All locations of the library will be closed on Friday, October 20 until 1 pm for staff training.
In his latest collection of short stories, local author Joseph Epstein writes about ordinary people–mostly Jews, mostly Chicagoans or denizens of neaby suburbs, mostly men, mostly above the age of 50. Despite being ordinary, there are extraordinary stories to tell about his characters. Father-son relationships, high school hearththrobs, feuding old friends, wannabe literary lions, cheating […]
I’m not exactly a sports fan but this book about the nine man crew who rowed to victory in the 1936 Olympics was a great read. Brown is an engaging writer and he brings the men and their stories to life in a way that illuminates the period, inspires the reader, and makes you really […]
Many of us are aware of the limitations placed on women and girls in Afghanistan. What few people know about is the tradition of allowing girls to disguise themselves as boys in order to attend school, earn money for their families, chaperone their mothers and sisters, or to bring luck so their mothers will bear […]
Even though this book was originally published in the 1990’s, it still offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of Muslim women in such countries as Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Brooks interviewed both fundamentalist and feminist women throughout the Islamic world to find out what life is like behind the veil. She examined […]
Among the many different senses (i.e., meanings) of the word “wit,” in the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th edition there are a couple that apply perfectly to this author. “Clever or apt humor; a witty utterance or exchange.” It’s a synonym for humor, irony, sarcasm, satire, and repartee. Stemper’s very readable, sometimes laugh-out-loud exposition on how […]
I started reading this book because I thought the “secrets of the world’s happiest country,” could help me construct my post children life. However reading Helen Russell’s book stirred up more political thoughts: Danes are happy because they have guaranteed health care, excellent low cost childcare, paid maternity & paternity leave, an excellent educational system […]
In 2008, a brash American hedge fund manager decides to make his mark in providing great education to the best students in Somaliland, an autonomous state within Somalia. Despite nearly getting his school closed and himself deported through his ignorance of the culture, he does triumph in the end through his students. who win scholarships […]
In tackling the mystery of the Trinity, Franciscan Richard Rohr goes to the most foundational yet elusive of Christian doctrines and explores it in ways that connect it powerfully to just-as-foundational and equally hard to articulate human experiences. Rohr animates the dry, lifeless words of (much of) theology with passion and creates a sense of […]
Writer/chef Marlena De Blasi tells the incredible and captivating story of her late-in-life romance with and marriage to a Venetian bank manager, Fernando, who fell in love with her the moment he saw her in the Piazza San Marco. Although he didn’t have the courage to speak to her, a year later when she returns […]
This reads like a gripping adventure novel but it’s actually a non-fiction account of Theodore Roosevelt’s 1914 journey down the River of Doubt, a tributary of the Amazon in Brazil. This exciting tale had me glued to my seat as Teddy, his son Kermit, and the rest of the members of the expedition fought their […]
