Welcome to Summer Reading 2021!

Welcome to University City Public Library's 2021 Big Book(S!) Challenge!

 

First off, make sure you've RSVPed in order to get Zoom invitations for our book discussions this summer (due to the pandemic, all discussions will be virtual). Most of the books just started going out today, so you should be receiving notices that they're available for pick-up soon if you've requested them. Be sure you get a reading guide when you're at the library.

(In order to borrow materials from us, you'll need a library card from The Municipal Library Consortium of St. Louis County, of which University City Public Library is a member. If you're not currently a cardholder, click here and we'll be happy to get you set up!)

Next, you'll want to watch the kickoff lecture by Dr. Bryan Jack here or on our YouTube channel (note that it's in three parts):

 

 Part 1

 

Part 2

 

Part 3

Dr. Jack will be joining us for our Zoom discussion on Wednesday, June 23, at 7 p.m., discussing The Portable Frederick Douglass, pp. ix - 149 (the "Autobiographical Writings" section). Again, be sure to RSVP in order to receive the Zoom invitation.

We are also excited to have David F. Walker, author of the graphic biography The Life of Frederick Douglass, joining us on our discussion of his book on Monday, June 28, at 7 p.m.

 

Here are all the dates for this summer:

Keynote Presentation with Bryan Jack,
Associate Professor of History at SIUE
Available online beginning May 26

Portable Frederick Douglass: Online Discussion
led by Bryan Jack
7 p.m. Wednesday, June 23
pp. ix-149, the Autobiographical Writings

Life of Frederick Douglass: Online Discussion
featuring author David F. Walker
7 p.m. Monday, June 28

The Good Lord Bird: Online Discussion
Parts 1 & 2
7 p.m. Monday, July 26

Portable Frederick Douglass: Online Discussion
led by Bryan Jack
7 p.m. Wednesday, July 28
pp. 195-410
The Speeches

Portable Frederick Douglass: Online Discussion
led by Bryan Jack
7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25
pp. 413-537
The Journalism

The Good Lord Bird: Online Discussion
Part 3
7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 30 

We'll be back soon with content about our great reads this summer!

Yes! You Want to Take the Challenge!

And we want you to!  Take just a moment to complete this RSVP form to let us know which of the three challenge books you'll need.  We'll have them ready for you on Wednesday, May 26!

 Ivory-billed Woodpecker , Campephilus principalis, hand-colored engraving. Male on the left, female on the right. John James Audubon

Welcome to the 2021 Big Book Challenge!

Welcome to the 2021 Adult Summer Reading Big Book Challenge! This year, for the first time ever, we're exploring three thematically-linked titles with our reading choices: The Portable Frederick Douglass, a collection of autobiographical works by the abolitionist and former slave; the graphic novel The Life of Frederick Douglass by David Walker; and the National Book Award-winning tale of abolition The Good Lord Bird by James McBride.

As with 2020, all discussions and programs will take place online via Zoom. Make sure you're on our Summer Reading mailing list by sending an email to reference@ucitylibrary.org. These emails will include all Zoom invite links, so make sure "reference@ucitylibrary.org" is on your list of approved senders. You can also find links to all of the emails at the bottom of this page.

UCPL will still offer its Big Book readers the same discussions and scholar presentations — and informative blog posts — you've come to know and love.

"Kindness eases Change." (from The Books of the Living, verse 24)

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

What a beautiful wrap to an amazing summer dedicated to reading and discussing Octavia Butler's incredible novels, Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents! Our final book discussion today was so thoughtful; you may watch the recap of the meeting here:

https://zoom.us/rec/share/6eFWCLT-1mhJa9LNtBmHXKgoF9y-aaa8gSBL_vEIzkbNye5UWHaX6Mtubo7hwz7j

Password: Ses1=x=g

I feel so thankful to have had the company and insights of all our participants throughout this summer for the Big Book Challenge. As mentioned by several readers, these are challenging books for challenging times, but the feedback I've received so far has indicated how deeply Butler's works have moved you. I hope you continue to explore more of Butler's incredible catalog and continue stretching your reading experience.

Thank you, too, for being so flexible and patient as we moved the challenge to a virtual format for the first time ever. We learned a lot along the way, but it seemed like we encountered more successes than snags. As verse 24 of The Books of the Living reads, "Kindness eases Change," and your kindness has certainly eased so much of the potential stress from making such big changes to the Big Book Challenge. Perhaps we have our own Acorn sprouting right here in University City!

As we wind down for the summer and prepare for the fall, I wanted to leave you with a litte (or a lot!) of Earthseed to take with you. Inspired by today's comment by Edmund that he wishes to read more from The Books of the Living, here are all the Earthseed verses compiled in one place, in case you'd like to bookmark it for days you need some inspiration:

https://godischange.org/the-book-of-the-living/

🚀 Lindsay 🚀

Recap of Monday's live Q&A with Dr. Wanzo

Many thanks to Dr. Rebecca Wanzo and all our participants who were able to attend last night's live Q&A. It was a rousing discussion to wrap up a tremendous group read of Octavia Butler's Earthseed books. Here is the recording of the conversation--my apologies, I forgot to start recording until just after Dr. Wanzo's first question, which was "Do you think Parable of the Talents ended on an uplifting note or a depressing note?" (paraphrased):

https://zoom.us/rec/share/3MItDrehrj5JW6fy1G_bB48qJKP0eaa813AZqPMFmkjU3I8Vja0d3Z8UNHdTdkMb

Password: 7ie=wLNv

If you would like to watch Dr. Wanzo's presentation that sparked this discussion, you can find it here.

We have one final discussion for the Earthseed path of the Big Book Challenge tomorrow, Wednesday, July 29, at 3 p.m. If you would like to attend, be sure to email lbeckman@ucitylibrary.org to receive an invitation.

Infinite Jest in Translation

A tangential topic, but one that always interests me, is translation of important works of literature.  I found this, Infinite Jest around the World, by Scott Esposito at LitHub. 

Translating IJ would be quite a feat, I think.  Contemplating that makes me wonder about all those Russian novels we've read - how well have we understood them?

Great Wednesday Night Discussion!

Last night's discussion of the middle portion of Infinite Jest was terrific!  Many thanks to Michael O'Bryan for joining us again and answering our many questions. 

More thanks go to reader Mary McFarland for sharing this 2018 New Yorker piece by Claire Friedman called 'How to Read "Infinite Jest".' 

Read it and you'll see that we, the Big Book Challenge readers, will never have such problems.  We've got each other to get us through!

View Dr. Rebecca Wanzo's Earthseed presentation AND event registration information!

Many thanks to Dr. Rebecca Wanzo for this virtual presentation on Octavia Butler's Earthseed duology! Dr. Wanzo is a professor and chair of the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Washington University. In her presentation, Dr. Wanzo addresses ideas surrounding the literary tradition of sentimentality, new age religion and spirituality, and generational conflict, particularly as they relate to racial oppression. Please note that this presentation is in three parts and are posted in order below:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Registration is now available for next week's two events via Zoom:

1. Monday, July 27 @ 7 p.m.: Live Q&A with Dr. Rebecca Wanzo
2. Wednesday, July 29 @ 3 p.m.: General book discussion of the Earthseed duology

Please email lbeckman@ucitylibrary.org to receive an invitation to register for one or both of these events (please indicate which events you wish to attend!).

So Many Fun Infinite Jest Sites!

Because if we ever needed visual aids it's now: Take a look at a site called brain pickings for an Infinite Jest flowchart, an Infinite Jest map of Boston, below, and an Infinite Jest character map.   Are any of these helpful? 

Boston Locations in Infinite Jest from https://lovredhatred.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/like-boston/

Dr. Wanzo's presentation is delayed

Dr. Wanzo's presentation will not be available until next week (the week of July 20). We apologize for the inconvenience, and we will make it available on the blog as soon as possible (along with a newsletter reminder).

In the meantime, I hope you are steadily making your way through the Parable of the Talents. Quite a lot occurs during this book. Do you have any questions or comments so far? Thoughts about how Earthseed has progressed? I would love to hear about your experience--email lbeckman@ucitylibrary.org.

Until next week, happy reading!