Albany Public Library discussion

Hello! I have returned! I have been away for two weeks of vacation! (I suggest everyone try it, it was great)

Now, we are almost at the end of the Summer Reading Challenge! Three more weeks!

First things first: Congratulations to those of you who have finished!! Elise and I will be reaching out to your chosen branches for your shirts this week. If you have yet to mention your pick up branch, please mention your branch preference in the comments or email us at albanyreads@albanypubliclibrary.org. Otherwise, I will email about your shirt’s readiness!

Shout out to Paul, Alicia, Ashley, Jody, Susan and Jaybee for completing the challenge! You have all the bragging rights! Woohoo!

I believe in everyone else to complete as well! If you have finished, don’t forget to comment below or email us!


Now back to this week’s topic!

This week is Heroes and Villains. I love this topic! It is a good action theme. We have the classics of Batman vs Joker, Clarice vs Hannibal, and Mario vs Bowser. The list could go on forever! What is your favorite hero and villain duo? I mean I read a lot of manga with that theme. There are tons of titles within this topic. My favorite duo are Ganta vs Shiro from this series called Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 1. It’s a horror/mystery vibe. I was about to go in deep to explain the series, but I decided to not do that to you all!

So yeah, who are your favorite characters?

Here’s this week’s recommendation:
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Grim Vol. 1: Don't Fear The Reaper
West of Sundown Vol. 1: Out Beyond the Dust N' Dark (1)
Cryptid Club
The Nice House on the Lake, Vol. 1
The Many Deaths of Laila Starr
Squire
A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance, Vol. 1

This isn't really my genre, but I have a friend who teaches Folklore at West Virginia University, and she gets to read student research papers on all the creatures? beings? that are featured in the Cryptid Club series noted above. Perhaps my favorite is Mothman.

Susan wrote: "This isn't really my genre, but I have a friend who teaches Folklore at West Virginia University, and she gets to read student research papers on all the creatures? beings? that are featured in the..."

Mothman is my favorite, too
I find myself sometimes buying little Cryptid pins or stickers 😂😂

I finished Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers this morning before work! A super fun vacation read.

Susan wrote: "I finished Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers this morning before work! A super fun vacation read."

It is a cool vacation read, her voice was fantastic!

I just started an audiobook A Patriot's Promise: Protecting My Brothers, Fighting for My Life, and Keeping My Word that can go in the heroes category, so I'll update when I'm finished. Otherwise, last night I finished Jennifer Dugan's new book, which is a departure from her usual queer love stories to be a queer dark thriller, and thrilling it was-- a little slow to start but the dysfunctional relationship between Cherry and Sloan was hard to read as Sloan slowly figures out what happened the night her and Cherry were the only survivors of a mass murder (eight people died).... and why they were the only survivors. The book is called The Last Girls Standing, so definitely ripe with villains.

I haven't been good about posting but I have been reading! Here is my list. I am starring my favorites in case anyone is interested!

You Are Here*, Karin Lin-Greenberg
Drowning, TJ Newman
Summer Stage, Meg Mitchell Moore
The Senator's Wife, Liv Constantine
Same Time Next Summer, Annabel Monaghan
Swipe Up for More! Stephanie McNeal
My Murder, Katie Williams
You Were Always Mine, Christine Pride and Jo Piazza
The Rachel Incident*, Caroline O'Donoghue
Dances, Nicole Duffy
Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos*, Nash Jenkins
Friends Like These, Meg Rosoff
Wanderlust, Elle Everhart
Influenced, Sara Petersen
Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros
The Wishing Game, Meg Shaffer
Little Monsters*, Adrienne Brodeur
Mrs Nash's Ashes, Sarah Adler

I am also excited to say all of these were checked out from APL!

You Are Here*, Karin Lin-Greenberg

I have this book on my bedside table but haven't started it yet. Good to see you starred it!

Just finished my summer reading challenge! I definitely have more than 10 books from this summer, but most are audiobooks. I try to make myself read at least 5 physical books to consider the challenge completed. I haven't been listing them as I go, so here they all are:

"Real" books:
The Celebrants
A Woman Is No Man
Solito
The Whalebone Theatre
The Island of Sea Women

Audiobooks:
The Night She Disappeared
The Last Anniversary
The Girls in the Garden
The Third Wife
The Family Remains
Not a Happy Family
The House We Grew Up In
The Family Next Door
The Mother's Promise
The Other Mrs.
The Things We Keep

Just finished Spare this morning.

...And today I finished The Maid .

Mirkat wrote: "Just finished Spare this morning."

How did you like Spare. I heard a podcast about it that was hilarious, but not sure I am up for reading it.

It took me a bit to warm up to it. I'm not a royal watcher, but I was reasonably curious. Once I got into it, I found Harry's inside view of the monarchy interesting, and generally I found him sympathetic.

Mirkat wrote: "It took me a bit to warm up to it. I'm not a royal watcher, but I was reasonably curious. Once I got into it, I found Harry's inside view of the monarchy interesting, and generally I found him symp..."
There was an interesting article about being a ghost writer in the New Yorker a couple of months ago. Prince Harry was one of his preferred people he worked with.

For Week 7, I read The Road to Unfreedom by Timothy Snyder. Pieces of his analysis got a little repetitive, but a very interesting read on how Putin has dismantled democracy in Russia and utilized disinformation in the hopes of achieving the same in many western democracies. I also read The Last Man by Mary Shelley, this novel by her to be considered one of the first to explore post-apocalyptic themes common in much of today’s literature. I’d definitely recommend to those who love sci-fi, but have to warn that the first third of the book was a slog to get through.

Read Audra Eagle Yun’s Archival Accessioning. The archivist’s enemy is always time…or lack of money…or institutional support…or a combination of other elements.