Today Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. In the spirit of that joy, I have a fun booklist: Uzma Jalaluddin's first book, a retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in her hometown of Toronto, got excellent reviews and it's easy to see why. Ayesha Shamsi is still [...]
Like a lot of people, I got into houseplants this year. Over the course of four months, I went from having zero houseplants to having nine. Novice plant owners need information, so I've made a little collage of resources that I hope will be as helpful to you as they were to me. Practical houseplant [...]
April is National Poetry Month! This is one of my favorite times of year because poetry can be so beautiful, but I don't usually reach for it. Being encouraged in the spring when the sun comes out and the flowers are blooming to take a moment and slow down to enjoy some poetry is exactly [...]
March is ending, meaning we have now survived 3 of the total 12 months in a year. To observe the passage of one-quarter of the year, I've made the following list of books on the theme of quarters, in one fashion or another. Using new and exclusive interviews Martin Power tells the full story of [...]
March is Women's History Month, and in celebration I wanted to highlight some great reads that draw attention to activist women of the past. Let's go! Lighting the Fires of Freedom by Janet Dewart Bell shines a light on the important and unsung work of Black women during the Civil Rights Movement. Despite daily contributions [...]
You may have heard of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in the United States to get a medical degree, but this new release has a lot of information that was new to me, and which I'm excited to share with you. Elizabeth was the third of nine children in her family to survive infancy, and [...]
It's been cold and dreary lately. Very cold and dreary. With travel at best logistically complicated and at worst deadly, I'm stuck daydreaming of beaches for now. If you'd like a little winter getaway someplace warm (but only in your mind!) I have some ideas that may help. First up, Shipped by Angie Hockman. Its heroine Henley works for [...]
February is Black History Month, a time I like to highlight Black voices. Many time this means activists, inventors, and civil rights leaders doing important work, but Black history isn't solely the struggle. Black lives also contain joy, and it's in the pursuit of that joy and in honor of Valentine's Day, our most romantic [...]
Did you know January 24th was Global Belly Laugh Day? I didn't either! But after the year we've had, I think a lot of us could use a laugh. So, here is a booklist to get some needed laughter into your life. Bill Bryson has a decades-long career as a successful writer, and reading The [...]
Monday, January 18 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States, and the library will be closed. As we honor the memory of Dr. King, we must look back at his mission and look forward to what we can do to help it come to fruition. If you need help contextualizing the dream [...]
