Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books beat Hip-Hop Culture by Thomas Chatterton Williams

Our next Lunch & Literature will be on Tuesday, February 7 at 12:30pm in the library seminar room. Our selection is Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture by Thomas Chatterton Williams.

The book grew out of an op-ed article that Williams wrote in 2007. He details the contrast between life inside and outside his house, where hip-hop culture competed with his father's intellectual influence, and how he ultimately chose an academic life.

Williams' website contains a lot of great information, including a playlist that goes along with the book.

Finally, here is an interview with Williams and his father:

Lunch & Literature: Blood Clay, with Special Guest Author Valerie Nieman (Thurs. 11-10-2011 @ 12:30pm)

Join us on Thursday, November 10 at 12:30pm in the Library Seminar Room for a discussion of Blood Clay featuring the author, Valerie Nieman. The library has one copy available for checkout (on the New Books shelf) and two available for library use in A&T Reserves and in Special Collections.

For more information about the book and the author (who is an A&T faculty member), please visit the event page on the Bluford Library Website.

We look forward to seeing you. Bring your lunch and bring a friend! Books will be available for purchase.

8/11 Lunch & Literature Postponed

We regret to inform you that today's discussion of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will be postponed. We will let you know as soon as we have a new date and time. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and short notice.

We do hope that this delay gives you some extra reading time to finish the book or to dig into the sequel, The Girl Who Played with Fire. You can also check out the Swedish movie adaptation.

Thanks for your understanding. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Summer Reading!!

As Bluford Library’s Lunch and Literature Book Club reflects poolside about the wonderful titles shared over the past semester, we can prop our feet up with this summer’s new selection: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson. Take all summer to dive into this New York Times’ best seller packed full of conspiracy, murder, secrets, and betrayal. A limited number of copies of the titles are available at the Reference Desk. The next meeting will take place Thursday August 11 at 12:30pm in the Seminar Room of Bluford Library. Happy Reading!!

Post-Zelda

Oh, what a magnificent conversation we had with Zelda on last Tuesday! She's a truly extraordinary person and her work is just a small glimpse into who she is. After the Lunch & Literature session, students from the Middle College at NC A&T participated in a creative writing workshop tailored just for them. That, too, was awesome. It was especially wonderful to see the transparency and willingness of the young men to share their experiences with a complete stranger, and each other.
We had a good day.


BTW: Zelda (we're on a first name basis now:)) has a couple of weekend writing intensive workshops coming up. Check those out at www.zeldalockhart.com

Author Zelda Lockhart Visiting!!!

We're so excited to have author Zelda Lockhart visiting with us next Tuesday April 12 @ 12:30pm for our next Lunch and Literature. We'll be completing our reading of Cold Running Creek while also sharing about her latest release Fifth Born 11. Ms. Lockhart was the 2010 Piedmont Laureate for NC and we can't wait to have her here celebrating National Library Week!! See you there...

African American Read-In at Bluford Library

The Bluford Library will be participating in the 22^nd National African American Read-In on Tuesday, February 22 from 1-4pm in the Bluford Library Seminar Room. This event, which is sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English, works toward the goal of making African American literacy a part of Black History Month. We invite all members of the A&T community to read from books and poetry written by African American authors. To participate, simply select a work by an African American author and come to the Seminar Room on February 22^nd between 2 and 4 pm. You can drop in and stay for as long or as short as you want. Light refreshments will be served.

If you need help selecting a book, the Black Studies Collection on the third floor of Bluford Library is a great place to look. We will also have some copies of books by African American authors on hand if you don't have time to make a selection in advance.

Time correction! Lunch and Literature at 12:30pm on 1/20

My apologies to our readers! Lunch and Literature will take place at 12:30pm on Thursday, January 20th, NOT at noon. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Lunch and Literature returns! 1/20/11 at 12:30pm

As we settle into the Spring Semester, please join us for Lunch and Literature on Thursday, January 20 at 12:30pm in the Bluford Library Seminar Room to discuss Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success. This book covers fascinating topics such as wet rice agriculture's impact on mathematical skills and how cultural norms can contribute to airline crashes.

For more information, check out Malcolm Gladwell's official website for the book. It includes a few excerpts that are sure to pique your interest.

If you can't make it this Thursday, never fear! We have two great titles picked out for February and April:

February 16, 2011: always outnumbered, always outgunned by walter mosley. You can pick up a copy at this week's L&L discussion.

April 12, 2011: Cold Running Creek by Zelda Lockhart

REMINDER: Lunch and Literature Tuesday, November 9 @ 12:30pm

Please join us on Tuesday, November 9 at 12:30pm in the Faculty Dining Room of Williams Cafeteria for Lunch and Literature. Come prepared to talk about a book that you've read recently. Hopefully this will give us all some ideas for leisure reading over the holidays!

I am looking forward to telling the group about The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. This literary novel takes on characteristics of many genres, including mystery, historical fiction, and horror. If you're interested in the vampire craze but want something a little more grown-up than Twilight or more cerebral than Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books, The Historian is a great choice. To learn more, come to Lunch and Literature!

Next Lunch and Literature on Tuesday, November 9

We had a great discussion of The Soloist last week! We had eight participants, and covered a number of topics related to mental health and homelessness. The book definitely gave all of us food for thought.

Our next Lunch and Literature meeting will be on November 9, 2010 at 12:30pm. For our last meeting of 2010, we're shaking things up a bit. Rather than all reading the same book, we'll each come prepared to talk about a book that we have recently read. Hopefully this session will give us some ideas for holiday reading! We're also planning a change of venue: the faculty dining room.

Hope to see all of you there!

One City, One Book

Lunch and Literature is back and ready for Fall 2010!! Our next selection, The Soloist by Steve Lopez, coincides with Greensboro Public Library's One City One Book initiative. There are tons of programs all over the city, including a reception with Nathaniel Ayers' sister. For more programs and great ways to get involved, click on One City, One Book post title.
See you next week at Lunch & Literature, Thursday October 14 @ 12:30pm in the Seminar Room at Bluford Library.

Mark your calendars...

The next Lunch and Literature will take place on Thursday, October 14th from 12:30-1:30pm in the library's 2nd floor Seminar Room. This month's read is the Greensboro Public Library's One City One Book selection, The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music. Bring your lunch and bring a friend for lively discussion!

Video, audio, and photos on Rebecca Skloot's web site

I recently visited Rebecca Skloot's web site and found a wealth of information about Henrietta Lacks and her family. In the photos section, you can see many photos that were not included in the book. There are several photos of Deborah and Zakariyya, two of Henrietta's children, looking at their mother's cells for the first time. There are extensive photos of Clover, Henrietta's hometown, throughout the years, as well as photos from Turner's Station, the Baltimore suburb where Henrietta lived for the last several years of her life. In the audio/video section, you can watch a video of HeLa cells dividing. You can also watch The Way of All Flesh, the BBC documentary mentioned throughout the book. Ms. Skloot also included a video from her book tour, which includes footage of Henrietta's son Sonny and his two daughters talking about HeLa's impact on their lives.

I definitely recommend visiting this web site to see people and places from the book come to life.

Henrietta Lacks forever....

Here is an article from Wired Magazine that gives a time line on the importance of the HeLa cells and how they have been helping science.  http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/01/st_henrietta/

Rebecca Skloot website   http://rebeccaskloot.com/

Text in Community 2010-2011

North Carolina A&T’s Text-in-Community
is out next title up for discussion
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot.
A true story about an African American woman and her cancerous cells known as the HeLa cell that has supplied the holy grails of mid-century biology.

Join us in F.D. Bluford Library, Suite 100

          August 12th and 26th
          12:30-1:30pm

Bring your Lunch, Bring a friend

Available in Bluford Library A&T Stacks RC265.6.L24 S55 2010

Coming soon this title will be available on Bluford Library's Sony ereaders

Non -Fiction for the summer

So you wanted a short and fun title for the month of July …..
Thank You for all the suggestions which I will post later.

Our quick and fun non-fiction selection for July is ...
Act like a Lady, Think like a Man: what men really think about love, relationships, intimacy, and commitment by Steve Harvey and Denene Millner.

So join us for intellectual and lively conversation……..
Thursday, July 22, 2010 12:30-1:30pm, Bluford Library seminar room.256-258

I do not have extra copies to hand out this time, however, you should be able to pick one up at Borders, Barnes and Noble, Ed McKays, or the public library. Bluford Library will have a copy soon.

ALSO…….Mark your calendars for the Fall… August 12 and 26 for discussion of
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack by Rebecca Skloot, North Carolina A & T’s Text-in-Community.

At the Movie

"Tuesdays with Morrie" was created as a made for TV movie in 1999 staring Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria.
Here is a clip with Oprah Winfrey introducing the film (she is also the producer).  Enjoy

Summertime.....

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

 A Detroit Free Press journalist and best-selling author recounts his weekly visits with a dying teacher who years before had set him straight.
…..Library Journal

Mark your calendars Wednesday, June 23, 2010  for our next  gathering.

Bluford Library seminar room 256-258. 12:30pm 1:30pm

Available in Bluford Library....A&T STACKS LD571.B418 S383 1997

I also have extra books to lend, if you need one….. contact me.

Bring your lunch , bring a student , bring a friend.

Followup: Stones into Schools

If you were as intrigued by the selfless acts of Greg Mortenson as I was in Three Cups of Tea, you will be pleased to know there's a new release: Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It was just released in December 2009, so, read it, and tell us about it.

More info about Mortenson's latest:

• Booklist starred review from December 2009
  
• excerpt
  
• audio excerpt