List

Reading, Libraries, and Books

• Adults
• Audiobooks
• Movies & TV
• Art & Entertainment

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  The Bad-ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts

  2016 by Hammer, Joshua

  As soon as I heard the title, I had to check it out. Librarian, explorer, and adventurer Abdel Kader Haidara engineered a secret operation to smuggle 350,000 rare Islamic texts out of Timbuktu to safety. File under: stranger than fiction. Audiobook available from Hoopla.

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  The Book Thief

  2006 by Zusak, Markus

  Young Liesel Meminger steals books for all the right reasons in Nazi Germany during WWII. Lyrical, full of heart and loss--a narrative you will never forget. I also recommend the 2013 movie adaptation for a book/ movie discussion night. Audiobook available from Overdrive.

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  The Bookshop

  2019

  A bookstore owner and her bibliophile supporters vs. a well-connected woman who wants her name on a new arts center which would displace the bookshop. Set in 1959 in a quaint town in Suffolk, this movie is a beautiful period piece that shows how the passion for reading perseveres. Based on the novel by Penelope Fitzgerald, the eBook is available from Overdrive and the movie from Kanopy.

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  The Eyre Affair: Thursday Next Series, Book 1

  2009 by Fforde, Jasper

  If you ever wanted to jump inside the pages a beloved novel, this British comedic sci-fi book is for you. When a criminal mastermind kidnaps Jane Eyre from her story, literary detective Thursday Next races against time to save Charlotte Bronte's original plot. It's all very metafictional and a splendid distraction. Available as an audiobook and eBook from Overdrive.

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  The Librarians: Season 1

  2014

  These librarians do a lot more than read books. Very Indiana Jones-like, they compete against evildoers and librarian enemies to acquire powerful magical artifacts for a secret library hidden below the Metropolitan Public Library. A cheesy, fun family-friendly TV series that puts a whole new spin on special collections. Available from Hoopla.

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  The Library at the Edge of the World

  2017 by Hayes-McCoy, Felicity

  Ready for a new start, 51-year-old Hanna Casey moves back to her hometown and takes a job as a library branch manager. The small Irish coastal town setting with its quirky characters and their growing community spirit to save the local library from closing make a gentle, sweet story. There’s even an awesome bookmobile! Audiobook available from Hoopla and eBook from Overdrive.

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  The Library Book

  2018 by Orlean, Susan

  Susan Orlean delves into the history of libraries and investigates the 1986 catastrophic fire at the Los Angeles Public Library. Her lifelong love affair with reading and books coalesce with the ever-evolving function of libraries. The author narrates the book, if you decide to listen. Audiobook and eBook available Overdrive.

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• Maya Angelou, and Still I Rise

  2017

  What better way to celebrate reading and books than watching this inspiring documentary about poet, memoirist, and activist Maya Angelou. After a traumatic experience at age 7, Angelou stopped talking for 5 years and during that time she read every book in the school library. Once she decided to speak, she had a lot to say. Her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is available as eBook and audiobook (Angelou narrates) on Overdrive. This doc is available on Hoopla and Kanopy.

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• Northanger Abbey

  2008

  An enthusiastic reader of Gothic tales, Catherine Morland can't help imagining all sorts of romantic intrigue surrounding the wealthy General Tilney and his household when she accepts an invitation to stay at the family seat, known as Northanger Abbey. This is my favorite movie adaptation of Jane Austen's satirical novel, with Felicity Jones perfect as the naive "heroine in training." Available from Hoopla.

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