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Calling All Poets for SB Reads 2021!
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The Santa Barbara Public Library is inviting poets of all ages to enter the Santa Barbara Reads 2021 Poetry Contest!
Winning poems will be displayed at the SB Reads Kick-Off event in November as part of the Library’s Poetry Walk experience. As part of SB Reads programming, the Library invites poets to write their own poem entitled “An American Sunrise” inspired by Harjo’s title poem.
Submissions must be received by 11:59 PM on September 24, 2021.
Submit entries and find more information here-https://forms.santabarbaraca.gov/f/SBReadsPoetry2021
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We Open Doors to...
Books About How to Be a Person in the World
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Every month we continue to bring you suggested books to inspire your next read! Recommendations are brought to you by Santa Barbara Public Library librarian Molly Wetta.
A lot of factors contribute to how I select my next book: a hold that comes in or an upcoming book club discussion. But when I reflect on a month’s worth of reading, sometimes a subtle theme emerges that reveals something that has been on my mind, even subconsciously or a mood I’ve been feeling. These two novels and one nonfiction title explore the puzzle that is humanity and our expectations of people in different and thoughtful ways.
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Convenience Store Woman
by Sayaka Murata
Titular character and narrator Keiko was a strange child growing up, and learned to adopt a quiet detachment in order to fit in Japanese society. Unsure of her future, as a young adult she begins a job at a new, 24-hour convenience store and is “reborn.” Wry and incisive, this compact novel is an exploration of individual identity and social conformity and tells a universal story while illuminating Japanese culture.
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Beautiful World, Where Are You
by Sally Rooney
Sally Rooney’s follow-up to Normal People is another character study, this time exploring the lives of Alice, a successful novelist who moves to the Irish coast to live in a rectory after suffering a breakdown due to her fame, where she meets a warehouse worker Felix. With her trademark wit and honesty about human nature, Rooney offers a novel that is equal parts page-turning drama and philosophical musings on politics, climate change, art, sex, friendship, and human nature.
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Humankind: A Hopeful History
by Rutger Brenman
Anyone who turns on the news, witnesses people’s poor treatment of service workers or contemplates the existence of billionaires is likely to conclude that humanity is doomed to selfishness and cruelty. Historian Brenman explores 200,000 years of human history to make the case that we are hard-wired for compassion and cooperation. I stumbled upon this book through a friend’s recommendation when I was feeling pretty bleak about the fate the the world and people in it, and it was just the anecdote I needed.
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