New lists.

Hello -

Every month CPL features a staff picks list of new to relatively new books each personally chosen by a librarian who then writes an annotated review. This month I chose "Submergence" by J.M. Ledgard.
Link to the full list: https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/199702383_chipublib_adults/1378330477_april_2019_staff_picks?_ga=2.205804881.373729198.1554071957-1534046247.1550848137

I also created a bibliography for teens for Asian American & Pacific Islander Month this May. Link: https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/298483337/1338257009

- Felicia

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Requiem for a Dream" by Hubert Selby, Jr. (published 1978)

Image
I'm glad I finally read Hubert Selby Jr.'s "Requiem for a Dream" (1978) after years of having a copy of the book on my shelf and never getting to it. I've seen the movie, directed by Darren Aronofsky (2000), several times, but Selby's book has so much more resonance, though if one has seen the film even once those images don't disappear as you read the words of this story.  The words seem to flow from the author without much pre-conception: "Requiem for a Dream" is free from any sense of being contrived. The story and its style (which is a variant of stream-of-consciousness) is beautiful in its simplicity and for the authors clear talent for telling it like it is. A story like this doesn't need much more.  What a reader might be able to grasp from the book rather than from watching the film is the idea that the kids in this book really don't know how to care for anything but their own souls. It's as if they've never really le...
Read more

Tolkien On Fairy-Stories

Image
“Tolkien On Fairy Stories: Expanded Edition, with Commentary and Notes”, edited by Verlyn Flieger and Douglas A. Anderson, is a great reference resource for anyone seriously studying fairy-tales, or for anyone who just enjoys them. Included is an introduction by Flieger, which goes over “On Fairy-Stories”, a lecture which Tolkien presented to an audience at the University of St. Andrew on March 8, 1939 for the Andrew Lang Lecture. Flieger breaks down the essay, addressing each section such as Tolkien’s answer to the question “what is a fairy story” and “what is the origin of the story”. Then, she goes into immediate context, larger context, and publication history. Suffice it to say, there is enough here to even do without reading the actual essay, for the introduction sums it up comprehensively and succinctly. But there’s nothing quite like reading Tolkien’s own writing on the matter of fairy-stories itself. Even without taking studious notes, it is possible to read this essay and...
Read more

"Everyday Grace: Having Hope, Finding Forgiveness, and Making Miracles" by Marianne Williamson (published 2002)

Image
Marianne Williamson's “Everyday Grace: Having Hope, Finding Forgiveness, and Making Miracles” is a magical book on how we can live life better and more fully, every moment of our lives. This book is addressed to everyone, and starts off with a wonderful interpretation of the Harry Potter world, in which we all start off as plain Muggles and find the magic within our lives with a little help. Further on, there are deeply moving interpretations of fairy tales, such as Cinderella: “When Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother waved her wand… a shimmering energy of golden light surrounded the object of her attention… mice turned into horses, a pumpkin turned into a carriage, and rags turned into a beautiful ball gown. Translated: People around us, once we have shown more faith in them, show up for us more powerfully than we had thought them capable; a job we had thought beneath us, once we throw our creativity into it, becomes the vehicle for great success, our lack in some area, once changed...
Read more