Black Walden: Slavery and Its Aftermath in Concord, Massachusetts by Elise Lemire

25 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Non-fiction, United States

Tags

18th century, Concord, enslaved persons, Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862, history, Mass., slavery, social conditions, Walden Pond

Since we live next door to Lincoln, Massachusetts let author Lemire forever change your thoughts about the green space of Walden Pond. In the 1700’s there was a community of enslaved individuals newly exposed to “freedom” whose stories need to be lifted up and shared.

Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, is most famous as the place where Henry David Thoreau went to ‘live deliberately’ and subsist on the land. Lemire . . . sets about to resurrect the memory of not only the freedmen and -women who dwelled there but also the history of slavery in Concord. . . . Ultimately, Lemire conveys the idea that before Walden Pond was a ‘green space, ‘ it was, in fact, a ‘black space.’–Library Journal

Lemire has genuinely enriched our understanding not only of the history of Concord but also of the country for which that fabled town still so often stands.–New England Quarterly

Thanks to Lemire’s ingenious research, such valiant figures as Brister Freeman and Cato Ingraham can claim their just place alongside the more famous Minutemen in the town that fired the ‘shot heard ’round the world.’–Robert Gross, author of The Minutemen and Their World

Find this book

Honor by Thrity Umrigar

29 Tuesday Mar 2022

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, Fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

East Indian American women., honor, India, interfaith marriage, religious aspects, social conditions, women, women journalists

I love this writer’s books about India in all its complexity. My mother and I must have argued over the meaning of the ending in the The Space Between Us for months. In Honor the lives of two very different women come together after an unspeakable act of violence. I would add this warning: the subject matter is not for sensitive readers.

In the way A Thousand Splendid Suns told of Afghanistan’s women, Thrity Umrigar tells a story of India with the intimacy of one who knows the many facets of a land both modern and ancient, awash in contradictions, permeated by a smoldering mix of ageless traditions and new ideas, beauty and brutality, hope and despair, certainty and mystery. A place where love can sometimes involve the peril of defying convention . . . and ultimately risking everything for what matters most.–Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours

With insight and compassion, Thrity Umrigar writes masterfully about the complexities of hatred and love, estrangement and belonging, oppression and privilege, about holding on and letting go. A powerful, important, unforgettable book.–Cheryl Strayed, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wild

Honor is a novel of profound depths–cultural, personal, romantic, spiritual. It’s also a story of tremendous grace, both in the understanding it shows its characters and in the ways they navigate a brutal but stunning life.–Rebecca Makkai, Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Great Believers

Find this book large print spoken cd

Sure, I’ll Be Your Black Friend: Notes from the Other Side of the Fist Bump by Ben Phillippe

29 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, anecdotes, Biography, Non-fiction, United States

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

African American authors, African American men, American wit and humor, essays, humor, race relations, racism, social conditions, United States

I loved Phillippe’s memoir and description of growing up in Canada and eventually moving the to US. Biting humor and moving.

“Flat-out funny…This is a great next-book for fans of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker and We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, but if a reader hasn’t turned to either of those yet, Philippe’s disarming, illuminating, and hilarious chronicle is a great place to start.” — Booklist

“I still mute Ben’s texts, but I inhaled his hilarious book, which is so full of razor-sharp wit and punches to the gut that it almost made me sick. In a good way!” — Samantha Irby, New York Times bestselling author of Wow, No Thank You

“Philippe has created a funny, and at times harrowing, memoir of his experience as a Black man. Fans of similar memoirs, such as Damon Young’s What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker, will enjoy the irreverence and recognize themselves in these pages.” — Library Journal

Find this book audio cd

Hillbilly Elegy: a Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

22 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, Non-fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Appalachian Region, economic conditions, Kentucky, mountain people, social conditions, social mobility, United States, working class whites

J.D. Vance grows up very poor in the Ohio rustbelt and after deciding to enlist in the Marine Corps eventually he pursues a law degree at Yale. It’s a very personal account of the author’s childhood and parts of it felt similar to Jeannette Walls’ “The Glass Castle.” I liked it because while the author conveyed a lot of love and respect for aspects of his culture, he also comments on the contradictions, inconsistencies, and issues.

“[An] understated, engaging debut…An unusually timely and deeply affecting view of a social class whose health and economic problems are making headlines in this election year.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“[Vance’s] description of the culture he grew up in is essential reading for this moment in history.” (David Brooks, New York Times)

“J.D. Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy”, offers a starkly honest look at what that shattering of faith feels like for a family who lived through it. You will not read a more important book about America this year.” (The Economist)

Read this book large print audio cd’s