Author jalansimpson

The book cover depicts three people in silhouette seated on a bridge, overlooking the water, with bright sunshine in the center behind a partially cloudy sky.

We Need Diverse Books

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The book cover depicts three people in silhouette seated on a bridge, overlooking the water, with bright sunshine in the center behind a partially cloudy sky.

By Alan S.

I know that is a groundbreaking title there. Anyway, this post is a personal illustration of connecting with book characters because they are like me. Before anyone else can point it out – yes, I am a white guy. Yes, I am a white, heterosexual male. Yes, there are many books about people like me.  This post is not about me wanting more books about me. I’ve always agreed that we need more diverse books. I can’t imagine why anyone would disagree with this. Kids need to be able to read a book about a person who reflects their personal experience. Intellectually, I always knew this. My last two books have been a good illustration of how a connection to the characters improves the reader’s experience.

I read The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner (also available in ebook and eaudiobook from OverDrive/Libby). It takes place in rural Tennessee, and in the author’s words from the book jacket:

“I wanted to write about young people who struggle to live lives of dignity and find beauty in a forgotten and unglamorous place. Who wonder what becomes of dreams once they cross the county line. This book is my love letter
to those young people and anyone who has ever felt like them, no matter where they grew up.”

I grew up in a place that could be considered forgotten and unglamorous. A small town where many kids dream of escaping to a bigger and brighter world. A small town where some days it seems like your dreams will die. I felt completely connected to the characters and could see a little bit of myself in them. Because of this, the book meant more to me and I was more emotionally invested in the story.

The book cover depicts a girl literally pieced together from different bodies, with an oversized arm and an arm of bones, a ribcage, a heart, an oversized toothy smile, and a single eye looking up.

Immediately after Serpent King, I read Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero. I like the book, but I don’t feel the same connection to the character because I am not a Mexican-American girl living in California. A Mexican-American girl will feel that connection here, but not necessarily in The Serpent King.  It’s important for books like Gabi to exist for that girl. She does not have the plethora of books about people like her that I’ve benefited from my entire life.

I didn’t realize how lucky I was growing up a reader and finding myself in all of the books I read (like the creepy clown in It, for example), and even though I realized it as an adult, it didn’t really stand out to me until I read these two books back to back.

I do think it is important for me to read books about people different from me, but sometimes it is really nice to read a book that feels like home. Everyone should have that opportunity.

For more information about where to find diverse books, please visit the We Need Diverse Books website. They have an excellent resource page of current, active sites that offer recommendations for diverse titles, as well as a great blog to help you discover new authors.

Alan has worked for HCLS for just under 25 years, currently at the Savage Branch. He enjoys reading, television, and most sports.

A crowd of zombies stagger past the wreck of a building, coming out of dense fog.

For Halloween Let These Zombie Books Eat Your Brains

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Black and white photo of an overpass with the Empire State Building int the background and dark clouds overhead.

by Alan S.

The haunting times are almost here – get in a spooky mood with some of my favorite zombie books.

Zone One by Colson Whitehead (also available in ebook) – If you like your monsters a little more literary, you should start here. Mark Spitz is an uninfected worker assigned to clear Zone One (in Manhattan) of the infected. The book spans three days of work and includes flashbacks of how Mark survived the zombie apocalypse and the reason for his nickname.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion – I have always said that zombies were my favorite monster because you could in no way make them romantic. Marion proves me wrong with Warm Bodies. He tells the story of R, a zombie living in an abandoned airport who falls in love with a human girl name Julie after eating the brain of her boyfriend. I thought I would hate my favorite monster becoming a love interest, but this is one of my favorite zombie books.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (also available in ebook and eaudio) – In this zombie/alternate history novel, Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields during the Civil War and change American history as we know it. The Native and Negro Re-education Act requires some children to be trained to kill the dead. Jane is sent from Kentucky to Miss Preston’s School on Combat in Baltimore. When families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is drawn into a dangerous conspiracy. This is the beginning of a series, so be ready to commit.

The Girl With All the Gifts by M R Carey (also available in ebook and eaudio) – In another different sort of zombie novel, we meet Melanie, in a classroom full of other children like her. They are a special group of “hungries,” people infected with a fungus that turns them into zombies. The hungries normally lose their mental function, but the children in the class have retained their mental cognition and only lose control when they get too close to human scent. The base that houses their school is attacked, and the adults must learn to trust Melanie, as she is their best hope to survive outside the base.

Feed by Mira Grant – In the world of Feed, two viruses created to cure cancer and the common cold combine to form the Kellis-Amberlee superbug, which soon infects all mammals. If it amplifies, the host becomes a zombie. Amplification can happen with the death of the host, being bitten by an amplified host, or spontaneously. The book starts twenty years after the infection and centers on bloggers George, Shaun, and Buffy. When the presidential campaign they are covering is attacked by zombies, the bloggers go on a mission to discover the truth behind the attack and, ultimately, the virus.

Cell by Stephen King (also available in ebook) – King is my favorite author, so I couldn’t do a list without including this one. When a pulse is sent out over the global cell network, everyone using a cell phone at that time turns into a mindless zombie-like killer. Clay is in Boston when it hits and teams up with Tom and Alice to survive. They make their way to Maine to check on Clay’s family and find the zombies are starting to band together in a sort of network, making them difficult to escape.

I hope these titles can get you in the Halloween mood. Was your favorite zombie novel not on my list? Tell me in the comments.

Alan has worked for HCLS for just under 25 years, currently at the Savage Branch. He enjoys reading, television, and most sports.

The image depicts an ereader on a wooden table, leaning up against a stack of nine paperback books, with a bookcase in the background.

I Am An E-book Convert

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The image shows a pair of hands holding an ereader with a remote sandy beach, rocky hills, and a turquoise sea and hazy blue sky in the background.

By Alan S.

I am a recent convert to the pleasures of an e-book. I appropriately played the T-Rex who needed help in a recent Facebook video. I have always preferred physical books over eBooks, enjoying the feel of holding a book in my hand more than the feel of a tablet or phone. I resisted the call of eBooks for a while. Working in a library, all of those printed books were right in front of me. Why choose to look at a screen? What would ever make me choose to read a book on a device?

The first thing that changed my feelings about the electronic version was packing for trips, especially those requiring plane travel. When taking a road trip, it is easy to fill a bag with books and throw them in the trunk. This is not so simple when you are packing for a plane ride. I started packing one or two physical books, then downloading a few e-books as a backup. I still usually take at least one physical book on a trip, but tend more toward eBooks when traveling. I’m sure my family likes the extra space to pack other things.

An increase in the number of audiobooks I listened to also led to an increased use of eBooks. My car is still equipped with a CD player, so a book on CD is an option, but there are benefits to an eAudiobook. The biggest is the lack of a need to change CDs. I hated listening to a book in the car and getting to the end of a CD with no safe way to change to continue the book. With eAudio, the book continues without your help. I have also learned the joy of increasing the speed on some books. When reading for an assignment, or if the reader reads very slowly, I can listen at a faster speed and still enjoy the book (I might also be a tad impatient).

If you are ready to join me as an eBook convert, see HCLS’ resources.

If you need help accessing your eBooks or with any of our other online resources, please join us for live Online Tech Time Wednesday, July 22 at 11:30 am. Other sessions of this useful class will be offered in the future.

Alan has worked for HCLS for just under 25 years, currently at the Savage Branch. He enjoys reading, television, and most sports.

A quay and light house are silhouette in black against a stormy blue sky. A sea gull hovers between the author's name and the title of the book.

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson

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The book cover shows a turquoise sky and ocean, with a long pier extending into the water with a lighthouse and bridge at the end, and several people walking on the pier. A seagull with wings extended is aloft in the foreground.

Review by Alan S.

‌Big‌ ‌Sky‌ ‌is‌ ‌the‌ ‌fifth‌ novel ‌featuring‌ ‌Jackson‌ ‌Brodie‌. ‌Brodie‌ ‌retires‌ ‌to‌ ‌a‌ ‌small‌ ‌coastal‌ ‌town,‌ ‌and‌ ‌sometimes‌ ‌cares‌ ‌for‌ ‌his‌ ‌teenage‌ ‌son,‌ ‌while‌ ‌working‌ ‌as‌ ‌a‌ ‌private‌ ‌investigator.‌ ‌Brodie‌ ‌will‌ ‌soon‌ ‌discover‌ ‌that‌ ‌small‌ ‌towns‌ ‌can‌ ‌hold‌ ‌big‌ ‌secrets‌ ‌after‌ ‌a‌ ‌chance‌ ‌meeting‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌beach‌ ‌draws‌ ‌him‌ ‌into‌ ‌a‌ ‌criminal‌ ‌conspiracy.‌ ‌ 

‌Big‌ ‌Sky‌ ‌starts‌ ‌with‌ ‌two‌ ‌sisters‌ ‌interviewing‌ ‌via‌ ‌Skype‌ ‌for‌ ‌jobs‌ ‌in‌ ‌London.‌ ‌It‌ ‌is‌ ‌clear‌ ‌that‌ ‌there‌ ‌is‌ ‌something‌ ‌sinister‌ ‌afoot‌ ‌even‌ ‌before‌ ‌it‌ ‌is‌ ‌revealed‌ ‌after‌ ‌the‌ ‌call‌ ‌that‌ ‌the‌ ‌agency‌ ‌is‌ ‌not‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌up‌ ‌and‌ ‌up.‌ ‌The‌ ‌story‌ ‌then‌ ‌careens‌ ‌from‌ ‌character‌ ‌to‌ ‌character,‌ ‌generally‌ ‌among‌ ‌the‌ ‌country‌ ‌club‌ ‌set‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌town.‌ ‌Brodie,‌ ‌it‌ ‌seems,‌ ‌is‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌outskirts‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌action‌ ‌and‌ ‌you‌ ‌are‌ ‌left‌ ‌wondering‌ ‌when‌ ‌and‌ ‌how‌ ‌he‌ ‌intertwines‌ ‌with‌ ‌the‌ ‌main‌ ‌story.‌ ‌An unexpected encounter ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌beach‌ ‌with‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌characters‌ ‌and‌ ‌his‌ ‌hiring‌ ‌by‌ ‌another‌ ‌eventually‌ ‌brings‌ ‌him‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌circle.‌ ‌Even‌ ‌then,‌ ‌the‌ ‌action‌ ‌is‌ ‌not‌ ‌‌propelled‌ ‌by‌ ‌Brodie‌ ‌and‌ ‌he‌ ‌doesn’t‌ ‌really‌ ‌do‌ ‌much‌ ‌detecting.‌ ‌Even‌ ‌when‌ ‌the‌ ‌police‌ ‌become‌ ‌involved‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌form‌ ‌of‌ ‌Brodie’s‌ ‌protégé (introduced‌ ‌in‌ ‌an‌ ‌earlier‌ ‌book‌ ‌I‌ ‌did‌ ‌not‌ ‌read),‌ ‌the‌ ‌story‌ ‌and‌ ‌its‌ ‌conclusion‌ ‌tend‌ ‌to‌ ‌stem‌ ‌from‌ ‌coincidence‌ ‌more‌ ‌than‌ ‌detective‌ ‌and‌ ‌police‌ ‌work.‌ ‌

‌Big Sky‌ ‌is‌ ‌an‌ ‌interesting‌ ‌story‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌evil‌ ‌that‌ ‌lurks‌ ‌in‌ ‌unlikely‌ ‌places.‌ ‌Go‌ ‌into‌ ‌it‌ ‌knowing‌ ‌that‌ ‌you‌ ‌are‌ ‌entering‌ ‌a‌ ‌detective‌ ‌story‌ ‌without‌ ‌much‌ ‌detecting‌ ‌and‌ ‌a‌ ‌main‌ ‌character‌ ‌who,‌ ‌while‌ ‌appealing,‌ ‌is‌ ‌generally‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌outer‌ ‌edges‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌main‌ ‌story.‌ ‌I‌ ‌didn’t,‌ ‌and‌ ‌it‌ ‌took‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌while‌ ‌to‌ ‌get‌ ‌past‌ ‌that‌ ‌and‌ ‌enjoy‌ ‌the‌ ‌compelling‌ ‌characters‌ ‌and‌ ‌storyline.‌ ‌ ‌

Big Sky is available in ebook and eaudio format through Libby.

Alan has worked for HCLS for just under 25 years, currently at the Savage Branch. He enjoys reading, television and most sports.