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Christian Romance

Christian Romance

by Rhonna Hargett, Associate Director of Learning & Information Services

When the world feels overwhelming and uncertain, I often turn to a Christian Romance novel. Christian Romance tends to have settings that are challenging, but characters with positive outlooks and a guaranteed happy ending. It often helps me to turn around my outlook when I read stories of good people overcoming adversity while maintaining their values. The following titles take us to an Oregon farm retreat, a rescue on Mount Denali, Texas Hill Country in the 1850s, and a small town in North Carolina.

In “The Happy Camper” by Melody Carlson, Dillon Michaels retreats to her grandfather’s farm to regroup after finding herself stuck in an unhappy rut with her career and love life. With a crowded farmhouse, he offers her his old camper as a temporary home. With the help of the local hardware store owner, she fixes up the camper, healing her heart through the process. Carlson uses eccentric characters, rural charm, and a story of restoration to create a breezy and enjoyable novel. Readers of Robin Jones Gunn might enjoy this novel.

The Way of the Brave” by Susan May Warren is the story of a rescue attempt on Mount Denali. Orion Starr is a former pararescue jumper living in Alaska and trying to put his memories of Afghanistan behind him. Jenny Calhoun, an undercover CIA profiler, is having trouble dealing with her tragic mistake of trusting the wrong person. Her mistake led to the deaths of four soldiers in the attack when Starr was injured. When an avalanche leaves Jenny stranded on Mount Denali, and Orion is in the rescue team, they are both forced to reckon with their pasts and work together to save lives. This combination of thriller and romance will keep you in its grip to the end. You might like “The Way of the Brave” if you have enjoyed Dee Henderson’s work.

Out of the Embers” by Amanda Cabot is a classic example of Western Historical Christian Romance. Evelyn Radcliffe has lived in an orphanage since her parents died in a fire. After going to town for supplies with one of the younger girls, Polly, she returns to find the orphanage in flames. Evelyn and Polly are the only survivors, and Evelyn suspects that the fire is connected to her parents death. They turn the wagon and head off to try to find a safe place, eventually stumbling upon Wyatt Clark’s horse ranch. He and his mother and sister take the girls in and form a fast friendship. Evelyn starts to heal, and is even able to pursue her dream of running a restaurant, but danger still lurks, and she wonders if she will ever truly be safe. “Out of the Embers” is a sweet and satisfying story, with just enough suspense. This is a good read-alike for fans of Tracie Peterson’s fiction.

I haven’t been able to get my hands on it yet, but I’m looking forward to reading “Til I Want No More” by Robin Pearson when it comes out in February. Publishers Weekly describes it as “Pearson (A Long Time Comin’) delivers a satisfying tale of one woman’s secrets returning to haunt her. . . Pearson’s excellent characters and plotting capture the complexity and beauty of family, the difficulty of rectifying mistakes, and the healing that comes from honesty. Pearson rises to another level with this excellent story.” This should be enjoyable for readers who like Denise Hunter’s books.

Manhattan Public Library has a variety of Christian Romance available in print, books on CD, downloadable audio, or ebooks. You can find more suggestions in our Christian Fiction newsletter or by exploring “Read-alikes” in the library catalog. Find these resources and more at our website, www.mhklibrary.org, or call 785-776-4741 ext. 300.

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Climate Anxiety and Heartland Book Discussions

Climate Anxiety and Heartland Book Discussions

By Jan Johnson, Adult Programming and Outreach Librarian

Manhattan Public Library’s programming looks a little different these days as we navigate these past nine months of physical distancing. We aren’t able to gather, we can’t share the spaces we all love in the library and we can’t offer all of the same wonderful in-person programs that bring our community together. We can shift to stay connected and serve you, our community. By now, we’re all (well, most all) accustomed to seeing our co-workers, distant family members and friends through computer webcams. It’s a necessary but impersonal tool to continue our lives as best as we can during this global pandemic. So we shift.

Here, at Manhattan’s public library, we shift our programming to online opportunities, rather than meeting in the auditorium or Groesbeck room. We’ve had storytimes, craft classes, technology training and book discussions online via Zoom or YouTube. It’s not the same, but it keeps the library community together. Looking ahead, we can announce two unique and interesting book discussions planned for the next few months.

Our first, is a collaborative book discussion with librarians from Kansas State University’s Hale Library. They received a grant to work on sustainability within the libraries and seed future library projects. A book discussion will be one part of a four-part series that also includes a screening of the documentary “Fire and Flood,” a conversation with Reverend Vernon Walker on social resilience and climate resilience, and a community workshop about Wildcat Creek.

The book chosen for this first discussion is “A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet” by Sarah Jaquette Ray, a professor of  environmental studies at Humboldt State University. University Press of California describes this book as Gen Z’s first existential toolkit for combating eco-guilt and burnout while advocating for climate justice. The author looks at the emotional effects that climate change has on those of us trying to combat the ongoing climate crisis. She offers knowledge from psychology, sociology, social movements, mindfulness and the environmental humanities of why and how we need to let go of eco-guilt, resist burnout, and cultivate resilience while advocating for climate justice. Ray’s strategies offer deep and practical ways to cultivate collective resilience and creative adaptation, and even thrive in a climate-changed world.

We will offer a series of book discussions on this topic. Several copies are available for check out at Manhattan Public Library and KSU Hale Library. For more information on the rest of the series, watch for updates at lib.k-state.edu/events.

For our second book discussion, the Humanities Kansas TALK series once again provides several copies of the book and a phenomenal speaker to guide us through a thoughtful discussion on the chosen title “Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth” by Kansan Sarah Smarsh. This nonfiction book reads like an intimate work of fiction on the author’s turbulent childhood where “the forces of cyclical poverty and the country’s changing economic policies solidified her family’s place among the working poor.”  She tells the stories of her life and the lives of her family growing up in Southwest Kansas, and the influence of intergenerational poverty had on them. Heartland combines memoir and with powerful analysis and cultural commentary, with an uncompromising look at class, identity, and the particular perils of having less in a country known for its excess.

Manhattan Public Library has copies of each of these titles for checkout at the second floor reference desk. “Heartland” is available online in ebook and audio from Sunflower eLibrary, found on MPL’s Digital Resources page from the website www.mhklibrary.org. You can use the Libby app to easily download and read or listen to the book. To register for either of these events, go to the events page from our website.

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Young Adult Fiction Retellings

Young Adult Fiction Retellings

By Dustin Vann, Library Assistant 2

While pursuing my master’s degree in English from K-State, I became interested in the concept of retellings as a narrative device. Why are there some stories we seem insistent to revisit? What is it about these stories that demands a fresh perspective? I wrestled with these questions over the course of my graduate studies. I don’t think there’s a definitive answer, but I did come up with a food analogy that helped me understand the appeal of retellings: retellings are like comfort food with a twist. They’re traditional favorites we’ve come to depend on, but a new element (or many) has been added to the recipe. Whatever these new elements might be, they allow us to see—or, if you’re still following the analogy, to taste—what’s familiar in fresh and exciting ways.

Retellings have become increasingly popular in the young adult space, with two recent titles updating two classics of English literature: William Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” and Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice.”

In “These Violent Delights,” author Chloe Gong relocates the drama of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy from Verona to the streets of 1920s Shanghai. The sprawling city is run by two rival gangs, the White Flowers and the Scarlet Gang, whose territory battles often end in bloodshed. At opposite ends of this blood feud stand Roma Montagov and Juliette Cai, who must work together to unite their respective gangs against a disturbing “madness” infecting Shanghai citizens. While you might guess how Roma and Juliette’s relationship will unfold based off your knowledge of “Romeo & Juliet Gong subverts our expectations right off the bat, establishing Juliette and Roma not as star-crossed lovers, but as former star-crossed lovers. This deviation from the original story adds a real sense of tension between these characters that will get readers invested in their relationship. Fans of Shakespeare’s play will delight (pardon the pun) in the Easter eggs Gong nestles into her retelling and admire how, despite setting the novel nearly a century removed from our present, the story feels modernized in its discussions of colonialism and inclusivity.

From twentieth-century Shanghai to modern-day Brooklyn, Ibi Zoboi’s “Pride” offers readers a “remix” of Austen’s 1813 classic, Pride & Prejudice. The novel centers on seventeen-year-old Zuri Benitez, who has big dreams of attending Howard University and developing her poetry. Apart from her literary passions, Zuri has immense love for her big family and their Brooklyn neighborhood, which is becoming increasingly gentrified. The novel’s central conflict kicks in with the arrival of the Darcys, an upper-class Black family who move into the renovated mansion across from Zuri’s apartment building. Zuri immediately clashes with Darius Darcy, the youngest of her new neighbors, and what follows is the classic enemies-to-lovers relationship previously immortalized by Austen’s protagonists, Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. Zoboi updates Austen’s observations on class with timely commentary on gentrification and organically infuses specific elements of Zuri’s Haitian-Dominican heritage into the story. Additionally, the novel never forgets its teen audience, injecting the narrative with scenes of romance and college woes that will ring true for young readers.

Though both of these novels are classified as retellings, it should be noted that one does not have to be familiar with “Romeo & Juliet or Pride & Prejudice before enjoying these newer titles. Their authors seem keenly aware of this, taking the bones of their inspired texts to rebuild tried and true stories into something wholly new. In fact, it might be fun for teens to start with these titles first before tackling the originals. You can find print copies of both titles at the Manhattan Public Library, and digital copies are available through Sunflower eLibrary.

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Nine Months of Reading: Books about Pregnancy

Nine Months of Reading: Books about Pregnancy

by Crystal Hicks, Collections Librarian

Amongst the many historic and monumental changes that hit the world in 2020, my life was rocked by another great and terrible change: I became a parent. Parenthood has been wonderful and awe-inspiring, but it’s also terrifying, especially when you’re staring it down while undergoing a long, uncontrollable biological experiment—that is, pregnancy. To say I dislike change is to phrase things mildly, so it’s no surprise that I struggled with pregnancy and all the changes it unleashes. In times of uncertainty, I cleave to books, and so I researched and read all hours of the evenings and weekends. Here are the books that brought me knowledge and reassurance.

I’ve written before about Lucy Knisley, my favorite graphic memoirist, and her memoir “Kid Gloves.” “Kid Gloves” follows Knisley from trying to get pregnant to shortly after giving birth and marked my first foray into books about pregnancy. Knisley expertly punctuates her story with research about the (often awful) history of reproductive health. One caveat about this book: it may not be the best starting point for those newly pregnant. During childbirth, Knisley had eclampsia and almost died, compounding my existing fears about giving birth.

Another excellent memoir by a new millennial parent is Meaghan O’Connell’s “And Now We Have Everything.” O’Connell covers her life from pre-pregnancy musings with friends in New York City (all secretly wanting kids but afraid to take the next step) through childbirth, moving across the country, and a year of postpartum depression. O’Connell reads like a friend giving it to you straight, including the gory details of childbirth, breastfeeding, and the overwhelming exhaustion and chaos of life with a newborn. With O’Connell’s book under my belt, I felt a little more prepared for the emotional and physical havoc that pregnancy and new parenthood might wreak.

Aside from memoirs, I also wanted to know everything there was to know about pregnancy. I turned to the “Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy” as a detailed, well-researched tome to guide me. This book has it all, from week-by-week developmental breakdowns to lists of different potential complications and when to call your doctor. I loved this book, but it is possible to have too much information, especially if you’re prone to anxiety; for a pregnancy book with fewer lists of things that could go wrong, try DK’s “Pregnancy Day by Day” instead.

In “Expecting Better,” Emily Oster goes beyond the standard doctors’ recommendations and evaluates the actual scientific studies used to create those recommendations. An economist specializing in health economics, Oster analyzes study design and statistical analysis, explaining which recommendations absolutely need to be followed and which might allow for some flexibility. This is where I learned that catching most food poisoning is fine while pregnant (hello, raw cookie dough), but you should avoid listeria at all costs (bye-bye, deli meat).

Science writer Angela Garbes’s “Like a Mother” (available on Sunflower eLibrary) combines research with memoir, compiling the results of research inspired by her own pregnancy and postpartum recovery. Garbes covers some content I’d already learned at that point (for example, the actual risks of consuming some caffeine or alcohol while pregnant), but she plumbs greater depths when it comes to the bizarre biology of what pregnancy entails. Garbes’s book also contains my favorite pregnancy-related fact: the placenta is an organ grown by the baby, not the mother, so it actually contains the baby’s DNA. Mind. Blown.

Finally, I looked for books to help with my mental health. Kate Rope’s “Strong as a Mother” perfectly fit the bill, offering advice and anecdotes from real-life parents covering all aspects of pregnancy and new parenthood. Sections are short and to-the-point, ideal when finding time to research around a busy pre-baby life or while your newborn naps. Rope strongly advocates for self-care and asking for help when you need it, which struck a chord with me and encouraged me to accept whatever help was offered. Rope also discusses scary thoughts, providing reassurance that your mind may not be all sunshine and rainbows even if your baby is the most perfect baby ever. Karen Kleiman’s “Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts” expounds further on negative thoughts, working to undo the secrecy and shame that surround them.

These books all provided great support and perspective during my pregnancy. As a new parent, I’m finding even more questions to research, but books and the library are still by my side, offering me guidance. Rest assured, I’ll return to write about my favorite books for new parents.

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Snowy Kids’ Books and a Winter Reading Challenge

Snowy Kids’ Books and a Winter Reading Challenge

By Jennifer Bergen, Program and Children’s Services Manager

The library is trying something new with the new year – a winter reading challenge. We invite everyone of all ages to register for the Winter Reading Challenge and see if you can read at least 4 hours in January. You can also complete winter reading activities like reading aloud to someone, or telling a friend about a good book. This is just for fun, with a prize of a free book when you complete the challenge.

Reading aloud to your kids counts as reading time for both you and them. If you are looking for some good winter themed stories to read by the fireplace, here are some new and old titles to try.

“Snow Song” by A. K. Riley and Dawn Lo is a beautifully illustrated poem that delights in snow.  Bundled up children are shown walking through the snow, gathering to sled and ice skate and make snow angels. If snow days seem magical to your children, this is the right book. “Snow Song” is also available as an ebook on Hoopla using your library card number.

“Cozy” is Jan Brett’s newest picture book, and it does not disappoint. “Cozy” is a magnificent musk ox who allows smaller animals, one at a time, to take shelter under the warmth of his long, thick fur. He sets “house rules” so the animals will get along – lemmings, a snowshoe hare, arctic fox and more. With a backdrop of snow and northern lights, “Cozy” is the perfect hero of this story reminiscent of “The Mitten”. Brett’s traditional side panels on illustrations give kids a chance to guess which animal will be next to join. Brett studied live musk oxen at a farm in Palmer, Alaska to make “Cozy” come to life. You can even watch Jan Brett read Cozy right now on YouTube, and read her older, beloved tale “The Mitten” as an eBook through Sunflower eLibrary or the Libby app.

“A Polar Bear in the Snow” by Mac Barnett is a quiet story about a polar bear who wakes up. Where is he going? The illustrations by Shawn Harris are captivating in their expansive white spreads of snow and blue sea. This short tale will easily lead to other winter bear books, such as “Bear Snores On” by Karma Wilson and “Bear Has a Story to Tell” by Phillip C. Stead, which can be viewed as read-aloud stories on BookFlix through the library’s website.

“Blizzard” by John Rocco is a favorite read-aloud choice, even for older kids. It recounts the author/illustrator’s own experience during a blizzard. At first the snow is exciting, but then it gets so deep, and snowplows cannot handle the load. The young boy is able to leave his house through a window, and uses makeshift snowshoes so he can walk on top of the snow and not sink. Pulling a sled, he begins a journey to the store, stopping by neighbors’ houses on the way to see what they need most. It’s an uplifting wintry tale that will make every kid wish they could be that hero in the snow.

Don’t forget about wonderful classics like Ezra Jack Keats’ “The Snowy Day” or Jane Yolen’s “Owl Moon”. Both of these stories show the quiet mysteriousness of snow, and the invitation the white-covered world gives to be explored, by yourself or with others. Both of these titles are made into short videos using the book illustrations on our free digital service, Kanopy.

More children’s books about winter and snow will be in our display section of the Children’s Room, which is open for browsing by appointment. Librarians can also pull books on topics or genres of your choice with our Quick Picks for Kids service by calling 785-776-4741 ext. 400. We hope kids and adults will enjoy participating in the Winter Reading Challenge this month.

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Exploring Cultural Identity in Young Adult Literature

Exploring Cultural Identity in Young Adult Literature

Rashael Apuya, Teen Services Librarian

When I was a teenager, there weren’t many books that portrayed modern, realistic, diverse main characters. In school, I was reading classics and learning about topics like slavery, the Holocaust, and the Trail of Tears. The historical tragedies of brown (Latinx, Black, Indigenous American, etc.) people were being taught, but not their modern struggles, and certainly not their joys. For fun, I was reading popular books like The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Both of these series have diverse characters, but they aren’t main characters that add to the main plot in a positive or meaningful way. It was years later, when I was 23 years old, that I read a young adult book for the first time that had a mixed-race girl, like me, as the main character (“Everything, Everything” by Nicola Yoon). I remember reading sections that described her hair or skin color and being genuinely shocked that I could relate. And the book wasn’t about her race, which was equally surprising.

There has been a trend in the last few years in young adult fiction toward featuring main characters from minority cultures and their experiences. Sometimes those experiences are harrowing, and sometimes they aren’t. It is equally important to portray the challenges faced by people of color as it is to show that they exist in everyday life. The following books are recent releases that have diverse, modern main characters whose stories may be fiction, but have themes that will resonate with real readers.

The Goodreads Choice Awards 2020 winner for Best Young Adult Fiction, “Clap When You Land” by Elizabeth Acevedo, is a novel in verse. Yahaira Rios lives with her parents in New York City. Every summer, her father travels to the Dominican Republic alone to visit family. Camino Rios lives in the Dominican Republic with her aunt and looks forward to her father’s visit every summer. Even though both of her parents are from the Dominican Republic, Yahaira doesn’t feel connected to her family’s culture – not like Camino. Camino can only dream of the rich, private school lifestyle Yahaira has. Yahaira and Camino find out they are half-sisters when their father dies in a plane crash.

If you’re looking for a rom-com plot that also confronts what it’s like to be first-generation American, you should check out “Frankly in Love” by David Yoon. It follows high-schooler Frank Li, who is Korean-American and who is trying to find a balance between his parents’ traditional expectations and being an average American teenager. Frank’s parents will only let him date Korean girls, but he’s falling for a White girl. His fellow Korean-American friend, Joy, has the same problem. Frank and Joy decide to fake-date to please their parents while they date the people they want.

Grown” by Tiffany D. Jackson is a hard-hitting commentary on the experience of young Black women in the entertainment industry. It follows Enchanted Jones, who lives with her family in the suburbs and who is the only Black girl at her school. She is a talented singer who gets discovered at an audition by the charming Korey Fields, a legendary R&B artist. Korey’s stardom and lush lifestyle dazzle Enchanted at first, but she sees Korey’s true colors when he becomes controlling. One day, Enchanted wakes up with blood on her hands and no memory of the night before. Korey is dead and the police have questions.

You Should See Me in a Crown” by Leah Johnson is about Liz Lighty, who lives in a wealthy midwestern town and who can’t wait to go off to college and become a doctor. When Liz learns that she will no longer be receiving the financial aid she was banking on, she is forced to consider other options. Her small town is obsessed with prom – so much so that there is a scholarship given to the prom king and queen. Liz feels too Black, poor, and weird to win the title of prom queen, but she is willing to do whatever it takes to get out of Campbell, Indiana and into her dream school.

Find these and more diverse books at the Manhattan Public Library! If you’d like personalized book recommendations, you can fill out a request at https://mhklibrary.org/personalized-reading-list-2/.

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Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077

by Jared Richards, Learning and Information Services Supervisor

After multiple delays, one of the most anticipated video games of the year, “Cyberpunk 2077”, has finally been released. It is a large, open-world game, set in a dystopian future, where you play as a mercenary outlaw trying to track down a cyber implant that could grant immortality.

As you may have guessed from the title, the game has a very specific aesthetic. Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction that portrays a gritty future filled with technologically enhanced body modifications, mixes punk and hacker cultures together, and has a strong 1980s vibe. This last part makes sense because cyberpunk really started making a name for itself in the 1980s with writers like William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and Katsuhiro Otomo, a Japanese manga artist best known for “Akira,” which is credited with starting the cyberpunk movement in Japan.

When it comes to science fiction, I tend to be more drawn to time travel and time loop stories. But as I patiently waited for “Cyberpunk 2077” to be released, I became more interested in the authors and books that have helped create and popularize the cyberpunk subgenre.

A good place to start is “Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology” edited by Bruce Sterling. This is a collection of short stories that will give you a taste of cyberpunk, without having to commit to a novel or whole series of novels. Science fiction, and cyberpunk in particular, can be densely packed when it comes to world-building and story, so it doesn’t hurt to dip your toes in with a short story to see if the water is right for you.

Neuromancer” by William Gibson, first published in 1984, is viewed as one of the most influential cyberpunk novels, and went a long way in popularizing the subgenre. The protagonist, Henry Case, is a hacker and data-thief that is caught stealing from his employer. As punishment, his nervous system is damaged so he can no longer enter the matrix. This is a term you may be familiar with because the movie “The Matrix” starring Keanu Reeves was highly influenced by this novel.

Case is approached by a new, mysterious employer named Armitage, who offers to fix Case’s nervous system in exchange for joining a team comprised of a street samurai, a psychopath, and the digital consciousness of Case’s dead mentor. The team is tasked with joining two artificial intelligences (AIs) in order to form a super-AI, something that is currently prohibited by law. The job seems straightforward enough, but “Neuromancer” is a fairly dense novel, and things aren’t always what they seem.

William Gibson has left his mark on science fiction and cyberpunk, by coining terms like ‘cyberspace’ and the idea of the matrix to describe a virtual space. Neal Stephenson, author of “Snow Crash,” has left a similar mark. He helped popularize the word ‘avatar’ to describe someone’s digital representation, and coined the term ‘metaverse’ to describe the shared virtual space created by virtual and augmented reality, and the internet.

In the world of “Snow Crash,” corporations have gained more power than national governments and everything from jails to mega-churches have become privatized and franchised. Even individual communities, called ‘burbclaves,’ have been walled-off and operate as city-states with their own constitutions and laws.

Hiro Protagonist, our protagonist, or maybe our hero, delivers pizzas in the real world, a business now run by the mafia, but in the metaverse he is a well-known hacker and programmer. The plot of the novel is centered around a neuro-linguist virus, both in the real world and the digital metaverse, that has its origins in ancient Sumerian culture and the Tower of Babel myth. This retelling of that myth says that in order to beat the same virus in ancient times, which used the Sumerian language in concert with a physical virus to program people’s brains, an anti-virus was created. This anti-virus prevented humans from understanding the Sumerian language, thus preventing the brain reprogramming, and led to the creation of the languages we have today. Like many protagonists, Hiro is tasked with saving the day, and I am partial to this story because he is aided along the way by a virtual librarian.

I now find myself with the dilemma of wanting to play “Cyberpunk 2077,” but also wanting to read the stack of books I have checked out from the library. No pressure, but if you start putting some of these books on hold, I will be forced to read them just a little bit faster. Everyone wins.

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Those Things Kids Do

Those Things Kids Do

by Jennifer Jordan, Children’s Librarian

As a new parent, I’m learning the things children do that are frustrating but also hilarious. Hearing the stories my mother had of what my brother and I did seemed ridiculous until I start noticing it with my son and the children that come into the library. When my mom would be prepping a meal, I would sneak the best way a 3-year-old could and steal raw vegetables off the cutting board. Anything and everything that was on the ground was edible. This included a dead spider my dad tracked in from outside that my mother had to pull out of my mouth. My mom’s hair? That’s a toy that is asking to be pulled and be tangled around my fingers. If my parents gave me a piece of paper and some colored pencils, I decided that the wall would be a better canvas. Whatever it was, they love talking about how ridiculous my brother and I were and how now, it’s hilarious.

Right now, my little guy is being very vocal but can’t say words yet. He just yells “ma ma ma” or “da da da” to hear his voice. Wondering which word would be his first, I brought home “You’re Baby’s First Word will be Dada” by Jimmy Fallon. In this book, Fallon made a simple read with illustrations of different animals. The parent animal keeps saying “dada” where the baby animal replies with the sound each animal makes. It’s very true to how me as a parent and other parents try to get their baby to repeat dada or mama back to them. Fallon has a follow-up, “Everything is Mama”. This book, illustrated in the same style, has the parent animal trying to get their child to say things like sun and waffle. Instead, the kid animals will say only one thing, mama.

A word that I dread my little one to learn is “no”. I want him to know the word and use it well but what I’ve heard is a toddler learning “no” pairs with the toddler’s opinions. They say no to vegetables, no to baths, no to diapers and the best is no to naps. “No More Naps!” by Chris Grabenstein is a read that will make parents laugh out loud. The toddler in the book is fed up with taking naps and refused to take one. The dad has an idea to try taking her on a stroll around the park to calm her and have her fall asleep. They meet many people who decide if she doesn’t want her nap, they will take it instead. This read pairs well with a book about an alien toddler who is a very picky eater. “Nerp!” by Sarah Lynne Reul has many hilarious words in it. Nerp, meaning no, is what the toddler says when their parents put a plate food in front of them. They will eat nothing the parents give them and when the parents are ready to give up, they hear slurping. He found the bowl of alien dog food on the ground and the dog is eating all the food the parents gave their child.

Kids eventually stop using the one worded sentence and move on to full statements and questions. They are just as curious and now have the voice and vocabulary to have conversations. “Are you Eating Candy Without Me?” by Draga Jenny Malesevic is a book where four children are wondering what their grownups do when they leave. Do they go to fancy parties? Do they eat cake and ice cream while riding ponies? The most important question, are they eating candy without them?

Any of these books would be great for a story before bed. The best book would be a bedtime story about a parent reading a bedtime story. “Interrupting Chicken” by David Ezra Stein is a story about a little chicken and papa chicken that will make parents laugh out loud. Little chicken wants a story and papa chicken agree only if he doesn’t interrupt when he reads. Little chicken can’t help it and needs to stop the characters from making the mistakes they do in the story. Over and over papa chicken will start and must remind little chicken to let him read and finish the story.

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Hick Lit Pairings for “Hillbilly Elegy” Film

Hick Lit Pairings for “Hillbilly Elegy” Film

by Rachel Cunningham, Circulation Supervisor

With the recent adaptation of J.D. Vance’s bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” to film, now seems like a great opportunity to reflect on one of my favorite niche genres – rural noir, or hick lit. A couple years ago, I began to notice a theme in the books I was devouring – they were set in Kansas, Missouri, the Ozarks, and Appalachia. The characters weren’t always likeable, yet you were invested in their stories. They were intricately plotted, character driven novels. Many authors balanced a gritty yet lyrical writing style, which constructed a story with the devastation of realistic events told in a beautiful, flowing narrative. This was rural noir. If you’re interested in characters that are flawed, conflicted, and sometimes even insufferable, I have a few suggestions for you.

Although there are other well-known authors who write within this genre like Daniel Woodrell (“Winter’s Bone”) and Sharyn McCrumb (Ballad Series), Laura McHugh has mastered the craft of creating compelling characters in all of her novels. In her most recent novel, “The Wolf Wants In”, McHugh weaves a story between two alternating perspectives. In Blackwater, Kansas, Sadie is grieving the death of her brother, Shane. At only 36, Shane died suddenly at home of what was deemed to be a heart attack. Yet, Sadie is suspicious of the uninvestigated death and subsequent decision to not perform an autopsy by her sister-in-law. Weary of the lack of police intervention in her brother’s case, Sadie begins her own investigation. Meanwhile, Henley belongs to a notorious local family she dreams of escaping. When her mother disappears on her most recent bender, Henley takes over her housekeeping position to save money for her getaway. However, her new employer complicates her plans. As the reader becomes entangled in the stories of the two women, Henley races to unfurl family secrets and the secrets about Shane before she is ensnared or worse. Be aware, McHugh does an excellent job with pacing in this book. It may be difficult to put down, and you might find yourself reading into the early hours of the morning.

Since our last hick lit article, Amy Engel has released her novel “The Familiar Dark.” Set firmly in the Ozarks, Engel’s newest adult novel follows Eve Taggert, a not-yet-grieving mother hunting for her daughter’s murderer. After the murder of 12-year-old Junie, the local police, including Eve’s brother, Cal, have no leads. Eve enlists the help of her estranged mother, while determined to avoid deteriorating into a resemblance of the hard woman who raised her. Junie is brought to life through Eve’s memories, as she comes to grips with how easily her life would’ve mirrored her mother’s without her unplanned pregnancy twelve years prior. As Eve continues to spin further out of control in her quest for an answer, readers wonder what the answer will cost her and whether the price is worth justice for Junie. Although Engel’s novel is fictional, it resonates with the topics in Vance’s memoir. Eve poignantly observes, “The world might be changing in some places, but not here. Here it was still the same old merry-go-round of drugs and poverty and women being chewed up and spit out by men. People in other worlds could wear black evening gowns and give speeches about equality and not backing down, but out here in the trenches, we fought our war alone and we lost the battles every day.”

For those interested in a less suspenseful and more literary novel, Stephen Markley’s “Ohio” is a perfect companion for Vance’s memoir. Markley utilizes a slow-burn narrative as chapters change perspective between four former friends, each returning to their small hometown in Ohio for different reasons. The characters are intricate and complex, and Markley’s writing style reflects the stream of consciousness of each character. Readers follow Bill, once energized by left-wing ideas, but now desperately running an illegitimate errand for cash; Stacey, a scholar looking for answers and reconciliation; Dan, a soldier home from Iraq; and Tina, returning to confront her high school abuser. With themes of the recession, post-9/11 America, opiate addiction, homophobia, assault, and more, Markley’s debut earns NPR’s description of “Wild, Angry, [and] Devastating”. This novel provides a window into washed up small towns across America, not just in Ohio. Although “Ohio” is not an easy read, its characters and their provocative questions stick with the reader long after the conclusion of the book.

There is a world of rural noir recommendations waiting for you at NoveList with your Kansas eCard!

by Alyssa Yenzer Alyssa Yenzer No Comments

Bookbinding for Every Occasion

Bookbinding for Every Occasion

By Evren Celik, Library Assistant 2

Crafting won’t solve all your problems, but stabbing something with a needle repeatedly is an easy way to feel less anxious. Unfortunately I can’t follow a pattern to save my life, so for a while I only did embroidery.

At some point in high school, I ran out of fabric and decided to try embordering paper. This led to the creation of what could generously be called a hand-bound journal, but would more accurately be classified as an abstract paper sculpture. Luckily, learning how to make a book can be a much smoother process if one acknowledges the existence of instruction manuals.

Making Handmade Books : 100+ Bindings, Structures & Forms” by Alisa J. Golden provides an overview of what bookbinding is, as well as how to do it. It’s targeted at beginners and intended to get you started on projects in less than a day. Golden shares photos of her own work, as well as tidbits and examples from 40 other artists. “Making Handmade Books” allows readers to explore easy materials, practice simple binding, folding, and shape techniques, while also achieving the satisfaction of a finished and usable project.

For a slightly more project-based introduction to bookbinding, Charlotte Rivers’ “Little Book of Bookmaking: Timeless Techniques and Fresh Ideas for Beautiful Handmade Books” is great practice. Rivers shares 21 illustrated tutorials covering a wide variety of stitches and materials. Each tutorial illustrates a few techniques and provides both practical and decorative applications. However, the “Little Book of Bookmaking” isn’t just for beginners. It’s great for anyone looking for an easy to follow introduction to a wide variety of bookbinding styles.

“Making Books and Journals: 20 Great Weekend Projects” by Constance E. Richards showcases books for every occasion from start to finish. Ideas include a wedding album, a shell book, a fruit recipe book, a wire-bound journal, and a heart-shaped book small enough to be a necklace. Some projects like the accordion center fold-out book or the stitched web book with dangles provide instruction on techniques. However, the focus is more on book creation than learning the components.

For intermediate bookmakers interested in themed project ideas check out “Bound : Over 20 Artful Handmade Books” by Erica Ekrem or “Eco Books : Inventive Projects from the Recycling Bin” by Terry Taylor. Each manual showcases ideas grouped by themes and materials.

The main difference between the two manuals is the kind of bookbinding projects they focus on. If you’re looking for a fun way to use up your recyclables, look no further than “Eco Books,” it’s ideal for anyone looking for something to do with a collection of pretty paper, yarn, or other odds and ends. Although the manual includes projects like a corrugated cardboard journal, it mostly focuses on books as art projects inspired by materials you could find around your house. Projects include a leaf book and a photo album made of scrap paper and fabric.

If you’re looking for works of art that you can also write in, Erica Ekrem’s “Bound” is a great choice. Ekrem’s work mainly features books with exposed bindings. The manual is separated into sections titled Vintage, Nature, and Leather, which provide bookbinding ideas centering the named material type. Vintage, for example, shows how to repurpose old book covers, or incorporate photographs of your grandmother into the cover of a photo album. There is a Basics section which explains materials and provides illustrated short explanations of stitches. However, the instructions aren’t as detailed or immediately applicable as the earlier manuals.

For anyone who prefers videos to written and illustrated instructions, check out CreativeBug. Featuring thousands of art and craft videos, CreativeBug can be accessed by scrolling down the main page of our website. The tutorials can also be searched by subject in the library catalog. “Creating a Mixed-Paper Sketchbook” and “Coptic Binding” are my personal favorites. To find them, click the “search” dropdown tab on the catalog homepage, select “advanced”, and enter “bookbinding” and “Creativebug” in the first two search fields.

As a note, many bookbinding manuals list necessary supplies like an awl or binder’s thread. Those are great for making sturdier, more professional looking books. However, if you don’t want to invest in supplies yet (or ever) an embroidery needle and any sturdy thread will do. The first sketchbook I made with printer paper and a sewing kit worked fine for the two years I carried it, though it’s more uneven than anything I would bind now.

 

 

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