Punk rockers aren’t exactly known for responsible life decisions. You know the drill – live fast, die young. The Other F Word examines what happens when subculture rock stars have to readjust their raucous lifestyles as they become parents. Lars Frederiksen of Rancid, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, Fat Mike of NOFX, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, famed skateboarder Tony Hawk, and many others are interviewed in a documentary that is profanity-laden, but heartfelt. For most of the men, punk rock became a surrogate family, something to take the place of bad or nonexistent parents. These men are now charged with being the parents they wish they had, without losing themselves in the process.
Archive for August, 2012
Anyone who has felt the pain of an abrupt break from an inseparable friend will empathize with Pen, Will, and Cat in Falling Together. A plea to reunite after a six-year silence prompts a life-changing journey, one that is explored with characteristic insight and eloquence by author Marisa de los Santos.
Already suffering withdrawal from the 2012 London Olympics? Here’s what you do: Plug into Gold, the story of two competitive Olympic cyclists whose lives and careers are intertwined in complicated ways. In the latest from Chris Cleave, author of the book discussion favorite Little Bee, both Zoe and Kate must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice to achieve their dreams of gold. The races themselves are thrilling, but the drama in their personal lives is why you won’t be able to turn away. Actress Emilia Fox expertly navigates among the English, Scottish, and Australian accents of the main characters to carry the story across the finish line with flying colors.
Alison Bechdel has followed up her bestselling debut, Fun Home, with a new graphic novel memoir, Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama. Bechdel explores the psychology behind mother-daughter relationships while recounting her own strained relationship with an emotionally distant mother.
Anyone who likes intensely personal graphic novels will enjoy Alison Bechdel.
From the early 1970s through the mid-to-late 1980s, Australian movies surged in popularity, especially in America. Movies like My Brilliant Career and Mad Max, resuscitated the declining Australian movie market with worldwide audience attention.
Click here to explore Australian New Wave cinema.
To some, being vegan sounds exotic, expensive, and impractical, but Main Street Vegan by Victoria Moran shows just how manageable being vegan can be. Moran discusses the environmental, ethical, and bodily concerns that turn people vegan. She then shows how these concerns can turn into healthy habits that baby step you into a vegan life – without consuming all of your time and wallet. In addition, Moran discusses how vegan living is about more than food – household cleaners, cosmetics, fashion, alcohol, and activism are also introduced.
If you want to learn more about living a “veg” lifestyle, register for tonight’s Library program: Going “Veg”: A Crash Course in Vegetarian and Vegan Living.
Want to update your home? Do you have a room that just doesn’t work? In Use What You Have Decorating, Lauri Ward will teach you to transform your home with ten simple design principles using the space you have, the things you like, and the budget you choose.
It’s 1984 in Tokyo, Japan. Or is it? That’s what several of the characters in Haruki Murakami’s brilliant novel, 1Q84, try to determine as the world they think they live in begins to unravel. How did they get into this parallel universe and can they ever get out? Two childhood schoolmates – Aomame, a young girl being raised in a religious cult, and Tenga, a boy prodigy in math who becomes a writer – go their separate ways as children but are drawn back together as adults through a series of strange events. Follow along as Marukami, the master of magical-realism, weaves their stories together. You’ll never look at the moon the same way again!
In six months, an asteroid will hit Earth and kill every person on it. Scientists are sure of this. Most people walk away from their jobs and get working on their bucket lists. Not Hank Palace. Palace has always wanted to be a police detective and he’s not going to let the end of the world stop him.
The Last Policeman, by Ben Winters, is the first in a trilogy about the pre-apocalyptic adventures of Hank Palace.
“I like to tell the truth as I see it. I hope others do the same. That’s why literature is so important. We cannot possibly leave it to history as a discipline, nor to sociology, nor science, nor economics to tell the story of our people.” – Nikki Giovanni
For African-American writers on audiobook, click here.