Nicole-Krauss-quote-from-The-History-of-Love
In this week’s offering, John Fossett shares five more books his family is currently reading.
“My extended family is rather large. We are spread all over the country and beyond. It’s rare that all of us are in one place so we share a lot of information via a family text thread. And we’re using it much more as we shelter in place and share ideas for ways to make the best of it. All of us are readers, a product of witnessing first hand, my mother’s favorite pastime. Hear’s a list of what we’re reading. It’s a decent-sized list and I like the variety; fiction versus non-fiction, a page-turner or two and some classics. Hopefully you’ll find something to pique your interest.”
What we’re reading:
The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist
“Told through intimate slave narratives, plantation records, newspapers, and the words of politicians, entrepreneurs, and escaped slaves, The Half Has Never Been Told offers a radical new interpretation of American history. It forces readers to reckon with the violence at the root of American supremacy, but also with the survival and resistance that brought about slavery’s end—and created a culture that sustains America’s deepest dreams of freedom.” – from Goodreads.com
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben
“Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown life of trees and their communication abilities; he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest, and he believes that eco-friendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth.” – from Goodreads.com
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
“Fourteen-year-old Alma Singer is trying to find a cure for her mother’s loneliness. Believing she might discover it in an old book her mother is lovingly translating, she sets out in search of its author. Across New York an old man called Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer. He spends his days dreaming of the lost love who, sixty years ago in Poland, inspired him to write a book. And although he doesn’t know it yet, that book also survived: crossing oceans and generations, and changing lives…” – from Goodreads.com
How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr
“A path-breaking history of the United States’ overseas possessions and the true meaning of its empire.” – from Goodreads.com
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The lives of the March sisters. – Goodreads.com
ABOUT JOHN FOSSETT. John is locally known as the Adult Services Librarian at the Bainbridge Island Library. Since 2014, he’s been broadcasting on BCB: The Voices of Bainbridge Island – eventually hosting a podcast focusing on cultural events. John also hosted and produced Art and Artists on Bainbridge (although he’s currently on a hiatus). John now focuses a lot of his time organizing (and volunteering) for Library sponsored events, such as Island Film Group, Tuesday Career Center and WorkSource, Tuesday Book Group, quarterly poetry readings, and the quarterly BI Modern Quilt Guild gatherings. He also works closely with Bainbridge Prepares: monthly classes held at the Library and Three Days of Preparedness, Books on Tap: Literary Trivia held each month at the Treehouse Café, Island Film Group (now in their 11th year, held on the 2nd Wednesday at the Library), Arts & Humanities Bainbridge, community events at the library, and Historical Museum at the Library (a program he started with BIHM in 2018). Read John’s full profile by author, Margaret Millmore – The Island Wanderer.