Shelf Help
Staff from your Monroe County Public Library recommend some of their favorites from the collection.
What: “On Juneteenth” by Annette Gordon-Reed
Why: Black history is American history, and vice versa – and few writers make that more clear than Annette Gordon-Reed, the Harvard law professor who won a Pulitzer for her book “The Hemingses of Monticello.” More recently, as Juneteenth was recognized as a public holiday, she wrote a book explaining the origins of that celebration. In this slim volume, she also explores the history of Texas, which goes beyond the cowboys and oilmen of popular imagination. Gordon-Reed is from Texas, where her family goes way back, so the book is also something of a memoir. Gordon’s straightforward prose makes the delivery of the events she’s recounting even more powerful. There’s no doubt this lawyer-historian has her facts down, even if they are facts that have been ignored or denied through most of our history. I learned a lot from this relatively short book, about Texas and America and Annette Gordon-Reed. It’s kind of like taking a college seminar with an especially gifted and generous professor. And lucky for us, no exam at the end.
Where: This is available as a print book, e-book and e-audiobook from the Monroe County Public Library system.
How: You can request books online by logging in to your account keyslibraries.org and get e-books and e-audiobooks 24/7 at estuff.keyslibraries.org. If you don’t have a card, you can visit your local branch or register online to get one. Questions? info@keyslibraries.org
Recommended by: Nancy Klingener, community affairs managerSee previous recommendations at keyslibraries.org/shelf-help.
