 Good morning and welcome to this week's edition of Encompass Live. I am your host. I'm the small little head over here. I'm Krista Burns. I am Krista Burns here at the Nebraska Library Commission. Encompass Live is the Commission's weekly online event. We're a webinar. We're a webcast. We're an online show. There's a lot of controversy about what to call these things, but whatever we are, we are here live online every Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. Central Time. The show is free and open to anyone to watch. We do record every week also, so if you're unable to join us on Wednesday mornings, that's fine. You can always go to our website and do the recordings of all of our shows going back to the very beginning in January 2009, when we first started Encompass Live. All of our recordings are up on YouTube, so very easy to watch along with if there are any PowerPoint presentations, any handouts, links to websites related to our shows. We have a whole bunch of show information that is included there as well. We do a mixture of things here. Interviews, mini-training sessions, book reviews, web tours, whatever. Basically, anything library related, we will have it on the show. We're not a good or bad thing to say. We're not very picky. If it's about libraries, we'll put you on. Yeah, we will have it. We have a Nebraska Library Commission staff that sometimes do presentations and things specific to library commission, but we also bring guest speakers. Today we have, I guess, a mixture of that. Well, we mostly, we have the system directors who are going to do the work. Right, yes. We've been doing a series, just started last year, an occasional series of people coming in and library commission staff talking about books based on book talks, the kind of things you do in your library. We've had library commission staff come in a couple of times with some themes. This time, Laura Johnson, who's in the middle over here, she's our CE coordinator, had the idea to have our regional library system directors come in and talk about what they've been reading, or what books they like. How are we going to do introductions? I'm going to introduce everybody the first time and then we're just going to go sort of. I'm going to hand over to you guys then to take it away. Hi, this is Laura and welcome. We're really excited today to have our system directors here talking about the books they've been reading and would like to discuss with you because they're librarians and they like to talk about books. We're going to go kind of in a rotation and everybody's going to give, I think, three book talks. There are five of them, three book talks that worked out to 45 minutes if the timing is perfect and it doesn't have to be actually. We hope you enjoy it. We hope that this gives you some ideas about reading and if you have some comments on the books as we go along or some questions about the books, we'd love to see them. There is a bibliography of the book titles, so you don't have to scribble things down. You can get the list of all the book titles that will be online ready for you to download. It's already posted onto the session page for this, so go to the main page for the show today. It's posted on there if you want to grab it now or you can get it later. It has links to all the books in WorldCat, I believe, so we are going to start today with Sharon Osega. Sharon has a little bit of a cold, but she's bravely soldiering on and is going to start us off. Then we will go to Eric Green, Denise Harders, Anika Ramirez, and Scott Childers and then we'll rotate again. So Sharon, you want to take it away? You got my first title? There we go. Okay, I have chosen. I had a really great reading year last year, so I chose three really different books to talk about. The first one I'm talking about was a first novel of Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner. This is actually the story of two different women, almost a hundred years apart. The first story is about nurse Clara Wood, who witnesses some really tragic deaths from the Triangle Shirt Factory fire, and the second story is about Taryn Michaels, who loses her husband in the 2000 September 9-11 World Trade Tower tragedy. As a result of these two tragedies, both of these women travel to what we would call an in-between place. They're not able to go back to the way things were before the tragedy, but they also aren't able to move forward with their lives because they can't deal with what they experienced. For Clara, when we catch up with her story, she is a nurse and she is now working on Ellis Island with the immigrants that are coming to the United States. And it all sounds well and good until we find out that since the Triangle Shirt Factory she has come to Ellis Island and has not left Ellis Island. She is basically living in the shell of that island experience of being a nurse, but what happens is when she's working with, she becomes close to some particular immigrants, and the century-old scarf, the fall marigolds of the title, sparks her interest for the first time since the fire, and she's finally able, as she develops this relationship with these immigrants, to begin to come back to life again and to live a real life and eventually hopefully leave Ellis Island. The second story is almost a hundred years later. Taryn, on the morning of 9-11, is late for breakfast with her husband. She's supposed to meet him for breakfast in the tower. And it's as she's going there, she hears the first plane and sees it hit. And the instant falling of concrete and brick and smoke, she can't see where she's going and she's trying to escape. So she's running and a stranger grabs her and they're trying to keep together, but it's so hard. She has inherited the fall of marigold scarf. She's wearing it that morning. He twines their wrists together so they don't get separated and saves her life. Years later, she again has just been living, kind of just working and not really living a full life. She sees a photo in a magazine that's brings her back to that day and the savior of her life that day. And it kind of opens her eyes to the fact that there is life after tragedy. And she's finally able to meet this person and thank him for saving her life that day. This is a book. This is really women's fiction. It was beautifully written for a first novel and I started and I couldn't put it down. I think most of us would really empathize with what these women are going through emotionally and how difficult it is to move on after tragedy in our lives. The good thing about this is it does include a reader's guide for use with book club groups. I think this would be a terrific book club book to use. So it's probably almost my number one book that I read last year. So I highly recommend this one. Great. Eric? All right. Like Sharon, my three books are all quite different. My first one is West with the Night by Barrel Marcom. I think many people might be familiar with this, but I rediscovered it recently and decided it was something I'd like to talk about. She lived in 1982 to 1986. It was a British-born Kenyan aviator from one of the first bush pilots. I think it was the first woman bush pilot in Africa. A venture horse trainer and author. And during the pioneer days of aviation, she was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west in 1936, which most people didn't know that. And I think that's really a fascinating story. She was born in the village of Ashwell, England, the daughter of Charles Baldwin, Clutterbuck. That's hard to say, ten times faster. And he was an accomplished horse trainer as well. When she was four years old, her father moved the family to Kenya, which was then the colonial British East Africa area. And they purchased a farm there. Although her mother disliked and isolated, was isolated, she promptly returned to England. But Barrel stayed in Kenya with her father and spent a lot of time adventurers, childhood learning, playing and hunting with the natives. On her family's farm, she developed a knowledge and a love for horses. As a young adult, she became the first licensed female horse trainer in Kenya. She was west of the night chronicles her experiences growing up in Kenya, East Africa in the 1900s, which eventually led to her career as a bush pilot. And I believe it was about five year period. She was friends with Ernest Hemingway, and he wrote about her book and her writings. She was so well written, so marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. She can write rings around the rest of us who consider herself writers, is a really bloody wonderful book. And that coming from Hemingway is quite quite a quote, because he was quite an ego. But I think that's wonderful. Markham's West of the Night was originally published in the early 40s, but disappeared for a while and was rediscovered and reprinted in 1980s and became a smashed ship. I think that a lot of literature classes and colleges rediscovered this and the quotes and it was something I really want to promote. Although she is best known for being for the aviation record of solo flight across Atlantic, the West, she was also a bush pilot for the five years in Africa. And she also shared these adventures with Bore Lixon and Dennis Hayton of Out of Africa fame. You might remember she did have a character in that movie Out of Africa. I forgot the names they had in her character, Jackie or something. She had a minor role, at least her character in that. So she was well known and knew those people. I went in with this with a quote that I think is one of the best quotes from the book about when she had to leave Africa. I have learned that if you must leave a place that you have lived and loved and or all your yesteryears are buried deep, leave it in any way except a slow way. Leave it the fastest way you can. Never turn back and never believe that an hour you remember is better hour because it is dead. Past years seem safe ones, vanquished ones, while the future lies in a cloud formidable from a distance. Isn't there a new book coming out about her? You didn't you mention you mentioned that to me. There might have been a new one. I'm sorry. You know, my mind is this. There is some more another. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, our next person is Denise Harders. Well, I have selected three audiobooks to tell you about today. And I listened to the good girl while traveling around the Central Plains library system. With the miles that I drive, I have plenty of time for a long story. This one's on nine CDs in place for 10 and a half hours. The book has nearly 400 pages. I especially like suspenseful audio books because they keep me awake on the road. And this book fit that category very well. There were times I was at my destination, and I really hated to get out of the car. So I'm sitting there listening and people are wondering why I'm in the car. I really wanted to hear what happened next. In this story, Mia Dennett is a young inner city art teacher. After being stood up once more by her on again off again boyfriend, she thinks she's found a safe one night stand. But as it turns out, trusting Colin Thatcher is the worst mistake of Mia's life. Colin was paid to abduct Mia and deliver her to his employer. And at the last minute, Colin decides to hide Mia from his deadly superiors and the police. The story of Mia Dennett's kidnapping is told in multiple perspectives by three characters. Mia's British born mother Eve Dennett, the tough and gritty Chicago detective assigned to the case Gabe Hoffman, and the kidnapper Colin Thatcher. I enjoyed the audiobook because the readers really brought the people to life with their accents and tones of voice. Most of the chapters started with the name of the narrator, and then either the word before or after. And the reader, or in my case, the listener is left to wonder before and after what. And I thought I had it all figured out. But after many twists and turns, I found out that every guess was wrong. It all becomes clear in the final chapter. And this debut novel by Mary Kubica is a psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end. Okay, and our next person, Amika. Okay, so the three books that I chose, they span, they're very broad as well, but they all have leading women as their main characters. So this first one, the secret lives of the four wives. The decision to become the fourth wife to Babasegi was not an easy one for Bolanli. She was a university graduate, unaccustomed to the world of polygamy, but life seems safer away from her demanding mother, alcoholic father, and with the man willing to care for her without questioning her past. But Bolanli could not anticipate the jealousy and manipulation that her unwelcome presence would bring from the three wives and the long held secrets that would surface. Chonion weaves the coming of age story like no other. It's set in Ibadan, Nigeria, and filled with tragedy, perseverance, and acceptance. With each chapter, readers move through the lives of the characters, leaving all even the cruelest is sympathetic. The point of view changes occur with each chapter making it really easy for readers to follow those shifts. There is some sexual content. But this novel was originally published as the secret lives of Babasegi's wives as well. So it is an international novel and sort of women's fiction. What's the setting? Um, it's in Ibadan. So it's this town in Nigeria, and they move within there. Is and it's contemporary? Fairly. Yeah. It was written in or published in 2011. So it's set within that. My experience is not historic. No. Oh, cool. Okay. I think we're back to Sharon again. Scott. Oh, Scott. Sorry, Scott. That's okay. Because I'm talking about person who got left behind. So my second. My first book and all three of my books, I had a really good reading here as well. I hit a lot of sci fi this year. And so that's my three are in that my first title is The Martian by Andy Weir. Some sources say this is his first novel. Some say it's his third. I couldn't even tell going to the author's website. So I'm gonna call it a debut novel. Just for fun. It was originally self published and got enough notice on amazon.com sales that he got picked up by a traditional publisher. The Martian won the ALA Alex Award, which is an award for books with a special appeal for young adults. But you know, it can be shelved in the young adult section in your library. It could be in the adults. It's one of those borderline choices. And this book is be turned into a movie directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon scheduled to release in November 2015. So get the book read before you go to the movie. And the book itself, NASA, and this happens in near future. So you know, maybe in the next couple of years type of thing. But NASA has a mad expedition to Mars. And something goes wrong. And they have to evacuate. And all of the chaos, one of the crew gets left behind on the surface of Mars. Now, big character Mark Watney has to try and survive on the planet without anyone else there. And just with what was left behind. This book is a great balance of human drama and accurate science. So if you've got one of those hard sci fi people, the science is on point. It's great stuff. It makes it a compelling sci fi read for people who don't read sci fi, because there's a lot of focus on the survival and the human drama as well. I think it's going to make a really good movie. I think it made a great book. And I don't want to tell you any more about the plot because there are so many successes and failures, and they just keep you going. And it's it's fabulous. So I appreciate no spoilers because I'm reading it right now. Yeah, and I'm not assigned. Science is not my forte, but it's really easy to just skip those like kind of skim the hard side. There's a lot of other human drama stuff with it. Yeah, it's really interesting. All right. Okay. Okay. This book should win the prize for the longest title. Frozen in Time, an epic story of survival and a modern quest for lost heroes of World War Two. This I like to read nonfiction, at least a few a year and I love anything that's travel and adventure. So this one was right up my alley. On November 5, 1942, during World War Two, and this is in Greenland, a US cargo plane on a routine flight slammed into the Greenland ice cap. Four days later, they send a B 17 on a search and rescue mission. It becomes lost in a blinding storm and also crashes. Miraculously, all nine men that are on the B 17 survive. However, the plane is stuck on an ever widening crevasse. And they are having to shelter under the wings of this plane in sub zero weather. So the US military launches another rescue operation. This time, an amphibious plane sent to find the men on the B 17. And they are able to rescue one man but on their way back to their ship, they fly into a storm and they crash. So this is the setting for this book. We now have three separate crashes that have happened. And this is actually another one of those dual stories, almost like my first one, because the other half of this story and I'll get back to the first part is an present day Greenland. The author Mitchell Zuckoff is with the US Coast members of the US Coast Guard and a private company called North South Polar who are attempting to find out what happened to the men on that third flight because those were men of the Coast Guard. And the Coast Guard's motto is to never leave anyone behind. They have to find every person. They have never found the survivor. So we know those people right off were lost. But the question is, did any of these other people survive during this winter? And this thing is so interesting. It turns out it's like the worst winter in Greenland ever. And these guys are trying to stay alive. And I will tell you some of them survived. Some of them don't. They are 148 days out there being lost in this brutal Arctic winter. And then they send some overland explorers. And so what happens eventually is that the B-17 group splits in two. So you've got now yet another group of people to follow. It sounds quite complex, but you just get so invested in the fate of these guys. I mean, this is from 50 or 60 years ago, you really care about these people. Did they live or did they die? It's really a great adventure. And I absolutely anybody that likes war stories, anybody that likes, you know, true adventure and adversity kind of stories, this is really a great book for them. I not only read it, I also listened to the audio. It is so good. I think it's just kind of reminds us of what the military does for us. I mean, it's a point in story about, you know, the risks that they take. The interesting thing is on that B-17 search and rescue mission, five of those men were not scheduled to be on there, they volunteered to go help rescue those first ones. So they're absolutely willing to put their lives on the line to rescue other guys that we're working with. This book is a lot about character, but I was talking to Denise when we were traveling this week, and I said the biggest character in this book is Greenland, the setting and the weather, because that was the key to everything that happened here was the awful. And I think the irony is, and Zucca points this out, is Greenland is called Greenland. I mean, it's not green at all. It's terrible, it's snow and crevasses. And it's a dangerous place to be. So if you've got people who like World War II and survival stories, this is absolutely my strongest recommendation for that. Great. And not Captain America. I'm sorry. That's what the title, because I have, you know, I'm like-minded. The title brought to me the first Frozen in Time, Captain America. You know, if you think about it, Frozen in Time, I mean, that's basically what these men and their planes are. And I'm not going to tell you what happened in the 2012 expedition. You really need to follow that expedition through this book. It's really good. Okay, and Eric, you're up again? Actually, and before you start, I looked up about Beryl Markham, there's another new book coming out, and I found it. It's actually come out in July, called Circling the Sun, and it's written by Paul McClean, who wrote The Paris Wife. And it's interesting that it's a about the rivalry between Markham and Karen Blixen, who is the character that Merrill Streep played in Out of Africa. So that's what this new book is about that comes out in July, Circling the Sun. Oh, thank you for that. Yes. I'm going to switch gears here and go to an older book comedy, which I grew up reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I didn't want us to be confused with the last movie that was made about this made by Disney. I believe Disney made it, which was not that good, and not really, you know, with the story. So I'm hoping maybe teenagers might pick us up again, and rediscover it, because it was just something I read when I was younger. It was originally written and performed on a British radio in 1978. And then it became a American, it came pop in America after it was released as a novel in 1979. Oh, Douglas Adams, of course, is the is the author story goes as such. Okay. Seconds before the earth is is demolished to make room for a galactic freeway. Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend, Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy from the planet Beetlejuice, who for the last 15 years has been posing as an out of work actor. So that's how it starts. Together, this dynamic pair began a journey through the space aided by quotes from the Hitchhiker's guide. And one of the quotes is a towel is about the most important useful thing for interstellar Hitchhiker that they can have. Furthermore, the guide cover contains two big red letters of advice, don't panic. Our Arthur, okay, this Arthur and Ford meet up with fellow travelers. These interesting names. Zapod Beetlebrox, a two headed, three armed X tippy, and totally out to lunch present of the galaxy. Trillian, Zapod's girlfriend, formerly Trisha McMillan, who Arthur met at a cocktail party once, once a time. Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, but chronically depressed robot. And that a former graduate student who is obsessed with all the disappearance of all the ballpoint pins he bought over the years. So that says the tone for what kind of humor this is. They'll never read your funnier science fiction. I think it's it's one of the things ever. Begus Adams is a masterfully intelligence satire, barbed with and comic dialogue. It is rich with comic detail and thought provoking situations and stands up to multiple reads. And I should say multiple years too. It's I think young people still like it. It's required reading for I think for science fiction fans. And the book series continues with the story with the restaurant at the edge of the universe, life, universe and everything. And so long and thanks for all the fish, which I think. So if you're a big fan of the Money Python era, I was as a young person and British sitcoms who would really I think really like this. It's an easy read, but it's it's just hilarious. So I wanted people to read British like I'll have a whole different kind of humor. Yeah, British, if you like British humor, you will like this. But I never go anywhere without a towel. I love that quote. There's so many good things. So I just really don't want to have the input. But yeah. Yeah, that's fine. Okay, Denise. Well, this is a newer title that has gotten rave reviews. So I thought I listened to it. And I found out that author Paula Hawkins worked as a journalist in London for 15 years before writing her first thriller, this one, The Girl on the Train. In the beginning of this audio book, the three narrators confused me. As I continued listening, I was able to differentiate between Rachel, Megan and Anna, the three characters that tell the story. But they all had English accents. And all three presented the facts as they saw them. So it was in the very beginning of the audio, I think maybe reading it might have been a little simpler. But the story goes, the girl on the train is Rachel. She's grieving the loss of her marriage. She loses her job because of alcoholism, but hides this back from her roommate by continuing to ride the train into London every day. Now this train stops near her ex husband's home. And Rachel fantasizes about the neighbors in her in her old neighborhood. She gives them fake names and daydreams about their perfect marriages and lives. And then one day she sees the woman that she has is just sure has the perfect life. This woman is kissing another man. And the day after that, the neighbor goes missing. The other two narrators are Rachel's ex husband's new wife, Anna, and the neighbor woman that disappears, Megan, each have their own secrets, jealousies and betrayals. Rachel actually inserts herself into the investigation about Megan's disappearance based on her observations from the train. She contacts Megan's husband Scott out of the blue. She doesn't know him. She just contacted him and said, Hey, your wife must have been having an affair. Because I saw this from the train. And Hawkins, the author shows how memory and imagination can get confused. The twists and turns in the storyline kept me guessing. And each time I thought I knew who done it or actually what happened because we don't, you don't know if Megan's, because she's still narrating, maybe she's still alive. Or maybe somebody decided that was the end for her. But each time I thought I knew who done it or what had happened, the next narrator made me think it was someone else. This psychological thriller has been compared to a recent bestseller. Gone Girl fans will get in line for this recommendation. All right. So this is a book that I don't want to give too much away about it. But it was really fun Doritos really fast paced. So every day is the same for Melanie, the sound of the door leading down the corridor opening footsteps approaching the same people walking past herself, her cheerful greetings, unanswered, save for a nod or a terse smile. Soon she'll be strapped to her wheelchair and taken to class with the other kids. The days when the beautiful and kind Miss Justineau teaches lessons are the best. Melanie knows there's more to the world. But if she will ever be free to see it, no one will say. So you may not be able to tell. This is a little bit of a spoiler, but you find out pretty early on. This is a zombie thriller. But it's not just your average kind of like mindless zombie horde eating people kind of thing. It has it has twists on that whole kind of story that we're used to. The characters are all really dynamic. The main character is a 10 year old zombie. That's a tiny spoiler you find out right away in the beginning. So written from that perspective, I mean, that in itself is kind of intriguing of like, how do you write a story from that perspective? It isn't really a story for people who like nice tidy endings, always say that. And there's a few reasons that you'd want to pay attention to this book. Well, three, if you count that it's zombies and zombies. But MR. Carrie might carry is a fairly recognizable comic book writer he wrote for Marvel and DC. So that name alone will pull people in. And then they've also started filming the movie this month. So there's no expected release date, but it is definitely set for the big screen. So it's something to keep your eye on. And it's just it's so good. Like it's one of my favorites this year so far. Is it contemporary? Yes. Well, no futuristic. It's futuristic. It's actually 20 years after the initial infection sets in. So it's way in the future. And maybe we're already infected and we don't know it's possible considering the storyline and how anyways, you're going to get it. Scott. All right. Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey. I have no zombie follow up for this. But let me tell you this, this sci fi book was actually put on my reading list because of a noir mystery reading club because there's things of noir mystery, some traditional elements that plus horror elements. So you've got sci fi noir mystery and horror all put in and it's all masterfully crafted. You don't feel like oh, we're in the horror section now. It just there's builds and things just integrate really well. This book is the debut novel of James S. A. Corey. I say debut and air quotes if you didn't see me in the little window there because it's actually a collaboration between authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank. This is the first of the Expans series. So yes, it's a it's a series in sci fi. It was nominated for the Locust and Hugo Awards did not win those but there's tough competition. And it is being adapted for television. The series will be called Expans. It'll be on sci fi should begin later this year. The trailer is already out on YouTube. I will not comment on on how closely the trailer batches this 400 page book. You know, but but anyway, before the actual story, like I said, this book combines sci fi noir mystery and horror humanity has colonized Mars, various moons and the asteroid belts. This is far future. Society has evolved very differently. All these colonies have different roles. They depend on each other for different things. Water is hauled by spaceship. It's like they latch on to a big club of ice and space and haul it to an asteroid. The asteroids, they mind those for minerals and they all depend on each other. However, a big explosion, I won't tell you how or why that happens, sparks tensions and threatens war across the solar system. You trade chapters between the two point of view characters detective Miller, who's a detective on an asteroid. And then Captain Holden, who is the captain of one of those ice freighters. This book is a real page turner, which is good because it is a long book. Like I said, it's first in the series, but this is a standalone story. So you can read this and feel satisfied at the ending that there is some closure to part of it. The next series does not have to pick up pick up from this there's some gaps. So really, I just finished this one a couple months ago, and I'm still going through the story in my head. It was it lasts with you a little bit. So cool. Okay. Okay, we're going to start our last round here. Rebecca to Sharon, take it away. Okay, well, anybody that knows me well, or even not so well knows that I love Ireland. So it's probably not a big surprise that I'm reading the Irish country doctor series. And this is the newest title, an Irish country doctor in peace and at war. I'm a little bit about the series. If you're not familiar with it, it's set in Valley Bucklebow, very Irish name there in Northern Ireland, and it's set in the 1960s. So think about the political context of the 1960s, because we still have a very divided Ireland there. And this is Northern Ireland. So of course, that's the British part of it. And there are many people up there that don't want to be in the British part of it. They want to be in the Irish Republic. So in the first book we have we meet newly qualified Dr. Barry Loverty, and he comes to work for Fingle flair to O'Reilly. Now there's a really good Irish name for you to belly Bucklebow is a really tiny, tiny town and Fingle is the heart and soul of the town and everybody looks to him for answers not only on their medical questions, but all of their life decision questions. So that's kind of a setup for this whole series. And each of the books has followed different characters or different periods in in Fingle's life. This particular book, as you can tell from the title, it's a flip back between his war years. He was in World War two, he served as a medical officer on a ship. He was in the merchant Navy. So he was re upped during World War two to serve there. And I'll tell you, a big piece of this is pretty harrowing description of what the battle what it was like as a medical doctor during a battle, you know, where they're being heavily attacked. And you know, how do you deal with all of those injuries afterwards? And then at that point in the story to something we've as readers have been waiting for, we have known since book one that he had, he had been married to a gal named Deirdre and we've known nothing about her until now this is like book seven. So finally, the author Patrick Taylor is going to give us a little bit of information on her and what she was like. So we get a little bit of the final story. And this one really, it alternates between the 1940s and the 60s. And but it's not hard to find. It's pretty easy to tell. This is a war chapter versus this is modern day Valley Bucklebow. This is one of those towns, it's got quirky characters, you get to know them, you get to love them, you get to hate some of them. And, you know, it falls in the gentle read genre. So if you've got people who read James, still read James Terry, I don't know if anybody does, but or have like jam Karen's father Tim novels, this is a really good series for them to read. The good news is Patrick Taylor was a doctor. He is retired now and he was a doctor in a small town in Ireland. So I think an awful lot of this is probably based upon his memories of those years. So it really rings true for me as a reader. So if you like Ireland, you like fun kind of stories like with good characters, this is a good one. Great. Okay, I just realized I do have a theme with my three books. They're all British authors. So I just realized that now. So I guess I have a bike. Eric, I won't use the British accent. But my last one grand design, people most people know Stephen Hawking, this was written in 2010. So it's more, it's more, you know, fairly more recent. I usually read a lot of stuff. I read a lot of science. So but I think this is also accessible to all non scientists. But I will talk more about it. How can we understand the world in which we find ourselves? Over 20 years ago, Hawking wrote a brief history in time, and try to explain where the universe came from, and where it's going. This book left some important questions unanswered. Why is why is there a universe? Why is there something rather than nothing? Why do we exist? Why are there laws of nature? And where are we? Did the universe need a designer or creator? Hawking, a renowned Cambridge mathematician, along with another person whose name I can't pronounce. I don't want to pronounce his last his Leonard. I'm not sure how to pronounce his last name. He co-wrote it. Let's see where it was right here. You know, presents a brief introduction to the grand design of the universe. It seems like an ambitious, ambitious endeavor, but general readers are able to follow along with with the author. When he goes through M theories, quantum mechanics, general and special relativity, and other mind blowing, cosmological discoveries of the last century. The goal of these journeys through the history of science is to answer some basic questions. Why is our universe in the first place? And other in many other universes exist, possibly in the theory of multiverse or multi universes, which is the latest thing in the sciences. Along with the spirit of the popular TV series Cosmos in 1980 by Carl Sagan, which I think they remade recently, which is to come out. Hawking not only explains the early history of science well, but also the latest discoveries and makes it accessible to non-scientists again, with lots of wit and humor. In fact, he quotes the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy several times. It gives modern science a wonderful and imagination that would interest many, especially I think young adults who are entering or in college who are wishing to have a career in science. I think it's written about that level. I think they would really enjoy it. Not only is it fascinating, bait between science and religious issues, it's a bait between different aspects of theoretical sciences, especially with the controversial concept of M theory, or better known as string theory or super string, which sounds like a superhero type thing you choose. Finally, unlike the answers of the ultimate question of life, universe and everything given at the Hitchhiker's in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the answers they provide in the grand design are not simply 42. Of course, if you read this, you understand the joke. So there's no real answers. It's more of a just getting a good debate going and it's just fascinating. I read that for fun. So yeah, I do read that stuff for fun. But it's something I think a lot of people would enjoy. And of course, they recently made a movie about his life. I forgot the name of it. And that one might be the best picture or what's it called? Thank you. Yes, and I haven't seen it yet, but I'd like to see that. But yeah, he's fascinating person. That's my last one. Okay, great. Okay, Denise, right now, the other two audio books I listened to were debut novels. This is not a debut novel. Kristen Hannah is a New York Times best selling author of 22 books. However, the Nightingale is completely different than any of her titles that I've read or listened to. The book tells the story of two French sisters, Vienne and Isabel during World War Two. Their mother died and their father abandoned them. Vienne was old enough to get married and have a family while Isabel was shuffled from boarding school to Convent getting kicked out of each and every one. By the time Isabel was 18, Germany had invaded France. Being young and rebellious, Isabel joined the French resistance. Vienne's husband was called to fight at the front and she was consumed with protecting her daughter during the unimaginable hardships the French were subjected to during the German occupation. There came a point where Vienne concluded that she needed to resist the Germans or know that she was becoming just like them. And this is when her life changes and it becomes even more difficult to start out it unimaginable and go from there. It gets even worse. This story is narrated by one of the sisters in the present time, although you don't really know until the very end which sister it is. So you're not sure how how they both came out of the war. This is another audio book that I really hated to turn off when I got where I was going. It really made the miles fly by. But I had to be careful. Because there were times I was crying through the book. And I didn't really want to stop in for a visit with a librarian with puffy red eyes and a drippy nose. So narrator Polly Stone transported me to 1930s France with her accent and excellent performance. The Nightingale will be popular with book clubs that generally select historical fiction. And Amazon offers an inexpensive Kindle book with summary and analysis. This companion to the title provides details of characters and key character analyses and discussions of themes and symbols. I enjoyed the Nightingale and will recommend it to friends and family members that have an interest in World War Two. I believe I would have finished the story much more quickly, even though it's a huge book. There's 14 discs. I think I would have finished a quick more quickly if I'd actually read it. The frustrating thing about listening to audio books is that I must wait until I can get in the car for a drive. You know, Denise, I think you've made a really good point with the audience about the emotional effect that they have on you. I mean, I've done the same thing where, you know, you stop the car and you got to finish listening to a chapter, whether I actually missed a turn off on the interstate one. And in Nebraska, that can mean another 10 or 15 miles. And I even remember the book. It was On the Beach by Neville Shoe. And I made a really horrifying realization about what was really going on in that book. And you know, it kind of devastates you sometimes. And you're right, there's such an emotional impact sometimes from listening that you may not get from the book, reading it. Yeah, I agree. Okay, um, Anika. All right, so it's next book. Nothing daunted the unexpected education of two society girls in the West. This was in 1918, I believe was the year that they spent out in the West. So Dorothy Woodruff and Rosemond Underwood wanted to experience more in life than simply attending parties, eating fancy dishes and marrying the first eligible bachelor that proposed. They wanted adventure and a chance to make things better for people in the world. Against all conventions, the two women set off for Elkhead, Colorado, a widespread homesteading community to be school teachers in the newly built schoolhouse. In all conditions, the two friends made the ride on horseback to and from school. They lived with a family out in Elkhead. They tirelessly cared for their students and community, they were in charge of organizing dances and all sorts of community events at the school as well, because it was really one of the only central structures. And this is like, for the time it was as gorgeously built school. It was stone and had windows and it had, you know, heating and all those kinds of things. Hey, those are still being used in Nebraska. And so they really tested their metal along the way. When they first moved out there, they had never cooked for themselves. And they maybe still didn't really learn how to cook for themselves too well because the woman that the mother that they lived with loved taking care of them loved helping them. And what they did get trapped out at the house one time in the winter because they were riding and sometimes the snow was way up to their like, well on horseback, I guess it was up to the horse's belly sometimes and the kids themselves, the students would walk in all conditions. I don't think maybe one day they missed all year. So Dorothy Wickedon is the author is actually Dorothy Woodruff's granddaughter. And so she pulled together their story through personal correspondence, recorded oral histories from folks that were still alive, diary entries, interviews, and newspaper articles. And it's not just a story of these two women's experience, but it's also a really intriguing look at the complex histories of railroad expansion, workers rights, women's rights, progressive education, homesteading and socioeconomic status in the early 20th century. Because these girls are really involved in all their community out in New York and Auburn, New York, was really more of the progressive kind of circle out in that way. So she ties in all of those different historical aspects. It reads like a novel for the most part, there's a few story lines between the women's stories and the historical facts that are a little choppy, but really it's it flows really nice. And it's really interesting mentions Nebraska. So anybody that's interested in that type in that time period and homesteading all the things would love it. Okay. Okay, my last title. If you chose one of my titles for you, this would be my strongest recommendation, Ancillary Justice by like, unlike my others, this one is a debut novel, no asterisk, no air quotes, guaranteed first novel. The author started writing this when she was a stay at home mom and got bored and worked her way up and got intended the clarion workshop and studied under sci-fi legend Octavia Butler. So that's starting with I'm for a book. Oh, I'm studying under Octavia Butler. And this is her debut novel and it won the Hugo, the Nebula, the author C Clark, the Locust, the BFSA and a ton of other local smaller ones. This is a great book period is the first of the Imperial Roche. I can't hope I pronounced that right series. And it's been optioned for television, but nothing has been done since because I don't know how you would do this for television. It's too grand. The alien species are too alien. It'd be a lot of CGI or prosthetics, but someone thinks they could do it. So more power tool. Man, where do I start with this book? This is a mind blowing type of book. The concepts behind it are just wow. I'll start with a story. A lone soldier named Brett, who had previously been part of a high mind with a sentient spaceship. You gotta lose anyone yet. Is now cut off from that collective. So before had the entire resources of a spaceship and the computer banks be able to see anywhere on the spaceship, hear anything. And now you're a solo person with just your own senses. And you don't even have a memory bank. You know, you just have your own little experiences. So there's that feeling of being part of something huge and now cut down. And Breck has to figure out what happened. How did Breck get cut off from everything else? You notice I did not use pronouns because this book, the characters are highly androgynous, not just in appearance, but in presentation. There's very few key pronouns. Right. And one of the things is if your spaceship gender means nothing. And one of the races is very androgynous. You don't know until they actually come up and tell you if they do that at all. So the story is great. And then some of the concepts behind it add just this extra punch to it. There's lots of interesting mind games dealing with the one race conquering another. This is a conquering race. These are soldiers. What happens when they do take over a planet? What happens after that? Some internal civil war type of things. What does it mean to be human? You're dealing with Breck, who's now cut off and now has to become human. Redemption, revenge, I talked about the gender identity. It's all, you know, I could go with just the story, but it would lose half of the impact of this book if I tried to, you know, make it, you know, cut out all that extra stuff. It's one of those books that I think you need to experience as a whole as opposed to someone chopping it up and doing a book talk. So if that doesn't sell it to you, I don't know. It is hard, you know, a lot of sci-fi, but I think it's real even in non sci-fi, you may want to give it a shot because of all those other concepts behind it, the culture, the gender exploration, fascinating stuff. And a lot of other people agree because all those are worse. The sequel has been published this year. And I think the third one is scheduled for another two years, I think. And I really did get the, I did get the feeling of wanting to know more about this world is an amazing world building at the end. So if you want to wait for the whole series to be finished, you might have to wait a while. I would recommend not waiting. Get this one in. Hopefully I can get the second one started here for you soon. There's another one that doesn't leave you hanging too. So once it's over, it's okay. Yeah, there's a good, it's okay. This small part of the story has finished, but there's this bigger world, this bigger universe out there for you to explore in the next one. So but yeah, there is some closure to the main storyline that you'll see there. Just a little bit. So Scott, tell us if you liked it. You know, there was no, you know, war and peace, but no, this is probably one of the best books I had read in the past few years. And I said earlier, I had a great reading year. This probably be the highlight of it. Just because of all of the different things it was able to meld in. With non science fiction fans. Enjoy it. Non science fiction fans may want to give it a shot, but don't be surprised if they put it down. And then there's also some science fiction fans that would not like this because of it's not traditional sci fi. There's all those elements, space battles, laser guns, etc. But there's so much more and some people may get turned off of that. But I would suggest give it a try. If it's not for you, okay. Well, um, I think that's, oh gosh, our timing was so good. Thank you very much from all of you. I had a really good time here today. You guys did. I really enjoyed this. The final sliders is the last one. That's it. They need to black. I really enjoyed this. I hope that our listeners did. I hope they got some great reading suggestions. And um, thank you very much for coming. Yeah, um, yeah, thank you, everyone. Yeah, I am fortunately or fortunately, depending on your point of view now have a bunch of other things I need to read. My ideas for books and I got a gift card to Barnes and Noble for my birthday. So I'm sad. So thank you everyone for being here. That was great. Thank you everyone for attending. There weren't any questions or comments throughout. That's okay. As we said, there is a biography. Laura put together a list of the books that are on this page for this episode will be included afterwards as well. That has all the titles and their links to them in Worldcat. So if you want to find them all in your library, that's what you can find up at least also if you're going to buy or something. I didn't mention Barnes and Noble. You've got all the info here for that. The slides will also be included on this page when we get the recording up as well. So you have all those as well if you want all those book covers. So that will wrap it up for today's End Compass Live. This has been recorded. It'll be available maybe later today. We get it all processed. So that wraps up this morning. I hope you join us next week on our topic is IT security for libraries important topic. Blake Carver who runs LIS host great web hosting for library type peoples will be with us. He was here a few years ago. I think was 2012 doing a similar to the same thing and very popular but you know things change. He's coming back to update us on how to keep your what else you need to do to keep your library safe as far as IT and security. So definitely sign up for that and any of our other shows we have coming up the next month are all listed there on the End Compass Live website. Our recordings go over here underneath here says archived End Compass Live sessions. So our we will have as we have here from last week's the recording and the presentation and the bibliography will be all linked there for you. Other than that, if you are a big Facebook user End Compass Live is on Facebook, we have a Facebook page. If you go ahead and like us over there, you get announcements and recordings are available. Reminders as I did here this morning of when it's time to log in for today's show. So if you are big on Facebook, give us a like over there to keep an eye on what we're doing here. Other than that, that will wrap it up for this morning. Thank you very much, everyone. Thank you everyone for attending. Bye bye.