A brief note: This blog post was held up because your friendly neighborhood blogger has been laid up with a really nasty case of the ‘flu. It comes, nevertheless, with much love, as well as apologies, beloved patrons.
Here at the Peabody Institute Library, we are truly fortunate to have a staff with wonderfully diverse tastes in books, graphic novels, films, audiobooks, and more. And so we are always on-hand to help you find whatever you are looking for when you come into the Library.
It also means that when we at the Free For All ask our staff for their favorite books/films/audiobooks from the past year, the results are fascinating, beautifully varied, and totally engaging. So it is our pleasure today to begin our survey of our staff picks for the “Best of 2017”.
The rules are simple: the media in question doesn’t have to have been created during this year, they just have to be enjoyed this year. As a result, you’ll see books from the nineteenth century and films made released in the past few months, and audiobook adaptations of classic novels, as well as recordings of new thrillers. We hope you enjoy these suggestions, and that you find some books to help usher in the New Year!
Best of 2017
From the West Branch:
Over the Garden Wall: From creator Emmy-winner Patrick McHale, one of the minds behind Adventure Time, meet the Cartoon Network’s first every animated mini-series. This sensational story follows the story of two brothers, Greg and Wirt, who find themselves in a strange forest. Along the way, they meet a bluebird named Beatrice who helps them navigate the strange land in the hopes of making their way home. Don’t let the format deceive you–this ten-episode DVD features stunning animation, thoroughly engaging storylines (that took inspiration from Dante’s Inferno), a gorgeous soundtrack, and some really terrific characters, and it definitely an show that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike!
We Were Witches: Wryly riffing on feminist literary tropes, Ariel Gore’s novel documents the survival of a demonized single mother. Determined to find her way out of her dire straights through education, she still finds herself beset by custody disputes, homophobia, and America’s ever-present obsession with shaming strange women into passive citizenship. But even as the narrator struggles to graduate―often the triumphant climax of a dramatic plot―a question uncomfortably lingers: If you’re dealing with precarious parenthood, queer identity, and debt, what is the true narrative shape of your experience? This is a story steeped in feminist theory and social insight, but there is a witty, lighthearted whimsy to this story that makes it feel like a fairytale–which is no mean feat by any stretch. If you’re looking for a walk in someone else’s shoes (and a walk through a whole new, fascinating world), then this is a must-read!
From the Upstairs Offices:
The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks: America’s National Parks are breathing spaces in a world in which such spaces are steadily disappearing, which is why more than 300 million people visit the parks each year. Now, in commemoration of these stunning (and suddenly, terrifyingly threatened) spaces, Terry Tempest Williams presents this literary celebration of our National Parks and an exploration of what they mean to us and what we mean to them. From the Grand Tetons in Wyoming to Acadia in Maine to Big Bend in Texas, Williams creates a series of lyrical portraits that illuminate the unique grandeur of each place while delving into what it means to shape a landscape with its own evolutionary history into something of our own making. Part memoir, part natural history, and part social critique, this powerful, stunningly beautiful work is a meditation and a manifesto on why wild lands matter to the soul of America.
From the Circulation Desk:
Snowpiercer: This epic film, based on a graphic novel, is set in the future (AD 2031) where, after a failed experiment to stop global warming, an Ice Age kills off almost all life on the planet. The only survivors are the inhabitants of the Snowpiercer, a train that travels around the globe, powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. Its inhabitants are divided by class; the lower-class passengers in one of the last cars stage an uprising, moving car by car up to the front of the train, where the oppressive rich and powerful ride. This film is beautifully surreal in its visuals, full of pulse-pounding action, and features a winning cast, including Chris Evans and Tilda Swindon.
Sing Street: This delightfully creative, nostalgic, passionate Irish indie film is a must see, according to several members of our staff. See 1980s Dublin through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Conor, who is looking for a break from a home strained by his parents’ relationship and money troubles while trying to adjust to his new inner-city public school where the kids are rough and the teachers are rougher. He finds a glimmer of hope in the mysterious, über-cool Raphina. With the aim of winning her heart he invites her to star in his band’s music videos. There’s only one problem: he’s not part of a band…yet. But Connor’s determination to achieve the fame of the groups his brother shows him in MTV will change his life, as well as those of this fellow bandmates. This film also has a stellar soundtrack in addition to the 80’s-tastic costumes and scenery, making for a film that you won’t soon forget.