#WhatToRead – University of North Georgia Press

Book Gifts for Non-Book Lovers

The holiday season is right around the corner. That means dinner parties, visiting relatives, and last-minute gift searching for your friends and family. Buying gifts for people can be one of the most difficult tasks, especially when they don’t like to read. Don’t fret! We know a few books that even non-book lovers will love.

S is for Southern by Editors of Garden and Gun, David DiBenedetto This is an A-to-Z guide for all things Southern. Whether it be humidity or boiled peanuts, this book has encapsulated many of the peculiarities of southern life. What’s the best part, you may ask? The illustrations, of course! This book is an encyclopedia of southern living and a great addition to any coffee table.
National Geographic Night Vision: Magical Photographs of Life After Dark Everybody knows National Geographic for their photography of anything and everything. Their pictures are always stunning, well curated, and captivating. This book is specifically photos of the world after the sun goes down. Just flipping through the table of contents will tell any reader exactly what they’ll get out of this book: Energy, Harmony, Mystery, and Wonder.
The Art of Harry Potter by Titan Books Anyone that has read or seen the Harry Potter franchise knows just how incredible it is. There’s magic, romance, mind-blowing fight scenes, magic, mythical creatures, and did I mention magic? This book takes you through that world once again with a collection of art from the series. It includes anything that a Harry Potter fanatic could want. Go ahead and pick up a copy of this for your next gift. You’ll thank us later.
How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum by Keri Smith Searching for something a little more interactive than a coffee table book? Then look no further! This book is for anyone wanting to adventure out into the world and gain a new perspective about the place they inhabit. It’s filled to the brim with activities for you to analyze your environment not only as a scientist, but as an artist too. Help someone get their feet on the pavement and discover something new just outside their doorstep by making this one of your gifts for this holiday season.

Gift giving can be intimidating when you don’t know how to buy for someone. We hope that these books will help you find something for the ones that don’t even have a bookshelf.

Got any other good book suggestions for non-book lovers? Leave a comment or visit us at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to tell us!

Books to Gift Your College Grad

Have a friend or family member that is graduating from college this fall? Still haven’t found the perfect gift for them? This is both a time of change and of new beginnings for an almost graduate, so they need all the help that they can get. A book can be a wealth of knowledge and stress reliever that will be desperately needed in the coming months. We have a couple of book suggestions that could be the perfect fit for your college grad.

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson The whimsical and philosophical adventures of Calvin and Hobbes are a classic. You can be 6 or 84 and still learn something from this series. These two fun-loving characters provide a comical, witty, and new perspective on any topic that comes to mind. College grads can turn to this for life advice or just something to laugh at after a stressful day. The final line of the series is something that they can definitely resonate with. You don’t know where you’re going. You have no clue, but “it’s a magical world out there. Let’s go exploring.”
Grow the F*ck Up by John Kyle This provocative title is the jump start that some recent grads may need to kick it into high gear. There are some things we don’t know, and it’s too embarrassing to admit it, but this book can tell you without having to ask it. Learn how to jump start a car, change a smoke detector, and how to actually iron your cloths. A plus is that there are pictures included in the book, so if you cannot figure it out just by reading, they got you covered.
Happy Little Accidents: The Wit & Wisdom of Bob Ross If you have watched an episode of Bob Ross’ show, then you probably know him for being great at painting, soft-spoken, and sprinkling some everyday wisdom into his TV specials. These tidbits of advice can be great for the psyche of an overwhelmed college grad. It is light-hearted, enlightening, and helpful in your greatest of existential crisis needs.
Lean In For Graduates by Sheryl Sandberg This book is the one stop shop for all your work-related needs. Chalked full of information from business gurus, this a read that you do not want to skip out on. The real world can be daunting and full of questions that may not have been answered in the classroom, but this book was made to help bridge the gap. Think about this book when you are deciding between what gift to get at your nearest bookstore.

Whether they know it or not, recent graduates need a little guidance after college. It’s a daunting world out there, so we hope that some of these books will help to be on the path to success. Congrats to everyone who made it this far!

Have any other suggestions for a post-college grad book? Leave a comment or visit us at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to tell us!

Native American Author Spotlight: Sherman Alexie

The Native American Renaissance opened doors for many Native American authors to flourish. Authors like these are now able to publish stories about their own experiences and continue to bring awareness to the issues that plague the modern Native American. In this post-renaissance period, we find Sherman Alexie.

Sherman Alexie was born in 1966 and grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. There, he lived around Spokane culture, but was never really accepted by his community. In infancy, he developed a condition that lead to surgery. This caused him to be in and out of the hospital for much of his adolescence and left his head larger than usual. He was constantly teased and not able to participate in many of the activities that are considered a rite of passage for young Native American male’s due to the side effects of that condition. This did not stop him from being academically successful.

He excelled during his high school career, leading him to receive a scholarship at Gonzaga University. After switching his major multiple times, the only place he seemed to find solace was in his literature classes. After a couple of years, he left Gonzaga and transferred to Washington State University. There, he found Alex Kuo, a respected poet that served as a mentor for Alexie. In these classes, he was able to begin writing and publishing his own works.

The themes of these works encapsulate the life of a contemporary Native American person living on a reservation. Despair, poverty, and alcoholism are riddled in this community and directly affects the characters in his stories. Through irony and dark humor, Alexie paints the picture of life as a modern Native American and the challenges they face on a reservation.

While being successful in his literary career, he has also dabbled in film. He created the first all-Native American movie, Smoke Signals, which got top honors at the Sundance Film Festival. Much like his books and poems, this is a story that reflects on the many struggles that Alexie encounted during his time on the reservation.

Alexie now lives in Seattle, Washington and is still active in the literary community. He most recently published a memoir titled You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me which sheds light on his trials and tribulations at the Spokane Indian Reservation.

Have you ever read any of Alexie’s work? Are there any other Native American authors that you think we should know about? Leave a comment or visit us at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to tell us!

Native American Author Spotlight: Zitkala-Sa

Though the Native American Renaissance was a time that developed awareness for the Native American community and their struggles, there were other extremely influential Native American authors before this movement. These people preserved the oral history of the Native American community by writing and publishing it for readers. This helped to convey the rich and diverse cultures in the Native American community. One of the most well-known of these authors was Zitkala-Sa. She was not only a published author, but an advocate for the Native American community. Her story, like the many of the other authors, is one of trying to bridge the gap between two worlds.

Zitkala-Sa was born in the Yankton Sioux Agency on February 22, 1876. She lived there for eight years and was raised in the culture of the Yankton people. However, like many of the Native American children during the late 19^th century, she was recruited and taken to the White’s Manual Labor Institute. This was a boarding school created for Native American people that was supposed to teach them, but the educational quality of the school was so poor that many could only acquire low paying positions. There, she was able to learn English, reading, and the violin. She excelled and was able to take her efforts to achieve bigger goals.

Against her family’s wishes, she enrolled at Earlham College until 1897, when she was forced to leave due to ill health and monetary issues. In 1899, she began teaching at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. She was uncomfortable with the harsh discipline and curriculum of the school, but it provided her the opportunity to focus on writing and starting her literary career. She was able to publish a few short stories and essays in monthly magazines that described her struggle of retaining her Native American roots in a world that was so against it. She also wrote the first American Indian opera, The Sun Dance Opera. But Zitkala-Sa is most well known for her anthologies of Native American stories she curated by writing down the oral history of different Native American cultures. These are called Old Indian Legends and American Indian Stories.

Though she was well known for these anthologies, she was also a political activist for the Native American people. She worked in the Society of American Indians (SAI) as a secretary and moved to Washington D.C. to be a liaison between SAI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). She also founded the National Council of American Indians in an effort to unite the tribes so that they could gain full citizenship rights.

She continued writing political articles and books that influenced Native American civil rights reform until her death in 1938. She was an artist, an author, and an activist for her community. Check out some of her work this month to celebrate Native American Heritage Month!

What are your thoughts on Zitkala-Sa? Leave a comment or visit us at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to tell us!

Native American Author Spotlight: N. Scott Momaday

June 2001: N. Scott Momaday during the Saint Malo Book Fair in France. (Photo by Ulf Andersen/Getty Images)

The late 1960s to 1980s are regarded as the Native American Renaissance in literary history. During this time, many literary works by Native Americans in the United States were published. This lead to national awareness of Native American writers and the development of Native American Studies departments at many notable universities. This widely celebrated movement’s creation is usually attributed to N. Scott Momaday, the spotlight Native American writer for this week.

Though born in Oklahoma, Momaday was raised in Arizona on the reservation. There, he was able to learn and experience the myriad of Southwest Native American cultures. He then went on to attend the University of New Mexico and complete his graduate schooling at Stanford University with a PhD in English.

After graduation, Momaday wrote and published his first book, House Made of Dawn, in 1968. This book later won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction and is regarded as the beginning of the Native American Renaissance. Much like many of the other Native American authors, Momaday’s most well-known story is of one about someone at a crossroads of cultures, that of their Native American heritage and modern America.

Through this, Momaday was able to advocate for Native American education and representation in the arts. He has supported the Native American community through writing introductions and reviews for many Native American authors, bringing attention to Native American heritage, and even making himself available to talk to students from reservations who are entering university.

He continues to work in academics. He has been a visiting professor for many universities; he even was the first professor to teach American Literature in Moscow, Russia. He is currently the Regents Professor of the Humanities at the University of Arizona. Momaday continues to be a part of the Native American community as a member of the Kiowa Gourd Clan. Has this post inspired you to read Momaday? Check out one of his books today in honor of the Native American Heritage Month!

What are your thoughts on the Native American Renaissance? Do you have any other Native American author suggestions? Leave a comment or visit us at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to tell us!

Native American Author Spotlight: Leslie Silko

Reading stories from other cultures is essential to understanding our diverse world. During the month of November, we celebrate National Native American/Alaskan Native Heritage Month. For the next four weeks, we will be spotlighting four different influential Native American authors. Today, we will be highlighting the works of Leslie Silko.

Leslie Silko was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 5, 1948. She was raised in a family of Laguna Pueblo, white, and Mexican ancestry on the Laguna Pueblo reservation in New Mexico. Much like the characters in her stories, Silko’s upbringing left her at a crossroads between cultures. This caused her to not feel fully accepted by either the Laguna Pubelo people or white people because of her mixed background.

After graduating from the University of New Mexico, she went on to pursue law school but found that it wasn’t the right environment for her to make an impact for her community. She realized that her efforts for Native American justice would be better invested in storytelling and writing. Through her writings, she has created a dialogue about the struggles of the modern Native American and other issues that the Native American community faces.

All of these themes and personal experiences are encapsulated in her most well-known book, Ceremony. This is a story of a war veteran with mixed Laguna and Anglo heritage. The protagonist meets a tribal wise man who teaches him Laguna folklore and traditional ceremonies that help him heal the psychic wounds caused by war. This is a story of contrasting cultures, mental illness, and transformation through his Native American roots. It is critically acclaimed and has given Silko the title of the “first female Native American novelist”. She later received many accolades for this book including the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award.

She is still alive today and has most recently written a memoir called The Turquoise Ledge in 2010. She teaches currently at the University of Arizona at Tucson. Check out one of her books this month!

What are your thoughts on Ceremony? Have a favorite Native American author? Leave a comment or visit us at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to tell us!

Books of Fright

_{Halloween has arrived, and what better way to get into the spooky spirit by reading}_{scary books! Here are some stories that are sure to send shivers up your spine, and have you looking over your shoulder everywhere you go. Happy reading!}

_{The Legend o}_{f Sleepy Hollow-}_{Washington Irving}

Ichabod is a teacher and choirmaster at the little town of Sleepy Hollow. When Ichabod woos a rich man’s daughter, he must lay low because Brom, who is also in love with the rich man’s daughter, is after him. When Ichabod is invited to a party, he comes across the Headless Horseman, and must flee, terrified for his life.

_{House of Leaves}_{– Mark Z. Danielewski}

In this maze of a book made up of unconventional format, such as unusual page layouts with some pages only containing a few words, House of Leaves tells the story of three family members: a blind old man, a young apprentice at a tattoo shop, and a crazy woman. The family faces unexplainable changes in their home, and eventually come face to face with the darkness at its core.

_{Ghost Storie}_{s of an Antiquary}_{– M.R. James}

This collection of eight short stories captures the suspense and horror which defines good ghost stories. The wit and erudition of these eight classics keeps the reader on their toes, and teaches them be wary of every creak in the night. After all, you can never be sure about what lurks behind you.

_Dracula_{– Bram Stoker}

Jonathan Harker, a London lawyer, travels to Transylvania to help Count Dracula purchase an estate in England. Initially impressed by Dracula’s politeness, Harker is soon wary of Dracula’s ability to communicate to wolves in his huge castle. He quickly realizes he is a prisoner in Dracula’s castle, and must find a way to survive this demonic creature of the night.

_{The Shining}_{– Stephen King}

Jack Torrance is hired as a caretaker at the Overlook Hotel, eager for a fresh start, and ready to reconnect with his family and work on his writing. As winter begins to set in, the Overlook Hotel grows more sinister. Danny Torrance, Jack’s five-year-old son, is the only one to notice as the hotel’s horrific past begins to consume them all.

_{The Tell-Tale Heart}_{– Edgar Allen Poe}

This story is told through a nameless, mysterious narrator, who does not sound half as sane as he claims. As we hear about the murder he had committed, there is a beating that grows louder and louder, echoing in the mind. It’s the still-beating heart of the victim under the floorboards, where our nameless narrator buried the dismembered body.

_Coraline_{– Neil Gaiman}

When her family moved into their new home, Coraline Jones knew things were weird. But weird doesn’t describe a mysterious door with a brick wall behind it. Weird definitely doesn’t describe the mysterious tunnel that takes its place. When Coraline goes through, she finds herself in another house, one just like her own. But this perfect world is hiding something dark and sinister, and Coraline might be too late to stop it.

_{A Stranger in the House}_{– Shari Lapena}

Newlyweds Karen and Tom Krupp happily live in upstate New York, but one day, Karen gets into an accident and loses her memory. When they return home, Karen notices things in the house have been moved. Nothing is quite right, and she realizes someone’s been in the house. This psychological thriller makes you doubt everything you know about your own life.

_{The Night Circus}_{– Erin Morgenstern}

This circus appears with no warning; no announcements or advertisements to display it, and it disappears as quickly as it comes. Only open at night, the circus tents hold amazing sights within, but the Night Circus holds a dark secret., and the performers must pay the price.

_{Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep}_{– Jack Prelutshy}

Instead of bedtime stories, read a dozen horrific poems to keep you up at night. Ranging vampires to ghouls, these poems cover a variety of creepy stories that will scare even the bravest individual.