The five candidates that made it to the last round of the esteemed National Book Awards—the top honor for American literature—are particularly exciting this year.
While the finalists soak up all the attention (and create huge wait times as they pile up on hold lists), here are some books on similar themes that might ease the wait.
For recommendations based on Refund by Karen Bender, more books about money and social class:
Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend.
As I make my way into Central Park, a little over 23 miles, the crowd’s loud cheering is a reminder of the finish line ahead. I try to pick up the pace, but my legs are angrily screaming at me to stop. It’s not an option. I hit the wall a few miles back in the Bronx, but I’m still pushing forward. When I pass the 25th mile on Central Park South, I’m greeted by my family and cousins, who give me the final loving push I need to make this an unforgettable experience.
When I reflect back on my first marathon, I was maybe a little too ambitious going into it, but it taught me valuable lessons. Since then, I have become more committed to running, and running has improved every aspect of my life for the better. I met new people, became a healthier person, learned how to balance my work and personal life, and ultimately discovered more about myself.
There are 9 days left until the 2015 TCS NYC Marathon! It’s time to get your New York on and your reading on! This blog post is a continuation of my first set of running book recommendations. We all connect to books differently, and for me the following set of books mean a lot to me. Even after the race is over, my running and reading will continue.
Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run book introduced me to Scott Jurek, an ultrarunner who recently broke the Appalachian Trail thru-hike record by running 2,189 miles in 46 days, 8 hours, and 7 minutes. After reading about the race held in the Copper Canyon that pitted Scott Jurek against tribe members of the Tarahumara in Born to Run, I decided to learn more about Jurek, and read Eat & Run.
One reason I took up recreational running was to become healthier and lose weight. In the past few months I have been more strict about what I eat by cooking my meals and choosing to eat smarter. Since then, my racing times have improved, and Eat & Run further helped me to understand the importance of a balanced diet and its relationship to running.
In Eat & Run, Jurek recalls how his childhood and family shaped his eating and running habits. His ultramarathon race anecdotes are followed by a unique recipe at the end of each chapter, sometimes elaborated on from a previous recipe. While Jurek may be a strict eater, he doesn’t imply that everyone should take up his diet: the connection between food, running, and feeling good about oneself is much more valuable. But, of course, it’s interesting to find out what fuels an amazing runner like Scott Jurek through hours of running.
One of my fellow teammates —so fast we dubbed him Flash—coached me over the summer to become a faster track runner. During a long run we chatted about books and ultramarathons, which led to this recommendation. I can’t thank him enough: as I head into my first ultramarathon later this year, this real first-person account of ultrarunning revealed a whole new world to me.
On his 30th birthday, Dean Karnazes wanted more out of his life, and, after more than 15 years of not running, he abruptly decided to run. He ran straight through that very night, then he kept on running in the morning, and when he finished he realized that he wanted to keep on pushing himself. Karnazes describes a few of his amazing long distance races, including the Western States 100 mile race and the Badwater 135 ultramarathon race, and what sets him apart is his character while running. For a runner who constantly trains for hours on end, he maintains a positive and cheerful attitude, and always has time for his family.
Ultramarathon Man culminates with an epic description of a 199 mile run—a run to help a young girl on the organ transplant waiting list, and to prove to himself that he can run that distance. Normally, the 199 mile race is run by teams where members of each team individually run five miles at a time. Karnazes decided to be his own group. This commitment, determination, and perseverance that Karnazes displays amazed me.
It’s difficult not to be inspired or to get emotional when reading Ultramarathon Man. I have been getting up before 6 a.m. twice a week to train, running about 12-14 miles before work. Karnazes has a similar training regimen, but then continues his training after work, and still has enough time to spend with his family. I’m not comparing myself to Karnazes; I’m inspired and enlightened to know that it’s possible to further push my limits and still enjoy life with focus and determination.
I’m a huge fan of Haruki Murakami: I even met him once at a book signing, and he signed three novels for me. This was before What I Talk About When I Talk About Running was published, before I realized Murakami was a devoted runner too.
Murakami’s memoir allowed me to get to know one of my favorite authors: a reclusive writer who shares a common interest in running. Running is not just a hobby for Murakami, but rather a way for him to express himself and gain clarity and focus when writing. Even though this is a memoir, Murakami mostly describes his writing and running life: how he runs six miles a day preparing for a marathon, how he ran from Athens to Marathon in Greece, how he ran an ultramarathon, how he ran the NYC Marathon, and how, even if he finishes at a slow time, he never walked.
For runners and non-runners alike, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a great way to learn more about this world-renowned author. Here’s an excellent blog post on NYPL about this memoir.
Frank Herbert’s novel Dune is not directly related to running. Cited as the world’s best-selling science fiction novel, Dune is about the political and economic struggle between worlds set in the distant future, but there’s a specific passage in this novel that has stuck with me since I first read it. As the protagonist Paul Atreides is being tested by the leader of the Bene Gesserit, a powerful order of women, he repeats the Litany Against Fear that his mother (also a member of the Bene Gesserit) taught him:
“I must not fear; fear is the mind-killer...”
This phrase is repeated by those who must remain focused and calm when facing adversity.
As I line up before a race, I’m in an anxious state and my nerves take over me. Like other runners, repeating a mantra helps me to concentrate throughout a run. For me, the Litany Against Fear is one of my mantras. I am a huge science fiction fan, and besides transporting me to a foreign world, Dune has mentally prepared me to collect myself and not stray into self-doubt. This last recommendation is also meant for the reader to find a novel that means a lot to them, and to remember that deep inspiration can be found in books.
Final Sprint
These runners are fierce yet humble competitors who never forget to thank volunteers, supporters, and family. After winning a race, they wait at the finish line to cheer on their fellow competitors. I too have learned that although running is a solitary sport, your competitors, teammates, and family run with you in spirit. Since being part of Queens Distance Runners, I have met so many wonderful runners who give nothing less than everything they have—whether it be through volunteering, cheering, or running.
I’m going into this year’s NYC Marathon with confidence: I made my way into the “local competitive” standings, I have the support of teammates and family, and I have an amazing friend who is the team captain and my training partner. It's very important to also train your mind, and reading these inspiring stories help to push one step at a time.
Someone smart once said, “Reading gives you a place to go when you have to stay where you are.”
During Teen Read Week, the Young Adult Library Services Association encourages teens to pick up a new book and get away, so we're offering up five YA selections from our Staff Picks browse tool that involve adventure and literary escape. (And check back every month for more.)
Imagine being an ordinary girl from Jersey and waking up one morning with superpowers. This is the new Ms. Marvel: teenaged, Muslim, powerful! New York, she’s coming for you!
Imagine Hunger Games, X-Men, and Pierce Brown's Red Rising Trilogy rolled into one fantastical saga. Now, imagine a strong female protagonist who takes no prisoners. How desperately do you want to be Mare Barrow?
Meet Mim, the Mistress of Moxie, who set out from Mosquitoland, Mississippi on a quest to find out why her mother stopped answering her letters a few months back. Her narrative voice is singular in recent YA literature. If you're looking for an absurd, uproarious, profoundly hopeful travelogue with an ensemble cast, here it is. Think Charlie Kaufman meets Gordon Korman.
Renegade Princess Lia has just run away from her own wedding with a few of the royal library's most important documents. She's fleeing her destiny and a loveless, arranged marriage, and two men are hot on her trail. One is the prince she jilted at the altar; the other is an assassin who's been sent to kill her.
In Dickensian London in 1725, 17-year-old Arista is known as Lady A—the beautiful, raven-masqued blackmailer of London's aristocracy. But while the rich and titled fear her, she is nothing more than a pawn to an underworld kingpin known as "Bones." Along with her bodyguard Nic and her maid Becky, she is a virtual pauper and prisoner of their Fagin-like master until she's rescued by someone even more powerful then her boss, who wants her blackmailing services for himself.
Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your picks! Tell us what you'd recommend: Leave a comment or email us.
FDNY Outreach will present an Information session on Tuesday, October 27, 2015, 10 am - 2 pm, for career opportunities as: EMT, Paramedic and Firefighter at the Queens Career Center, 168-25 Jamaica Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, New York 11433.
CAM Search and Consulting will present a recruitment on Tuesday, October 27, 2015, 10 am - 2 pm, for Work - at - Home Customer Service Rep. (50 P/T openings), at Brooklyn Workforce 1 Career Center, New York State Department of Labor - Workforce 1 Career Center, 250 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Salsa Caterers will present a recruitment on Wednesday, October 28, 2015, 11 am - 3 pm, for Executive Chef (1 opening) and Service Staff (5 Seasonal openings), at the Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 E. Fordham Road, Bronx, NY 10458.
Staff Management /SMX will present a recruitment on Wednesday, October 28, 2015, 11 am - 3 pm, for Store Operator (50 openings) at Brooklyn Workforce 1 Career Center, New York State Department of Labor Workforce 1 Career Center, 250 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Macy's will present a recruitment on Wednesday, October 28, 2015, 2 - 4 pm, for Star Selling Ambassador, (3 F/T & P/T openings) at Macy's (Parkchester Store), 1441 Metropolitan Avenue, Bronx, NY 10462.
House of Spices will present a recruitment on Thursday, October 29, 2015, 9 am for Import Manager (1 opening), Controller (1 opening), CFO (1 opening) at Flushing Workforce 1 Career Center, 138-60 Barclay Avenue, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355.
Avis Budget Group will present a recruitment on Thursday, October 29, 2015, 10 am - 2 pm, for Oil & Lube Technicians at Avis Budget Group, 23 - 45 88th Street, East Elmhurst, NY 11370.
FedEx Ground will present a recruitment on Thursday, October 29, 2015, 10 am - 2 pm, for Drivers (10 Seasonal openings), at Brooklyn Workforce 1 Career Center, New York State Department of Labor - Workforce 1 Career Center, 250 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Spanish Speaking Resume Writing workshop will be held on Thursday, October 29, 2015, 12:30 - 2:30 pm for all interested job seekers and dislocated workers to organize, revise and update resumes, at Flushing Workforce 1 Career Center, 138 60 Barclay Ave. 2nd Floor, Flushing NY 11355.
Fedcap Rehabilitation Services, Inc. will present a recruitment on Friday, October 30, 2015, 10 am - 2 pm, for Vocational Evaluator (4 openings), Retention Specialist (3 openings), IT Support Specialist (1 opening), Job Developer (5 openings) at the Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 E. Fordham Road, Bronx, NY 10458.
New York Life Insurance Company will present a recruitment on Friday, October 30, 2015, 10 am - 2 pm, for Financial Services Professionals (5 openings), at the Flushing Workforce 1 Career Center, 138 - 60 Barclay Avenue, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355.
H&R Block will present a recruitment on Friday, October 30, 2015, 1 - 3 pm, for Client Services Professional (5 Bilingual - English/Spanish Seasonal openings), at Flushing Workforce 1 Career Center, 138-60 Barclay Avenue, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355.
If you would like to receive information for a future event showcasing employment opportunities at the Hotel Syracuse, please send an email to recruitment.dews@labor.ny.gov with 'Hotel Syracuse" in the subject line.
The New York City Employment and Training Coalition (NYCE&TC) is an association of 200 community-based organizations, educational institutions, and labor unions that annually provide job training and employment services to over 750,000 New Yorkers, including welfare recipients, unemployed workers, low-wage workers, at-risk youth, the formerly incarcerated, immigrants and the mentally and physically disabled. View NYCE&TC Job Listings.
Digital NYC is the official online hub of the New York City startup and technology ecosystem, bringing together every company, startup, investor, event, job, class, blog, video, workplace, accelerator, incubator, resource, and organization in the five boroughs. Search jobs by category on this site.
St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development provides Free Job Training and Educational Programs in Environmental Response and Remediation Tec (ERRT). Commercial Driver's License, Pest Control Technician Training (PCT), Employment Search and Prep Training and Job Placement, Earn Benefits and Career Path Center. For information and assistance, please visitSt. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development or call 718-302-2057 ext. 202.
Brooklyn Workforce Innovations helps jobless and working poor New Yorkers establish careers in sectors that offer good wages and opportunities for advancement. Currently, BWI offers free job training programs in four industries: commercial driving, telecommunications cable installation, TV and film production, and skilled woodworking.
CMP (formerly Chinatown Manpower Project) in lower Manhattan is now recruiting for a free training in Quickbooks, Basic Accounting, and Excel. This training is open to anyone who is receiving food stamps but no cash assistance. Class runs for eight weeks, followed by one-on-one meetings with a job developer. CMP also provides Free Home Health Aide Training for bilingual English/Cantonese speakers who are receiving food stamps but no cash assistance. Training runs Mondays through Fridays for six weeks and includes test prep and taking the HHA certification exam. Students learn about direct care techniques such as taking vital signs and assisting with personal hygiene and nutrition. For more information for the above two training programs, email: info@cmpny.org, call 212-571-1690, or visit. CMP also provides tuition-based healthcare and business trainings free to students who are entitled to ACCESS funding.
Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) trains women and places them in careers in the skilled construction, utility, and maintenance trades. It helps women achieve economic independence and a secure future. For information call 212-627-6252 or register online.
Grace Institute provides tuition-free, practical job training in a supportive learning community for underserved New York area women of all ages and from many different backgrounds. For information call 212-832-7605.
Please note this page will be revised when more recruitment events for the week of October 25 become available.
Social justice issues aren't usually the provenance of children's books, but esteemed author Vera B. Williams, who died last week at 88, made it hers.
Williams deftly painted realistic portraits of urban life in her books, and they are celebrated for their diverse characters (racially and socioeconomically) and straightforward-but-sensitive handling of social and environmental concerns.
Read about Williams' life in her New York Times obituary, and check out her many books in multiple languages from NYPL. Here's a selection of our favorites.
Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend.
We value your feedback. In response to your comments, calls, and emails, today we've released a new version of our website navigation that includes a log in feature. This will provide you with quicker access to your account so that you can check holds, item due dates, and more.
The new log in feature on desktops and laptops
As you may be aware, NYPL offers two catalog experiences. What we commonly call the catalog is typically used by those who visit our neighborhood branches while the classic catalog tends to be used by those working in our research centers. To serve all catalog users, we've provided a drop-down prompt that allows you to select your preferred catalog experience, then log in.
The new log in feature on mobile devices
Many of you asked us to offer a log-in feature on the top navigation area of menu. We will implement that feature today, and we want you to know that we won't be stopping there. In the coming months we will work toward implementing a single sign-on (SSO) solution that will further streamline the log in process. Additionally, SSO will better position us to begin offering new interfaces and tools for you to interact with the Library. It's part of our larger plan to transform nypl.org iteratively over time. And what's the goal of this transformation? To better integrate our rich collection of catalog items with the wealth of other content NYPL has to offer—from our Digital Collections to staff blog posts, listings for public programs, and more.
We will be working on improving log-in feature further over the next few weeks, and doing some online testing of the overall system. For those of you who voiced concerns about the log-in process, we hope this is a good first step in addressing the issue for you. If you have other feedback about the recent changes to the catalog and navigation, please continue to post it here. As I've said before, even when something is “complete” it still won’t be “done.” The Library is always re-evaluating what it can provide to the public and our approach to our website will follow this philosophy.
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, feel free to reach out to me and my team at webfeedback@nypl.org. We’ll read every email!
Last night Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author of the current bestseller Between the World and Me and National Correspondent for The Atlantic, was at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture as part of our public program series, Between the Lines. Mr. Coates was brilliantly interviewed by New York Times Magazine and ProPublica reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones. Throughout the conversation, there was talk about books.
The following are all the books recommended by Ta-Nehisi Coates (and one video) during his mesmerising talk at the Schomburg Center (in the order as they were mentioned). As Mr. Coates said, "folks who are not familiar with black literature, read this book and read a ton of other books."
Published in 1963, it contains two essays: "My Dungeon Shook — Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation," and "Down At The Cross — Letter from a Region of My Mind."
This book is the only footnote in Between the World and Me.
Coates said it is "essential" reading.
Ta-Nehisi Coates also spent a great deal of time describing and recommended the video of the 1965 historic debate between James Baldwin v. William F. Buckley Jr. at Cambridge University on the question: "Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?" Watch the video from Mr. Coates's blog post.
Some kids are abused, and many suffer teasing at the hands of peers. Some kids have psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and schizotypal disorders. A few people are psychopaths. Despite all of this, very few kids commit horrific school violence that includes homicide and/or suicide. In order for this to occur, several factors must coalesce: psychosis or trauma, antisocial personality disorder, sadism and/or self-loathing. Also, weapons must be available to the perpetrators and they must know how to use them.
People with antisocial personality disorder (eg, psychopaths) sometimes commit despicable acts despite the fact that they emerge from loving homes. Traumatized individuals can commit serious violence if they are deeply immersed in fantasy worlds. Their home lives bring them only pain and suffering, which can transform into rage that they aim at their school.
Unfortunately, all too commonly, the friends and parents of school shooters ignore the warning signs. Peers have dismissed the plans of the shooter as false, since they have been lied to many times before. In addition, the shooters, especially ones suffering from psychosis sometimes carefully concealed their problems from the world, desperate to avoid the stigmatic labels that come with admitting "craziness." These kids wanted world to bend to their will, and they became enraged when it refused to do so.
Some of the shooters were narcissistic, obsessed with fantasies of mutilating animals and/or humans and deeply involved with violent video games. However, any one of these factors alone would likely not produce a deadly shooter. It was the individual psychology of each person combined with a deadly cocktail of factors which led to horror and human tragedy. Luckily, some school shootings are averted by the bravery of someone who speaks up about deadly plans that they hear and disturbing behavior that they observe. These heroes are protecting society from unspeakable violence.
How To Prevent School Shootings
Lesson 1: Privacy is Limited to Protect Others
Lesson 2: Do Not Lie to Protect Your Child
Lesson 3: Follow Through With Due Process, No Matter Who is Involved
Lesson 4: Pay Attention if the School is Concerned About Your Child
Lesson 5: Eliminate Convenient Access to Firearms
Lesson 6: Take All Threats Seriously
Lesson 7: Everyone Can Stop School Shootings
Lesson 8: Recognize Rehearsals of Possible Attacks
Lesson 9: Punishment Does Not Prevent Attacks
Lesson 10: Security Cannot Provide Complete Protection
This is a most excellent book written by a clinical psychologist who has an extraordinary understanding of human psychology. I learned much about mental illness and human motivation and behavior.
I love new books and continuations to my favorite series. Here are some recommendations of books I can’t wait to read next year:
The first book on my list is Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. Truthwitch tells the story of Safi. Safi has a magical power called a “witchery.” Safi’s magical skill is rare and dangerous. Safi is a truthwitch with the power to pick out a truth from a lie. Safi hides her power because if the nobility find out about her power they will use her to their advantage. Safi’s friend Iseult is a Threadwitch which means that she can see the invisible ties that bind the lives of the people around her. Together Safi, Iseult, and their friend Prince Merik fight powerful enemies that want to take Safi and use her powers in the Witchlands war…Truthwitch will be released January 5, 2016.
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken will also be released January 5, 2016. Passenger tells the story of Etta Spencer a violin prodigy who suddenly loses everything… and finds a new life. Etta finds that she has traveled through time and inherited a family legacy she has never heard of… the legacy will take her on a life changing adventure…
Roadside Magic by Lilith Saintcrow will be released January 26, 2016. Roadside Magic is the second book in the Gallow & Ragged series. Jerimiah Gallow is a half fae construction worker with tattoos that turn into weapons. Robin Ragged is a woman with secrets… she wants to drag Jerimiah back to the fae world he walked away from… The first book is called Trailer Park Fae.
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard will be released February 9, 2016. Glass Sword is the much anticipated second book in Red Queen series. Glass Sword begins with the protagonist, Mare, on the run from King Maven. Mare is a red blood with powers like the silver bloods….Mare is trying to find others like her that can help the Red people rise above the oppression of the Silvers. But Mare is also in danger of becoming the kind of monster she is trying to save others from…
The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine will be released February 23, 2016. I am very excited about this book. I love a fairy tale retellings! This book tells the tale of Lorelai Diederich the crown princess of Ravenspire, Lorelai wants to kill Queen Irina for stealing her throne and killing her father. Prince Kol of the kingdom of Eldr, makes a deal with Queen Irina to get magic and save his own dying kingdom. Kol has to kill Lorelai and take her heart to the queen. As Kol’s tries to capture Lorelai he realizes that she is more than he expected… and Lorelai is attracted to Kol… However, Lorelai’s fight against the queen may cost her the last thing she has left to lose…
The Mirror King by Jodi Meadows will be released April 5, 2016. The Mirror King is the conclusion to The Orphan Queen. The first book in the series was excellent. I am very eager to read the second book. Princess Wilhelmina is now a prisoner after her identity was discovered. Wilhelmina has to learn to control her magic to save her kingdom… Wilhelmina wants to accept her role as queen but accepting that role would also be accepting war… with the wraith are approaching and destroying the kingdom she must find a way to protect both kingdoms or lose everything…
The Rose and the Dagger by Renée Ahdieh will be released May 3, 2016. The Rose and the Dagger is the second book in the Shahrzad and Khalid saga. Shahrzad now knows who her husband really is and she will do anything to get back to him… the first book is The Wrath and the Dawn.
A Court of Mist and Fury is the second book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy by Sarah J. Maas. Feyre saved Tamlin and his people… and now she is different… she is High Fae… with her new powers new dangers arise. In addition, Feyre has a deal with the high lord of the Night Court… A Court of Mist and Fury will be released May 3, 2016.
The first book in the series The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey tells the story of Cassie is running from Them…the creatures that only look human and are taking over the world...Cassie is trying to find and rescue her brother. Cassie meets Evan Walker and she must determine whether she can truly trust him in a world of danger. The second book in the series is called The Infinite Sea. The last installment in the series is The Last Star: The Third Book of The 5thWave which will be released May 24, 2016. The 5th Wave film will be released January 2016.
The Shadow Hour by Melissa Grey is expected to be released July 12, 2016. The Shadow Hour is the second book in The Girl at Midnight series. The series is set in New York City and follows Echo a girl who was raised by magic creatures. Echo finds herself in the middle of ancient war and discovers things she never knew about the world she lives in….
A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir is the highly anticipated sequel to An Ember in the Ashes series. A Torch Against the Night follows Laia and Elias as they fight against Empire soldiers and attempt to rescue Laia’s brother from prison before he is executed. A Torch Against the Night will be released August 30, 2016.
Heartless by Marissa Meyer (November 8, 2016) is a greatly anticipated story inspired by the Queen of Hearts. Catherine wants to find love on her own terms. She is the favorite to marry the King of Hearts...but her heart belongs to someone else...
On November 2, we will be recognizing five outstanding individuals for their achievements in the fields of art, culture, scholarship, and letters by naming them Library Lions at The New York Public Library's annual Library Lions gala.
This year, we are proud to recognize as our 2015 Library Lions:
Alan Bennett, award-winning author and playwright
Judith A. Jamison, heralded dancer and choreographer
Maira Kalman, celebrated author and illustrator
Karl Ove Knausgaard, groundbreaking novelist
Gloria Steinem, world-renowned activist and author
For over 30 years, the Library has honored those who have made significant contributions to New York City and to the creative community at large by naming them Library Lions, with previous honorees including South African President Nelson Mandela, author Elie Weisel, media mogul Oprah Winfrey, and director Martin Scorcese. Margaret Atwood, Dave Eggers, Kazuo Ishiguro, Robert B. Silvers and Anna Deavere Smith were last year’s Library Lions.
Congratulations to all five 2015 Library Lions honorees.
There is also an exhibition in the McGraw Rotunda on the third floor of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. This display highlights the extraordinary talents of our 2015 Library Lions. As guest curators, each Lion selected two items: one that is directly connected to their own body of work—from early drafts to final realizations—and one that inspires them from the Library's renowned collections. Together, these objects represent a legacy of creativity and inspiration that will continue to influence generations to come. Learn more here.
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), which is a time to celebrate the many and varied contributions of America's workers with disabilities.
This year marks 70 years since the first observance in 1945. The theme is "My Disability is One Part of Who I Am."
Jennifer Sheehy, deputy assistant secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy, in her blog post on dol.gov, discusses the theme, "My Disability is One Part of Who I Am." She asserts that "This simple yet significant message encapsulates that people with disabilities are just that—people. And like all people, we are the sum of many parts, including our work experiences." She also pointed out that National Disability Employment Awareness Month is a time to both celebrate the diverse contributions of America's workers with disabilities and chart a course for increased inclusion.
Jennifer Sheehy, in another blog post, NDEAM: A Milestone Month in a Momentous Year, asserts that the Office of Disability Employment Policy works to increase the number and quality of employment opportunities for people with disabilities through the promotion of effective public policy and provision of technical assistance to employers, the workforce system and others essential to increasing access to employment and job training opportunities for people with disabilities.
Barack Obama in his 2015 Presidential Proclamation affirmed that expanding employment opportunities for people with disabilities is important and the Federal Government is leading by example, currently more Americans with disabilities are in Federal service than in the last three decades. President Obama also stated that " As a Nation, we must continue to promote inclusion in the workplace and to tear down the barriers that remain—in hearts, in minds, and in policies—to the security and prosperity that stable jobs provide and that all our people deserve. And we must actively foster a culture in which individuals are supported and accepted for who they are and in which it is okay to disclose one's disability without fear of discrimination."
Some lines of poetry enter the zeitgeist, assuming a life of their own beyond the constraints of the poem. We've rounded up some of the most iconic, and we're asking you to match them to the poets who wrote them. Read, set, trochee!
NYPL Digital Collections, Billy Rose Theatre Division.
October 28 marks the birthday of Evelyn Waugh: novelist, journalist, biographer, professional curmudgeon. He was a versatile author whose work in one genre often informed another. His reportage in Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea) influenced his travelogue Waugh in Abyssinia and his novel Scoop. (Its original full title was Scoop: A Novel About Journalists.) Accusations of stolen likenesses in Vile Bodies prompted his Daily Mail op/ed “People Who Want to Sue Me,” which in turn likely inspired the author’s note beginning his most famous work, Brideshead Revisited: “I am not I; thou art not he or she; they are not they.” I’ve been a fan of Evelyn Waugh ever since high school, when I read his The Loved One in English class. With a caustic remark for every occasion, he seemed, like Dorothy Parker, to begin every morning by brushing his teeth and sharpening his tongue. So as the anniversary of his birth approaches, I’ve been thinking a lot about Waugh, literature, and Hollywood.
While in Hollywood consulting on a potential film adaptation of Brideshead that never materialized, Waugh observed American West Coast culture up close. His reaction was...not flattering. To be fair, he had a bad impression of Americans going into the visit, suggesting in a letter to his agent that “not...six Americans will understand [Brideshead].” [1] His time in LA led to the writing of The Loved One: An Anglo-American Tragedy. In a 1948 letter, Waugh described the ground he wished to cover with this novel:
The ideas I had in mind in writing were: 1st & quite predominantly overexcitement with the scene of Forest Lawn [a local mortuary]. 2nd the Anglo-American impasse — ‘never the twain shall meet,’ 3rd there is no such thing as an American. They are all exiles uprooted, transplanted & doomed to sterility. The ancestral gods they have abjured get them in the end. I tried to indicate this in Aimée’s last hours. 4th the European raiders who come for the spoils & if they are lucky make for home with them. 5th Memento mori, old style, not specifically Californian. [1]
Waugh’s LA novel mocked Americans as vacuous, uncultured saps, easy marks for the nearest British expat. Its ending is classic Waugh dark comedy, doubtless the reason why Waugh called it his “most offensive work.” [1] He anticipated a harsh backlash upon publication, telling Randolph Churchill (son of Winston), “Give my love to any friends you see in USA. There will be none after the publication of The Loved One." [1] He also asked his agent to avoid publishing the book in communist countries, fearing it would be used as anti-American propaganda. [1]
Pages from the 1948 first edition of Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One, featuring illustrations by Stuart Boyle. General Research Division.
While thinking and reading about The Loved One, my mind turned to the long list of talented authors who all seemed to congregate in Hollywood in the years between the two world wars, looking for (usually successfully) a buck and (usually unsuccessfully) some measure of artistic fulfillment. Many went on, like Waugh, to process their experiences through fiction.
Aerial view of Warner Brothers Studio, home to Dashiell Hammett in the 1930s. NYPL Digital Collections, Billy Rose Theatre Division.
If you wandered the Hollywood studios during 1930-1939, you would find a number of literary luminaries hammering away at a script: Scott Fitzgerald, Nathanael West, Dorothy Parker, William Faulkner, Dashiell Hammett, Aldous Huxley, John O’ Hara, Raymond Chandler, John Dos Passos, and James Agee all worked during this time as scriptwriters. Some met with success: Parker and Budd Schulberg helped write A Star is Born, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Screenplay, while Faulkner contributed to both The Big Sleep and To Have and Have Not. Others, most notably Fitzgerald, were profoundly unhappy with the treatment of their work, or like West, “gave them a fair day’s work” [2] but as little emotional investment as possible. In a period of economic instability, the pay was decent and reliable. “I want nothing from Hollywood but money,” Parker said, “and anyone who tells you that he came here for anything else or tries to make beautiful words out of it lies in his teeth.” [2]
Janet Gaynor and Fredric March in A Star Is Born. NYPL Digital Collections, Rare Book Division.
Writers quickly learned that they were “the most unimportant cog in the Hollywood wheel.” [2] Fine recounts a hunting trip attended by William Faulkner, director Howard Hawks, and Clark Gable. At the time, Faulkner had published The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying, and was working on Light in August.
“Mr. Faulkner,” Hawks remembers [Gable] saying, “what do you think somebody should read if he wants to read the best living writers?” Faulkner answered, “Ernest Hemingway, Willa Cather, Thomas Mann, John Dos Passos, and William Faulkner.” There was a moment’s silence “Oh,” Gable said, recovering, “do you write?” “Yes, Mr. Gable,” Faulkner replied. “What do you do?” [2]
Such ego-dashing encounters disillusioned many authors with the Hollywood experience. But, like Waugh, they used this time as fodder for a number of (hopefully cathartic) novels, which you can read right here at NYPL. Despite — or because of — their intense criticism of LA life, some were subsequently adapted into film, such as the 1975 classic The Day of the Locust.
Secret pasts, government coverups, global intrigue and, of course, The Martian. If you are looking for more, here are a few read alikes for the top 5 bestsellers this week.
#1 Recommendations for readers who enjoyed See Me by Nicholas Sparks, more characters with secrets in their pasts:
Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your picks! Tell us what you'd recommend: Leave a comment or email us.
Dutch folk dancers and singers, New York World's Fair, 1939. Image ID: 1673859
Led by English explorer Henry Hudson, the Dutch first arrived in the land now known as New York City in 1609. The Dutch colony of New Netherland was established in 1614, and New Amsterdam became its capital city several years later.
By the time the English took control over New Amsterdam in 1664, the colony had fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. Because the descendants of those early colonists now number in the millions, Dutch genealogy questions are frequent among researchers of NYPL’s Milstein Division.
New Amsterdam, a small city on Manhattan Island. Image ID: 421958
Primarily focusing on NYPL collections, this guide presents a select list of materials useful for researching Dutch ancestors in New Netherland and colonial New York. Find information on research strategies, family histories, early directories, church records, Dutch genealogy periodicals, and more.
Understanding the historical backdrop of your ancestors’ lives can better prepare you for genealogical research. Refer to the following materials for a history of Dutch settlements in New Netherland and colonial New York:
Search the Classic Catalog to find a wealth of additional resources for in-depth research of New Netherland and colonial New York.
Handbooks
As useful tools for understanding how to do research, handbooks provide a trove of helpful tips and research techniques. Learn the specificities of Dutch genealogy research, including name customs and meanings, where to find Dutch records, and more. These resources also feature record indexes, lists of relevant materials, and repositories for Dutch research:
The New York family history research guide and gazetteer features a comprehensive section for Dutch genealogical research, including research suggestions and information on searching for Dutch and colonial records.
Dutch immigrants, Ellis Island, New York, c. 1906-1914. Image ID: 801544
The Milstein Division offers access to an abundance of family histories, including materials for families of Dutch descent. Search the Classic Catalog to find out if the library holds genealogies on your families of interest.
Searching the catalog by surname will also reveal family files. These files include genealogical research notes, copies of records, transcripts of family histories, family trees, and clippings. The majority of these files exist for families with ties to New York, and include Dutch families.
In addition to locating family files through a surname search in the catalog, you can also view a list of our holdings through browsing the call numbers APT-F and NYGB Fam.
A little Dutch mother, 1904. Image ID: 826888
The following collections also contain materials on New York families, including transcripts of Bible records, church records, and genealogy research notes. Search the guides to these collections to discover what family names are included:
From its inception in 1628 to the English takeover of New Netherland in 1664, the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church was the only denomination permitted to hold public worship services in New Netherland. Regardless of religious background, nationality, and race, nearly all marriages, baptisms, and burials were carried out by the Reformed Church.
The following is a selection of NYC Dutch Church indexes and records available at NYPL:
The Vosburgh Collection includes transcriptions of over a hundred New York State churches, including Reformed Dutch, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and other Protestant denominations. Find details on baptisms, marriages, burials, and membership, confirmation, and communion rolls for years ranging from the early 1700s-1900s. Search this guide by county and denomination for more details.
See yearbooks 1904-1908 and 1922/23 for records of the Dutch Church of Albany, 1683-1779. Records for the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Bergen, NJ are listed in years 1913-1915. The 1916 yearbook also includes the records of Domine Henricus Selyns, minister of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam.
The library also holds the following excerpts of records transcribed from Holland Society yearbooks:
New York, NY: Marriages in the Reformed Dutch Church, 1639-1801
New York, NY: Parents and Witnesses at Baptisms in the Reformed Dutch Church, 1639-1800
Brooklyn, NY: Baptisms and Marriages in the Reformed Dutch Church, 1670-1719
Brooklyn, NY: Cemetery Inscriptions, 1686-1882
Deaths in the Christian Intelligencer from the Reformed Dutch Church, 1830-1871
Record of Burials in the Dutch Church, New York 1727-1803
Ancestry
The following New York Dutch Church collections are available through Ancestry:
New York City Reformed Dutch Marriage Records, 1639-95
New York City, Dutch Church Burials (before 1899)
Staten Island, New York Church Records, 1749-1828
Albany, New York Church Records, 1683-1700
U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-2000
Gateway to North America
Search the Gateway to North America database for records of a number of Dutch churches in New York, including baptismal, marriage, and burial records. Also find Dutch Church charters, catalogs, histories, and transcripts from Holland Society yearbooks. Browse a list of collections included in this database.
Croton-on-Hudson, New York "Dutch Days" Pageant, c. 1912. Image ID: 1635911
Periodicals
Genealogy periodicals include useful information for family history research. Search periodicals to find family histories, indexes, and transcriptions of Dutch records, information about collections of Dutch records, and best practices for Dutch genealogy research.
The Milstein Division holds a vast collection of genealogy and local history periodicals. In particular, the following titles are helpful for researching Dutch and New Netherland families.
New York Genealogical and Biographical Record
Dutch children at Ellis Island, c. 1902-1914. Image ID: 1206545
The library holds all issues of The Record, 1870-present. Years 1870-1910 can be found through the American Periodicals Series database and select years are also available online.
Search The Record for family names via Worden’s Index. Also search for articles by subject, title, and author, and through a number of print indexes available at the library.
de Halve Maen
The de Halve Maen, the journal of The Holland Society of New York, is a valuable source for researching New Netherland culture and families of Dutch New York. Search for articles and Dutch names in the 1923-1991 index.
The Periodical Source Index (PERSI) is an index to over 6,500 genealogy and local history periodicals, including the above publications. Access this index through HeritageQuest and search for articles by surname, location, and publication title.
Also search the Classic Catalog by journal title to find out if the library holds a particular publication.
Dutch folk dancers and singers, New York World's Fair, c. 1939. Image ID: 1673861
Additional Resources
The Milstein Division holds many additional materials useful for New Netherland and New York research. See the following resources for examples:
The Holland Society of New York holds collections for New Netherland studies, particularly concerning genealogy and family history. Its publications include the de Halve Maen and the society’s Yearbooks. A number of additional Holland Society publications are available in the library.
The fine folks at Book Riot are celebrating reading life the weekend of Nov. 7-8, with dozens of amazing speakers heading to our hometown for Book Riot Live.
Get ready—or participate from afar, if you can’t make it to the Big Apple—with books from a few of BRL’s featured authors.
Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend.
"I didn't want to think about how funny a man would have to be to defelct attention from his face."
Welcome back to the October 2015 edition of the Reader's Den! We are at part 2 of 3 of our discussion of Just Call Me Superhero by Alina Bronsky. If you need a copy of the book, then you can reserve a copy through the NYPL catalogue; available in both print and electronic formats and available for checkout with your library card. *There are some spoilers. If you have not finished the book yet, then you may want to revisit this post at a future date.* If you already have a copy, then join the discussion. There are questions throughout this post. However, feel free to highlight any points that came to mind as you read the book.
Marek agrees to attend the group (as a result of a bribe and his romantic interest in the beautiful Janne), the Guru announces that they will take a trip to a countrysite estate and continue filming. During his trip, Marek continues to reject any attempts at friendship and forges ahead with his usual caustic approach. When his absent father dies, he is called home to pay his respects. To further complicate matters, he must grieve alongside his father's young second wife (Marek's former nanny) and his much younger half-brother. During this difficult time, he discovers that he does indeed need the support of those around him. We witness his struggle to make sense of these feelings in relation to his actions and attitude toward life.
Marek is certainly not a hero in the traditional sense. It can be argued that he performed a heroic deed, but even he has difficulty reconciling his actions with his thoughts.
Is he an anti-hero? Why do some readers relate so readily with anti-heroes?
When you learned the circumstances under which Marek was mauled, did this change your opinion of his behaviors and attitude? Is he justified in his response to the outside world and the treatment of those in his life?
There are two seemigly parallel storylines within the book. The first surrounds Marek's relationship with the Guru and the group members, and the second involves his complicated family dynamics. The two stories converge upon the death of Marek's father, whom we, like him, know very little about. During the repass of his father's funeral, Marek begins to take some consideration for the feelings of others in a way that he had not previous to this point. Rather than focusing so much of his attention inward, his ability to appreciate theroy of mind has grown tremendously over the past weeks.
How do Marek's step-mother and half-brother help him come to terms with not only the death of his father but also his feelings about himself?
Towards the end of the novel, Marek finds a list of names and birthdates.The support group members'names are marked with stars. I found it of note that the author chose not to explore this twist further. Were there any indications that the group members had so much in common? Would this novel have been possible if his knowledge had been revealed from the beginning?
These are the last lines of the book: "[I] had a feeling that by the time I got to Berlin my big speech would have dwindled to just a few words. And I wouldn't say them anyway. I turned toward the mirror and took off my glasses."
How did you feel about the conclusion of the story?
Are these short phrases enough to wrap up the larger issues within the story? Can or should those issues be fully resolved for the reader?
In 1992, as the number one NBA draft pick, Shaquille O'Neal was chosen by the Orlando Magic. He would be named Rookie of the Year during his first season, and eventually win three consecutive NBA titles with the LA Lakers. This week for the New York Public Library Podcast, we're proud to present Shaquille O'Neal discussing Germany, Rap, and Slam Dunks.
Paul Holdengräber and Shaquille O'Neal
Known for his "drop step" dunk, which he refers to as the "Black Tornado," O'Neal holds the all-time third highest field goal percentage in the NBA. He describes dunking as akin to kung fu:
"I would compare to being a kung-fu master, and let me tell you why, cause like when I used to dunk and look at opponents, they used to be like and used to be real scared, so I used to get my knees up and try to kick them in the face, touch them in the face, excuse me.No, but, like, the opponents would be real, real scared, so I just kept dunking."
Besides his slam dunk stats, O'Neal may be remembered for his career as a rapper. He views his music as just one realization of an ethos his parents instilled in him:
"One of the things my parents told me was to follow your dreams. So you know as a youngster you have a lot of dreams. So when I was coming up, it was Fat Boys, Big Daddy Kane and LL Cool J, so I used to be sitting in the house and I’d see them and I’d be like, 'Man, I want to do that one day,' and I’d see Dr. J and you know Patrick Ewing and all those guys and I’d be like, 'Man, I want to do that one day.' Then I’d see Arnold Schwarzenegger and I’d say, 'Man, I want to do that one day.' So for me doing a rap album wasn’t about me being a rapper, it was about me continuing to follow my dreams. And get you know, getting a chance to rock out with my favorite artists, that’s what it was about. But Biggie was phenomenal. He was the only guy I seen who didn’t write his stuff down. Him and Jay Z."
As a young man, O'Neal lived briefly in West Germany. He remembers it as a time in which he honed his basketball technique:
"Wildflecken, West Germany. When I first went I hated my father for taking me out of the country but, you know, as I—and I’m probably going to mention him a lot, my mother and father a lot. But what that did was it taught me how to deal with all types of people. You take a guy from Newark, New Jersey, move him to Hinesville, Georgia, from Hinesville to Germany, from Germany to San Antonio, San Antonio to Louisiana, you learn to deal with all types of people. So I thank him for that. When I got to Germany I was able to focus on my craft. Because I lived on an army base, there wasn’t a lot of juvenile delinquent activities going on, because you mess around in Germany and the polizei get on your butt, it’s all over. So on the base, you know, you go to the gym, go to the store, go home, and when it snowed the snow was so high we missed school for weeks at a time."
You can subscribe to the New York Public Library Podcast to hear more conversations with wonderful artists, writers, and intellectuals. Join the conversation today!
Before The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time hit Broadway, it was a fantastic novel by Mark Haddon. Fifteen-year-old Christopher is a brilliant boy with a differently wired brain, who's accused of killing his neighbor’s dog. As he tries to track down the real killer, the story becomes a multifaceted mystery.
If you loved the story, we’ve compiled a list of other YA books that echo Curious Incident’s sense of mystery and fantastic storytelling.
More young-adult mysteries…
…and more character-driven YA books that help teens make sense of the world.
Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you'd recommend.
Ta-Nehisi Coates also spent a great deal of time describing and recommended the video of the 1965 historic debate between James Baldwin v. William F. Buckley Jr. at Cambridge University on the question: "Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?" 
Sloane Crosley comes to 
