Book Talk: Carnegie Libraries + poetry + Feminism

In light of National Library Week, book enthusiast Modern Mrs. Darcy shares the history of Carnegie Libraries. He funded no less than 1,689 libraries over a three decade period that librarians refer to as the golden age of the American public library system. Check the list to see if there is one in your community. 

A Quiet Passion, the film celebrating the life of Poet Emily Dickinson premiered last week. You can watch the trailer here and read Emily Dickinson's poetry for free on Project Gutenberg. It's likely not a coincidence that the movie came out during national poetry month, but I hope it stays in theaters long enough to watch the film with my mom over mother's day weekend.

Two fantastic articles out this week on feminism in literary journals. The piece from the Electric Lit about feminism in civic memory is a must-read exploration of how fathers—forefathers, the holy father, our own fathers, shape the lives of women. The piece from The Paris Review, "The Feminine Heroic", is from Megan Mayhew Bergman’s column on naturalism. In her essay, "she discusses how women, often excluded from adventure narratives, carve out their own heroic space."

Have something to share? Let me know in the comments!

All About Bees: A Reading List for Spring

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year, not so much for the chilly mornings, but for all the beautiful flowers, bees, and butterflies. This is the first spring I'm spending in my new apartment and I've spotted several hummingbirds outside my window, a real treat for a city dweller. 

Spring also influences my reading life. I tend to pick up more books about plants and the outdoors. In the past, I've managed to get so enthralled that I've convinced myself my true calling is to be a horticulturist. Perhaps I'm destined for a late life career change!

This spring, my reading is all about the bees. While I can't have a hive of my own or plant a garden full of flowers, I still have an affinity for them. Back in college, I even took a class on beekeeping! And there was that summer I spent working on a peach farm. We had lots of hives to pollinate the blossoms and I would hang out with the bees and pet them while they stopped to gather a drink of water.

Many people are afraid of them, understandably for their stings do hurt but honey bees are quite docile and cute! Not to mention they make delicious honey. Perhaps that's why they get all of the attention, but honey bees are not the only bees out this spring collecting pollen and nectar. There are lots of native bees that do the work honey bees can't. 

I've curated a list of my favorite books on bees including a few I hope to read this spring, preferably while sitting in the sun and sipping honey sweetened iced tea. Let me know if I missed a good one and be sure to share your favorite spring reads in the comments below!

All About Bees: A Reading List for Spring

Beekeeper's Lament: How One Man & Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America

"The honey bee is a willing conscript, a working wonder, an unseen and crucial link in America's agricultural industry. But never before has its survival been so unclear — and the future of our food supply so acutely challenged. Enter beekeeper John Miller, who trucks his hives around the country, bringing millions of bees to farmers otherwise bereft of natural pollinators. Even as the mysterious and deadly epidemic known as Colony Collapse Disorder devastates bee populations across the globe, Miller forges ahead with the determination and wry humor of a true homespun hero. The Beekeeper's Lament tells his story and that of his bees, making for a complex, moving, and unforgettable portrait of man in the new natural world."

Robbing the Bees: A Biography of honey--the Sweet Liquid Gold That Seduced the World

"Honey has been waiting almost ten million years for a good biography. Bees have been making this prized food — for centuries the world's only sweetener — for millennia, but we humans started recording our fascination with it only in the past few thousand years. Part history, part love letter, Robbing the Bees is a celebration of bees and their magical produce, revealing the varied roles of bees and honey in nature, world civilization, business, and gastronomy.  To help navigate the worlds and cultures of honey, Bishop — beekeeper, writer, and honey aficionado — apprentices herself to Donald Smiley, a professional beekeeper who harvests tupelo honey in the Florida panhandle. She intersperses the lively lore and science of honey with lyrical reflections on her own and Smiley's beekeeping experiences. Its passionate research, rich detail, and fascinating anecdote and illustrations make Holley Bishop's Robbing the Bees a sumptuous look at the oldest, most delectable food in the world."

Honeybee Democracy

"Honeybees make decisions collectively — and democratically. Every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home, honeybees stake everything on a process that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus building. In fact, as world-renowned animal behaviorist Thomas Seeley reveals, these incredible insects have much to teach us when it comes to collective wisdom and effective decision making. A remarkable and richly illustrated account of scientific discovery, Honeybee Democracy brings together, for the first time, decades of Seeley's pioneering research to tell the amazing story of house hunting and democratic debate among the honeybees."

Beekeeper's Bible: Bees Honey Recipes & Other Home Uses

"The Beekeeper's Bible is as much an ultimate guide to the practical essentials of beekeeping as it is a beautiful almanac to be read from cover to cover. Part history book, part handbook, and part cookbook, this illustrated tome covers every facet of the ancient hobby of beekeeping, from how to manage hives safely to harvesting one's own honey, and ideas for how to use honey and beeswax. Detailed instructions for making candles, furniture polish, beauty products, and nearly 100 honey-themed recipes are included. Fully illustrated with how-to photography and unique etchings, any backyard enthusiast or gardener can confidently dive into beekeeping with this book in hand (or daydream about harvesting their own honey while relaxing in the comfort of an armchair)."

100 Plants to Feed the Bees: Provide a Healthy Habitat to Help Pollinators Thrive

"The international bee crisis is threatening our global food supply, but this user-friendly field guide shows what you can do to help protect our pollinators. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation offers browsable profiles of 100 common flowers, herbs, shrubs, and trees that attract bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds. The recommendations are simple: sow seeds for some plants — such as basil, rhododendron, and blueberries — and simply don't mow down abundant native species, including aster, goldenrod, and milkweed. 100 Plants to Feed the Bees will empower homeowners, landscapers, apartment dwellers — anyone with a scrap of yard or a window box — to protect our pollinators."

+ Two Freebies

Bee Basics: An Introduction to Our Native Bees

"Most people do not realize that there were no honey bees in America before European settlers brought hives from Europe. Native pollinators, especially bees other than honey bees, have been pollinating the continent’s flowering plants since long before the arrival of honey bees. Even in today’s vastly altered landscapes, they continue to do the yeomen’s share of pollination, especially when it comes to native plants. The honey bee, remarkable as it is, does not know how to pollinate tomato or eggplant flowers. It does very poorly compared to native bees when pollinating many native plants, such as pumpkins, cherries, blueberries, and cranberries. Let us take a closer look at this forgotten treasure of native bees."

Attracting Pollinators to Your Garden Using Native Plants

"Many of us enjoy the beauty of flowers in our backyard and community gardens. Growing native plants adds beauty and important habitats for wildlife, especially for pollinators. Even a small backyard garden can make a big difference. Gardening connects us to nature and helps us better understand how nature works. This guide will help you create a pollinator-friendly garden."

Happy Spring Reading!

Literary Resistance Book Club - March Follow-Up

Last month, I shared how libraries and bookstores are resisting our current political climate by putting social activism books on display. This month I'm excited to share the work the publishing house New Press is doing in direct response to the Trump administration. While some independent publisher's are afraid to openly take sides, New Press is celebrating its 25th birthday with a, "program focused on the challenge of resisting the new administration’s political agenda." They are launching a new series, Fearless Books for Perilous Times.

Three titles in the “fearless” series that are set to come out in paperback this April and May include: Wolf Whistle Politics: The New Misogyny in Public Life Today, edited by Wachtell (with an introduction by Naomi Wolf); Rules for Resistance: Advice From Around the World in the Age of Trump, coedited by David Cole and Melanie Wachtell Stinnett; and How Do I Explain This to the Kids? Parenting in the Age of Trump edited by Ava Siegler. If resistance reading is your thing, New Press has a lot of great books that fit this genre. 

Top Picks from March

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

This book reveals one catch-22 after another. If it weren't real, the situation would be comical. After all, how can anyone keep a roof over their head when rent eats up more than half of your income. And when you inevitably get evicted, how are you supposed to find another place if landlords won't rent to tenants with evictions on their record? So it goes for the eight Milwaukee families Matthew Desmond writes about in his groundbreaking work on eviction and poverty in America. Unlike other books that expose inequality and wealth disparity in America, Desmond is optimistic and proposes a solution for lifting families out of squalor and homelessness. 

Secondhand Time: Last of the Soviets by Svetland Alexievich

For me, Russia has always been an elusive monolith of a country. I took my first literary peak inside last year when I read The Tiger by John Vaillant—a true story of a vengeful man-eating tiger, that unfolds in the far eastern region of the Russian taiga. The history and poverty of the region was just as fascinating to read about as the tiger stalking his human prey. When I heard about this collection of interviews with ordinary Russians about their experience living through Stalinism and the collapse of communism, I was immediately intrigued. The book is a beautiful yet heartbreaking exploration of freedom for which the author was awarded the nobel prize in literature. You can read my full review here. 

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Most of the books I write about for the Literary Resistance Book Club are non-fiction, Homegoing is the first novel. It, "begins with the story of two half-sisters, separated by forces beyond their control: one sold into slavery, the other married to a British slaver. Written with tremendous sweep and power, Homegoing traces the generations of family who follow, as their destinies lead them through two continents and three hundred years of history, each life indelibly drawn, as the legacy of slavery is fully revealed in light of the present day." Homegoing has what I felt like was missing from the Underground Railroad. Instead of feeling like an onlooker detached from the story, Homegoing caught me in the current and swept me right along all the way to the delightful end. 

---

For more recommendations, check out the Literary Resistance Book Club. Don't forget to share what you've been reading in the comments. I'm always on the lookout for book recommendations and I'd love to hear from you.