Life Stories
Like reading about other people and their lives? Then here is a list for you. Below are a few from a new library list, Biographies, Recommended in 2017.
MADreads
Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors
I miss you, Joan, but I'm trying hard NOT to keep everything. I'm glad you did, though.
Melissa Rivers and Scott Currie compiled this phenomenal tribute book to Joan Rivers. It's a massive tome, coffee-table-sized, 336 pages, and approximately five pounds full of the queen of comedy's memorabilia organized by decade. Scrapbook style, with photographs of joke cards, letters, scripts, and even a report card from first grade, this book is a wonder to me as a fan and librarian.
Grumpy Bear
Bear lives alone, and that's just the way he likes it. But when a family of pesky rabbits moves in next door, knock knock knocking on bears door... his whole life is about to change. Fantastically told, Ciara Flood pairs her minimal text with illustrations that add layers to bear's grumpy responses to his neighbors. Bear tells the rabbits he is "too busy to help them chop wood!" when in the next page turn we see him snoozing in front of the fire while all the rabbits work together just outside his window.
Personal memories
Do you like to read about people's memories? Then check out a new library list on memoirs--Memoirs, Recommended in 2017. Below is a sample from that list. For even newer recommendations check out the Insider newsletter: Thanks For the Memories: Biographies and Memoirs. You can subscribe to this list and get bimonthly a list of new titles to read.
The magic of the stage
Have you felt enchanted when experiencing live theater? I have! This new graphic novel series explores the weird and wild magic that happens behind the scenes of high school theater productions. Jory is a new student at St. Genesius looking for an after-school activity. He stumbles into the backstage crew on accident and immediately finds a place in their ranks. They are a welcoming and motley bunch working the lights, sound, sets and costumes and they have a secret.
Politics of the time
In 1946 the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregated seating on interstate buses was unconstitutional. Eight years later the 1954 landmark ruling from the Supreme Court in the Brown v. Board of Education declared public school segregation violated the Constitution. And in 1960 the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation of interstate bus passengers at station restrooms, lunch counters and waiting rooms also violated the law.
Bedtime Bunnies
Bunnies at bedtime saying goodnight may conjure up thoughts of ANOTHER classic bedtime story. However....these bunnies aren't quite ready for "goodnight" just yet.. Mama Bunny gives the usual goodnight stories, songs, hugs and kisses but still her three little bunnies have other ideas in mind! They want goodnight dances! What? Dances?? And jumping beans and monkeys and tickles. Finally, Mama Bunny has enough and tucks those rambunctious bunny babies into bed. With sweet, exuberant collage illustrations and lyrical text this title will be a favorite at bedtime and beyond.
Sweet Anticipation for March 2018
Is it really time to start talking about spring? March is one of the quieter months, publishing-wise, before the big surge into the May and June summer reading months, but there’s still quite a few titles that will be in demand hitting shelves this month. On to the highlights:
Stories of the Past
Do you like reading history? Then check out this new booklist History Books, Recommended in 2017. Below is a sample from that list.
Just a dad with a really big job
This prize-winning first novel from George Saunders bends the mind and history in a way that still has me reeling. Lincoln in the Bardo is set in the days following eleven-year-old Willie Lincoln's death in February of 1862, at a borrowed crypt in a Washington, DC cemetery filled with ghosts of all sizes and stripes, many of whom don't know they are dead, and all of whom are surprised when a very tall, very alive President Lincoln comes to visit.
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