Librarians' Bedside Table - January 2023

Oscar Grady Public Library

Mission Statement:

The mission of the Oscar Grady Public Library is to provide high interest, high demand materials and make them readily available from the Library’s collection or through interlibrary loan. The Library supports lifelong learning, information and recreational needs for people of all ages and abilities. Special emphasis is placed on stimulating children’s interests and appreciation for reading and learning. The integration of new technology with traditional library resources is used to expand service beyond the Library’s physical walls.

On this new issue of our “Librarians’ Bedside Table”, we compiled a list of really good titles recommended by your library friends. Each title can be accessed in electronic format for your convenience. Click or tap in the hyperlinks attached to each title that will take you right to them in the Monarch Catalog. We hope you enjoy this selection of books from your librarians at the Oscar Grady Public Library!

Emily recommends: Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner … has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn’t know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn’t wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.

Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s a story about the power and limitations of art to create change, the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and how any of us can survive a broken world with our hearts intact. —goodreads review

Emily recommends :

What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by

Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey

This book is going to change the way you see your life.

Have you ever wondered "Why did I do that?" or "Why can't I just control my behavior?" Others may judge our reactions and think, "What's wrong with that person?" When questioning our emotions, it's easy to place the blame on ourselves; holding ourselves and those around us to an impossible standard. It's time we started asking a different question.

Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”

Here, Winfrey shares stories from her own past, understanding through experience the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma and adversity at a young age. In conversation throughout the book, she and Dr. Perry focus on understanding people, behavior, and ourselves. It’s a subtle but profound shift in our approach to trauma, and it’s one that allows us to understand our pasts in order to clear a path to our future—opening the door to resilience and healing in a proven, powerful way. —goodreads review

Hope recommends :

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Qwens

Where the Crawdads Sing features a young girl about age 4 or 5 who is abandoned first by her mother and then one brother and two sisters due to the father's abusive behavior. The family thinks the reason the father drinks too heavily and becomes abusive is due to the fact he fought in World War II. Eventually, Jodie, the last brother also leaves. Now Kya age 6 is left alone with Pa. By the time Kya is age 10, Pa also leaves.

Kya, also known as the Marsh Girl, is on her own at age 10 living in a shack in the marsh. She had learned to cook by watching her mother, but she had to figure out how to earn money to buy needed supplies. She uses everything possible out of the garden that had been left behind. Early in the morning she would rise and go to dig muscles on the beach to sell to a man named Jumpin. When she took smoked fish to Jumpin, he was able to have his wife Mabel trade supplies with Kya.

Kya meets Tate, a friend of her brother Jodie. Tate leaves specific feathers for Kya as a way of becoming friends. Eventually, Tate teaches Kya to read. Kya has always collected specimens, but now she can label them and read about them in the books Tate brings to her. Kya is an expert in the study of marsh life.

By this time in the book, I was hooked and could not put the book down. There are so many details of Kya's finding her way in life, the good and bad people she meets, and the major problem she faces. I do not want to spoil the book for you, so I will stop here. I will say I did not expect the ending. This is a book I highly recommend.

Hope recommends:

Japanese wonder crochet : a creative approach to classic stitches

Published by Nihon Vogue (Japan's preeminent publisher of books on handicrafts, with a long history and hundreds of titles on knitting, sewing, quilting, embroidery, paper crafts, tole painting and more)

This book introduces crafters outside Japan to the wonderful crotchet techniques and charts that are so popular within the country.

“YOU GUY! Did you know that your answers to just a handful of questions can predict where you grew up? I found this title very interesting. No need to go to garage sales to find a copy; lace up your gym shoes and head to the library! Check out this title and you could definitely see where I grew up.” Julie

Speaking American offers a visual atlas of the American vernacular-who says what, and where they say it--revealing the history of our nation, our regions, and the language that divides and unites us. goodreads

…

Julie recommends:

Speaking American by Josh Katz

Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he? goodreads review

Laura recommends:

Rita recommends: howtokeephousewhiledrowning:agentle approachtocleaningandorganizing , by K.C. Davis, LPC (2020)

may just be the short, nonjudgmental book you need if life is overwhelming you. Davis had her second child in February 2020 and was overcome by a tsunami of postpartum depression and Covid-related isolation. As she states in her introduction, “I was tired. I was depressed. I was overwhelmed. I was in need of help. But I was not lazy. And neither are you.”

Davis’ philosophy is, “You don’t exist to serve your space; your space exists to serve you.” She helps readers find their individual ways of keeping a functional home through self-compassion. This book is, “a journey of how we can care for ourselves when we feel like we are drowning…you are worthy of care whether your house is immaculate or a mess.”

Some strategies that worked for Davis (but, as the author makes clear, may not work for you) are: If dirty dishes are a continual source of distress, use paper plates. Are mountains of laundry making you want to cry? How about prioritizing what clothes actually need to be folded—do onesies, underwear, and pajamas really need to be folded? Who sees them? Who cares?

Davis also suggests creating movement momentum with music. Crank up whatever music makes you happy as you are doing functional chores to give yourself a pleasure reward. She also recommends giving yourself permission to start. Undertaking 5% of a task may be more manageable than finding the energy to do 100% of the same task. Timed cleaning is another strategy Davis has employed successfully. Set a timer for 5-15 minutes and start a task you have been avoiding. And always remember, “good enough is perfect.”

Davis’ title evokes the Stevie Smith poem, “Not Waving but Drowning.” There are times in life when others cannot see what is really going on. Only you know the challenges you are facing. Davis’ message of being as compassionate to yourself as you are to others is a good start to building the energy you need to address life’s care tasks.

Stephanie recommends:

Enemy at the Gates created by Vince Flynn, written by Kyle Mills

The book #21 in the Mitch Rapp series is out, so I had to catch up and read book #20… ...the next thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series follows the CIA’s top operative as he searches for a high-level mole with the power to rewrite the world order.

Mitch Rapp has worked for a number of presidents over his career, but Anthony Cook is unlike any he’s encountered before. Cunning and autocratic, he feels no loyalty to America’s institutions and is distrustful of the influence Rapp and CIA director Irene Kennedy have in Washington.

Meanwhile, when Kennedy discovers evidence of a mole scouring the Agency’s database for sensitive information on Nicholas Ward, the world’s first trillionaire, she convinces Rapp to take a job protecting him. In doing so, he finds himself walking an impossible tightrope: Keep the man alive, but also use him as bait to uncover a traitor who has seemingly unlimited access to government secrets.

As the attacks on Ward become increasingly dire, Rapp and Kennedy are dragged into a world where the lines between governments, multinational corporations, and the hyper-wealthy fade. An environment in which liberty, nationality, and loyalty are meaningless. Only the pursuit of power remains. goodreads.com

Now around town! Books for everyone.

The Oscar Grady Library with the support of The Friends of the Oscar Grady Library has purchased three Little Free Libraries, which have been installed at three convenient locations: Quade Park, The Oscar Grady Library, and Village Hall.

Check them out! Love them, enjoy them, treasure them.

Steven recommends:

A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie

Death by Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts

Making the Monster: The Science of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Superspy Science: Science, Death and Tech in the World of James Bond

Have you ever wondered how much of the writing behind great fiction writers like Agatha Christie, Ian Flemming, Mary Shelley, or William Shakespeare is based on truth? Kathryn Harkup has written four amazing books that provide you with answers to what is truth and what is pure fiction. She covers the written and theatrical worlds of these authors and their characters. Kathryn went from being a Chemist to world renowned author known for using her understanding of the world of science throughout her writings. If you are looking for a good nonfiction read that brings the intriguing world of fiction to the real world, I highly recommend reading one of Kathryn Harkup’s books.