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The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements

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The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults and Kids (young readers’ edition)

How has beautiful-but-deadly mercury helped us discover the sites where Lewis and Clark camped?

Why is the strong nuclear force like a Tyrannosaurus rex?

What quip by his friend Albert prompted Niels Bohr to reply, “Einstein! Stop telling God what to do”?

The Disappearing Spoon embarks on a journey through the periodic table—but a periodic table far removed from the boring version taught in so many high school chemistry classes. Sam Kean wields a sly sense of humor and a keen eye for human absurdities as he explores forgotten history, quirky science, and the strangeness of the universe.

The author has also published a young readers’ edition aimed at middle school students, to ensure that kids can get in the fun as well.

Oh—and that evanescent spoon? Mold it out of gallium (melting point 85 degrees F), give it to your friends for stirring their hot beverages, and savor their consternation as it disintegrates in their cups.

Better living through chemistry, indeed.

Find both editions in the catalog.

What the Eyes Don’t See A Story of Crisis, Resistance and Hope in an American City

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What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance and Hope in an American City
By Mona Hanna-Attisha
Who it’s for:  Adults

In 2014, the water source for residents living in the city of Flint, Michigan was switched from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the Flint River, which was considered less costly.  Residents were immediately concerned that the water smelled and tasted bad, and looked dirty, but public officials continued to say that the water was fine.  In August of 2015, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician and professor at Hurley Medical Center in Flint was informed by a friend that the residents’ concerns were well founded.  Not only was the water dirty, it also contained very high levels of lead.  Concerned about her young Flint patients, Dr.  Mona (as she likes to be called) immediately sought out test data which would reveal whether high levels of lead were actually present in the blood tests of these children.

In What the Eyes Don’t See, Dr. Mona gives her own account of the crisis.  Armed with data that confirmed high levels of lead were present in the blood of Flint children, Dr. Mona stopped at nothing to get local government to switch the water source and save Flint’s children from the devastating, life-long effects of lead poisoning.  She shares stories of her heritage, her belief in activism, her work at Hurley Medical Center, and the small team of supporters who helped her initiate this change.       Find it in our catalog.

What the Eyes Don’t See has been chosen as the 2019 One Maryland One Book.  Take some time to read this gripping story as it is shared through discussion and programming throughout the state of Maryland this fall.  Register to join us at the Leonardtown Library for the Director’s Book Club on Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 12:15 p.m..  St. Mary’s County Library Director, Michael Blackwell, will host a book discussion of this book.

Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide

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Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide by Tony Horwitz
Format: Book, eBook
Who it’s for: Adults

In the 1850s, Frederick Law Olmsted (future architect of Central Park and many other landscapes and parks) set out on a journey through the American South as a correspondent for the New York Times, writing about his travels under the pseudonym “Yeoman.” Olmsted wrote about the people, places, and cultures he encountered, and later turned his dispatches into three books.

Over 150 years later, Tony Horwitz set out on an Amtrak train to follow Olmsted’s path and document what he found. He traveled through western Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Texas, meeting locals at bars and restaurants, convenience stores, and shops. Horowitz (who passed away in May, just after the publication of Spying on the South) was an easy conversationalist who made most people he met feel at ease in speaking openly about their political, social, religious, and economic thoughts and beliefs. He boarded a coal barge and rode down the Ohio River, visited former plantations now housing museums or wedding venues, rode a mule through part of Texas with a guide seemingly immune to Horwitz’s charm, and spent time in a Texas border town. 

Horwitz observed an American South much changed from the one Olmsted saw. Once bustling towns are now characterized by deserted storefronts and an area of Texas once populated with free-thinking, anti-slavery Germans is now home to their more commercially minded descendants, but parallels remain. Throughout his journey, Horwitz encountered divisions similar to those recorded by Olmsted in the antebellum South – “extreme polarization, racial strife, demonizing of the other side, embrace of enflamed opinion over dialogue and debate.” Horwitz didn’t disparage or belittle the people he met on his journey, even if he ultimately disagreed with them. Every interaction was characterized by his desire to understand what’s going on in the hearts and minds of the people of a town or city.

Horwitz ultimately felt optimistic about the future. Spying on the South ends with a discussion of his two days spent wandering Central Park, Olmsted’s first urban landscaped park. Olmsted intended his parks to be gathering places that could overcome the barriers thrown up in society. In the park, Horwitz observed people of all races, languages, and socioeconomic statuses enjoying themselves outside of the hustle of New York City. 

Horwitz’s work in general is recommended for those who enjoy travelogues and history. In addition to Spying on the South, he is the author of Confederates in the Attic, Blue Latitudes, A Voyage Long and Strange, and Midnight Rising.

Find Spying on the South in the catalog.

Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee

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Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Furious Hours is many things: a historical account of the actions of the “voodoo priest” Reverend Willie J. Maxwell of Coosa County, Alabama; a gripping retelling of the trial of Maxwell’s vigilante murderer Robert Burns; an ode to the lawyer that defended them both, Thomas “Big Tom” Radney; and the novel that Harper Lee never finished.

Cep takes readers back to 1970s Alabama to explore a story that made headlines and captivated news audiences across the country. In a span of a few short years, several of Reverend Maxwell’s family members and acquaintances died under suspicious circumstances, and Maxwell was left to collect the life insurance payments. Lacking sufficient evidence to explain the deaths, the town suspected Reverend Maxwell was using voodoo to kill his victims. Fed up with living in fear and frustrated by the inability of law enforcement to stop the carnage, Burns shoots Maxwell at the funeral of one of his victims.

After reading about these peculiar events, Harper Lee traveled back to her home state on a quest to write a best-selling, true-crime novel that was rooted in old-fashioned journalism and that steered clear of the “fact-bending” that was popular in non-fiction at the time. But, this novel never made it to press.

In Furious Hours, Cep pieces together the facts that still remain and offers an inside look at Lee during the years following the success of To Kill a Mockingbird.  Cep’s novel is informative and well-researched, and she gracefully recaptures the drama of the courtroom. Furious Hours is the debut novel of the Maryland native. Find it in the catalog.

Humanimal: How Homo sapiens Became Nature’s Most Paradoxical Creature

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Humanimal: How Homo sapiens Became Nature’s Most Paradoxical Creature by Adam Rutherford
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Many of us humans like to believe that we’re somehow more, or better, or at least fundamentally different from other sorts of animals. Others contend that no, there’s nothing that elevates us above any other creature (other than possibly our egos). Humanimal doesn’t campaign for either camp, but explores the evidence on both sides.

The book begins with a comparison of humans’ and other animals’ practices relating to tool use and to sexual behaviors. It then wends its way through the evolution and current manifestations of several characteristically human features, from our DNA to our languages. Presented in short, topical chapters, Humanimal is a celebration of both our animal nature and our human uniqueness. Find it in the catalog.

This is Motherhood: A Motherly Collection of Reflections and Practices

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This is Motherhood: A Motherly Collection of Reflections and Practices by Jill Koziol and Liz Tenety
Publication Date: March 2019
Format: Book
Who’s it for: Mamas everywhere

Published by the co-founders of “Motherly,” an online community, This is Motherhood is a collection of essays and practices written by mothers from all walks of life. Each woman’s voice helps to address the complexity of motherhood and gently reminds us that there is no one right way to be a mother. To further the reader’s introspection of a particular topic, each chapter also concludes with a journaling or meditative exercise. As a reader makes their way through the book, one central message remains loud and clear: motherhood can be hard and ultimately, mamas have to do what is best for them and their children–unsolicited parenting advice, be gone!

My first thoughts after reading this book were: “Oh my goodness, why couldn’t this book have been published before my oldest child was born?!” As any new mother might experience, our inner voices can sometimes be overwhelming and our thoughts can be nonsensical:
“Am I feeding my baby enough?”
“Is my baby happy?”
“My baby hates me! I can’t make him stop crying!”
“Wow…I really need a shower…but taking a moment for myself is so selfish!”
“If I go out with my friends, will my baby think that I left her?”

Concerned with the many worries and doubts that motherhood brings, mothers can often feel alone in their struggle to understand it all. This book hides nothing in addressing both those great highs of motherhood (My baby smiled at me!!) and those low-lows (When was the last time I got a restful night’s sleep?). I found so much comfort in these women’s words and stories. Reading about other mother’s perspectives has shown me that women everywhere are experiencing and thinking similar things while navigating through motherhood, which is so wonderfully reassuring. Mamas, we are not alone and we’ve got this!

Bonus: This book is now my go-to baby shower gift! Babies are adorable and new and exciting…but let’s not forget about supporting those mamas too!

Find it in our catalog.