Langley-Adams Library Recommendations

" Long before George Takei braved new frontiers in  Star Trek , he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father's -- and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten "relocation centers," hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard. They Called Us Enemy  is Takei's firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the joys and terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother's hard choices, his father's faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future." (Goodreads.com) They Called Us Enemy   was a moving personal account of the internment of Japanese Americans in the United States during World War II. In this graphic novel Takei does a...

" For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today.  The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k  is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected American society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up. Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to...

" Nunchi  ( noon -chee):  eye measure. The subtle art of gauging other people's thoughts, and feelings in order to build trust, harmony and connection. Why did  she  get promoted? Why does the party only start when  he  walks in? And why do  they  always catch the bartender’s eye?  It sounds like they’re all experts in the art of  nunchi , even if they don’t know it. Nunchi  is the guiding principle of Korean life, but anyone can use it: it’s the art of reading a room, your way of understanding what other people are thinking and feeling, and using that to get ahead. Korean parents believe that teaching their children  nunchi  is as important as teaching them to cross the road safely. With great  nunchi , it feels like the world is on your side. Without it, you might get hit by something you never saw coming. If you’re thinking ‘not another Eastern fad, Marie Kondo already made me throw half my clothes away’, don’t wor...

"I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship, but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely." So said Henry David Thoreau in 1845 when he began his famous experiment in living on Walden Pond. In this graphic masterpiece, John Porcellino uses only the words of Thoreau himself to tell the story of those two years off the beaten track. The pared-down text focuses on Thoreau's most profound ideas, and Porcellino's fresh, simple pictures bring the philosopher's sojourn at Walden to cinematic life. For readers who know  Walden  intimately, this graphic treatment will provide a vivid new interpretation of Thoreau's story. For those who have never read (or never completed!) the original, it presents a contemporary look at a few brave words to live by." (Goodreads.com) Thoreau at Walden  was a helpful graphic novel to pair with the full text version of Walden and Civil Disobedience. Its simplisti...

"Henry David Thoreau was a sturdy individualist and a lover of nature. In March, 1845, he built himself a wooden hut on the edge of Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts, where he lived until September 1847.  Walden  is Thoreaus autobiograophical account of his Robinson Crusoe existence, bare of creature comforts but rich in contemplation of the wonders of nature and the ways of man.  On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience  is the classic protest against government's interference with individual liberty, and is considered one of the most famous essays ever written." (Goodreads.com) Walden and Civil Disobedience   has been sitting on my bookshelf for quite some time waiting to be read. I decided to listen to the audio book which helped me get into the text. While it isn't a gripping read, I thought it was an interesting account of one man's personal experience. It's also a resource to look at the natural and political world of New England in the mid- 1800s. I rec...

" March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis' personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement. Many years ago, John Lewis and other student activists drew inspiration from the 1950s comic book  Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story . Now, his own comics bring those days to life for a new audience, testifying to a movement whose echoes will be heard for generations." (Goodreads.com) The March series  is a great resource not only for educators but for anyone who is interested in learning more about the American Civil Rights Movement .  Being a graphic novel does not make this an easy read. It really brings to life the events that John Lewis experienced and is full of information. Meghan McCabe Children & Youth Services Librarian Available at the Langle...

" Why do so many of us stop learning new skills as adults? Are we afraid to be bad at something? Have we forgotten the sheer pleasure of beginning from the ground up? Or is it simply a fact that you can't teach an old dog new tricks?  Inspired by his young daughter's insatiable need to know how to do almost everything, and stymied by his own rut of mid-career competence, Tom Vanderbilt begins a year of learning purely for the sake of learning. He tackles five main skills (and picks up a few more along the way), choosing them for their difficulty to master and their distinct lack of career marketability--chess, singing, surfing, drawing, and juggling. What he doesn't expect is that the circuitous paths he takes while learning these skills will prove even more satisfying than any knowledge he gains. He soon finds himself having rapturous experiences singing Spice Girls songs in an amateur choir, losing games of chess to eight-year-olds, and dodging scorpions at a surf ca...

" Stamped traces the history of racism and the many political, literary, and philosophical narratives that have been used to justify slavery, oppression, and genocide. Framed through the ideologies and thoughts of segregationists, assimilationists, and antiracists throughout history, the book demonstrates that the “construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, whether financially or politically,” and that this power has been used to systemically and systematically oppress Black people in the United States for more than four hundred years." (Goodreads.com) Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You is a remix of the National Book Award-winning   Stamped from the Beginning.  The audiobook is a quick listen with fun musical breaks after each chapter.   Stamped   is appropriate for teens and adults and is a  great educational tool for teachers . It fills in the gaps that have been left out of secondary education for far too long. Meghan McCabe Children ...

 " Marguerite feels awkward, struggling every day to stay productive at work and keep up appearances with friends. She's sensitive, irritable at times. She makes her environment a fluffy, comforting cocoon, alienating her boyfriend. The everyday noise and stimuli assaults her senses, the constant chatter of her coworkers working her last nerve. Then, when one big fight with her boyfriend finds her frustrated and dejected, Marguerite finally investigates the root of her discomfort: after a journey of tough conversations with her loved ones, doctors, and the internet, she discovers that she has Asperger's. Her life is profoundly changed–-for the better." (Goodreads.com) I found this graphic novel to be a good introduction to learning about Asperger's since the story follows a woman, named Maguerite, who is on a journey to find out why she feels different from those around her.  Asperger's Syndrome is something that I have known about for a long time but I didn...

" At its heart,  Dearie  is a story about a woman’s search for her own unique expression.  Julia Child was a directionless, gawky young woman who ran off halfway around the world to join a spy agency during World War II.  She eventually settled in Paris, where she learned to cook and collaborated on the writing of what would become  Mastering the Art of French Cooking,  a book that changed the food culture of America.   She was already fifty when  The French Chef  went on the air —  at a time in our history when women weren’t making those leaps.  Julia became the first educational TV star, virtually launching PBS as we know it today; her marriage to Paul Child formed a decades-long love story that was romantic, touching, and quite extraordinary" (Goodreads.com) This is a very in depth look into the life and career of Julia Child and her Husband. The page count is a bit daunting but the audiobook makes the commute fly by. Get re...

  "In  The Lost Family , journalist Libby Copeland investigates what happens when we embark on a vast social experiment with little understanding of the ramifications. She explores the culture of genealogy buffs, the science of DNA, and the business of companies like Ancestry and 23andMe, all while tracing the story of one woman, her unusual results, and a relentless methodical drive for answers that becomes  a thoroughly modern genetic detective story. (Goodreads.com) DNA testing is becoming more commonplace these days in the United States, although it is something I haven't done yet. The author covers a lot of territory on issues such as privacy, race and politics while weaving in stories of people that had their lives completely changed because the hunt to find out where they came from. These stories of everyday people were so fascinating and helped keep the book from becoming too serious. Despite being so comprehensive it never felt like the author was talking down at...

"We are in crisis today. Our modern technological society has left too many of us—no matter our ages—feeling isolated and bereft of purpose. Previous frameworks for building community and finding meaning no longer support us. Yet ter Kuile reveals a hopeful new message: we might not be religious, but that doesn’t mean we are any less spiritual.  In  The Power of Ritual , ter Kuile invites us to deepen these ordinary practices as intentional rituals that nurture connection and well being. With wisdom and endearing wit, ter Kuile’s call for ritual is ultimately a call to heal our loss of connection to ourselves, to others, and to our spiritual identities.  T he Power of Ritual  reminds us that what we already do every day matters—and has the potential to become a powerful experience of reflection, sanctuary, and meaning." (Amazon.com) This book was a very approachable guide about how to practice spirituality without religion, it comes in at under 250 pages, making it a...

"Axton Betz-Hamilton grew up in small-town Indiana in the early '90s. When she was 11 years old, her parents both had their identities stolen. Their credit ratings were ruined, and they were constantly fighting over money. This was before the age of the Internet, when identity theft became more commonplace, so authorities and banks were clueless and reluctant to help Axton's parents. Axton's family changed all of their personal information and moved to different addresses, but the identity thief followed them wherever they went. Convinced that the thief had to be someone they knew, Axton and her parents completely cut off the outside world, isolating themselves from friends and family.  As a result, Axton spent her formative years crippled by anxiety, quarantined behind the closed curtains in her childhood home. Years later, her parents' marriage still shaken from the theft, Axton discovered that she, too, had fallen prey to the identity thief, but by the time she ...

"In  Our Women on the Ground , nineteen of these women tell us, in their own words, about what it's like to report on conflicts that are (quite literally) close to home. From sexual harassment on the streets of Cairo to the impossibility of traveling without a male relative in Yemen, their challenges are unique—as are their advantages, such as being able to speak candidly with other women or gain entry to places that an outsider would never be able to access. Their daring, shocking, and heartfelt stories, told here for the first time, shatter stereotypes about Arab women and provide an urgently needed perspective on a part of the world that is often misunderstood." (Goodreads.com) For as long as I can remember there has always been conflict in the Middle East but I can't say that I know a lot about the Middle East in general (besides what I've learned in school). So when this book came out I picked it because not only is it about women journalists but the essays...

"The true story of one family, caught between America’s two biggest policy disasters: the war on terror and the response to Hurricane Katrina.  Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun run a house-painting business in New Orleans. In August of 2005, as Hurricane Katrina approaches, Kathy evacuates with their four young children, leaving Zeitoun to watch over the business. In the days following the storm he travels the city by canoe, feeding abandoned animals and helping elderly neighbors. Then, on September 6th, police officers armed with M-16s arrest Zeitoun in his home. Told with eloquence and compassion, Zeitoun is a riveting account of one family’s unthinkable struggle with forces beyond wind and water." (Goodreads.com) The damage that Hurricane Katrina caused is something that I've always been vaguely aware of because I was so young when it happened. So when I picked up this book to read it was the first look that I had into what it was really like for the families that went ...

"Sasha Sagan was raised by secular parents, the astronomer Carl Sagan and the writer and producer Ann Druyan. They taught her that the natural world and vast cosmos are full of profound beauty, that science reveals truths more wondrous than any myth or fable. When Sagan herself became a mother, she began her own hunt for the natural phenomena behind our most treasured occasions--from births to deaths, holidays to weddings, anniversaries, and more--growing these roots into a new set of rituals for her young daughter that honor the joy and significance of each experience without relying on religious framework." (Goodreads.com) Although my first impression of this book was that Sasha Sagan was going to provide alternative ways (in list form) to celebrate special occasions, it was actually more of an historical exploration of other cultures' traditions and rituals. Sagan also related her own experiences growing up and how her family has chosen to celebrate based on their bac...

"In this visually arresting graphic novel, surfer and illustrator A.J Dungo remembers his late partner and the shared love of surfing that endured throughout their time together.  Dungo explores the beauty and complexity of his relationship with his partner as they face her prolonged battle with cancer. With his passion for surfing uniting many narratives, he intertwines his own story with those of some of the great heroes of surf in a rare work of nonfiction that is as moving as it is fascinating." (Goodreads.com) What initially drew me to this graphic novel was the artwork, the cover caught my attention because even though summer was ending, I still wanted to read about the beach. The artwork is beautiful and monochromatic color palette helped differentiate the alternating story lines. Even though this is a personal story about the author, I learned a lot about surfing. Dungo does a good job of simplifying the history and important figures without putting an overwhelming a...

Will my cat eat my eyeballs after I die?  Can I give my grandma a Viking funeral?  What happens if an astronaut dies in space?  Can I be buried with my beloved pet? The answers to all of these questions and more are in this fun book! Caitlin Doughty, a professional mortician and Youtube star explains the science behind death and facts we might not know surrounding death. Did you know that different states have different laws about whether a realtor has to disclose if someone died in a home? This is just one of the fun facts I learned while reading this book! Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs  is written in a way that is easy to read. The answers are for everybody, even if the questions came from children. We have a physical copy of the book here at the library. The ebook is also available on Libby within our consortium. I listened to the audiobook through RBDigital via the Boston Public Library, which was narrated by the author. I highly recommend reading it either way; y...

“Maya Angelou recounts the story of her life up to the birth of her child. Though she faces many hardships in her life, including being raped and living in a junkyard, she's able to find love and happiness as a mother.” (Goodreads.com) It took me a long time to finish this book. I almost gave up on it, and I’m glad I didn’t. Angelou’s writing is beautiful. You can tell she loves the English language. This book jumps around to different moments in her life and I connected with some stories more than others. It wasn’t an easy read, for me, but it was worth it. I recommend this book if you enjoy personal narratives, African American History, classic literature. Meghan McCabe Children & Youth Services Librarian Available at the Langley Adams Library

“From a leader of feminist punk music at the dawn of the riot-grrrl era, a candid and deeply personal look at life in rock and roll… Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl is the deeply personal and revealing narrative of Brownstein's life in music, from ardent fan to pioneering female guitarist to comedic performer and luminary in the independent rock world…” (Goodreads.com) I’ve had an interest in the Riot Grrrl movement for sometime. A couple of years ago I read “Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution” by Sarah Marcus and it was interesting to learn about its origins. Carrie Brownstein’s book came out in 2015. I was familiar with her from the show ‘Portlandia’ with Fred Armisen, but not as a musician. I enjoyed learning about her experiences of being in a band, dealing with all that comes with being on tour, and what life is like after it ends. I recommend this book if you like memoirs, female musical artists, and you’re interested in the Riot Grrrl movement. ...