Hi everyone my name is Courtney Block and I am the user engagement librarian
at IU Southeast. I am here today talking to you, from my office, about some of my
favorite books. Before I begin let me just remind you that there are a number
of ways that you can access the books that I'm going to talk about. The first
way that you can access the books is to double check the library's catalog to
see if we have a digital version. You can also see if we have a physical copy that
can be mailed to you via the library's brand-new mailing service. You can also
double check the website of HathiTrust, who, in a partnership with Indiana
University, is providing online access to books owned by the IU libraries.
Don't forget to double check your local public libraries as well. Public libraries offer
downloadable ebooks and e-audiobooks and so many other online resources that are
available to you. So with that let's get started with my all-time favorite author
Ralph Waldo Emerson. Now this is the essential writings of Ralph Waldo
Emerson and it's my favorite because it contains the majority of his essays and
writings. My favorite work of his is Nature which talks about humankind's
connection with the world around us. Now Emerson was at the center of the
transcendental movement and I like this compendium of his works because it's a
wonderful philosophical discussion of our place in the world and our
connection with nature and offers a really wonderful look into the mind of
an American transcendental writer. Now if you're into short
stories one of my favorite short story authors is Eudora Welty and this is the
collected stories of Eudora Welty. Now Welty is a classic American author
who writes about the deep south and this is a wonderful collection and one of my
personal favorites because her short stories are so poignant and have a
tendency to linger with you long after you finish them. One of my recent
favorites, I just finished this one a couple of days ago, is "The Ice Queen" by
Alice Hoffman. In this novel Alice Hoffman weaves a story about a woman who
is a victim of a lightning strike and after she is struck by lightning she
develops these strange abilities which sets her on a quest to understand more
about her abilities and also more about a community of fellow lightning-strike
survivors that she finds. If you like to be scared I would recommend author Paul
Tremblay. This book, which is a very loved and worn copy as you can see, is "A Head
Full of Ghosts" which chronicles a family who is dealing with some strange
experiences in their home involving possession and exorcism it is a
wonderfully spooky read and I dare you to read it in the middle of the night.
One of my favorite recent non-fiction reads is "The Flip" subtitled "Epiphanies
of Mind and the Future of Knowledge" by Dr. Jeffrey Kripal. Now in this book he
is urging us to combine the sciences and the humanities in a more philosophical
way. He talks about the divide between these disciplines but he also talks a
lot in here about consciousness and spirituality and it's a wonderfully
philosophical look about the divide between these disciplines. Some other
favorite authors of mine are Sue Monk Kidd. She just came out with a book titled
"The Book of Longings" but she also wrote my personal favorite which is "The
Mermaid Chair". If you're into young adult literature, you will want to check out
the works of Shae Earnshaw. My favorite book by her is titled "The Wicked Deep",
which is set in a small coastal community that is plagued each summer by
the ghost of three young women who were drowned hundreds of years prior. They
come back to enact their vengeance on the town every summer and it is a
wonderful read and you do not have to be a teenager or a young adults to enjoy
young adult literature might I add. So these are just some of my favorite books
and some of my favorite authors and I hope you have enjoyed this short video.
Thank you.