Staff Reviews: Books, Films, Music, and More

Regional History Museum Librarian, Olivia Terry, recommends The Sewing Girl’s Tale: A Story of Crime and Punishment in Revolutionary America by John Wood Sweet.

Lanah Sawyer is a name not known by many today. But on a summer evening in 1793, the seventeen-year-old seamstress is raped in a New York Brothel by a man above her in class. She does something nearly unthinkable for the period; she charges him with the crime.

The trial that ensued sent shock waves across Revolutionary America, sparking debates about class, power, and sexual double standards. But even when Lanah herself was alive and at the center of the monumental trial, her name and her story became an afterthought in the countless publications and arguments that sensationalized the trial. Soon, the story of her rape appeared to be no longer hers at all.

During the actual trial, the finger of blame was first unsurprisingly pointed at Lanah: Did she invite the attack? Did she fight back? Did she report it in a timely manner? Then, shortly after the verdict was announced, the finger moved to the woman who owned the brothel the crime occurred in, Mother Carey: Did Mother Carey lie in her witness account for the defense? What business did a woman have running a house that thrived on the destruction of feminine virtue? Blame spiraled into anger leading to mass riots that destroyed Mother Carey’s house and personal property, as well as other women’s homes who ran similar businesses.

The way we think about, talk about, and administer blame and punishment for cases of sexual assault is a thread that remains largely unripped from the time of Lanah Sawyer.

Curiously though, the blame is never directed at the accused rapist Harry Bedlow, a man born into privilege, or the men who kept Mother Carey’s brothel open and thriving. In fact, Harry Bedlow goes on a campaign to retaliate against Lanah and her family, declaring himself a victim of character assassination. Eventually, Bedlow does face the consequences for his crime but not in the way expected.

John Wood Sweet makes this nonfiction just as captivating as a fictional drama by paying tremendous attention to historical details of the trial and the real people involved. He provides the political and social context of the time that reveal the complexities the case was entangled in.

Upon reading The Sewing Girl’s Tale, I was first struck by the egregiously apparent injustices of 18th century law. After finishing it, I thought about the parallels to today’s justice system and the social discourse surrounding rape cases.

The way we think about, talk about, and administer blame and punishment for cases of sexual assault is a thread that remains largely unripped from the time of Lanah Sawyer.

Find The Sewing Girl in MAIN Nonfiction here.

Director of Operations, Nicole Lichtenberg, recommends Modern Mending: How to Minimize Waste and Maximize Style by Erin Lewis Fitzgerald.

I really, really hate breaking in new clothes. I once wore this weird velveteen knit sweater until the sleeves only went partway down my arms, and I think my mom ended up disappearing it in the night. I also harbor, like many of us, feelings of guilt about the amount of water and other resources that go into the production of textiles that I don’t always translate into action.

Enter Modern Mending. This book explores a variety of ways to fix up clothing and other cloth goods such as dog bandanas and tea towels. It covers common mending materials and tools (pretty much the same as the contents of your grandma’s cookie tin), methods such as patching and darning, and provides numerous helpful and interesting case studies.

One of my favorite case studies is a shirt dubbed “Large Marge,” which was in tatters when it came to be in the author’s mending pile. Using such exotic materials as old underpants (they are great because they are usually really worn in and soft, I gather) and some basic techniques, Lewis-Fitzgerald breathes new life into a beloved garment.

Using such exotic materials as old underpants … and some basic techniques, Lewis-Fitzgerald breathes new life into a beloved garment.

What I like about Modern Mending is that it does a good job covering traditional mending styles as well as modern ones, and it has enough information that someone who doesn’t have a background in sewing or knitting would be able to jump in. One thing I appreciate about fiber arts is the wide range of possibilities that exist, and Modern Mending brings that spirit to a more commonplace medium.

So, go find a moth-eaten sweater, or a shirt with armpit holes, or a tea towel you burned, and try mending it. The stakes are low. If you do a really bad job, all you have to do is try again.

Find it in MAIN Nonfiction – 646.6 LEW.

 

Cándida Miniño, Outreach Librarian, recommends the film, Bullet Train.

This action-packed dark comedy film follows the hitman (code name Ladybug) who believes he is the unluckiest in the world because his jobs, though successful, usually end up becoming harder than expected. 

His handler gives him the job to retrieve a suitcase on board the Shinkansen, the Japanese bullet train.  

What starts as an easy job starts becoming increasingly difficult as different hitmen converge on the train for reasons that intersect in the end. 

The first half of the film introduces all these characters and their mostly violent backgrounds. After that, the story unfolds, showing how the characters are interconnected, why they are aboard the train, and how karma plays its part for a satisfying ending. 

I found this bloody, funny movie and its memorable assassins like Lemon, who “reads people” by comparing them to the engine characters in the Thomas and Friends series, very entertaining. 

Find it on DVD here.

Find the book on which the film is based here.

Kelley Moulton, Regional History Librarian, recommends Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World by Tim Marshall.

I love maps. A map can tell us the political boundaries created by conquerors or leaders and at the same time show the natural boundaries and history as told by the rivers and mountains. One of the most memorable classes I took in college was a geography class. It involved memorizing physical attributes like rivers and mountains. The professor also encouraged us to think about geography beyond the lines representing the natural barriers, and to look at the political geography of the continents.

According to Merriam-Webster, political geography is “a branch of geography that deals with human governments, the boundaries and subdivisions of political units (such as nations or states).Political geography plays a huge role in the politics and cultures of each and every country, throughout history and to this day.

Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World by Tim Marshall examines several scenarios in which geography has played a role in both the political history of various countries and continents as well as the impact that can still be felt because of the boundaries created by nature. Each of the main chapters looks at either a different continent or set of countries, tied together in some way.

“In the end, we might all be prisoners of geography. For better or for worse, only time will determine.”  

For example, Western Europe covers a whole chapter and within those pages, Marshall does a small dive into why Europe was able to boom and at the same time have so many different cultures and languages develop in a relatively small area. Other chapters focus on the African continent, India and Pakistan, and the Arctic to name a few. 

Marshall admits that geography is not the only element in play regarding any of these countries and continents. Trade, technology, and politics all play a huge part in the world in which we live.

In the end, we might all just be prisoners of geography. Geography, people, politics, and countries are all constantly changing. For better or for worse, only time will determine.

Find it in print and eaudiobook here.

Misty Sohl, Gold Mine Drop-off Manager, recommends Legends, a reggae DVD by Bob Marley.

I have a passion for music. 

When you really love something, you often don’t give it a second thought. Without you realizing, it becomes a must in your life.  Like food or water, you can’t imagine it not being there. It’s a part of you. That’s how music is to me.

There are no limitations in the form of music. It is a very powerful medium to reach a person’s emotions and expressions that go beyond the words. It has been scientifically proven that music has helped people get out of mental and physical illnesses.

One of my favorite forms of music is reggae. The rhythm of reggae calms me down and sets my heart at ease.  

Music has been one of the most important things throughout my life. It has always been there for me. Living without music would be impossible for me. It has helped me face some difficult situations in my life and has helped me motivate myself. Some music resembles the journey of my life. I love listening to music while driving.

One of my favorite forms of music is reggae. The rhythm of reggae calms me down and sets my heart at ease.  Reggae is often about empowerment, love, equality, and just feeling good.  Some of my favorite reggae singers are Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Gregory Isaacs, Ziggy and Damian Marley and Yellowman. But these are just a few. I encourage anyone going on vacation or just spring cleaning to have a listen to this medicinal style of music.  

Find Bob Marley’s “Legend” here.

Craig Barry, Managing Director of the Gold Mine Stores, recommends The True Cost, a documentary film by Michael Ross.

A cornerstone of the Gold Mine’s success is the clothing it sells.  And while we sell plenty of housewares, sporting goods and books, it would appear that our patrons’ main shopping motivation is fashion.

I wanted to find out more about a phenomenon I’ve been hearing about called “fast fashion”.  In the past, fashion houses and leading clothing stores would unveil their fashion lines on more of a seasonal basis. Problem is you can only sell so much in a “season” before what’s fashionable fades into being unfashionable.  To address this, businesses worked to shorten the fashion cycle – instead of a seasonal cycle, why not a monthly or even weekly cycle? Shortened fashion cycles prime the pump and profits.

The problem with this is how do you increasingly make more clothing at a quicker pace and at a price that people could afford on, say, a weekly basis – enter “fast fashion”.

The True Cost documentary traces just how this fast fashion trend has fueled clothing consumption and exacerbated labor and environmental issues abroad, all while corporations fattened their bottom lines.

Economies across the planet have long embraced the global economy, searching for ways to drive down costs, boost profits and become more competitive in the marketplace. The fashion industry is ideally suited for moving abroad. The industry moved quickly to locate production to where labor was less expensive, environmental regulations looser and materials cheap. Now to be sure, the fashion industry is not the only industry to make this move but it is an industry in which the labor needed is largely low skill.

The True Cost documentary traces just how this fast fashion trend has fueled clothing consumption and exacerbated labor and environmental issues abroad, all while corporations fattened their bottom lines. The documentary reveals how an industry has worked to change how we use clothing from articles that we use to pieces that we use up, disposing of them with the next fashion cycle.

While second hand stores, like the Gold Mine, won’t reverse this global economy, we can slow it down. So the next time you’re buying something from or donating to a second hand store, you are lengthening the fashion cycle, making an important contribution to strengthening the sustainability of the clothing industry and bolstering your local economy and The Community Library.

Find The True Cost in the Library’s DVD Collection, here.