Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge

[Tricia]

I love it when historical fiction reminds me, as it so often does, of how much I don’t know. This was the case in many ways with Libertie. For one thing, the book introduced me to the life of Dr. Susan McKinney Steward, the first Black woman physician in New York, and only the third Black woman to become a doctor in the country. The book, inspired by Dr. McKinney Steward’s life, is told through the eyes of Libertie, the daughter of a Black woman doctor, growing up in a free Black community in Brooklyn during the Reconstruction era. At the heart of the story is the complicated relationship between Libertie and her mother. Libertie idolizes her mother growing up, but struggles with her mother’s expectation that she too will become a doctor.

One of the things I liked most about this book is the that it provides such a fascinating snapshot of two particular places during this pivotal time – first, the free Black community in Brooklyn where Libertie grows up, and then Haiti, where Libertie moves when she marries a Haitian doctor. The racial, political, religious and class dynamics the author depicts in both places during this time were fascinating. I also realized how little I know about the history of Haiti, which is something I need to dig into.

One of the most striking aspects of this book to me is its focus on the mental health impacts of slavery. As a child Libertie sees her mother treat several people who are brought to her directly after having escaped slavery. Even when their physical wounds are healed, the psychological toll, what we would recognize today as PTSD, is something that her mother struggles to treat. There is also a fascinating dynamic throughout the book between those like Libertie and her mother who were freeborn, and those, including many of her mother’s patients, and two college friends of Libertie, known as The Graces, who had been enslaved.

There was so much to think about from this book, and I think it will stay with me for a while. I’m very glad I read it.

Libertie is available as both an ebook and an audiobook on Hoopla, as well as at the Library.

Nick, by Michael Farris Smith

[Lesley]

It has been an incredibly long time since I read The Great Gatsby and I thought about re-reading that before picking this up. I’m glad I didn’t. The writing is stunning; stark and slick like Fitzgerald when depicting Daisy’s life and Jay Gatsby’s parties and odd behavior but meditative and melancholy in Nick’s voice. We get the original novel’s story from this unusual inside observer. Nick’s military history and his own struggles cut through the empty superficiality that both Daisy and Jay are suffering through. And, seeing them through Nick’s eyes, we start to see the real humanity behind the superficial.

I did re-read Gatsby after I finished this. It is still a seminal work, no doubt. But in some ways I liked Nick better — or more that I like Gatsby more having read Nick.

The Great Gatsby in our library catalog (book, audiobook, movie, graphic novel, about the book), libby/overdrive, hoopla

Nick in our library catalog

Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger, by Lisa Donovan

[Lesley]

This is a very satisfying and moving combination of memoir and food writing. I wasn’t familiar with Lisa Donovan before this book was recommended to me – what a story… I’m not sure exactly what to say except that this made me think in some ways of Ruth Reichl’s writing. Life and food and heartbreak and cooking and family and the world all somehow wrapped up in one book and it all fits together. Find it in our catalog.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

[Tricia]

Looking for a comfort read? This whimsical, gentle fantasy really hit the spot for me during turbulent times. It tells the story of Linus, who works for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He is a rule follower whose job is to check in on orphanages for magical children, to make sure they are safe and that the children’s magic is being handled (contained) properly. While not particularly inspired in his position, he does believes in the work he is doing. However, when he is assigned to spend a month at a house for the magical children who are considered the most dangerous, his world view begins to shift. Along with Linus you get to know and love the unusual, magical children who live there. Linus also begins to fall for Arthur, the mysterious head of the orphanage. This is a lovely, big-hearted, hopeful book about creating your own family, and finding your own voice and power. You can find this book at the Library and on Libby/Overdrive.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, by Garth Nix

[Lesley]

More, please! I loved this book — I would read 100 more in a booksellers series. Are you listening Garth Nix??

I’m a librarian, so any weapon-wielding, superhero, secret book people society is going to be right up my alley. Then throw in that the first left-handed bookseller that Susan (more about her in a minute) meets is named Merlin and his sister (a right-handed bookseller) is Vivien and I’m in.

It’s 1980’s London and when Susan Arkshaw sets out to track down the father she’s never meant with only her nearly untethered mother’s “clues” she stumbles into the shadowy realm of the booksellers. Or maybe it is more that they stumble into her, it’s hard to say. Merlin and Vivien are the generation that is starting to push back against the old way of doing things and teaming up with Susan speeds it up.

Merlin is completely hilarious – he can barely get out of his own way – and Vivien is the total opposite, always in control and super capable. Yet neither one could succeed (or survive) without the other – and it turns out they both need Susan. One reviewer said this reads like Derek Landy, Lev Grossman, and Neil Gaiman all in one — I already thought Garth Nix was in this camp, and it’s a decent way to describe his writing. I do think this is quite a bit lighter than I expect from Grossman or Gaiman but the humor, playfulness, and sharp dialog are here.

Will Susan learn who, or what, her father was/is? Are the booksellers on the side of good or evil – or somewhere in between? And, what about Susan’s mother? There are a lot of questions and mysteries in this book and the ride is so fast and so fun I wasn’t in a hurry to get the answers! You can find this book at the Library, and as an ebook and audiobook on Libby/Overdrive.

Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann

[Tricia]

While I love learning about women who have made amazing contributions to the world, it also pains me in some ways to think about why these stories aren’t more widely known. I certainly felt this way reading Vanguard by Martha Jones about the history of Black women fighting for Voting Rights. It was especially poignant for me learning about Judy Heumann since I have been directly impacted by the things she worked on, and yet I only just learned about her from my daughter. So for this Women’s History Month, I want to recommend Being Heumann, Judy Heumann’s fascinating memoir. Heumann is the daughter of two Holocaust survivors. Judy contracted polio at 18 months, and uses a wheelchair. Her parents were advised by doctors to put Judy into an institution, but their experiences in Nazi Germany led them to reject that idea. Her mother fought for her right to a public education, which she had been denied. Judy naturally grew into her activism, inspired by the Civil Rights movement and the Women’s Rights movement, as well as by her parents. To me the most riveting part of the book was the story of the weeks long 504 Sit-In that Heumann led at the San Francisco US Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare in 1977. The Sit-In was part of a nationwide effort by disability rights activists to persuade the US Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare to finally sign the regulations that would enable Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities by any program receiving federal funds. This is very much, as the title indicates, an activist’s memoir, and while there are important aspects of Heumann’s personal life that come through, the focus of most of the book is on the fight for the civil rights of people with disabilities. This was an eye-opening book for me and one I very much recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about this fight, and this extraordinary woman. The book is available at the Library.

7 Ways, by Jamie Oliver

[Lesley] I really should leave the cookbook reviews to Cindy, but this one is my speed! I was immediately attracted to the structure: 18 common ingredients, each with 7 different recipes. In my house, we do use some foods over and over again: chicken, broccoli, eggs, fish, potatoes… And there are days when I feel like if I have to make another quiche, I’m going to run away from home.

Now I can make cajun coddled eggs or cauli chicken pot pie. My family occasionally eats red meat, can be picky about vegetables, needs leftovers for lunch, and includes a vegetarian. That can make dinner tricky. This cookbook is the epitome of flexibility. A steak recipe that sounds like flavors the vegetarian would enjoy? Swap out one of the other ingredients (eggplant, sweet potato, mushrooms). Like the preparation of this main ingredient but not the sauce? Find some other sauce that you can use.

The ingredients lists on the recipes are nice and short and each recipe fits on one page with a picture facing. For the most part, I found the ingredients to be things I usually have at home, though a few recipes would be a challenge for my basic pantry. Still, I felt like it would be easy to substitute something that I did have in those cases.

I made the potato lasagna which was delicious. Oh, and I had more than my baking dish would hold so I made a second one with broccoli – see, flexible! As often happens with a new recipe, I learned a few things that I would do differently, but given how yummy it was, I will definitely make it again with those tweaks.

I can also see how I could make it with different ingredients or spice combinations. I liked the technique of incorporating chopped up asparagus stalks into the sauce – the sauce stayed smooth but was thicker than with a roux alone and the flavor was much richer. That’s something I’ll use in other dishes.

I flagged a bunch of other recipes my family wants to try (swapping things in and out) including:

• Cauli Chicken Pot Pie
• Sweet Potato & Chicken Chop Suey
• Eggplant & Ricotta Pasta
• Asian Egg & Bean Salad
• Beef & Guinness Hot Pot
• Cajun Coddled Eggs
• Quick Stuffed Potato Naans
• Mushroom Toad-In-The-Hole
• Quickest White Fish Terrine

Click here to find 7 Ways by Jamie Oliver in our catalog.

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

[Tricia]

I have to admit that I was a bit reluctant to read this book, because it seemed as though it would be unbearably sad. I was thankfully convinced to read it by a member of the Library Book Group (thanks Liz!). What I found is a book that is almost unbearably beautiful. The story is based on the fact that Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet (or Hamlet, as the names were used interchangably back then) died at age 11, and that four years later he wrote the play Hamlet. From this fact, and the few other known facts surrounding Shakespeare’s life, O’Farrell has woven a lyrical, mesmerizing, story of this family, and their life in Stratford. One thing I really appreciated in the book is that it is the story of a family in a particular place and time, and the fact that we still know about one member of that family today is not really the point. Shakespeare himself is the only main character never named in the book, he is only known in terms of his relationship with other people – he is alternately referred to as the husband, the father, the Latin tutor, the brother. He has a much smaller role in the novel than I had expected, as he spends most of his time in London building a separate life in the theatre. The focus is on more on his family, and the impact that his career and his art had on them, although there is a powerful exploration towards the end of the impact that the death of his son might have had on his art. Agnes, his wife, is more of the central character, and she is fascinating – magical, a healer, an unusual person struggling to make a life for herself and her children in the claustrophobic household of her in-laws, and trying to understand her husband’s need to pursue his dreams in London. I was particularly taken with details such as the way the author makes you feel the day to day impact of the lack of education on women– how frustrating it can be to not be able to read, especially when letters are such a valuable mode of communication. You also witness how these people manage to live their day to day lives while navigating the painful mortality rate of children, the fear of dying in childbirth, and the ever present threat of the plague. You come to know Hamnet as a sweet, regular kid who shares a deep and beautiful bond with his twin sister Judith. And you see how the different members of the family deal with the loss of Hamnet. This is a haunting, beautiful book. Yes it is sad, and it is beautiful and well deserving of all the accolades it received. Hamnet is available at the Library and on Libby/Overdrive.

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

[Tricia]

Are you looking for a rich, exciting fantasy book to take you out of the dreary February weather? For me, The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty was just that book. The City of Brass is the first book in the Daevabad trilogy, a fantasy series immersed in Middle Eastern folklore. The protagonist, Nahri, is a smart and savvy con-woman who grew up alone in the streets of 18th Century Cairo, making money by using her unusual ability to spot illness in others to con the rich into buying unnecessary treatments. During one of her cons, Nahri uses a language that she knows in her head but has never heard anyone else speak, and accidentally conjures Dara, a Djinn. Realizing her life is in danger, and recognizing her abilities, Dara takes her to Daevabad, a magical city invisible to humans. Nahri is thrust into the position of becoming the City’s Nahid, or Healer, taken in by the Royal Family. It is hard to know who to trust in this world, unlike in Cairo, where Nahri had the lay of the land and was able to read people easily. Dara is her friend, yet she comes to learn he has a very dark and frightening past. Ali, the second son of the Royal Family, becomes a friend, but has his own secret motivations for doing so. Ali is conflicted about his role, and is himself trying to figure out who to trust, and where he stands. There is a lot going on in this book, and the politics and dynamics of Daevabad got a little confusing for me at times, but I really found myself swept away in this magical world, and I loved the Middle Eastern setting and folklore. I have not yet read the other two books in the trilogy, but I am very much looking forward to it. Fans of Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, the Orisha series by Tomi Adeyemi and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik might enjoy this series.

The entire Daevabad trilogy is available at the Library and on Libby/Overdrive.

Henry, Himself and Emily, Alone by Stewart O’Nan

Once again making the ordinary and overlooked not merely visible but vital to understanding our own lives.

book description for Emily, Alone

[Lesley] Sometimes, it’s wonderful to just meet a character. Not go on an adventure with them, not go through a trauma with them, not follow them through a thrilling and edge-of-your-seat mystery. Just get to know them in all of their humanity, relationships, and individual point of view. Welcome to the world of the Maxwells.

I found Henry, Himself while I was “shelf reading,” a piece of library jargon that means scanning along all the books in one area, making sure each one is in the right order. Often, when doing this, I discover titles that look interesting, that I’d like to read. Perfect serendipity.

in our catalog

Henry, Himself attracted me with its unusual title and its lovely cover (forget that whole “don’t judge a book by…”).

The book takes place inside Henry’s head mostly. His life is quiet, routine, and ordinary. We go along for his trips to The Home Depot or down to his workshop where he fixes this and that and listens to the Pirates’ games on the radio. His world is so knowable, so comfortable that I felt comforted. A perfect book for uncomfortable times.

We get to know his family: Emily, his wife, their two adult children, and his sister. He knows them inside and out and also knows that he can’t understand all of their decisions or the way they think and react. He’s ok with that. Henry is an observer which can make him seem distant or irritatingly unflappable (Emily gets irritated easily but in an agreeable way) but it is rooted in his deep connection to family, memory, and community. Henry lives in the moment even as he muses on how he has lived his life. He questions whether he has been a good father, a good husband, not in a crisis of the soul – more curiosity about what makes a life well lived.

I read Henry, Himself before Emily, Alone even though it is the last of the three Maxwell books published. It is a prequel to Emily, Alone (the 2nd book published) so it worked out fine to read them in this order. I haven’t read Wish You Were Here (the 1st) but I’m looking forward to it. Emily, Alone picks up after Henry has died and Emily is muddling through early widowhood. She is still so different from Henry: more excitable, less satisfied, and with higher expectations of their children. But, it is clear how much of Henry and their life together continue to color her perspectives. She’ll have her own first reaction and then quickly her mind turns to what Henry would have said or done or thought. There is sadness and loneliness here, but also the beauty of such a relationship and a world built with another person. Their dear dog connects the two books with so much love and tenderness.

These two books were really just what I needed. The opposite of flashy, they are simply well-told character studies. I just loved them both.

Other books you might like:
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand
A Man Called Ove
The Story of Arthur Truluv

in our catalog