Meghan recommends Chapter One Favorites

 

Twice a year a group of librarians gets together to talk about our favorite books of the last six months – and you're invited! Our Chapter One program takes place in the spring and in the fall, and the fall program was held earlier this month. Here are just some of our picks:

 

 

Erin Recommends: A Cloud of Outrageous Blue by Vesper Stamper

A Cloud of Outrageous Blue is set in 1348 England, when Edyth becomes a conversa at a convent and tries to hide her synesthesia, but only by embracing her gift will she be able to find a solution to the plague that is ravaging all throughout Europe.

 

Kate Recommends: Wade in the Water by Tracy K. Smith

Section two of this wonderful book contains poems created from Civil War era documents, including letters between separated family members and pleas to President Abraham Lincoln. At a time when so much is fast and forgettable, enjoy the magic of reading something that will stay in your heart forever.

 

Meghan Recommends: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Such a Fun Age explores the relationship between Mira, 25 and about to be kicked off her parents' insurance, and Alix, the white woman whose toddler she babysits.

 

Nicole Recommends: The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

The Black Kids is a love letter to LA, a brilliant coming-of-age story for a black girl becoming a black woman, and a tale of the timeless struggle for belonging set against the backdrop the LA riots in 1992.

 

Sarah Recommends: One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

One to Watch is a sweet and funny rom-com about a plus-size fashion blogger who, after going viral with a takedown of her favorite reality dating show, gets the chance to star on that show and prove that you can find love at any size.
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Find all our favorites here.

Natalie recommends "The Meaning of Mariah Carey"

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Every now and then I'll read a biography as they can be interesting reads.  Mariah Carey, while I can't say I've listened to everything song she's released, is an artist that I do enjoy from time to time.  "All I Want for Christmas" being a rather nostalgic song for me.  So when I found out we had this, I thought I'd give it a read.

While it does dabble in her music career some, this autobiography does discuss her childhood and some of the struggles that came with it.  In her home life, and growing up as a child of a white mother and a black father during the her school years.  As someone who wasn't as familiar with her childhood, or some of the stuff she has faced, I found this enlightening and pretty interesting.  It also goes talks about parts of her life throughout the years.  I also really enjoyed how throughout the book she included lyrics as they fit for each chapter.

As someone who enjoys a good biography, and did learn a few things from this, I would recommend this book.  It does bounce around once or twice as far as timeframe, but it's an interesting read from the perspective of Mariah Carey.  We have a copy at all three branches and it can be found in our Adult Biography section.

Margaret recommends "The Lilac Girls"

 

 

Lilac Girls is inspired by the life of Caroline Ferriday, a New York Socialite. After Hitler invades Poland in 1939 and then heads to invade France, Caroline begins to help orphans but also soon discovers the atrocities of the concentration camps. She hears of the Ravensbrück camp that was specifically built for women where horrible experiments were performed by Dr. Herta Oberheuser on selected women. These women later became known as “The Rabbits.” Lilac Girls highlights the lives of these brave women during WWII but also continues to give voice to their story of what happened after the war.  The story will inspire you to know more about these women that history has forgotten.  Visit the author’s website https://marthahallkelly.com/lilac-girls/ to learn about her inspiration to write this novel.

Adult/ Historical Fiction

 

Alicia recommends "Her Royal Spyness" series

Fans of Phryne Fisher, Maisie Dobbs, and Bess Crawford will enjoy this series of cozy, historical mysteries.  Set between the wars, Lady Georgiana Rannoch is 34th in line for the throne of England.  While she is educated in etiquette and how to curtsey, she has no skills to make money as she is flat broke.  Georgie becomes involved solving a murder when a man is found floating in her bathtub.  The books are filled with famous people such as Noel Coward, Queen Mary, the future Duke of Windsor and more.  To help her along with the mysteries are a set of characters such as her famous actress mother, her beau Darcy, her best friend Belinda, and a goofy lady's maid name Queenie. Written by Agatha award- winning author Rhys Bowen, enjoy this series about a member of the extended royal family set in 1930s London.  

 

Meghan recommends Librarian Picks for Living Well

Maintaining one’s health is a concern for people of all ages, but as we get older, taking care of our physical and mental wellbeing is paramount to ensure a good quality of life. Of course, what it means to “Live Well” can vary from person to person – but we hope you invite the library to be part of your “best life”! On Wednesday, September 23, the library will host its third annual 55+ Living Well at CMPL, all online this year. Visit http://cmpl.libnet.info/events to register for one of our Zoom events:

1pm: Mental Health During COVID 19

3pm: Yoga for Stress Relief

6:30pm: Essential Oils for Health

In addition, visit the library’s Facebook page throughout the day for book recommendations, handpicked by our librarians, to help you live well! Don’t have Facebook? Click here for the full list of librarian picks for health-related titles. Whether you want to be “10% Happier”, learn to cook vegetarian, or improve your strength with Pilates, we’ve got an item for you!

Natalie recommends "Labyrinth: the Novelization"

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This is the novelization of Jim Henson's Labyrinth movie (staring the likes of  Jennifer Connelly and the late David Bowie). The movie is one of my all time favorite movies, so finding out that there was a novelization of it was definitely something I found interesting. The book follows the movie pretty closely, just without all of the musical numbers. So even if you haven't seen the movie, which I would definitely recommend, you don't need to have any prior knowledge of what the book is based on.  

Jim Henson's Labyrinth tells the story of Sarah, a young girl who finds herself pulled into an adventure to save her brother. After making a wish out of frustration, her baby brother Toby is taken by Jareth, the Goblin King. She is given thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth or else Toby will become a goblin himself and stay there forever.  

Along the way she meets Hoggle, a grumpy Dwarf like creature, who's initially unsure if he wants to help Sarah or not, but slowly becomes a friend, even questioning and going against Jareth. There's Ludo, a big red haired beast that Sarah saves from some goblins. Then there's Sir Didymus, a fox terrier knight and his noble canine steed Ambrosius.  

This is a whimsical tale of growing up, learning from mistakes, and changes. It does have the rare swear here and there. I would recommend it for Teens and Adults 

Uma recommends "The bird way: a new look at how birds talk, work, play, parent, and think""

 

 

The Bird Way: A New Look At How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, And Think by Jennifer Ackerman makes you think about the life of birds.

We typically enjoy a cup of coffee sitting in the backyards of our homes during summer.  We listen to these birds chirp and flutter around the bird feed. However, do we ever consider that these birds can also think and act like humans? Jennifer Ackerman meticulously explains  bird behaviors and how it relates to humans as in early birds, lovebirds, jailbirds, odd birds, sitting ducks, stool pigeons, hawks, vultures and so on.

"There is the mammal way and there is the bird way." But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors and dismissed many anomalies or mysteries reversing the traditional views of how birds conduct their lives, communicate, forage, court, breed and survive.

Jennifer Ackerman delivers this in her unique soft writing style that catches the imagination and makes it easy to read. This is a great read for nature and bird lovers!

 

Adult