FCPL Curated Content: My Perfect Read: Laurel Tacoma

Laurel Tacoma

Laurel Tacoma in her study, surrounded by books.

I love talking about books! The more you work with books, the more you realize just how many are out there. I love finding and sharing hidden gems and connecting people to a title they might never have realized was available.

I always liked Victorian literature for its melodrama and restraint, and I’ve loved it since middle school. I’m fascinated by psychology and the mind. I enjoy lighthearted reads too which plays well with my sense of humor. I also love music and play the piano but if I may paraphrase Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice: My fingers do not move over the instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women’s do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault — because I would not take the trouble of practicing.

My favorite genre to discuss — though it’s difficult to choose — is LGBT fiction: Anything by Alison Bechdel (of Bechdel Test fame, though she feels that’s been misattributed to her, since one of her friends came up with it); The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee; Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson. For Victorian fiction, I love Arthur Conan Doyle to bits. I also love The Woman in White and Bleak House. Anything Jane Austen (Gregorian, but on the cusp of Victorian lit!).

Genres of Interest:

Victorian fiction
LGBT
business
pop science
microhistories
psychology
neuroscience

In no particular order and grouped by genre:

Victorian Fiction

The entirety of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collines
Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Bleak House by Charles Dickens

LGBT

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee
Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America by Rachel Hope Cleves

Business

Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time by Bill McGowan
Lean In by Sheryl Sandburg
Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman
Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers by Jay Baer
Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity by David Whyte
Never Eat Alone: and Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi
Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy
Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip Heath

Pop science

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean
And Then You're Dead by Cody Cassidy and Paul Doherty
The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach

Psychology

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
The Person and the Situation by Lee Ross and Richard E. Nisbett
Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman and Ram Brafman
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Neuroscience

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker
In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Eric R. Kandel
Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind by V. S. Ramachandran
The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge
Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping by Robert Sapolsky

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
ISBN: 9780385539258
Publication Date: 2015-03-10
When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor, JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their center of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he'll not only be unable to overcome--but that will define his life forever.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
ISBN: 9780062060624
Publication Date: 2012-08-28
"Mary Renault lives again!" declares Emma Donoghue, author of Room, referring to The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller's thrilling, profoundly moving, and utterly unique retelling of the legend of Achilles and the Trojan War. A tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart, The Song of Achilles is a dazzling literary feat that brilliantly reimagines Homer's enduring masterwork, The Iliad. An action-packed adventure, an epic love story, a marvelously conceived and executed page-turner, Miller's monumental debut novel has already earned resounding acclaim from some of contemporary fiction's brightest lights--and fans of Mary Renault, Bernard Cornwell, Steven Pressfield, and Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series will delight in this unforgettable journey back to ancient Greece in the Age of Heroes.
Contagious by Jonah Berger
ISBN: 9781451686579
Publication Date: 2013-03-05
Contagious combines groundbreaking research with powerful stories. Learn how a luxury steakhouse found popularity through the lowly cheese-steak, why anti-drug commercials might have actually increased drug use, and why more than 200 million consumers shared a video about one of the seemingly most boring products there is: a blender. If you've wondered why certain stories get shared, e-mails get forwarded, or videos go viral, Contagious explains why, and shows how to leverage these concepts to craft contagious content. This book provides a set of specific, actionable techniques for helping information spread--for designing messages, advertisements, and information that people will share. Whether you're a manager at a big company, a small business owner trying to boost awareness, a politician running for office, or a health official trying to get the word out, Contagious will show you how to make your product or idea catch on.
Pitch Perfect by Bill McGowan
ISBN: 9780062273222
Publication Date: 2014-04-01
Saying the right thing the right way can make the difference between sealing the deal or losing the account, getting a promotion, or getting a pink slip. It's essential to be pitch perfect--to get the right message across to the right person at the right time. In Pitch Perfect, Bill McGowan shows you how to craft the right message and deliver it using the right language--both verbal and nonverbal.

In my job as the branch manager at the Thomas Jefferson branch my hours vary. You can usually find me during weekdays and every other Saturday. I'm usually quick to respond and eager to get back to you, so reach out!

I'd like to help you find your perfect read, so please complete the Let's Get Started form, and I will be in touch!

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