Recently the Library posted a
video on our YouTube Channel with staff recommendations for summer reading. Here's the "why?" behind some of those recommendations, as well as for other books that didn't make it into the video.
Joshua Wallace, our Instruction Librarian, says,
"I enjoy reading non-fiction works, and personally find it difficult to become engrossed in fiction. If you’re like me then here are some books you might enjoy.
Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah – This autobiography is an emotional rollercoaster, and you probably want to have a box of tissues handy when reading it. Adeline’s mother died two weeks after giving birth to her, and the family considered her bad luck as a result. Years later her father remarried, and her stepmother was exceedingly cruel. Despite these challenges, Adeline excelled academically. As this family drama unfolds, World War II and the Chinese Civil War occurs in the background."
[This e-book is available 24/7 in our
OverDrive collection. The next two print books can be found in the General Stacks on the upper level of the Dick Smith Library.]
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris – "A hilarious read that is a nice break from the tear-jerker mentioned above. You might still need that box of tissues, but this time it will be because you’re laughing too much. This is a collection of autobiographical (possibly humorously exaggerated) essays of the author’s life. From taking a speech therapy class in his childhood, to living abroad in France, and much more in between. This author finds humor even in the mundane and challenging events of his life.
Japan 1941: Countdown to Infamy by Eri Hotta – This work tells the story of Japan’s decision to bomb Pearl Harbor from the Japanese point-of-view. This book reveals that many Japanese officials realized that bombing the US would have terrible consequences, but the tragi-comic realities of Japan’s government and society at the time pushed them along this disastrous course. Hotta is a great writer and the way she tells the story makes this book hard to put down."
I read The Only Woman in the Room, by Eileen Pollack, because I know that women still struggle to belong in primarily male-dominated fields. Pollack’s book is her biographical story as one of the first two women to earn a degree in physics from Yale University. Pollack describes her encounters, not only with learning physics, but also with, literally, being the only woman room in a the classroom full of men. Pollack’s unbarred description of the struggles of a female in a STEM [science - technology - engineering - math] field in the 1970s gave me perspective on the subtle prejudices women face when working in a male dominated field, yet encouraged me with her will to overcome."
