Aug 11, 2015
An iphone app to find books by or about people of color; a listener asks, "is it stealing?" and new books by Alex Kershaw and Jennifer McMahon.
We were thrilled to learn about We Read Too, an iphone app that was developed by Kaya Thomas, a young woman who couldn't find books with characters that reminded her of herself. The app is a great resource for booksellers, librarians, teachers and readers who want to discover literary works written by authors of colors with characters of colors that don't fall into stereotypes.
Find We Read Too in the iOS app store.
A listener writes in with an ethical dilemma (10:22)
We received an email from Becky:
I have been a
longtime fan and listener of your podcast and I recently took a
book and I'm wondering if you would consider this stealing or not.
. .
I'm a hospice
physician and do home visits to see patients. I visited a patient
who lived in an apt building where you had to be buzzed in. I went
up to the 2nd floor where my patient lived and in an open alcove
next to the elevator was a library of perhaps 100 - 200 books. .
.
After the visit I
perused the shelves and there was a lot of mass market stuff plus
classics plus everything in between. I ended up taking an
Everyman's library edition of "The Tin Drum" by Gunter Grass. I
took it b/c it was a classic that I thought I should read, and also
I felt it was probably sthg that was not in high demand so I felt
less guilty about taking it, vs. some current best seller. . . I
will say that I was slightly influenced to take the book b/c
of all of your talk on the podcast about how many books are pulped,
etc. . . so if I did wrong then it's all your fault! Ha! just
kidding. . .
The other doctor
that I work with was appalled at my action and considered that it
was definitely stealing. . . maybe she is right?! What do you
think??
Thanks for all your
great work on the podcast!
Michael and I discuss this dilemma, and though we
both agree it's not black and white, we do fall on somewhat
different sides of the gray area. Please let us know your thoughts.
Was it stealing? Does it matter that it was a classic and not a
more popular title? What would you have done?
More information on Little Free
Libraries here. Please consider putting one up in
your community.
Two books we can't wait for you to read (21:38):
Michael talks about Avenue of Spies by
Alex Kershaw, about an American doctor's experience in
Nazi-occupied Paris. He and his family supported the Resistance,
all the while being surrounded by in his neighborhood by some of
the most well-known Nazis. It's a propulsive read, for those who
love narrative nonfiction.
I highly recommend The Night
Sister by Jennifer McMahon, which is compelling
and so creepy. I flew through it in two days. We travel back and
forth in time, all the while learning about events that happen at a
roadside motel in rural Vermont. There's a murder, two sets of
sisters, things that go bump in the night, and a young girl who is
obsessed with director Alfred Hitchcock and dreams of going to
Hollywood to become a star.