Volume 91, Number 1
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Get books fast from BARD
Most books and magazines listed in Braille Book Review are available to eligible readers for download on the NLS BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) site. To use BARD, contact your local braille and talking-book library or visit http://nlsbard.loc.gov for more information. The free BARD Mobile app for reading talking books on your personal smart phone or tablet is available from the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon’s Appstore and can be used to read books with a refreshable braille display.
Do you live overseas?
American citizens living abroad may enroll and request delivery to foreign addresses by contacting the NLS Overseas Librarian by phone at 202-707-9261 or by email at [email protected].
Music scores and instruction
NLS music patrons may receive braille and large-print music scores and instructional recordings through the NLS Music Section. To learn more, email [email protected], call 800-424-8567 ext. 2, or visit www.loc.gov/nls/music.
About Braille Book Review
Braille Book Review, published in braille, large print, and online, is distributed free to people who have a visual or physical disability that makes it difficult to read regular print. It lists braille titles recently added to the NLS collection. The braille edition also lists NLS audiobooks appearing in Talking Book Topics. The entire collection, with hundreds of thousands of titles, is available at www.loc.gov/nls/catalog. Braille Book Review is also available online at www.loc.gov/nls/bbr and in downloadable braille files from BARD.
Library of Congress, Washington, DC 2022 Catalog Card Number 53-31800 ISSN 0006-873X
Contents
In Brief
Library of Congress acquires AFB collection
The Library of Congress, the parent agency of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, recently acquired the M.C. Migel Memorial Rare Book Collection from the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). Its more than 750 items document changing social attitudes toward blindness from 1617 to the present and include both printed and tactile materials. Highlights include one of only three known copies of the 1837 first edition of Précis Sur L’Histoire de France (A Summary of the History of France), the first book to ever be embossed in braille, and two copies of Essai Sur L'Education des Aveugles (Essay on the Education of the Blind) by Valentin Haüy, published in Paris in 1786 using embossed letters of the French alphabet. Researchers can access the collection by visiting the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
New issues of FLQ available online
NLS continues to publish Foreign Language Quarterly (FLQ), which lists popular foreign language books recently added to the NLS collection and available through our network of cooperating libraries. The second issue, released in October and linked from www.loc.gov/nls/flq, highlights Spanish-language books for Hispanic Heritage Month, including the first new Spanish language braille books to be posted to BARD since 2014. The third issue will be published January 31, 2022.
Many of these books come to NLS from other countries via the Marrakesh Treaty, but patrons will also find books produced by NLS and converted from cassette tapes. All books listed in FLQ are available for immediate download from BARD. The new publication also provides directions on how to use new BARD features, such as searching for materials in a specific language.
NLS foreign language selection strategies
Curious how NLS selects foreign language books? The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) website recently published an article by NLS Foreign Language Librarian Kelsey Corlett-Rivera describing her strategies for identifying foreign language titles NLS patrons may want, including use of US Census data. The article is available at www.accessiblebooksconsortium.org/news/en/2021/news_0011.html External.
Newsstand
The following announcements may be of interest to readers. The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled reserves the right to publish announcements selectively, as space permits. The items mentioned below are not part of the NLS program, and their listings do not imply endorsement or support. Prices and details about listed items were correct at the time of compilation but are subject to change.
Accessible 2021 tax documents
The IRS will make accessible PDF versions of 2021 tax documents on its website at www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/accessible-irs-tax-products External. Hardcopy braille and large print tax documents can be requested by calling 800-829-3676. To receive a copy of your tax notice in braille or large print, call the tax assistance telephone number at 800-829-1040. Please watch the main NLS website, at www.loc.gov/nls, for updates on when other accessible-format tax documents become available from the IRS.
GoodMaps offers free navigational app
GoodMaps recently acquired several navigational apps from Sendero and is now making them available free of charge under the name GoodMaps Outdoors. This app, available for iOS and Android, provides detailed intersection descriptions and uses audio tones and vibrations to give blind and visually impaired users feedback about upcoming turns. For more information, visit https://goodmaps.com/apps/good-maps-outdoors.
Spoken Rx “talking” labels now available at CVS
CVS Pharmacy is now offering Spoken Rx “talking” prescription labels, developed in collaboration with the American Council of the Blind, in all its 10,000 pharmacy locations. The labels can be read by iOS and Android smart devices using the CVS Pharmacy app and work using RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology. Prescription information—including patient name, medication name and directions—is read aloud in English or Spanish.
Patients with a CVS account can enroll in Spoken Rx over the phone by calling their local pharmacy, or by visiting their local CVS where a pharmacist can check if the patient is set up for the service. For more information, visit www.cvs.com/content/pharmacy/spoken-rx External or call 888-287-5654.
Books for Adults
The following books were recently produced for the NLS program.
Registered users can immediately download all titles and magazines from BARD, the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download service, at http://nlsbard.loc.gov. The free BARD Mobile app for reading talking books on your personal smartphone or tablet is available from the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon’s Appstore and can be used to read books with a refreshable braille display. To order books or sign up for BARD service contact your local cooperating library. Regional library telephone numbers and email addresses are listed on the last pages of this magazine.
Books within the headings Adult Fiction and Adult Nonfiction are listed alphabetically by subject category, author last name, and title. For example the title War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy would be listed in Adult Fiction under the Classics subject category and by the last name Tolstoy.
Note: A notice may appear immediately following the book description to indicate occurrences of violence, strong language, or descriptions of sex. The word “some” before any of these terms indicates an occasional or infrequent occurrence, as in “some strong language.”
Adult Fiction
General
Leave the World Behind BR23450 by Rumaan Alam 3 volumes Amanda and Clay rent a house in a remote corner of Long Island with their teenage children for a quiet vacation. Late one night the couple that own the house knock on the door, bringing the news of a sudden blackout in New York City. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2020.Historical Fiction
The Nightingale BR23299 by Kristin Hannah 6 volumes France, 1939. Vianne Mauriac sends her husband off to war, while her younger sister Isabelle runs off to Paris, claiming an affair. Once there, Isabelle becomes involved in the Resistance. Vianne’s home is occupied by the invading Nazis. Violence, strong language, and some descriptions of sex. 2015.Human Relationships
His Only Wife BR23446 by Peace Adzo Medie 3 volumes When Eli’s family offers Afi the financially advantageous deal of marrying him in order to distract him from an inappropriate woman, she takes it to secure her mother’s future. But Afi’s experiences in the big city of Accra has her reevaluating her own dreams. Some explicit descriptions of sex. 2020.Legal Themes
Sycamore Row BR23427 by John Grisham 6 volumes Still reeling from the racially charged case in A Time to Kill (BR09876), attorney Jake Brigance learns he has been hired—posthumously—by reclusive Seth Hubbard. Before hanging himself, Hubbard wrote a will that cut out his children and bestowed his wealth on his Black housekeeper. Some strong language. 2013.Mystery and Detective
Lethal White BR23333 by Robert Galbraith 9 volumes When a young man asks PI Cormoran Strike to investigate a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike and his partner Robin Ellacott set off on a twisting trail through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house. Some violence and some strong language. 2018.Troubled Blood BR23334 by Robert Galbraith 11 volumes PI Cormoran Strike is visiting his family in Cornwall when he is approached by a woman asking for help finding her mother, who went missing in mysterious circumstances in 1974. Strike—who has never tackled a cold case before, let alone one that is forty years old—is intrigued. Violence, strong language, and some descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2020.
The Hollow of Fear BR23547 by Sherry Thomas 4 volumes When the estranged wife of Charlotte Holmes’s close friend Lord Ingram turns up dead on his estate, all signs point to Ingram as the murderer. With Scotland Yard closing in, Charlotte goes under disguise to put her extraordinary powers of deduction to good use. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2018.
Murder on Cold Street BR23551 by Sherry Thomas 4 volumes Inspector Treadles—Charlotte Holmes’s friend and collaborator—has been found locked in a room with two dead men, both of whom worked with his wife at the great manufacturing enterprise she has recently inherited. To make matters worse, he refuses to speak on his own behalf, despite the overwhelming evidence against him. 2020.
Occult and Horror
Fall of Night: The Morganville Vampires, Book 14 BR23542 by Rachel Caine 4 volumes Accepted into a special study program at MIT with Professor Irene Anderson, Claire works on developing a technology to block the mental powers of vampires only to unleash unexpected forces when she tests the machine on live subjects. Strong language, descriptions of sex, and some violence. For senior high and older readers. 2013.Malorie: A Bird Box Novel BR23300 by Josh Malerman 3 volumes Twelve years after Malorie and her children rowed up the river to safety, a blindfold is still the only thing that stands between sanity and madness. Now Malorie is shocked to learn that loved ones she thought dead are still alive. Sequel to Bird Box (BR21868). Violence and strong language. 2020.
Religious Themes
A Proper Pursuit BR23409 by Lynn Austin 5 volumes Chicago, 1893. Twenty-year-old Violet Hayes leaves her hometown for her grandmother’s house with the goals of finding her long-lost mother, stopping her father’s upcoming wedding, and learning God’s purpose for her. Violet attends the World’s Fair and finally falls in love after three uninspiring marriage proposals. 2007.A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn: Amish Brides of Pinecraft, Book 3 BR22899 by Shelley Shepard Gray 3 volumes Emma Keim was heartbroken when her husband Sanford passed away, leaving her to raise three young daughters alone in the Amish community of Pinecraft, Florida. She meets Jay Hilty, a widower with three sons of his own, and finds comfort in a new friend who understands her struggles. 2015.
Home All Along: An Amish Secrets Novel BR22976 by Beth Wiseman 3 volumes Charlotte and Daniel, from Love Bears All Things (BR21866), are making their home together in Amish country. Charlotte is even considering a permanent conversion to the Amish way of life, but an unexpected death and mysterious visitor have her questioning her faith and choices. 2017.
Romance
Where the Lost Wander BR23555 by Amy Harmon 4 volumes The Overland Trail, 1853. Eager to leave her grief behind, young widow Naomi May sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds. Some violence, some strong language, and some descriptions of sex. 2020.Science Fiction
Ready Player Two BR23533 by Ernest Cline 5 volumes Mere days after winning OASIS founder James Halliday’s contest, Wade Watts discovers a significant new technology in Halliday’s vaults, as well as a new quest that hints at a mysterious prize. Meanwhile, a dangerous new rival rises against Wade. Sequel to Ready Player One (BR21347). Some strong language. Bestseller. 2020.Short Stories
Come On In: 15 Stories about Immigration and Finding Home BR23553 edited by Adi Alsaid 3 volumes A collection of fifteen short stories featuring the immigrant experience, from authors who have been shaped by the journeys they and their families have taken in search of a new home. Authors include Nafiza Azad, Sara Farizan, and Isabel Quintero. Strong language. For senior high and older readers. 2020.Spies and Espionage
The Good Assassin BR23360 by Paul Vidich 3 volumes Former CIA Agent George Mueller arrives in Havana in August 1958—the last months before the fall of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista—to look into the activities of Toby Graham, a CIA officer suspected of harboring sympathies for the rebel forces fighting the unpopular Batista regime. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. 2017.Suspense
Ambush BR23165 by James Patterson and James O. Born 3 volumes An NYPD officer is taken down, and—despite the attackers’ efforts—it’s not Michael Bennett. But one of Bennett’s children sustains a mysterious injury, and a series of murders follows, each with a distinct signature. Bennett taps his best investigators, who fan out across the five boroughs. Violence and strong language. 2018.Westerns
Heart of the Mountain Man BR22955 by William W. Johnstone 3 volumes Before becoming a sheriff, Monte Carson helped outlaw Big Jim Slaughter pilfer army payroll. In exchange for a pardon, Monte returned his cut. Now Jim wants the money back—and has taken Monte’s wife hostage in Wyoming. Smoke Jensen helps rescue Mary. Sequel to Guns of the Mountain Man (BR22946). Violence and strong language. 2000.Valor of the Mountain Man BR22948 by William W. Johnstone 3 volumes About thirty murderous felons escape from Utah Territorial Prison and head for Colorado, hijacking a train and holding the women passengers hostage. Sergeant Bob Guthrie and Texan Jed McCulloch ask gunslinger Smoke Jensen and his wife, Sally, to help them apprehend the prisoners. Violence and strong language. 2001.
Adult Nonfiction
Astronomy
How to Astronaut: An Insider’s Guide to Leaving Planet Earth BR23394 by Terry Virts 4 volumes NASA astronaut who piloted a mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour and spent two hundred days on the International Space Station shares his journey to the job of his dreams. Includes stories of survival training, bad bosses, and learning how to put on a spacesuit. 2020.Business and Economics
The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness BR23448 by Morgan Housel 3 volumes Nineteen short stories to illustrate the ways people make decisions surrounding money in order to show behavior-based best practices when making these decisions on your own. Topics include managing your expectations, compound interest, maintaining wealth, savings, optimism versus pessimism, and gullibility. 2020.How I Built This: The Unexpected Paths to Success from the World’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs BR23548 by Guy Raz and Nils Parker 4 volumes Founder of the podcast of the same name explores entrepreneurship success stories through the lens of the hero’s journey construct. Uses case studies to highlight what draws people to entrepreneurship, challenges they face, and considerations those interested in creating their own businesses need to take into account. 2020.
Cooking
Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook BR23514 by Ina Garten 2 volumes Collection of recipes by the author of Cook like a Pro (BR22501) that are geared to evoke an emotionally satisfying experience. Suggests ingredients which support the experiential nature of the food. Courses include cocktails, lunch, dinner, vegetables and sides, dessert, and breakfast. 2020.Family
Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong—and What You Really Need to Know BR23353 by Emily Oster 5 volumes An economist examines pregnancy myths using her experience in data analysis and presents strategies for informed decision-making and risk-assessment. Discusses topics as varied as caffeine and gardening. 2018.Nature and the Environment
Iwígara: American Indian Ethnobotanical Traditions and Science BR23447 by Enrique Salmón 4 volumes Ethnobotanist profiles plants used by Native Americans to illustrate the concept of iwígara: the notion that all life—spiritual and physical—interconnects in a cyclical nature and everything and everyone is related. Describes where to find the plants, which parts to use, common uses, and health benefits and warnings. 2020.Social Sciences
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race BR23237 by Beverly Daniel Tatum 8 volumes Update of influential 1997 book on the psychology of racism, its impacts, and the ways people cope with it, particularly in educational settings. Topics covered include defining racism, understanding Blackness and whiteness in a white context, moving beyond binary constructs, and developing cross-racial dialogue skills. 2017.US History
The Burning: Massacre, Destruction, and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 BR23395 by Tim Madigan 4 volumes Recounts the destruction suffered by the Black community in Oklahoma during the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot and examines the difficulties of pinpointing its full extent. Explores the events leading up to the violence and documents the subsequent silence surrounding it. Violence and strong language. 2001.Books for Children
The following books were recently produced for the NLS program.
Registered users can immediately download all titles and magazines from BARD, the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download service, at http://nlsbard.loc.gov. The free BARD Mobile app for reading talking books on your personal smartphone or tablet is available from the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon’s Appstore and can be used to read books with a refreshable braille display. To order books or sign up for BARD service contact your local cooperating library. Regional library telephone numbers and email addresses are listed on the last pages of this magazine.
These books are listed alphabetically within the headings Children’s Fiction and Children’s Nonfiction by subject category, author last name, and title. For example, the title Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown would be listed in Children’s Fiction under the Classics subject category and by the last name Brown.
Children’s Fiction
Animals and Wildlife
Up on Bob BR23177 by Mary Sullivan 1 volume Weiner dog Bob can’t fall asleep because he suspects someone is watching him. Uncontracted braille. PRINT/BRAILLE. For preschool–grade 2. 2020.Fantasy
A Tale of Magic... BR23368 by Chris Colfer 4 volumes Fourteen-year-old Brystal Evergreen risks everything by opposing her kingdom’s repression of women. But Madame Weatherberry, seeing her potential, invites her to a special school where she hopes to change the world’s perception of magic. For grades 5–8. 2019.Historical Fiction
P.S. Be Eleven BR23471 by Rita Williams-Garcia 2 volumes Sixth-grader Delphine and her two younger sisters spent the summer in California, visiting their mother and attending Black Panther summer camp. But when they return to Brooklyn, the newly independent sisters clash, and Delphine longs for her mother’s advice. Sequel to One Crazy Summer (BR19326). Coretta Scott King Award. For grades 4–7. 2013.Humor
The Cool Bean BR23175 by Jory John and Pete Oswald 1 volume Always on the sidelines, one bean unsuccessfully tries everything he can to fit in with the crowd—until one day the cool beans show him how it’s done. PRINT/BRAILLE. For grades K–3. 2019.Dog Diaries: Curse of the Mystery Mutt; a Middle School Story BR23648 by James Patterson and Steven Butler 1 volume Junior’s idyllic life soon turns to terror when a mysterious creature begins to make trouble in the neighborhood. He suspects the Howly Wiener—that visits town once a year and fills the street with monsters—may be the culprit. For grades 2–4. 2019.
Don’t Feed the Coos! BR23176 by Jonathan Stutzman and Heather Fox 1 volume A little girl tries all sorts of ways to escape an insatiable flock of pigeons after sharing some bread with one. PRINT/BRAILLE. For preschool–grade 2. 2020.
Mystery and Detective
Super Puzzletastic Mysteries: Short Stories for Young Sleuths from Mystery Writers of America BR23472 edited by Chris Grabenstein 5 volumes Anthology of short mysteries featuring tales of hapless superheroes and stolen squirrel monkeys to murderous triplets and haunted basements. Includes stories by Chris Grabenstein, Stuart Gibbs, Lamar Giles, Peter Lerangis, Kate Milford, and more. For grades 3–6. 2020.Children’s Nonfiction
Animals and Wildlife
Terrific Tongues! BR23201 by Maria Gianferrari and Jia Liu 1 volume Explores the unusual ways that a variety of animals use their tongues to find food, eat, and clean themselves. PRINT/BRAILLE. For preschool–grade 2. 2018.Biography
Sharice’s Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman BR23723 by Sharice Davids and others 1 volume An autobiography introduces US Representative Sharice Davids, one of the first Native American women elected to Congress and the first lesbian congressperson to represent Kansas. Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, shares her love of talking, listening, and martial arts. PRINT/BRAILLE. For grades K–3. 2021.Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist BR23660 by Julie Leung 1 volume An award-winning biography of animator and artists Tyrus Wong, a Chinese American immigrant responsible for bringing Walt Disney Studio’s Bambi to life. Asian/Pacific American Award. For grades K–3. 2019.
Government and Politics
Vote for Our Future! BR23178 by Margaret McNamara and Micah Player 1 volume The students of Stanton Elementary School, which is a polling place, find out all they can about voting and then encourage everyone in their neighborhoods to cast their ballots. PRINT/BRAILLE. For grades K–3. 2020.History
Fighting for the Forest: How FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps Helped Save America BR22977 by P. O’Connell Pearson 2 volumes Recounts the history behind President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal program, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and how this social program provided jobs for impoverished young men who built and improved hundreds of state and national parks. For grades 5–8. 2019.Braille Magazines
The following is a list of braille magazines in the Library of Congress program. Readers may obtain free personal subscriptions to these magazines. For information on the availability of specific magazines, consult the library that sends you braille materials.
Braille Book Review (NLS publication) Braille Chess Magazine (British publication) Braille Music Magazine (British publication) Catster Conundrum (British publication) Cook’s Illustrated Cricket: The Realm of Imagination (for children and teens) Dell Sunday Crosswords Eating Well Harper’s (literary) Health Newsletters (includes Harvard Health Letter, Mayo Clinic Health Letter, and University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter) Interweave (knitting) Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine Martha Stewart Living (home and entertaining) Muse (for children) Musical Mainstream (NLS publication) National Geographic National Geographic Kids News (NLS publication) The New York Times Book Review The New York Times Large Print Weekly Parents PC World Poetry Popular Mechanics Popular Music Lead Sheets Popular Science Reader’s Digest Rolling Stone (popular culture) Science News Scout Life (for children and teens) Short Stories (British publication) Spider: The Magazine for Children Sports Illustrated Kids Stone Soup: The Magazine by Young Writers and Artists (children’s writings)
Schedules for the following sports leagues are also available: Major League Baseball National Basketball Association National Football League National Hockey League Women’s National Basketball Association