Staff Picks

A short novel I recently read and loved is Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor. She also wrote Binti, which I know many people love, but I haven’t gotten to yet, and many other books. Right after I read Remote Control, we got a copy of Sankofa, which is the name of the main character (and by a completely different author, Chibundu Onuzo). It’s funny to me how often a new-to-me word or concept suddenly seems to be everywhere once I’m aware of it. Sankofa means “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind” according to The Power of Sankofa: Know History. That’s a definition to think about, which clearly Okorafor did because it permeates this book.

In Remote Control, a young girl named Fatima suffers horribly, forgets her name, renames herself Sankofa, and becomes a figure of Death. She can destroy whole cities, but also use her death power to ease suffering. This book is about her journey chasing a stolen, and then lost, object, while also chasing down her lost identity and forging a new one. It’s a short book, but it stuck with me and left me with a lot to think about.

-Elsa Rowe

Looking for some BLACK JOY? It’s right there, in the form of Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals series. I’ve read them all, and they’ve made me laugh, sigh, think, and ignore the dishes in my sink. The books take place in a variety of locales, but the most interesting to me are the fictionalized African countries. They are like Black Panther’s Wakanda, only with less advanced technology and no one has superpowers. But, they are countries where Black people thrive and are valued and championed.

The series starts with A Princess in Theory which plays on the old scam email of “letters from a Nigerian prince.” Naledi doesn’t believe she’s the long lost betrothed to the prince, until she does. It’s delightful. There are subplots about her birth parents, a little political intrigue, and the workplace issues for women in STEM.

From there, the series goes on to explore the love lives and adventures of their friends and family. With each book, it’s fun to guess who is going to be next! Is it the best friend, the sister, the assistant, the barista? Only Alyssa Cole knows for sure. How will all of their relationships evolve and change, as the characters grow and learn more about themselves and their place in the world?

This is one of only a few authors who I pre-order books from. I have yet to be disappointed. If you read one and don’t like it, don’t tell me. For me, it is escapist joy.

Among the best reviewed films of 2020 were the five that make up the series called Small Axe. They were initially released to stream only on Amazon, but they finally arrived on disc in the fall of 2021. Directed by Steve McQueen (director of 12 Years a Slave, not the American actor), they are all set among the Caribbean-British community in the 1960s-1980s. Each film has a different group of characters and a different story, so each can stand separately and can be watched in any order. Broadly, they are about resistance to racism that we Americans might not be aware was so prevalent in the UK. My favorite of them was Lovers Rock, which takes place at a house party. In one really magical scene, people are enjoying the music so much that they all keep dancing and singing along, even after the DJ has faded the music away. I felt as immersed in the moment as the character on screen were. The other four films in the series, whose titles are Mangrove, Education, Alex Wheatle, and Red, White, and Blue, are also very good. The music in all of them is excellent.

Have you ever wanted to paint with watercolors? Creative Watercolor: A step by step guide for beginners by Ana Victoria Calderon is a colorful mixed media instruction and project book that can help you get started. While watercolors are the primary medium used, readers are encouraged to get creative by adding washi tape, inks, markers or even twine to their projects. If lack of drawing experience is holding you back from trying watercolors, Calderon gives several drawing tricks to get you through those fears and onto the page.

https://yarmouthlibrary.org/1420-2/