Category: In the Collection

No theme this week, just some interesting books…although one title correlates with Merriam-Webster’s 2019 Word of the Year.

• Consent : a Memoir of Unwanted Attention / by Donna Freitas – “A powerful memoir about a young woman’s toxic relationship with her mentor, an acclaimed professor, whose dark, stalking obsession altered her future forever. Donna Freitas has lived two lives. In one life, she is a well-published author and respected scholar who has traveled around the country, speaking about Title IX, consent, and sex on college campuses. In the other, she is a victim, a woman who suffered and suffers still because she was stalked by her graduate professor for more than two years. As a doctoral candidate, Freitas loved asking big questions, challenging established theories, and sinking her teeth into sacred texts. She felt at home in the library and safe in the book-lined offices of scholars whom she admired. But during her first year, one particular scholar became obsessed with Freitas’s academic enthusiasm. He filled her student mailbox with letters and articles. He lurked on the sidewalk outside her apartment. He called daily and left nagging voice mails. He befriended her mother and made himself comfortable in her family’s home. He wouldn’t go away. While his attraction was not overtly sexual, it was undeniably inappropriate and, most important, unwanted. In ‘Consent: A Memoir of Unwanted Attention,’ Freitas delivers a forensic examination of the years she spent stalked by her professor and uses her nightmarish experience to examine the ways in which we stigmatize, debate, and attempt to understand consent today.”–Publisher description.
• Autobiography of a Face / by Lucy Grealy – “At age nine, Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with a potentially terminal cancer. When she returned to school with a third of her jaw removed, she faced the cruel taunts of classmates. It took her twenty years of living with a distorted self-image and more than thirty reconstructive procedures before she could come to terms with her appearance. In this lyrical and strikingly candid memoir, Grealy tells her story of great suffering and remarkable strength without sentimentality and with considerable wit. She captures with unique insight what it is like as a child and young adult to be torn between two warring impulses: to feel that more than anything else we want to be loved for who we are, while wishing desperately and secretly to be perfect.”–Publisher description.
• She Said : Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement / by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey – “For many years, reporters had tried to get to the truth about Harvey Weinstein’s treatment of women. Rumors of wrongdoing had long circulated. But in 2017, when Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey began their investigation into the prominent Hollywood producer for the New York Times, his name was still synonymous with power. During months of confidential interviews with top actresses, former Weinstein employees, and other sources, many disturbing and long-buried allegations were unearthed, and a web of onerous secret payouts and nondisclosure agreements were revealed. These shadowy settlements had long been used to hide sexual harassment and abuse, but with a breakthrough reporting technique Kantor and Twohey helped to expose it. But Weinstein had evaded scrutiny in the past, and he was not going down without a fight; he employed a team of high-profile lawyers, private investigators, and other allies to thwart the investigation. When Kantor and Twohey were finally able to convince some sources to go on the record, a dramatic final showdown between Weinstein and the New York Times was set in motion. Nothing could have prepared Kantor and Twohey for what followed the publication of their initial Weinstein story on October 5, 2017. Within days, a veritable Pandora’s box of sexual harassment and abuse was opened. Women all over the world came forward with their own traumatic stories. Over the next twelve months, hundreds of men from every walk of life and industry were outed following allegations of wrongdoing. But did too much change–or not enough? Those questions hung in the air months later as Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court, and Christine Blasey Ford came forward to testify that he had assaulted her decades earlier. Kantor and Twohey, who had unique access to Ford and her team, bring to light the odyssey that led her to come forward, the overwhelming forces that came to bear on her, and what happened after she shared her allegation with the world. In the tradition of great investigative journalism, ‘She Said’ tells a thrilling story about the power of truth, with shocking new information from hidden sources. Kantor and Twohey describe not only the consequences of their reporting for the #MeToo movement, but the inspiring and affecting journeys of the women who spoke up–for the sake of other women, for future generations, and for themselves.”–Publisher description.
• They/Them/Their : a Guide to Nonbinary and Genderqueer Identities / by Eris Young – “In this insightful and long-overdue book, Eris Young explores what it’s like to live outside of the gender binary and how it can impact on one’s relationships, sense of identity, use of language and more. Drawing on the author’s own experiences as a non-binary person, as well as interviews and research, it shares common experiences and challenges faced by those who are non-binary, and what friends, family, and other cisgender people can do to support them. Breaking down misconceptions and providing definitions, this much-needed guide is for anyone wanting to fully understand non-binary and genderqueer identities.”–Publisher description.

If you have any trouble locating these books, or would like to place any on hold, don’t hesitate to “Ask a Librarian” for assistance!

“What’s New” for this week are books that are ripped from the headlines!

• Member of the Family : My Story of Charles Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness that Ended the Sixties / by Dianne Lake and Deborah Herman – “In this poignant and disturbing memoir, Dianne shares the full story of her time with Manson, revealing how she became the youngest member of his Family and offering new insights into one of the twentieth century’s most notorious criminals. While much has been written about Charles Manson, ‘Member of the Family’ re-creates in vivid detail the firsthand experience of someone who survived his wrath, returning to a time and place that changed America forever–a moment when anything seemed possible and the horrors to come unthinkable.”–Publisher description.
• Manson : the Life and Times of Charles Manson / by Jeff Guinn – “More than forty years ago Charles Manson and his mostly female commune killed nine people, among them the pregnant actress Sharon Tate. It was the culmination of a criminal career that author Jeff Guinn traces back to Manson’s childhood. Guinn interviewed Manson’s sister and cousin, neither of whom had ever previously cooperated with an author. Childhood friends, cellmates, and even some members of the Manson family have provided new information about Manson’s life. Guinn has made discoveries about the night of the Tate murders, answering unresolved questions, such as why one person near the scene of the crime was spared. ‘Manson’ puts the killer in the context of the turbulent late sixties, an era of race riots and street protests when authority in all its forms was under siege. Guinn shows us how Manson created and refined his message to fit the times, persuading confused young women (and a few men) that he had the solutions to their problems. At the same time he used them to pursue his long-standing musical ambitions. His frustrated ambitions, combined with his bizarre race-war obsession, would have lethal consequences.”–Publisher description.
• The Family Next Door : the Heartbreaking Imprisonment of the Thirteen Turpin Siblings and their Extraordinary Rescue / by John Glatt – “On January 14, 2018, a seventeen-year-old girl climbed out of the window of her Perris, California, home and dialed 911 on a borrowed cell phone. Struggling to stay calm, she told the operator that she and her twelve siblings–ranging in age from two to twenty-nine–were being abused by their parents. When the dispatcher asked for her address, the girl hesitated. ‘I’ve never been out,’ she stammered. To their family, neighbors, and online friends, Louise and David Turpin presented a picture of domestic bliss: dressing their thirteen children in matching outfits and buying them expensive gifts. But what police discovered when they entered the Turpin family home would eclipse the most shocking child abuse cases in history. For years, David and Louise had kept their children in increasing isolation, trapping them in a sinister world of torture, fear, and near starvation. In the first major account of the case, investigative journalist John Glatt delves into the disturbing details and recounts the bravery of the thirteen siblings in the face of unimaginable horror.”–Publisher description.

This week’s picks are located among the “New Arrivals” in the Library Lounge. If you need help locating them, or would like to put any on hold, don’t hesitate to “Ask a Librarian” for help.