Food Behind the Scenes
When we bite into an apple or enjoy a dish of decadent vanilla ice cream, we’re typically not thinking about the backstories of these foods. We choose them for sustenance … Read More
Staff Picks
Slaughterhouse Five: Recreational Reading to Research Paper
I picked up Slaughterhouse Five to read a passage for the Rutgers Banned Books virtual event. Little did I know that this fun side-project would contribute to my academic papers … Read More
Staff Picks: A Matter of Life and Death
A chance to go goofy and embrace our inner child for most, Halloween is probably my least favorite holiday. Even though I take pleasure in watching kids dressed up and … Read More
Staff Picks: Intellectual Freedom Stories from a Shifting Landscape
As I was fixing up a summary of the latest library challenge in Wyoming in Hungarian for KIT, a weekly newsletter on libraries, information, and society, it dawned on me how … Read More
Spook: Scare Yourself Silly this Halloween
Although ghoulishly entertaining, Spook is ironically not about the supernatural happenings of the spirit world as its title eerily suggests. Instead, famed science writer Mary Roach takes a fresh approach … Read More
Staff Picks: The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century
When I was asked to join the “Books We Read” team, I thought nothing of writing about the book I was reading at the time (sounds like the objective, right?). … Read More
Reading Middlemarch
This post starts with a confession: Middlemarch, by George Eliot (pen name of Mary Anne Evans), is widely considered one of the greatest novels ever written––certainly the odds-on favorite for … Read More
Banned Books as a Parenting Tool: Lessons from The Giver
I have always enjoyed children’s and young adult (YA) books and continue to read them even as an adult. When I became a parent, I loved reading books to my … Read More
Cozy Mysteries from Rutgers Libraries
If you’re appalled by violence and graphic details in a book or movie but––pun intended––you’d kill for a good mystery, cozy mysteries are for you. Rest assured, you are not … Read More
Staff Picks: Charles C. Mann’s 1493
I selected Charles C. Mann‘s (Twitter linked because no website is available) 1493: Uncovering the World New World Columbus Created as an audiobook commuting read. A patron recommended the book to … Read More