Getting In Touch With Your Inner Victorian

The Victorian era is one of our favorite periods - a few years ago we even did a Victorian reading challenge* called Our Mutual Read.  Since then, we have seen many more publications that address this era - enough that you could probably immerse yourself in Victoriana, if you are so inclined! (Do you remember those PBS reality shows, Manor House, Colonial House, Frontier House, etc.? We're imagining that kind of scenario.)

Even if you are just a casual reader, the library catalog most likely has something to pique your interest. The Victorian era, encompassing the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837-1901, was a fascinating period. Victorians were interested in science (hello, Darwin); it was the height of England's imperial power; the age of the Industrial Revolution.  Artistically, the era showcased major literary talents such as Dickens, the Brontë sisters, and Tennyson; in art, the Pre-Raphaelites; on the stage, Gilbert & Sullivan. It was also the era of Jack the Ripper, appalling child labor conditions, and workhouses.

Below, we've compiled a list of books for you to sample. You can find even more titles, including fiction, by searching the catalog with the keyword "Victorian".


How To Be a Victorian: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide toVictorian Life by Ruth Goodman

The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London by Judith Flanders

Crime and Punishment in Victorian London: A Street-Level View of the City's Underworld by Ross Gilfillan

Victorian London: The Tale of a City 1840--1870 by Liza Picard [eBook]

Dirty Old London: The Victorian Fight Against Filth by Lee Jackson

Visions of Science: Books and Readers at the Dawn of the Victorian Age by James A. Secord

Did She Kill Him?: A Torrid True Story of Adultery, Arsenic, and Murder in Victorian England by Kate Colquhoun

The Fishing Fleet: Husband-Hunting in the Raj by Anne de Courcy

A Victorian Flower Dictionary: The Language of Flowers Companion by Mandy Kirkby [eBook]

Victorian Servants: A Very Peculiar History - With Added Elbow Grease by Fiona Macdonald [eBook]

Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and John Everett Millais by Suzanne Fagence Cooper

To Marry An English Lord by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace

The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders


Is there an era you'd like to read about?  Let us know in the comments, and we'll try to round-up a list of related books for you!

*If you haven't done a reading challenge before, it can be a great way to discover new titles or work through your TBR pile! Bustle has a few pertinent ones listed, and the blog An Adventure is Reading is also a good source.

African Literature

Writing has always been a serious business for me. I felt it was a moral obligation. A major concern of the time was the absence of the African voice. Being part of that dialogue meant not only sitting at the table but effectively telling the African story from an African perspective - in full earshot of the world.
~Chinua Achebe

You've probably heard of the late Chinua Achebe and Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Maybe you've read Nadine Gordimer or J.M. Coetzee, Naguib Mahfouz or Nuruddin Farah. But how much do you really know about contemporary African literature?  Well, we're no experts, but we've compiled a list of notable reads, from short stories to thrillers and even one graphic novel, written by authors from a variety of African countries.


Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste

Notes From the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Boyhood by Nega Mezlekia

The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes

No Sweetness Here and Other Stories by Ama Ata Aidoo
 
Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela

Butterfly Burning by Yvonne Vera

Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria by Noo Saro-Wiwa [eBook]

Broken Glass by Alain Mabanckou  [eBook]

Aya by Marguerite Abouet   

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi

Oil On Water by Helon Habila

Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

A Bit of Difference by Sefi Atta

Migritude by Shailja Patel 

Black Diamond by Zakes Mda 
  Foreign Gods, Inc. by Okey Ndibe

Anatomy of a Disappearance by Hisham Matar

Welcome to Our Hillbrow: A Novel of Postapartheid South Africa by Phaswane Mpe  [eBook]

An African Quilt: 24 Modern African Stories edited by Barbara H. Solomon  [eBook]

Under African Skies: Modern African Stories edited by Charles R. Larson

    
Links

The best books on Ethiopia: start your reading here [Guardian]

The 10 best contemporary African books [Guardian]

Ten African Novels You Should Know [BET]

Africa's 100 best books of the 20th Century [African Studies Centre Leiden]

The 15 Best Fiction Novels by Black Authors in 2014 [The Root]

Popular African Literature [Goodreads]

Read Like Patti Smith

I was completely smitten by the book. I longed to read them all, and the things I read of produced new yearnings.
~Patti Smith

Patti Smith, author of the acclaimed memoir Just Kids (winner of the National Book Award in 2010), has a new book coming out in October called M Train. Amazon.com describes M Train as "an unforgettable odyssey into the mind of this legendary artist, told through the prism of cafés and haunts she has visited and worked in around the world." In honor of her new book, we thought we might revisit some of Smith's oeuvre, and a few of the books she recommends.

For more books by Patti Smith available in the library catalog, try Woolgathering and Auguries of Innocence. Look for M Train to pop up in the catalog closer to its publication date!

If you are interested in reading like Patti Smith, she told Elle magazine, "I'm a real bookworm. I'm sort of a solitary person. I could recommend a million [books]. I would just say read anything by [Roberto] Bolaño. Re-read all the great classics. Read The Scarlet Letter, read Moby-Dick, read [Haruki] Murakami. But Roberto Bolaño's 2666 is the first masterpiece of the 21st century." In the links below, the website Open Culture has a more complete list of Smith's recommendations from around of time of 2008's Melbourne International Arts Festival. These include:

Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Against Interpretation, and Other Essays by Susan Sontag [eBook]

The Waves by Virginia Woolf

Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry

Franny & Zooey by J.D. Salinger

The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa [eBook]

Links

Here's Patti Smith's Winter Reading List [Elle]

Patti Smith's List of Favorite Books: From Rimbaud to Susan Sontag [Open Culture]

Patti Smith's author profile on Goodreads

Reading Challenge: Summer Edition

Now that summer is almost here and the summer reading program has officially started, I'm rethinking my to be read (TBR) list. It's a lengthy list, and it's not likely that I'll ever get to all the books on the list, considering I have over 100 books at home to read (and that's not counting any of the books I want to buy or any of the books I have on hold!).

One thing I like to do during the summer is mix up what I read, so instead of reading just young adult fiction, I might try a genre within young adult that I don't usually read, and I add some adult non-fiction into the mix. I also try to read more award-winning books and award nominees. I don't always like to give myself a set list of the exact books I'll read during the summer, because what I want to read often changes depending on what I'm in the mood for, but here are the books I'm going to try to get through:

El Deafo by Cece Bell: I don't usually read graphic novels, but I've been wanting to try more of them, and I love the diversity this book has. El Deafo was also named a 2015 Great Graphic Novel for Teens by the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff:  I don't read as much middle grade fiction as I'd like, so I want to pick this one up sometime this summer. The Association for Library Service to Children named this as a 2015 Notable Children's Book.

Ensnared by A.G. Howard: This book is the final book in a trilogy that I adore.

Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord: This is another middle grade book that I want to get to this summer.

My Life With the Walter Boys by Ali Novak: Even though I love contemporary fiction, this book wasn't on my TBR list, but it's another nominee for the Teens' Top Ten award. I've also been hearing really good things about it, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin: Gretchen Rubin writes non-fiction for adults. I loved her first book, The Happiness Project, and I'm really looking forward to reading Better Than Before. Non-fiction for adults is a great way for me to balance out all the young adult fiction I read.

The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson: I've had this series sitting on my shelf for at least two years. At the time I bought it, I thought it was only a four-book series, but Sanderson has written more since then. I don't normally read fantasy novels, and I don't normally read adult fiction, so these books will really push me out of my comfort zone this summer. I'm only going to try reading the first four, since those are the only ones I own.

Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson: This is another graphic novel. I'll be reading it with a couple of my co-workers, and I'm looking forward to it.

Analyzing Mad Men: Critical Essays on the Television Series edited by Scott F. Stoddart: I just started binge watching Mad Men, and I love it. One of my coworkers recommended that I read some of the books based on/inspired by the TV show, and what better place to start than a book that has essays about the show?

One important thing I've learned about doing reading challenges is that it's okay for my list to change, and it's okay if I don't finish a book on the list. The point isn't necessarily to finish every single book, even the ones I don't like. The point is to try reading things I might otherwise read, because I never know when I'll discover a new author or book that I love.

Do you do any reading challenges in the summer, whether it's an official challenge or just something you do on your own (like mine)? Tell me about them in the comments!

Beadwork

Looking for how-to instructions? Are you an advanced beader or an ambitious beginner? Want to learn about stitches (including the newly created right-angle ladder stitch and cluster stitch), tools, supplies, and basic skills? Whether you want to make elegant pieces that look like fine jewelry or "cute critters", you can find a variety of projects in books from the library catalog.  For more books on this topic, try a subject search of "beadwork".

Sabine Lippert's Beadwork Evolution: New Techniques Using Peyote Stitch and Right Angle Weave by Sabine Lippert

Seed Bead Chic: 25 Elegant Projects Inspired By Fine Jewelry by Amy Katz

Stitching with Two-Hole Shaped Beads by Virginia Jensen

Lena Corwin's Made By Hand 

with photography by Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes

The Art of Beadwork: Techniques and Inspirational Projects For Creating Exquisite Pieces 

by Jane Lock

Beaded Bugs by Nicola Tedman with Jean Power  [eBook]

Links

Bead Society of New Mexico

Bead Fest Santa Fe

International Society of Glass Beadmakers - The Gathering

New & Novel: New Mexico Travel & Adventure

New Mexico, where everyone from artists, hippies, cowboys, poets, misfits, refugees and tourists of every political stripe have interpreted the promise of its gorgeous, wide-open spaces and the freedom that it offers in their own, very different ways. New Mexico is an enchanted land, where people are largely free to create their own world.
~Anthony Bourdain

For those of you not doing any traveling this summer, how about a bit of staycation reading? In the spirit of "Love The One You're With", we give you some books that we hope will make you "love the state you're in"...from local history to travel guides. Where is your favorite place to visit in New Mexico?  White Sands National Monument? Visiting hot springs in T or C? The Lavender and Garlic in the Village Festival in Los Ranchos? Ski resorts? Scuba diving in Santa Rosa's Blue Hole? The Festival of the Cranes in Bosque del Apache?  The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array? Let us know in the comments! And don't forget Roswell's upcoming UFO Festival!


Roadside New Mexico: A Guide to Historic Markers by David Pike

Hiking Four Corners: A Guide to the Areas' Greatest Hiking Adventures by J. D. Tanner and Emily Ressler-Tanner

Birding Hot Spots of Santa Fe, Taos, and Northern New Mexico by Judy Liddell and Barbara Hussey

The Turquoise Trail by Dawn-Marie Lopez and Raul Lopez Ponce

The Lost World of the Old Ones: Discoveries in the Ancient Southwest by David Roberts

New Mexico's High Peaks: A Photographic Celebration by Mike Butterfield      

New Mexico's Pueblo Baseball League by James D. Baker, Herbert Howell and Marie A. Cordero

Visualizing Albuquerque: Art of Central New Mexico by Joseph Traugott

Best Bike Rides Albuquerque and Santa Fe: A Guide to the Greatest Recreational Rides in the Area by J. D. Tanner, Emily Ressler-Tanner, and Shey Lambert

Ask About Santa Fe: 464 Essential Questions and Their Answers About This City and the State of New Mexico by James J. Raciti

New Mexican Folk Music: Treasures of a People = Cancionero del folklor Nuevomexicano: el tesoro del pueblo by Cipriano Frederico Vigil 

Links

New Mexico True

Visit Albuquerque - Free Travel Guide

New Mexico Travel Guide [Fodor's]

Ten New Mexico Summer Adventures  [Cowboys & Indians]

 

Passionate Quests

A quest is a journey in the course of which one advances spiritually and mentally, as well as physically travelling miles. The quester leaves the familiar for the unknown. The nature of the goal may not be clear at first and may only become fully apparent at the end of the quest.
~Robert Irwin
 
There are a lot of reasons to undertake a quest.  The thirst for knowledge and/or experience. Traveling in the footsteps of someone you admire. For spiritual advancement. To push yourself to your limits - to find out what your limits are. Discovery, or self-discovery.  Obsession, plain and simple.

The following are a list of books by and about ordinary people, explorers, naturalists, and adventurers who have pursued their dreams to the ends of the earth, and sometimes to the end of the line.

Meet Me in Atlantis: My Quest to Find the 2,500-Year-Old Sunken City by Mark Adams

Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific By Raft by Thor Heyerdahl

The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

Planetwalker by John Francis

South With the Sun: Roald Amundsen, His Polar Explorations, and the Quest for Discovery by Lynne Cox

Imperial Dreams: Tracking the Imperial Woodpecker Through the Wild Sierra Madre by Tim Gallagher

Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery - the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick

Called Again: A Story of Love and Triumph by Jennifer Pharr Davis

Kingbird Highway: The Story of a Natural Obsession That Got a Little Out of Hand by Kenn Kaufman

Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before by Tony Horwitz

The Will to Climb: Obsession and Commitment and the Quest to Climb Annapurna--The World's Deadliest Peak by Ed Viesturs, with David Roberts

Travels With a Tangerine: A Journey in the Footnotes of Ibn Battutah by Tim Mackintosh-Smith

Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron

Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier

The Places In Between by Rory Stewart

Adventure Divas: Searching the Globe For a New Kind of Heroine by Holly Morris

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander

In Search of King Solomon's Mines by Tahir Shah

Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson

Off the Map: Tales of Endurance and Exploration as told by Fergus Fleming   

Links

11 Books About Obsessive Searches [New York Times]      

If You Loved 'Wild", Try Reading These 9 Books, Too [Bustle]