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This is the month for celebrating stories! The Library has many events with storytellers and authors, plus books to help you tell stories of your own. Here’s a list of storytelling titles to get you started.
Learn all about Israel’s turbulent history in these books at the Library.
A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel
By Allis Radosh and Ronald Radosh
The Radoshes present a dramatic, in-depth account of President Harry S. Truman's controversial decision to recognize the state of Israel. Allis and Ronald Radosh explore the national and global pressures bearing on Truman and the people - including the worldwide Jewish community, key White House advisers, the State Department, the British, the Arabs, and the representatives of the new United Nations - whose influence, on both sides, led to his decision.
One of Kansas City’s most appreciated literary awards was given on Saturday, October 3 at the Central Library. The Thorpe Menn Award is sponsored by the Kansas City branch of the American Association of University Women and given each year to local author who exhibits the highest level of literary excellence.
The award was established in 1979 by the Kansas City branch of AAUW. Mr. Menn was a longtime book editor of the Kansas City Star and supported all aspects of Kansas City’s cultural life, but he held a special place in his heart for Kansas City’s authors and artists.
The Reading Committee of the Kansas City AAUW start their reading early. They diligently pursue copies of every locally published novel, collection of poetry or short stories, or nonfiction and from these many books, create a nomination list. The list is further narrowed to three honorees and from these three the Kansas City AAUW make a difficult decision to name a winner.
How has the U.S. Supreme Court evolved over the years? These books explore the history of the Supreme Court and some of its landmark cases.
The Dirty Dozen: How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom
By Robert A. Levy and William Mellor
Taking on 12 Supreme Court cases that have changed American history, Levy and Mellor untangle complex Court opinions to explain how they have harmed ordinary Americans.
Packing the Court: The Rise of Judicial Power and the Coming Crisis of the Supreme Court
By James MacGregor Burns
From political theorist and Pulitzer Prize-winner Burns comes a critique of how an unstable, unaccountable, and frequently partisan Supreme Court has come to wield more power than the founding fathers ever intended.
These books at the Library all explore the art and craft of memoir writing.
The Memoir and the Memoirist: Reading and Writing Personal Narrative
By Thomas Larson
The memoir is one of the most popular and expressive literary forms of our time. In The Memoir and the Memoirist, critic and memoirist Thomas Larson explores the craft and purpose of writing this new form. Larson guides the reader from the autobiography and the personal essay to the memoir – a genre focused on a particularly emotional relationship in the author's past, an intimate story concerned more with who is remembering, and why, than with what is remembered. For both the interested reader of memoir and the writer wrestling with the craft, this book provides guidance and insight into the many facets of this provocative and popular art form.