Eight More Great Kanopy Films

You've probably heard about Kanopy, Carnegie-Stout's streaming movie collection and all of the independent films, documentaries, international films, and children's movies available. If you're not sure how to get started, visit the library's YouTube page to watch a video on how to use Kanopy.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by all of the great films available on Kanopy and aren't sure what to watch first, I've gathered together another eight great suggestions you can watch this month! If you missed it, be sure to check out the earlier blog post Eight of the Best Films on Kanopy.

• Loving Vincent: In the first fully painted feature film, 2018 Oscar-nominated LOVING VINCENT tells the story of the mysterious and tragic death of the world's most famous artist, Vincent van Gogh.
• Melancholia: Acclaimed filmmaker Lars von Trier grapples with his own experiences with depression in this 2011 dark sci-fi drama and Palme d'Or nominee.
• Mister Rogers: It's You I Like: This 2018 documentary pays tribute to the beloved Fred Rogers and the nearly 900 episodes of his landmark children's television program first seen in 1968 on PBS that continues to resonate with children and adults alike.
• Moonlight: The 2016 Oscar-winner for Best Picture, this is a moving and transcendent look at three defining chapters in the life of Chiron, a young man growing up in Miami.

• Nebraska: This 2013 comedic drama about a father and his adult son on a journey to claim a million-dollar prize, from the Oscar-winning director Alexander Payne.
• Oldboy: Director Park Chan-wook's 2003 film of revenge features stunning plot twists and arresting action sequences. 
• Rashomon: Director Akira Kurosawa's 1950 film that investigates the nature of truth and the meaning of justice is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made.
• Robot & Frank: This 2012 film starring Frank Langella and Peter Sarsgaard is the story of an ex-jewel thief who receives a gift from his son: a robot butler programmed to look after him. But soon the two companions try their luck as a heist team.

-Sarah, Adult Services

June is Audiobook Month: Lived Experiences

June is Audiobook Month! To celebrate, borrow a Nonfiction audiobook from Carnegie-Stout Public Library's collection. Here are a few memoirs and biographies that you might enjoy:

All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
Nicole Chung shares her story of growing up with her white adoptive family in Oregon and her journey to connect with her identity as a Korean American. This candid and moving memoir is narrated by Janet Song, an accomplished narrator and film actor.




The White Darkness by David Grann
David Grann is a journalist who has written several bestselling works of narrative nonfiction. The White Darkness tells the story of a 2015 solo-expedition retracing Shackleton’s Antarctic exploration by a descendant of the original expedition. The capable Will Patton narrates the audiobook in his recognizably gruff yet warm style.


American Like Me by America Ferrera
Actress America Ferrera is the editor of this candid and heartwarming collection of essays describing the immigrant experience from well-known individuals including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Issa Rae, Michelle Kwan, and Roxane Gay. The audiobook is narrated by America Ferrera, some of the essayists, and a few professional audiobook narrators.



A River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa
Ishikawa is the son of a Korean father and a Japanese mother, and in 1960, his family moved from Japan to a rural village in North Korea. After 36 years of hardship, he fled North Korea and faced the challenge of reintegrating in Japan. A candid, heartwrenching story, the audiobook is narrated by Brian Nishii with both clarity and passion.

Staff Review: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

When a book I've read becomes a movie or a TV series, there's one important question I ask myself: will they do the story justice or will everything be changed and ruined? I'm here today to (hopefully) help you answer that question for one book turned movie.

If you read an enjoyed Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, should you go see the movie? Yes.

If you've seen and loved the movie, should you check out the book? Maybe.

I had Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians on my To Read list since I first saw the (original) glittery cover five years ago. I finally found the time to read it this summer because a) I've reached peak wedding season in my social group and b) I really, really wanted to finish before seeing the movie. It can be frustrating to watch a movie and have events or characters you loved in the book removed or changed, but I find that if I watch a movie first, I'm less likely to read the book since I more or less already know what's going to happen.

Crazy Rich Asians combines rom-com and soap opera plots with descriptions of extreme luxury, and just a touch of modern fairy tale fantasy. As a reader, the numerous mentions of luxury brand names could be a little bit exhausting, and this is one area where the movie surpasses the book. It's much easier and less distracting to show a character wearing a gorgeous, expensive outfit (or car or house) than it is to read several sentences describing that outfit.

As a reader, it helped that one of the main characters, Rachel Chu, was equally out of place in this world, and that several of the characters more intensely invested in over-the-top consumerism were used as comic relief. Not that Kwan was arguing that wealth = bad, more of conspicuous wealth = bad manners.

Some of the other changes between page and screen were more significant, but I felt like they made sense for the story and characters. I don't want to spoil anyone, so I'll try to be general. The book explores the ways that extreme wealth and unequal power balances can harm relationships by comparing several different characters' experiences, while the movie narrows its focus primarily to Rachel (our average woman) and Nick (our dashing prince).

Born in China, but raised in America by her single mother, Rachel has created a comfortable life for herself in New York City as an Economics professor. When her handsome, fellow-academic boyfriend, Nick Young, invites her to spend their summer break visiting his friends and family in Singapore, she's happy to join him on an adventure. Nick, however, did not tell Rachel that his family and friends are the elite of Singapore, nor did he warn his family about their relationship, leaving his mother to assume that Rachel is a gold-digging embarrassment.

I enjoyed Kwan's descriptions of his native Singapore, the foods, places, peoples, and hints of its history and culture. I'm also a sucker for a good love story, and I feel like Rachel and Nick earn their happy ending, but that Kwan left enough potential for drama to justify the two sequels. In fact, it's fairly likely that I'll be picking up China Rich Girlfriend (book two) to read next summer.

~Sarah, Adult Services

Staff Review: "Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me" by Lorina Mapa

I recently lost several family members in a car accident so the first few pages of Lorina Mapa's graphic memoir were emotionally intense for me. Most of her memoir, Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me, is about her experience growing up in the Philippines, but she frames her story with the death and funeral of her father who also died in a car accident.

I didn't know very much about the Philippines before I checked this book out, and so I appreciated Mapa's exploration of culture, religion, food, and history. The section on the peaceful downfall of the Marcos regime was particularly interesting, especially if all that you can remember is that Imelda Marcos owned a very large collection of shoes.

Mapa came from a family of wealth and privilege, so it may not be surprising how many cultural touchstones she shares with Americans who were teens in the 1980s, from music to movies. I appreciated the way she incorporated one of her favorite structural elements from one of her favorite novels, and readers are likely to enjoy her discography at the end.

I enjoyed Mapa's art, which is minimal, often featuring simple backgrounds. She includes enough detail to give a sense of place and time, and her people are very distinctive and convey emotion well. The book does tend to be a little text heavy, but it makes sense for a nonfiction work. Overall this is a fascinating glimpse into another culture and time from a deeply personal perspective likely to appeal to readers who might not normally read comics.

~Sarah, Adult Services

#ComicsWednesday: Pyongyang by Guy Delisle

Guy Delisle is a French-Canadian cartoonist who has made a career creating biographical comics, building on the strong foundation of his first book, Pyongyang. First published more than 10 years ago, Pyongyang gives readers an interesting glimpse into the secretive and highly controlled world of North Korea. Many things have changed in the past decade, but Delisle's often funny observations of life as a western outsider in North Korea are still fascinating today.

Delisle first came to Pyongyang, the country's capital, to supervise the production of an animated film that had been outsourced to a North Korean company. His job lasted for two months and when he was not working he socialized with other foreigners and went on highly supervised visits to local tourist attractions.

Delisle's black and white drawings are minimalist and cartoony, which suits the immediacy of a travel guide created by an animator. This isn't a sketchbook, though, and you can see the thought he puts into his panels. The people are distinct and expressive, and the often empty backgrounds draw your focus to his characters' humanity and the intense pressure of life under a totalitarian regime.

~Sarah, Adult Services

Staff Review: China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh

A mosaic novel is made up of a series of related short stories that stand up well individually, yet taken as a whole become something bigger. As a non-English major*, I had no idea there was a name for this until last year. Having a name for one of my favorite types of book has helped me in tracking down new books to read.

When I read an article that mentioned Maureen F. McHugh's first book and described it as a mosaic novel, I snapped it up immediately. Published in 1992, China Mountain Zhang was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula and won a Locus Award for Best First Novel, a Lambda Award, and a James Tiptree, Jr. Memorial Award.

There is some excellent world-building in China Mountain Zhang, and the imagined future holds up fairly well almost 25 years later. Part of why it does is McHugh's focus on the characters: people are recognizably people no matter how different their worlds might be. Because of the focus on the characters' lives, readers learn about the larger setting gradually. A character will reference some historical event in one story, two stories later you'll get a few more details, while other pieces of the background are left almost entirely to your imagination. This added to the book's suspense and made it harder for me to put down at the end of my lunch break.

The central character of the book, the person who ties the various stories together, is Zhang Zhongshan. His name roughly translates to China Mountain Zhang, though his oldest and closest friends know him as Rafael. Zhang lives in a future where China is the center of the civilized world and has the best technology, universities, fashion, etc. Zhang is a native of New York and fortunate in his Chinese father. That his mother is Hispanic is less beneficial to his chances for advancement. Even more damning is the fact that he is gay, something he would be killed for in China. It's less dire in the States, though I suspect the consequences of official discovery would be very grim.

This was probably my favorite book of 2016 and I don't want to give too much else away, so I'll limit myself to one final appeal: there are domed communes on Mars with beekeeping colonists. Politics AND space bees!

~Sarah, Adult Services

*Anthropology, in case you were curious

Staff Review: Space Brothers

If you wanted to be an astronaut when you were a kid, you need to check out Space Brothers. If you find Neil deGrasse Tyson's enthusiasm for space exploration inspiring, you need to check out Space Brothers. If you loved the near-future realism of The Martian, you need to check out Space Brothers.

I will warn you right here that this anime is only available with English subtitles, which I know is not an option for some people. However, the fact that this is an animated series should not stop you from checking this series out. While there are a handful of cartoony moments in the series, it is, by and large, very grounded in real life. Every element is either based on the realities of current space exploration technology, or on well-researched potential technology.

Seriously space nerds, this series is for us. Guys, JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide recorded dialog for this series while on the International Space Station. The live-action version (which the library does not own) features a cameo by Buzz Aldrin.

Space Brothers follows two brothers, Mutta and Hibito Nanba, who decided as children that they wanted to be astronauts. Older brother Mutta abandoned that dream, and instead became a mechanical engineer. Hibito followed through and is now an astronaut in training for a moon mission scheduled for next year (2026). Mutta's feelings of inadequacy in the face of his brother's success are only complicated when he's fired. Hibito though, never doubted his brother and secretly submits an application on Mutta's behalf to Japan's highly competitive astronaut training program.

This is a slower-paced series. While parts are fairly intense, the real focus is on the characters and the entire step-by-step process for astronaut selection and training. The characters are interesting, varied, and have distinct personalities. Obviously, my favorite character is the pug dog Apo (short for Apollo).

The whole series is a commitment at 99 episodes, but if you want a heartwarming, optimistic series about the future of space exploration this is a series you need to check out.

~Sarah, Adult Services

Staff Review: The Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China by Evan Osnos

Age of Ambition by Evan Osnos, the 2014 National Book Award winner for nonfiction, is Carnegie-Stout's adult book-discussion selection for June. The discussion will take place June 14th at 7 PM and there's a lot to discuss! Osnos presents everyday life in the new economically-booming China. His focus is on the years 2005 - 2013, which he spent in China as correspondent for The Chicago Tribune and The New Yorker magazine.

I wanted to read this book because China has dominated the news for so many years now, yet I had no real sense of what it's like to live there. We hear what sounds like good news: greater prosperity, rising standards of living, economic development, increased openness, but we also hear the bad: staggering levels of corruption, pollution, shoddy construction, economic inequality, censorship. So, what is it really like to live in China today?

Osnos is a good writer and a faultlessly objective journalist. I could detect no political ideology on his part, and he pays the same respect and attention to pro-democracy individuals that he pays to those who are strongly one-party nationalistic. He presents China more anecdotally than statistically, having conducted his research by talking to hundreds of people: interviewing individuals with a wide variety of outlooks, occupations, and incomes; building long-term relationships; traveling broadly; tracking people and issues over time. Living in the polarized political environment that constitutes the United States today, I was almost taken aback by his ability to report without bias. His narrative is fascinating, comprehensive, and human.

That said, I found the picture he paints of life in China today to be grim. A sense of oppression settled over me as I read and didn't lift until close to the end of the book, when Osnos speaks to the growing demand by the Chinese people for governmental transparency, truthful news, freedoms of information and expression, cleaner air, ethical codes of business, the right to spiritual or religious lives, and on and on. There's no doubt he is right about that growing demand, but the most recently selected governing body of the Chinese Communist Party, which he describes in the book's final chapters, gives little sign of acquiescing in any way (and, in fact, quite the opposite), and as with all authoritarian regimes, they oversee and censor all media outlets, including the Internet, and control the military, police, and weaponry. The coming years should be very interesting.

~Ann, Adult Services

Staff Review: The Expatriates by Janice Y. K. Lee

The Expatriates is Janice Y. K. Lee's second novel. (Her first, The Piano Teacher, received glowing reviews from editors if not from all readers.) This new effort is a compelling read about affluent ex-pats in bustling, present-day Hong Kong. The city is temporary home to thousands of lawyers and business-people, who, along with their families, are all benefiting quite nicely from the global economy.

Set within -- but also in stark relief against -- this backdrop of monied privilege are the troubled lives of three very different women, from whose rotating vantage point the novel is narrated.

Mercy, a young Korean-American Columbia grad, has come to Hong Kong to try to find the big, fancy job that has thus far eluded her back in the States. Hilary, a 38-year-old with a troubled, or, more accurately, receding marriage, is unable to conceive the child she so wants. Margaret, the beautiful, kind, nearly impeccable landscape architect, has left her career behind to accompany her husband to Hong Kong, where the whole family suffers a tragic event that leaves them (and this reader) reeling.

I enjoyed this novel very much. Unlike the characters in too many novels these days, these women are sympathetic, although not always entirely likable. Like all of us, they make mistakes and they pay the price. The novel resolves nicely too, in a realistic way that may not satisfy those who crave really happy endings but doesn't leave the reader at all hopeless either. The author does a wonderful job of evoking the lifestyles of those for whom Asia is both workplace and playground, while at the same time demonstrating that money is often of very little value when it comes to solving serious personal problems. In a money-mad age, we sometimes forget that last bit.

~Ann, Adult Services

Staff Review: Shinju by Laura Joh Rowland

I’m a big fan of historical fiction, the more medieval the better, and I’ve always been a little intrigued by Japanese culture, so I was thrilled to find Shinju, by Laura Joh Rowland. It’s the first of a series, so if you like it, there are lots more to read. It's worth noting that early books in this series, including Shinju, are only available as eBooks.

The novels are murder mysteries set in feudal Japan when the samurai are the noble class, and the first one starts us off in 1689. This world is governed by Bushido, the ancient warrior code of conduct, which is known for being very harsh. It might seem hard to imagine a character you could relate to from this severe culture, but the author manages to pull it off with the honorable samurai Sano Ichiro.

Sano is a great sword fighter, an educated scholar, and an honest man who guards the rights of the unfortunate. And he’s good-looking too. He’s got it all, but there’s a catch – these traits don’t get you very far in his world (except the sword-fighting). Sano may be very likable and reasonable (to the reader), but his integrity tends to get him into trouble. Obedience to one’s superiors is critical in Bushido, and very often Sano’s personal code of honor, the pursuit of truth and justice, is at odds with his superiors’ orders. Shinju begins with an apparent double suicide that Sano is ordered to investigate as a police commander. Anyone else in his position would probably close the case right away, but something about it doesn't sit right with him, and he must find out the truth, even at great cost to himself.

I’ve learned a lot about Japanese culture and history reading this series, and it doesn't seem strange or distant. The main character is a samurai born and bred into Bushido, but still enough like us that I felt like I could understand him. This is a great series that will draw you into a whole different world.

~Laura, Circulation

See the world, one murder at a time

Summer was made for vacations and road trips, but if, like me, you can't find the time to get away, you might enjoy exploring new lands in the pages of a good book! We've put together a list of international mysteries from every corner of the globe for you to enjoy. All titles link to the print edition, but several are available as audiobooks or eBooks too. If the list is overwhelming, be sure to stop by the Recommendations Desk on the 1st floor to pick up an International Mysteries bookmark!

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Turkey
Hotel Bosphorus by Esmahan Aykol

Israel

The Missing File by D.A. Mishani

Iraq
The Wreckage by Michael Robotham
Egypt
The Golden Scales by Parker Bilal
Saudi Arabia
Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris

Botswana

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Kenya

Nairobi Heat by Mukoma Wa Ngugi

Ghana

Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey

Nigeria

Treachery in the Yard by Adimchinma Ibe

South Africa

Random Violence by Jassy Mackenzie

The October Killings by Wessel Ebersohn  

India

Witness the Night by Kishwar Desai

The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall

Japan

Villain by Suichi Yoshida

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

North Korea

A Corpse in the Koryo by James Church

Laos

The Coroner’s Lunch by Colin Cotterill

Singapore

A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint

Australia

Kittyhawk Down by Garry Disher

Blood Junction by Caroline Carver

Canada

Still Life by Louise Penny

Mexico

Mexico City Noir by Various

Brazil

Hotel Brasil by Frei Betto

Sweden

Sun Storm by Asa Larsson 

Misterioso by Arne Dahl

Iceland

Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason

Norway

Don’t Look Back by Karin Fossum

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

Denmark

The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbol & Agnete Friis 

France

Murder in the Marais by Cara Black

Germany

Kismet by Jakob Arjouni

A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell

March Violets by Philip Kerr

Slovakia

Siren of the Waters by Michael Genelin

Greece

The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi

Italy

Temporary Perfections by Gianrico Carofiglio

Northern Ireland

Mr. Dixon Disappears by Ian Sansom 

Spotlight on Shojo & Josei manga

When you're looking for a good book, it's often helpful to know the vocabulary that help readers, publishers, and librarians to sort the thousands of books printed each year into recognizable categories. The differences between middle grade, young adult, new adult, and adult fiction. Why this series is urban fantasy and that one paranormal romance, and just what is the difference between a suspenseful thriller and a thrilling suspense novel? The distinctions aren't always clear, and some authors delight in defying conventions, but these are the tools that give us a shared vocabulary.

When it comes to manga (Japanese comics and graphic novels) there's a whole new set of vocabulary to learn. Today we're going to take a closer look at josei and shojo manga. These works are created with a feminine reading audience in mind. Individual titles can vary greatly in tone, topic, and setting, but the main character is almost always a woman or teenage girl, and there is usually a romantic element to the storyline. If you're a fan of women's fiction, chick lit, or romance novels, these are the manga for you!

Shojo (or shoujo) manga are intended for a teen or young adult audience, while josei are aimed at young professionals or new adults. Because of the differences between our cultures, American readers might find that the line between shojo and josei titles can be blurred. Readers should also be aware that publishers often retain the right to left format of the original manga. It might seem strange at first, but you'll quickly grow used to reading a book from back to front.

I've gathered together a list of popular titles and personal favorites that fall under the umbrella of shojo and josei manga. You should also check out our anime collection, as it is very common for a popular manga to be adapted for television.

Ttiles found in the adult Manga collection: 

A Drunken Dream and Other Stories by Moto Hagio 

Moto Hagio is one of the earliest and most popular shojo manga artists. Check out Andrew's review to learn more about this collection of short stories by Hagio. 

A Bride's Story by Kaoru Mori

A story of life in 19th century Central Asia told through the eyes of a young bride. Rich with carefully researched detail and beautifully intricate art, you should check out Chel's review to learn more! 

Ooku by Fumi Yoshinaga 
An award-winning alternate history manga set in a feudal-era Japan where most of the men have been killed by a plague. Japan is led by a female shogun, and the Ooku is inhabited by her male harem. 

Nana  by Ai Yazawa 

Two young women, both named Nana, meet on the train to Tokyo. Both are moving to Tokyo, one to rejoin her friends and the other to achieve her dreams of musical stardom. Despite their different personalities and goals, they decide to share an apartment together. 

With the Light by Keiko Tobe 

Sachiko's son, Hikaru, is not like other children, and she finds that there is little understanding or support for those diagnosed with autism, but little by little their family finds a way. 

Bunny Drop by Yumi Unita 

Single career-minded Daikichi is the last person anyone expects to take over the guardianship of 6-year-old Rin, but then no one expected to discover that his late grandfather had an illegitimate child either.

Titles found in the Teen Zone:

Antique Bakery by Fumi Yoshinaga
An earlier series by the creator of Ooku, Antique Bakery is much lighter fare. Set in a small, quirky bakery, each issue is packed with images of delicious pastries. Character-driven with touches of romance, mystery, and a fair dash of absurd humor. 


Skip Beat by Yoshiki Nakamura 

Kyoka is distraught to learn that her boyfriend was only dating her so she'd take care of him on his quest to musical stardom. Not only does she kick him to the curb, she decides to beat him at his game, and become Japan's number one pop idol!

Fruits Basket by Takaya Natsuki 
A story of family and the supernatural, Fruits Basket is popular as both manga and anime. After she is orphaned, Tohru is taken in by the Sohma family who suffer a strange curse. When stressed or embraced by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into one of the 12 animals of the zodiac.


Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

A Review of A Chinese Life by Li Kunwu and Philippe Otie

In one of my favorite passages from the graphic memoir A Chinese Life, young artist Xiao Li and his wife Fengfeng go to see old Bureau Chief Wang and his wife in their cramped room in the night-shift dormitories of the Yunnan Ribao newspaper. It's a friendly visit, but Xiao Li and Fengfeng are obviously checking out the room, since they'll likely be assigned to live there after Chief Wang gets a bigger place.

The young couple tries to be optimistic about the dorm, but gangs of kids are running wild, smoke is pouring out of one of the rooms, the halls are cluttered with junk, laundry is draped across indoor clotheslines, an old man is bathing in the open near a woman who's chopping vegetables, another woman is screaming and throwing dishes, and someone else is frantically searching for a lost chicken.

In A Chinese Life, illustrator Li Kunwu and French writer/diplomat Philippe Otie present the history of modern China to Western audiences from Li's intimate perspective as a "Chinese everyman." While they offer a sweeping view of China, the view is sharpest when focused on ordinary, everyday life.

A Chinese Life more or less covers major Chinese events from about 1950 to 2010, including Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, the famines of 1958-1961, the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms, the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, urbanization, and increasing prosperity.

But even at 700 pages, some historical details in A Chinese Life are sketchy. Li admits, for example, that he doesn't know anyone who was directly affected by 6/4, the Chinese name for the Tiananmen Square protests which were violently suppressed on June 4, 1989. During the crackdown, the Chinese military killed hundreds if not thousands of students and civilians.

Li skims over 6/4 by saying he believes many Chinese people value stability and order over human rights because of the earlier decades of famine and political upheaval which killed tens of millions of Chinese. Li's portrayal of the "indescribable torments" of those earlier decades is powerful. One of his uncles literally ate dirt while trying survive the Great Famine, and his father was publicly denounced during the frenzy of the Cultural Revolution and was forced to perform manual labor in re-education camps for ten years.

It is remarkable that a member of the Chinese Communist Party would be so forthcoming, and that this is happening in a graphic novel. To some Westerners though, Li's depictions of such events may seem more like an apparatchik's apologia than a critical attempt to understand what happened.

More so than the grand historical overview, intimate scenes like Xiao Li and Fengfeng's visit to the dormitory are what make A Chinese Life worth reading. With a subtle mix of humor and sadness, Li examines his strained relationship with his larger-than-life father, describes an awkward moment when he asks his girlfriend if she would pose nude for his drawings, and recalls helping his elderly mother make dumplings.

Besides being a great storyteller, Li's artwork is brilliant. A Chinese Life is illustrated almost entirely in black and white. The contrast is stark and the composition is striking. Fascinating, energetic lines reveal austere landscapes, earthy villages, and chaotic cities. Characters' hands and faces are especially expressive. Some of the most compelling panels lack dialogue; they are simple portraits of children at school, soldiers in barracks, villagers in markets, and workers in factories.

Page 275 from A Chinese Life © Kana (DARGAUD-LOMBARD s.a.) 2011, by Li Kunwu, P.Otie. Published in English by SelfMadeHero. Used with permission.

Li describes his own style as "rough," but "bold and playful" is a better description. The illustrations appear to be done in brush and ink, and they look like extensions of the flowing Chinese calligraphy which Li includes on most pages.

A Chinese Life was originally published in France in several volumes. It was translated from the French by Edward Gauvin and published by SelfMadeHero in 2012. Some transitions between passages and stories in the English edition are abrupt, but the work as a whole is easy to follow. The book is hefty at about 700 pages, but it doesn't seem long when read. Instead, it ends far too quickly.

Michael May

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

I don’t read a lot of non-fiction and when I do it is usually because I chose the book for the Let’s Talk Books discussion group here at C-SPL.  Unbroken:  A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience,and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand has been on the New York Times bestseller list for over 112 weeks and one of my New Year’s resolutions is to read more non-fiction so I was bound to get to this book sooner or later.  

Unbroken is the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who became an airman during World War II.  On a May afternoon in 1943, Louis’ bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared.  Louis and two other crew members survive the crash and subsequently drift nearly 2,000 miles over the course of 47 days before being pulled out of the water.  Forty-seven days on a life raft with no food or water is not the worst thing that actually happens to Louis.  The worst thing is the Japanese prisoner-of-war camps he is held in until the end of the war in August 1945. 

Some of the reasons I don’t like to read non-fiction are that I usually find it dry, slow moving and it fails to hold my interest.  Unbroken succeeded in proving me wrong on all accounts.  Hillenbrand’s book had the potential to get mired down in details but she masterfully moves the story forward without compromising the story.  Unbroken begins, well, at the beginning.  The reader meets Louis as a fearless, incorrigible toddler and follows him as he becomes a defiant teenager who fights, steals and is generally not very likeable.  What saves Louis is his older brother’s determination to get Louis into running.   Running leads Louis to the 1936 Olympics in Germany where he reportedly catches the eye of Hitler and gets away with some youthful antics that could have gotten him into a lot of trouble.  Five years later, with future Olympics put on hold due to the war in Europe, Louis has earned a commission as a second lieutenant and enlists in the United States Air Force. 

When I started this book and read about Louis as a teenager I really wondered why Hillenbrand included so much about Louis’ upbringing.  As the story progresses it became abundantly clear that Louis was a survivor.  The fighting, stealing and running he engaged in as a youth probably helped him to survive the absolute hell he had to endure as a POW. 

Unbroken also opened my eyes about an aspect of World War II history that I didn’t know much about.   I think that so much of WWII history is about Germany and the genocide of the Jews, that the horrors going on in Japan are overlooked.  I had no idea just how horrible the Japanese POW camps were and how atrociously the prisoners were treated.  I realize a prisoner camp isn’t a luxury summer camp, but these men were physically, emotionally, and mentally abused while being starved to death.  That any of them survived is a testament the strength of the human spirit.   After finishing Unbroken I started reading up on WWII history, specifically the war fought against the Japanese. 

If you are in a book club and haven’t discussed Unbroken, I highly recommend this book.  At just under 400 pages it really packs a punch.  The Let’s Talk Books group discussion covered many topics that came up, from Louis and his life to the decision to drop the atomic bombs.  With the summary I gave above it is pretty clear what is considered survival and resilience.  To find out what the redemption part is all about you will just have to read the book.  Louis Zamperini will turn 96 on January 26, yes, he is still alive.  After reading about his experiences during World War II the fact that he is still alive makes him even more remarkable.  Keep an eye out for a movie based on Unbroken, it is in development and I truly hope Hollywood can do the story justice. 

~Amy, Adult Services

P.S. The next Let's Talk Books meeting is on March 12 at 7 P.M. in the 3rd floor Aigler Auditorium.  We will be discussing The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.