Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are published on Wednesdays.
And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, may 15, 2024.
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American Flygirl by Susan Tate Ankeny
One of WWII’s most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot’s license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.
Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women’s and WWII history books.
In 1931, Hazel Ying Lee, a nineteen-year-old American daughter of Chinese immigrants, sat in on a friend’s flight lesson. It changed her life. In less than a year, a girl with a wicked sense of humor, a newfound love of flying, and a tough can-do attitude earned her pilot’s license and headed for China to help against invading Japanese forces. In time, Hazel would become the first Asian American to fly with the Women Airforce Service Pilots. As thrilling as it may have been, it wasn’t easy.
In America, Hazel felt the oppression and discrimination of the Chinese Exclusion Act. In China’s field of male-dominated aviation she was dismissed for being a woman, and for being an American. But in service to her country, Hazel refused to be limited by gender, race, and impossible dreams. Frustrated but undeterred she forged ahead, married Clifford Louie, a devoted and unconventional husband who cheered his wife on, and gave her all for the cause achieving more in her short remarkable life than even she imagined possible.
American Flygirl is the untold account of a spirited fighter and an indomitable hidden figure in American history. She broke every common belief about women. She challenged every social restriction to endure and to succeed. And against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Hazel Ying Lee reached for the skies and made her mark as a universal and unsung hero whose time has come.
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One Of Us Knows: A Thriller by Alyssa Cole
Cole’s long-awaited second thriller, following When No One Is Watching (2020), starts with a dramatis personae of all of the headmates who inhabit Kenetria “”Ken”” Nash, who has dissociative identity disorder. There’s kind-hearted Solomon, organized caretaker Della, fan-fiction-obsessed Empress, four-year-old Keke, and more. Ken had a breakdown and Della was in charge for a while as COVID-19 raged, but now Ken is back and Della is missing, though she apparently signed Ken up for a job caretaking a castle in the middle of the Hudson River. As a storm approaches, Ken arrives, greeted by surly, sexy groundskeeper Celeste. The castle, which is supposedly haunted by the ghost of the wife of the industrialist who built it, looks exactly like the castle that all of Ken’s identities share inside her mind. And there’s a new, unnamed presence as well. As the secrets of the castle are revealed, involving a tradition of misogynistic privilege, so is the connection to Ken. Cole presents a master class in characterization and narrative structure as Ken’s headmates “”front”” in response to the world outside while fighting an internal battle. The mystery of Della’s disappearance coincides with the mystery of the castle in surprising ways that will keep readers on their toes in this brilliant, adroit novel. – Booklist Review
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Sesame, Soy, Spice: 90 Asian-ish Vegan and Gluten-free Recipes to Reconnect, Root, and Restore by Remy Morimoto Park
Social media influencer and blogger Park debuts with a cookbook focused on healthy, vegan-based snacks, heavily influenced by her love of Taiwanese, Korean, and other Asian cuisines. While the recipes and vibrant photography are the centerpiece, Park intersperses her thoughts about the creation of the dishes and her own at times difficult relationship with food. Recipes range from simple culinary components, such as salad dressings, condiments, and vegan chips and snacks, to more complicated side and main dishes. Several dishes require readers to first follow a separate recipe to create the specified ingredients. Some staples are presented in several cuisine-specific ways, such as Taiwanese, Korean, and Japanese takes on cucumber salad and two versions of porridge. The beverage section includes teas, smoothies, and mocktails made with fresh fruits, spices, and specialty ingredients, which are discussed in the front matter. Dishes encompass everything one might eat in a day: breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner, and dessert, as well as drinks, all made with vegan ingredients.
VERDICT This is a wide-ranging and clearly written foray into the world of Asian-influenced vegan cuisine. An excellent addition for readers interested in plant-based meals. – Starred Library Journal Review
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The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History by Karen Valby
Vanity Fair contributor Valby (Welcome to Utopia) paints a vibrant portrait of the “first permanent Black professional ballet company” in the U.S and the five trailblazing dancers who put it on the map. Originated in 1968 by George Balanchine protégé Arthur Mitchell, the Dance Theatre of Harlem featured “founding” ballerinas Lydia Abarca, Mitchell’s “prized” dancer who later landed on the covers of Essence and Dance magazines; Sheila Rohan, who performed while running a household and raising three children; Juillard-trained Gayle McKinney-Grffith, who served as the company’s “ballet mistress” and later taught choreography for the 1978 film The Wiz; Marcia Sells, who joined the company at just 16; and Karlya Shelton, who stepped in with little notice to star in the 1978 production of Serenade. The company shattered artistic boundaries even as it strained under financial pressures, the whims of the brilliant yet tyrannical Mitchell, and an old guard media that favored more renowned—and more white—troupes. Valby meticulously untangles the prejudices woven into the dance world and analyzes the politics of establishing a Black ballet company amid a period of backlash to the civil rights movement (“Let the gorgeous lines of his dancers’ bodies serve as fists in the air,” she writes of Mitchell’s mission). In the process, Valby successfully counters the perception that Misty Copeland was the “first” Black American ballerina. The result is a captivating corrective to an often-whitewashed history. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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The Sweet Blue Distance by Sara Donati
Carrie Ballantyne, granddaughter of Elizabeth Middleton, who was introduced in Into the Wilderness, which launched Donati’s best-selling Wilderness series, is a dedicated nurse and midwife in a New York charity hospital when the director receives a request from a friend in Santa Fe. Dr. Sam Markham urgently needs an assistant as his wife is experiencing a fragile pregnancy. The assistant must be resourceful and able to ride a horse and learn Spanish, and Carrie fits the bill. She sets out in May 1857, journeying by rail, riverboat, stagecoach, and horse. The perils and pains of mid-nineteenth-century travel as well as struggles with gender restrictions form an epic undertaking. Eli Ibarra, a Basque Pueblo surveyor who is well-established in Santa Fe, accompanies Carrie during the frantic last stage of her journey. Santa Fe is totally different in every way from the world Carrie has known, and she finds herself working with a mix of cultures and races and dealing with clashing mores and social stratification. In a stunning tour de force, Donati portrays compelling characters and illuminates a key aspect of American history surrounding the acquisition of half of Mexico in the Mexican American War and the growing discord between slave and free states. – Booklist Review
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Happy reading!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
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Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.
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Information on the three library catalogs
The Digital Catalog: https://stls.overdrive.com/
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
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Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.
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StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
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Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.
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Tech & Book Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 