Reading Revelry: September (2024)

Hello everyone! We hope you’ve has had a wonderful start to the semester! This month we have two book recommendations for when you need a break from homework.

If you are interested in requesting these books, click on the hyperlink in the title, and on the blue “Place Request” button on the left side of the page. If you have questions or issues requesting items, please contact us at (573) 882-2379

Happy reading!

Our picks for September:  

 

 

Biography of X By Catherine Lacey  ISBN: 9780374606176
Publication Date: March 21, 2023

This suspenseful literary masterpiece follows C.M, widow of the eclectic artist known as X, as she tries to unravel the threads of mystery left behind in X’s death. C.M. sets out on an unforgettable quest to find out who her late wife really was. Told in an alternate timeline of history, with lots of pop culture references, this book will leave you enthralled until the very last page  

 

 

 

 

Martyr! By Kaveh Akbar 
ISBN: 9780593537619 
Publication Date: January 18, 2024 

Cyrus Shams is obsessed with martyrs, so much so he is writing a book about them. His life has been plagued with senseless violence and loss, and martyrs are a unique comfort for him. He becomes drawn to Orkideh, an artist who is spending her final days as a live art piece at the Brooklyn Museum. Determined to include her in his book of martyrs, Cyrus travels from Indiana to New York to meet her. The journey leads him to discover answers to his past. Told in multiple perspectives, this debut novel is as hilarious as it is devastating.

 

 

 

home Engineering Library, Events and Exhibits, Gateway Carousel ELTC The IBM PC/AT: Groundbreaking Heartbreaker

The IBM PC/AT: Groundbreaking Heartbreaker

Library Technical Services has created an exciting exhibit showcasing the history and inner workings of the IBM PC/AT (Model 5170). This machine from 1984 revolutionized the computer industry as a fast and powerful personal desktop.

The exhibit, located in the Engineering Library, includes a Model 5170 with numbered markers, and a blue information booklet detailing each of the parts. A special thank you to Dustin Hoffmann for all of his time and work putting the exhibit together.

For those interested in learning more about the exhibit, there is an online library guide available at https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/IBMPC/AT

Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.

Summer Reading Favorites from Mizzou Librarians

We asked Mizzou Librarians to tell us what their favorite read of the summer was and asked them to explain why it was their favorite. They could:

  • Write a few sentences OR
  • Provide 3-5 descriptive words OR
  • What emojis would describe the book?

The books could be published in any year and any genre as long as they were available at Mizzou Libraries or in Mobius.

We know it’s hard to pick a favorite book, but we have some great selections to add to your tbr.

 

Heartstopper Vol. 3 by Alice Oseman

“The Heartstopper graphic novel series is A+. It’s about young love and finding yourself. My jaw hurt from smiling the entire time reading this,” -Taira M.

 

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

“Truman Capote spills the tea on New York socialites,”- Diane

 

 

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

“A woman reinvents herself and her life by starting a bookshop in her beloved local community. A lovely, heartwarming read about identity, goals, dreams as well as finding community,” Stara H.

 

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

“Hopeful, a new way to think about loss and death,” – Megan

 

Goodbye Hello: Processing Grief and Understanding Death Through the Paranormal by Adam Berry

“This is not a self-help book. It is Adam’s personal take on grief and dying from both a supernatural and psychological standpoint, peppered with stories and interviews from his career in the paranormal. You might find out you’re not crazy/it’s not just you after all.” – Mara, your morbidly curious librarian

 

A Pirate’s Life for Tea: a Cozy Fantasy with Ships Abound by Rebecca Thorne

“I just discovered the cozy fantasy subgenre, which this novel falls into. It also has many of my favorite things: tea, adventure, good people, and a little romance.” – Noel K.

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Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.

New Database: Dimensions

The Dimensions database is now available to our campus community thanks to the MU Division of Research, Innovation & Impact. 

Dimensions provides a holistic view of millions of publications, grants, citations, impact metrics, clinical trials, patents, and policy documents all in one place. You can also analyze research outcomes and gather insights on research funding and collaborations to inform future strategy. 

Here are some unique features to look for:  

  • For any article with an Altmetric link, you can set up an alert to track future mentions in social media and more. 
  • Unique in providing AI summaries for publications, grants, patents and clinical trials and address the daunting task of navigating and condensing vast amounts of information. 

If you have questions about the database or how to use it, contact your librarian at ask@missouri.libanswers.com. 

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Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.

National Book Lovers Day August 9th

Reading reinforces our humanity by helping us to see others and be seen. We love this unofficial holiday where we can celebrate our love of reading. Not that we ever need an excuse to celebrate reading.

Below are some of our book lists to help you add to your TBR:

Books to Celebrate Pride

Summer Reading Revelry

Books to Read on the Beach (or Couch!) This Spring Break

Mizzou Librarians Share Their Favorite Reads of 2023

Summer Reads for Doctors — or Anyone Interested in the World of Medicine

Take A (Reading) Bite Out of Shark Week

Books to Celebrate Disability Culture Month at Mizzou

National Hispanic Heritage Month Book Recommendations

Native American Heritage Month Book Recommendations

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Summer Reading Revelry

Happy Summer! Spend your time off school with this month’s Reading Revelry recommendations. Whether you are looking for something light and romantic, or something full of adventure and magic, we have got you covered. Happy Reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

ISBN: 9780593128480
Publication Date: 2020-09-29
Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans. I don’t need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts, I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I’ll level mountains and kill untold millions, make myself the dark queen of the world. At least, that’s what the world expects. Most of the other students in here would be delighted if Orion killed me like one more evil thing that’s crawled out of the drains. Sometimes I think they want me to turn into the evil witch they assume I am. The school certainly does. But the Scholomance isn’t getting what it wants from me. And neither is Orion Lake. I may not be anyone’s idea of the shining hero, but I’m going to make it out of this place alive, and I’m not going to slaughter thousands to do it, either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

ISBN: 9780375826689
Publication Date: 2003-08-26
When fifteen-year-old Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered, and, gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save–or destroy–the Empire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban

ISBN: 9780063312005
Publication Date: 2024-01-09
It’s 1857, and anxious debutante Beth has just one season to snag a wealthy husband, or she and her mother will be out on the street. But playing the blushing ingenue makes Beth’s skin crawl and she’d rather be anywhere but here. Gwen, on the other hand, is on her fourth season and counting, with absolutely no intention of finding a husband, possibly ever. She figures she has plenty of security as the only daughter of a rakish earl, from whom she’s gotten all her flair, fun, and less-than-proper party games. “Let’s get them together,” she says. It doesn’t take long for Gwen to hatch her latest scheme: rather than surrender Beth to courtship, they should set up Gwen’s father and Beth’s newly widowed mother. Let them get married instead. “It’ll be easy” she says. There’s just…one, teeny, tiny problem. Their parents kind of seem to hate each other. But no worries. Beth and Gwen are more than up to the challenge of a little twenty-year-old heartbreak. How hard can parent-trapping widowed ex-lovers be? Of course, just as their plan begins to unfold, a handsome, wealthy viscount starts calling on Beth, offering up the perfect, secure marriage. Beth’s not mature enough for this… Now Gwen must face the prospect of sharing Beth with someone else, forever. And Beth must reckon with the fact that she’s caught feelings, hard, and they’re definitely not for her potential fiancé. That’s the trouble with matchmaking: sometimes you accidentally fall in love with your best friend in the process.
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Gabe Harman

Gabe Harman is a Senior Info Specialist at MU's Engineering library. He focuses on out-reach, instruction, and circulation

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Reading Revelry: May

Happy May! This month’s Reading Revelry recommendations are focused on change and adventure. For all of our students gearing up to complete their semester and begin a well deserved break, these might be concepts you’re about to experience. We hope this month’s selections help you through a season of new chapters. Happy Reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

ISBN: 9781984892591
Publication Date: 2021-04-20
A lyrical and heartfelt collection by an award-winning writer that connects the lives of young people from small towns in Alaska and the American west. Each story is unique, yet universal. In this book, the impact of wildfire, a wayward priest, or a mysterious disappearance ricochet across communities, threading through stories. Here, ordinary actions such as ice skating or going to church reveal hidden truths. One choice threatens a lifelong friendship. Siblings save each other. Rescue and second chances are possible, and so is revenge.

 

 

 

 

 

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

ISBN: 9781250899651
Publication Date: 2023-04-04
The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?

 

 

 

 

 

The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty

ISBN: 9780062678102
Publication Date: 2017-11-14
Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of eighteenth-century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trades she uses to get by–palm readings, zars, and a mysterious gift for healing–are all tricks, both the means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles and a reliable way to survive. But when Nahri accidentally summons Dara, an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior, to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to reconsider her beliefs. For Dara tells Nahri an extraordinary tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire and rivers where the mythical marid sleep, past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises and mountains where the circling birds of prey are more than what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass–a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound
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The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez

ISBN: 9781643753843
Publication Date: 2024-04-02
Alma Cruz, the celebrated writer at the heart of The Cemetery of Untold Stories, doesn’t want to end up like her friend, a novelist who fought so long and hard to finish a book that it threatened her sanity. So when Alma inherits a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, her homeland, she has the beautiful idea of turning it into a place to bury her untold stories–literally. She creates a graveyard for the manuscript drafts and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her. Alma wants her characters to rest in peace. But they have other ideas and soon begin to defy their author: they talk back to her and talk to one another behind her back, rewriting and revising themselves. Filomena, a local woman hired as the groundskeeper, becomes a sympathetic listener to the secret tales unspooled by Alma’s characters. Among them, Bienvenida, dictator Rafael Trujillo’s abandoned wife who was erased from the official history, and Manuel Cruz, a doctor who fought in the Dominican underground and escaped to the United States.
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Gabe Harman

Gabe Harman is a Senior Info Specialist at MU's Engineering library. He focuses on out-reach, instruction, and circulation

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Reading Revelry: April

Since April is National Poetry Month, this month’s selections are all poems about nature, love, and life. We hope all of our patrons find time this month enjoy a poem, two poems, or four poetry books recommended by the staff at the Engineering library. Happy Reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty Boys Are Poisonous by Megan Fox

ISBN: 9781668050415
Publication Date: 2023-11-07
“These poems were written in an attempt to excise the illness that had taken root in me because of my silence. I’ve spent my entire life keeping the secrets of men, my body aches from carrying the weight of their sins. My freedom lives in these pages, and I hope that my words can inspire others to take back their happiness and their identity by using their voice to illuminate what’s been buried, but not forgotten, in the darkness,” says Fox. Pretty Boys Are Poisonous marks the powerful debut from one of the most well-known women of our time. Turn the page, bite the apple, and sink your teeth into the most deliciously compelling and addictive books you’ll read all year.

 

 

 

 

 

Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay

ISBN: 9780822980407
Publication Date: 2015
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude is a sustained meditation on that which goes away—loved ones, the seasons, the earth as we know it—that tries to find solace in the processes of the garden and the orchard. That is, this is a book that studies the wisdom of the garden and orchard, those places where all—death, sorrow, loss—is converted into what might, with patience, nourish us.

 

 

 

 

 

Cover ArtBright Dead Things by Ada Limón; Ada Limón

ISBN: 9781571319258
Publication Date: 2015-09-15
“I am beautiful. I am full of love. I am dying,” the poet writes. Building on the legacies of forebears such as Frank O’Hara, Sharon Olds, and Mark Doty, Limón’s work is consistently generous and accessible–though every observed moment feels complexly thought, felt, and lived. “These poems are, as my students might say, hella intimate. They are meticulously honed and gorgeously crafted.”―Huffington Post “Limón’s work is destined to find a place with readers on the strength of her voice alone. Her intensity here is paradoxically set against the often slow burn of life in Kentucky, and the results will please readers.”–Flavorwir

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lost Spells by Robert Macfarlane; Jackie Morris

ISBN: 9781487007799
Publication Date: 2020-10-27
The Lost Spells evokes the wonder of everyday nature, conjuring up red foxes, birch trees, jackdaws, and more in poems and illustrations that flow between the pages and into readers’ minds. Robert Macfarlane’s spell-poems and Jackie Morris’s watercolour illustrations are musical and magical: these are summoning spells, words of recollection, charms of protection. To read The Lost Spells is to see anew the natural world within our grasp and to be reminded of what happens when we allow it to slip away.
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Gabe Harman

Gabe Harman is a Senior Info Specialist at MU's Engineering library. He focuses on out-reach, instruction, and circulation

Reading Revelry: March

Happy March and early happy International Women’s Day (March 8th)! This month, our recommendations are books by women and about women. We hope you enjoy. Happy Reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

ISBN: 9781250244048
Publication Date: 2022-04-26
Marra — a shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter — is relieved not to be married off for the sake of her parents’ throne. Her older sister wasn’t so fortunate though, and her royal husband is as abusive as he is powerful. From the safety of the convent, Marra wonders who will come to her sister’s rescue and put a stop to this. But after years of watching their families and kingdoms pretend all is well, Marra realizes if any hero is coming, it will have to be Marra herself. If Marra can complete three impossible tasks, a witch will grant her the tools she needs. But, as is the way in stories of princes and the impossible, these tasks are only the beginning of Marra’s strange and enchanting journey to save her sister and topple a throne.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-García

ISBN: 9781432885380
Publication Date: 2021-02-24
After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find–her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region. Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí ; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby

ISBN: 9780525563488
Publication Date: 2020-03-31
Irby is forty, and increasingly uncomfortable in her own skin despite what Inspirational Instagram Infographics have promised her. She has left her job as a receptionist at a veterinary clinic, has published successful books and has been friendzoned by Hollywood, left Chicago, and moved into a house with a garden that requires repairs and know-how with her wife in a Blue town in the middle of a Red state where she now hosts book clubs and makes mason jar salads. This is the bourgeois life of a Hallmark Channel dream. She goes on bad dates with new friends, spends weeks in Los Angeles taking meetings with “tv executives slash amateur astrologers” while being a “cheese fry-eating slightly damp Midwest person,” “with neck pain and no cartilage in [her] knees,” who still hides past due bills under her pillow.

The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

ISBN: 9780399592683
Publication Date: 2020-03-24
Writer Karla Cornejo Villavicencio was on DACA when she decided to write about being undocumented for the first time using her own name. It was right after the election of 2016, the day she realized the story she’d tried to steer clear of was the only one she wanted to tell. So she wrote her immigration lawyer’s phone number on her hand in Sharpie and embarked on a trip across the country to tell the stories of her fellow undocumented immigrants.
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Reading Revelry February

Happy Black History month! This month’s Reading Revelry is focused on supporting the visibility of Black authors and books about Black culture, history, and people. We hope you will find something enjoyable and educational out of our picks for this month. Happy Reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

ISBN: 9780316229296
Publication Date: 2015-08-04
This is the way the world ends. . .for the last time. It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world’s sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester. This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.

His Name Is George Floyd (Pulitzer Prize Winner) by Robert Samuels; Toluse Olorunnipa

ISBN: 9780593490617
Publication Date: 2022-05-17
A landmark biography by two prizewinning Washington Post reporters that reveals how systemic racism shaped George Floyd’s life and legacy–from his family’s roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina, to ongoing inequality in housing, education, health care, criminal justice, and policing–telling the story of how one man’s tragic experience brought about a global movement for change.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

ISBN: 9780061120060
Publication Date: 2006-05-30
Out of print for almost thirty years–due largely to initial audiences’ rejection of its strong black female protagonist–Hurston’s classic has since its 1978 reissue become perhaps the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature. This book follows the recounting of the life of Janie Crawford. Janie recounts her life, her love, the lives of her family, and the world she navigates as a black women living in Florida in the early 20th century.

Black Women Taught Us by Jenn M. Jackson

ISBN: 9780593243336
Publication Date: 2024-01-23
A reclamation of essential history and a hopeful gesture toward a better political future, this is what listening to Black women looks like–from a professor of political science and columnist for Teen Vogue. “Jenn M. Jackson is a beautiful writer and excellent scholar. In this book, they pay tribute to generations of Black women organizers and set forward a bold and courageous blueprint for our collective liberation.”–Imani Perry, author of South to America.