Staff Picks: The Coincidence Makers by Yoav Blum - Adult Fiction

 

The Coincidence Makers by Yoav Blum

When you get stuck in traffic or caught in a storm, is it fate, chance, or something else? 

In Yoav Blum’s The Coincidence Makers, missed buses, lost luggage, and chance encounters are often the result of covert manipulations performed by coincidence makers assigned to secretly steer societies and individual destinies. 

The novel focuses on a team of new operators who are still learning the ropes on setting events in motion to influence individuals to fall in love, switch careers, or find inspiration.  But not all coincidences are so benevolent and even the coincidence makers can become subjects of manipulation. 

Meet Brooke West, FCPL's May Library Limelight!

Brooke West began a little over a year ago as the Information Services Supervisor at the Hampton Park Library, but FCPL is only a chapter in her story. 

Brooke studied Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Georgia State University. While completing this degree, she was required to do an internship. Brooke chose to intern at a microscopic library in her hometown of Athens, GA, where she worked with a Spanish speaking community. She found joy in connecting people to the resources that they needed. Knowing that she wanted to pursue a master’s degree, she decided on Valdosta State University as her next stop. Brooke’s mother was also a big reader, so working in libraries is something that makes her feel connected to her. 

A Summer with Jane Austen

My dear Forsyth County residents,

The Season is about to begin, and I can hardly wait. Everyone in society knows that the library is the place to be and to be seen. Have you heard the news that the Cumming Library will be celebrating all things me this June?

My event calendar is as follows:

Friday, June 9 - Regency Crafts with Jane Austen (Ticketed Program)

I plan to craft an elegant cameo ornament. You can come learn all about me during a fascinating presentation.

Saturday, June 17 - Learn Regency Dance

Come and learn how to dance as I do. I do hope you won't be a wallflower!

Saturday, June 24 - ESCAPE from Mr. Wickham! (Registration Required)

Help me salvage my family's reputation and discover where Mr. Wickham has taken my sister Lydia.

Do please refer to my social calendar for more event details, and don't forget to dress in your Regency best!

Sincerely,

Melissa

Information Specialist

Cumming Library

Collection Highlight: Mental Health Awareness Month 2023 - Part 2

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Forsyth County Public Library offers patrons a wide array of current books about keeping the mind healthy, preventing and healing mental illness, and practicing self-care.

In addition to mental health help books like the ones listed in my post earlier this month, FCPL also offers several free online resources that can be accessed through the library website and by entering a library card number and PIN. Here is a sampling: 

A Community Resources Guide and Mental Health Helplist can be accessed on the library eResources page.

FCPL also offers several Medicine, Health, and Wellness resources that provide eBooks, articles, and websites. A few examples are: 

MedlinePlus 
Alt HealthWatch (Alternative Medicine)
Consumer Health Complete

Visit our Community Resource Guide and Mental Health Helplist under eResources or ask a librarian for additional mental health resources for you or for a loved one. 

Read more for a few more current print titles.

Summer Cookbooks and Recipes: A Recommendation List

Summer is here! It’s time for pool snacks, picnics, cook-outs, and frozen treats. Check out this list of cookbooks for some new recipes you can enjoy all summer long. 

Staff Picks - That Time I Loved You: Stories by Carrianne Leung - Adult Fiction

 

That Time I Loved You: Stories by Carrianne Leung

Sandwiched between Baby Boomers and Millennials, Generation X–people born between 1965 and 1980–don’t seem to receive as much attention as the generations they follow and precede.  

What defines Generation X? 

Gen Xers came of age during a societal shift that included advances in computer technology, more women working outside of the home, and changing American demographics. Dubbed the latchkey generation, members of Generation X are considered the least parented generation in recent history. For better or for worse, adolescents and young children enjoying unstructured free time provides fertile ground for writers like Carrianne Leung to explore 1970s society in her short story collection, That Time I Loved You. 

In That Time I Loved You, families from China, Hong Kong, Portugal, Italy, Jamaica, and America pursue individual dreams and fight unique battles amid picturesque tree-lined streets as residents, both young and old, deal with hidden desires and difficulties 70s style -- behind closed doors. Each of the linked stories takes place within one Ontario neighborhood in 1979, a year marked by a rash of tragic deaths among adult neighbors in the diverse community. This insightful collection explores issues involving race, sexuality, class, and grief while painting a nostalgic (but never idealized) portrait of life before smartphones and social media. 

As a fan of literary fiction and a Gen Xer myself, I really enjoyed this thoughtful short story collection populated by memorable characters from across the globe. 

Staff Picks: The Hard Parts: A Memoir of Courage and Triumph by Oksana Masters

The Hard Parts: A Memoir of Courage and Triumph by Oksana Masters

If you don't know who Oksana Masters is, you will want to. This is a biography of Oksana Masters who was adopted by a single mother in America from a Ukrainian orphanage. Her birth mother had been exposed to radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster while carrying her. Oksana had multiple issues resulting from this, including legs of differing lengths as a result of a lack of weight-bearing bones, feet with six toes, webbed fingers with no thumbs, and missing her right bicep and one kidney. After deciding to adopt Oksana, it took several years of diplomatic issues, bureaucratic red tape, and the requisite bribery, but she finally had her very first home at the age of seven years old. Despite these repeated setbacks, neither of them gave up.

Collection Highlight: Mental Health Awareness Month 2023

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Forsyth County Public Library offers patrons a wide array of current books about keeping the mind healthy, preventing and healing mental illness, and practicing self-care.

A few new titles are shared below. Visit our Community Resources Guide and Mental Health Helplist under eResources or ask a librarian for additional mental health resources for you or for a loved one. 

Change Your Brain Every Day: Simple Daily Practices to Strengthen Your Mind, Memory, Moods, Focus, Energy, Habits, and Relationships by Daniel G. Amen, MD. 2023

Psychiatrist and clinical neuroscientist Daniel Amen, MD, draws on over 40 years' clinical practice with tens of thousands of patients to give you the most effective daily habits he has seen that can help you improve your brain, master your mind, boost your memory, and make you feel happier, healthier, and more connected to those you love.

Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder by Gabor Maté, MD. 2023

Scattered Minds explodes the myth of attention deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD) as genetically based and offers real hope and advice for children and adults who live with the condition.

Asian American Heritage Month Staff Picks The Sense of Wonder by Matthew Salesses

 The Sense of Wonder by Matthew Salesses

I've recently become a fan of author Matthew Salesses, whose witty, unpredictable stories offer a unique perspective on issues of identity and race in America.  

Salesses’ latest novel, The Sense of Wonder, focuses on two Asian NBA stars, Won Lee, dubbed “The Wonder,” and his idol, Powerball!. A trouble-making sports reporter and a television producer who creates popular Korean soap operas add extra drama to mix.      

Sense of Wonder skewers celebrity culture, modern relationships, and professional rivalry. You don’t have to be a basketball fan to enjoy this wry satirical tale.