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| A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif AbdurraqibWhat it is: Poet and critic Hanif Abdurraqib's collection of lyrical essays exploring the impact of Black art and performance in American culture.
Read it for: an intimate and wide-ranging blend of memoir and analysis that centers Black visibility in music, comedy, sports, magic, and more.
Don't miss: "I Would Like to Give Merry Clayton Her Roses," which celebrates the overlooked accomplishments of gospel singer and "Gimme Shelter" background vocalist Merry Clayton. |
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| When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who... by Jennifer Keishin ArmstrongWhat it is: a fast-paced and engaging history of television's early days and four women who pioneered the medium.
Starring: Hazel Scott, the first African American to host a primetime show; Gertrude Berg, who created The Goldbergs, TV's first depiction of a Jewish American family; Irna Phillips, creator of Guiding Light and other soap operas; and Betty White, who developed her own talk show.
Try this next: J.E. Smyth's Nobody's Girl Friday: The Women Who Ran Hollywood. |
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| The Marathon Don't Stop: The Life and Times of Nipsey Hussle by Rob KennerWhat it is: the first biography of rapper, activist, and entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle, who was tragically murdered in 2019 at age 33.
Why you should read it: This "rousing and powerful" (Library Journal) chronicle offers a nuanced portrait of an influential artist who left a lasting legacy in the music industry and the South Los Angeles community he helped rebuild.
About the author: Hip-hop journalist and Vibe magazine founding editor Rob Kenner followed Hussle's career for more than a decade. |
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Decoding "Despacito": an Oral History of Latin Music
by Leila Cobo
The Billboard VP of Latin music and the world’s ultimate authority on popular Latin music presents this ultimate insider’s history of Latin music that reveals the stories behind the biggest Latin hits of the past fifty years.
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HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style
by Elizabeth Holmes
The veteran fashion journalist blends commentary, essays and hundreds of photographs in an expansion of her award-winning “So Many Thoughts” Instagram series to reveal the political statements within the style, branding and positioning of prominent British royals.
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How to Build a Dragon or Die Trying: a Satirical Look at Cutting-Edge Science
by Paul Knoepfler
The world has been fascinated with dragons for thousands of years. Fictional dragons still have a firm place in pop culture, such as Smaug from The Hobbit as well as the dragons in Game of Thrones and in the How to Train Your Dragon movies. This new book discusses using powerful technologies such as CRISPR gene editing, stem cells, and bioengineering to make real dragons. It also goes through what useful information we can learn from animals such as Pteranodons and amazing present-day creatures in our quest to build actual dragons. The book goes on to discuss the possibility of building other mythical creatures such as unicorns and mermaids. Overall, How to Build A Dragon is also meant as a satirical look at cutting-edge science, and it pokes fun at science hype.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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