Albany Public Library discussion

Hello all!

For this first week in August, we have a collection of fiction, non-fiction and some poetry as a diverse representation the american story.

Fiction

Lot: Stories by Bryan Washington
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray
Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn
The Atlas of Reds and Blues by Devi Laskar
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Non-Fiction

The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
Good Talk by Mira Jacob
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T. Kira Madden
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell
The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez: A Border Story by Aaron Bobrow-Strain
How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones
Call Me American by Abdi Nor Iftin
The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui

Poetry

American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes
Unaccompanied by Javier Zamora

Let us know what you've been reading this week!

I love Westerns and I started "Whiskey When We're Dry" by John Larison over the weekend. At first it was hard to get into the dialect but now I am loving it!

*I finished this book on August 10th.

I finished In the Shadow of Statues by Mitch Landrieu, The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor and The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Just finished All Adults Here by Emma Straub

I just realized that was my 10th book toward this challenge!! Yay!! Will you be announcing details on how to claim our T-shirts? I’d like to get mine by mail if possible!

Liz wrote: "I just realized that was my 10th book toward this challenge!! Yay!! Will you be announcing details on how to claim our T-shirts? I’d like to get mine by mail if possible!"

@ Liz Congrats. More details about T-shirts will come at the end of summer. Stay tuned:)

@ Valerie Congrats! I have added your books. You have completed the APL Summer Reading Challenge

Great! Can't wait!

Finished The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice this afternoon. Super interesting and fun read.

A note primarily for Kate:
July 6 at 1:01 pm I added some books to my read list on Week 5. I have not seen that Kate has added them to my read list or any other persons since 7-24-20 for week 5. Just wanted to check on this.

Paul wrote: "A note primarily for Kate:
July 6 at 1:01 pm I added some books to my read list on Week 5. I have not seen that Kate has added them to my read list or any other persons since 7-24-20 for week 5. Ju..."

@Paul Hi Paul. I believe your books have been added. I have 13 books read on my end. You have completed the APL Summer Reading Challenge as well. Congrats!

@ Diana I added your book and I agree it sounds super interesting. Adding to my TBR

Thank you very much. I will keep reading! ☺

This past week I finishedHome Before Dark, Mexican Gothic, and Dear America: My Face to the Wind

Nicole wrote: "This past week I finishedHome Before Dark, Mexican Gothic, and Dear America: My Face to the Wind"

@ Nicole I have added your books. Congrats, you have completed the APL Summer Reading Challenge!

I read Toil and Trouble by Augusten Burroughs!

Max Brooks Devolution was excellant.I finished it in record time. It's the history of a Sasquatch rebellion. The book relies on the narrator's journal to reveal the story. The journal entries are interwoven with commentary from Sasquatch experts, news interview s and quotes from reliable nonfiction books.

I have added your books.

Congrats @ Sarah you have completed APL Summer Reading Challenge!

Just finished The Glass Hotel and Emily St John Mandel remains a favorite contemporary author.

Diana wrote: "Just finished The Glass Hotel and Emily St John Mandel remains a favorite contemporary author."

@ Diana I added your book. Congrats you have completed APL Summer Reading Challenge!

Oh, yay! (I’m glad someone is keeping track because I’m not :B) The t-shirts are so cute this year.

Diana wrote: "Just finished The Glass Hotel and Emily St John Mandel remains a favorite contemporary author."
How many books do you need to complete the challenge?

I just finished Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously, which was the non-fiction book group pic for July? June? (Can't figure out how to view past events on APL's calendar.) Better late than never, I guess.

I did the 24-readathon this past weekend, so I got a lot read in 24 hours but over the week. The books I read that fit the American story SHOULD INCLUDE FOR EVERYONE a new book called Show Me a Sign about a Deaf community living on what is now known as Martha's Vineyard which is historically accurate but fiction nonetheless. It features a tween main character, but it's worth the read for adults too. Then there was The Black Kids that I was disappointed in. It's a new YA book that is set in California during the riots following the Rodney King beating. But I thought the book was going to focus more on the event and riots afterward, but it really wasn't.

I just finished The Stone Sky, which took me WAY too long. I really liked the trilogy, but I think the first one is the best.

I finished two books this week Heal Me by Bronwen Evans and An Unexpected Forever by Joanne Dannon. Heal Me is fun and interesting Colorado romance. An Unexpected Forever is a multi-ethnic romance mostly taking place in Hong Kong. It had a lot of interesting information about the family obligations of Orthodox Jewish and Chinese families.

I finished When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton over the weekend!

Shrill by Lindsey West. Totally part of our American story.

That’s Lindy not Lindsey West🗽

I have read so many books on this list, that I decided to skip reading from the list this week since the theme is obviously within my comfort zone! Saw and got to speak to Abdi Nor Iftin when he was at UAlbany a couple of years ago. I purchased his book for my daughter who goes to college in the Twin Cities and mentors some Somali kids. The book helped her understand the background of their situation a lot better. The kids were either born here or don't remember Somalia, but obviously the immediate past history has had big effect on their families.

Hi. All of the books posted have been added up to this point!