Ages 18+.
Blog Post
Life in the Extreme North
by Lucy S
Warner Herzog’s 2013 Happy people: a year in the Taiga is “a stunning documentary about the life of indigenous people living in the heart of the Siberian Taiga. Deep in the wilderness, far away from civilization, 300 people inhabit the small village of Bakhtia at the river Yenisei. There are only two ways to reach this outpost: by helicopter or boat. There's no telephone, running water or medical aid. The locals, whose daily routines have barely changed over the last centuries, live according to their own values and cultural traditions.” (from Music Box Films)
For the people inhabiting the village of Bakhtia in the boreal forest, The Taiga, life has been much the same for centuries. The customs, rituals, and rules followed today have scarcely changed. Industry is the driving force here in this vast expanse of Siberia, where most of the men are trappers. This documentary follows one of these trappers, Gennady, through an entire year to show us how each moment of his hours and days is filled with tasks that build upon each other to create a very simple, but very busy life. Herzog narrates this journey, but the footage used is from a series created for Russian television by Dmitry Vasyukov. It is Herzog, through his narration, who ascribes to the trappers the title of “happy people,” as he reflects on their time spent in almost complete solitude during the trapping season in the Siberian winter. But in hearing Gennady, who says, “You enjoy the beauty of nature, and you do your job at the same time. That’s why they all end up being hunters because hunting brings you closer to the taiga than anything else,” we realize that for these men, a life hewing this close to the natural order of the world does indeed bring happiness.
We hear frequently from Gennady throughout this film as he imparts much wisdom on the life of a trapper in the Taiga, detailing the solitude, the importance of a good hunting dog, interspersed with grim stories of survival. We are taught how integral to the seasons this way of life is, and how methods for trapping have not changed because they don’t have to. The best traps are the same primitive, yet sophisticated traps that have been used for generations, and will likely be used for generations to come. Herzog and Vasyukov have created something modest yet beautiful with this collaboration, a reflection of people of the Taiga, and well worth watching.
Blog Post
New from David Sedaris
by potterbee
Theft by Finding: Diaries: Volume One is the newest publication from best selling author and humorist David Sedaris.
For nearly four decades, David Sedaris has faithfully kept a diary in which he records his thoughts and observations on the odd and funny events he witnesses. This is the source material for the remarkable essays which have delighted fans for many years. Often read from at live shows, fans have been waiting for a chance to read more of the diaries, which developed into a collection of major turning points in Sedaris' life.
Sedaris came to prominence in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "SantaLand Diaries." He published his first collection of essays and short stories, , in 1994. Each of his subsequent essay collections became New York Times Best Sellers. Terry Gross, host of Fresh Air on NPR, featured an interview yesterday to discuss the challenges of publishing his diaries directly, without crafting them into a humorous tale.
"Sedaris is caustically witty about his bad habits and artistic floundering. Even when he cleans up his act, falls in love, and achieves raving success, Sedaris remains self-deprecating and focused on the bizarre and the disquieting. A candid, socially incisive, and sharply amusing chronicle of the evolution of an arresting comedic artist." - Booklist starred review
Reserve your copy today and peruse the collection to enjoy his other books and recordings!
Blog Post
Michigan Fiction: Marlena
by eapearce
For those of us who have spent all or most of our lives in Michigan, Julie Buntin’s striking descriptions of a desolate, gray northern winter will strike a chord. Buntin lives in New York now, but she spent her formative years in northern Michigan, and this is the setting for her first novel, Marlena. The narrator of the story, Cat, has just moved to tiny Silver Lake, far up the western coast of the mitten, with her recently- divorced mother and older brother. The family struggles to make ends meet; Cat’s mother cleans houses for the wealthy tourists and her brother works nights at a plastics factory. Cat is lonely and unhappy, until she meets her next door neighbor, 17-year-old blonde, beautiful Marlena. As their lives become increasingly intertwined, Cat dives deeper into the dark world of addiction and illegal activity. An older Cat narrates portions of the novel, looking back on her time in Silver Lake with Marlena, and struggles to make sense of the beauty and tragedy she experienced there.
Set in 2006, in the early days of the opioid epidemic, the book is a fascinating and devastating testament to how easy it is to lose control. Buntin clearly writes from a place of experience and awareness, which allow the story to rise above others of its kind. Marlena, Cat, and the others who do what they must to survive in a bleak world that seems to have no future are not characters easily forgotten.
Blog Post
Is the Good Neighbor Project Right for YOU?
by Beth Manuel
The Good Neighbor Project is co-mentorship program designed to match up free-world individuals with Michigan prisoners who are serving Life or long sentences.
The Project is a program that applies restorative justice practices and principles by way of a one-on-one “co-mentorship” within the community by providing tools for repairing harm in relationships caused by crimes committed by our incarcerated neighbors. The program also seeks to foster the change necessary to facilitate the political will to advance criminal justice reform.
Many of these prisoners have been incarcerated for so long that they have lost their network of social support from family, friends, and the community. It is through letter or email correspondences that the co-mentors develop strong & meaningful relationships that are meant to promote transformation, redemption and healing. The next two (2) hour training session in providing our outside participants with all the information necessary to create a productive “co-mentorship” will be at The AFSC Michigan Criminal Justice Program, 124 Pearl Street, Suite 607, Ypsilanti, MI 48197 (734) 761-8283 "> Prisoner number: (734) 761-9796 on Thursday, October 5th from 6:00-8:00 PM. Other sessions are as follows, all from 6:00-8:00 PM: Wednesday, October 18
Blog Post
Dawn Farm's Educational Series
by Beth Manuel
You’re invited to Dawn Farm’s free Educational Series. The Education Series schedule can be found here. You can also contact Dawn Farm at 734-485-8725 or info@dawnfarm.org. All programs are free, and all are welcome to attend! Registration is not required. Programs will be held at the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Education Center Auditorium (ground floor,) 5305 Elliott Drive, Ypsilanti.
Does Addiction Treatment Work? will be presented on Tuesday May 16, 2017, from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm, by Dr. Carl Christensen, MD, PhD, FACOG, FASAM, ABAM. Recent publications claim to define research-supported definitive truths about the root causes of addiction and efficacy of treatment modalities; however, conclusions are conflicting and have been subject to differing interpretations. Dr. Christensen will review the recent criticisms of treatment for addiction including Twelve Step, residential, and medication assisted therapy, the scientific studies that do and do not support their use and other controversial issues.
Blog Post
The Unlikelies
by potterbee
Soon to hit the shelves this June is a story to start the summer about five diverse teens who form an unlikely alliance.
With her best friend headed of to camp and college, high school senior Sadie is bracing herself for a long, lonely, and boring summer. Things take an unexpected turn when she rescues a baby in distress and a video of her good deed goes viral. Suddenly internet-famous, Sadie's summer changes for the better when she's introduced to other "hometown heroes." These very different teens work together to right local wrongs and do good in their community.
This second and anticipated book from Carrie Firestone delves into issues that impact teens daily lives from bullying, body shaming, cyber group behaviors, and addressing the horrors and destruction of heroin addiction. The story maintains positive themes while dealing with such serious issues and is regarded as similar to stories like The Breakfast Club and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. Firestone weaves a rich story using humor and romance in a style consistent with her first novel adored by readers, The Loose Ends List.
A captivating read for fans of Young Adult fiction, readers will find plenty to relate and aspire to as the kids attempt to better the world and confront their own struggles with love, loyalty, and friendship.
Blog Post
Washtenaw Literacy and VISTA
by Beth Manuel
Washtenaw Literacy has been awarded two AmeriCorps VISTA positions by the Michigan Non Profit Association for 2017-2018. Click here for posting and link to application. The VISTA positions will support the development of the Community Opportunity Center by providing outreach and onsite management. Additionally, VISTAs will be working on projects to improve financial and workplace literacy for adult learners. Interviews are conducted now! For more information, contact Alison. These full-time positions begin August 8 and are a great opportunity for someone just graduating college, changing careers or newly retired. Don't miss out on a chance to have a significant local impact through VISTA service!
Blog Post
New Addition to the Alien Franchise
by PizzaPuppy
With Alien:Covenant being released this Friday in theaters, now is the perfect time to revisit the previous installments in the classic science fiction horror series.
Here at AADL, we have the original Alien on DVD and Blu-ray, as well as the sequels Aliens and Alien 3. These first three movies (as well as Alien: Resurrection) have also been collected into one set called the Alien Quadrilogy. We also have AVP: Alien vs. Predator, a cross-over between this series and the Predator series, as well as the most recent addition to the franchise: a prequel called Prometheus. While originally Prometheus was merely set in the same universe as Alien and was not considered to have a direct connection to the previous movies, Alien:Covenant is a direct sequel to Prometheus and therefore ties it directly back into the franchise.
The Alien franchise has also produced several books, including Alien: Sea of Sorrows and the brand new Aliens: Bug Hunt: All New Tales from the Expanded Alien Universe. There's a great graphic novel series that has been collected into an Alien Omnibus (other volumes can be found here and here), as well as the graphic novella Aliens: Fast Track to Heaven.
In addition to all of this, we also have an awesome Art Print: Alien, 2015, created by local artist Jeremy Wheeler. This Art Print and other cool Tools are available for checkout with your LCard.
Blog Post
Saints for All Occasions
by Lucy S
In a review in The Washington Post, Ron Charles says, “In a simple style that never commits a flutter of extravagance, Sullivan draws us into the lives of the Raffertys and, in the rare miracle of fiction, makes us care about them as if they were our own family.”
Though the plot of her new book, Saints for All Occasions, takes place over the course of only a few days, J. Courtney Sullivan carries us back and forth through time with the story of two sisters, Nora and Theresa, as they emigrate from Ireland to Boston in the 1950s, and the separate paths they follow once they arrive. Once in Boston, Theresa becomes pregnant and Nora and her husband raise the child as their own. This deception creates a rift between the sisters and lays the ground work for many more secrets within multiple generations of their family.
It is Nora’s story that lies at the heart of this book, even as she only ever seems to know who she is in relation to others, a wife to her husband, a mother to her children, and most challengingly, a sister to Theresa. Nora would like life to follow a plan, with her at it’s helm, but people are messy and they disappoint and confound her, remaining unknowable to her. Nora conveniently seems to forget parts of her life that don’t fit into her imagined order and thus becomes mired in deceit. As the mother of four children, Nora must manage how much she actually wants to know about the people she has raised. “This, then, was the hardest part of being a parent. Your children had their private worlds, where you could never protect them. They were yours and yet not yours.”
Nora’s sister, Theresa, ends up in a convent in Vermont and becomes Mother Cecilia. She initially goes there to escape, but what she finds in herself as a nun gives her more happiness than Nora will ever know. “To sit alone with your thoughts in silence for so long, you had no choice but to confront them. The calm came not from slipping a habit over one’s head but from facing down all that plagued you and coming out the other side.”
Sullivan delves into weighty issues such as religion, birth-control, family, love, loss, and addiction, without ever getting too heavy-handed or sentimental. She carries us along through the strength of her characters, so that they will stick with us, even after the last page.
Blog Post
Ramona Blue
by potterbee
Julie Murphy is back with a new novel, Ramona Blue, a story about a strong, marginalized teen doing her best to make sense of who she is.
Ramona Leroux is a 6 foot 3, blue-haired, gay teen who lives in a FEMA trailer with her dad and sister, Hattie, in Eulogy, Mississippi. Things aren't looking so stellar for Ramona after her dreamy summer romance comes to an end, and her grand plans to leave Eulogy don't look quite as likely when her family suddenly needs her more than ever. But when her childhood friend, Freddie, moves back to town, their reconnection brings more than either of them ever expected.
Author of Dumplin’, Murphy is familiar with navigating the world of girls on the brink of self-discovery. In Ramona Blue, she addresses how we use labels and identity markers for defining the relationships we engage in. With coming of age to adulthood labels change and it's challenging to redefine who were and who we are now. Heartfelt, humorous, fun and sure to be a must-read for teens and fans of YA fiction.
A recent interview with the author can be found in current issue of Book Pages.
“An exquisite, thoughtful exploration of the ties that bind and the fluidity of relationships, sexuality, and life.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)