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History and Current Events September 2020
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| Twisted: The Tangled History of Black Hair Culture by Emma DabiriWhat it is: An engaging sociopolitical history of Black hairstyles around the globe.
Why it matters: Combining memoir, history, and pop culture analysis, this incisive own voices debut from Irish Nigerian BBC correspondent Emma Dabiri investigates the myriad ways in which Black hairstyles are colonized, fetishized, criminalized, and appropriated.
Reviewers say: "sure to become the definitive book on the politics, culture, and economics of Black hair" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession With... by Colin DickeyWhat it's about: The hows and whys of humans' enduring fascination with fringe beliefs and unexplained paranormal phenomena.
Topics include: The lost civilization of Lemuria; the 1876 Kentucky meat shower; Bigfoot; the Jersey Devil; the Loch Ness Monster.
What sets it apart: The author's thought-provoking exploration of how these myths appropriate and erase Native cultures. |
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| After the Last Border: Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America by Jessica GoudeauWhat it is: An intimate interwoven chronicle of two refugee families' disparate experiences seeking asylum in America.
Starring: Mu Naw, a Christian woman from Myanmar who found success in America as a businesswoman; Hasna, a Syrian Muslim who became separated from her family after the Trump administration's travel ban was implemented in 2017.
About the author: Texas journalist and activist Jessica Goudeau has spent over a decade working with refugee resettlement organizations. |
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| Duncan v. Louisiana (1968) established the right to a jury trial and became a key victory for the civil rights movement.
Book buzz: This engaging history has earned comparisons to Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy; a documentary is in development at HBO. |
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Exploration and Exploitation
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| Silver, Sword, & Stone: Three Crucibles of the Latin American Story by Marie AranaWhat it is: A concise history that explores how exploitation, violence, and religion have shaped 1,000 years of Latin American history.
Why you might like it: Peruvian American author Marie Arana weaves her compelling narrative between past and present by profiling three contemporary Latin Americans (a Peruvian miner, a Cuban exile, and a Spanish priest in Bolivia) and connecting their stories to the history of the region.
Awards buzz: A Booklist 2019 Top of the List Pick, Silver, Sword, & Stone was also longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal. |
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| The Last Wild Men of Borneo: A True Story of Death and Treasure by Carl HoffmanWhat it's about: Two enigmatic Westerners -- one a "buccaneer," the other a "do-gooder" -- who called Borneo home in the 1970s and '80s.
Starring: American art dealer Michael Palmieri, who made a fortune acquiring native relics for museums; and Swiss environmentalist Bruno Manser, who lived among the Penan tribe, fought logging efforts in the region, and mysteriously disappeared in 2000.
Awards buzz: This haunting cautionary tale from travel writer Carl Hoffman was a 2019 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Fact Crime and a Banff Mountain Book Awards Finalist. |
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| To the Edges of the Earth: 1909, the Race for the Three Poles, and the Climax of the Age... by Edward J. LarsonWhat it is: A breathless account of a pivotal year for exploration, which saw concurrent expeditions led by Ernest Shackleton, Robert Peary, and Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi.
Where they went: Shackleton headed to Antarctica, where he set a new Farthest South record; Peary embarked on his eighth North Pole expedition; the Duke of the Abruzzi led a summit of K2 in Asia.
Read it for: An evocative narrative that's "so well-related as to make you feel the chill" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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The backstory: The expedition had other goals - converting natives along the way to the true faith, discovering a semi-mythical paradise known as Teguayó, and hunting for sources of gold and silver. Why you might like it: The author, using Escalante's brilliant and quirky diary as a guide, is the first to dig beneath its pages to question and ponder every turn of the team's decision-making and motivation.
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Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina ThompsonWhy you might like it: The author explores the origins of the Polynesian people, attempting to answer the questions about who founded and settled these remote Pacific islands in an era before writing or metal tools. What it's about: Polynesians can trace their roots to a group of epic voyagers who ventured out into the unknown in one of the greatest adventures in human history. Read it for: A masterful mix of history, geography, anthropology, and the science of navigation in a vivid tour of one of the most captivating regions in the world.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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