Weekend Edition: Books By Indigenous Authors

This week we are highlighting books by indigenous authors from all over the world. Below are some samples from OCL’s collection by people of Maori, Sioux, Lakota, Inuit, Sami, and Kanaka Maoli descent. For more ideas, browse the hashtag #NativeReads, started by the First Nations Development Institute, on your favorite social media platform.

Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto by Vine Deloria, Jr. 

In Custer Died for your Sins, the author observes, "The Indian world has changed so substantially since the first publication of this book that some things contained in it seem new again." Indeed, it seems that each generation of whites and Indians will have to read and reread Vine Deloria's Manifesto for some time to come, before we absorb his special, ironic Indian point of view and what he tells us, with a great deal of humor, about U.S. race relations, federal bureaucracies, Christian churches, and social scientists. This book continues to be required reading for all Americans, whatever their special interest. -- Provided by publisher.

The Bone People: A Novel by Keri Hulme

Integrating both Maori myth and New Zealand reality, The Bone People became the most successful novel in New Zealand publishing history when it appeared in 1984. Set on the South Island beaches of New Zealand, a harsh environment, the novel chronicles the complicated relationships between three emotional outcasts of mixed European and Maori heritage. Kerewin Holmes is a painter and a loner, convinced that "to care for anything is to invite disaster." Her isolation is disrupted one day when a six-year-old mute boy, Simon, breaks into her house. The sole survivor of a mysterious shipwreck, Simon has been adopted by a widower Maori factory worker, Joe Gillayley, who is both tender and horribly brutal toward the boy. Through shifting points of view, the novel reveals each character's thoughts and feelings as they struggle with the desire to connect and the fear of attachment. Compared to the works of James Joyce in its use of indigenous language and portrayal of consciousness, The Bone People captures the soul of New Zealand. After twenty years, it continues to astonish and enrich readers around the world.

The Right to Be Cold: One Women’s Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Artic and the Whole Planet by Sheila  Watt-Cloutier

The Right to Be Cold is a human story of resilience, commitment, and survival told from the unique vantage point of an Inuk woman who, in spite of many obstacles, rose from humble beginnings in the Arctic community of Kuujjuaq, Quebec--where she was raised by a single parent and grandmother and travelled by dog team in a traditional, ice-based Inuit hunting culture--to become one of the most influential and decorated environmental, cultural, and human rights advocates in the world. The Right to Be Cold explores the parallels between safeguarding the Arctic and the survival of Inuit culture--and ultimately the world--in the face of past, present, and future environmental degradation. Sheila Watt-Cloutier passionately argues that climate change is a human rights issue and one to which all of us on the planet are inextricably linked. The Right to Be Cold is the culmination of Watt-Cloutier's regional, national, and international work over the last twenty-five years, weaving historical traumas and current issues such as climate change, leadership, and sustainability in the Arctic into her personal story to give a coherent and holistic voice to an important subject.

This Is Paradise: Stories by Kristina Kahakauwila

"A visceral, poignant, and elegantly gritty work of debut fiction set in Hawaii, in the vein of Junot Diaz's Drown and Danielle Evans's Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self This is the real Hawai'i: life is not the paradisical adventure that honeymooners or movie-goers see. Danger lurks on beautiful beaches, violence bubbles under the smooth surf, and characters come face to face with the inevitability of change and the need to define who they are against the forces of tradition and expectation. In these stories, a young woman decides to take revenge on the man who had her father murdered - only to find that her father wasn't who she thought he was. Three different groups of Hawaiian women observe and comment on the progress of an American tourist through one day and one night in Honolulu. And a young couple have an encounter with a stray dog that shakes their relationship to the core. Intimately tied to the Hawaiian Islands, This is Paradise explores the relationships among native Hawaiians, local citizens, and emigrants from (and to) the contiguous forty-eight states. There is tension between locals and tourists, between locals and the military men that populate their communities, between local Hawaiian girls who never leave, and those who do so for higher education and then return. Kahakauwila is a careful observer of her protagonists' actions - and, sometimes, their inaction. Her portrayal of people whose lives have lost their centre of gravity is acute, often heartbreaking, and suffused with a deeply felt empathy. With a contemporary edginess, a mature style, and a sense of history reverberating into the present, This is Paradise is an incredible debut"-- Provided by publisher

The Sun, My Father by Nils-Aslak Valkeapää; [translators, Ralph Salisbury, Lars Nordström, Harald Gaski]

Nils-Aslak Valkeapaa was born in 1943 to a reindeer-breeding family in Sapmi, homeland of the Sami, whom outsiders have called "Laps" or "Laplanders". A Finnish citizen, he lives in both Norway and Finland. Much of traditional Sami life was nomadic, involving herding reindeer and living in harmony with the landscapes, weather, and animals of the far north. The poems in The Sun, My Father serve as a link between past and present. According to one myth, the Sami are the children of the sun, and the poet honors that myth, reaching back into the Sami past from the point of view of a modern Sami. The Sami edition was originally published in 1988 and won the Nordic Council's Literature Award. The translation team includes Ralph Salisbury, a Native American poet, Lars Nordstrom, a Swedish translator, and Harald Gaski, a Sami scholar.

Weekend Edition: Books by Asian Authors

Whether you choose to read a novel by an Asian American author or a translation for an author from an Asian country (or in the original language!) you are sure to find a wide variety of topics, writing styles, and genres. You will find long reads and short ones. There is not “one type” of book by an Asian author, but a wide variety of reads to enjoy.

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao. The Huffington Post An electrifying debut novel about the extraordinary bond between two girls driven apart by circumstance but relentless in their search for one another. Poornima and Savitha have three strikes against them: they are poor, they are ambitious, and they are girls.

The Story of a Goat by Perumal Murugan ; translated from the Tamil by N. Kalyan Raman "In his brilliant new novel, Perumal Murugan paints a bucolic yet menacing portrait of the rural lives of India's farming community through the story of a helpless young animal lost in a world it naively misunderstands. A farmer in Tamil Nadu is watching the sun set over his village one evening when a mysterious stranger, a giant man, appears on the horizon. (title page verso)

The Farm : a Novel  by Joanne Ramos Nestled in New York's Hudson Valley is a luxury retreat boasting every amenity: organic meals, private fitness trainers, daily massages--and all of it for free. In fact, you're paid big money to stay here--more than you've ever dreamed of. The catch? For nine months, you cannot leave the grounds; your movements are monitored, and you are cut off from your former life while you dedicate yourself to the task of producing the perfect baby. Jane, an immigrant from the Philippines, is in desperate search of a better future when she commits to being a Host at Golden Oaks

Minor Feelings : An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong Part memoir and part cultural criticism, this collection is vulnerable, humorous, and provocative--and its relentless and riveting pursuit of vital questions around family and friendship, art and politics, identity and individuality, will change the way you think about our world. Binding these essays together is Hong's theory of "minor feelings." As the daughter of Korean immigrants, Cathy Park Hong grew up steeped in shame, suspicion, and melancholy. She would later understand that these "minor feelings" occur when American optimism contradicts your own reality- (Saloon)

The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami ; translated by Ted Goossen “From internationally acclaimed author Haruki Murakami--a fantastical illustrated short novel about a boy imprisoned in a nightmarish library. Opening the flaps on this unique little book, readers will find themselves immersed in the strange world of best-selling Haruki Murakami's wild imagination. The story of a lonely boy, a mysterious girl, and a tormented sheep man plotting their escape from a nightmarish library, the book is like nothing else Murakami has written. Designed by Chip Kidd and fully illustrated, in full color, throughout, this small format, 96 page volume is a treat for book lovers of all ages. “

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. “Every day Willis Wu leaves his tiny room in a Chinatown SRO and enters the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a procedural cop show, is in perpetual production. He's a bit player here too, but he dreams of being Kung Fu Guy-- and he sees his life as a script. After stumbling into the spotlight, Willis finds himself launched into a wider world than he has ever known, discovering not only the secret history of Chinatown, but the buried legacy of his own family, and what that means for him in today's America”

The White Book by Han Kang ; translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith From the winner of the Man Booker International Prize for The Vegetarian comes a stunning meditation on the colour white; about light, about death and about ritual. Sixty-five short interconnected chapters portray humanity and all its suffering and resiliency

Tell us if you picked one of the reads from here by an Asian author and what you thought.  Post a picture of the book cover on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #OCLReads.

Weekend Edition: Women’s Prize for Fiction Winners

The Women’s Prize for Fiction is a prize awarded annually for the best novel written in English by a woman and published in the UK during the previous year. And it just so happens that OCL holds all of the previous winners since the Prize started in 1996! Scroll below for links to all of the books. 

2020 Winner Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell "A thrilling departure: a short, piercing, deeply moving novel about the death of Shakespeare's 11 year old son Hamnet--a name interchangeable with Hamlet in 15th century Britain--and the years leading up to the production of his great play. England, 1580. A young Latin tutor--penniless, bullied by a violent father--falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman--a wild creature who walks her family's estate with a falcon on her shoulder and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer. Agnes understands plants and potions better than she does people, but once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose gifts as a writer are just beginning to awaken when his beloved young son succumbs to bubonic plague. A luminous portrait of a marriage, a shattering evocation of a family ravaged by grief and loss, and a hypnotic recreation of the story that inspired one of the greatest masterpieces of all time, Hamnet is mesmerizing, seductive, impossible to put down--a magnificent departure from one of our most gifted novelists"--Provided by publisher.

2019 Winner An American Marriage by Tayari Jones Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy's time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy's conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together.

2018 Winner Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie "From an internationally acclaimed novelist, the suspenseful and heartbreaking story of a family ripped apart by secrets and driven to pit love against loyalty, with devastating consequences. Isma is free. After years of watching out for her younger siblings in the wake of their mother's death, an invitation from a mentor in America has allowed her to resume a dream long deferred. But she can't stop worrying about Aneeka, her beautiful, headstrong sister back in London, or their brother, Parvaiz, who's disappeared in pursuit of his own dream, to prove himself to the dark legacy of the jihadist father he never knew. When he resurfaces half the globe away, Isma's worst fears are confirmed. Then Eamonn enters the sisters' lives. Son of a powerful political figure, he has his own birthright to live up to--or defy. Is he to be a chance at love? The means of Parvaiz's salvation? Suddenly, two families' fates are inextricably, devastatingly entwined, in this searing novel that asks: What sacrifices will we make in the name of love?"-- Provided by publisher

2017 Winner The Power by Naomi Alderman A rich Nigerian boy; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. When a vital new force takes root and flourishes, their lives converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls and women now have immense physical power-- they can cause agonizing pain and even death. And everything changes.

Previous Winners 1996: A Spell of Winter by Helene Dunmore 1997: Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels 1998: Larry’s Party by Carol Shields  1999: A Crime in the Neighborhood by Suzanne Berne 2000: When I Lived in Modern Times by Linda Grant 2001: The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville 2002: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 2003: Property by Valerie Martin 2004: Small Island by Andrea Levy  2005: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver 2006: On Beauty by Zadie Smith 2007: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2008: The Road Home by Rose Tremain 2009: Home by Marilynne Robinson 2010: The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver 2011: The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht 2012: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 2013: May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes 2014: A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride 2015: How to Be Both by Ali Smith 2016: The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney

Weekend Edition: Books on BLM Reading Lists

February is Black History Month, which was created by historian Carter G. Woodson in 1926 as "Negro History Week." Here are a few title suggestions, but if you'd like to find your own, try searching Google for "Black Lives Matter reading list" or check out Oberlin College Libraries' Anti-Racism Social Justice guide!

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

The founder of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama recounts his experiences as a lawyer working to assist those desperately in need, reflecting on his pursuit of the ideal of compassion in American justice.

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir In Essasys by Damon Young

For Damon Young, existing while Black is an extreme sport. The act of possessing black skin while searching for space to breathe in America is enough to induce a ceaseless state of angst where questions such as "How should I react here, as a professional black person?" and "Will this white person's potato salad kill me?" are forever relevant. What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker chronicles Young's efforts to survive while battling and making sense of the various neuroses his country has given him. It's a condition that's sometimes stretched to absurd limits, provoking the angst that made him question if he was any good at the "being straight" thing, as if his sexual orientation was something he could practice and get better at, like a crossover dribble move or knitting; creating the farce where, as a teen, he wished for a white person to call him a racial slur just so he could fight him and have a great story about it; and generating the surreality of watching gentrification transform his Pittsburgh neighborhood from predominantly Black to "Portlandia . . . but with Pierogies." And, at its most devastating, it provides him reason to believe that his mother would be alive today if she were white. From one of our most respected cultural observers, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker is a hilarious and honest debut that is both a celebration of the idiosyncrasies and distinctions of Blackness and a critique of white supremacy and how we define masculinity

Colored No More: Reinventing Black Womanhood in Washington, D.C. by Treva B. Lindsey 

"This project examines New Negro womanhood in Washington, DC through various examples of African American women challenging white supremacy, intra-racial sexism, and heteropatriarchy. Treva Lindsey defines New Negro womanhood as a mosaic, authorial, and constitutive individual and collective identity inhabited by African American women seeking to transform themselves and their communities through demanding autonomy and equality for African American women. The New Negro woman invested in upending racial, gender, and class inequality and included race women, blues women, playwrights, domestics, teachers, mothers, sex workers, policy workers, beauticians, fortune tellers, suffragists, same-gender couples, artists, activists, and innovators. From these differing but interconnected African American women's spaces comes an urban, cultural history of the early twentieth century struggles for freedom and equality that marked the New Negro era in the nation's capital. Washington provided a unique space in which such a vision of equality could emerge and sustain. In the face of the continued pernicious effects of Jim Crow racism and perpetual and institutional racism and sexism, Lindsey demonstrates how African American women in Washington made significant strides towards a more equal and dynamic urban center. Witnessing the possibility of social and political change empowered New Negro women of Washington to struggle for the kind of city, nation, and world they envisioned in political, social, and cultural ways."--Provided by publisher

Blood At the Root: A Racial Cleansing In America by Patrick Phillips

"A gripping tale of racial cleansing in Forsyth County, Georgia and ... testament to the deep roots of racial violence in America ... Patrick Phillips breaks the century-long silence of his hometown and uncovers a history of racial terrorism that continues to shape America in the twenty-first century"-- Provided by publisher

The Early Black History Movement, Carter G. Woodson, and Lorenzo Johnston Greene by Pero Gaglo Dagbovie

The men who launched and shaped black studies This book examines the lives, work, and contributions of two of the most important figures of the early black history movement, Carter G. Woodson and Lorenzo Johnston Greene. Drawing on the two men's personal papers as well as the materials of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), Pero Gaglo Dagbovie probes the struggles, sacrifices, and achievements of these black history pioneers. The book offers the first major examination of Greene's life. Equally important, it also addresses a variety of issues pertaining to Woodson that other scholars have either overlooked or ignored, including his image in popular and scholarly writings and memory, the democratic approach of the ASNLH, and the pivotal role of women in the association.

Weekend Edition: Books By and About Women

If you’re participating in OCL’s Reading Challenge Bingo, then you know one of the prompts is to read a book by or about a woman. But because March is Women’s History Month, we’ve decided to double-down and highlight books that are both by and about women! 

God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop by Kathy Iandoli "For far too long, women in hip-hop have been relegated to the shadows, viewed as the designated "First Lady" thrown a contract, a pawn in some beef, or even worse. But as Kathy Iandoli makes clear, the reality is very different. Today, hip-hop is dominated by successful women such as Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, yet there are scores of female artists whose influence continues to resonate. God Save the Queens pays tribute to the women of hip-hop--from the early work of Roxanne Shante, to hitmakers like Queen Latifah and Missy Elliot, to the superstars of today. Exploring issues of gender, money, sexuality, violence, body image, feuds, objectification and more, God Save the Queens is an important and monumental work of music journalism that at last gives these influential female artists the respect they have long deserved."--Amazon Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet by Claire L. Evans "The history of technology you probably know is one of men and machines, garages and riches, alpha nerds and brogrammers. But the little-known fact is that female visionaries have always been at the vanguard of technology and innovation--they've just been erased from the story. Until now. Women are not ancillary to the history of technology; they turn up at the very beginning of every important wave. But they've often been hidden in plain sight, their inventions and contributions touching our lives in ways we don't even realize. VICE reporter and YACHT lead singer Claire L. Evans finally gives these unsung female heroes their due with her insightful social history of the Broad Band, the women who made the internet what it is today. Learn from Ada Lovelace, the tortured, imaginative daughter of Lord Byron, who wove numbers into the first program for a mechanical computer in 1842. Seek inspiration from Grace Hopper, the tenacious mathematician who democratized computing by leading the charge for machine-independent programming languages after World War II. Meet Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler, the one-woman Google who kept the earliest version of the Internet online, and Stacy Horn, who ran one of the first-ever social networks on a shoestring out of her New York City apartment in the 1980s. Evans shows us how these women built and colored the technologies we can't imagine life without. Join the ranks of the pioneers who defied social convention and the longest odds to become database poets, information-wranglers, hypertext dreamers, and glass ceiling-shattering dot com-era entrepreneurs. This inspiring call to action is a revelation: women have embraced technology from the start. It shines a light on the bright minds whom history forgot, and shows us how they will continue to shape our world in ways we can no longer ignore. Welcome to the Broad Band. You're next"-- Provided by publisher

Witches, Sluts, Feminists: Conjuring the Sex Positive by Kristen J. Sollée; illustrations by Coz Conover   "Witch, Slut, Feminist: these contested identities are informing millennial women as they counter a torturous history of misogyny with empowerment. This innovative primer highlights sexual liberation as it traces the lineage of 'witch feminism.' Juxtaposing scholarly research on the demonization of women and female sexuality that has continued since the witch hunts of the early modern era with pop occulture analyses and interviews with activists, artists, scholars, and practitioners of witchcraft, this book greatly enriches our current conversations about reproductive rights, sexual pleasure, queer identity, pornography, sex work, and more."--Back cover

Leftover in China: The Women Shaping the World’s Next Superpower by Roseann Lake Forty years ago, China enacted the one-child policy, only recently relaxed. Among many other unintended consequences, it resulted in both an enormous gender imbalance--with a predicted twenty million more men than women of marriage age by 2020--and China's first generations of only-daughters. Given the resources normally reserved for boys, these girls were pushed to study, excel in college, and succeed in careers, as if they were sons. Now living in an economic powerhouse, enough of these women have decided to postpone marriage--or not marry at all--to spawn a label: "leftovers." Unprecedentedly well-educated and goal-oriented, they struggle to find partners in a society where gender roles have not evolved as vigorously as society itself, and where new professional opportunities have made women less willing to compromise their careers or concede to marriage for the sake of being wed. Further complicating their search for a mate, the vast majority of China's single men reside in and are tied to the rural areas where they were raised. This makes them geographically, economically, and educationally incompatible with city-dwelling "leftovers," who also face difficulty in partnering with urban men, given the urban men's general preference for more dutiful, domesticated wives. Part critique of China's paternalistic ideals, part playful portrait of the romantic travails of China's trailblazing women and their well-meaning parents who are anxious to see their daughters snuggled into traditional wedlock, Roseann Lake's Leftover in China focuses on the lives of four individual women against a backdrop of colorful anecdotes, hundreds of interviews, and rigorous historical and demographic research to show how these "leftovers" are the linchpin to China's future.

Weekend Edition: Books Published in 2020

We think it’s safe to say that the whole world is ready to put 2020 in the global rearview mirror, but before we can leave it in the dust we want to acknowledge some good things that actually happened last year -- like the publication of some really great books! These four books below, all published in 2020, were recently added to OCL’s collection. For more ideas, check out these posts from last year: 

Novels Published in 2020

Great Reads 2020

Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick: Stories From the Harlem Renaissance by Zora Neale Hurston; foreword by Tayari Jones; introduction by Genevieve West

In 1925, Zora Neale Hurston was living in New York as a fledgling writer. This collection of stories, found in archives after her death, reveal African American folk culture in Harlem in the 1920s. This book includes eight of Hurston's "lost" Harlem gems.

Roadside Americans: The Rise and Fall of Hitchhiking in a Changing Nation by Jack Reid

"Between the Great Depression and the mid-1970s, hitchhikers were a common sight for motorists, as American service members, students, and adventurers sought out the romance of the road in droves. Beats, hippies, feminists, and civil rights and antiwar activists saw "thumb tripping" as a vehicle for liberation, living out the counterculture's rejection of traditional values. Yet, by the time Ronald Reagan, a former hitchhiker himself, was in the White House, the youthful faces on the road chasing the ghost of Jack Kerouac were largely gone--along with sympathetic portrayals of the practice in state legislatures and the media"-- Provided by publisher

The Book Collectors: A Band of Syrian Rebels and the Stories That Carried Them Through a War by Delphine Minoui; translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud

Long a site of peaceful resistance to the Assad regimes, Daraya fell under siege in 2012. For four years no one entered or left, and aid was blocked. Bombs fell on this place of homes and families. A group searching for survivors stumbled upon a cache of books; in a week they had six thousand volumes; in a month fifteen thousand. A sanctuary was born: a library to escape the blockade, offering Arabic poetry, American self-help, Shakespearean plays and more. Over text messages, Minoui came to know the young men who gathered in the library, exchanged ideas, learned English, and imagined how to shape the future, even as bombs kept falling from above. -- adapted from jacket

Rust Belt Femme by Raechel Anne Jolie

"Raechel Anne Jolie's early life in a working-class Cleveland exurb was full of race cars, Budweiser-drinking men covered in car grease, and the women who loved them. After her father came home from his third-shift job, took the garbage out to the curb and was hit by a drunk driver, her life changed. Raechel and her mother struggled for money: they were evicted, went days without utilities, and took their trauma out on one another. Raechel escaped to the progressive suburbs of Cleveland Heights, leaving the tractors and ranch-style homes home in favor of a city with vintage marquees, music clubs, and people who talked about big ideas. It was the early 90s, full of Nirvana songs and chokers, flannel shirts and cut-off jean shorts, lesbian witches and local coffee shops. Rust Belt Femme is the story of how these twin foundations--rural Ohio poverty and alternative 90s culture--made Raechel into who she is today: a queer femme with PTSD and a deep love of the Midwest."-- Provided by publisher

Weekend Edition: Popular Science Books

Popular Science — science written for a more general audience — covers a variety of science topics. When looking for a book of this genre, you will find books written by scientists in more accessible prose covering a broad range of topics. So take a look, pick a science book today and read.

Fire, Ice, and Physics : the Science of Game of Thrones by Rebecca C. Thompson; foreword by Sean Carroll. (Physics) “Exploring the science in George R. R. Martin's fantastical world, from the physics of an ice wall to the genetics of the Targaryens and Lannisters. Game of Thrones is a fantasy that features a lot of made-up science--fabricated climatology (when is winter coming?), astronomy, metallurgy, chemistry, and biology. Most fans of George R. R. Martin's fantastical world accept it all as part of the magic. A trained scientist, watching the fake science in Game of Thrones , might think, "But how would it work?"” (summary)

The Body : a Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson. (Human anatomy)  “Bill Bryson, bestselling author of A Short History of Nearly Everything, takes us on a head-to-toe tour of the marvel that is the human body. As compulsively readable as it is comprehensive, this is Bryson at his very best, a must-read owner's manual for everybody. Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body--how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes,..” (publisher)

Elemental Haiku : Poems to Honor the Periodic Table Three Lines at a Time by Mary Soon Lee ; illustrations by Iris Gottlieb. (Chemistry) ‘Originally appearing in Science magazine, this gifty collection of haiku inspired by the periodic table of elements features all-new poems paired with original and imaginative line illustrations drawn from the natural world. Packed with wit, whimsy, and real science cred, each haiku celebrates the cosmic poetry behind each element, while accompanying notes reveal the fascinating facts that inform it. “ (summary)

The Journeys of Trees : a Story About Forests, People, and the Future by Zach St. George (Forest conservation) "An eye-opening investigation into forest migration past and present-and the people fighting to save its uncertain future. Forests are restless. Any time a tree dies or a new one sprouts, the forest that includes it has shifted. Today, however, an array of obstacles-humans felling trees by the billions, invasive pests transported through global trade-threaten to overwhelm these vital movements. Worst of all, the climate is changing faster than ever before, and forests are struggling to keep up. A deft blend of science reporting and travel writing,..” (publisher)

End of the Megafauna : the Fate of the World's Hugest, Fiercest, and Strangest Animals by Ross D.E. MacPhee ; with illustrations by Peter Schouten. (Life Science) The fascinating lives and puzzling demise of some of the largest animals on earth. Until a few thousand years ago, creatures that could have been from a sci-fi thriller¯including gorilla-sized lemurs, 800-pound birds, crocodiles that weighed a ton or more¯roamed the earth. These great beasts, or "megafauna," lived on every habitable continent and on many islands. With a handful of exceptions, all are now gone. What caused the disappearance of these prehistoric behemoths? Paleomammologist Ross D. E. MacPhee explores that question, examining the leading extinction theories, weighing the evidence, and presenting his own conclusions. He shows how theories of human overhunting and catastrophic climate change fail to explain critical features of these extinctions, and how new thinking is needed to elucidate these mysterious losses. He comments on how past extinctions can shed light on future losses, and on the possibility of bringing back extinct species through genetic engineering. Gorgeous four-color illustrations by Peter Schouten bring these megabeasts back to life in vivid detail.  (Summary)

Galileo and the Science Deniers by Mario Livio. (Scientists -- Biography) “At present, we face enormous crises, such as the minimization of the dangers of climate change because the science behind these threats is erroneously questioned or ignored. Galileo encountered this problem 400 years ago. His discoveries contradicted the teachings of the church at the time, and his books were forbidden by church authorities. Livio provides insights into how Galileo reached his bold new conclusions about the cosmos and the laws of nature. He remains a hero and inspiration to scientists and all of those who respect science, which remains threatened even today” (adapted from book jacket)

None of these spark your interest?  Then book Science Library access.  Enjoy a bit of time studying in the beautiful open quiet space of the Science Library and see what new popular science books may have recently arrived.

Weekend Edition: Novels With a Trans or Nonbinary Character(s)

March 31, 2021 marks the 12th annual International Transgender Day of Visibility, so why not pick up novel this weekend that features a trans or nonbinary character (or better yet — characters)? Below are a some titles available at OCL and through SearchOhio.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin Guin's groundbreaking work of science fiction--winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards. A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants' gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters... Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction. Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom "Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir is a coming-of-age story about a young Asian trans girl, pathological liar, and kung-fu expert who runs away from her parents' abusive home in a rainy city called Gloom. Striking off on her own, she finds her true family in a group of larger-than-life trans femmes who make their home in a mysterious pleasure district known only as the Street of Miracles. Under the wings of this fierce and fabulous flock, she blossoms into the woman she has always dreamed of being, with a little help from the unscrupulous Doctor Crocodile. When one of their number is brutally murdered, our protagonist joins her sisters in forming a vigilante gang to fight back against the transphobes, violent johns, and cops that stalk the Street of Miracles. But when things go terribly wrong, she must find the truth within herself in order to stop the violence and discover what it really means to grow up and find your family."-- Provided by publisher

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara 1980, New York City. Burned by her traumatic past, Angel is new to the drag world, new to ball culture, and has a yearning inside of her to help create family for those without. When she falls in love with Hector, a beautiful young man who dreams of becoming a professional dancer, the two decide to form the House of Xtravaganza, the first-ever all-Latino house in the Harlem ball circuit. But when Hector dies of AIDS-related complications, Angel must tend to their house alone. She recruits Venus, a whip-fast trans girl who dreams of finding a rich man to take care of her; Juanito, a quiet boy who loves fabrics and design; and Daniel, a butch queen who accidentally saves Venus's life. The Xtravaganzas lean on each other as bulwarks against a world that resists them.

Confessions of the Fox: A Novel by Jordy Rosenberg "Set in the eighteenth century London underworld, this bawdy, genre-bending novel reimagines the life of thief and jailbreaker Jack Sheppard to tell a profound story about gender, love, and liberation. Recently jilted and increasingly unhinged, Dr. Voth throws himself into his work, obsessively researching the life of Jack Sheppard, a legendary eighteenth century thief. No one knows Jack's true story--his confessions have never been found. That is, until Dr. Voth discovers a mysterious stack of papers titled Confessions of the Fox. Dated 1724, the manuscript tells the story of an orphan named P. Sold into servitude at twelve, P struggles for years with her desire to live as "Jack." When P falls dizzyingly in love with Bess, a sex worker looking for freedom of her own, P begins to imagine a different life. Bess brings P into the London underworld where scamps and rogues clash with London's newly established police force, queer subcultures thrive, and ominous threats of an oncoming plague abound. At last, P becomes Jack Sheppard, one of the most notorious--and most wanted--thieves in history. An imaginative retelling of Brecht's Threepenny Opera, Confessions of the Fox blends high-spirited adventure, subversive history, and provocative wit to animate forgotten histories and the extraordinary characters hidden within"-- Provided by publisher

The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang The Black Tides of Heaven is one of a pair of unique, standalone introductions to JY Yang's Tensorate Series, which Kate Elliott calls "effortlessly fascinating." For more of the story you can read its twin novella The Red Threads of Fortune , available simultaneously. Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as infants. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While Mokoya received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What's more, they saw the sickness at the heart of their mother's Protectorate. A rebellion is growing. The Machinists discover new levers to move the world every day, while the Tensors fight to put them down and preserve the power of the state. Unwilling to continue as a pawn in their mother's twisted schemes, Akeha leaves the Tensorate behind and falls in with the rebels. But every step Akeha takes towards the Machinists is a step away from Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond they share with their twin? Detransition, Baby: A Novel by Torrey Peters Reese had what previous generations of trans women could only dream of; the only thing missing was a child. Then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Ames thought detransitioning to live as a man would make life easier, but that decision cost him his relationship with Reese, and losing her meant losing his only family. Then Ames's boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she is pregnant with his baby-- and is not sure whether she wants to keep it. Ames wonders: Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family, and raise the baby together? -- adapted from jacket

A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett Eleven unique short stories that stretch from a rural Canadian Mennonite town to a hipster gay bar in Brooklyn, featuring young trans women stumbling through loss, sex, harassment, and love. These stories, shiny with whiskey and prairie sunsets, rattling subways and neglected cats, show growing up as a trans girl can be charming, funny, frustrating, or sad, but never will it be predictable.

Weekend Edition: Latinx Memoirs

This weekend we’re taking a look at memoirs by Latinx authors. There are many titles to choose from right here at OCL, but don’t forget that you can also check out books through OhioLINK and SearchOhio for even more options.

Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa by Rigoberto González Heartbreaking, poetic, and intensely personal, this is a unique coming-out and coming-of-age story of a first-generation Chicano who trades one life for another, only to discover that history and memory are not exchangeable or forgettable. Growing up among poor migrant Mexican farmworkers, Gonzaĺez also faces the pressure of coming-of-age as a gay man in a culture that prizes machismo. Losing his mother when he is twelve, Gonzaĺez must then confront his father's abandonment and an abiding sense of cultural estrangement. His only sense of connection gets forged in a violent relationship with an older man. By finding his calling as a writer, and by revisiting the relationship with his father during a trip to Mexico, Gonzaĺez finally claims his identity at the intersection of race, class, and sexuality. The result is a leap of faith that every reader who ever felt like an outsider will immediately recognize.--From publisher description

The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto Che Guevara The diaries written by Che Guevara during his riotous motorcycle odyssey around South America at the age of twenty-three.

American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood by Maria Arana From her father's genteel Peruvian family, Marie Arana was taught to be a proper lady, yet from her mother's American family she learned to shoot a gun, break a horse, and snap a chicken's neck for dinner. Arana shuttled easily between these deeply separate cultures for years. But only when she immigrated with her family to the United States did she come to understand that she was a hybrid American, an individual whose cultural identity was split in half. Coming to terms with this split is at the heart of this graceful, beautifully realized portrait of a child who "was a north-south collision, a New World fusion. An Americanchica." Through Arana's eyes the reader will discover not only the diverse, earthquake-prone terrain of Peru, charged with ghosts of history and mythology, but also the vast prairie lands of Wyoming, "grave-slab flat," and hemmed by mountains. In these landscapes resides a fierce and colorful cast of family members who bring herhistoriavividly to life, among them Arana's proud paternal grandfather, Victor Manuel Arana Sobrevilla, who one day simply stopped coming down the stairs; her dazzling maternal grandmother, Rosa Cisneros y Cisneros, "clicking through the house as if she were making her way onstage"; Grandpa Doc, her maternal grandfather, who, by example, taught her about the constancy of love. But most important are Arana's parents, Jorge and Marie. He a brilliant engineer, she a talented musician. For more than half a century these two passionate, strong-willed people struggled to overcome the bicultural tensions in their marriage and, finally, to prevail.

My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor The first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor has become an instant American icon. Now, with a candor and intimacy never undertaken by a sitting Justice, she recounts her life from a Bronx housing project to the federal bench, a journey that offers an inspiring testament to her own extraordinary determination and the power of believing in oneself. Here is the story of a precarious childhood, with an alcoholic father (who would die when she was nine) and a devoted but overburdened mother, and of the refuge a little girl took from the turmoil at home with her passionately spirited paternal grandmother. But it was when she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes that the precocious Sonia recognized she must ultimately depend on herself. She would learn to give herself the insulin shots she needed to survive and soon imagined a path to a different life. With only television characters for her professional role models, and little understanding of what was involved, she determined to become a lawyer, a dream that would sustain her on an unlikely course, from valedictorian of her high school class to the highest honors at Princeton, Yale Law School, the New York County District Attorney's office, private practice, and appointment to the Federal District Court before the age of forty. Along the way we see how she was shaped by her invaluable mentors, a failed marriage, and the modern version of extended family she has created from cherished friends and their children. Through her still-astonished eyes, America's infinite possibilities are envisioned anew in this warm and honest book, destined to become a classic of self-invention and self-discovery.

La Distancia Entre Nosotros by Reyna Grande "Cuando el padre de Reyna Grande deja a su esposa y sus tres hijos atrás en un pueblo de México para hacer el peligroso viaje a través de la frontera a los Estados Unidos, promete que pronto regresará; con el dinero suficiente para construir la casa de sus sueños. Sus promesas se vuelven más difíciles de creer cuando los meses de espera se convierten en años. Cuando se lleva a su esposa para reunirse con él, Reyna y sus hermanos son depositados en el hogar ya sobrecargado de su abuela paterna, Evila, una mujer endurecida por la vida. Los tres hermanos se ven obligados a cuidar de sí mismos. En los juegos infantiles encuentran una manera de olvidar el dolor del abandono y a resolver problemas de adultos. Cuando su madre regresa, la reunión sienta las bases para un capítulo nuevo y dramático en la vida de Reyna: su propio viaje a El otro lado para vivir con el hombre que ha poseído su imaginación durante años-- su padre ausente."--Book cover

In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero ; with  Michelle Burford  “ Diane Guerrero, the television actress from the megahit Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, was just fourteen years old on the day her parents and brother were arrested and deported to Colombia while she was at school. Born in the U.S., Guerrero was able to remain in the country and continue her education, depending on the kindness of family friends who took her in and helped her build a life and a successful acting career for herself, without the support system of her family. In the Country We Love is a moving, heartbreaking story of one woman's extraordinary resilience in the face of the nightmarish struggles of undocumented residents in this country. There are over 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US, many of whom have citizen children, whose lives here are just as precarious, and whose stories haven't been told. Written with Michelle Burford, this memoir is a tale of personal triumph that also casts a much-needed light on the fears that haunt the daily existence of families likes the author's and on a system that fails them over and over"-- Provided by publisher

When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago [The author's] story begins in rural Puerto Rico, where her warring parents and seven siblings led a life of uproar, but one full of love and tenderness as well. Growing up, Esmeralda learned the proper way to eat a guava, the sound of the tree frogs in the mango groves at night, the taste of the delectable sausage called morcilla, and the formula for ushering a dead baby's soul to heaven. But just when Esmeralda seemed to have learned everything, she was taken to New York City, where the rules - and the language - were bewilderingly different. How Esmeralda overcame adversity, won acceptance to New York City's High School of Performing Arts, and then went on to Harvard, where she graduated with highest honors, is a record of a tremendous journey by a truly remarkable woman.-BooksInPrint.

Weekend Edition: Books About Periods in Art History

You don’t need to be an Art History, Visual Art, or Studio Art major at Oberlin to appreciate one of the many, many art history books in OCL’s collections. Most of these materials will be housed at the Clarence Ward Art Library, but some do live in Terrell or the other branch libraries, so always be sure to check OBIS for a location. Not sure where to start? Click the links below to get some ideas or try keyword searching one of your favorite time periods or art movements in OBIS.

Art, Prehistoric

Meiji Art

Harlem Renaissance

Art Nouveau

Fluxus

Der Blaue Reiter

Art, Baroque

Art, Mogul Empire

Federal Art Project

Our Bauhaus: Memories of Bauhaus People edited by Magdalena Droste and Boris Friedewald; translation: Steven Lindberg, Amy Klement Delve into the lives of 50 of the most important figures of the Bauhaus movement through the recollections of former Bauhaus students, teachers, and friends. Although it flourished for only fourteen years, the Bauhaus school remains one of the most influential art and design movements of the 20th century. This collection of personal memories from Bauhaus teachers, students, and friends provides a uniquely intimate portrayal of the movement and a new perspective on its development, denouement, and legacy. Introduced through brief biographical sketches, each entry reflects its subject's distinctive voice and features rare photographs of their days at work and at play. From the deeply personal experiences of figures such as Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius and Josef Albers to reminiscences from the families of Kandinsky, Klee, and Beckmann, these first-hand accounts bring the Bauhaus back to life for a new generation of fans.

The First Artists: In Search of the World’s Oldest Art by Michel Lorblanchet and Paul Bahn; foreword by Pierre Soulages Where do we find the world's very first art? When, and why, did people begin experimenting with different materials, forms and colors? Were our once-cousins, the Neanderthals, also capable of creating art? Prehistorians have been asking these questions of our ancestors for decades, but only very recently, with the development of cutting-edge scientific and archaeological techniques, have we been able to piece together the first chapter in the story of art.

Medieval Bodies: Life, Death and Art in the Middle Ages by Jack Hartnell Dripping with blood and gold, fetishized and tortured, gateway to earthly delights and point of contact with the divine, forcibly divided and powerful even beyond death, there was no territory more contested than the body in the medieval world. In Medieval Bodies, art historian Jack Hartnell uncovers the complex and fascinating ways in which the people of the Middle Ages thought about, explored and experienced their physical selves. In paintings and reliquaries that celebrated the - sometimes bizarre - martyrdoms of saints, the sacred dimension of the physical left its mark on their environment. In literature and politics, hearts and heads became powerful metaphors that shaped governance and society in ways that are still visible today. And doctors and natural philosophers were at the centre of a collision between centuries of sophisticated medical knowledge, and an ignorance of physiology as profound as its results were gruesome. Like a medieval pageant, this striking and unusual history brings together medicine, art, poetry, music, politics, cultural and social history and philosophy to reveal what life was really like for the men and women who lived and died in the Middle Ages.

Art to Come: Histories of Contemporary Art by Terry Smith In 'Art to Come' Terry Smith-who is widely recognized as one of the world's leading historians and theorists of contemporary art-traces the emergence of contemporary art and further develops his concept of contemporaneity. Smith shows that embracing contemporaneity as both a historical concept and a condition of the globalized world allows us to grasp how contemporary art exists in a fluid space of increasing interdependencies, multiple contemporaneous modernities, and persistent inequalities. Throughout these essays, Smith offers systematic proposals for writing contemporary art's histories while assessing how curators, critics, philosophers, artists, and art historians are currently doing so. Among other topics, Smith examines the intersection of architecture with other visual arts, Chinese art since the Cultural Revolution, how philosophers are theorizing concepts associated with the contemporary, Australian Indigenous art, and the current state of art history.

Weekend Edition: Self Care

In her 1988 book,  "A Burst of Light: Essays" Audre Lord stated, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare."  In that spirit, here are a few titles to help you care for yourself so that you can be at your best as you do all the things you do! We also recommend that you browse SearchOhio, Ohio’s public libraries consortium, for even more ideas for topics like exercise, gardening, crafts, meditation, and cookbooks. Set aside some You Time this weekend. 

Yoga : the Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness  by Erich Schiffmann ; photos by Trish O'Rielly World-renowned yoga master Erich Schiffmann now offers an easy-to-follow, exciting new technique - the first to combine hatha yoga and meditation - to all who are seeking healthful beauty and inner peace. Through simple instruction and essential illustrations, Yoga reveals more than one hundred poses and yoga routines for all levels of ability that will slow or even reverse aging, increase stamina and strength, and slim and tone the body; a complete program of meditation to promote self-realization, decrease stress, and promote creativity and love; yoga's secrets of stillness and movement that will enable you to radiate energy and feel an inner luminescence throughout your body; exercises that will awaken joy, allowing you to feel good about yourself and experience happiness; and techniques for mindful breathing and conscious physical immobility to wonderfully transform your perception of yourself and your world. Discover how to feel balanced, centred, and coordinated, increase flexibility, eliminate pain, and become free of life's negativity through the spirit and practice of Yoga.

Everyday Calm : Relaxing Rituals for Busy People by Darrin Zeer ; illustrations by Cindy Luu A quarter of a million readers have relaxed in the workplace thanks to Darrin Zeer's Office Yoga and Office Spa. Now Everyday Calm offers over 50 fun and simple ideas for daily stress relief no matter where you are. Start the morning with a Yoga Yawn to wake up your face and feel energized. Rely on the contents of a Spa on the Go bag to turn waiting in line into a pampering escape. And make ReinCARnation work for you when you can't find your car in a crowded parking lot. Using his expert knowledge of yoga, meditation, aromatherapy, massage, and feng shui, Zeer creates effective stress-busters that are easy to do on the way home from work, at the supermarket, and even at the movies. Packed with Cindy Luu's charming illustrations, Everyday Calm delivers anytime-anywhere stress relief.

The Body Is Not an Apology, Second Edition by Sonya Taylor "To build a world that works for everyone, we must first make the radical decision to love every facet of ourselves. . . . 'The body is not an apology' is the mantra we should all embrace." -Kimberlé Crenshaw, legal scholar and founder and Executive Director, African American Policy Forum Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. Systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies. The Body Is Not an Apology offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted by these violent systems. World-renowned activist and poet Sonya Renee Taylor invites us to reconnect with the radical origins of our minds and bodies and celebrate our collective, enduring strength. As we awaken to our own indoctrinated body shame, we feel inspired to awaken others and to interrupt the systems that perpetuate body shame and oppression against all bodies. When we act from this truth on a global scale, we usher in the transformative opportunity of radical self-love, which is the opportunity for a more just, equitable, and compassionate world-for us all. This second edition includes stories from Taylor's travels around the world combating body terrorism and shines a light on the path toward liberation guided by love. In a brand new final chapter, she offers specific tools, actions, and resources for confronting racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, and transphobia. And she provides a case study showing how radical self-love not only dismantles shame and self-loathing in us but has the power to dismantle entire systems of injustice. Together with the accompanying workbook, Your Body Is Not an Apology, Taylor brings the practice of radical self-love to life.

Restorative Yoga for Life : a Relaxing Way to De-Stress, Re-Energize, and Find Balance by Gail Boorstein Grossman  Written by instructor Gail Boorstein Grossman, E-RYT 500, CYKT, and published in partnership with Yoga Journal, Restorative Yoga for Life teaches you how to practice restorative yoga--a form of yoga that focuses on physical and mental relaxation through poses aided by props. It's a gentle yet empowering style that helps you de-stress and re-energize. While restorative yoga is beneficial for your entire body, Gail also shows you how to treat more than twenty ailments, such as headaches, digestive issues, and anxiety, through specific yoga poses and sequences. Guided by step-by-step instructions and beautiful photographs, you will gently ease your way into inner calm and better health with powerful yoga sequences. Whether you're having trouble sleeping, suffering from backaches, or just want to unwind after a busy day, you will find balance throughout your body, soul, and mind with Restorative Yoga for Life.

Weekend Edition: Afrofuturist Books

Afrofuturism is a cultural movement that uses the frame of science fiction and fantasy to reimagine the history of the African diaspora and to invoke a vision of a technically advanced and generally hopeful future in which Black people thrive: this movement is expressed through art, cinema, literature, music, fashion, etc. The term was created in the 1990s by cultural critic Mark Dery in his edited collection, Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture.

How Long ‘Til Black Future Month by N.K. Jemisin  N.K. Jemisin is one of the most powerful and acclaimed speculative fiction authors of our time. In the first collection of her evocative short fiction, Jemisin equally challenges and delights readers with thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption. In these stories, Jemisin sharply examines modern society, infusing magic into the mundane, and drawing deft parallels in the fantasy realms of her imagination. Dragons and hateful spirits haunt the flooded streets of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In a parallel universe, a Utopian society watches our world, trying to learn from our mistakes. A black mother in the Jim Crow South must save her daughter from a fey offering impossible promises. And in the Hugo award-nominated short story "The City Born Great," a young street kid fights to give birth to an old metropolis's soul

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler Doro is an entity who changes bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex--or design. He fears no one--until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu has also died many times. She can absorb bullets and make medicine with a kiss, give birth to tribes, nurture and heal, and savage anyone who threatens those she loves. She fears no one--until she meets Doro. From African jungles to the colonies of America, Doro and Anyanwu weave together a pattern of destiny that not even immortals can imagine.

Mothership: Tales From Afrofuturism and Beyond edited by Bill Campbell and Edward Austin Hall Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond is a groundbreaking speculative fiction anthology that showcases the work from some of the most talented writers inside and outside speculative fiction across the globe--including Junot Diaz, Victor LaValle, Lauren Beukes, N. K. Jemisin, Rabih Alameddine, S. P. Somtow, and more. These authors have earned such literary honors as the Pulitzer Prize, the American Book Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoker, among others.

Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction From the African Diaspora edited by Sheree R. Thomas This volume introduces black science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction writers to the generations of readers who have not had the chance to explore the scope and diversity among African-American writers.

Weekend Edition: New Formats

For this prompt, try stepping out of your reading comfort zone. If you usually read hard copy books, try an eBook, or even an audiobook. If you tend to read electronic or audio, give a print book a chance. Here are some great titles to try, no matter which format you choose! (Note: OCL may not have the titles you're looking for in eBook or audio formats, but you may have good luck with the SearchOhio feature in OBIS, or your local public library!)

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez “ In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is heartbroken, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs—yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.”--Goodreads.com

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan After a layoff during the Great Recession sidelines his tech career, Clay Jannon takes a job at the titular bookstore in San Francisco, and soon realizes that the establishment is a facade for a strange secret.

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch: A Novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett When the armies of Heaven and Hell decide it's time for Armageddon, a demon and an angel decide they like life on earth and team up to stop the coming Apocalypse.

The Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehead As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is "as good as anyone." Abandoned by his parents, but kept on the straight and narrow by his grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South of the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, whose mission statement says it provides "physical, intellectual and moral training" so the delinquent boys in their charge can become "honorable and honest men." In reality, the Nickel Academy is a grotesque chamber of horrors where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, corrupt officials and locals steal food and supplies, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear "out back." Stunned to find himself in such a vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold onto Dr. King's ringing assertion "Throw us in jail and we will still love you." His friend Turner thinks Elwood is worse than naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. The tension between Elwood's ideals and Turner's skepticism leads to a decision whose repercussions will echo down the decades. Formed in the crucible of the evils Jim Crow wrought, the boys' fates will be determined by what they endured at the Nickel Academy.

Get Ready for OCL’s Summer 2021 Read-A-Thon

Wow! Our first reading challenge was so well-received we decided to host another! Don’t worry, you still have until May 31st to submit your bingo cards for the spring challenge, but we’re introducing our next challenge now so you have time to plan. 

This summer’s read-a-thon, which will begin June 1st and end September 6th, is a "choose your own adventure" type of reading challenge. All you have to do is pick a subject you’re interested in — it could be anything: Knitting. The history of French macarons. Space exploration. Seriously: anything! Then, make a reading list that thoroughly explores that subject. Your reading list should include 10 books. On June 1st, we will post a Google Form where you will track the books you complete. As you complete books you will earn virtual badges and be entered to win grand prizes!* 

BADGES You will receive: - one badge for each of the first 5 books you read - one badge at book #8 - one badge at book #10

PRIZES You will earn grand prize entries based on the number of books you read for a max of 8 total entries! - ONE entry into the grand prize drawing once you read 5 books - TWO additional grand prize entries for books 7 books read - FIVE additional grand prize entries for reading all 10 books

*Only OC students are eligible for grand prizes. Everyone else gets to compete for bragging rights and badges!

We’ll be back tomorrow with tips on how to plan to your reading list, so stay tuned!

Weekend Edition: Spring 2021 Reading Challenge Recommendation Round, Part 1

Wowee, the trimester sure has flown by! Have you been keeping up with your OCL reading challenge? If not, you’ve got three more weeks to tick off those bingo squares. And if you’re still not sure what to read, don’t worry. We’ll be taking the next two weekends to review the many book recommendations we’ve made over the trimester. Follow the links below to get ideas for seven of the bingo square prompts. And if you have your own recommendations, please share in the comments. We’d love to hear what you’ve been reading!

Books In Public Domain

Books By and About Women

Women’s Prize for Fiction Winners

Novels With a Trans of Nonbinary Character(s)

Books Published Anonymously or Under a Pseudonym

Free Space aka Articles

Graphic Novels

Tomorrow is the last day to submit your bingo card for OCL’s Spring 2021 Reading Challenge.

Click here to upload your card.