Royalton Memorial Library joins with Vermont RETAIN to present our Reading Works Program! Life is rarely ever simple and work can be hard at times. Support and answers to our questions hardly ever just fall out of the sky – but sometimes they can be found in a book.
Reading Works is a new monthly program that focuses on issues that may make it hard to work – anxiety, back pain, and depression for example. Each month we put aside books and materials for you on a certain topic. Royalton Memorial Library will also be hosting a book club each month where we will talk about the monthly topic affecting our community. To top it off, we bring in a community resource at the end of the month to bring a certain skill-set to the table.
The first month’s topic is ANXIETY
Here is the list of resources:
- Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
An Amazon Best Book of the Month, November 2013: Who among us has not, in moments that sometimes bleed through years, even decades, felt weird, desperate, and absurd–wishing we could turn all the lamest, most shameful episodes in our lives into hilarious illustrated anecdotes? Brosh has a genius for allowing us to channel her weird childhood and the fits and starts of her adulthood through the manic eyes, gaping mouths, and stick-like arms in the panels that masterfully advance her stories, and she delivers her relentless commentary with deadpan hilarity. Neurosis has rarely been so relatable and entertaining.
- Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning classic about a boy who decides to hit the road to find his father—from Christopher Paul Curtis, author of The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963, a Newbery and Coretta Scott King Honoree.
It’s 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud’s got a few things going for him:
1. He has his own suitcase full of special things.
2. He’s the author of Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.
3. His momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: flyers advertising Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!!
Bud’s got an idea that those flyers will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road to find this mystery man, nothing can stop him—not hunger, not fear, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself
- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
When the death of her cat proves the final straw, Nora decides to check out on life, and finds herself at the Midnight Library. “Even death was something Nora couldn’t do properly, it seemed.” But each book at this library tells the story of a life she could have had. Part It’s a Wonderful Life, part Oona Out of Order, this charming, funny, inventive novel is about regret, the choices we make, and taking the bitter with the sweet
- Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
An everyday apartment open house becomes the stage for Backman’s latest novel, when a bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. As the title hints, each member of the group bares his or her own anxieties, not just about the hostage situation, but about their individual lives. Backman is a funny, charming story teller, and Anxious People is a fine showcase for his talents as a writer. There are twists and surprises. There are editorial asides. Beneath it all, there is a deep sense of warmth and empathy. Backman is particularly gifted at creating a community of memorable characters and opening up their mental states to readers. And many readers of Anxious People will in turn reflect on their own anxieties. Ultimately, Backman seems to be telling us that—though it be a messy, ambiguous world we inhabit—we can turn toward one another to find calm and assurance. This is a novel that can, and should, be embraced by anxious people everywhere.
- The Mothers by Brit Bennet
The Mothers is an absorbing and powerful novel about motherhood, female friendship and finding love with a broken heart. Brit Bennett will captivate you with her characters – who are hurting, flawed and trying to navigate the unsteady transition into adulthood. Seventeen year old Nadia Turner has her world turned upside down when her mother commits suicide and shortly thereafter, she discovers she’s pregnant with the pastor’s son’s child. Nadia finds a safe harbor in her best friend Aubrey, but as the years go by, her past decisions invade the present, ushering in a new wave of wounds. The Mothers ambitiously tackles heavy circumstances, but the hope of these young black women and Bennett’s ability to convey the ferocity of what it means have a mother, to be a mother, and to want a mother, make this novel a resoundingly magnetic and essential read.
- Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
A hurricane is building over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the coastal town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, and Esch’s father is growing concerned. A hard drinker, largely absent, he doesn’t show concern for much else. Esch and her three brothers are stocking food, but there isn’t much to save. Lately, Esch can’t keep down what food she gets; she’s fourteen and pregnant. Her brother Skeetah is sneaking scraps for his prized pitbull’s new litter, dying one by one in the dirt. Meanwhile, brothers Randall and Junior try to stake their claim in a family long on child’s play and short on parenting. As the twelve days that make up the novel’s framework yield to their dramatic conclusion, this unforgettable family–motherless children sacrificing for one another as they can, protecting and nurturing where love is scarce–pulls itself up to face another day. A big-hearted novel about familial love and community against all odds, and a wrenching look at the lonesome, brutal, and restrictive realities of rural poverty, Salvage the Bones is muscled with poetry, revelatory, and real.
- Feeling Good by David Burns
The good news is that anxiety, guilt, pessimism, procrastination, low self-esteem, and other black holes of depression can be cured without drugs. In FEELING GOOD, eminent psychiatrist, David D. Burns, M.D., outlines the remarkable, scientifically proven techniques that will immediately lift your spirits and help you develop a positive outlook on life. Now, in this updated edition, Dr. Burns adds an ALL-NEW CONSUMER’S GUIDE TO ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS as well as a new introduction to help answer your questions about the many options available today for treating depression. — Recognize what causes your mood swings — Nip negative feelings in the bud — Deal with guilt — Handle hostility and criticism — Overcome addiction to love and approval — Build self-esteem — Feel good every day.
- The 2-Hour Job Search, Second Edition: Using Technology to Get the Right Job Faster by Steve Dalton
Use the latest technology to target potential employers and secure the first interview–no matter your experience, education, or network–with these revised and updated tools and recommendations.
STEP 1: You can choose any of these titles, one or more if you’re interested. We have set copies aside for this month.
STEP 2: Feel free to also join our remote book club. They will be offered on March 18th and April 1st 2021 at 6:00 – 7:00PM.
STEP 3: Our remote expert will by Nick Doolittle and he will be talking about Mindful Breathing Techniques that can help you drop your level of anxiety on March 25th at 6:00 PM via Zoom.Â
For more information on the books being offered visit http://www.royaltonlibrary.org/reading-works-book-club/ .If you are interested in a specific title or event call or email our librarian at 763-7094 or librarian@royaltonlibrary.org to sign up!