KC Public Library Blog
Cult Films
Are you a fan of cult films? These books examine some of the best. Or take a peek at a few films featured in “The New Cult Canon” series published for The A.V. Club, the arts and entertainment section for The Onion.
Walt Disney: American Icon
Animator, film maker and entrepreneur, Walt Disney transformed the film and entertainment industries. Learn more about this American icon and his art in these books at the Library.
What Are the Odds? Books on Randomness & Probability
These books at the Library explore the nature of randomness and probability in our lives.
The Art of Quilting
Whether or not you piece with the best of them, these books should appeal to anyone interested in the beauty and craft of quilting. For you quilters, check out some of the library’s books of quilt patterns. And if you like to stick to fiction, there’s a whole genre of quilting novels.
Pulitzer Prize Winners 2009
The 2009 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced on April 20. Check out this year’s award winners or browse through the winners of previous years to find some good reads.
Presidential Power
These books examine the executive branch and its power throughout U.S. history.
Get to Know Harry S. Truman
The 33rd president of the United States and a native of Missouri, Harry S. Truman also served as an officer during World War I, a U.S. Senator, and Vice President. These books include general biographies of Truman and works that examine his presidency, as well as his memoirs, letters, and speeches.
Unfinished Novels
Recently, Harper Collins announced that it will publish two of Michael Crichton’s unfinished novels. Prior to that, the upcoming publication of an unfinished David Foster Wallace novel made the news. Even thirty years after the death of Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita, his son has announced that Nabokov’s unfinished The Original of Laura will be published in 2009 – disregarding Nabokov’s wishes to have it burned after his death.
Stephen Moss at The Guardian writes, “Leave unfinished works alone - let their authors rest in peace.” What do you think?
Have you ever read an unfinished novel? These books were all incomplete when the authors died.
Winston Churchill: 10 Recent Books
Prime minister of Britain, a soldier, writer, and politician, Winston Churchill has had hundreds of books written about him. This selection includes ten books about Churchill published in the last few years.
New Conversation about Old School
Common Grounds book group gathered on a snowy Saturday to wander the halls of Tobias Wolff’s debut novel, Old School. Christa and Michael both liked the selection and wished more readers had braved the weather to discuss it.
The Space Race: 10 Biographies
From astronauts to engineers and other space pioneers, these ten biographies help tell the story of the Space Race.
Technology & Society
Are you working 24/7 because you can’t unplug from your mobile phone or the Internet? Technology has blurred the lines between work and home, affecting everything from how we use our time to how we relate to one another. These books examine technology’s impact on our society, culture, and economy.
Teach for America
In this current school year, more than 6,200 Teach for America corps members are teaching in America's neediest communities, reaching approximately 400,000 students. These books discuss the Teach for America experience and model or examine urban education in general.
Meet the Past: What Would You Ask?
Have you ever wished that you could talk to a ghost? (A friendly one, of course.) Reading about history is like talking to ghosts—finding out what people thought and how they lived. You can re-live their adventures or discover how they overcame difficult circumstances such as sexism, racism, and war.
The Kansas City Public Library isn’t haunted (as far as we know), but you can meet the past. Starting in April, Library Director Crosby Kemper III will interview re-enactors portraying famous people from the past, such as poet Langston Hughes, pilot Amelia Earhart, and President Harry S. Truman.
Oddest Title of the Year
I imagine this book award slipped by you: the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year. Sponsored by The Bookseller magazine, anyone can nominate a book title for this prize and votes by the public are tallied online. It has nothing to do with content and everything to do with, well, title oddity.