Explore the world with fasciniating reads from the local library.
• Born with Teeth: A Memoir, by Kate Mulgrew – A star known for her strong female roles in Star Trek: Voyager and Orange Is the New Black, Mulgrew offers a deeply moving account of the price and rewards of a passionate life lived on and off screen.
• Brown Eggs and Jam Jars: Family Recipes from the Kitchen of Simple Bites, by Aimée Wimbush-Bourque – Aimée Wimbush-Bourque, a former chef turned modern homesteader, is the creator, editor and writer of the award-winning blog Simple Bites. This beautiful book is devoted to healthy, family-focused food – with a little urban homesteading in the mix.
• City on Fire, by Garth Risk Hallberg – A big-hearted, boundary-vaulting novel that heralds a remarkable new talent. Set in 1970s New York, it’s a story outsized in its generosity, warmth and ambition, its deep feeling for its characters and its exuberant imagination. When the infamous blackout of July 13, 1977 plunges this world into darkness, each of the characters’ lives will be changed forever.
• Dark Corners, by Ruth Rendell – Ingeniously weaving together two storylines, Rendell describes one man’s spiral into darkness – and murder – as he falls victim to a diabolical foe he cannot escape.
• Eat: The Little Book of Fast Food, by Nigel Slater – This is a beautiful and simple cookbook by the much-loved author of The Kitchen Diaries and presenter of BBC1’s Simple Suppers. Slater is here to help you cook real food fast, with over 150 recipes for delicious everyday dishes.
• Habitat: The Field Guide to Decorating, by Lauren Liess – Liess, an interior designer and founder of the popular blog Pure Style Home, fuses her love of design and the great outdoors into all her work. In her first book, she invites readers to bring nature inside, mixing textures of natural elements with eclectic modern and quirky vintage pieces.
• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, by Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn – Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn take an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet extraordinary women struggling there. Drawing on the breadth of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger, sadness, clarity and, ultimately, hope. The 2012 film companion to the text is extraordinary and worth checking out.
• Hunger, by Roxane Gay – From the New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist, a searingly honest memoir of food, weight, self-image and learning how to feed your hunger while taking care of yourself.
• The Road to Little Dribbling, by Bill Bryson – Bryson returns to his internationally beloved topic, Britain, with his first travel book in 15 years. Once again, he guides us through the best and worst of Britain today – while doing that incredibly rare thing of making us laugh out loud in public.
• Under the Udala Trees, by Chinelo Okparanta – Inspired by Nigeria’s folktales and its war, Under the Udala Trees is a deeply searching, powerful debut about the dangers of living and loving openly. Under the Udala Trees uses one woman’s lifetime to examine how Nigerians continue to struggle toward selfhood.
Sarah Isbister, Children & Family Literacy Librarian at the Greater Victoria Public Library’s Oak Bay branch, writes twice a month on what’s new for readers.