Staff Picks: Nonfiction Animal Explorations

Mon, 06/09/2025 - 2:43pm by erin

Take a deep dive into the fascinating world of animals in this collection of nonfiction titles about animal senses, owls, eels, and migrating birds. Experience the world from their points of view, learn the mysteries of their secret lives, and expand your understanding of the natural world!

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong | Request Now

The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, and electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world. This book welcomes us into the unfathomable dimension of how animals perceive the world. We encounter beetles drawn to fires (and fireworks), songbirds that can see the Earth’s magnetic fields, and brainless jellyfish that nonetheless have complex eyes. We discover that a crocodile’s scaly face is as sensitive as a lover’s fingertips, the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, and fingernail-sized spiders can make out the the moon's craters. We meet people with unusual senses, from women who can make out extra colors to blind individuals who can navigate using reflected echoes like bats. Yong tells the stories of pivotal discoveries in the field and examines several mysteries.

What An Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman | Request Now

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Genius of Birds and The Bird Way, a splendid scientific exploration of owls—the most elusive group of birds—and an investigation into why these remarkable yet mysterious animals exert such a hold on human imagination. For centuries, owls have entranced and intrigued us. What an Owl Knows is an awe-inspiring and spellbinding journey across the globe and through human history. It’s also a radiant account of the astonishing health, hunting skills, communication, and sensory prowess that separate the owl from nearly all other birds. An extraordinary glimpse into the mind of these dazzling animals, What an Owl Knows pulls back the curtain on the hidden and still undiscovered realities of our shared world.

A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds by Scott Weidensaul | Request Now

A breathtaking exploration of the science and wonder of global bird migration. In the past two decades, our understanding of bird migration—the navigational and physiological feats that enable birds to cross immense oceans, fly above the highest mountains, go weeks without sleep, or remain in unbroken flight for months at a stretch—has exploded. Scientists have made surprising discoveries: certain species, such as thrushes, can avoid dehydration over long flights by “drinking” from their muscles and organs, extending their flight range by almost 30 percent, or more than 2,000 miles. While we’ve known for decades that birds can orient themselves using the Earth’s magnetic field, a new leading theory is that they do so through quantum entanglement. In A World on the Wing, author/researcher Scott Weidensaul shares these revelations to convey the wonder of bird migration and its global sweep, taking the reader from the shores and mudflats of the Yellow Sea in China to the remote mountains of northeastern India and the salt lakes in southern Cyprus in the Mediterranean.

The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination With the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World by Patrik Svensson  | Request Now

For fans of H is for Hawk and The Soul of an Octopus, The Book of Eels is a meditation on the world’s most elusive fish—the eel—and a reflection on the human condition. Not much is known about the European eel or the Anguilla anguilla. So little that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the “eel question”: Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? Even today, in an age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don’t understand what drives them, after living for decades in freshwater, to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. They remain a mystery.

Staff Picks: School's Out!

Thu, 06/05/2025 - 2:59pm by evelyn

School’s out! Are your kids already complaining that they’re bored? Our first and best solution is AADL’s SUMMER GAME, which lasts all summer long! But if you want another suggestion, these books are jam-packed with activities to keep kids busy!

Unbored Adventure by Joshua Glenn & Elizabeth Foy Larson | Request a Copy

Of the four books listed here, Unbored Adventure has the most diverse group of activities. You’ll find the rules for games from flashlight tag to bingo, lists of adventure movies to watch, science experiments, and way, way more.

If your kids love the I Survived books, they’ll be excited to learn their own woods survival skills, like how to start a fire without a match, or how to sleep outside without a sleeping bag. There also are instructions on how to make a survival paracord bracelet, which they can do at a library event!

Sleuth & Solve by Victor Escandell | Request a Copy

The imaginative Sleuth & Solve will draw kids in with the mustachioed, slightly villainous-looking detective on the front cover. Once inside, they will discover more than 20 mysteries to solve. The mysteries are divided into two categories: logic, which has clear solutions hidden in the text, and imagination, which requires more out-of-the-box thinking.

Each double-page spread in Sleuth & Solve explains the mystery with clues and great cartoon drawings. Once kids are ready to know the solution, it's revealed behind a lift-the-flap feature. Kids can read this book on their own or use it as a game with friends. Each puzzle is given a difficulty level and a points assignment. Bonus: if your kiddo likes this one, there’s an entire series to check out!

Stay Curious and Keep Exploring NEXT LEVEL by Emily Calandrelli | Request a Copy

Author Emily Calandrelli wears many hats: MIT aeronautics engineer, former host of a TV science program for kids, and author of many books, including this great one filled with science experiments. 

Divided into fun chapters like “Scary Science” and “Glam, Glitz, and Glow,” Stay Curious has an experiment for every kid. One of the things I like most about this book—besides the cute pictures—is that each experiment has a scientific explanation. Not only will kids get to make glowing jellyfish using turmeric, but they’ll also learn about bioluminescence and why this particular spice glows.

New Favorites for New Cooks by Carolyn Federman | Request a Copy

Picture this: It’s dinner time in your house. You’re setting the table. But you know what you’re not doing? COOKING! Because your kid has learned how to cook delicious meals and has made you dinner! 

Filled with delicious recipes, New Favorites for New Cooks gives lots of tips for new cooks (kids or otherwise!), like what to do if your garlic starts to brown, how to cut a mango, and the best way to store fresh herbs. Kids can use this information while cooking dishes like brown sugar polenta, summer rolls with peanut sauce, and chocolate lava cupcakes. Help them get started with basic knife skills, and then sit back and reap the rewards.

Pride Picks

Tue, 05/27/2025 - 8:53am by evelyn

Happy LGBTQ+ Pride Month! The library has so many great resources. It’s hard to narrow them down to just four, but here are a few choices to jump-start your month!

Transgender Day of Visibility Zine 2025 | Download

Every year, the library produces a zine for Transgender Day of Visibility, which is celebrated annually on March 31. The zine is a beautiful mix of art, poetry, and comics and serves as a community project with entries sourced from local authors and artists. I look forward to seeing the new version every year. It’s part of our downloadable collection, so if you’ve missed previous issues, then it’s not too late! You can find all the issues in our catalog and either read them in your browser or download them to read later.

Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love | Request a Copy

This is one of my favorite books for any kid, for any month or reason! Julián is a Mermaid is practically wordless, but it shows the fear and excitement of a young boy discovering who he is. Julián sees drag queens preparing for the annual mermaid parade in Coney Island and wants to be just like them. When his abuela catches him making a costume—out of her plants and curtains—Julián worries about how she will react. Abuela’s gentle acceptance is wonderfully depicted. 

One of my favorite things about this book is that it’s printed on brown paper. Almost all of the people in the book are people of color. Initially, Love had a hard time achieving the results she wanted while drawing on white paper. When she switched to drawing on brown paper, then her characters glowed. Although it’s unusual, her publisher agreed to print the book that way, and the result is spectacular. Julián is a Mermaid is one of the books featured in the library's kit, Stories to Go: Gender, for people looking for more books on gender to share with kids.

Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest to Track Down the Last Remaining Lesbian Bars in America by Krista Burton | Request a Copy

If nonfiction is more your speed, check out Moby Dyke, an ode to lesbian bars—both past and present—across the country. As LGBTQ+ people have become more accepted in mainstream spaces, gay bars of all kinds have become less plentiful. Lesbian bars, which have always been fewer in number than those catering to gay men, are now on the brink of extinction. 

In Moby Dyke, Burton travels across the country—fairly close to post-COVID lockdowns—to visit remaining bars and examine herself, the social scene, and the country as a whole. Through personal reflections on her life, particularly her relationship with her Mormon family and her trans husband, Burton captures a poignant snapshot of queer history, resilience, and the enduring need for community spaces.

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson | Request a Copy

Want to read a delightful teen romance? Then pick up You Should See Me in a Crown. The story follows Liz Lighty, a smart, ambitious Black teen attending a wealthy, mostly white high school. Liz dreams of becoming a doctor and is counting on a music scholarship to get into college. When the scholarship falls through, she enters the race for prom queen in hopes of winning the prize money that comes with the crown. 

Liz is out of her depth, and that’s before a new girl, Mack, moves to town. Mack is funny, smart, and beautiful. She’s also running for prom queen, and Liz is falling for her—hard. Can Liz navigate school, a prom queen campaign, and a new crush? You Should See Me in a Crown is a charming story about doing your best to shine, regardless of the circumstances.

Staff Picks: Con Artists

Sat, 05/24/2025 - 1:51pm by nicole

Scammers and their tricks can be fascinating to read about, but nobody does it better than a con ARTIST! These true stories are about frauds, scams, and crimes exclusive to the world of art.

Con/Artist: The Life and Crimes of the World's Greatest Art Forger by Tony Tetro | Request Now

Find out about the secrets and corruption of the art universe and learn a bit of art history, too! The world’s most renowned art forger, who has been duping the art world for 45 years and served time after a widely publicized trial, reveals the secrets behind his decades of deception, including painting like the masters, exposing a corrupt art world, and providing an art history lesson wrapped in sex, drugs, and Caravaggio.  

All That Glitters: A Story of Friendship, Fraud, and Fine Art by Orlando Whitfield | Request Now

A dazzling insider look at the contemporary art world and the meteoric rise and fall of the seductive, charismatic, utterly amoral young, American art dealer, Inigo Philbrick. Author Orlando Whitfield and Philbrick met in 2006 at Goldsmiths University, where the total opposites became best friends. By 2007, they were art dealing together, and two years later, they were looking for a gallery space. Philbrook took on work for the prestigious London gallery White Cube, while Whitfield set up his gallery with a partner. He watched Philbrick quickly immerse himself in a world of private jets and lavish trips and close multimillion-dollar deals for major clients.

To those who did not know, Philbrick seemed like a brilliant art-world hotshot. But underneath the extravagant façade, his complicated financial schemes unraveled. Monthly interest installments were left unpaid, calls were dodged, and letters from auction houses were faked. With debt, lawsuits, and court summons piling up, Philbrick went into an inescapable tailspin of lies and subterfuge.

By 2019, things spiraled enough out of control for Philbrick to flee to the remote island of Vanuatu, 300 miles from Fiji. In 2020, he was arrested by U.S. Marshals and flown to Guam, where he was arraigned in a military court. This unique, shocking, and page-turning story is compulsively readable as it sweeps you up in adventure and downfall. A close-up of two very young players in the contemporary art world who each pay a high price—in very different ways—make it an irresistible, cautionary tale.

Fakes, Forgeries, and Frauds by Nancy Moses | Request Now

What's real? What's fake? Why do we care? Today, these questions are more important than ever because they reveal an unsettling reality. Fakes, Forgeries, and Frauds goes beyond the headlines, tweets, and blogs to explore the true nature of authenticity and why it means so much today. This book delivers nine fascinating true stories to introduce the fakers, forgers, art authenticators, and others that populate this dark world. What happens when spiritual truth conflicts with historical fact? Can an object retain its essence when most of it has been replaced? Why do some art patrons place a higher premium on an excellent copy than the original? Why do we find fakes eternally fascinating and forgers such appealing con artists? Fakes, Forgeries, and Frauds show that reality is mutable, unsettling, and weird. Readers discover things that are less than meets the eye—and might even come to reconsider what's real and fake and why they should care. 

The Art of the Con: The Most Notorious Fakes, Frauds, and Forgeries in the Art World by Anthony M. Amore  | Request Now

Art scams are so numerous today that the specter of a lawsuit arising from a mistaken attribution has scared several experts away from the business of authentication and with good reason. Art scams are increasingly convincing and involve incredible sums of money. The cons perpetrated by unscrupulous art dealers and their accomplices are proportionately elaborate. The Art of the Con tells the stories of some of history’s most notorious yet untold cons. They involve stolen art hidden for decades; elaborate ruses that involve the Nazis and allegedly plundered art; the theft of a conceptual prototype from a well-known artist by his assistant to be used later to create copies; the use of online and television auction sites to scam buyers out of millions; and other confidence scams incredible not only for their boldness but more so because they worked. Using interviews and newly released court documents, The Art of the Con will also take readers into the investigations that led to the capture of the con men, who oftentimes return to the world of crime. For some, it’s an irresistible urge because their innocent dupes share something in common—they want to believe.

Staff Picks: Jewish American Heritage Month

Wed, 05/14/2025 - 11:24am by maddiefancett

Jewish American Heritage Month is a chance to reflect on the stories passed down, uncovered, reimagined, and retold. The titles in this list span generations and geographies, exploring complex family histories and offering a powerful glimpse into Jewish life, memory, and culture. Click for more ways to explore Jewish American Heritage Month.

Almost Lost: Detroit Kids Discover Holocaust Secrets and Family Survivors, by Pauline Loewenhardt | Request Now

The story begins in the mid-1990s when Pauline and her siblings discovered descendants of one of their father's brothers in the Netherlands, which opened the door to family secrets and mysteries around their Jewish heritage, World War II, and the Holocaust. Through the years, Pauline managed to forge relationships with these newly-discovered family members, and in the process, learned the truth about her family's past. The epic story concludes with an epilogue about the newest generation of her extended family and its continued growth.
 

Zaftig, by Molly Pershin Raynor | Request Now

In her exceptional debut collection of poems, Molly Raynor welcomes you to sit at the table with her ancestors, mothers, sisters, friends, and wild women as she glues together moving memories of waxy-lipped kisses and potato peel dresses. Ghosts of the old country, lost loves, and the unborn haunt Zaftig. Raynor’s poems are imbued with deep Judaic traditions and a sprinkle of Yiddish. They burst forth with sensuality, survival, and the push-pull of women’s bodies as coveted flesh. Braiding together words like bread to lay on the table in honor of the beauty & the terror of living, these poems breathe new life. Inspired by the past, but firmly planted in the present, Zaftig joyfully takes up space like the powerful women who fill Raynor’s heart and words.

The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon | Request Now

A young escape artist and budding magician named Joe Kavalier arrives on the doorstep of his cousin, Sammy Clay. While the long shadow of Hitler falls across Europe, America is happily in thrall to the Golden Age of comic books, and in a distant corner of Brooklyn, Sammy is looking for a way to cash in on the craze. He finds the ideal partner in the aloof, artistically gifted Joe, and together they embark on an adventure that takes them deep into the heart of Manhattan, and the heart of old-fashioned American ambition. From the shared fears, dreams, and desires of two teenage boys, they spin comic book tales of the heroic, fascist-fighting Escapist and the beautiful, mysterious Luna Moth, otherworldly mistress of the night. Climbing from the streets of Brooklyn to the top of the Empire State Building, Joe and Sammy carve out lives, and careers, as vivid as cyan and magenta ink. 
 

Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family, by Laura Arnold Leibman | Request Now

An obsessive genealogist and descendant of one of the most prominent Jewish families since the American Revolution, Blanche Moses firmly believed her maternal ancestors were Sephardic grandees. Yet she found herself at a dead end when it came to her grandmother's maternal line. Using family heirlooms to unlock the mystery of Moses's ancestors, Once We Were Slaves overturns the reclusive heiress's assumptions about her family history to reveal that her grandmother and great-uncle, Sarah and Isaac Brandon, actually began their lives as poor Christian slaves in Barbados. Tracing the siblings' extraordinary journey throughout the Atlantic World, Leibman examines artefacts they left behind in Barbados, Suriname, London, Philadelphia, and, finally, New York, to show how Sarah and Isaac were able to transform themselves and their lives, becoming free, wealthy, Jewish, and-at times-white. While their affluence made them unusual, their story mirrors that of the largely forgotten population of mixed African and Jewish ancestry that constituted as much as ten percent of the Jewish communities in which the siblings lived, and sheds new light on the fluidity of race-as well as on the role of religion in racial shift-in the first half of the nineteenth century.
 

A Real Pain (2024) | Request Now

Mismatched cousins reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother, but their old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. Featuring Jesse Eisenberg, Keiran Culkin, Olha Bosova, and Banner Eisenbert.

Staff Picks: Modern Jane Austen Retellings

Tue, 05/13/2025 - 1:08pm by erin

If you can’t get enough Jane Austen and are looking for some retellings to breathe new life into her timeless tales, these books sing with new voices and modern settings! 

Incense and Sensibility by Sonali Dev | Request Now

Romantic fiction author Sonali Dev writes a smoldering story inspired by Sense and Sensibility. Yash Raje, California's first Indian-American gubernatorial candidate, has a controlled life that comes tumbling apart after a friend is critically injured in a hate crime, triggering a panic in Yash that causes him to black out. His family is desperate to keep his condition under wraps, so they turn to the one person they trust, India Dashwood (his sister's best friend), who is California's foremost stress management coach. Raised by a family of yoga gurus, India has helped San Francisco's overachievers without batting an eye for years, but Yash's simmering intensity, and faith in his political beliefs challenge her ability to resist his charms.  India and Yash shared a night many years ago - dare they rekindle their passion and risk destroying everything? 

Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal | Request Now

In this retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in modern-day Pakistan, Alys Binat has sworn never to marry--until an encounter with one Mr. Darsee at a wedding makes her reconsider. A scandal and vicious rumor in the Binat family have destroyed their fortune and prospects for desirable marriages, but Alys, the second and most practical of the five Binat daughters, has found happiness teaching English literature to schoolgirls. Knowing that many of her students won't make it to graduation before dropping out to marry and start having children, Alys teaches them about Jane Austen and her other literary heroes and hopes to inspire them to dream of more. When an invitation arrives to the biggest wedding their small town has seen in years, Mrs. Binat excitedly sets to work preparing her daughters to fish for eligible--and rich--bachelors, certain that their luck is about to change. But as the days of lavish wedding parties unfold, the Binats wait breathlessly to see if Jena will land a proposal--and Alys begins to realize that Darsee's brusque manner may be hiding a very different man from the one she saw at first glance.

Relative Strangers by A.H. Kim | Request Now

Ann Arbor's own, A.H. Kim's second novel, is a witty and entertaining story inspired by Sense and Sensibility.  Relative Strangers is about two half-Korean sisters and their complicated ex-hippie mother. Amelia Bae-Wood's world is spiraling now that she is unemployed, broke, newly single, and hitchhiking across California, trying to manage the fallout of her mother's eviction from the family estate. Her sister, Eleanor, is also swimming in life challenges with a court battle with a man who claims to be their half-brother from Seoul. Is he their father's only son? Will he get his hands on everything that belongs to the sisters and their mother?  Will family secrets blow it all up? With droll humor, this twist on the classic tale explores themes of family, class, and wealth through the lens of the sisters' journey of self-discovery. 

Love Decoded by Jennifer Yen | Request Now

This Teen novel inspired by Emma, is a hilarious, heartfelt rom-com following the unexpected consequences of one teen’s quest to help her friends find love. Gigi Wong is a High school junior who works hard to be the best.  When a new friend Etta confides that she’s struggling to fit in, it gives Gigi an idea. What if she takes what she’s learned from shadowing her aunt Rose, a professional matchmaker, to create a fun friend-making app? Once the app blows up at school, Gig is the center of attention and in the middle of a major scandal. Gigi never meant to hurt anyone, let alone Etta and her best friend Kyle. Can she save all she worked so hard for and the relationships that mean so much to her? 

Staff Picks: Exploring Michigan

Fri, 05/09/2025 - 1:22pm by audreyh

One of the best things about summer is the warm weather. It’s ideal for all types of adventures, from the backyard to the great outdoors. We live in a gorgeous state filled with all kinds of natural wonders. These books will help you explore the Michigan wilderness—or wild-ness—that surrounds us all.

Birds of Michigan: Field Guide by Stan Tekiela | Request Now

Let’s start with birding, the exploring you can do out of a window, in your neighborhood, or on a fancy hike. Birding is an amazing way to connect with nature all around us. You can find birds even in urban environments—shout-out to the gorgeous varieties of pigeons in Chicago—making observing birds accessible to anyone who cares to notice our avian brethren. Many people fell in love with birding during the pandemic, and for good reason! All you need are your eyes and maybe an identification book to help you start identifying birds. While no one will be mad if you mix up a warbler with a wren, checking out a book like Birds of Michigan is an easy way to get started with bird identification. This handy little book groups birds by their primary color, making it easy to use on the go. Birds are also abundant in Ann Arbor’s many parks, which can add another level of interest to a local hike. If you’re not up for a long walk, check out a neighbor’s bird feeder or scatter some seeds on the ground and see who shows up.

Michigan Day Trips by Theme by Kathryn Houghton | Request Now

As Michigan natives know, it’s a wonderful state chock-full of history and opportunities to explore. This excellent little guide is a list of day—or day-ish—trips that can be found around our great state. Even if you’ve lived in Michigan your whole life, it can still harbor surprises. This guidebook organizes trip ideas by theme, which can be tricky if you’re looking for an attraction in a specific area. However, it has a bunch of interesting places in Michigan to experience. Some you may have heard of, but there are bound to be a few surprises for the most well-traveled Michiganders. From lighthouses and shipwrecks to sports and beaches, this is a handy little book for planning a quick trip outside your usual haunts. Get out there and see something new!

50 Hikes in Michigan by Jim DuFresne | Request Now 

Hiking is the activity that often comes to mind when we think of exploring. You’re ready to get out there with your shoes and a water bottle as you experience some untamed nature! Well, these days, you’re probably sticking to the well-marked—poison ivy-free—trails, but hiking remains an excellent way to get outside and see the world. There’s something undeniably soothing about spending time in nature without a building in sight. Hiking doesn’t have to be a fancy, multi-day affair that involves hauling a bunch of kit across the wilds, either. The hikes in this local guide are accessible by car and will take you all over Michigan. DuFresne groups the hikes by geographical region, making planning your outing a snap. Whether you want to spend a few hours outdoors or a whole day, this guidebook is a great place for ideas. It notes the difficulty and length of each trail and includes maps of many of the trails. This book is an excellent companion for anyone who wants to explore the many parks of Michigan on foot.

Lake Michigan Rock Picker’s Guide by Bruce Mueller | Request Now

A destination can be as simple as a trip to one of our Great Lakes. For some people, exploring is about slowing down and noticing small details. Perhaps you like to move slowly along the shore of a beach. In that case, I’d say you’re a great candidate to start rock picking, or rock hounding, as the kids say these days. Michigan is an excellent state for rock hunting; the retreating glaciers that carved out the Great Lakes also deposited a wide variety of rocks into said lakes, leaving a marvelous trove of gorgeous rocks for humans to come along and discover across the ages. There are treasures all around the state if you’re willing to look. I come from a rock family. We love to comb beaches looking for interesting rocks that we take home to squirrel away in a treasure box or proudly use as garden embellishments, depending on how we feel that day. Sometimes you want to identify a particularly spectacular rock, in which case a book like the Lake Michigan Rock Picker’s Guide—or the Lake Huron Rock Picker’s Guide, depending on which lake you’ve perused most recently—is an indispensable tool. This handy, friendly guide is aimed at rock hunters of many ages and includes color photos of rock samples to help you compare your specimens to identified rocks.

Fabulous Fiction Firsts #851, Audio Picks

Thu, 05/08/2025 - 4:29pm by muffy

33 Place Brugmann * * (also available in downloadable eBook), filmmaker and playwright Alice Austen’s fiction debut is “an unusually colorful and intelligent, poignant and rich World War II novel.” (Kirkus Reviews). It is at once a portrait of home, a love story, and a mystery, narrated in turns, by the residents of a Beaux Arts apartment building in Brussels. 

The novel opens in 1939 when overnight, Leo Raphael, a renowned art dealer and his family, disappeared from Apartment 4R, and with them a priceless art collection. Across the hall in 4L, Charlotte Sauvin, an art student mourned the loss of her childhood friend Julian Raphael while her widowed father, an architect, prepared to shut down his practice. In the 5th floor attic room, Charlotte’s godmother Masha Balyayeva, a gifted seamstress, was engaged in a risky affair with Harry, the shadowy visitor to Colonel Warlemont in 3L, a man far more calculating than his neighbors believed. When a Nazi functionary with an interest in the Raphaëls moved into the building, every member of this accidental community would discover they were not the person they believed themself to be, and each must learn the truth about what, and who, mattered to them the most.

“Through an arresting symphony of the residents’ voices, debut novelist Austen carves a special place in the much-surveyed landscape of Holocaust fiction, especially in her homage to the importance of art. Equally remarkable is her ability to bestow attention on each of the many characters while still driving the plot forward . . . In a powerfully well-written novel, the most chilling thought is subtly said, ‘What is thinkable is also possible.’” (Booklist)

Shortlisted for the 2025  Women's Prize for Fiction, Fundamentally : A Novel * by Nussaibah Younis (also available in downloadable eBook) is a “stinging and entertaining debut novel.” (The Guardian)

When her article on the possibility of rehabilitating ISIS brides was published, Dr. Nadia Amin, a lecturer at the University College of London was tapped by the UN to lead a deradicalization program for women held in Iraqi refugee camps. With a painful breakup and strained relationship with her mother, Nadia leaped at the chance to get out of London. 

Upon arrival at Baghdad, Nadia quickly realized she was out of her depth. The heat was unrelenting, the support staff was hostile.  Her team, which included the “goody two-shoes” Sherri and Pierre, a snippy Frenchman was unhelpful. 

When Nadia met Sara, one of the younger refugees at the camp, and a fellow East Londoner, Nadia found her purpose, and was determined to get Sara home despite the young woman’s scepticism of rehabilitation programs and saw Nadia as a “slag with a saviour complex.”

“Younis tackles radicalism and racism, faith and friendship, with dexterity, deep care and a large dose of  laughter. Reading Fundamentally is like sitting through an action-packed blockbuster as the plot twists and turns, and as Nadia jumps through systemic and bureaucratic hoops to save the day… The novel is bitingly witty, and full of pungent jokes, but it also has a strong emotional pull. Fundamentally exposes the bureaucracy, hypocrisy and corruption widespread across both academia and activism, but its success lies in teaching us that repair and healing are slow, and never straightforward, processes.” (The Guardian)

Liquid, A Love Story * by Mariam Rahmani (also available in downloadable eBook) is a contemporary tale of looking for love in all the wrong places. Our narrator, an Iranian-Indian American scholar, an adjunct at UCLA is worried about her future prospects when she failed to turn her thesis into a book. Frustrated with the fact that she is no closer to the middle-class comfort promised to her by the prestige of her fancy, scholarship-funded education and the successes of her immigrant parents, she decides to take best friend Adam’s suggestion to “marry rich”. She makes a spreadsheet and outlines a goal: 100 dates with people of all genders and a marriage proposal in hand by the official start of the fall semester.

Just eleven dates shy of her goal, a frantic call brings her to Tehran where her father has suffered a heart attack. An overdue familial reckoning allows her to see that the eligible prospect she’s been looking for has been beneath her nose the entire time.

“A thoroughly modern combination of snark and sincerity on the road to love.” (Kirkus Reviews)

"Incisive... a whirlwind homage to the classic 'ridiculous first date' trope... sharp cultural criticism, particularly on dating and adulthood. Fans of Elif Batuman ought to take note." (Publishers Weekly)

 * * = 2 starred reviews

 * = Starred review

Fabulous Fiction Firsts #850, The 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Award Winners

Fri, 05/02/2025 - 6:00pm by muffy

The In Crowd (in downloadable eBook and audiobook) by Charlotte Vassell won Best Novel.  A follow-up to The Other Half (eBook, and also in downloadable audiobook), Detective Caius Beauchamp of the London's Metropolitan Police returns to chronicle the bad behavior of England's upper crust.

While socialites and politicos are gathered in the garden of a large Georgian villa in Southwest London, nearby, a rowing team discovers a dead body floating in the Thames.  Meanwhile, Caius Beauchamp, attempting to enjoy an evening at the theatre, is shocked to discover another dead body, just a few seats away. Caius's investigation soon links the body to two seemingly unconnected cold cases: the decades-old disappearance of a teenage girl from a Cornish boarding school and the vanishing of an apparel executive who ran off with his company's pension fund 30 years ago and was never seen again.

“Caius launches inquiries into all three cases, which are complicated by the interference of a high-ranking politician with murky motives, as well as the detective's tentative romance with Callie Foster, an upscale milliner, who may be a witness to at least one of the crimes. Caius's quirky investigative partners, Matt Chung and Amy Noakes, also return, and the interplay among the three is even richer than in the previous entry.” (Publishers weekly)

“Readers don't need to have read The Other Half to enjoy this intriguing novel, but reading both is as satisfying as pairing a cup of Earl Grey and a lavender biscuit. In the final pages, Vassell lays the groundwork for a third installment that promises to be as enjoyable as the ones that preceded it. A stellar sophomore outing for an intriguing detective.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Holy City * by Henry Wise won Best First Novel (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook)

After a decade of exile precipitated by the tragic death of his mother, Will Seems returns home from Richmond (The Holy City) to rural Southern Virginia, taking a job as deputy sheriff. Nothing has changed in Euphoria County, Va.  - impoverished, abandoned, a land of tobacco plantations, razed forests, and boarded-up homes. 

When a mysterious, arson fire claims the life of an old friend, Tom Janders, and Zeke Hathom, father of another of Will's boyhood friends, is spotted running from the burning building, Will’s boss, Sheriff Mills, eager to close the case because of the upcoming election, refuses to consider Zeke’s innocence.

”When Zeke's friends and family hire PI Bennico Watts to help exonerate him, she and Will enter into an uneasy alliance and plunge together into Euphoria County's underworld. Wise propels the plot forward with flashbacks to the violence of Will's past and the shame that motivates his return.” (Publishers Weekly) 

“With a talent for writing place, Wise weaves his grim debut around topics of revenge, drug addiction, small-town politics, and the complications of returning to one's hometown. Actor/narrator Chris Henry Coffey's gravelly voice complements the scuffed-up, imperfect characters and the novel's atmospheric setting. This notable Southern noir debut is a welcome addition to the genre. For fans of gritty, small-town crime fiction and S.A. Cosby.” (Library Journal) 

* = Starred review
Here is the list of winners in all categories and the long list of nominees.

Staff Picks: Spoken Word Albums

Thu, 05/01/2025 - 4:15pm by bunkleyj@aadl.org

These albums speak with clarity and purpose.  Each album unfolds like a confession, a protest, or a prayer—delivered not with melody, but with conviction. This is more than poetry set to rhythm; it’s a testament to the power of voice when it refuses to whisper.

The Heart, The Mind, the Soul by Tank And The Bangas | Request Now

The Grammy winning “The Heart, The Mind, The Soul” by Tank and the Bangas from New Orleans proves Neo Soul pairs really well with spoken word. Tarriona “Tank” Bell words  are beautiful, sad and more importantly earnest. Spoken word isn’t just bongos and fingers snaps anymore. Her words intertwine with modern funk, hip hop beats, Fender Rhodes  and vocal harmonies.  Heavyweights such as Jill Scott, Robert Glasper, Yaya Bey, and Samara Joy help paint an auditory picture of heart (relationships), mind (women and the world), and soul (subconscious and consciousness in ones self and the city).   It’s funk it’s soul, it’s poetry, it’s the 70’s, its the 90’s it’s the 00’s and its now!  It’s words and sounds are every cool city in America!

Loose Talk by Brian Ferry, Amelia Barratt | Request Now

Loose Talk, the is a new collaborative album of music by Bryan Ferry with spoken texts by performance artist, writer and painter Amelia Barratt. This is Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry’s first album of new music in 11 years, The instrumental tracks are based on unreleased demo recordings from throughout Ferry’s career, with the earliest examples dating from the early 70s.  Writer and Visual Amelia Barratt provides and narration, in a cool, prestigious British accent.  The album takes on "an almost dream-like state using fragments of the narrator's memory.  She describes them as “collage fragments of observation” In short, Barratt’s texts are intelligent sad and vague, but there’s plenty of visual detail in her writing. Ferry’s music is minimilistic and pairs well with Barratts rhythmic British cadence.

Social Engineering by Jan Jelinek | Request Now

German electronic artist Jan Jelinek’s  Social Engineering brings together thirteen text fragments from so-called phishing emails. The emails are spoken, and sung, then transformed into abstract textures. The result is a 36-minute Kraftwerk, Residents, Negativeland Throbbing Gristle salad with vocoders and synthesis as the oil and vinegar.  There isn’t a single beat or acoustic instrument. The soundscapes are sparse soundscapes and the melody is minimal.  Easier to think of Social Engineering as a sound installation. Is it spoken word you might ask, maybe not for 1954 but for 2025 why not.

Truth is on its Way by Nikki Giovanni & The New York Community Choir | Request Now

Nikki Giovanni’s Truth Is on its Way isn’t just an album — it’s a time capsule, an oration, and a revolution set to rhythm. Originally released in 1971.  Giovanni doesn’t read her poems here — she preaches them.  Backed by Gospel choirs and B-3 organ  it is part sermon, and part ancestral memory. Her cadence never falters, her message never softens . There is a pulsing truth-telling that refuses to ask for permission.  She speaks the revolution  of mothers who fight, and of Black love with no filter or apology. Truth Is on the Way is an early blueprint for what would become the sonic vocabulary of spoken word albums decades later.  Truth Is on the Way is not easy listening — it was never meant to be.

Staff Picks: Memoirs From Diverse Voices

Wed, 04/30/2025 - 5:49pm by erin

These memoirs open doors to new worlds from voices exploring culture, religion, identity, and illness, and are told from singular points of view. 

Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki Brina | Request Now

Elizabeth is on a journey to understand her complicated parents and, in particular, her mother, whom she kept at arm's length during much of her childhood and young adulthood. Her father was a Vietnamese veteran who met her mother, a war bride, when she was working as a nightclub hostess in U.S.-occupied Okinawa. The language barrier and power imbalance that defined her parents' early relationship followed them to the predominantly white, upstate New York suburb where they moved to raise their only daughter.  Alongside her journey learning about her mother and her culture, the reader learns about the history of Okinawa, and the devastating impacts of U.S.-occupied Okinawa on the environment, landscape, and the people of Okinawa that continue to this day. This candid and moving memoir is imbued with forgiveness, understanding, and riveting history. 

Subculture Vulture: a Memoir in Six Scenes by Moshe Kasher | Request Now

Alcoholics Anonymous, Deaf culture, Orthodox Judaism, Burning Man, raves, and stand-up comedy are the six worlds that Moshe Kasher explores with humor, and historical context in this fascinating memoir. The format is exceptional and is a different take on the typical memoir reading experience.  From his current career as a successful stand-up comic, Kasher looks back on his years moving from subculture to subculture, and he immerses readers in the hilariously unusual subtleties of each of the scenes he's found himself in.

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H | Request Now

Fourteen years old and growing up in the Middle East, Lamya is an overachiever and a jokester when she realizes she has a crush on her teacher-her female teacher. At the same time, she reads a passage in Quran class about Maryam, known as the Virgin Mary in the Christian Bible, that changes her life. Lamya learns that Maryam was untempted by an angelically handsome man, and later, when told she is pregnant, insists no man has touched her. Could they have something in common? Covering childhood to an elite college in the US and her time in New York City, Lamya's struggles and triumphs are set in the context of some of the most famous stories in the Quran. Written anonymously, this astonishing memoir will open your eyes to a unique woman and pull you in with the riveting Quran's stories that parallel her journey to figuring out her place in the world.

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair | Request Now

Fans of Educated and Born a Crime, will find in How to Say Babylon the stunning story of the author’s struggle to break free of her rigid Rastafarian upbringing, ruled by her father’s strict patriarchal views and repressive control of her childhood, to find her voice as a woman and poet. How to Say Babylon provides a singular glimpse into a rarefied world we know little about.

Between Two Kingdoms: a Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad | Request Now

A deeply emotional memoir of illness and recovery that traces one young woman’s journey from cancer diagnosis to remission to re-entry into “normal” life. Suleika Jaouad, is married to musician Jon Batiste, and the Netflix documentary American Symphony explores a year in their life, his music career, and her struggle with the return of leukemia after years in remission.

Staff Picks: Funny Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books

Mon, 04/28/2025 - 7:15pm by lucroe

Although fantasy and sci-fi books may not come to mind as a go-to for laughs, you will be surprised to learn there are plenty out there that provide the escapism and comic relief we all need from time to time. The following are just a few titles in these genres that just might make you smile.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells | Request Now
Although it was created for one purpose—to kill anyone or anything that attacks its assigned research group—sentient android Murderbot, who has hacked his governor module so it can do whatever it wants, likes being left alone so it can watch TV. But despite its disdain for humans, it ultimately protects the ones in its charge when their mission goes awry. When a neighboring survey team goes dark, the stakes increase. It is soon caught up in a mystery that could destroy not only itself but also the entire team it is expected to protect. Can Murderbot protect its team of humans while keeping its unique nature under wraps? Every Murderbot book (now 7 in the series) are light, hilarious, and have fantastic plots and characters. Apple TV is set to launch the streaming series soon too, with actor Alexander Skarsgård playing Murderbot.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley | Request Now
The nameless narrator of this humorous book is a British-Cambodian woman who works for a covert organization that pulls people from other times who would not have survived otherwise in order to research the consequences of time travel. Her role is to assist these "expats" in acclimating to modern life. Her expectations are completely upended when she is paired with 19th-century explorer Commander Graham Gore of the ill-fated 1847 Franklin Expedition to the Arctic, since they have a common bond of feeling lost in the world. Time travel meets spy intrigue in this lighthearted, enjoyable book, which also includes a hint of romance and history.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi | Request Now
In Starter Villain, divorced substitute teacher Charlie inherits his uncle's parking empire—actually a front for a supervillain operation complete with volcanic lair. Could this unlikely windfall redirect Charlie's failing life? Not so simple. Uncle Jake's old-school villainy created powerful enemies now hunting Charlie, forcing him to quickly distinguish allies from adversaries. The villain game proves labyrinthine—filled with betrayals, a brilliant second-in-command, diabolical schemes, talking cats, and delightful absurdity. A clever, whimsical romp through wickedly entertaining territory. It is always a fun read when John Scalzi writes!

Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne | Request Now
"Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, a hero, the Chosen One, was born...and so begins every fairy tale ever told. This is not that fairy tale.”  Turning the typical fairy tale trope on its head, and reminiscent of such classics like the Princess Bride or Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, this book will be enjoyed by adults and teens alike. Yes, there are quests and obstacles for the Chosen One (CO) to navigate but in this tale being the CO is truly awful. Everything bad is going to come for you. Even the CO’s “aura” is particularly dangerous for bystanders because of how many monsters and weird dangers it attracts. There is of course a team of interesting characters that accompanies the CO. Dark Lord the wizard who only wants to live in peace eating artisanal crackers, the warrior wants a rose garden and a girlfriend, the rogue’s mortal enemies are chickens, and the bard has been turned halfway into a rabbit by a witch’s curse. Not to mention Gustave the talking goat…Laugh out loud parodies of common fantasy elements and present-day things like ‘bro’ culture make this an engaging and light-hearted adventure. There are 3 books in this series called the Tales of Pell.

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames | Request Now
In a world akin to D&D's Forgotten Realms, adventurers are treated like rockstars, with Clay 'Slowhand' Cooper once part of the famous mercenary group Saga, now living a quiet life with his family. However, everything changes when his old best friend and Saga's leader, Gabriel, arrives unexpectedly, revealing that Clay's daughter is in deadly danger. With no other choice, Clay reunites his old friends. Reminiscent of a group of old rockers doing one last tour, but with goblins instead of groupies. Initially, it's a humorous take on how adventurers are idolized like musicians, reminiscing about the 'cooler' past and poking fun at the new generation's skills. But what sets Kings of the Wyld apart is the genuine portrayal of the characters and the honest exploration of themes like aging, friendship, loyalty, and loss. The story goes beyond a typical adventure, drawing readers in with its strong writing and keeping them hooked until the very end.

Staff Picks: Armchair Travel in Fiction

Fri, 04/18/2025 - 3:38pm by eapearce

Experiencing new places is a delight for many, but it’s not always possible to leave the duties of daily life behind. If you’re seeking a bit of escape but don’t have plans to get on a plane or train or to take a road trip anytime soon, visit new places in books! Below are a few suggestions, set all over the world, to get you started on your (fictional) journey.

Reasonable Adults, by Robin Lefler | Request Now

Kate Rigsby has just lost her job and her boyfriend (whom she had thought was about to become her fiancé). She’s craving a change and wants to escape the big-city life that she’s worked so hard to build for herself; in fact, she’s not even sure she wants that life at all anymore. She decides to take a temporary gig at an off-the-grid creative retreat in Muskoka, a rural area of Ontario, Canada. It’s supposed to be a fancy spot for people to meditate, visit the spa and work on their various creative pursuits, but the brochure turns out to be misleading. The reality is that the resort is a struggling hotel stuck in the 1990s, Kate’s boss is not the nicest, and it’s oh so very cold! Kate’s task of making the business profitable seems daunting at best, and mostly impossible. But the other staff members (besides that mean boss) are kind and quirky, and there’s a particularly cute coworker that Kate thinks might actually be a real Canadian lumberjack. As Kate settles in to her new snowbound life as best she can, she starts to wonder if a new life in the frozen wilderness might be exactly what she needs….

A Lethal Walk in Lakeland, by Nicholas George | Request Now

If you like your travel with a bit more suspense, you might enjoy this charming mystery from Nicholas George, just published this year. The story centers on Rick Chasen, who has recently returned to England for several reasons. The first is to walk the famous Coast to Coast trail in the Lake District with a tour group, and the second is to hopefully further his relationship with Mike, who works as a coroner in Devonshire and whom Rick met on his last trip to the UK. Rick himself is a retired detective in the San Diego police force, and it isn’t long before his investigative instincts are piqued by a series of catastrophes. Two murders take place in quick succession soon after the group begins their trek, and Rick can’t help but get involved in trying to figure them out. While the book reads like a cozy, it features truly excellent detective work for armchair detectives and travelers to enjoy! This is George’s second book in the series; the first was A Deadly Walk in Devon, if you prefer to start there.

Luminous, by Silvia Park | Request Now

We often think of travel in science fiction as space travel, but science fiction can feature real-life places, too! In Park’s new book Luminous, readers are transported to the Seoul of the near future. Korea is recently reunified, and the book opens with 11-year-old Ruijie searching through a junk pile of abandoned robots and robot parts. In the pile, a lifelike robot boy catches her eye; it’s like nothing she’s ever seen before. This discovery will ultimately reunite two estranged siblings Jun and Morgan who haven’t spoken in years. Morgan works making robots for a living but is close to losing control of her latest invention. Jun works for the Robot Crimes Unit, whose investigations are about to uncover secrets that many wish would never come to light. This complex mystery analyzes the issue of human-machine convergence in a unique way and is written with surprising wit. It’s worth taking a look.

The Queen of the Valley, by Lorena Hughes | Request Now

In this historical fiction set in Colombia, Martin Sabater is industriously pursuing his dream of owning a cacao plantation when he mysteriously disappears during a fancy gala. His hacienda is converted into an emergency hospital, treating patients during an emerging cholera epidemic. Novice nun Sor Puri is there in disguise to help treat patients, but she also has a private goal: to figure out what truly happened to Martin, with whom she shares a past. Professional photographer Lucas is also at the hacienda documenting the work of the hospital and he has his own reasons for helping Sor Puri; he’s Martin’s best friend since the two were boys. In this novel, everyone has secrets and the lush tropical setting adds to the tension of the mystery and budding love story.

Request for Proposals: Janitorial Services

Fri, 04/18/2025 - 2:46pm by eli

Ann Arbor District Library
Request for Proposals 
Janitorial Services 

The Ann Arbor District Library is accepting sealed bid proposals from qualified professional firms to furnish labor, materials and all equipment required to perform work specified all the Library’s six locations. This work must be performed as specified and in accordance with the specifications in this Request for Proposals (RFP). 

The acceptance of any proposal made pursuant to this invitation shall not be binding upon the Library until an agreement has been executed. 

Deadline of Submissions:  May 12, 2025 at 5:00pm 

Sealed bids may be hand delivered to the Downtown Library located at 343 S. 5th Ave Ann Arbor, MI 48104 or emailed to lemoriel@aadl.org. Sealed bids should be clearly marked, “Ann Arbor District Library Janitorial Services”. 

Any questions or requests for clarification to this RFP can be emailed to:

Contacts: 
Len Lemorie
lemoriel@aadl.org
734-327-4281

Andra Williams
williamsa@aadl.org
734-327-4288

Locations:

• Downtown, 343 S. 5th Ave, Ann Arbor, Mi 48104 
• Malletts Creek, 3090 E. Eisenhower Pkwy, Ann Arbor, MI 48108
• Pittsfield, 2359 Oak Valley Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48103
• Traverwood, 3333 Traverwood Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48105
• Westgate, 2503 Jackson Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48103
• Archives, Acquisitions and Logistics Facility, 265 Parkland Plaza, Ann Arbor, MI 48103

 Daily Scope Of Work 

1. Vacuum all carpeting.
2. Damp mop all hard surface floors using products approved by the Library Maintenance Supervisor.
3. Clean and wipe down all drinking fountains.
4. Clean and disinfect all tables and countertops.
5. Spot clean all entrances and study room partition glass. 
6. Wipe down all handrails. 
7. Vacuum and wipe down elevator cabs (Downtown and Traverwood).
8. Clean and disinfect all restroom toilets, urinals, sinks and mirrors. 
9. Restock hand towels and soap dispensers using products approved by the Library Maintenance Supervisor. 
10. Empty sanitary napkin receptacles. 
11. Trash and recycling receptacles in vending areas shall be emptied, and two bags shall be replaced to ensure waste and recycling aren’t mixed.  
12. All trash and recycling shall be removed from buildings and placed in dedicated dumpsters. 

Day Porter Services 

1. Contractor will schedule one day porter to the Westgate Branch Sunday- Saturday 12:00pm-5:00pm. Duties will include cleaning and restocking restrooms every hour, wiping down cafe and study room tables between use, clean spills and assist in program set ups as needed. 
2. Contractor will schedule one day porter to the Downtown location for specific Library events. Shifts will not exceed 6 hours. Library Management will provide dates this service will be necessary in advance. 

Terms and Conditions

1. The Library reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received, waive formalities, or accept any proposal it deems best.
2. The Library reserves the right to request clarification of information submitted and to request additional information.
3. The Library reserves the right to terminate the contract at its discretion should it be determined that the services being provided do not meet the Library’s expectations.
4. Payment for services will be made within thirty (30) days after receiving an invoice.
5. The Contractor will not exceed any timelines established for the completion of work at any location.
6. The Contractor will be responsible for any fees for alarm call responses outside of established building access times.

Contractor’s Responsibilities

1. Provide a description of similar contracts that demonstrate the Contractors ability to service clients of this size and scope.
2. Provide a written plan detailing the anticipated timeline for completion of tasks set forth in the Scope of Work. 
3. Provide three client references from past or current projects similar in scope.
4. The Contractor shall provide sufficient personnel to complete the required Scope of Work in the allotted time. 
5. The Contractor will provide a list of specialty equipment such as truck mounted carpet cleaning equipment, deep cleaning or extraction equipment. 
6. The Contractor shall provide their staff with vehicles and equipment to perform services set forth. 
7. The Contractor will be responsible for ensuring that janitorial personnel are familiar with the work to be performed, and that required service levels are being maintained. 
8. The Contractor will provide any Union affiliations. 
9. The Contractor shall not perform services in public areas while the Library is open unless work has been requested or approved by a Library representative with the exception of Day Porter services. 

Library’s Responsibilities 

1. The Library will provide a designated representative to work with the Contractor to coordinate both the Library’s and Contractor’s efforts and to inspect and verify work being performed by the Contractor.
2. The Library will provide access during regular business hours or during nights and weekends as approved by the Library’s designated representative. 
3. The Library will provide access to all areas necessary for the completion of this project, and space for storage of janitorial supplies and equipment to be used in the building. These areas are to be maintained in an orderly manner by the Contractor.
4. The Contractor will maintain any and all required Safety Data Sheets (SDS) on all products used on the premises by the Contractor and must be made available to the Library’s representative.  

Insurance

The successful bidder is required to procure, maintain and provide documentation for all necessary insurance.

Execution of Contract 

The bidders whose proposal is accepted shall be required to execute the contract start date of June 30, 2025.

Term

The terms of  services with the Library will be a three (3) year contract, with two (2) optional one year extensions. 

Performance Monitoring

Throughout the term of this agreement the Library’s representative will provide monthly feedback and schedule walk throughs with the Contractor as needed. 

Cancellation

Should the Library become dissatisfied with the quality of the performance, the Library will notify the Contractor and provide 30 days to improve performance and/or compliance issues. Repeated failure to perform or failure of the Contractor to remedy poor performance shall be grounds for contract termination.

Staff Picks: Fave Foodie Flicks

Mon, 04/14/2025 - 3:53pm by SaraP

Food and storytelling go hand in hand in these (mostly) older favorites that will whet the appetite of any foodie. 

Babette’s Feast (1987) | Request DVD or Request Blu-Ray

A mysterious woman arrives in a small, abominably dreary Danish village on the Jutland coast to keep house for a pair of aging sisters. The slow buildup for the first half of the film unfolds into one of the most extraordinary meditations on food, pleasure, piety, and—at the risk of sounding corny—neighborliness. While Babette’s famous feast does indeed bring together a group of neighbors, the relaxation of old grudges and ego amongst them transform into metaphor of a more profound nature. Come for the food (prepared with care and time and filmed with both), but leave with a bellyful of unexpected optimism about the human condition and our ability to connect over a good meal. 

East Side Sushi (2014) | Request DVD

A single mother, Juana, determined to carve out a place for herself as a chef, finds that that place might just be in a sushi kitchen. I love the rare indie film that actually sees a little mainstream daylight, which boosted my outlook on this one (it lapped up numerous festival awards during its circuit). But it’s the tender moments of curiosity and hope clashing with tradition and circumstance that breathe a dignified authenticity into the storyline. Colorful sushi shots pop from the screen and you can’t help but root for Juana as she tries her darndest to claim a spot at the table. 

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) | Request DVD 

Though not necessarily marketed as a food film, I always associate this comedic romp about big families and culture shock with greek food and bundt cake. Of course it’s the rom-com franchise that just keeps on giving, with new installments you may have already seen in 2016 and 2023. But, like an all-you-can-eat buffet, the food just keeps coming. It helps that the family restaurant sets the scene for Toula’s meet cute (if you count that first one—and you have to!). The fact that she works to escape her job as a server there doesn’t mean the food plays less of a role as the bride and groom’s families get to know one another. Whatever good family and good food can’t fix, windex surely can!

Tampopo (1985) | Request DVD

A noodle-shop owner is on a quest to find the perfect ramen recipe and, with the help of two truck-drivers, she just might succeed. It’s a wild, sensuous, preposterous, genre-bending, goofy love-story to food and human desire. If you haven't ventured much into Japanese cinema, this is as zany an introduction as you'll find—one of my favorite things about Tampopo being its juxtaposition of the preposterous with the earnest. Marketed as a “ramen western” in 1985, the film also plays with American film tropes, as well as food, class, and culture, all of which culminates in a masterpiece as layered and flavorful as a juicy onion. Fair warning: a few food scenes get pretty steamy—so if you might blanch under that kind of heat, this might not be your cup of tea. No matter how you like your eggs (iykyk), this is a joyous and at once provoking homage to the most basic of human needs: nourishment and pleasure.

Staff Picks: That's Ancient History!

Thu, 04/10/2025 - 3:36pm by audreyh

It’s easy to say to ourselves that the past is in the past and that it’s time to move on and focus on the issues of today instead. But, we often say, “the past is prologue,” reminding us that history can contain valuable insights and lessons if we only look for them. And, let’s be real, it can also be fun to step out of our own moment in history and into another. How do you build a functioning city without electricity or plumbing? What does it mean to be a human in a particular place and time? The mundane lives of the people who lived and worked long ago are often hard to trace, especially if you weren’t, say, a power-wielding emperor or general. Each of these authors does their best to clear the fog of time and reveal the lives of both the powerful and the ordinary folk of days long gone by. Ancient history is well removed from us here in 2005, and yet these books can shed interesting light on the way things are now, or how they could be different.

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz | Request Now

Urban planning is one of those things that sounds deeply boring and yet has profound impacts upon the day-to-day lives of those who live in urban areas—spoiler, these days that’s most people. Annalee Newitz takes their readers on a tour of four ancient metropolises, with a deft eye on the way their chosen subject cities rose and fell. Newitz brings us along on a historical journey of Çatalhöyük in Central Turkey, the Roman vacation town of Pompeii on Italy’s southern coast, the medieval megacity of Angkor in Cambodia, and the indigenous metropolis Cahokia, which stood beside the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today. As a science reporter, Newitz does an excellent job of making the most recent anthropological research accessible and engaging to the general public, weaving the political history of a civilization together with the environmental challenges faced by these ancient cultures.

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard | Request Now

If you are going to read one book about Rome, this is a good place to start. Beard is a well-respected scholar who translated her vast knowledge into a readable history of Rome aimed at a general audience. This book has been popular for years, and with good reason! It’s both informative and enjoyable; one of the benefits of having an expert as your guide through ancient Rome is that you get a tour of all the good bits of history. We get a scholarly take on all the Roman goings-on, while pervasive myths are handily debunked. Beard takes a broad view, introducing readers to the big players of Rome, as well as the lives of average citizens. She does an excellent job of identifying areas of commonality with Romans while articulating the vast cultural differences between our societies. Beard paints a compelling and clear picture of life in the Roman Empire and makes an intriguing case for why this ancient history still matters.

The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow | Request Now

If you’re unsure where to start, it’s always best to take Maria Von Trapp's advice and start at the beginning. That’s exactly what Graeber and Wengrow have done with their history of, well, human civilization. Graeber and Wengrow discard our traditional idea of humans’ historical progress—and the biases contained therein—by drawing on recent anthropological discoveries and allowing the evidence to paint a compelling picture of humanity. Instead of a slow, steady march of progress towards some predetermined and idealized future, The Dawn of Everything suggests that humans have shaped the world around them through their choices and that their fortunes have risen and fallen over time based on the outcome of the decisions made by groups of intelligent humans. As the authors examine different types of historical societies, they raise important questions about the society we have chosen to create, and what exactly is the “best” version of human civilization.

Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities by Bettany Hughes | Request Now

Okay, so maybe you don’t want your entire concept of human history revised. Let’s narrow it back down to one city, Istanbul. A powerful center of trade located on the Bosporus, the straight dividing Asia and Europe, Istanbul has long played an important strategic role in geopolitics. The three cities referred to in the title are the ancient Greek city of Byzantine, Constantinople when it became the capital of the Christian Eastern Roman Empire, and finally Istanbul after the Ottoman Turkish conquest in 1453. Since each of these cities occupied the same real estate successively, Hughes centers that world history on the compelling focal point. Hughes has turned a four-decade-long “love affair” with Istanbul into a fascinating examination of the city as its fortunes rise and fall. While her love of the city is clearly communicated throughout the book, Hughes never fails to entertain as she populates her history with colorful characters and plenty of geopolitical drama.
 

Staff Picks: Now Streaming!

Tue, 04/08/2025 - 1:23pm by ohheyitselle

Look at some of the many gems you can stream online RIGHT NOW with your library card!

Arthur (PBS series) | Get Now

Arthur has taught us that having fun isn’t hard when you have a library card. And as it turns out, watching Arthur online isn’t hard when you have a library card, either!

Embrace some nostalgia and watch old episodes of Arthur. You can also check out some new Arthur Goes Digital clips, like this one where he meets Mychal the Librarian!

A Star is Born (1937)   | Get Now

Remember when Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga took the internet by storm when A Star Is Born came out in 2018, and it was impossible to escape the song “Shallow?” If that was a prime time for you, then good news!

We have the original 1937 film streaming now in our catalog! The winner of Best Original Story, recipient of the Academy Honorary Award, and nominee for six other Academy Awards, this film inspired four remakes! Go ahead and give it a watch, but be ready because it’s a tear-jerker!

Every Day You Live, You Impact the Planet (Jane Goodall, TED Talk)  | Get Now
If beloved children’s shows or older movies aren’t for you, can we interest you in a TED Talk with the Jane Goodall?

The legendary primatologist converses with Chris Anderson, curator and head of TED, about working with chimpanzees, understanding how humanity survives in the natural world, and empowering communities to save natural habitats! 

It’s one of many TED Talk videos now available in our catalog!

Magazines on OverDrive  | Get Now

While your library card lets you stream the previously mentioned videos, you can also access popular magazines online through OverDrive. Some of the magazines include, but are not limited to:

Bon Appétit 
Good Housekeeping
National Geographic
The New Yorker
Rolling Stone
Us Weekly
Vogue
Wired

AND MANY MORE! All you need is a library card!

Staff Picks: Go Undercover | Espionage Thrillers

Thu, 04/03/2025 - 3:01pm by eapearce

The exciting world of spies, secrets and intrigue is not one that (most of us) are immersed in in real life, but it sure can be exciting to dive into with a good espionage thriller! Often spanning international borders and featuring clever, risk-prone leading characters, these titles will have you on the edge of your seat.

The Expat, by Hansen Chi | Request Now

Michael Wang feels trapped. He’s 26 years old and a graduate of Princeton, but feels like he can’t move forward in his career at General Motors. He’s been at work on a new, innovative piece of technology related to self-driving cars that he hopes will allow him to rise through the ranks at the company and finally gain the notoriety he craves. He breeds resentment in his private life, too. He never felt like he fit in at Princeton with his fellow Ivy Leaguers and his mother and unknown father seem to have been crushed by the weight of American life, leaving him to fend for himself in young adulthood. When he meets Vivian on a freelance coding platform, he feels that he’s finally on the receiving end of good luck. Vivian is from China and has been admiring the work that Michael shares on the platform. She encourages him to leave GM, move to Beijing, and share his technology with the less regulated world of Chinese business. Michael is eager to accept her offer, but when he arrives in China, Vivian has vanished and his new position is not what he thought it was. All of a sudden, he’s immersed in a web of industrial espionage and counterintelligence. Both the US and China need him, but he isn’t sure where is allegiances lie. Who should he betray? Who can he let go? This smart techno-thriller offers a unique premise with a local connection that may appeal to readers.

The Peacock and the Sparrow, by I. S. Berry | Request Now

Shane Collins is a CIA spy ready to retire. He’s currently stationed in Bahrain for his final tour with the mission of uncovering Iranian support for a rebellion against the monarchy. He’s keeping to himself, focusing on his job and counting the days until he can go home. Or at least, that’s what he’s doing until he meets Almaisa, a beautiful artist who shows him a side of Bahrain that he never knew existed. His budding romance with Almaisa is thrown into jeopardy when a trusted informant that Shane had been relying on for information is involved in a murder and things escalate to the cusp of a revolution. Shane is forced to use all his years of honed skills to stop an uprising, try not to lose Almaisa in the process and figure out the truth of the dark history between the United States and Bahrain. There are lots of twists in this one to keep readers guessing and Berry’s surprisingly beautiful descriptions of the setting will transport readers to the other side of the world.

The Partisan, by Patrick Worrall | Request Now

British author Worrall sets his thriller fifteen years after the end of WWII. In 1941, a trio of war-orphaned teenagers escape into the forests of Lithuania. Only one survives—Greta—and in 1961 she’s now an assassin who spends her days tracking down Nazi fugitives. She’s also still desperate to find the man who killed her mother and the English double agent who betrayed the resistance network she became a part of during the war. In short, she’s a busy woman! In the meantime, Michael, a Cambridge university student and Yulia, a Russian prodigy chess master meet at a tournament in London and fall quickly in love. Their romance catches Greta’s attention, and she persuades Michael to spy on Yulia’s inner circle, which includes the chief administrator of the Soviet nuclear weapons program. Worrall handles the complex plot lines of the story well, and keeps readers on their toes. This is a great read for fans of Cold War-era thrillers.

Beirut Station: Two Lives of a Spy, by Paul Vidich | Request Now

The setting is Lebanon, 2006, at the height of the Israel-Hezbollah War. Beirut is being destroyed by bombs and residents are fleeing the chaos. The CIA is hunting for Najib Qassem, a Hezbollah terrorist who has evaded their agents and continues to orchestrate attacks from a secret hiding place. When the CIA learns that Qassem is planning an assassination of the US Secretary of State, they redouble their efforts to find him. Central to the CIA’s efforts is Analise, a Lebanese-American agent who has befriended Qassem’s grandson and may be the ticket to finding and destroying him. As she dives deeper into the plot to find Qassem, she learns that the Israeli central intelligence agency, Mossad, which has allegedly allied themselves with the CIA, may have an ulterior motive of its own. When she tells the CIA this, they tell her to drop it. Now Analise has no one to trust: neither agency nor the Lebanese government. And is she now a target herself? Vidich has another book coming out this spring, so readers might want to check this one out first and get excited for his upcoming thriller!

Staff Picks: Picture Book Biographies

Thu, 04/03/2025 - 1:16pm by evelyn

It can be hard to sum up a person’s life in 32 pages, but these titles manage it! Biographies in the picture book format tend to focus on the emotional core of a person and their journey. However, they usually also have back matter to provide more detail about the person’s life for the reader who wants to know more. These books provide the best of all worlds—a compelling story to draw you in, beautiful pictures, and extra details to satisfy curiosity!

The Important Thing about Margaret Wise Brown, by Mac Barnett | Request Now

By far my favorite picture book biography is The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown, by the incredible children’s author Mac Barnett. While many picture books are written in poetic verse, the text in this book is sparse and direct. It does not shy away from the stranger things about Brown, in fact insisting (as Brown would have) that children deserve to know about the strange things in life as well as the beautiful. This honesty makes the book a celebration of the unconventional spirit that made Brown’s own writing so remarkable.

And She Was Loved: Toni Morrison’s Life in Stories, by Andrea Davis Pinkney | Request Now

Created by a blockbuster team of Corretta Scott King Author winner Andrea Davis Pinkney and Caldecott Honor illustrator Daniel Minter, this book bursts with color. The illustrations combine line drawings with paintings and patterned backgrounds. Each one dances around the page next to the poem that sums up Toni Morrison’s life from her childhood as Chloe in Ohio to her adulthood as one of the most highly lauded authors of our time. One thing I love about And She Was Loved is that the back matter contains not only more information about Morrison but also entries from Pinkney and Minter about how Morrison’s work impacted their lives. This personal touch adds depth to the biography, making it a testament to Morrison’s influence on generations of artists and readers.

Radiant Child: the Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, by Javaka Steptoe | Request Now

It could feel risky for an illustrator to take on a subject like artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. What could an artist possibly bring to the table that would improve upon Basquiat’s own work? However, author/illustrator Javaka Steptoe knocks it out of the park in this Caldecott winner. He created the book’s art on found wood, echoing Basquiat’s art painted on abandoned doors. Basquiat’s crowns can be found throughout the book, as can his distinctive handwriting. These details pay homage to Basquiat’s style without smothering Steptoe’s style. As in And She Was Loved, Steptoe ends his book with a note about what Basquiat means to him.

Introducing Sandwina: The Strongest Woman in the World, by Vicki Condrad | Request Now

While you may have heard of all of the other people on this list, strongwoman Katie Brumbach has faded into obscurity. Introducing Sandwina brings her roaring back to life. After beating Eugen Sandow in a strength contest, Brumbach took his name and became Sandwina, a famous circus performer. Written by Vicki Condrad, the book does a good job laying out Sandwina’s life and passions, but the art is where Introducing Sandwina really shines. With a palette consisting almost entirely of red, blue and yellow, illustrator Jeremy Golmes painstakingly recreates the vintage circus art style both in the images and fonts accompanying the book. I loved the attention to detail on every page, from the roaring tigers to the carousel horses—each illustration feels like a vintage circus poster. Together, they create a bold, vibrant tribute to Sandwina’s larger-than-life story.

Staff Picks: Celebrating Poetry

Mon, 03/31/2025 - 2:21pm by lucroe

Poetry is an art form that predates written language. It combines meaning, sound, and rhythm to craft enchanting realms that provide reflections on our inner selves and the mysteries beyond. While it can be challenging to define, we often turn to 
poetry in search of inspiration, as it has a unique ability to ignite the passion within us. Honor National Poetry Month by reading one of the excellent poetry books available to check out at AADL. Below are a few recommended titles to peak your interest.

Something About Living by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha | Request Now
Tuffaha's impressive third collection and winner of the 2024 National Book Award, reflects on her Palestinian, Jordanian, and Syrian heritage. It is a poetry collection that captures the struggles of the Palestinian people in their quest for compassion and humanity. Her poetry delves into her relationships with loved ones and the communities they inhabit. She emphasizes that love is more than just a concept; it is a tangible action. She confronts the harsh realities of violence while conveying a message of hope for resilience. This is evident in the poem, “Variations on a Last Chance” “The fence does not hold, The wire sheds its barbs, softens to silken thread.” or in the first and last lines of the poem, “To be Self-Evident”, “Every empire tells its subjects a story of revelation…Every empire sings itself a lullaby.” Through her work, she invites readers to engage with deep themes of identity and sorrow. This remarkable collection will resonate deeply with those committed to fighting for a just future everywhere.

Zmagria by Mouna Ammar | Request Now or Read Online Here
Published by the library’s own Fifth Avenue Press, this is Ann Arborite Ammar’s debut work of poetry. The poems delve into a woman's journey, honoring her heritage and modern experiences, influenced by the aesthetics of North Africa and Southern California. This collection celebrates the blend of languages, landscapes, and cultural traditions, providing a visual tour of the author's travels. Ammar explains the title’s meaning in the opening “The word zmagria is slang in North African Arabic- Moroccan, Algerian- for an immigrant or someone who immigrated… I decided to own the word and the notion of being the hybrid not-easily-defined “outsider insider” and make it a source from which to draw strength.”  This can be seen in the powerful words of “1 Zmagria Place”: 

If only the ones who never experienced transplanting 
knew – glimpsed 
what it does
to be yanked out 
without warning and ordered to re-grow. 
If only the ones who have learned 
to grow transplanted– could glimpse 
What it does to run in place.

Zaftig by Molly Raynor | Request Now or Read Online Here
Also published by Fifth Avenue Press, local Ann Arbor poet and storyteller (among many other accomplishments) Raynor writes a collection of poetry steeped in Judaic cultural tradition, taking inspiration from the female role models in her life. She includes collages of family photos and handwritten recipes to give the feeling of a scrapbook. The book is broken into three sections inspired by the baking of challah bread: kneading, braiding, and rising. With humor, she writes of her love of family traditions in the poem, “I Come From Women Who Made Love”

“work. Who made a meal out of need. My 

great grandmothers kibitzing in Dinah’s hot 

kitchen, oiled knuckles caked in fine flour. 

I imagine their ghosts gossiping above me, 

hovering even in death, making sure I clear

my plate- brisket tender as a widow in grief, 

lemon cake tart & dusted in powdered sugar.”

Use the QR code at the end to listen to the Spotify album featuring selected poems read by Molly and set to music by world-renowned musician Josef Deas. Laugh, cry, and enjoy these lyrical pieces, some with a touch of Yiddish.

In the Hour of War: Poetry From Ukraine | Request Now
Award-winning Detroit poet, Carolyn Forché and Ukrainian born poet, Ilya Kaminsky, gather 50 poems from contemporary Ukrainian poets in English translation for this anthology that encapsulates the country and the on-going war as well as the incredible resilience of the people. Both tragedy and beauty exists with touches of hope emerging in these poems as in Kateryn Kalytko’s poem “He Writes”:

“Life is a house on the side of the road,

old-world style, like our peasant house, divided into two parts.

in one, they wash a dead man’s body and weep.

in the other, they dress a bride…”

Tripas by Brandon Som | Request Now
Winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, Som draws on his rich multicultural heritage of Chinese and Mexican ancestry. He could have written a memoir of his grandfather’s journey from Asia to the US or his grandmother’s work in a microchip factory on the Mexican/American border, or the labors of other relatives in butcher shops and corner stores but instead he pulled these stories into this book of beautiful and inventive poems. One poem discusses the environmental damage from his grandmother’s job at an electronics plant in “Fuchi”:  ‘chemicals that poison, cause cancers,/numb the senses’. Then in the same poem, Som recalls something many other Asian Americans may recognize: ‘Growing up chino/the question I was most often asked,/ besides what are you, was do you know/ kung fu.’ Som’s poems refuse to confine themselves or their forms to any one thing. All of them enfold and link multiple topics, injustice among them. He writes, as well, to honor people who endured, who made their own way.

Staff Picks: Farming & Gardening Ideas for Spring

Thu, 03/27/2025 - 1:55pm by eapearce

It may still feel chilly out, but spring is in the air! If you’re keeping your eyes open around town, you can see buds popping out on trees, crocuses and tulips starting to push up through the ground, and lots of other signs of spring. Many of us are itching to get outside and clean up the winter debris, tend to yards, plant seeds, and start growing vegetables and flowers. Check out some of the below books for ideas on designing gardens and growing things this year, no matter the size of your space.

Raised-Bed Vegetable Gardening Made Simple: The Three-Module Home Vegetable Garden, by Raymond Nones | Request Now

In this updated and revised version of the original handbook, Nones walks readers through how to create a garden in a small or limited space using raised beds. Raised bed gardening continues to increase in popularity not only because it makes growing things possible in smaller spaces, but because it also requires less bending and less weeding than a typical in-the-ground garden. Nones goes through all the steps of creating and maintaining your raised bed(s), from sowing the seeds, thinning them, mulching and watering, crop rotation over the years and even seed saving if you’re interested. This is a great tool for raised bed gardeners, whether it’s your first year working with a raised bed or you’re just looking to improve upon your current raised bed situation! Includes helpful illustrations and diagrams.

Backyard Farming: From Raising Chickens to Growing Veggies, the Beginner's Guide to Running a Self-Sustaining Farm | Request Now

For those with a little more space or those interested in expanding beyond just a garden, this beginner’s manual to starting and operating a small backyard farm might be just the thing to read before this growing season. The book teaches readers how to grow, raise and store your own food in a variety of settings, from urban to rural. It includes tips on growing fruit and vegetables, raising chickens, beekeeping, and general homesteading. While those looking for a huge amount of detail on a particular farm-related subject may want to look elsewhere, this is a great overview of what it takes to engage in a variety of food-raising activities at home.

The Michigan Gardener's Companion: An Insider's Guide to Gardening in the Great Lakes State, by Rita C. Henehan | Request Now

Let’s be honest: Michigan isn’t always the easiest state to grow things in! It’s easy to get excited and plant things too early, only to have a late frost set you back. Starting seeds inside is often recommended to avoid this, but not everyone has the space to do so. Temperatures and precipitation can be pretty unpredictable over the summer. And pests can be a real problem! The Michigan Gardener’s Companion covers all of these common garden issues, and more. From soil varieties (did you know that Michigan today has over 450 different kinds of soil?!), use of microclimates and growing season-extending techniques, Henehan has tons of advice for gardeners right here in our Mitten State (she herself lives in White Pigeon!). This is a title you’ll reference all season long.

The Mini Farming Guide to Composting, by Brett L. Markham | Request Now

If you’ve never composted before, getting started can feel daunting. Where do you put your food scraps? Doesn’t it smell? Will it attract pests? Best-selling author Markham is here to walk you through it all in this handy guide. Whether you live in the city, the suburbs or the wilderness, he believes that everyone should be composting. Doing so not only minimizes food waste and saves money, but you can then use your compost to improve the quality of any soil that you might be growing things in. And, no need to purchase a fancy composter—Markham explains how to build a simple composting structure of your own with just a few materials. Especially useful is how he describes the different types of ways to compost. Composting isn't just dumping food scraps into a big pile and turning it every so often—you can compost into bricks, you can compost in protected ways so that your pile isn’t frozen until mid-April and you can use your compost to start seedlings sooner, and you can even compost with minimal physical activity required to keep your compost fresh. Maybe you’ll want to give it a try this year!

You can find these and lots of other related titles at AADL. Try searching “farming” or “gardening” in the catalog to get you started on browsing our wide collection of titles on these subjects!

Staff Picks: Book Club Picks for Engaging Discussion

Fri, 03/21/2025 - 2:29pm by emjane

Every good book does not make for a good book club selection—and sometimes you don’t know until it’s too late with your group’s discussion petering out at “well, I enjoyed reading it.” Luckily, your local library has your back! Here are four great reads that also happen to make for great discussions. Conveniently, all four are offered as part of our Book Clubs to Go collection (and so are a bunch more titles).

What is a Book Club to Go, you ask? It’s a handy-dandy, heavy-duty tote bag filled with 10 copies of the same title and a packet of information about the book, including discussion questions. The only thing you’ll have to provide are the refreshments! (Want more recommendations? Check out another four I recommended a few years ago!)

Day by Michael Cunningham | Request a Copy | Request a Book Club to Go

This book’s narrative construct centers the story on a single calendar day in three consecutive years: in this case, April 5, 2019, 2020, and 2021. As those dates might reveal, the pandemic plays a role, so if that’s a subject your club doesn’t want to touch, give this one a pass.

Day zooms in on the household of Isabel and Dan, who live with their two children, Nathan, 10, and Violet, 5, and Isabel’s brother, Robbie, in the upstairs apartment. Space is feeling tight in their brownstone, and though Robbie seems to be the one family member everyone gets along with, it’s also becoming clear that it’s time for him to pull his life together and move on from their living situation. Emotions run high, and though we only get that one day of 2019 before pushing a year ahead, as a reader, you can fill in the blanks of the previous weeks.

Complicated family relations make for a character-heavy read, and lots of questions, ranging from “What would you do in this situation?” to “What did you think of this person’s motivations?” to “Did you even like him?” All excellent ways to fill your club with discussion!

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi | Request a Copy | Request a Book Club to Go

Thrillers don’t often make great book club picks. It turns out books that are more plot-based than character-based are real page-turners but leave less fodder for discussion. Luckily, The Centre is a thrilling exception. 

Anisa, a dissatisfied translator, becomes further frustrated with her life when her boyfriend—easily and suddenly—becomes fluent in Urdu. It makes it easier for her to introduce him to her family but harder to be around without becoming jealous of his career opportunities. When she discovers the secret of how he gains this quick prowess and learns how she can acquire this ability as well, she jumps at the chance. But, like most things in life, there is a cost.

This book is not only on the shorter side but also a fast-paced read. Most of what makes it a compelling book club discussion rests DEEP in spoiler territory, so it’s a better choice for a book club where most of the members make time to read the book!

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson | Request a Copy | Request a Book Club to Go

Byron and his somewhat estranged sister, Benny, are thrust back together following the death of their mother, Eleanor. Eleanor’s untraditional inheritance includes a frozen piece of black cake, a traditional recipe from their Caribbean heritage, and a recording of Eleanor telling her story to her children. Interweaving Eleanor’s historical story rife with family secrets and Byron and Benny’s present-day challenges reckoning with their grief and each other, Black Cake is a full-flavored story of intrigue, history, and family. 

I haven’t dipped into its adaptation on Hulu yet, but comparing the book to the screen version always makes for engaging book club discussion as well!

True Biz by Sara Nović | Request a Copy | Request a Book Club to Go

Charlie has been Deaf for as long as she can remember. Her cochlear implant allows her to participate in the world, but she’s somewhat removed from it because she has never learned sign language. But when, following her parents’ divorce, she enrolls in the boarding school River Valley School for the Deaf, her world begins to open up. 

In addition to Charlie’s perspective, the reader frequently gets chapters told from the perspective of February, the school’s headmistress. While February is of hearing, she’s a child of Deaf parents and has been a lifelong advocate. There’s also Austin, an RVSD student, who comes from “Deaf royalty” and has never known a language beyond sign language. 

I learned SO MUCH about the Deaf experience and culture from this book. But beyond that, it’s a school story about discovering who you are and how that may deviate from your family’s and society’s expectations. There’s lots to discuss here, for sure!

Staff Picks: Location, Location—Film & TV with a powerful sense of place 

Mon, 03/17/2025 - 7:17pm by SaraP

I savor a film where the storytelling and the setting are inseparable. The locations for these picks scratch that itch and leave you with visuals that are hard to forget. 

The Woman King | Request DVD or Request Blu-Ray

Buckle up for a riveting epic based on the real life, all-female warriors of the kingdom of Dahomey. While some of the characters were real, others are fictional, including Viola Davis’s knockout performance as a general training a new cohort of warriors. The sweeping South African filming locations, coupled with the history and a production centered on women of color, give this dramatic saga a powerful vibrancy and visual timbre that leaps from the screen in what might have otherwise been a straightforward action epic. 

Detectorists | Request DVD or Request Blu-Ray

This TV series—written, directed, and starring Mackenzie Crook (who was new to me in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Black Pearl, stealing the show with his false eye)—follows Andy and Lance and their group of fellow metal detectors (detectorists!!!), as they search for treasure. The tone is both comedic and effortlessly touching, thanks to the duo’s self-induced entanglements with family, jobs, and life in general. With an unassuming premise and modest budget, the quiet shots of the British countryside, flora, and fauna have all the more room to breath depth and grounding (pun intended) to this romp through the briar and bramble. You may just want to check out a metal detector after this, too!  

Little Bird | Request DVD

The forests, farms, and sweeping vistas of Canada serve as backdrop, but also a kind of lifeblood in this miniseries. As the main character, Bezhig Little Bird, searches for her biological family, the series slowly unpacks the trauma of the Sixties Scoop on Bezhig and her two families. It’s a mystery, a search for self and history, and a brutally wrenching portrayal of systemic forced adoption of indigenous people. Bezhig travels from Montreal to Saskatchewan, taking the viewer through grass, hills, trees, road, wind, time, and layers of complexity. You might expect a dip into melodrama here, but the brutal realism on the screen is more than enough to deliver a gut-punch on its own.  

Thelma & Louise | Request DVD or Request Blu-Ray

On a totally different note, scenes of the southwest in Thelma & Louise are inextricably linked to the escalating desperation of two friends on the run after a vacay gone horribly wrong. I love the shifts in Thelma and Louise’s friendship over the course of the film—their bond tested and intensified as the all-or-nothing stakes increase. The darker themes of the film are balanced by moments of satisfyingly reckless (and downright funny) unrestraint. As green mountains and cattle country give way to dust and desert, the chase heats up too and the women blaze an unexpectedly brazen, feminist trail across the southwest in a road movie as grand as the view.  

Staff Picks: Celebrate Women’s History Month With Great Biographies of Fascinating Women

Tue, 03/04/2025 - 2:16pm by eapearce

March is Women's History Month and one way to celebrate is to pick up a biography about a woman—or women—who changed the world in ways big and small. Maybe you've heard of her, maybe you haven't, there are always amazing new things to discover about the fantastic things women have achieved in their lives. Below are a few suggestions for titles about women who changed the course of history in their own very special ways. And of course, our biography sections at all of our locations have many more titles to help you celebrate women's history this month, or any time!

Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy, by Damien Lewis | Request Now

Dancer, singer and actress Josephine Baker fled racism and poverty in St. Louis, Missouri to travel to Europe to seek fame and a better life in the years before WWII. Though she gave many a riveting performance in theaters and ballrooms across France, author Lewis believes that Baker gave “the performance of her life” as spy for both the British and the French during the war. She was recruited in 1939 by French officials to befriend Italian embassy representatives to gather information about Mussolini’s intentions for his alliance with Hitler. From there, she was involved in helping determine Japan’s strategical positions, identifying Nazi agents in Paris and in smuggling classified intelligence across enemy lines. How did she manage that last part? The information was written in invisible ink on musical scores! Lewis does an excellent job both painting a portrait of an amazingly courageous and intelligent woman who truly altered the path of history and of interspersing her story with interesting facts about intelligence activities during WWII in general. This thrilling biography is a page-turner.

The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT and the Fight for Women in Science, by Kate Zernike | Request Now

In 1999, MIT molecular scientist Nancy Hopkins and 15 other female scientists forced the insinuation to reconcile with its long history of discrimination against women in the sciences. Despite claiming to support and encourage women scientists, in the mid-1990s, women made up less than 8% of the faculty across MIT’s science departments. Hopkins herself, who had arrived at MIT in 1973 as an assistant professor, had endured decades of mistreatment, slights and derision while still conducting important genetic research. Fed up, Hopkins began reaching out to her female colleagues to hear more about if her experience was unique—of course, it wasn’t. Working together, the women ultimately formed the Committee on Women Faculty, which then went on to compile a report detailing the marginalization of women in the sciences. Readers will struggle not to feel infuriated along with Hopkins and her colleagues, and will cheer on their determination to make changes in institutions of higher learning.

All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family’s Keepsake, by Tiya Miles | Request Now

MacArthur fellow and former University of Michigan professor Tiya Miles revolves this stunning history around a single item. Now displayed in the Smithsonian, the titular cloth sack was first packed in 1852 by Rose, an enslaved woman, for her nine-year-old daughter, Ashley. Rose gave Ashley the sack, filled with a few keepsakes, when Ashley was sold to a new master in South Carolina and mother and daughter were separated. Ashley held onto the sack as a precious reminder of her mother, and in 1921 her granddaughter Ruth embroidered it with Rose and Ashley’s story. From there, the sack was lost to the family and not rediscovered until 2007. It is Miles herself who dissects plantation records to identify Rose and and Ashley and in the process explores the lives of enslaved Black women of the era. Miles analyzes how the original contents of the sack, which included a handful of pecans, a dress and a braid of Rose’s hair, tell a larger picture of what Black women endured at the hands of their enslavers. This is a difficult but deeply moving and important read.

A Life of One’s Own: Nine Women Writers Begin Again, by Joanna Biggs | Request Now

This title is a blend of memoir, literary criticism and biography. Harper’s Magazine editor Biggs draws inspiration from eight fellow writers who dedicated themselves to their work and made difficult choices in their relationships despite societal expectations. Biggs shares how she struggled in her 30s as her marriage faltered and her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis upended the family. Seeking solace, Biggs turned to books by women who defied tradition when it came to love, sense of self-worth and creative pursuits. Mary Wollstonecraft, for example, opted to spend most of her life happily unmarried despite the social norms of the time period. George Eliot inspires Biggs too; Eliot found both success in love and writing in midlife after losing both of her parents and experiencing a series of romantic disappointments. Janie Crawford, the protagonist of Their Eyes Were Watching God, fortifies Biggs with her refusal to settle for a mediocre romantic relationship. Publisher’s Weekly wrote of the book: “The sharp analysis and biographical sketches testify to how literature has long served as a site of reinvention for women.” Book lovers and anyone who wishes to take inspiration from the wide range of choices talented women have made throughout history will find much to enjoy in this thoughtful meditation.

Staff Picks: Best Biopics of the Last Few Years

Mon, 03/03/2025 - 6:54pm by SaraP

It's been a big few years for biopics. Maybe you loved A Complete Unknown in the theaters and need a marathon. Maybe you missed Oppenheimer (did anyone?). Maybe you just love a good story. Well, here's a whole slew of mostly-true ones about fascinating people. I learned something new in each of these!

Cabrini | Request DVD or Request Blu-Ray
A stirring tale of Italian immigrant Francesca Cabrini's fight for better living conditions and justice in 1880s New York City. Winner of several Septimius awards, and a film fest favorite, this period piece is full of drama and pathos.

Bob Marley: One Love | Request DVD or Request Blu-Ray
Follow Marley from the assassination attempts before the Smile Jamaica concert in 1976, to the One Love Peace Concert in 1978. Kingsley Ben-Adir is worth the watch, if, for some wild reason, the award-winning soundtrack wasn't enough to entice you.  

Piece by Piece | Request DVD or Request Blu-Ray
One of the best biopic genre-benders to hit theaters in 2024, but a commercial flop. I loved it for the heart, humor, and super fun Lego animation style—a new approach to the music bio for sure and as charismatic as Pharrell Williams' music! 

The Iron Claw | Request DVD or Request Blu-Ray
This powerbomb of a biopic surprised me (perhaps unsurprisingly as someone who knows next to nothing about wrestling) with both the Von Erich family's story—the action-packed rise to wrestling fame, laced with tragedy—coupled with the emotional heft it pulls. 

Oppenheimer | Request DVD or Request Blu-Ray
Did anyone fail to see this in the theater?? We have it, if you did. It's a big biopic chronicling an even bigger moment in human and scientific history: J. Robert Oppenheimer's work on the first nuclear weapons during WWII. Tough subject matter, but superb performances. 

Staff Picks: Pie, Pi and Pies

Mon, 03/03/2025 - 6:06pm by erin

Pi day is March 14, so let’s mix a little mathematical constant fun with some delicious sweet, savory, and pizza pies! 

The Book on Pie: Everything You Need to Know to Bake Perfect Pies by Erin Jeanne McDowell | Request Now
McDowell starts with an in-depth tutorial, complete with troubleshooting tips for decorating pies, before delving into recipes for every kind of pie imaginable. Whether you're partial to fruit, custard, cream, chiffon, cold-set, or savory, McDowell offers an endless arsenal of pies for your kitchen. You'll learn how to make the flakiest crust, the tallest swoops of meringue, and even how to cut the pies for the perfect slice

Pie Squared: Irresistibly Easy Sweet & Savory Slab Pies by Cathy Barrow | Request Now
Made in a sheet pan, a slab pie can make enough dinner or dessert for a crowd. PIE SQUARED includes more than 60 savory and sweet pie recipes, along with 20 crust and topping recipes and step-by-step techniques for rolling and decorating that will appeal to baking aficionados as well as occasional bakers. This fresh, uncomplicated take on pie will encourage those of you who have been reluctant in the past to now take out your rolling pin and try it.

Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World by Matt Parker | Request Now
This tour of real-world mathematical disasters reveals the importance of math in everyday life. All sorts of seemingly innocuous mathematical mistakes can have significant consequences. Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the ways math trips us up

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi: A Math Adventure by Cindy Neuschwander | Request Now

When Sir Cumference drinks a potion which turns him into a dragon, his son Radius searches for the magic number known as pi, which will restore him to his former shape.

Perfect Pan Pizza: Square Pies to Make at Home, From Roman, Sicilian, and Detroit, to Grandma Pies and Focaccia by Peter Reinhart | Request Now
Starting with recipes for three master doughs that can be made with commercial yeast, as well as a brief intro to sourdough starters, Perfect Pan Pizza illustrates how to make several styles of pan pizza, including Detroit-style deep-pan pizza, focaccia, Roman, and Sicilian. Totaling forty-four classic and unique recipes.

Dinner Pies: From Shepherd's Pies and pot Pies to Turnovers, Quiches, Hand Pies, and More, With 100 Delectable & Foolproof Recipes by Ken Haedrich | Request Now

Dinner Pies includes 100 recipes for two-crust, one-crust, and no-crust pies. As a recognized master in the art of making pies, Ken Haedrich includes updated and perfected versions from the great savory pie traditions, including British, New England Yankee, and Southern Ư- recipes for classics including cottage pie, shepard's pie and a best-ever chicken pot pie.

Staff Picks: Fact or Fiction? Why Not Both? Fictionalized Portrayals of Real People

Sat, 03/01/2025 - 12:00pm by emjane

These novels certainly take creative liberties, but I bet you can’t help but start looking up what elements have their basis in truth! 

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain | Request Now

Though McLain reached most notoriety for The Paris Wife (another book that could be on this list!), my favorite of hers is Circling the Sun, due especially to its Kenyan setting and fiery female lead. McClain centers her story on Beryl Markham, a relatively minor character in Isak Dinesen’s memoir Out of Africa. Beryl pushes against expectations of the time, first training horses, then taking to the skies as an aviator. Though romance complicates Beryl’s life, her sense of self pushes through.

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler | Request Now

This expansive historical tome looks at the lie of John Wilkes Booth through the perspectives of his many siblings. Fowler is a decadent writer and especially shines when giving voice to the female characters, who are often overlooked when telling the Booth story due to the lack of recorded history about them. Though this lengthy book has unusual pacing, I didn’t find myself wishing the story were tighter told. Instead, I appreciated the time I got to spend with Fowler’s version of this complicated family, wondering how close her narrative leaps aligned with actuality.

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict | Request Now

Part I of The Only Woman in the Room is a combination of WWII novel and unhappy marriage story; the underestimation of a woman’s intelligence proves to be her ticket to a new life. Oh, and that woman is Hedy Lamarr. Part II takes us to old Hollywood and the story more folks might expect from a Lamarr narrative. Though certainly a book one chooses more for its plot and quick pace rather than author’s turns of phrase, The Only Woman in the Room was a quick read, and the ties to real historical figures kept me interested. Reading this book led me down a rabbit hole about the real-life Hedy Lamarr, and I was astounded to find out how much of this book had a strong basis in actuality. What a fascinating woman!

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont | Request Now

In 1926, famed mystery author Agatha Christie disappeared for nearly two weeks. No, this isn’t just plot, that bit actually happened, and we know very little about it aside from that. de Gramont takes this historical mystery to the page, creating a story (with its own mystery!) to explain the motives of the disappearance and what Christie got up to during that time. There might not be much proven historical fact in this book, but The Christie Affair is a little treat of a historical mystery, and it’s good fun to wonder about a real-life mystery that is likely to remain forever unsolved.

Staff Picks: Top Vinyl Records to Spin

Fri, 02/28/2025 - 3:10pm by bunkleyj@aadl.org

Looking for some new vinyl to spin on your record player this year? Try any of these titles, perfect for dancing, relaxing, sparking discussion, or singing along.

Songs of the Lost World, The Cure | Request Now
It’s been 16 years since the Cure’s last album and 46 years since the first.  A band that’s been around this long has will have its high and lows and after a 16 year hiatus, I wouldn’t expect much. But “Songs of the Lost” is just as good and in some ways better than their best releases.  Themes of loss, solitude, and mortality are enhanced by drums, bass, synths, string arrangements, distorted guitars, and pump organs. Robert Smith’s voice and lyrics still are as touching as it was in 1979.  Sweeping, sultry, swooning comes to mind with a bit of melancholy .

The Collective, Kim Gordon | Request Now
Kim Gordon's second solo album is one of the most thrilling body of works from 2024.  Gritty hip-hop beats with the familiar grinding sounds that she brought when she was member of Sonic Youth. This album is an amalgamation of beat poets such as Ferlinghetti and Ginsberg with 1979 No Wave post punk sounds of NYC think Lydia Lunch…oh, and throw in some hip hop flavor from the Bronx thank you Boogie Down Productions.  This album exudes courage, rage, and power. 

Ayo Ke Disco: Boogie, Pop & Funk from the South China Sea (1974-1988) Various Artist | Request Now
Funk clubs, basement parties, discos of the 1970s and early 1980s was special place to dance the night away.  Dancing to soulful funk and disco was not lost on Malaysia, Singapore ,Thailand, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. This 10-song compilation is one that makes me want to dance all day and night - it also makes me want to use my DuoLingo more so I can sing along!  This would be a perfect fit on my next mixtape with Brides of Funkenstein, Mandrill and and Ohio Players.   

Endlessness, Nala Sinephro | Request Now
London-based composer and jazz composer musician Nala Sinephro's second album Endlessness  is an auditory meditative experience. She predominantly plays the pedal harp, piano, and synthesizers. On Endlessness, her harp glissandos fit perfectly with saxophone and synthesizer. Endlessness is calm and soothing yet experimental and luxurious.  It sometimes is not fair to compare artist but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Coltranes (John, Alice and Ravi) are an important part of her music library. I hope that wasn’t a comparison, and if it was, then she is in good company.

Staff Picks: Local Artists

Mon, 02/24/2025 - 2:46pm by audreyh

Our wide-ranging Art Print collection includes 18th century Realists and the greats of Impressionism, but we also have a robust collection of prints sourced from artists local to Michigan and Ann Arbor!  As the home of the Art Fair, it’s probably not surprising to find out that Ann Arbor and southeastern Michigan are home to many talented artists. So, clear a space on your wall and get ready to bring home one of these prints for eight weeks! Don't see anything that strikes your fancy? Peruse our Art Print collection and you'll be sure to spot something you like. 

So Fresh, So Clean, 2021 by Avery Williamson | Request Now
Avery Williamson is a multidisciplinary artist whose work in weaving, photography, and drawing explores the narratives of black women in personal and institutional archives. Within the archive, women are defined by names, occupations, or skin color. Avery returns to particular images and remakes them in glitter, cloth, or color in order to free these figures from the historical narratives to which they’ve been embedded.

Field Series, 2007 by Karin Wagner Coron | Request Now 
Karin Wagner Coron is a native of Michigan, and a Great Lakes Region artist. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University in drawing and painting. She paints and draws the American landscape, with occasional excursions to Italy. Her work is a combination of oil, oil pastel, graphite and mixed mediums on paper and canvas. Photography is used as a basis for her compositions, to capture a particular time of day, interesting light, or composition.

The Festival of Colors by Riya Aggarwal | Request Now
Riya Aggarwal is currently a student at the University of Michigan studying Molecular Biology and Art & Design. She is a self-taught artist and henna artist based in Michigan. Riya has been doing art for the majority of her life and has a great passion for fine arts. She does commission work, and apply henna for parties, events, and fundraising.

Celestial Neighbor by Jason Guenzel | Request Now
Jason Guenzel is a self-taught photographer based in Michigan with a background in science and engineering. Over the last decade, Jason has taken a particular interest in the discipline of astrophotography. He is able to explore the universe around us and reveal the unseen beauty of the natural world through his camera, oftentimes without ever leaving home! Jason’s work has been internationally awarded, published, and exhibited through various outlets, including: NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, Astronomy magazine, Sky and Telescope magazine, the Astronomy Photographer of the Year, and others.

Elderly Couple by Fatema Haque | Request Now
Fatema Haque is a Bangladeshi-American writer, educator, and fiber artist. As a fiber artist, Fatema creates hand-embroidered portraits that celebrate the legacies of the Bangladeshi diaspora: those who immigrate, those they leave behind, and the memories they carry with them wherever they go. Each portrait requires 30-100 hours of work, is done entirely by hand, typically on fabric Fatema thrifts and naturally dyes with plants and food scraps. She is am inspired by the resourcefulness and artistic legacies of her aunts and grandmothers, who created hand-embroidered goods that were never formally recognized as art. Through her art, Fatema aims to document the memories of her people. 
 

Staff Picks: Oscar-Winning Movies

Sun, 02/16/2025 - 5:25pm by lucroe

The 97th Academy Awards will take place on March 2 so we bring you some movies in our collection that were underdogs in the Best Picture category of years past. Read on to discover just a few that were not considered favorites during the time they were nominated and maybe you will discover a new favorite film among them or rewatch ones you haven’t seen in a while.  

How Green Was My Valley (1941) Directed by John Ford | Request Now
How Green Was My Valley is a moving family drama set in a Welsh mining town, directed by John Ford. The film resonated with audiences during a pivotal time, tackling themes of tradition and sacrifice shortly after Pearl Harbor. Despite being an excellent film, it often gets overshadowed by classics like The Maltese Falcon, Suspicion, and Citizen Kane. Although Kane received nine nominations, it only won for Best Original Screenplay, while Valley claimed five Oscars, including Best Director for Ford.

Kramer vs Kramer (1979) Directed by Robert Benton | Request Now
Kramer vs. Kramer is an intense drama about divorce and the ensuing battle over child custody that took home several top awards at the 52nd Academy Awards. It's hard to dispute that Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep deserved their wins for lead actor and supporting actress, as the film is really a showcase for incredible performances. However, when it comes to the Best Picture and Best Director awards, things get a bit tricky, especially since it beat out Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, which is often hailed as one of the greatest films of all time. Plus, Bob Fosse's stunning work in All That Jazz might have made him a more deserving choice for Best Director than Robert Benton. Maybe the Academy thought Coppola had already had his moment with The Godfather, but not recognizing Apocalypse Now is still a hot topic of debate.

Crash (2005) Directed by Paul Haggis | Request Now
Writer-director Paul Haggis weaves together interconnected stories reflecting on race, class, family, and gender in post-9/11 Los Angeles. While some critics feel this movie is a superficial look at racism that only makes some pat conclusions, others found it worthy enough for best picture in 2005. Up against it was what was considered a shoo-in, Brokeback Mountain, the groundbreaking gay love story between two cowboys. In contrast, Crash had some critical acclaim but lacked a Golden Globe Best Picture nomination. The only other film to win an Oscar for Best Picture without a Golden Globe nod was The Sting in 1974. Both films had similar nominations—Brokeback with eight and Crash with six—and each won in the screenplay category. Ang Lee’s directorial win for Brokeback made it seem like a frontrunner for Best Picture, yet Crash took the award instead, sparking ongoing controversy and criticism of the Academy.

Moonlight (2016) Directed by Barry Jenkins | Request Now
Director Barry Jenkins’ profound coming-of-age story follows a young Black man as he explores his sexuality and identity over the course of his life. It was not heavily favored to win best picture at the 2017 awards, whereas the movie La La Land was, having received 14 nominations and already winning six awards, including Best Director for Damien Chazelle. However, in a shocking turn of events, presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty mistakenly announced La La Land as the winner due to being given the wrong envelope, and Moonlight was later revealed to be the actual Best Picture winner.

Parasite (2019) Directed by Bong Joon-ho | Request Now
In 2020 there were nine movies up for best picture, some with big names attached like Scorsese’s The Irishman and Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood. However, it was a little black comedy from Korea that unexpectedly beat out this heavy competition. Parasite not only became the first non-English-language film to win Best Picture, it won the most awards of the night with four, including Best Director. Parasite is both an outstanding thriller and an emotionally charged drama which includes some dark comedic touches. The film tells the story of two families divided by their social classes and highlights the unexpected fallout of the poorer family’s efforts to bridge that gap. To preserve its surprises, keep summaries vague, as the film’s unpredictability is a key strength. With stellar pacing and outstanding performances, Parasite rightfully stands among the top Best Picture winners, cementing its place as a unique entry in the realm of award-winning comedies.