THIS WEEK IN MAY

HOT BOOKS

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  WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens With her background as a wildlife scientist and skills as a writer, Owens is able to mentally and emotionally transport us to the marshes of the North Carolina coast where we meet Kya, first as a young girl abandoned by her mother and siblings, and eventually by her father. She learns to survive and, in her own way, thrive in the often harsh but inviting natural world away from civilization. When two young men enter into her self-imposed isolated environment, she wonders if she can trust human connections. And if she does, where will it lead?

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  THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN by Lisa See Set on the Korean Island of Jeju, we entered into the world of families often headed by women who support their families through the daring and dangerous work of unaided sea diving. With just face masks, fins, nets, weights, a cutting tool and confidence in their own lung capacity and swimming skills, these women, known as Haenyeo, harvest sea creatures to feed their families and provide a livelihood for them. Set into this world are two girls from very different backgrounds working at the all-female diving collective. We follow their friendship and challenges over the decades and learn about the Korean culture of that era… spanning from the Japanese colonialism of 1930s and 1940s, World War II, and the Korean War to modern day.

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  BRAVING THE WILDERNESS by Brene Brown, PhD, LMSW Dr. Brown asserts that we long for “belonging,” and she explains what that means. We all want to belong to something larger than ourselves. It appears to be a primal instinct, one that pushes us to fit in and seek approval. But is that really what is good for us? She makes the case that true belonging only happens “when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world; our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.” We are not called to change who we are in order to belong, but to bring our true self to the larger group and thereby enhance it by our diversity and unique contribution.

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  LESSONS FROM LUCY: The Simple Joys of an Old Happy Dog by Dave Barry You may think you’ll laugh a lot when you read this book, and you will, because Dave is a much-loved humorist and humor inhabits his work, but this book offers much more than copious chuckles. In his effort to discover what causes outrageous and indefatigable joy in his dog Lucy, he simultaneously observes what causes joy in people. It is that message of cultivating joy, even in difficult times, that he shares with the reader.
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