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History and Current Events August 2019
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| Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment by Linda HirshmanWhat it is: a 50-year chronicle of the ongoing fight to end sexual harassment, culminating in the rise of the #MeToo movement in 2017 and the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018.
Why you might like it: Lawyer Linda Hirshman pulls no punches in this illuminating and incisive history, discussing the unheralded women of color who have been crucial to the fight and the men in power who have been detrimental to it. |
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| Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill with Dan PiepenbringWhat it is: a provocative rejoinder to Vincent Bugliosi's 1974 true crime classic Helter Skelter.
Read it for: Tom O'Neill and Dan Piepenbring's deep dive into alternative theories behind the Tate-LaBianca murders, including the possibility that Charles Manson was a subject in the CIA's LSD experiments.
What's inside: interviews with over 500 witnesses; redacted and never-before-seen police reports, FBI documents, and CIA files. |
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| Beneath the Tamarind Tree: A Story of Courage, Family, and the Lost Schoolgirls of Boko Haram by Isha SesayWhat it's about: Two years after Boko Haram's 2014 kidnapping of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls, CNN International correspondent Isha Sesay accompanied 21 recently freed survivors back home, developing a rapport with four of the girls and their families.
What sets it apart: Peabody Award winner Sesay draws from her own childhood in Sierra Leone to provide an empathetic and richly contextualized portrait of contemporary West African gender politics. |
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| When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt by Kara CooneyWhat it is: a sweeping yet accessible survey of six queens who ruled in times of crisis throughout ancient Egypt's 3,000 year history.
Starring: "big three" queens Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and Hatshepsut, as well as the little-known Merneith, Neferusobek, and Tawosret.
Reviewers say: This evocative history "will enchant those wishing to imagine what ancient Egyptian court life was like" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Rome: A History in Seven Sackings by Matthew KnealeWhat it's about: how 2,000 years of the Eternal City's history have been shaped by invading forces, from the chariot-riding Gauls in 387 B.C.E. to the Nazi occupation during WWII.
Want a taste? "The city has changed so greatly that there have been many Romes, each of which would be largely unrecognizable to Romans of other times."
Read it for: lively pacing and a suspenseful tone. |
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| A History of Food in 100 Recipes by William SitwellWhat it's about: First published in the U.K., this quirky and insightful Brit-centric culinary history traces the origins and cultural significance of 100 dishes, from ancient Egyptian breads (complete with instructive wall paintings) to celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal's signature meat fruit.
Is it for you? Given the vast breadth of time periods covered, not every recipe in this chatty volume is instructive or practical for modern cooking.
Recipes include: "peas soope" (1669); salad dressing (1699); kedgeree (1845); roly-poly jam pudding (1861); peach melba (1903). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Carrollton Public Library 1700 Keller Springs Road, Carrollton Texas 75006 4220 North Josey Lane, Carrollton Texas 75010 |
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