Summer Reading Recommendation

11/22/63

by Stephen King

Stephen King, master of suspense, has rewritten history, in this story of a high school teacher who can travel through a time portal from 2011 into 1958. Not only can he travel back in time, but no matter how long he stays in the past he can return to the present and only two minutes have passed. Given this opportunity the protagonist starts off granting the wishes of friends from stopping the murder of a family, to stopping the assassination of JFK. In the meantime he lives out his days in texas waiting for 1963 to arrive. This book allows King to indulge in nostalgia for a time gone as well as the science fiction implications of changing history. A book with interesting ideas, that will intrigue you but not leave your brain hurting, plus reading Stephen King should always be part of your summer. 

If you like it, Try:

The Yiddish policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

The life and times of the thunderbolt kid: a memoir by Bill Bryson

Summer Reading Recommendation

The Buddha in the Attic

by Julie Otsuka

This deceptively short novel has a great deal of depth between its slim covers. Told in the collective voice, this books reads somewhat like a Greek tragedy. It is the story of six Japanese mail-order brides who arrive in San Francisco in the early twentieth century. While told by all of them at the same time, they all have different stories with similar threads. A novel that is well researched, based on the experiences of immigrants in America, but reads as a lyrical poem.Beautifully written, it will resonate with you long after you finish with it.

If you like it, try:

 The namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

On Gold Mountain by Lisa See

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Good Luck LaTesha!

 End of Residency Remarks

      Friday, July 27th, we said goodbye to our excellent Diversity Resident Librarian, LaTesha Velez. LaTesha was with us for two years and worked in Reference and Instruction, Special Collections and University Archives, the Harold Schiffman Music Library, Electronic Resources and Information Technology and Library Administration.  LaTesha leaves us to continue her educational journey by pursuing her doctoral degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Below please enjoy a video of her end of Residency Remarks. Thank you for all your hard work, and good luck LaTesha!

Non-Fiction Summer Reading

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin
by Erik Larson

If you prefer your summer reading to include some non-fiction try Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts. While not a “light” subject to be sure, Larson’s narrative keeps the book moving and readers will be drawn into this true story of an American father and his family, including his promiscuous grown daughter, living in Berlin as the Nazi’s took power. Giving readers a more personal account of what it was like to live in one of the worst regimes in history, it will help us to understand how terrible things can happen and that the study of history relates to people, not just dates and facts.  Written with the help of many first and second person accounts this book presents a detailed picture of what it was like as an outsider in Nazi Germany. 
This book was also selected for the Friends of the UNCG Libraries discussion group. Dr. Karl Schelunes, history, will lead the discussion on March 18, 2013. For details, see the FOL blog.

if you like it, try:

The devil in the white city: murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America 

by Erik Larson

Blood done sign my name: a true story by Timothy Tyson

Under the Banner of heaven: a story of violent faith by Jon Krakauer

Reading Recommendations:

Ready Player One 

by Earnest Cline

Do you love the 80’s? Wade Watts, the main character in Ready Player One, does. Not because of any association he has with them, he lives in the year 2044. While the real world is overcrowded and unpleasant, most people don’t mind as long as they can plug into the virtual world of OASIS. The reason for the 1980’s obsession has to do with the creator of OASIS, a man who has died and left puzzles (most having to do with his pop culture 80’s obsession) within his virtual world that can lead to a huge fortune and power over the entire OASIS.  This book is full of 80’s movie, video game, and pop culture trivia as well as futuristic technologies and battles. A fun book that's lets you live in the past and future.

if you like it try:

 A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Summer Reading Recommendations!

Pure 

by Julianna Baggot

If you liked Hunger Games or The Passage, try Pure.  A post-apocalyptic novel written by UNCG alumni Julianna Baggott. When the world ends with a bang there are two groups of survivors, those in the regular destroyed world and those who are safety encased in the government Dome. Those outside the Dome have become disfigured, merging with whatever was around them at the time of the Detonations, be it object, animal or the land they stood on.  Those who live inside the dome, without disfigurement and sickness, are known as pure. The book centers around, Pressia, a 16 year old girl living outside of the dome and her adventures with other survivors as well as one boy who has lived his entire life within the authoritarian dome and suspects his mother may have survived outside of the Dome. Part-horror, part sci-fi, part coming of age, this first book in a planned trilogy will certainly engage many readers.

If you enjoy it, also try:

The Dispossessed: an ambiguous Utopia by Ursala K Le Guin

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (another North Carolina writer)

The knife of never letting go by Patrick Ness

Reading is fun, no really!

Hello UNCG Students, Staff, Faculty and Friends!

Irma here! You know the last summer session is winding down and fall semester classes won’t be starting up until late August. Do you simply have too much free time on your hands? Don’t worry Irma Minerva, your resident library friend, is here to help. I am working on a list of great
“summer reads”, stay tuned for some suggestions!

Love,

Irma