As we prepare for our August 12th & 15th Virtual Book Club events, team member Debbie has put together a discussion guide that includes questions about and quotes from the BPL Virtual Book Club pick The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom.
Author: BexBlog
Categories
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
A book review by BPL team member, Christian.
The city of Kars, Turkey is like a winter snow globe constantly being shook by the hands of geopolitical affairs and religious tension. As the snow falls, covering the city with suicides of teenage girls, Ka, a poet, returns to Kars to write on the suicides of the alienated youth. Orhan Pamuk’s Snow is a novel that resembles his literary contemporary, Roberto Bolaño’s 2666, and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks–in the way that Snow takes place in clone of a city where real crimes have occurred (Kars being the placeholder for the suicides of girls in Batman, Turkey in Snow and Santa Teresa being the placeholder for the murders of women in Cuidad Juarez in 2666) and the mysticism of a location (such as the dream-like qualities that resemble the cities of Kars, Turkey and Twin Peaks, Washington).
Sarah M. Broom’s debut memoir and 2019 National Book Award winner, The Yellow House, tells a hundred years of her family’s story and their relationship to home in New Orleans. Broom’s mother, Ivory Mae, purchased a shotgun house in New Orleans East as a young widow and mother with insurance money. She remarried Simon Broom, and their combined family eventually included twelve children. Six months after Sarah was born, Simon passed away suddenly, leaving Ivory Mae to care for their large family and small home on her own. The Yellow House went into disrepair while Sarah was growing up, and it was finally destroyed when Hurricane Katrina swept through the city. Broom’s mother, siblings, and other family members survived, but most were then scattered throughout the country during evacuation efforts. Sarah and one of her sisters were living in Harlem at the time, and they could only watch the devastation on television while worrying about the safety of their loved ones.
Categories
One of my favorite digital library resources is Hoopla. Through Hoopla, BPL cardholders have access to ebooks, audiobooks, comics, movies, tv shows, and music – their selection is endless! My absolute favorite thing about Hoopla is that there is no wait for any of their material – if you see it, you can check it out (how amazing is that?).
Categories
LGBTQ+ Reads
Today is the last day of Pride Month – the annual celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning communities. But just because this month of celebration is ending doesn’t mean you should stop reading lgbtq+ books! Here are some of the latest and greatest lgbtq+ books to add to your Pride reading list. Happy Reading!
A book review by BPL team member, Leann.
I read Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror and then immediately read So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, because, I guess I don’t want to feel happiness ever again.
Categories
The Glass Hotel
A book review by BPL team member, Beth.
“The building would have been beautiful anywhere, but placed here, it was incongruous, and its incongruity played a part in the enchantment.”
This summer, join us for Bexley Writes: an 8-week support and inspiration series to get Bexley patrons imagining—and writing—their stories!
Categories
Boom Town by Sam Anderson
A book review from BPL team member, Jeff.
It feels necessary to start this review with a disclaimer: I have never been to Oklahoma City (OKC), nor do I have any family roots or any ties whatsoever to Oklahoma. I first heard about Boom Town from an interview with the author, Sam Anderson, on Zach Lowe’s basketball podcast, The Lowe Post. (Another disclaimer: you don’t need to be a basketball fan to enjoy this book).
by BPL Team Member David
Written in 1858, William T. Martin’s History of Franklin County shares stories of the early settlement of Franklinton, by Lucas Sullivant, and how Columbus was formed as the site of Ohio’s capital. Written before the Civil War it is a rare account of the early history of places, such as the State Penitentiary and Columbus Canal, long since demolished and events, including the execution of Leatherlips, long forgotten. Illustrated with several early views Martin’s history is both educational and enjoyable.