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Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors
In her latest standalone thriller Stevens uses the true story of murders of indigenous women along Highway 16 (aka the Highway of Tears) in British Columbia as a jumping off point. At the heart of this novel are two young women whose lives entwine and overlap within a dark and violent set of events in the small town of Cold Creek, BC. Hailey McBride is seventeen years old and has just lost her only remaining parent, her dad.
On June 23, 2018 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach departed on what was to be an afternoon of cave exploration. However, due to sudden flooding rains, it became an ordeal for the team, their families, the rescuers and the people of Thailand. This ordeal lasted 17 days. Between the efforts of military members, civilians and volunteers from all over the globe, all 13 team members were rescued. It was a rescue that should not have been successful, but miraculously was.
The Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalists have been announced. The award "celebrates the power of literature to promote peace, social justice, and global understanding." On September 22nd a winner and runner-up in both fiction and nonfiction categories will be announced. The 2021 finalists are:
FICTION
Odessa Jones is an amateur crime investigator from Grovesville, New Jersey whose psychic abilities allow her to read the emotions or "glimmer" of those around her and foretell the future through the scents of spices. This first in a new series introduces "Dessa," a recently widowed caterer and reluctant real estate agent with an extraordinary talent for baking.
Have you ever looked a group picture and wondered what was happening as the shot was captured? Well, Roxane Orgill’s Jazz Day does just that, and more. The photograph Harlem 1958 is now famous for picturing 57 jazz musicians in Harlem on August 12, 1958. Photographer Art Kane called for any and all jazz musicians to gather for the picture and Jazz Day places you in the midst of it all through 21 poems.
The other night I was reading on my tablet and realized it needed charging. But I still wanted to be reading. So I picked Linesman from my pile of library books and thought 'I'll just read it for a while and then head to bed'. Best laid plans. A few hours later (at 4:30 in the morning!) I turned the last page and immediately went to the LINKcat app on my phone to put book two in the series (Alliance) on hold. I love when that happens with a book, especially one I had no expectations of going in.
The Mvskoke people were forcibly removed from their lands in the early 1800s. American Sunrise is a spiritual collection of poems from the first Native American Poet Laureate of the United States as she returns to the original Mvskoke lands east of the Mississippi. Harjo connects with her ancestors and the land, calling out the violence and displacement of tearing Native Americans from their homes, families, and culture. The collection also celebrates Mother Earth and the beauty of the present day. "Redbird Love" is a sweet tribute to the natural world and connection to the land.
Charlotte Gorman and her twin Ginny could not be more different. Where Charlotte favors Harry Potter t-shirts and jeans, Ginny wouldn't be caught out in public (or on her Instagram feed) in anything less then full makeup and fashion-forward outfits. And where Charlotte is an elementary school librarian, Ginny is a beauty pageant professional. And it's at Ginny's latest pageant, Miss American Treasure, where their two disparate lives collide.
Nadia and Saeed first meet at a class; slowly we are drawn into their world in an unnamed country teetering between a secular government and a fundamentalist takeover. They fall in love and hope to have a normal life in their country, but as things get more and more dangerous they begin to search for a way out.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is a collection of nine stories featuring black girls and women struggling with what it means to be good, bad, loved, feared, and everything in between. The stories span four generations of black women from the daughter of a woman having an affair with the married pastor of their church to a woman whose mother struggles with her daughter's sexual identity, and instructions for Christian husbands.
