Thank you! 2023 was Chapter Chats’ best year yet, with more than 25,000 views – not exactly Taylor Swift numbers, but we have still plenty of anti-heroes for you to root for (Booth by Karen Joy Fowler, for one).
We shared a wide variety of reviews and library news with you, including an entire week for National Library Week in April. The blog spent the year promoting all the library has to offer.
Here are some of the most-viewed posts of the year for classes and events:
Readers responded enthusiastically all year long to the wonderful reviews our writers have shared. Since we know you enjoy reading about their book, movie, television, music, and video game recommendations, here are the top three favorites from our exceptionally knowledgeable and talented blog writers from the HCLS staff. Or, in some cases, perhaps a top four… it’s so hard to choose for these year-end retrospectives!
Cherise T., Central Branch
Barbie – Pitch-perfect, entertaining take on life as a woman, how it is, and how we wish it would be.
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese – Multigenerational novel set in Karala, India, spanning over 70 years of a family cursed with deaths by water.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett – Sharing endless hours together due to pandemic restrictions, two daughters learn more of their mother’s origin story in which Our Town plays a major role.
Wellness by Nathan Hill – What is the arc of a marriage when viewed through the lens of a photographer and a specialist in placebo psychology?
So Much (for) Stardust by Fall Out Boy – The boys are back with a triumphant return to guitar-based music, masterfully incorporating a range of influences while sounding utterly, uniquely Fall Out Boy. Standout tracks include the hard-hitting opener “Love From The Other Side,” the sweepingly cinematic title track, and the disco-inspired “What a Time To Be Alive.”
Unreal Unearth by Hozier – The newest album from the beloved Irish singer-songwriter delivers much of what fans expect – poetic lyrics delivered in soulful baritone – wrapped up in crisp, new production. Standout tracks include the irresistibly funky “De Selby (Part 2)” and the lead single “Eat Your Young” with its scathing social commentary and catchy hook.
Rush! by Måneskin – In their first record featuring mainly English-language songs, these Italian rockers showcase a keen pop sensibility along with plenty of guitar shredding and raw vocals. Standout tracks include the mournful power ballad “THE LONELIEST” and the cheeky, energetic “MAMMAMIA.”
Sahana C., Savage Branch
Joan by Katherine J. Chen – Chen paints a really compelling picture of what Joan of Arc may have been: a strong girl, working within the confines of her environment to become the face of something so much greater than herself.
Haven by Emma Donoghue – A great contemplative read of ancient Irish history; a perspective that was new to me, and yet so familiar, with ties to the present.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesby Suzanne Collins – This was a re-read for me, and I liked it better this time around, as I accompanied it with a re-read and rewatch of the whole Hunger Games books/movies, thanks to the recent release of the Ballad movie!
Wolfsong by TJ Klune – There was so much emotion, lycanthropy lore, and action at times that you’d almost think TJ Klune was a werewolf himself and had written this as an autobiography. I went on to the next book right after I finished Wolfsong!
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – The Spider-Verse movies have been so much fun! They’re funny, campy, and also dramatic in their own way. I cannot wait for part 2!
Star Trek Picard Season 3 – This was the send-off that the crew of the USS Enterprise deserved all along, an utter chef’s kiss and a true love letter to the fans. Action packed, emotional, and fun, this season is a fan favorite and worth every single re-watch.
Ian L., East Columbia Branch
One Piece (Anime, manga, and live action adaptation) – Pirates, Adventure, Freedom; if the endless dream guides your restless spirit, do yourself a favor and fall in love with One Piece.
Asteroid City – A star-studded cast, eccentrically written characters, and beautiful sets; a Wes Anderson medley on isolation in times of uncertainty.
Book of Hours (video game) – Restore a crumbling occult library as a Librarian whose work can literally define history.
Anne of Green Gables – I can’t keep count of how many times I’ve read about the escapades of literature’s favorite redhead. But every time I do, I’m delighted to reconnect with a “kindred spirit”.
The Empress (Netflix) – Based on the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, this binge-worthy historical drama is full of juicy plots and costume eye candy that will leave you anxiously awaiting the arrival of season two.
Barbie – Seeing my favorite childhood toy on the big screen tugged at my heartstrings and made me proud to discover that there is something deeper underneath her pretty perfection.
Julia M., Glenwood Branch
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang – Yellowface is the book I couldn’t stop thinking about this year, no matter how many months pass by after I finished reading it.
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson – Tress is a fantasy that hearkens after The Princess Bride and left me wanting to become a better, kinder person.
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose – Out of all the great dragon books that came out this year, this is the one whose sequel I’m most looking forward to!
Eric L., Elkridge Branch
Blue Rev by Alvvays – It came out in late 2022 and HCLS will have copies soon. This is the band’s third record, and they seem to have “broke” this year. You can borrow their previous two albums from HCLS. This record is more mature, lyrically and musically better.
Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit – The book deftly captures how his experiences and writings worked up to his magnum opus which he finished right before his death at 46 years of age. Solnit addresses his optimism and his love of nature, as well as his foibles.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (see my entire post here) is a great book, about America, greed, the impact of technology on humans, and the need for a social safety net. It is long, sad, and beautifully written; not a political book that aims to point fingers, but really a moral one.
Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How it Changes Us by Brian Klaas is probably related to both aforementioned books. Written in an entertaining journalistic style, it’s packed with interesting anecdotes and interviews, with examples of power wielded for the good of all as well as power that is abused. Klaas also suggests what we can do to improve the use of power in society.
Angie E., Central Branch
Holly by Stephen King – His best book in ages, but I will never see liver the same way again.
The Lunar Housewife by Caroline Woods – This pleased both my sci-fi and feminist sides.
The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley – This brilliant and funny novel stayed with me for a long time after I finished it.
Julie F., Miller Branch
Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan – Beautiful, haunting, brilliant. A look at two generations of a mixed-race Irish family and the loves and losses that bind them together and keep them moving forward.
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes – Haynes gives voice to the voiceless women of the classic Greek plays and epics. She demonstrates how war never changes across the centuries, but it profoundly changes those it impacts, and never for the better.
Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear – Great start to a crime fiction trilogy; for fans of Tana French and Susie Steiner. You’ll love Detective Constable Cat Kinsella, with her messy, complicated family life, sense of verve, and sarcastic, wisecracking humor.
Kristen B., Administrative Branch
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (e-book and e-audiobook) – Feel-good found family and a ton of fun!
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (as an audiobook on CD or an e-audiobook) – Changes your perspective on the world and our place in it. The author reads it, which makes it even better.
Witch King by Martha Wells – High fantasy, told upside down and backwards so you’re never quite sure what’s going on but wonderfully entertaining. She is the author of the highly popular Murderbot books, but this one is completely its own thing.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading these writers as much as we’ve loved editing and sharing their terrific blog posts throughout 2023. Check out their favorites and let us know which you enjoy; visit any branch to get more suggestions and recommendations from our stellar team. Happy holidays and here’s to a 2024 full of great books and multimedia from the HCLS collection!
Winter is here! Are you ready to snuggle up with a seasonal book to share with your child? You can find a few of my favorites for various ages below, and feel free to call or visit any HCLS branch to ask for personalized recommendations. Whatever you choose, we wish you a safe, warm, and joyous winter season.
An unnamed narrator walks through a diverse city, counting objects they see along the way, from one to ten. The items seen show that residents are celebrating a range of holidays spanning the winter season.
Cartoonish woodland creatures celebrate many parts of a snow day. Getting ready to go outside, enjoying fun snow activities with friends, and cozying back up at the end of the day are all included.
Beautiful, detailed photographs showing nature and animals in real snow and ice accompany rhyming text in this appealing volume. Enjoy the opportunity to take a closer look at what might be a familiar experience, while using some terms that you may not usually choose to talk about snow. Bonus snow facts at the end can help answer questions for curious readers!
Lina wakes up to a world transformed by an overnight blizzard blanketing everything in snow. But that won’t stop her from going to help her grandma, Sitti, who has trouble seeing, make grape leaves. On the way Lina notices different sounds associated with the snow. After they make the stuffed grape leaves, she shares them with Sitti, and they find one final way to hear snow together.
Cornbread and Poppy are best friends, but they are very different. While Cornbread prepared for winter well in advance, Poppy was too busy enjoying other activities. Now winter is here, and Poppy is not ready! Cornbread would never let her go hungry, but he doesn’t have enough for both of them. The two set off on a surprising adventure to find food to last Poppy through the winter. Enjoy colorful illustrations from Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell in this beginning chapter book, a great choice for a family read-aloud as well.
Maisie Cannon is having a hard time. She has been taking ballet since the age of four, and her studio has been her sanctuary and second home. Now twelve, Maisie is months into hard work at physical therapy after an injury, trying to resume her training and catch up with her friends. As Maisie’s family, of mixed Native American backgrounds, prepares for a midwinter trip to connect with their heritages, Maisie struggles with feelings of frustration and disconnection. Although it lacks a simplified happy-ever-after, Maisie is supported by her family and working to find a path through her struggles at the story’s end.
Eliana is a Children’s Instructor and Research Specialist at the Elkridge Branch and co-chair of the HCLS Equity Committee.She loves reading, even if she’s slow at it, and especially enjoys helping people find books that make them light up. She also loves being outside and spending time with friends and family (when it’s safe).
This is a True story. The events depicted took place in Minnesota in 2006.
At the request of the survivors the names have been changed.
Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.
What defines the ‘truth’ of a story? Is it accuracy to the literal account of events, or that it resonates with a more elusive truth about our perceptions of ourselves and the world? Every episode of Fargo opens with the passage above, adjusted for the specific time and place of the season’s focal bedlam. Each season is independent, although loose connections unite each season into a shared world with Easter eggs for the eagle-eyed viewer. But each season is a ride along, a shocking and surreal crime wave that disrupts the deceptively quaint communities of the Midwest.
Watching Fargo is like having an intimate view into two trains hurtling towards an inevitable collision. It is tense and dramatic, unpredictable and quirky. As if the trains were full of seemingly supernatural criminal murderers and diffident Minnesotan house-spouses who would use phrases like “You betcha” and “Aw Jeez” even as the world burns down around them. A mix of crime drama and magical realism with a substantial dose of Minnesota Nice, all brought to a boiling point.
I cannot overstate my love for this series. The creative aesthetics behind the production are unlike anything else on TV. The sets are gorgeous; nigh-eternal winters loom over the Midwestern plains, enhancing a sense of stasis that stands in contrast to the rupturing of the status quo. The music fills the show with an exciting dynamism. The theme song is stellar, evoking a kind of folk melody that is nostalgic, yet somber and plaintive. As it pertains to the larger show, the music is curated to great effect. The soundtrack is a diverse mix of iconic songs of the time and original compositions, which all serve to influence the emotions of any given scene.
However, it is the writing that stands above all else. The framing device which opens each episode always fills me with anticipation. Borrowed from the original Coen Brothers’ film, the statement “This is a true story” calls to mind Truman Capote’s creative nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, which itself serves as a founding inspiration for true crime as a literary genre. Stories about crime have always drawn audiences, but true crime’s magnetism is unique. The next two lines of the opening comment on respect, for the living and the dead. The contrasting means of showing this respect are wryly humorous. One wouldn’t be remiss in wondering if the calls for respect are a means to an end so that the story can be told. Perhaps elements of these stories compel us to share them, as a lesson to be learned or a chance to understand something better.
However, contrary to the opening lines, Fargo is fiction. Many of us are familiar with films that take liberties with their claims of truthfulness (looking at you, The Conjuring). Fargo is different. The show revels in the contradiction of this deliberate and ironic narrative choice. This narrative flourish prepares the audience for a cavalcade of untrustworthy narrators. Truth is, unfortunately, not easily uncovered.
The police investigations which act as a through line for the series are not the pinnacle of competent detective work. There is neither a Sherlock nor a Hercule Poirot to be found. Instead, we are presented with a motley crew of eccentric characters possessed each by their own perspective, and everyone is wrestling for control. Their actions are influenced by their respective worldviews and the lengths they will go to ensure their particular truths remain unimpeachable. When these characters are pitted against each other, their perspectives paint a dynamic portrait of what it looks like to live in our world.
This interplay reveals discussions on all manner of philosophical and political topics. Uncovering the reference behind each episode title is a fun bonus game for an active viewer. I want to focus on one particular example from Fargo’s second season entitled “The Myth of Sisyphus.” Season two takes place in 1979 and covers the grisly collision between a hapless couple who accidentally killed a member of the local Gerhardt crime family, the vengeful crime family in question, the encroaching Fargo mob, and the state troopers who are trying to prevent the violence from spreading. The season opens with the words of Jimmy Carter:
It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives. And in the loss of unity and purpose.
Fargo places Carter’s crisis of confidence in direct conversation with Albert Camus’ essay on Absurdism, “The Myth of Sisyphus,” with a handful of characters reading the essay.Camus’ essay discusses how we crave meaning and purpose in our lives but are confronted by a world that has no meaning and is defined by chaos. In the classic myth, Sisyphus was cursed to push a boulder up hill, which ultimately rolls back down once it reaches the top. Sisyphus must then return to the boulder and begin pushing it again. Forever. The myth represents futility and the struggle against meaninglessness. Arguably, none of the characters gained a great comprehension of this essay. Some of them flatly reject the framework of the essay, but nonetheless act in ways that exemplify Camus’ different propositions for responses to the Absurd. Through the contrasting reactions to the text and the responses to increasingly absurd circumstances, we see the show develop its philosophical inquiry into the issue.
This inquiry is not accomplished without a lot of heart. Fargo is ultimately hopeful. The largest source of friction, the catalyst of all chaos, stems from the inability to communicate and the resulting misunderstanding chips away at our sense of unity. Giving up is not an option, or at least, not a particularly good one. We make meaning in our lives through the things we cherish, that we wish to protect or pay our attention to. Whatever trial or tribulation, we face those challenges to preserve what is valuable. To do otherwise is tantamount to letting it fade.
Fargo is special for how it juggles this stylistic blend. It presents humor and horror together with sentimentality. None overshadows the other. Fantastic casting choices breathe life into the writing. No matter how quirky the characters may be, they embody a sense of realism that makes the world feel alive and not too distant from our own, especially now in our own bizarre and heightened reality. Sometimes, even truth must be disguised for others to regard it. Fargo uses the medium of fiction to bypass our skepticism and take us on a journey through and around the strange heart of the modern world. And it makes sure that the journey is going to be wild and fun along the way.
If your interest is piqued, the good news you can borrow the first three seasons of Fargo on DVD. Season 5 of Fargo is currently airing on FX and select streaming services.
Ian is an Instructor and Research Specialist at East Columbia Branch.He is a huge nerd with too many interests to list here. Currently, he is fixated on the interconnection between history and fiction. His favorite kind of stories are stories about stories.
End of year “best of” lists provoke debate and motivate future selections. What have I read and seen that are on the list? Do I agree with the reviews? Which choices will I add to my precious “I want to read” file?
One of my book clubs is so longstanding that it was originally an “Oprah book club.” When it was time to celebrate our over-20-year anniversary, we decided on a girls’ weekend. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano was already scheduled for that month, and we could not have chosen a better capstone read. Not only was the discussion more content than neighborhood gossip, more talking than drinking, more debate than segue, we continued to consider the book throughout the weekend.
All families bear hurt feelings, grudges, and anger. Because the four Padavano sisters (yes, think Little Women) are so close and have such distinct personalities, the emotion in Hello Beautiful runs deep and long. Add a strong mother, a devoted father, and a young man with essentially no family, and you’ve got a multi-generational literary novel that reads like a page turner.
Beginning in 1960, we meet William Waters whose absent parents contrast with the Padavano parents. Always on his own, William dedicates himself to excelling at basketball. In college, he meets Julia, the oldest Padavano sister, who is his opposite in every way. Now William finds himself enveloped in the love of Julia’s family, including her three sisters, especially Sylvie.
Throughout, the sisters compare themselves to the March girls in Little Women, and there are many parallels, but this book shines on its own plot twists. Be prepared for love stories, loss, mental illness, and estrangement. We want all the best for this family, but with Napolitano’s skill as a writer, we travel the complicated paths of realistic, complex characters. We see life through the eyes of each of the sisters as well as their children.
One of my favorite aspects of the book is the empathetic portrayal of William’s teammates and the contrasts between the social world of women and that of men as we move through the end of the 20th century. Napolitano effectively portrays the sisters as a team as well, but a very different team who can hurt each other in only the ways that sisters can. Often, the characters seemed walled off between those who can compartmentalize their emotions and ambitions and those who can’t.
Truly a novel that has earned a “best of 2023,” Hello Beautiful merits a holiday read or a book discussion’s scrutiny. It holds epiphanies and small miracles. May you have those who greet you throughout your life with “Hello, beautiful.”
Cherise Tasker is an Adult Instructor and Research Specialist at the Central Branch. When not immersed in literary fiction, Cherise can be found singing along to musical theater soundtracks.
Once upon a time, there were three sisters. I love a story about three sisters, probably because I am one. The Once and Future Witches grabbed my attention right away with Bella, Agnes, and James Juniper Eastwood. Bella is the bookish, rule following oldest (hello, yes, it’s me), followed by the fiercely independent Agnes who guards her heart, then the rebel, wild child June. They were separated from each other and their home in Crow County before the book opens but are unexpectedly reunited in New Salem as the story begins with a dramatic rally.
This wonderful, rich, layered novel closely weaves together many elements, including witching, suffrage, civil rights, and nursery rhymes. Witchcraft is forbidden, even if every woman knows a spell or two for domestic tasks and other “unimportant” business. It used to be more. Except women became too powerful (in whose eyes?), and the witch hunters burned down Old Salem. Since that time, the Way of Avalon, with its last Three witches, has been lost. Until all three Eastwood sisters were pulled into the town square by a strange spell that called the black tower of Avalon, briefly, into being above them.
This launches the Eastwoods into forming the Sisters of Avalon, a secret society of women who want to reclaim witching. By pooling knowledge and handed down stories, the sum becomes greater than its parts. They begin to piece together not just more power than any single woman had on her own, but what was lost when Old Salem burned. Each chapter begins with a small spell, mostly based on old nursery rhymes or superstitious sayings, along with the ingredients to make it work. Every spell needs the words, the way, and, most importantly, the WILL. None of the women in this book lack willpower, that’s for sure.
The sisters also have messy personal lives that compound the larger story. Agnes, who works in a mill, is unmarried and pregnant, and she chooses to raise the next generation of Eastwood women. Bella falls in love with a nosy newspaper-woman, who has keeps an interesting set of secrets within the Black community of New Cairo. This slow-burn romance lends an unexpected joyful note to the proceedings. And Juniper, well, she has her own murderous secrets and lonely heartaches.
Inevitably, the Eastwood sisters and the Sisters of Avalon cross the Powers That Be and all seems lost. But, not put too fine a point on it, where’s there’s a Will, there’s a Way. The end absolutely delivers on the promise of that first meeting in St. George’s Square. One of the things I appreciated about this novel was the villain, who is entirely, unapologetically villainous. Not many stories have such a defined antagonist these days, and it made the final showdown more meaningful.
I fell headlong into this story and was glad I picked it up over a long weekend where I didn’t feel guilty about losing an afternoon or two. It’s a long one, at 500+ pages, but I enjoyed spending the time with the Eastwood sisters, their friends, and their lovers. A brief review doesn’t really do the entirety of the story justice, but I don’t want to spoil the enjoyment of how the Eastwood Three – Maiden, Mother, and Crone – reclaim all that is rightfully theirs.
This title is available in print, e-book, and e-audiobook. You’ll have to wait for the electronic copies, but the physical book is ready to borrow.
Goals for the holidays must include laughing out loud. Serious humor bursts the stress bubble, making shopping go quicker, cooking smoother, and socializing more relaxed. Also, it never hurts to take some solid jabs at consumerism.
First stop, Jean Shepherd’s classic, A Christmas Story. This gem can be found as a book,e-audiobook, movie, and musical soundtrack at HCLS. Shepherd gained fame as a radio announcer who included comedy stories in his show. A Christmas Story is his autobiographical tale of nine-year-old Ralphie who wishes for a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. He is stymied by the adults in his life who respond, “You’ll shoot your eye out.” Along the way, Ralphie’s dad wins an unusual prize in a puzzle contest, a provocative lamp shaped like a leg in a fishnet stocking. There’s an unforgettable scene where Ralphie’s friend, Flick, takes on the dare of whether his tongue will stick to a frozen flagpole. Spoiler alert: it does.
Need a good laugh and can’t spare much time to read? Go for just one short story, “Christmas Means Giving” by David Sedaris. In fact, if there’s no time to read it, or even if there is, listen to Sedaris’ own charming presentation of this tale of woeful holiday excess. Sedaris reimagines loving thy neighbor and the joy of giving. Who can resist a Christmas card that includes a friend’s stock portfolio? To keep the merriment going, listen to “SantaLand Diaries” as well, picturing the man behind the voice as an elf at Macy’s, assisting in the mayhem that is getting photos taken with Santa in midtown Manhattan. Both essays can be found in Holidays on Ice, available in many formats: print, e-book, e-audiobook, digital audio, and audio on CD. “Christmas Means Giving” is also in Sedaris’s The Best of Me collection that includes many of the writer’s best works and is available in print, e-book, e-audiobook, and audio on CD.
“My personal Festivus would include both latkes and Christmas cookies,” affirms Hannah Hart in My Drunk Kitchen Holidays!: How to Savor and Celebrate the Year. The intoxicated and intoxicating chef wants to be sure everyone can make a “decent” latke with her “Love the Way You Latke” recipe that includes the important step of removing all extra moisture from the potatoes and onions before cooking. Hart is okay with skipping the holidays but doesn’t want anyone missing out on unique, delicious food and drink. Because Hart wants readers to take care of themselves, the cookbook even has a face mask recipe. For more year-round joy, explore her “MyHarto” YouTube channel. Remember, everything’s more festive served in a wine glass, especially mashed potatoes. Cheers!
Cherise Tasker is an Adult Instructor and Research Specialist at the Central Branch. When not immersed in literary fiction, Cherise can be found singing along to musical theater soundtracks.
I apologize in advance for the puns, but I can’t help but hold a very special place in my heart for a movie I first saw in 1978 with my mom and my sister at the Security Square Mall theater…back when Spencer Gifts and the smell of kettle corn were a big thing and the multiplex was not. Unless my memory is completely fooling me, this movie jump-started my deep love of and for cats.
The Cat From Outer Space is a purrfectly out-of-this-world cinematic experience that will have you feline fine! This intergalactic tail, I mean, tale, stars a su-purr-naturally talented cat from another galaxy, and it’s a claw-some adventure from start to finish.
From the moment our furry, four-legged friend crash-lands on Earth, you know you’re in for a wild ride. With a collar that’s basically a space-age Swiss Army knife and a penchant for piloting UFOs, our extraterrestrial feline is the cat’s meow of interstellar travelers. The human cast is equally entertaining, with their over-the-top reactions to the incredible abilities of our whiskered visitor. They’re all in on the secret, but they don’t seem to mind. Who can blame them? I mean, if a cat could fix your car and whip up a gourmet meal with the flick of its tail, you’d keep the secret too!
The special effects might not be up to today’s standards, but that’s part of the charm. It’s like a time capsule from a bygone era of film-making. You’ll marvel at the “cutting-edge” technology and laugh at the adorable alien. You’ll witness one fur-midable showdown between our feline friend and a military general with a penchant for paw-sitively dramatic speeches. It’s an epic showdown that will have you on the edge of your seat, or should I say, scratching post?
So, if you’re in the mood for a nostalgic, campy, and uproarious adventure that’s as delightful as a basket of kittens and so silly you’ll find yourself embracing it fully, look no further. The Cat From Outer Space is the cat-astrophic, uh, I mean, fantastic film you’ve been waiting for! Grab your popcorn and get ready to be whisker-ed away into a world of cosmic comedy and kitt-tastic capers!
Angie is an Instructor & Research Specialist at Central Branch and is a co-facilitator for Reads of Acceptance, HCLS’ first LGBTQ-focused book club. Her ideal day is reading in her cozy armchair, with her cat Henry next to her.
Maddie Wright is a 25-year-old British woman of Ghanaian descent who feels like her life is somewhat stagnant. She works as a personal assistant in a theater company where her boss suffers from depression. She is tired of being the only Black person at work and keeping a low profile so as not to attract attention. After exhausting days at work, she comes home to take care of her father, who suffers from advanced Parkinson’s disease. Maddie’s mother lives mostly in Ghana and her older brother James hardly chips in to help, leaving Maddie as the primary caregiver of her ailing father. When Maddie’s mother finally agrees to return home to London for a year to take over her husband’s care, Maddie jumps at the opportunity to move out and live life as an adult. She finds a flat to share, goes out for drinks after work with flatmates, tries to make her voice heard at work, and experiments with internet dating. However, when tragedy strikes, Maddie realizes that her family, rooted in Ghanaian traditions, is different and has its own unique needs and expectations. Maddie must come to terms with her identity as a Ghanaian British woman who struggles to straddle two cultures and make it work.
For me, the book was interesting for many reasons. First, it was amusing to read how Maddie, this young woman, navigates through some tough life questions by asking Google. Secondly, the significance of the book’s title made me think of my own Bengali culture and the practice of giving pet names (daak nam) to babies. Maddie is affectionately called Maame by her close family members, which means woman in Twi. And Maddie feels that she has had to be the caring, responsible, compliant, non-complaining person who took up the burden of her family’s responsibilities on her shoulders from childhood, because women are expected to do just that. At times, as a young adult left to care for her father or pay bills for family expenses, Maddie detested the name because it came with expectations. Gradually, with some help, she realizes not just responsibilities and expectations, but her name ‘woman’ is also emblematic of immense strength. Through self-introspection, help from her friends, and a candid conversation with her mother, Maddie comes to recognize the power of her name and understand the richness of her parents’ culture. And for the first time, she also understands that her mother is more than just her mother. She is a mother, a career woman, a wife, and most importantly a woman.
In Bengali society, a common pet name for girl babies is different connotations of the Bengali word ma which means mother. Often, baby girls are named Mam, Mamon or Mamoni. This book made me wonder about the significance of those pet names and if there are expectations of motherhood associated with those names, but that debate is for another day.
Maame, Jessica George’s debut novel,is a smart and funny exploration of the poignant themes of our times – relationships, loneliness, racism, adulthood, filial duty. I really enjoyed the growth in Maame’s character and found it to be a privilege to watch Maame figure out the significance of her name, grow comfortable in her skin, and ask for recognition in her work and society.
Piyali is an instructor and research specialist at HCLS Miller Branch, where she facilitates Light But Not Fluffy and co-facilitates Global Reads. She keeps the hope alive that someday she will reach the bottom of her to-read list.
I first read Night Film earlier this year over the course of a long weekend. Though the temperature was hot and the humidity almost unbearable, author Marisha Pessl transported me to a chilly October night in New York City with ease. Night Film is a perfect November book and is best enjoyed as the temperatures cool and the nights grow longer.
The book opens with the mysterious death of Ashley Cordova, piano prodigy and daughter of infamous horror director Stanislas Cordova. Stanislas, who has a huge cult following, hasn’t been seen outside of his huge upstate New York estate in 30 years.
Investigative journalist Scott McGrath has long been obsessed with Cordova and the mystique surrounding him and his films. He teams up with two unlikely sidekicks – a drifter and a wannabe actress – to uncover the truth behind Ashley’s death. Along the way, the three encounter a fair share of kooky and offbeat characters who offer insight into the case.
Pessl peppers newspaper clippings, online forum posts, and other documents throughout the book, making you feel immersed in the investigation. This immersion is taken a step further with the bonus content available on Pessl’s Night Film Decoder website, which includes even more mixed media sources, like video and audio recordings.
On top of all this, it’s clear that Pessl took her time devising Stanislas Cordova’s filmography. The details included about some of the fictional films are so illustrative and specific – down to the blocking or costumes in his most iconic movies’ scenes. All the descriptiveness surrounding the fictional films culminates in a jaw-dropping sequence about two-thirds through the novel. A sequence that I still find myself thinking about, nearly five months after reading the book.
Night Film is an engrossing, unputdownable read perfect for fans of horror and mystery. It’s a book whose atmosphere and characters stay with you for a long time.
You can request a physical copy here or check out the e-book and e-audiobook versions on Libby/Overdrive.
Emily is an Instructor & Research Specialist at the Central Branch. She enjoys puzzling, reading, listening to music, and re-watching old seasons of Survivor.
CHAPTER CHATS 