Newton, was already married. The truth left her furious, heartbroken, and carrying a child, her son Malachi “Mal” July. Why are these dreams coming to her now? And is the great horned owl perched on her backyard shed somehow connected? When Joel’s legitimate son comes to Henry Adams wanting to meet his half-brother, Mal, Tamar must deal with her past, her anger, and explore what it means to truly forgive. Release date: October 28

air & space

2025-01-29T13:09:00.000-05:00

Upcoming programs for adults:

Sat, Feb 1: 9am to noon – Crafterday (a bring-your-own-craft drop-in program to socialize with other crafters, no instruction provided)

Sat, Feb 1: registration opens for redemption vouchers to the Feb 21 & 22 Alabama Symphony Villa-Bobos + Shostakovich performances

Mon, Feb 10: 6:30-7:30pm – Great Short Stories discussion group (“Before Tonde, After Tonde” by Petina Gappah)

Thu, Feb 20: 6-8pm – Preview Party for the Friends of O’Neal Library Annual Book Sale (Donors of $50 or more since February 2024 will receive an invitation. Donate now online, or donations will also be accepted at the door)

Fri, Feb 21 & Sat, Feb 22: 10am-5pm – Friends of O’Neal Library Annual Book Sale open to the public

Sun, Feb 23: 2-5pm - Friends of O'Neal Library Annual Book Sale open to the public

Tue, Feb 25: 6:30-8pm – Books & Beyond discussion group chatting about magical realism in novels & films

(image description: recent cross stitch project completed by librarian Holley Wesley. Pattern is from Climbing Goat Designs: "James Webb Space Telescope Stitchalong")

Last night, the Books & Beyond discussion group met to chat about air travel and space exploration.

Youtube video essay (39 minutes) by Mina Le & Abbey Frank, “underconsumption-core, travel outfits, and Paul Mescal’s shorts”

Participant comments: “It’s a really cool look at airport fashion, from how people dressed flying in the 50s and 60s to now. Includes some interesting stuff about flight attendant fashion!”

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

Winner of the 2024 Kirkus Nonfiction Prize • Shortlisted for the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction • Finalist for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction • A New York Times Notable Book of 2024

Higginbotham reveals the history of the shuttle program and the lives of men and women whose stories have been overshadowed by the disaster, as well as the designers, engineers, and test pilots who struggled against the odds to get the first shuttle into space. A masterful blend of riveting human drama and fascinating and absorbing science, Challenger identifies a turning point in history—and brings to life an even more complex and astonishing story than we remember.

Soviet Space Dogs by Olesya Turkina

This book is dedicated to the Soviet Space Dogs, who played a crucial part in the Soviet Space program. These homeless dogs, plucked from the streets of Moscow, were selected because they fitted the program's criteria: weighing no more than 15 pounds, measuring no more than 14 inches in length, robust, photogenic and with a calm temperament. These characteristics enabled the dogs to withstand the extensive training that was needed to prepare them for suborbital, then for orbital, space fights. Images of the Space Dogs proliferated, reproduced on everyday goods across the Soviet Union: cigarette packets, tins of sweets, badges, stamps and postcards all bore their likenesses. Soviet Space Dogs uses these unique items to illustrate the story (in fact and fiction) of how they became fairytale idols.

Blind Watchers of the Sky: The People and Ideas that Shaped Our View of the Universe by Rocky Kolb

In this immensely readable book, noted cosmologist Rocky Kolb reveals the very human struggles of astronomy superstars seeking cosmic truths while lost in the clouds of confusion. Punctuated by the author's razor-sharp wit, this book provides anyone curious about science with a behind-the-scenes peek into the discovery process…it's not exactly the scientific method you learned in school.

Interstellar (2014)

In Earth's future, a global crop blight and second Dust Bowl are slowly rendering the planet uninhabitable. Professor Brand (Michael Caine), a brilliant NASA physicist, is working on plans to save mankind by transporting Earth's population to a new home via a wormhole. But first, Brand must send former NASA pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and a team of researchers through the wormhole and across the galaxy to find out which of three planets could be mankind's new home.

Brian Greene

Professor Greene is world-renowned for his groundbreaking discoveries in the field of superstring theory, including the co-discovery of mirror symmetry and the discovery of spatial topology change. He is the director of Columbia’s Center for Theoretical Physics.

Professor Greene is known to the public through his New York Times best-selling books and numerous media appearances from the Late Show with Stephen Colbert to Charlie Rose. The Washington Post called him “the single best explainer of abstruse concepts in the world today.” Professor Greene has hosted two NOVA mini-series based on his books, receiving the George Foster Peabody award for “The Elegant Universe with Brian Greene.” Greene has had cameo roles in several Hollywood films including Frequency, Maze and The Last Mimzy and in 2008, with producer Tracy Day, co-founded the World Science Festival. He is the director of Columbia’s Center for Theoretical Physics.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

A visionary work that combines speculative fiction with deep philosophical inquiry, The Sparrow tells the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, who leads a scientific mission entrusted with a profound task: to make first contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life. The mission begins in faith, hope, and beauty, but a series of small misunderstandings brings it to a catastrophic end.

The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos by Christian Davenport

Based on years of reporting and exclusive interviews with all four billionaires, including Richard Branson and Paul Allen, this authoritative account is a dramatic tale of risk and high adventure, the birth of a new Space Age, fueled by some of the world's richest men as they struggle to end governments' monopoly on the cosmos. The Space Barons is also a story of rivalry-hard-charging startups warring with established contractors, and the personal clashes of the leaders of this new space movement, particularly Musk and Bezos, as they aim for the moon and Mars and beyond.

Pillars of Creation: How the James Webb Telescope Unlocked the Secrets of the Cosmos by Richard Panek

The James Webb Space Telescope is transforming the universe right before our eyes—and here, for the first time, is the inside account of how the mission originated, how it performs its miracles of science, and what its revolutionary images are revealing.

NOVA: Ultimate Space Telescope (PBS)

How did NASA engineers build and launch the most ambitious telescope of all time? Follow the dramatic story of the James Webb Space Telescope—the most complex machine ever launched into space. If it works, scientists believe that this new eye on the universe will peer deeper back in time and space than ever before to the birth of galaxies, and may even be able to “sniff” the atmospheres of exoplanets as we search for signs of life beyond Earth.

Above All Else: A World Champion Skydiver’s Story of Survival and What it Taught Him About Fear, Adversity, and Success by Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld (Not available in the JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

Dan survived a plane crash from which sixteen of the twenty-two people on board were killed. He was left critically injured and woke up from a six-week-long coma with a broken neck, broken skull, severe head trauma, a collapsed lung, and other serious internal injuries. Against all odds, Dan recovered and went on to become one of the greatest competitive skydiver in the world. With the love and support of friends and family, Dan was able not only to resurrect his life but return to skydiving to achieve greater heights than he could have ever imagined.

The Long Way Home: A Journey into History with Captain Robert Ford by Ed Dover (Not available in the JCLC, request from Interlibrary Loan)

The story of how a Pan American Airways B-314 flying boat, caught in the South Pacific, made an unplanned flight around the world following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Flying in total secrecy and radio blackout, Captain Ford and his 10 man crew flew over 31,500 miles in six weeks, avoiding enemy action in their effort to return safely to the United States. An astounding feat in 1941!

Stateless by Elizabeth Wein

When Stella North is chosen to represent Britain in Europe’s first air race for young people, she knows all too well how high the stakes are. As the only participating female pilot, it’ll be a constant challenge to prove she’s a worthy competitor. But promoting peace in Europe, the goal of the race, feels empty to Stella when civil war is raging in Spain and the Nazis are gaining power—and when, right from the start, someone resorts to cutthroat sabotage to get ahead of the competition.

The world is looking for inspiration in what’s meant to be a friendly sporting event. But each of the racers is hiding a turbulent and violent past, and any one of them might be capable of murder—including Stella herself. Agatha Christie meets Karen McManus in this thrilling mystery, packed with adventure, intrigue, love, and betrayal, from bestselling and award-winning author Elizabeth Wein.

Item descriptions pulled from Amazon, PBS, and Rotten Tomatoes.

mystery lovers rejoice

2025-01-23T12:59:00.003-05:00

Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce, as they celebrate the 216th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, the nominees for the 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction and nonfiction published in 2024. The 79th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on May 1, 2025, at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square.

BEST NOVEL

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
Rough Trade by Katrina Carrasco
Things Don’t Break on Their Own by Sarah Easter Collins
My Favorite Scar by Nicolás Ferraro
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

Twice the Trouble by Ash Clifton
Cold to the Touch by Kerri Hakoda
The Mechanics of Memory by Audrey Lee
A Jewel in the Crown by David Lewis
The President’s Lawyer by Lawrence Robbins
Holy City by Henry Wise

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

The Paris Widow by Kimberly Belle
The Vacancy in Room 10 by Seraphina Nova Glass
Shell Games by Bonnie Kistler
A Forgotten Kill by Isabella Maldonado
The Road to Heaven by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson

BEST FACT CRIME

Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers by Frank Figliuzzi

The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective by Steven Johnson

A Devil Went Down to Georgia: Race, Power, Privilege, and the Murder of Lita McClinton by Deb Miller Landau

The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy that Let a Killer Go Free by Gregg Olsen

Hell Put to Shame: The 1921 Murder Farm Massacre and the Horror of America’s Second Slavery by Earl Swift

The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age by Michael Wolraich

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

James Sallis: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Nathan Ashman

American Noir Film: From The Maltese Falcon to Gone Girl by M. Keith Booker

Organized Crime on Page and Screen: Portrayals in Hit Novels, Films, and Television Shows by David Geherin

On Edge: Gender and Genre in the Work of Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, and Leigh Brackett by Ashley Lawson

Ian Fleming; The Complete Man by Nicholas Shakespeare

BEST JUVENILE

The Beanstalk Murder by P.G. Bell
Mystery of Mystic Mountain by Janet Fox
Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Stolen Key by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Spindle of Fate by Aimee Lim
Find Her by Ginger Reno

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell
The Bitter End by Alexa Donne
A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur
Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson
49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

OUR OTHER AWARDS

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD – Presented on behalf of Simon & Schuster.

The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen
The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard
The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill
Return to Wyldcliffe Heights by Carol Goodman
Death in the Details by Katie Tietjen

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD – Presented on behalf of G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong
A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh
Proof by Beverly McLachlin
A World of Hurt by Mindy Mejia
All the Way Gone by Joanna Schaffhausen
The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD – Endowed by the estate of Lilian Jackson Braun.

The Murders in Great Diddling by Katarina Bivald
Death and Fromage by Ian Moore
Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson
Murder on Devil’s Pond by Ayla Rose
The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan

reading & writing

2024-11-20T16:24:00.007-05:00

Upcoming programs! Visit the O'Neal Library calendar for more information and program registration!

Sat, Nov 30 – 10am-noon: Great Short Stories Film Series screening Smoke (Rated R/1h52m)
Sun, Dec 8 – 3pm: City of Mountain Brook Holiday Parade ( I had the date wrong at the meeting!)
Mon, Dec 9 – 6:30pm: Great Short Stories Bookclub discussing “Augie Wren’s Christmas Story” by Paul Auster
Sat, Dec 14 – 9am-noon: Crafterday! Bring your own craft
Sun, Jan 12 – 3-4:30pm: Great Short Stories Film series screening The Swimmer (Rated PG/1h34m)
Mon, Jan 13 – 6:30pm: Great Short Stories Bookclub discussing The Swimmer by John Cheever
Tue, Jan 28 – 6:30pm: Books & Beyond Discussion Group discussing air travel & space exploration

This week, Books & Beyond met to talk about reading & writing!

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

From Buffalo to Alaska, Washington to the Dry Tortugas, Vowell visits locations immortalized and influenced by the spilling of politically important blood, reporting as she goes with her trademark blend of wisecracking humor, remarkable honesty, and thought-provoking criticism. The resulting narrative is much more than an entertaining and informative travelogue—it is the disturbing and fascinating story of how American death has been manipulated by popular culture, including literature, architecture, sculpture, and—the author’s favorite—historical tourism.

There There by Tommy Orange

A wondrous and shattering award-winning novel that follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize.

Drunk History (tv program)

The passage of time often has a way of rewriting history. So does a few drinks. The half-hour series "Drunk History" -- based on the award-winning web series – offers reenactments of famous events in history as told by inebriated storytellers. Each episode takes a tour of a U.S. city to explore stories and people from its rich past. Those stories are related in often-confusing ways by drunken narrators and performed by an all-star cast that includes Jack Black, Lisa Bonet, Connie Britton, Michael Cera, Bill Hader, Kevin Nealon, Bob Odenkirk and Winona Ryder. Figures such as Teddy Roosevelt, Patty Hearst, Billy the Kid, Al Capone, and Lewis and Clark are profiled, as are seminal moments like the Battle of the Alamo, Watergate, and the Scopes Monkey Trial. Click here to enjoy one of my favorite episodes about the Kellogg brothers!

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life. But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast "Listen for the Lie," and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it. The truth is out there, if we just listen.

The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear by Ralph Keyes (not available in the JCLC, request via Interlibrary Loan)

In The Courage to Write, Ralph Keyes, an author who has taught writing for more than thirty years, assures us that anxiety is felt by writers at every level, especially when they dare to do their best. He describes the sequence of "courage points" through which all writers must pass, from the challenge of identifying a worthwhile project to the mixture of pride and panic they feel when examining a newly published book or article.

Keyes also offers specifics on how to root out dread of public "performance" and of the judgment of family and friends, make the best use of writers' workshops and conferences, and handle criticism of works in progress. Throughout, he includes the comments of many accomplished writers -- Pat Conroy, Amy Tan, Rita Dove, Isabel Allende, and others -- on how they transcended their own fears to produce great works.

Praying with Jane Eyre: Reflections on Reading as a Sacred Practice by Vanessa Zoltan

Our favorite reads keep us company, give us hope, and help us find meaning in a chaotic world. In this fresh and relatable work, atheist chaplain Vanessa Zoltan blends memoir and personal growth as she grapples with the notions of family legacy and identity through the lens of her favorite novel, Jane Eyre. Informed by her training at the Harvard Divinity School and filtered through the pages of Jane Eyre as well as Little Women, Harry Potter, and The Great Gatsby, Zoltan explores topics ranging from the trauma she has inherited as the granddaughter of four Holocaust survivors to finding hope, meaning, and even magic in our deeply fractured times.

Sacred Reading: The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina by Michael Casey (not available in the JCLC, request via Interlibrary Loan)

Examines the Western tradition of lectio divina (a spiritual and prayerful approach to reading the sacred texts) in order to help readers expand their spiritual approach to living.

Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott's marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him.

Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville's top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it'll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.

Ghostwriter by Alessandra Torre

Helena Roth is known for her stories, and four years ago, she told the best one of all - a story the police and the public swallowed without question. Now, she lives alone with her secrets and her regrets, her solitude interrupted by a diagnosis that will force her to confess the truth. She sits down to pen her final novel, one that shares every sorbid detail, but is running out of time and must enlist the help of her biggest competition and arch rival: Marka Vantly. When these two polar opposites collide, an unlikely connection emerges and breathes life into a true story that will stun the readers, the police, and the world.

The Thirteenth Tale by Curtis Sittenfeld

Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret is mesmerized by the author's tale of gothic strangeness—featuring the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

I Want You More by Swan Huntley

Reeling from her father’s death, Zara Pines accepts a ghostwriting gig for celebrity chef Jane Bailey. Jane, star of the wildly popular cooking show 30 Bucks Tops, invites Zara to live in her East Hampton home for the summer. Zara doesn’t want to go, but Jane insists.

As the two women create Jane’s book, their attachment grows stronger. Zara, who’s lost and in search of an identity, finds one in the shadow of Jane. She starts wearing Jane’s clothes. And speaking like Jane. And adopting Jane’s mannerisms. Eventually, the line between them blurs and Zara starts to see the side Jane keeps hidden from the cameras. this dark and twisty novel about fame, lies, and obsession will make even the most open-hearted reader question how safe it is to trust the people they love.

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Told with equal measures of humor and heartbreak, Commonwealth is a meditation on inspiration, interpretation, and the ownership of stories. It is a brilliant and tender tale of the far-reaching ties of love and responsibility that bind us together.

McGuffey and His Readers: Piety, Morality, and Education in Nineteenth-Century America by John H. Westerhoff (not available in the JCLC, request via Interlibrary Loan)

William Holmes McGuffey -- teacher, preacher, college president, writer, educational reformer, and schoolbook compiler -- is perhaps the most important figure in the history of American public education, yet very few people know much about the man himself. Except for a few letters, a pair of handwritten sermons, and one unpublished manuscript on moral philosophy, his known writings are few. This book makes available some of those scarce writings as it looks at the man and his textbooks. It is estimated that at least 120 million copies of McGuffey's Readers were sold between 1836 and 1920, placing their sales in a class with the Bible and Webster's Dictionary. Indeed, since 1961 they have continued to sell at a rate of some thirty thousand copies a year.

Genius (Rated PG-13, 2016, 1h 44m)

Renowned editor Maxwell Perkins (Colin Firth) develops a friendship with author Thomas Wolfe (Jude Law) while working on the writer's manuscripts.

The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron

From deep in the trenches of the Great War to the storied English countryside and the devastating Coventry Blitz of World War II, The British Booksellers explores the unbreakable bonds that unite us through love, loss, and the enduring solace that can be found between the pages of a book.

The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann

This “celebration of the world of books” (Kirkus) from New York Times bestselling author James Patterson is a collection of riveting stories celebrating the heroic efforts of the people who are on the front lines getting our books into the world.

Loving Literature: A Cultural History by Deidre Lynch (not available in the JCLC, request via Interlibrary Loan)

One of the most common—and wounding—misconceptions about literary scholars today is that they simply don’t love books. While those actually working in literary studies can easily refute this claim, such a response risks obscuring a more fundamental question: why should they?

That question led Deidre Shauna Lynch into the historical and cultural investigation of Loving Literature. How did it come to be that professional literary scholars are expected not just to study, but to love literature, and to inculcate that love in generations of students? What Lynch discovers is that books, and the attachments we form to them, have played a vital role in the formation of private life—that the love of literature, in other words, is deeply embedded in the history of literature. Yet at the same time, our love is neither self-evident nor ahistorical: our views of books as objects of affection have clear roots in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century publishing, reading habits, and domestic history.

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found…
For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives. But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder… where nothing is as it seems.

The Wildest Sun by Asha Lemmie

When tragedy forces Delphine Auber, an aspiring writer on the cusp of adulthood, from her home in postwar Paris, she seizes the opportunity to embark on the journey she's long dreamed of: finding the father she has never known. But her quest—spanning from Paris to New York’s Harlem, to Havana and Key West—is complicated by the fact that she believes him to be famed luminary Ernest Hemingway, a man just as elusive as he is iconic. She desperately yearns for his approval, as both a daughter and a writer, convinced that he holds the key to who she's truly meant to be. But what will happen if she is wrong, or if her real story falls outside of the legend of her parentage that she’s revered all her life?

The King in Yellow by Richard Chambers

In a world that teeters between reality and hallucination, The King in Yellow, first published in 1895, stands as a collection of tales that unravel the fabric of the mind. Step into the haunting landscapes and unsettling cities, where you'll meet characters entranced by a mysterious play—a play so powerful, it drives its readers mad. Once its words have gripped your soul, there's no turning back.

Haunting, philosophical, and irresistibly engrossing, this literary masterpiece delves into forbidden knowledge and the human psyche's darker recesses. Inspired by the cosmos, occultism, and the labyrinth of the human condition, each story is an enigmatic tapestry woven of existential dread and otherworldly intrigue.

Discover why H.P. Lovecraft and countless other masters of the horror genre have found inspiration in this classic work. In a realm where psychological terror meets supernatural suspense, the veil between worlds is thin—and the King in Yellow reigns supreme.

Book and film/tv descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes.

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

magic & illusion

2024-10-30T16:46:00.002-05:00

The next Books & Beyond discussion club (BAB) will be Tuesday, November 19th at 6:30pm. The topic up for discussion is any book or film related to reading and/or writing. This week, BAB met to chat about magic & illusion.

Half Magic by Edward Eager (Tales of Magic series #1)

It all begins with a strange coin on a sun-warmed sidewalk. Jane finds the coin, and because she and her siblings are having the worst, most dreadfully boring summer ever, she idly wishes something exciting would happen. And something does: Her wish is granted. Or not quite. Only half of her wish comes true. It turns out the coin grants wishes—but only by half, so that you must wish for twice as much as you want. Enjoy all seven of the middle grade novels in Edward Eager's beloved Tales of Magic series!

At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber

When Ava Harrison receives a letter containing an unusual job listing one month after the sudden death of her ex-boyfriend, the job is the perfect chance to start a new life. On the surface, Maggie Mae Brightwell is a bundle of energy as she runs a coffee and curiosity shop, where there’s magic to be found in pairing the old with the new. But keeping busy is just the best way to distract herself from lingering loss and worry. Ava and Maggie soon find they’re kindred spirits, as they’re both haunted―not by spirits, but by regret. Both must learn to let go of the past to move on―because sometimes the waves of change bring you to the place where you most belong.

Pearl by Josh Malerman

“Daring readers should find this tale of a malevolent telepathic pig to be a memorable experience.”—Booklist (starred review)

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez

Petty Magic by Camille DeAngelis

Evelyn Harbinger sees nothing wrong with a one-night stand. At 149 years old, Eve may look like she bakes oatmeal cookies in the afternoon and dozes in her rocking chair in the evening, but once the gray hair and wrinkles are traded for jet-black tresses and porcelain skin, she can still turn heads as the beautiful girl she once was. Can’t fault a girl for having a little fun, can you? This is all fine and well until Eve meets Justin, who reminds her so much of a former lover that one night is no longer enough. In this captivating tale of adventure and timeless romance, novelist Camille DeAngelis blends World War II heroics with witchcraft and wit, conjuring a fabulously rich world where beldames and mortal men dare to fall in love.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman (Magicians trilogy #1)

The prequel to the New York Times bestselling book The Magician King and the #1 bestseller The Magician's Land, The Magicians is one of the most daring and inventive works of literary fantasy in years. No one who has escaped into the worlds of Narnia and Harry Potter should miss this breathtaking return to the landscape of the imagination.

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Written in 1610-1611, The Tempest is set on a remote island and is centered on the sorcerer Prospero, his daughter Miranda, and their two servants, Caliban and Ariel, who all live in exile on the island. One of Shakespeare's most complex and nuanced comedies, The Tempest remains a favorite of audiences and of scholars, featuring many of Shakespeare's most memorable characters and lines.

The Grand Illusion by Syd Moore

Historical fiction inspired by the War Office response to the Nazi obsession with the occult.

Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham

Nightmare Alley begins with an extraordinary description of a carnival-show geek—alcoholic and abject and the object of the voyeuristic crowd’s gleeful disgust and derision—going about his work at a county fair. Young Stan Carlisle is working as a carny, and he wonders how a man could fall so low. There’s no way in hell, he vows, that anything like that will ever happen to him.

And since Stan is clever and ambitious and not without a useful streak of ruthlessness, soon enough he’s going places. Onstage he plays the mentalist with a cute assistant (before long his harried wife), then he graduates to full-blown spiritualist, catering to the needs of the rich and gullible in their well-upholstered homes. It looks like the world is Stan’s for the taking. At least for now.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Is eternal life a blessing or a curse? That is what young Winnie Foster must decide when she discovers a spring on her family’s property whose waters grant immortality. Members of the Tuck family, having drunk from the spring, tell Winnie of their experiences watching life go by and never growing older. But then Winnie must decide whether or not to keep the Tucks’ secret―and whether or not to join them on their never-ending journey.

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh & Elsie Chapman

Sixteen extraordinary authors—including New York Times bestsellers Melissa de la Cruz, Renée Ahdieh, and Julie Kagawa—reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate.

Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio Hearn

A blind musician with amazing talent is called upon to perform for the dead. Faceless creatures haunt an unwary traveler. A beautiful woman — the personification of winter at its cruelest — ruthlessly kills unsuspecting mortals. These and 17 other chilling supernatural tales — based on legends, myths, and beliefs of ancient Japan — represent the very best of Lafcadio Hearn's literary style. They are also a culmination of his lifelong interest in the endlessly fascinating customs and tales of the country where he spent the last fourteen years of his life, translating into English the atmospheric stories he so avidly collected.Teeming with undead samurais, man-eating goblins, and other terrifying demons, these classic ghost stories inspired the Oscar-nominated 1964 film of the same name.

Mrs. Davis (not available in the JCLC, streaming by subscription on Peacock, available to rent or buy on Amazon)

After being ousted from her convent, Sister Simone vows to destroy the one responsible: a powerful artificial intelligence known as Mrs. Davis. To exact her revenge, Simone makes a deal with the algorithm and is thrust into a dangerous world of secret societies, religious conspiracies and age-old legends as she searches for the whereabouts of the most clichéd and overused MacGuffin -- the Holy Grail. To complete the ridiculous and farfetched task, Simone teams up with her rebellious ex-boyfriend, Wiley, who is now the leader of an underground resistance movement dedicated to stopping Mrs. Davis. Together they face a variety of mysterious and powerful forces as they search for the Grail, the one thing capable of destroying the algorithm once and for all. As they grow closer to completing their quest, Simone must confront her past, prove the strength of her faith and uncover long-hidden secrets as she fights to liberate a society that may not want to be freed.

I Married a Witch (digital only: depending on city of residence, available on Kanopy with a valid library card)

Just as she is about to be burned at the stake for witchcraft, 17th century witch Jennifer (Veronica Lake) casts a curse on the family of her accuser, dooming all the men of future generations to marry the wrong women. Freed from her ethereal prison some 250 years later, Jennifer decides to make the most recent descendant of her accuser (Fredric March) even more miserable by using a love potion on him that makes him fall in love with her, a plan that has unexpected results.

Bell, Book, and Candle

In the late 1950s, Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak) is a modern-day witch living in New York City's Greenwich Village. When she encounters charming publisher Shepherd Henderson (James Stewart), she decides to make him hers by casting a love spell. Gillian takes added pleasure in doing so because Henderson is engaged to her old college rival (Janice Rule). However, Gillian finds herself actually falling for Shepherd, which poses a problem: She will lose her powers if she falls in love.

One Night on Halloween by Thea Masen (not available in the JCLC, Amazon ebook and paperback purchase only)

Zoe thought she’s spend her Halloween watching movies and passing out candy, until the single dad next door comes over dressed as Dracula. Zoe and her hot neighbor slip into character, only to find out that this role-playing is more than just pretend.

What starts as an innocent one-night stand turns mysteriously magical, and a new tradition is born. As their yearly Halloween encounters become more passionate and intense, Zoe has to ask herself, are these feelings real or just a costume?

Corny by Sabrina Cross (not available in the JCLC, Amazon ebook and paperback purchase only)

A True Love Spell Gone Wrong. A Demon Fairy Godmother? Her Very Soul on the Line.
Can Clover still find true love or is she destined to face the flames alone? Content Considerations: Corny is a paranormal romance that involves woman on stuffed animal action. This story is very weird and not for everyone.

Hallowpeen by Holly Wilde (not available in the JCLC, Amazon ebook and paperback purchase only)

Three women, one occult ritual, and an urban legend come true are waiting for you to discover just how delicious Halloween can be. Everyone in the small town of Hollow Springs knows that Halloween night is when the veil of sentience is at its thinnest. So no one would attempt a ridiculous ritual on the night of a full moon, right? Wrong.

Circe by Madeline Miller

This #1 New York Times bestseller is a "bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story" that brilliantly reimagines the life of Circe, formidable sorceress of The Odyssey (Alexandra Alter, The New York Times).

Halloween poems collected by the Poetry Foundation

Spooky, scary, and fun poems that will make your hair curl.

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series #1)

Meet Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, in the first novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series that “blends the genres of romance, horror and adventure with stunning panache” (Diana Gabaldon). Anita Blake is small, dark, and dangerous. Her turf is the city of St. Louis. Her job: re-animating the dead and killing the undead who take things too far. But when the city’s most powerful vampire asks her to solve a series of vicious slayings, Anita must confront her greatest fear—her undeniable attraction to master vampire Jean-Claude, one of the creatures she is sworn to destroy...

Thief, Liar, Lady by D.L. Soria

“Happily Ever After” is a total scam, but at least this time the princess is the one controlling the grift—until her true love arrives and threatens to ruin the whole scheme. Intrigue, magic, and wit abound in this Cinderella fairytale reimagining, perfect for fans of Heather Walter and Naomi Novik.

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen

Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth―strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries―is the light of Roos' life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos' backroom seances, and the two strike up a connection.

Soon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air at night, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable. Then, someone is murdered. Poor, alone, and with a history of 'hysterics', Roos is the obvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she'll have to prove who―or what―is at fault or lose everything she holds dear.

Hollow by C.M. Nascosta (not available in the JCLC, Amazon ebook only)

From the New York Times bestselling author comes two smutty, spooky, dark academia, gothic romance retellings of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In one, Ichabod Crane, Sleepy Hollow’s new schoolmaster, is on the prowl. After he happens upon two members of the polo club in flagrante delicto in the club’s locker room, he can’t get the headless hedonists out of his mind. In the other, Kat Van Tassel doesn't have to choose between Brom Bones and Ichabod Crane, and there are worse things haunting them than the Headless Horseman.

Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

A collection of well-loved stories for witches and wizards of all ages, The Tales of Beedle the Bard are the wizarding world's Grimm's Fairytales.

Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffmann

First published in 1845. Struwwelpeter (variously translated as "slovenly" or "shock-headed" Peter) has become widely recognized as one of the most popular and influential children's books ever written. Heinrich Hoffmann was a Frankfurt physician. Unhappy with the dry and pedagogic books available for children at the time, he wrote and illustrated Struwwelpeter as a Christmas present for his three-year-old son. The book relates in verse and pictures the often gruesome consequences that befall children who torment animals, play with matches, suck their thumbs, refuse to eat, fidget at meals, etc.

Lisa Frankenstein

A coming of RAGE love story from acclaimed writer Diablo Cody (Jennifer's Body) about a misunderstood teenager and her high school crush, who happens to be a handsome corpse. After a set of playfully horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a murderous journey to find love, happiness... and a few missing body parts along the way.

Warm Bodies

A terrible plague has left the planet's population divided between zombies and humans. An unusual zombie named R (Nicholas Hoult) sees his walking-dead brethren attacking a living woman named Julie (Teresa Palmer) and rescues her. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and the pair embark on an unusual relationship. As their bond grows and R becomes more and more human, a chain of events unfolds that could transform the entire lifeless world.

Item descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes.

Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash

math and numbers

2024-09-25T16:26:00.002-05:00

Upcoming programs:

Sunday, October 6 : 6-10pm
SLEEP IN CINEMA returns to Under the Mountain on October 6, 2024 at 6 PM for a double feature with live music that will melt your brain in your skull well before it’s even Halloween! Join us at the O’Neal Library for THE GOLEM: HOW HE CAME INTO THIS WORLD (1920) and THE UNKNOWN (1927), featuring original scores performed by Birmingham-based musical acts BITTER CALM and B.SONNIER! Register here: https://emmetoneal.libnet.info/event/11330039

Saturday, October 12 : 9am-noon
Crafterday is a chance to visit with new friends while you work on your favorite craft or hobby. We will have tables and chairs, snacks and drinks. You bring the craft! Our session is open to anyone with any craft, drop in any time between 9-12 or stay the entire time, it's up to you!

Tuesday, October 29: 6:30-8pm
Books & Beyond (BAB) returns for a discussion of magic and illusion. If you need inspiration, there is a display on the topic at the 2nd floor service desk. Looking ahead to November, the topic is reading & writing and it will be the last meeting of the year as we will not meet in December.

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Last night, BAB met to discuss math, numbers, and number sciences.

Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux

The “rollicking” (The Economist), “masterfully written” (The Washington Post) account of the crypto delusion, and how Sam Bankman-Fried and a cast of fellow nerds and hustlers turned useless virtual coins into trillions of dollars—hailed by Ezra Klein in The New York Times as one of the “Books That Explain Where We Are”

The Land of Big Numbers: Stories by Te-Ping Chen

A “stirring and brilliant” debut story collection, offering vivid portrayals of the men and women of modern China and its diaspora, “both love letter and sharp social criticism,” from a phenomenal new literary talent bringing great “insight from her years as a reporter with the Wall Street Journal” (Elle).

Got Your Number: The Greatest Sports Legends and the Numbers They Own by Mike Greenberg

ESPN personality (Get Up and #Greeny) and New York Times bestselling author Mike Greenberg partners with mega-producer Hembo to settle once and for all which legends flat-out own which numbers. In short essays certain to provoke debate between and amongst all generations, Greeny uses his lifetime of sports knowledge to spin yarns of the legends among the legends and tell you why some have claimed their spot in the top 100 of all time.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases—a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice—with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan—from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is a satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott, first published in 1884. Written pseudonymously by "A Square",the book used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to comment on the hierarchy of Victorian culture, but the novella's more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions.

The Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott, introduction and notes by Ian Stewart

Published in 1884 by the English clergyman and headmaster Edwin A. Abbott, it is the fanciful tale of A. Square, a two-dimensional being who is whisked away by a mysterious visitor to The Land of Three Dimensions, an experience that forever alters his worldview.

Like the original, Ian Stewart's commentary takes readers on a strange and wonderful journey. With clarity and wit, Stewart illuminates Abbott's numerous Victorian references and touches on such diverse topics as ancient Babylon, Karl Marx, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Mt. Everest, H.G. Wells, and phrenology. The Annotated Flatland makes fascinating connections between Flatland and Abbott's era, resulting in a classic to rival Abbott's own, and a book that will inspire and delight curious readers for generations to come.

Spaceland: A Novel of the Fourth Dimension by Rudy Rucker

Rudy Rucker is a past master at turning mathematical concepts into rollicking science fiction adventure, from Spacetime Donuts and White Light to The Hacker and the Ants. In the tradition of Edwin A. Abbott's classic novel, Flatland, Rucker gives us a tour of higher mathematics and visionary realities. Spaceland is Flatland on hyperdrive!

The Joy of x: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity by Steven Strogatz

Many people take math in high school and promptly forget much of it. But math plays a part in all of our lives all of the time, whether we know it or not. In The Joy of x, Steven Strogatz expands on his hit New York Times series to explain the big ideas of math gently and clearly, with wit, insight, and brilliant illustrations.

The Imitation Code: Alan Turing Decoded by Jim Ottaviani, illustrated by Leland Purvis

English mathematician and scientist Alan Turing (1912–1954) is credited with many of the foundational principles of contemporary computer science. The Imitation Game presents a historically accurate graphic novel biography of Turing’s life, including his groundbreaking work on the fundamentals of cryptography and artificial intelligence.

The Imitation Game (film, 2014)

In 1939, newly created British intelligence agency MI6 recruits Cambridge mathematics alumnus Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) to crack Nazi codes, including Enigma -- which cryptanalysts had thought unbreakable. Turing's team, including Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley), analyze Enigma messages while he builds a machine to decipher them. Turing and team finally succeed and become heroes, but in 1952, the quiet genius encounters disgrace when authorities reveal he is gay and send him to prison.

Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy by Cathy O’Neil

We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives—where we go to school, whether we can get a job or a loan, how much we pay for health insurance—are being made not by humans, but by machines. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: Everyone is judged according to the same rules.

But as mathematician and data scientist Cathy O’Neil reveals, the mathematical models being used today are unregulated and uncontestable, even when they’re wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination—propping up the lucky, punishing the downtrodden, and undermining our democracy in the process. Welcome to the dark side of Big Data.

Can Fish Count:: What Animals Reveal About Our Uniquely Mathematical Minds by Brian Butterworth

As cognitive psychologist Brian Butterworth shows us in Can Fish Count?, many “simple” animals—such as bees, which count trees and fence posts, and guppies, which can size up groups—have a sense of numbers. And unlike humans, they don’t need to be taught.

In telling animals’ stories, Butterworth shines new light on one of our most ancient questions: Just where, exactly, do numbers come from? He reveals how insights gleaned from studying animals can help us make better sense of our own abilities. Full of discovery and delight, Can Fish Count? is an astonishing journey through the animal kingdom and the human mind.

The Accountant (film, 2016)

Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is a mathematics savant with more affinity for numbers than people. Using a small-town CPA office as a cover, he makes his living as a freelance accountant for dangerous criminal organizations. With a Treasury agent (J.K. Simmons) hot on his heels, Christian takes on a state-of-the-art robotics company as a legitimate client. As Wolff gets closer to the truth about a discrepancy that involves millions of dollars, the body count starts to rise.

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GENERAL DISCUSSION:

Mr. Wrong Number by Lynn Painter

Things get textual when a steamy message from a random wrong number turns into an anonymous relationship in this hilarious rom-com.

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

Calpurnia Hartwell has spent a lifetime following the rules and, as a reward, she’s been forgotten at the edges of society, unnoticed…and unsatisfied. So, what’s a girl to do, but break the rules and get a taste of the life she’s been missing?

Once Callie throws herself into a bold new world, she fast realizes a taste won’t ever be enough. She’s going to need a partner—someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, Marquess of Ralston—charming and handsome, with a scandalous reputation matched only by his wicked smile.

How to Win Friends & Influence Fungi: Collected Quirks of Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math from Nerd Nite by Dr. Chris Balakrishnan

Hilariously named after Dale Carnegie’s iconic book, How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi features narratives, bursts, and infographics on all things STEM from scientists around the world. Chapters are sure to make you laugh-out-loud, with titles such as "The Science of the Hangover," "What Birds Can Teach Us About the Impending Zombie Apocalypse," and "Lessons from the Oregon Trail."

The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.

Flatland (Kanopy, 1965)

In 1962 John Hubley came to Harvard University as the first teacher of animation in the new Visual Arts Center. It was his idea to make a film based on Edwin Abbott’s famous novel about life in a two-dimensional world, FLATLAND. The story is told by the voices of Dudley Moore and other actors belonging to the British theatrical comedy group, "Beyond the Fringe." Aside from mathematicians and philosophers of science, the film has entertained and delighted audiences of many kinds since it first appeared.

everyone’s a aliebn when ur a aleibn too by Jomny Sun

The illustrated story of a lonely alien sent to observe Earth, only to meet all sorts of creatures with all sorts of perspectives on life, love, and happiness, all while learning to feel a little better about being an alien.

Speak by Louisa Hall

A thoughtful, poignant novel that explores the creation of Artificial Intelligence—illuminating the very human need for communication, connection, and understanding.

In a narrative that spans geography and time, from the Atlantic Ocean in the seventeenth century, to a correctional institute in Texas in the near future, and told from the perspectives of five very different characters, Speak considers what it means to be human, and what it means to be less than fully alive.

Our Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong

A “thrilling” (The New York Times), “dazzling” (The Wall Street Journal) tour of the radically different ways that animals perceive the world that will fill you with wonder and forever alter your perspective.

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DISHONORABLE MENTIONS, THOSE WE DIDN’T ENJOY:

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

Imagines an alternate universe where scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians live in seclusion behind ancient monastery walls until they are called back into the world to deal with a crisis of astronomical proportions.

The Calculation of You and Me by Serena Kaylor

A calculus nerd enlists her surly classmate’s help to win back her ex-boyfriend, but when sparks start to fly, she realizes there’s no algorithm for falling in love.

It’s a Numberful World: How Math is Hiding Everywhere—from the Crown of a Tree to the Sound of a Sine Wave by Eddie Woo (Hoopla only)

Here are twenty-six bite-size chapters on the hidden mathematical marvels that encrypt our email, enchant our senses, and even keep us alive―from the sine waves we h
ear as “music” to the mysterious golden ratio.

Material descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes.