The Library

The digital library of a volunteer librarian.

[justalibrarian]

The Handmaid's Tale is scaring the living daylights out of me. I thought I had been desensitized to the content in AP/Classic Lit books, but DEAR GOD AM I SCARED BY THIS.

[justalibrarian]

Children's Books Featuring Women In Science🥼

Rosie Revere, Engineer

Ada Twist, Scientist

The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath

Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors?: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell

Just Wild Enough: Mireya Mayor, Primatologist

The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps

The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever

Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian

Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World

Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya

The Elephant Scientist

Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer

The World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid

Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines

Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor

Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women

Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain

Listening to the Stars: Jocelyn Bell Burnell Discovere Pulsars

Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race

Look Up!: Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer

Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine

Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code

Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing

Of Numbers and Stars: The Story of Hypatia

Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle

This list will definitely grow a lot bigger!

Enjoy your reading!

[justalibrarian]

I would gladly touch the Grinch with my hand instead of a 39½ pole as long as I never have to read Guns, Germs, and Steel ever again if I do

[justalibrarian]

Flowers for Algernon & Why You Should Read It

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, a novel that earned Hugo and Nebula Awards, is a novel you need to read.

Here's the summary from Sora, an e-book app.

"Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence-a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

"As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie?

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

Charlie, 33, is mentally retarded, traumatized from abuse that he doesn't remember, and was abandoned with the owner of the bakery he works at, at the age of 12.

Before the surgery, Charlie is made to race Algernon in all different kinds of simple tests like paper mazes.

After the surgery, Charlie's IQ begins to grow and it grows faster as time goes on.

The unfortunate part of his awareness? He realizes that no one was actually being nice to him except for the lady at the adult teaching center that teaches his class.

When his IQ surpasses the doctors', he goes into what I could only describe as a state of self-inflicted psychosis. He becomes angry when he can't absorb information anymore and enters some kind of manic and depressive episode where he "steals" Algernon after finding out what happens to him when the experiment is over.

Remember the teacher? That's Charlie's girlfriend now and she thought it would be a good idea to get Algernon and girlfriend too, so he's not alone with his intelligent rodent thoughts.

Algernon has his own manic episode, bites the female, and begins to fall drastically ill until he succumbs to death.

Charlie worries that the same will happen to him and luckily it doesn't, but he still experiences regression back to his original IQ.

I don't think the surgery necessarily changed Charlie's IQ, but I do think it changed his ability to understand things and his situational awareness.

What do you think the surgery did to Charlie?

[emilianadarling]

people who discover a fic and leave a comment on every chapter as they read it are the unsung heroes of our era. 

[justalibrarian]

I recently finished The Fault in Our Stars and I almost cried

[justalibrarian]

Asks are open (for anon too) so if you want recommendations on books or movies, send in questions!🥰

[justalibrarian]

Libraries aren't just books anymore.

There's books (hardcover, paperback, graphic novels, children's, juvenile, young adult, adult, etc.), audiobooks, e-books, movies/tv shows, activities like coloring and puzzles, newspapers, magazines, computers, and wifi.

I would like to be able to checkout records, cassettes, and VHS tapes but that might be something to discuss with my coworkers later.

[justalibrarian]

"They're best friends!" - a comment from a teacher in first grade during the class book.

What was the class book?

One of the books from the Frog and Toad series.

This book series was a personal favorite of mine when I was younger.

And interview with the author confirmed that Frog and Toad were a gay couple.

Did my 7-year-old self care that it was specifically a gay couple?

Of course not, I was just excited about this cool book because I thought "hey, I wanna socialize like that! They're so nice!"

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk about children's books and children's mindsets.

[justalibrarian]

Did I cry over a children's book today for an ungodly amount of time?

Yes. Yes, I did.

[justalibrarian]

Top 3 Books To Read

1. "The Hate U Give"

By Angie Thomas

Excerpt: "The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody."

Explanation: The excerpt is a broken down acronym of THUG LIFE, the character is quoting Tupac. Tupac remains relevant during the entire book.

Summary: Starr just wants to be at peace with her boyfriend, Chris. But things are haunting and when problems keep rising, life's not peaceful. But what happens to you when you see your best friend shot right before your eyes?

Trigger Warning: racism, police brutality, murder, major character death warning early on, Starr throws tear gas back at cops, lying, gangs, crying, funerals, physical abuse, drug abuse, theft, rioting, vandalism.

CRY WARNING.

2. "The Infinite Noise"

By Lauren Shippen

Excerpt: "Adam is like the ocean."

Explanation: Through the eyes of Caleb, Adam is like an ocean, vast and calming but deep and unknown.

Summary: Adam is a depressed introvert that likes to keep to himself (as do most introverts). Caleb? The total opposite. An outgoing football player that enjoys socializing. But it takes one fistfight in a school hallway to get him sent to therapy and suddenly he's evolving. That evolution brings Adam closer, but what happens when the honeymoon phase is over?

Trigger Warning: homophobia (not by the mcs), bullying/hazing, interaction with a sociopath, depression, mentions of self-harm, parental neglect, color system used for emotions, mentions of suicide.

3. "Skinny"

By Donna Cooner

Excerpt: "Her name is Skinny."

Explanation: Ever talks about a version of herself that she dreams of, but also the name of the evil imaginary fairy on her shoulder that only knows on word, her name, "Skinny."

Summary: Ever is overweight, so she gets a gastric bypass to fix it. But to her eyes, she's still the same fat girl as before. Good thing Rat's here to track her progress, be her best friend, and notice everything. What happens when the realization finally hits that you've reached your goal?

Trigger Warning: eating disorders, body dysmorphia, cacomorphobia, mentions of a incorrectly healed broken nose, descriptive panic attacks, social anxiety, description of organs after the gastric bypass, depression.