Last night marked the 8th anniversary of the Genre Reading
Group! Here's to many more years of good reading and great conversation!
We met for one of our biannual
salon discussions where there is no assigned topic. What a reading free for all! Our next meeting
will be earlier in July than normal, on Tuesday, July 19th and the topic up for
discussion will be music.
A few housekeeping items first:
The Library will be closed Saturday-Monday, July 2-4 in
observance of Independence Day.
Some exciting programs are coming up in July and August as
our Adult Summer Reading program winds down!
The French Film Series continues on Wednesday July 13 and Wednesday
August 17, both at 6:30pm. Call the
Reference Desk at 205-445-1121 for film titles and information. We’re honored to once again host the
Birmingham Arts Journal issue release reception and reading on Thursday, July
28th at 6:30pm. Drop by on Saturday, July 30th at 2pm to learn about using
solar energy in your home. The Adult
Summer Reading Finale is on Tuesday, August 2nd at 6:30pm and it will be fan
favorite, Bad Art Night. Enjoy dinner
and explore your worst creative ideas!
We can hardly wait to award our summer reading Grand Prizes!
The Library and surround lots will be closed on Wednesday,
August 3rd for HVAC installation. (Dates may change depending on the weather). Follow us on Facebook that week (and all the time!) for updates
on closures and access.
On to the reading list!
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
In the small village of Edgecombe St. Mary in the English
countryside lives Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen
Simonson’s wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing,
the Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have
lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea.
But then his brother’s death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina
Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared
love of literature and the loss of their spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon
find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society
insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and regarding her as the
permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when
pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
East Sussex, 1914. It is the end of England’s brief
Edwardian summer, and everyone agrees that the weather has never been so
beautiful. Hugh Grange, down from his medical studies, is visiting his Aunt
Agatha, who lives with her husband in the small, idyllic coastal town of Rye.
Agatha’s husband works in the Foreign Office, and she is certain he will ensure
that the recent saber rattling over the Balkans won’t come to anything. And
Agatha has more immediate concerns; she has just risked her carefully built
reputation by pushing for the appointment of a woman to replace the Latin
master.
When Beatrice Nash arrives with one trunk and several large crates of books, it is clear she is significantly more freethinking—and attractive—than anyone believes a Latin teacher should be. For her part, mourning the death of her beloved father, who has left her penniless, Beatrice simply wants to be left alone to pursue her teaching and writing.
But just as Beatrice comes alive to the beauty of the Sussex landscape and the colorful characters who populate Rye, the perfect summer is about to end. For despite Agatha’s reassurances, the unimaginable is coming. Soon the limits of progress, and the old ways, will be tested as this small Sussex town and its inhabitants go to war.
When Beatrice Nash arrives with one trunk and several large crates of books, it is clear she is significantly more freethinking—and attractive—than anyone believes a Latin teacher should be. For her part, mourning the death of her beloved father, who has left her penniless, Beatrice simply wants to be left alone to pursue her teaching and writing.
But just as Beatrice comes alive to the beauty of the Sussex landscape and the colorful characters who populate Rye, the perfect summer is about to end. For despite Agatha’s reassurances, the unimaginable is coming. Soon the limits of progress, and the old ways, will be tested as this small Sussex town and its inhabitants go to war.
The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton
Wanted: A bold adventurer who wants to travel the world
from a comfortable and safe spot behind a desk that has seen the likes of kings
and queens, paupers and princes. A humble book and rare manuscript shop seeks a
keenly intelligent investigator to assist us in our search for things thought
lost, and in our quest to return lost items to their rightful owners.
Never an adventurer, no one was more surprised than Delaney Nichols when she packed her bags and moved halfway across the world to Edinburgh, Scotland to start a job at The Cracked Spine, a bookshop located in the heart of the city. Her new boss, Edwin MacAlister, has given her the opportunity of a lifetime, albeit a cryptic one, and Delaney can’t wait to take her spot behind the desk.
Never an adventurer, no one was more surprised than Delaney Nichols when she packed her bags and moved halfway across the world to Edinburgh, Scotland to start a job at The Cracked Spine, a bookshop located in the heart of the city. Her new boss, Edwin MacAlister, has given her the opportunity of a lifetime, albeit a cryptic one, and Delaney can’t wait to take her spot behind the desk.
The Cracked Spine is filled with everything a book lover
could want, each item as eclectic as the people who work there; the spirited
and lovable Rosie, who always has tiny dog Hector in tow; Hamlet, a
nineteen-year-old thespian with a colored past and bright future; and Edwin,
who is just as enigmatic and mysterious as Delaney expected. An extra bonus is
Tom the bartender from across the street, with his cobalt eyes, and a gentle
brogue―and it doesn’t hurt that he looks awfully good in a kilt.
But before she can settle into her new life, a precious
artifact goes missing, and Edwin’s sister is brutally murdered. Never did
Delaney think that searching for things lost could mean a killer, but if she’s
to keep her job, and protect her new friends, she’ll need to learn the truth
behind this Scottish tragedy.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art ofDecluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers
still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of
noodles?
Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).
With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.
Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).
With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.
Japanese decluttering guru Marie Kondo’s The
Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up has revolutionized homes—and
lives—across the world. Now, Kondo presents an illustrated guide to her
acclaimed KonMari Method, with step-by-step folding illustrations for
everything from shirts to socks, plus drawings of perfectly organized
drawers and closets. She also provides advice on frequently asked
questions, such as whether to keep “necessary” items that may not
bring you joy. With guidance on specific categories including kitchen
tools, cleaning supplies, hobby goods, and digital photos, this
comprehensive companion is sure to spark joy in anyone who wants to
simplify their life.
Are you stressed out, overbooked, and underwhelmed by life?
Fed up with pleasing everyone else before you please yourself? It's time
to stop giving a f*ck.
This brilliant, hilarious, and practical parody of Marie Kondo's bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up explains how to rid yourself of unwanted obligations, shame, and guilt--and give your f*cks instead to people and things that make you happy.
The easy-to-use, two-step NotSorry Method for mental decluttering will help you unleash the power of not giving a f*ck about:
Family drama
Having a "bikini body"
Iceland
Co-workers' opinions, pets, and children
And other bullsh*t!
And it will free you to spend your time, energy, and money
on the things that really matter. So what are you waiting for? Stop giving a
f*ck and start living your best life today!
Enter the "completely captivating" (Jimmy Ryan,
Spoiler TV) world of Mr. Robot. Cyber-security engineer by day and vigilante hacker
by night, Elliot finds himself at a crossroads when
the mysterious leader of an underground
hacker group recruits him to destroy the firm he is paid to protect. Compelled
by his personal beliefs, Elliot struggles to resist the chance to take down the
multinational CEOs he believes are running (and ruining) the world. Now, watch
all 10 Season One episodes back-to-back and uninterrupted of the psychological
thriller that critics rave is "damn near perfect" (Jessica Rawden,
Cinemablend).
From the creator of "Weeds" comes a heartbreaking
and hilarious new series set in a women's prison. Based on Piper Kerman's acclaimed memoir, "Orange Is the New Black" follows engaged Brooklynite
Piper Chapman, whose wild past comes back to haunt her and results in her
arrest and detention in a federal penitentiary. To pay her debt to society,
Piper trades her comfortable New York life for an orange prison jumpsuit and
finds unexpected conflict and camaraderie amidst an eccentric group of inmates.
Sarah is a streetwise outsider, currently on the run from a
bad relationship and painfully separated from her own daughter. When an eerily
lookalike stranger commits a shocking suicide right in front of her, Sarah sees
a potential solution to all her problems by assuming the dead woman’s identity
and clearing out her bank account. But instead, she stumbles headlong into a
kaleidoscopic thriller mystery, and soon uncovers an earth-shattering secret:
she is a clone. As Sarah searches for answers, she soon learns there are more
like her out there, genetically identical individuals, nurtured in wildly
different circumstances. And someone is trying to kill them off, one by one.
Masters of Sex stars Golden Globe® and BAFTA Award nominee
Michael Sheen and acclaimed actress Lizzy Caplan, who portray the real-life
pioneers of the science of human sexuality, Dr. William Masters and VirginiaJohnson. The series chronicles the unusual lives, romance and pop culture
trajectory of Masters and Johnson and the effect their research had on the
family and colleagues around them. Their study ignited a sexual revolution and
took them from a Midwestern teaching hospital in St. Louis to the cover of Time
magazine.
Alice Howland, a linguistics professor, receives a diagnosis
of Early-Onset Alzhiemer’s disease and finds her family bonds wholly tested.
Alex Garland, writer of 28 Days Later and Sunshine, makes
his directorial debut with the stylish and cerebral thriller, EX MACHINA. Caleb
Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer at an internet-search giant, wins a
competition to spend a week at the private mountain estate of the company's
brilliant and reclusive CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac). Upon his arrival,
Caleb learns that Nathan has chosen him to be the human component in a Turing
Test--charging him with evaluating the capabilities, and ultimately the
consciousness, of Nathan's latest experiment in artificial intelligence. That
experiment is Ava (Alicia Vikander), a breathtaking A.I. whose emotional
intelligence proves more sophisticated--and more deceptive--than the two men
could have imagined.
The Machine (not in the PLJC system)
Two computer programmers create the first-ever piece of
self-aware artificial intelligence, but things go terribly wrong when the
British Government steals their breakthrough and teaches it to become a robotic
weapon.
Fall of Man in Wilmslow by David Lagercrantz
June 8, 1954. Several English nationals have defected to the
USSR, while a witch hunt for homosexuals rages across Britain. In these
circumstances, no one is surprised when a mathematician by the name of Alan Turing is found dead in his home in the sleepy suburb of Wilmslow. It is widely
assumed that he has committed suicide, unable to cope with the humiliation of a
criminal conviction for gross indecency. But a young detective constable,
Leonard Corell, who once dreamed of a career in higher mathematics, suspects
greater forces are involved.
In the face of opposition from his superiors, he begins to assemble the pieces of a puzzle that lead him to one of the most closely guarded secrets of the war: the Bletchley Park operation to crack the Nazis’ Enigma encryption code. Stumbling across evidence of Turing’s genius, and sensing an escape from a narrow life, Corell begins to dig deeper. But in the paranoid, febrile atmosphere of the Cold War, loose cannons cannot be tolerated and Corell soon realizes he has much to learn about the dangers of forbidden knowledge. He is also about to be rocked by two startling developments in his own life, one of which will find him targeted as a threat to national security.
In the face of opposition from his superiors, he begins to assemble the pieces of a puzzle that lead him to one of the most closely guarded secrets of the war: the Bletchley Park operation to crack the Nazis’ Enigma encryption code. Stumbling across evidence of Turing’s genius, and sensing an escape from a narrow life, Corell begins to dig deeper. But in the paranoid, febrile atmosphere of the Cold War, loose cannons cannot be tolerated and Corell soon realizes he has much to learn about the dangers of forbidden knowledge. He is also about to be rocked by two startling developments in his own life, one of which will find him targeted as a threat to national security.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer created one of the
great touchstones of English literature, a masterly collection of chivalric
romances, moral allegories and low farce. A story-telling competition between a
group of pilgrims from all walks of life is the occasion for a series of tales
that range from the Knight’s account of courtly love and the ebullient Wife of
Bath’s Arthurian legend, to the ribald anecdotes of the Miller and the Cook.
Rich and diverse, The Canterbury Tales offer us an unrivaled glimpse
into the life and mind of medieval England.
On July 8, 1879, Captain George Washington De Long and his
team of thirty-two men set sail from San Francisco on the USS Jeanette.
Heading deep into uncharted Arctic waters, they carried the aspirations of a young country burning to be the first nation to reach the North Pole. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the Jeannette's hull was breached by an impassable stretch of pack ice, forcing the crew to abandon ship amid torrents of rushing of water. Hours later, the ship had sunk below the surface, marooning the men a thousand miles north of Siberia, where they faced a terrifying march with minimal supplies across the endless ice pack.
Enduring everything from snow blindness and polar bears to ferocious storms and labyrinths of ice, the crew battled madness and starvation as they struggled desperately to survive. With thrilling twists and turns, In The Kingdom of Ice is a spellbinding tale of heroism and determination in the most brutal place on Earth.
Heading deep into uncharted Arctic waters, they carried the aspirations of a young country burning to be the first nation to reach the North Pole. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the Jeannette's hull was breached by an impassable stretch of pack ice, forcing the crew to abandon ship amid torrents of rushing of water. Hours later, the ship had sunk below the surface, marooning the men a thousand miles north of Siberia, where they faced a terrifying march with minimal supplies across the endless ice pack.
Enduring everything from snow blindness and polar bears to ferocious storms and labyrinths of ice, the crew battled madness and starvation as they struggled desperately to survive. With thrilling twists and turns, In The Kingdom of Ice is a spellbinding tale of heroism and determination in the most brutal place on Earth.
Join in the adventures of the quirky Yamada family -- from
the hilarious to the touching -- brilliantly presented in a unique, visually
striking comic strip style. Takashi Yamada and his wacky wife Matsuko, who has
no talent for housework, navigate their way through the ups and downs of work,
marriage, and family life with a sharp-tongued grandmother who lives with them,
a teenage son who wishes he had cooler parents, and a pesty daughter whose loud
voice is unusual for someone so small. Even the family dog has issues!
Experience the little victories in life with MY NEIGHBORS THE YAMADAS --
featuring the voice talents of comedic stars Jim Belushi and Molly Shannon.
With Happy People: A Year in the Taiga, Werner Herzog takes
viewers on yet another unforgettable journey into remote and extreme natural
landscapes. The acclaimed filmmaker presents this visually stunning documentary
about the life of indigenous people living in the heart of the Siberian Taiga.
Deep in the wilderness, far away from civilization, 300 people inhabit the
small village of Bakhtia at the river Yenisei. There are only two ways to reach
this outpost: by helicopter or boat. There's no telephone, running water or
medical aid, The locals, whose daily routines have barely changed over the last
centuries, live according to their own values and cultural traditions. With
insightful commentary written and narrated by Herzog, Happy People: A Year in
the Taiga follows one of the Siberian trappers through all four seasons of the
year to tell the story of a culture virtually untouched by modernity.
When his orchestra disbands, Daigo Kobayashi moves back to
his hometown and takes a job preparing corpses for burial. Too embarrassed to
admit his new career to his family, Daigo keeps his profession a secret, until
he’s faced with the death of someone close to him. Academy Award Winner for
Best Foreign Film.
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen
work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s
rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the
fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s
most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and
Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young
doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair
Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds—a torture palace complete with dissection
table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium.
Burnham overcame tremendous
obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted,
Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into
the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own
satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the
story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of
that dream city by the lake.
The Devil in the White City draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, ThomasEdison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. In this book the smoke, romance, and mystery of the Gilded Age come alive as never before.
Erik Larson’s gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.
The Devil in the White City draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, ThomasEdison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. In this book the smoke, romance, and mystery of the Gilded Age come alive as never before.
Erik Larson’s gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Oscar-nominatee Kate Winslet light up
the screen as Jack and Rose the young lovers who find one another on the maiden
voyage of the "unsinkable" R.M.S. Titanic. But when the doomed luxury
liner collides with an iceberg in the frigid North Atlantic their passionate
love affair becomes a thrilling race for survival. From acclaimed filmmaker
James Cameron comes a tale of forbidden love and courage in the face of
disaster that triumphs as a true cinematic masterpiece.
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
The Artist’s Way is the seminal book on the subject of
creativity. An international bestseller, millions of readers have found it to
be an invaluable guide to living the artist’s life. Still as vital today—or
perhaps even more so—than it was when it was first published, it
is a powerfully provocative and inspiring work.
What are YOU reading/watching/listening to?
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