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History and Current Events April 2021
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The doctors Blackwell : how two pioneering sisters brought medicine to women--and women to medicine
by Janice P. Nimura
The vivid biography of two pioneering sisters who, together, became America's first female doctors and transformed New York's medical establishment by creating a hospital by and for women. Elizabeth Blackwell believed from an early age that she was destined for greatness beyond the scope of "ordinary" womanhood. Though the world recoiled at the notion of a woman studying medicine, her intelligence and intensity won her the acceptance of the all-male medical establishment and in 1849 she became the first woman in America to receive a medical degree. But Elizabeth's story is incomplete without her often forgotten sister, Emily, the third woman in America to receive a medical degree. Exploring the sisters' allies, enemies and enduring partnership, Nimura presents a story of both trial and triumph: Together the sisters' founded the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, the first hospital staffed entirely by women. Both sisters were tenacious and visionary; they were also judgmental, uncompromising, and occasionally misogynistic--their convictions as 19th-century women often contradicted their ambitions. From Bristol, England, to the new cities of antebellum America, this work of rich history follows the sister doctors as they transform the nineteenth century medical establishment and, in turn, our contemporary one.
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| Guilty Admissions: The Bribes, Favors, and Phonies Behind the College Cheating Scandal by Nicole LaPorteWhat it is: a gossipy exposé of Operation Varsity Blues, the 2019 college admissions scandal that resulted in the arrest of actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin.
Read it for: a well-researched indictment of the toxic (and systemic) competition among the wealthy and privileged.
Try this next: Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & the Making of the College Admissions Scandal by Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz. |
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| The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice by Gayle Tzemach LemmonWhat it's about: the Kurdish Women's Protection Units (YPJ), an all-female militia established in 2013 to combat the Islamic State in Syria.
Don't miss: a pulse-pounding account of the Siege of Kobani; profiles of four YPJ fighters instrumental in retaking the city.
Reviewers say: "A well-told story of contemporary female warriors and the complex geopolitical realities behind their battles" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Murder on the Inside : The True Story of the Deadly Riot at Kingston Penitentiary
by Catherine Fogarty
On April 14, 1971, a handful of prisoners attacked the guards at Kingston Penitentiary and seized control, making headlines around the world. For four intense days, the prisoners held the guards hostage while their leaders negotiated with a citizens’ committee of journalists and lawyers, drawing attention to the dehumanizing realities of their incarceration, including overcrowding, harsh punishment and extreme isolation. But when another group of convicts turned their pent-up rage towards some of the weakest prisoners, tensions inside the old stone walls erupted, with tragic consequences. As heavily armed soldiers prepared to regain control of the prison through a full military assault, the inmates were finally forced to surrender. Murder on the Inside tells the harrowing story of a prison in crisis against the backdrop of a pivotal moment in the history of human rights. Occurring just months before the uprising at Attica Prison, the Kingston riot has remained largely undocumented, and few have known the details—yet the tense drama chronicled here is more relevant today than ever. A gripping account of the standoff and the efforts for justice and reform it inspired, Murder on the Inside is essential reading for our times.
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| The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code by Margalit FoxWhat it's about: the decades-long quest to decipher Linear B, a long-lost Mycenean (c.1400 BCE) script that resurfaced in 1900 Crete.
Cracking the code: Though British architect Michael Ventris deciphered Linear B in 1952, his efforts were aided by the work of American scholar Alice Kober, who painstakingly constructed syllabic grids at her kitchen table in the 1940s but died before she was able to solve the mystery.
Who it's for: This suspenseful history will appeal to language geeks, armchair archaeologists, and puzzle addicts. |
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| A World Without "Whom": The Essential Guide to Language in the Buzzfeed Age by Emmy J. Favillatl;dr: This witty and irreverent guide to webspeak was written by Buzzfeed copy chief and style guide creator Emmy J. Favilla.
YMMV: A World Without "Whom" offers a lighthearted ode to rule-breaking in language usage and includes quizzes, style debates, and official Buzzfeed word lists for the United States and United Kingdom.
BTW: "This is the rare style manual that is as entertaining as it is instructive" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| A Death in the Rainforest: How a Language and a Way of Life Came to an End... by Don KulickWhat it's about: For nearly 30 years, anthropologist Don Kulick immersed himself in the culture of the tiny Papua New Guinea village of Gapun, where residents fought to preserve the dying Tayap language.
Read it for: a thought-provoking exploration of how colonialism and economic instability impact language.
Don't miss: Kulick's attempts to learn Tayap from elderly villager Raya. |
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Don't believe a word : the surprising truth about language
by David Shariatmadari
Draws on the latest understandings in linguistic science to share compelling insights into the cultural roles of folklore, “untranslatable” words and the surprising contributions of grammatical mistakes to urge readers to discover the fascinating realities of language-related phenomena.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Newmarket Public Library 438 Park Ave. Newmarket, Ontario L3Y1W1 905-953-5110www.newmarketpl.ca |
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