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Hoopla Digital
We are excited to announce the availability of thousands of movies, television shows, music albums, and audiobooks, all available for mobile and online access through Hoopla Digital; all you need is a valid library card!
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Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife by Bart D. Ehrman What it is: an accessible and thought-provoking look at historical conceptions of heaven and hell across continents, cultures, and faiths.
Topics include: the Epic of Gilgamesh, Homeric Hades, Plato's views on the idea of an immortal soul, and what the Bible actually says about the afterlife.
About the author: Noted biblical scholar Bart D. Ehrman is the author of numerous books about early Christianity, including Misquoting Jesus and Jesus Before the Gospels. | | The Dairy Restaurant by Ben Katchor What it's about: the deeply rooted relationship between Judaism and food, from the Garden of Eden's forbidden fruit to Tevye the dairyman to the long history of kosher restaurants in New York.
Read it for: the nostalgic tone and use of images which enlivens this entertaining journey into an overlooked topic.
Reviewers say: "...this graphic history shows again Katchor’s gimlet eye for curious connections and obsessive attention to detail" (Publishers Weekly). | | Thin Places: Essays from in Between by Jordan Kisner What it is: Pushcart Prize-winner Jordan Kisner's thoughtful and engaging essays about her roller coaster teenage relationship with Christianity, with reflections on similar trends in American society as a whole.
Topics include: the religious ripple effects of American attitudes toward race; discomfort with the body; Mormon social media influencers; hip young pastors who "could be J. Crew models;" and Kierkegaard's relationship with doubt. | | The Knights of Columbus: An Illustrated History by Andrew T. Walther and Maureen H. Walther What it's about: the history of American Catholic religious order the Knights of Columbus, which was established in Connecticut during the Gilded Age.
Who it's for: readers interested in the immigration of Catholics to the United States; anyone looking for insider information (as both authors have ties to the organization that give them unique access). | | Joan of Arc: A History by Helen Castor What it's about: the life and legend of Joan of Arc, the devout peasant girl who galvanized a divided France to defeat their English occupiers and later became a Catholic saint.
What sets it apart: rather than a biography, this history of the Hundred Years' War examines the "Maid of Orléans" as a social force, from the circumstances that allowed for her ascent to the later attempts to control her legacy. | | The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem by Stacy Schiff What it's about: the road to and fallout of the notorious witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.
Read it for: the analysis of the social, political and religious forces that created the perfect circumstances for paranoia and superstition to spiral out of control.
Author alert: Guggenheim fellow and Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff has also written biographies of historical and cultural notables such as Cleopatra, Vera Nabokov, Benjamin Franklin, and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. | |
Contact your librarian for more great books!
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