Best Books of 2020
In the Collection
Blog posts about items in the catalog, ideally with permanent links to catalog records.
Relax and Check out our Streaming Video and DVD Collection
Once finals are over, I’m sure you are all looking to do some relaxing. We have all kinds of streaming videos and DVDs in our collection for your enjoyment. Looking to stream one of our feature films? Or would you prefer to check out the feature films in our DVD collection? Do you like documentaries? Here are our streaming documentaries. We have many documentaries in our DVD collection as well. Are you a stand up comedy fan? We’ve got you covered. We have stand up comedy in our streaming collection. Here are our stand up comedy DVDs. We even have streaming audio stand up comedy. If you need help with these, or any of our resources, remember to Ask a Librarian. Here are some of my streaming films:
The Collars of RBG
With the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg this past fall, we lost an icon and a trailblazer. She stood out on the Supreme Court for her dedication and her ideals. She also stood out for the beautiful collars that she added to her justice robes. Since the robes were designed to show the shirt collar and tie worn by men, she added a feminine touch. The collars were also often worn as a statement, such as her famous dissent collar. Over the years, she amassed a stunning collection.
Recently, TIME magazine was given access to the collection to showcase and tell the stories of the various pieces. View the article here. To learn more about the life and legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, try these books and videos from the MVCC library.
Take a Break in Tokyo
If the thought of immersing yourself in a far away place appeals, even while we must stay close to home, step outside the everyday with this virtual display of e-books and e-audiobooks from the library that explore these surreal, tender, and humorous examples of contemporary Japanese fiction.
If further exploration of contemporary Japan appeals to you, the hypnotic and beautiful videos of Japan on the YouTube channel run by the anonymous Rambalac are an unusual and captivating glimpse of everyday life.
In the middle of the lockdown last Spring, I stumbled across a recommendation for Rambalac’s channel, which posts ‘walking videos.’ Rambalac records themselves walking around Tokyo’s districts, neighborhoods, and suburbs–other Japanese cities and locations appear periodically. There are videos recorded during the day and at night, in rain and snow. Rambalac describes the videos as “Not a vlog, no intrusive faces or talking, pure Japan only.”
During the lockdown, I loved being able to get such an (extra)ordinary glimpse of an unfamiliar place even while I was stuck at home–in a more visual, but no less compelling way than in the Japanese fiction in the above display. Try Sakura in snow, recorded last April, or this night walk, to get a feel for the hypnotic calm and the vibrant glimpses of contemporary Japan.
Shake Up Your Table
2020 is the year of “new”. New rules, new regulations, new tech, new ideas about health and safety. How about new food traditions? Why not try something different this year? MVCC has a variety of cookbooks, and plenty available digitally, so you don’t have to make a trip to the library. Here’s a small selection of cookbooks that might spice up your table this season. Check out our book catalog for more!
Don’t forget that you can always contact a librarian for help finding more resources like these!
Celebrate Indigenous Authors
In honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Monday, October 12th, 2020, explore this selection of works by Native American authors available at the library, in print and online.
If you are curious about the history of Indigenous People’s Day, which was first celebrated in Berkeley, California in 1992 and is observed in an increasing number of cities and states, check out the American Indian Center of Chicago’s page.
Click on the virtual display below to view selected works:
Explore Nobel Prize Winner Louise Glück’s Poetry
The 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the celebrated American poet Louise Glück on Thursday. The Nobel Committee cited “her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal” in the award announcement.
To learn more about Glück and her career as a poet, check out her Poetry Foundation biography or read the New York Times article about the Nobel Prize announcement in the Library databases.
Poetry
Find Glück’s collected poetry in POEMS 1962-2012, which includes poems from her Pulitzer Prize winning book The Wild Iris, and other works in our print collection.
Glück has also published extensively in literary magazines. Find her works online through the Library in The New Yorker and American Poetry Review.
Find an audio recording of “The Golden Lily,” one of Glück’s most studied poems and audio recordings and text of many other poems available from the Academy of American Poets.
Debunking Electoral College Myths
In most U.S. elections, the winner of the popular vote is the winner of the election. As we have seen many times, that is not always the case in the presidential election due to our Electoral College system. In particular, the winner-take-all laws in many states have resulted in the winner of the popular vote losing the election. This has led to millions of votes being effectively ignored and swing states, and swing state issues, carrying more weight than others.
Many people, for many years, have felt that the Electoral College system is unfair. It is a system that came about because of slavery and the result is that some votes count more than others. Since 1797, there have been roughly 800 attempts in Congress to get rid of the system. These have come from states both large and small and from both sides of the aisle. Defenders of the Electoral College point to reasons like: It protects small states. It’s what The Founders wanted. The way it works is written into the Constitution. Democrats will always win without it.
These are all myths. There is a way to fix it. Watch this short, informative video from The New York Times to find out more. To delve even deeper into the topic, these books from the MVCC Library are a great next step.
It Is Officially Spooky Season!
I know, I know, this whole year has kind of felt like “spooky season” right? But now that it is October 1st, I feel like I can officially break out the scary movies. Here are some titles that are available to stream at any time through some of Moraine Valley Library’s online services:
These are just some options to get a good horror movie marathon going. Don’t forget to check out all that is available on Hoopla, Kanopy, and Swank!
New E-book Spotlight: September Roundup
The Library acquired access to two new collections of e-books over the summer, University Press Scholarship and Wiley Online Library. To introduce these new collections, we are featuring e-book selections on our social media platforms (Follow the Library on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!) and the Library blog and bringing all the recommendations together in a monthly roundup virtual display!
Check out the virtual book display below for the New E-book Spotlight picks for September.
