•  Adult Programming Newsletter  •
Jan. 10-16
Memoir & Autobiography Edition

"There either is or is not, that's the way things are. The colour of the day. The way it felt to be a child. The saltwater on your sunburnt legs. Sometimes the water is yellow, sometimes it's red. But what colour it may be in memory depends on the day. I'm not going to tell you the story the way it happened. I'm going to tell it the way I remember it."
—Great Expectations (1998), directed by Alfonso Cuarón
 
Memoirs & Autobiographies
The answer is... : reflections on my life
by Alex Trebek

Since debuting as the host of Jeopardy! in 1984, Alex Trebek has been something like a family member to millions of television viewers, bringing entertainment and education into their homes five nights a week. Trebek addresses the questions he gets asked most often by Jeopardy! fans, such as what prompted him to shave his signature mustache, his insights on legendary players like Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer, and his opinion of Will Ferrell's Saturday Night Live impersonation.
They called us enemy
by George Takei

In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten "relocation centers," where they would be held for years under armed guard. This stunning graphic memoir is Takei's firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the joys and terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother's hard choices, his father's faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future. What is American? Who gets to decide? When the world is against you, what can one person do?
Between the world and me
by Ta-Nehisi Coates

In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of "race," a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates's attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son.
Museum Series
Mystery at the Museum

Do you recognize this mural? The Post Falls Historical Society & Museum needs your help identifying this interesting piece of local history. Thank you to the Historical Society & Museum and Ted Fredekind for bringing history alive for us!
 
Weekly Dose of Happiness
Remembering First Ladies
 
Enjoy the fascinating history of the First Ladies of the United States, an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.  Scroll through years of women residing at the White House, learning interesting facts and, if nothing else, admiring their gorgeous dresses (here's looking at you, Louisa Adams and Helen Taft). Along the way, learn some fascinating trivia about our nation's first ladies. For instance, did you know that Abigail Fillmore (1798–1853), wife of oft-forgotten Millard Fillmore, was the first to wear clothes created with the use of a sewing machine? A lover of books, Abigail also created the first library at the White House and worked as a school teacher well after her marriage, which was unusual for the day.
 
For more first lady history, visit the Smithsonian interactive First Ladies online exhibit. Here, you can learn more about the role of the First Lady and see close-ups of gowns they wore.
 
Need More?
History Reference Center

Fun facts from the History Reference Center:
• Early hominids used rudimentary nutcrackers made of rock to crack almonds and pistachios
• John F. Kennedy's father, Joseph, had business ventures in motion pictures, real estate, the stock market, and shipbuilding
• Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI, was rumored to have a hollow ring she used to poison drinks, though most historians agree the tale has no historical basis
 
For more historical fun facts, visit the History Reference Center. Pro tip: This database is also a must-visit for students working on history projects!

Community Library Network
821 N Spokane St
Post Falls, Idaho 83854
208-773-1506
www.communitylibrary.net/drupal7/