Pandemic Picks | Arlington Public Library

1) Say nothing: a true story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland

Author

Notes

A masterful combination of riveting storytelling and painstaking research that brought to life The Troubles of another time and place. Highly recommend. --Diane K

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Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

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"A stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions. In December 1972, Jean McConville, a thirty-eight-year-old mother of ten, was dragged from her Belfast home by masked intruders, her children clinging to her legs. They never saw her again. Her abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was...

2) Victuals: an Appalachian journey, with recipes

Author

Lundy, Ronni

Notes

Equal parts travelogue, regional history and cookbook, this beautiful work is a sensory escape. The recipes within are just right for the times: simple, seasonal and whole, relying on heritage techniques passed down for generations. --Stacia A.

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"Victuals is an exploration of the foodways, people, and places of Appalachia. Written by Ronni Lundy, regarded as the most engaging authority on the region, the book guides us through the surprisingly diverse history-- and vibrant present-- of food in the Mountain South. Victuals explores the diverse and complex food scene of the Mountain South through recipes, stories, traditions, and innovations. Each chapter explores a specific defining food or...

3) The widows of Malabar Hill

Author

Massey, Sujata

Series

Perveen Mistry novels volume 1

Notes

The combination of history, culture, and murder mystery was a good break from the ‘quarantine routine’ and allowed me a visit to a very different time and place. --Barbara C.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle, Large Type

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"Introducing an extraordinary female lawyer-sleuth in a new historical series set in 1920s Bombay. Perveen Mistry, the daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family, has just joined her father's law firm, becoming one of the first female lawyers in India. Armed with a law degree from Oxford, Perveen also has a tragic personal history that makes her especially devoted to championing and protecting women's legal rights. Mistry Law has been appointed to...

4) Cake

Author

Kalman, Maira

Notes

Her enchanting illustrations complement tiny stories like The Cake of Not Much Has Changed, The Talking Cure Cake, The Cakes of People I Do Not Know. As Kalman concludes the book, “Things are much nicer with cake. Bring on the cake. We really want to live. --Pat L.

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"With great style, wit, and joy, Maira Kalman and Barbara Scott-Goodman celebrate their favorite dessert. In Cake, renowned artist and author Maira Kalman and food writer Barbara Scott-Goodman bring us a beautifully illustrated book dedicated to their mutual love of cakes. Kalman's enchanting illustrations, in her inimitable style, and Scott-Goodman's mouthwatering recipes complement each other perfectly, making Cake a joyful whimsical celebration...

5) The seven storey mountain

Author

Merton, Thomas

Notes

It’s the story of a worldly young man who, at the age of twenty-six, takes vows in the Catholic order of the Trappist monks. Thomas Merton finds withdrawing from the world to be challenging but ultimately freeing. It’s a classic book about one man’s spiritual journey. --Vicki M.

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One of the most famous books ever written about a man's search for faith and peace.
The Seven Storey Mountain tells of the growing restlessness of a brilliant and passionate young man, who at the age of twenty-six, takes vows in one of the most demanding Catholic orders—the Trappist monks. At the Abbey of Gethsemani, "the four walls of my new freedom," Thomas Merton struggles to withdraw from the world, but only after...

6) London under: the secret history beneath the streets

Author

Ackroyd, Peter

Notes

On my way out of Central on the high holy holiday of St. Patrick - knowing that it just wasn't gonna be the same as in years past, I reached for a book to satisfy the Anglophile in me. --Charlie M.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

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"London Under" is a wonderful, atmospheric, imaginative short study of everything that goes on under London, from original springs and streams and Roman amphitheaters to Victorian sewers, gang hideouts, and modern tube stations.

7) La cucina: the regional cooking of Italy

Author

Accademia italiana della cucina

Notes

I have gravitated toward the many dishes of my childhood, in particular, Italian dishes from the Tuscany and Lombardy provinces. This one brought back feelings of togetherness, enjoyment, love of family and community. --Alexandra S.

8) Meditations

Author

Marcus Aurelius

Series

Great ideas

Notes

In the middle of a smallpox plague he decided to write down the moral and psychological advice he was giving to himself during the time. I read the short passage, “Accept humbly - let go easily ” while John Coltrane played in the background. And all was well. --LeoNard T.

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Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 CE) was the sixteenth emperor of Rome-and by far the most powerful man in the world. Yet he was also an intensely private person, with a rich interior life and one of the wisest minds of his generation. He collected his thoughts in notebooks, gems that have come to be called his Meditations. Never intended for publication, the work has proved an inexhaustible source of wisdom and one of the most important Stoic texts...

9) The new Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness

Author

Alexander, Michelle

Notes

Alexander highlights the undeniable similarities of our current justice system to the Jim Crow era. Armed with facts, Alexander argues mass incarceration has created a caste system within the United States. --Janelle O.

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Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

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Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow. Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New...

10) Clean getaway

Author

Stone, Nic

Notes

A whirlwind adventure about family and segregation history in the South starts here. This book blends secrets and family memories with learning about how American history has changed our lives today. --Hannah A.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

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"For the life of him, William "Scoob" Lamar can't seem to stay out of trouble--and now the run-ins at school have led to lockdown at home. So when G'ma, Scoob's favorite person on Earth, asks him to go on an impromptu road trip, he's in the RV faster than he can say FREEDOM. With G'ma's old maps and a strange pamphlet called the 'Travelers' Green Book' at their side, the pair takes off on a journey down G'ma's memory lane. But adventure quickly turns...

11) Tyler Johnson was here

Author

Coles, Jay

Notes

When Tyler is killed by a police officer, his twin brother Marvin has to balance his grief ridden mother, the social media explosion, and advocating to clear his brother’s name. For readers who valued The Hate U Give, All American Boys, and Dear Martin. --Hannah A.

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"When Marvin Johnson's twin brother, Tyler, is shot and killed by a police officer, Marvin must fight injustice to learn the true meaning of freedom"--

12) Black girl unlimited: the remarkable story of a teenage wizard

Author

Brown, Echo

Notes

This is the story of Echo Brown, a young wizard growing up in the East Side of Cleveland. This debut novel weaves together heavy topics of poverty, sexual violence, depression, racism, and sexism through a magical lens that leaves you breathless. --Brittany H.

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From age six through her high school valedictory speech, believing she and her mother are wizards helps young Echo cope with poverty, hunger, her mother's drug abuse, and much more.

13) The fire next time

Author

Baldwin, James

Notes

This short essay provides examples of what it was like to live as a Black man in the civil rights era, how to evolve our way of thinking less of someone, and what Americans need to do to achieve lasting change. It is a warning and it is about hope. --Brittany A.

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Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

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Contains a letter to Baldwin's nephew on the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Also describes his childhood, views on Black Muslims, and his visions.

14) All American boys

Author

Reynolds, Jason

Notes

Told from the perspective of a Black teen getting beaten by a white cop and a white teen witness to the beating, the perspectives of Rashad and Quinn will keep readers riveted and will open the eyes of teens living a privileged life. --Ruth C.

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When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints.

15) The warehouse: a novel

Author

Hart, Rob

Notes

In the future, people are afraid to leave their homes and order everything online. This grim and gripping dystopian look at corporate control and life inside a company town resonates very differently now than it would have this winter! --Jennifer R.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

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Paxton never thought he'd be working for Cloud, the giant tech company that's eaten much of the American economy. Much less that he'd be moving into one of the company's sprawling live-work facilities. But compared to what's left outside, Cloud's bland chainstore life of gleaming entertainment halls, open-plan offices, and vast warehouses...well, it doesn't seem so bad. It's more than anyone else is offering. Zinnia never thought she'd be infiltrating...

16) Thud!: a novel of Discworld

Author

Pratchett, Terry

Series

Discworld volume 31

Notes

Quarantine has been a good time to read books suggested by friends. A friend with good taste loves the Discworld series, so I tried Thud! I am so glad I did - Sam Vimes is my new favorite literary character. This is fantasy that doesn't take itself too seriously. --Heather C.

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"Start with Douglas Adams's comic science fiction (A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and J.R.R. Tolkien's alternative worlds, mix in James Ellroy's gritty realism and Jonathan Swift's unflinching satire and, if you're lucky, you'll get something like Terry Pratchett's Thud!" —Wall Street Journal

City Watch Commander Sam Vimes must solve the murder of a prominent dwarf or watch as Discworld is plunged into

...

17) I'm not dying with you tonight

Author

Jones, Kimberly

Notes

Particularly relevant YA novel about two teen girls, one black and one white, thrust together during a protest-turned-violent riot, who must rely on each other to get home safely. Beautifully written by two authors-one black and one white-who bring both perspectives to life. --Victoria D.

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Told from two viewpoints, Atlanta high school seniors Lena and Campbell, one black, one white, must rely on each other to survive after a football rivalry escalates into a riot. Over the course of one night, two girls with two very different backgrounds must rely on each other to get through the violent race riot that has enveloped their city. Lena has her killer style, her awesome boyfriend, and a plan. She knows she's going to make it big. Campbell,...