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One interesting fact about the renowned author Ernest Hemingway is that he survived not one, but two plane crashes in his lifetime. The first crash occurred in 1954 when he and his wife were traveling to a safari in Africa. The plane struck a utility pole during takeoff and crashed, leaving Hemingway with serious injuries to his head, arms, and legs. The second crash happened two years later in 1956 while Hemingway was on his way to a fishing trip in Cuba. The plane caught fire and crashed shortly after takeoff, but Hemingway was able to escape with only minor injuries. Despite these close calls, Hemingway continued to travel extensively and lived a life filled with adventure until his death in 1961.

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📚️ Staff Pick of the Week

8 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go by Jay Shetty

Nobody sits us down and teaches us how to love. So we’re often thrown into relationships with nothing but romance movies and pop culture to help us muddle through. Until now.

Instead of presenting love as an ethereal concept or a collection of cliches, Jay Shetty lays out specific, actionable steps to help you develop the skills to practice and nurture love better than ever before. He shares insights on how to win or lose together, how to define love, and why you don’t break in a break-up. Inspired by Vedic wisdom and modern science, he tackles the entire relationship cycle, from first dates to moving in together to breaking up and starting over. And he shows us how to avoid falling for false promises and unfulfilling partners.

By living Jay Shetty’s eight rules, we can all love ourselves, our partner, and the world better than we ever thought possible.

🎥 Reading Talk's

📈 Rising Quickly - Week of March 6, 2023

The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes Our Governments, and Warps Our Economies by Mariana Mazzucato

In "The Big Con," Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington investigate the consulting industry's power and impact on modern business and government, arguing that it stunts innovation, hinders accountability, and impedes progress on the climate crisis. They describe the industry's growth from the 1980s and 1990s and its reliance on hollowed-out and risk-averse governments and shareholder value-maximizing firms. Through case studies, the authors reveal the industry's failures, including the roll-out of HealthCare.gov and inadequate responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mazzucato and Collington call for a new system that prioritizes public and private sector collaboration for the common good.

🪄Most Talked About Fiction - Week of March 6, 2023

River Spirit by Leila Aboulela

In "River Spirit," Leila Aboulela tells the story of Akuany, an orphaned young woman in 19th century Sudan, and her coming of age during the Mahdist War. Akuany is taken in by a young merchant named Yaseen, who becomes a lifeline for her as she is sold and traded from house to house. As a revolutionary leader rises to power and Sudan slips from the grasp of Ottoman rule, Yaseen feels beholden to stand against the false Mahdi, even as his choice splinters his family. Through the voices of seven characters, Aboulela illuminates a fraught reckoning with imperialism, corruption, and unshakeable devotion.

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📚️ Most Talked About Non-Fiction - Week of March 6, 2023

We Should Not Be Friends: The Story of a Friendship by Will Schwalbe

"We Should Not Be Friends" by Will Schwalbe is a memoir about the unlikely and enduring friendship between the author and Chris Maxey, a star wrestler and aspiring Navy SEAL who seemed to be the opposite of the people Schwalbe typically associated with. The two men meet as members of a secret society at Yale University and develop a deep bond that lasts through various challenges, changes, and travels. Schwalbe's memoir is a celebration of the power of human connection and the unexpected friendships that can arise when we let go of our preconceptions.

🆕 New and Noteworthy

Old Babes in the Wood: Stories by Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood has established herself as one of the most visionary and canonical authors in the world. This collection of fifteen extraordinary stories—some of which have appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine—explore the full warp and weft of experience, speaking to our unique times with Atwood’s characteristic insight, wit and intellect.

The two intrepid sisters of the title story grapple with loss and memory on a perfect summer evening; “Impatient Griselda” explores alienation and miscommunication with a fresh twist on a folkloric classic; and “My Evil Mother” touches on the fantastical, examining a mother-daughter relationship in which the mother purports to be a witch. At the heart of the collection are seven extraordinary stories that follow a married couple across the decades, the moments big and small that make up a long life of uncommon love—and what comes after.

Returning to short fiction for the first time since her 2014 collection Stone Mattress, Atwood showcases both her creativity and her humanity in these remarkable tales which by turns delight, illuminate, and quietly devastate.

👀 In Case You Missed It

✍️ Quote of the Week

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