Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
George R. R. Martin’s series Song of Ice and Fire (bit.ly/bcl-song-ice-fire) on which Game of Thrones was based, is a good bet for both. But if you’d like the OG multigenerational epic, Three Kingdoms by Guanzhong Luo (1330-1400) (bit.ly/bcl-3kingdoms) is a wild ride through a few hundred years of the warring states period of China. It has everything: court intrigue, backstabbing betrayals in love and war, huge battles, a magic flying Daoist priest, and more.
Catching Fire was just top tier for how well they translated the visuals from book to screen. And Peeta, obviously.
Miller is known for her novel adaptations of ancient stories and mythical figures, and for good reason! In Circe, Miller shifts the narrative focus of the Odyssey, telling us the tale from another perspective, a practice that makes us consider whose voices are missing or misrepresented in the stories we know and tell. Fun fact: Did you know the author was born in Boston and lives just down the road in Cambridge?
I’m told by my assistants that this is another excellent novel by Madeline Miller! And if you’re interested you can find it on the 4th floor of O’Neill (look for the call number PS3613 .I5445 S65 2012)!
Awwwwwwww… I love the little word-pods, too, all snug in their shelves, ready to be cradled lovingly in the hands of a reader.
In our collection I highly recommend The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents by Terry Pratchett, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and if you are thinking something rooted in our contemporary world there’s a strong cat presence in A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. At Boston Public Library they have We’ll Prescribe You a Cat
by Syou Ishida which is also very good.
I tend to prefer subtlety to raw power, so I’m in general an Odyssesus fan, but there is something to be said for Ajax’s reliability. Also, don’t sleep on Diomedes as a second-tier Greek hero. Check out my friend the Oxford Classical Dictionary for a quick summary of what each of them get up to in the myths that grew up around the Iliad.
It’s a moving, powerful account of the holocaust. I wonder if “like” is the right word. Deep, deep respect. I’m glad I’ve read it.
Assuming you have already read Shakespeare to your heart’s content here are a few recs! If you like the Hamlet of it all, there’s “The Dead Fathers Club” by Matt Haig. If you like reading plays, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and if you like laugh out loud funny, there’s “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams.
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. There is no action in this book, at all, although history passes by in the background. Just friendship and discussion of books and life in a charming epistolary novel.
When he’s done. He _really_ wants you to stop asking. Apparently. bit.ly/StopPesteringGRRM
Nah, philosophy is hard, no worries. A couple thoughts. 1) Sometimes a different translation helps. We have several. 2) Books like Kierkegaard: A Very Short Introduction, and the Cambridge Companion to Kierkegaard are designed to help you make sense of what you’re reading. Search for them at library.bc.edu.
The short answer is no, you’re not going to meet many librarians (or library walls) in favor of banning books under almost any circumstances. The baseline for the profession is the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. Librarians try to build collections that serve all of a community, and you can’t do that without collecting material that will be controversial to some. The few shouldn’t get to dictate to the many what they can read.
Not many stories fit on a post-it. Here’s one of the most famous shortest stories of all time, supposedly written by Hemingway: For sale: baby shoes, never worn. | For finding books similar to one you’ve just read, I highly recommend LibraryThing, a community of dedicated readers who share their book lists. Here’s the entry on The Hunger Games: https://www.librarything.com/work/4979986
While I am a library wall, it would be unethical for me to answer your homework questions for you. The Outsiders is a classic and worth the read — give it another try and I’m sure you’ll figure it out!
Goodreads is a useful place to look for similar books; try some of these suggestions: bit.ly/Similar2Pullman and bit.ly/similar2kingkiller.
Here’s a recommendation in podcast form: The Incomparable network hosts podcasts with smart funny nerds talking about the movies, books, and TV they love, and one of their annual traditions is reading all the books nominated for the major sci-fi and fantasy awards and talking about them: bit.ly/bc-incomparable
I’m not sure what your genre preferences are, but one of my helpers says Slay by Brittany Morris in our POP! collection is a good one. It’s about a young black game developer who creates a hugely popular VR game. I recommend a visit to librarything.com, where you can type in a title or author you like and see related recommendations, based on thousands of participant’s personal collections.
Alas, not. Staff are busy shifting library collections so those empty shelves will not remain available for long. If you do need a place to store your books, check-in with staff at the 3rd Floor Circulation Desk and ask about registering for a locker. We still have a small number up for grabs.
We do have some and are collecting more titles in ag due to the growth of the Environmental Studies Program. I recommend searching our catalog (library.bc.edu). You can also browse the stacks in the SD section (3rd floor O’Neill, way over to the right), but many of the more current items are online. Connect with the Environmental Studies Librarian, Enid Karr (karre@bc.edu) for more ideas, like getting items from other libraries.
Yes! We will add it to the library collection. If you would like to recommend a book in the future, use our suggest a purchase form here: library.bc.edu/purchaserequest
