book talk: Little Princes

Little Princes by Conor Grennan is a memoir about volunteering at an orphanage in Nepal. Having a desire to travel the world, Grennan set off for Nepal not knowing what to expect. Right off the bat his honesty about his lack of knowledge about Nepal and being around children sets the reader up to learn along with him. This memoir has it all: adventure, suspense, humor (sarcasm, slapstick, etc.) and even some looove. I learned about Nepal's history, culture, and society as Grennan went above and beyond my expectations. Every single page was a delight - and I turned those pages fast! Grennan founded Next Generation Nepal which focuses on reconnecting victims of child trafficking to their families.

book talk: The Paris Wife

This book traces Ernest Hemingway's first marriage from the perspective of his wife, Hadley, when they live together in Paris. As "the Paris wife," Hadley is swept up Ernest's early literary successes and failures, and the Hemingways cross paths with prominent expats in Paris like Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound.

The beautifully written story really brings these historical figures to life and it would be a great book suggestion for someone who loves Hemingway's work or the Paris salon scene, as well as non-fiction readers who are curious about a fictionalized account of post-WWI culture in Europe, bullfighting, or misogynistic but sympathetic literary giants.

MedlineMinus

I was checking the links on my libguides when I came across the front page for MedlinePlus, a "Service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine." I was more than a little disturbed by the decision to list "Pregnancy and Reproduction" as one of their "Disorders and Conditions" - right between "Poisoning" and "Substance Abuse." Now, I'm not a huge fan of the idea of giving birth, but I think that this grouping is problematic. Wouldn't it make more sense to "catalog" pregnancy with "Health and Wellness" or even as a subcategory under "Women"? I'm not sure if an actual librarian had anything to do with this, but I hope not.