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A House of My Own: Stories from My Life

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by Sandra Cisneros

From the author of The House on Mango Street, a richly illustrated compilation of true stories and nonfiction pieces that, taken together, form a jigsaw autobiography–an intimate album of a beloved literary legend.

From the Chicago neighborhoods where she grew up and set her groundbreaking The House on Mango Street to her abode in Mexico in a region where “my ancestors lived for centuries,” the places Sandra Cisneros has lived have provided inspiration for her now-classic works of fiction and poetry. But a house of her own, where she could truly take root, has eluded her. With this collection–spanning three decades, and including never-before-published work–Cisneros has come home at last.

Ranging from the private (her parents’ loving and tempestuous marriage) to the political (a rallying cry for one woman’s liberty in Sarajevo) to the literary (a tribute to Marguerite Duras), and written with her trademark lyricism, these signature pieces recall transformative memories as well as reveal her defining artistic and intellectual influences. Poignant, honest, deeply moving, this is an exuberant celebration of a life in writing lived to the fullest.

Find it in our collection here.

The Line Becomes a River

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By Francisco Cantú

For Francisco Cantú, the border is in the blood: his mother, a park ranger and daughter of a Mexican immigrant, raised him in the scrublands of the Southwest. Driven to understand the hard realities of the landscape he loves, Cantú joins the Border Patrol. He and his partners learn to track other humans under blistering sun and through frigid nights. They haul in the dead and deliver to detention those they find alive. Plagued by a growing awareness of his complicity in a dehumanizing enterprise, he abandons the Patrol for civilian life. But when an immigrant friend travels to Mexico to visit his dying mother and does not return, Cantú discovers that the border has migrated with him, and now he must know the full extent of the violence it wreaks, on both sides of the line.

Accolades

NAMED A TOP 10 BOOK OF 2018 BY NPR and THE WASHINGTON POST
WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE IN CURRENT INTEREST
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE NONFICTION AWARD

The instant New York Times bestseller, “A must-read for anyone who thinks ‘build a wall’ is the answer to anything.” –Esquire

Find it in print, eaudiobook, and ebook here.

Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States

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by Felipe Fernández-Armesto

The United States is still typically conceived of as an offshoot of England, with our history unfolding east to west beginning with the first English settlers in Jamestown. This view overlooks the significance of America’s Hispanic past.

With the profile of the United States increasingly Hispanic, the importance of recovering the Hispanic dimension to our national story has never been greater. This absorbing narrative begins with the explorers and conquistadores who planted Spain’s first colonies in Puerto Rico, Florida, and the Southwest. Missionaries and rancheros carry Spain’s expansive impulse into the late eighteenth century, settling California, mapping the American interior to the Rockies, and charting the Pacific coast. During the nineteenth century Anglo-America expands west under the banner of “Manifest Destiny” and consolidates control through war with Mexico. In the Hispanic resurgence that follows, it is the peoples of Latin America who overspread the continent, from the Hispanic heartland in the West to major cities such as Chicago, Miami, New York, and Boston. The United States clearly has a Hispanic present and future. And here is its Hispanic past, presented with characteristic insight and wit by one of our greatest historians

Find it in our collection here.

Campfires and Battlefields

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Originally published in 1894, Campfires and Battlefields: The Pictorial History of the Civil War (OV 973.73 JOH) has continued to be in print over the years and remains an important historical record of the period. This unique publication includes dozens of pen-and-ink illustrations that depict many of the significant events of the war-time period from 1861 to 1865. The narrative and early photographs make for an impactful first-hand experience for the modern reader. 

This work – including the letters, articles and other documents within – was penned by eyewitnesses to the events. It was published in the first edition in 1894. Rossiter Johnson, one of our foremost writers on American war history, is given the primary credit for authorship. Also credited are John T. Morgan, a Confederate officer and U.S. Senator from Alabama, and George Speil, a printmaker active in the later part of the 19th century whose illustrations set the work apart. 

Our Library copy of this holding is the 1958 Grey and Blue Press Edition, and the book is housed in the Oversized Collection in the John A. and Carol O. Moran Lecture Hall. Also known as our Mountain of Books, this is a great place to pursue some of our unique holdings, including our out-of-print and rare books holdings that circulate to the public. 

From The Community Library Collection (Gifted June 1977) 

Book Review: The Demon of Unrest

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Director of Library Operations Pam Parker recommends The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson.

Pam Parker Demon of Unrest

Readers of Erik Larson’s other noteworthy historical exposés, such as The Devil in the White City (2003), will find familiar territory in his new Civil War-themed work, The Demon of Unrest (2024). I found this latest effort to be surprisingly suspenseful considering that the Civil War is a subject about which plenty has already been written. 

Noting that some 16,000 biographies about Abraham Lincoln have been published, Larson has intentionally avoided ‘Honest Abe’ as a subject. It took the pandemic – and a trove of primary resources uncovered during lockdown – to renew his interest. The result of his deep dive is a vivid portrait of our nation’s fatal divide over state’s rights and slavery and…

…for the reader, a better understanding of why this conflict came to be. 

Larson subtitles this work, A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War. Beginning in late 1860 with the election of Lincoln, the focus is primarily on the growing Southern discontent and the resulting push for secession. More specifically, he follows the building tension in and around Charleston, South Carolina, which became the first state to secede from the Union.

As Larson leads us through the months of early 1861, the looming unrest builds as does our sense that Lincoln will not be able to avoid war between the states. 

Among the many other interesting characters is U.S. Army Major Robert Anderson, who we get to know through his letters home to his wife. We also get an insider’s view on the state of the Union via his pleading correspondence to his superiors as he’s left in command of Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay with little direction and too few provisions. Nearby, Confederate forces are gathering in significant numbers and an attack seems imminent.

The resulting battle marks the beginning of Civil War and forms the backbone of this richly layered story. 

Ultimately, The Demons of Unrest is a success precisely because Larson avoids chronicling the war in an exhaustive fashion. He narrows in on a handful of participants whose first-hand accounts describe how their lives collided with the unrest. In the powerful epilogue, he wraps up their stories at war’s end in 1885, by which time over a half million had died and countless lives have been irrevocably impacted.

As readers, we have gained hindsight into how a political divide over slavery became a Civil War. 

This powerfully crafted book places Larson among my personal favorites and is further evidence that he deserves the label of “modern master” in this genre of narrative nonfiction. I hope his next efforts – and, yes, another book is underway but he’s withholding on the topic – include more on American history. His ability to incorporate personal accounts in creative ways makes for highly engaging reads that are sure to keep you turning the pages. 

Find it in print, ebook, and eaudiobook in our Collection here.

You’ll find another fascinating book in our Collection: Campfires and Battlefields. Originally published in 1894, Campfires and Battlefields: the Pictorial History of the Civil War has continued to be in print over the years and remains an important historical record of the period.

The Rare Book Case

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An oft overlooked yet utterly fascinating shelf amidst the library’s stacks is the Rare Book Case in the Betty Olsen Carr Reading Room. Contained in this case is a variety of unique books, each with some interesting aspect to it. Some date back to the 19th century; others are signed by local celebrities. Some are rather hard to acquire; still more recount the earliest days of Idaho’s history.

Leatherbound book with gold embossing, cover reads "Idaho The Gem of the Mountains"

One book in the case, representing many of these features all on its own, is An Illustrated History of the State of Idaho, published by the Lewis Publishing Company in 1899. This comprehensive book, 726 pages covering everything from Idaho’s geology to the history of all its prominent places, is an incredible insight into the early history of Idaho, written while its memory was still fresh. Additionally, this copy was owned by and signed by Henry F. Ensign, who served as a district court judge in Hailey for twelve years in the early 20th century. The book itself is also beautifully bound, with a leather binding and golden embossing on its cover and spine. The pages as well feature a golden trim. It truly is a work of art.

Other books featured in the Rare Book Case include:

  • Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage, a 1915 publication by Carrie Adell Strahorn, who spent decades traveling all over the American West by stagecoach and railroad.
  • Picabo, Nothing to Hide, the autobiography of Olympic skier and medalist Picabo Street, signed by Picabo herself.
  • The Sun Valley Ski Book, written by Sun Valley Ski School director Friedl Pfeifer in 1939. The Ski Book is full of pictures and captions demonstrating proper skiing technique and showing off Sun Valley’s fantastic slopes.
  • Blood of the Albatross, a thriller written by local author Ridley Pearson, and signed by him with a message for Community Library founder Clara Spiegel.
  • and many more!

Although the rare books may not be checked out, any visitor is welcome to take a look at the books in the library. Just ask a librarian to open the Rare Book Case for you, and you may read them in the Center for Regional History‘s Betty Olsen Carr Reading Room.

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