Category Archives: Book Reviews

Staff Pick: Boys Will Be Boys

libblog-BookReview4Pearlman, J. (2008). Boys will be boys: The glory days and party nights of the Dallas Cowboys dynasty. New York: HarperCollins.

Any Football fan will remember the dominance the early 1990’s Dallas Cowboys Team had in the National Football League.  I remember seeing the games and enjoying my favorite team beat teams like the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.  It was no surprise that the book Boys will be Boys by Jeff Pearlman about the Cowboys caught my attention.

Surprisingly some of the key players for the Cowboy’s Dynasty Team are living in shacks and working assembling line jobs to make ends meet.  Players like Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman are financially stable.  These three superstars have endorsement deals and work as football analyst for FOX, ESPN, and the N.F.L Network.  Other players were able to save money and make wise financial investments.

This book gives the reader an inside look at how fortunes were made and lost in the National Football League.   If you are a football fan and especially a Dallas Cowboys fan, you must take the time to read this Book.  (Click here to check for availability)

Contributed by Jesus Resendez, Library Specialist at the Mid-Valley Campus.

Movie showing: 14 Women for Women’s History Month

For Women’s History Month, the Pecan STC Library will be showing 14 WOMEN, a 2006 documentary about the historic 109th Congress that seated an unprecedented 14 women in the Senate.  The documentary describes each of their individual triumphs on how they overcame many barriers to be at the place they are right now. These women have made history and are setting examples to other women who wish to enter the political realm as well.

This film discusses how many Americans still are not aware that since the establishment of the U.S. Senate in 1789, there has been a total of thirty-eight woman who have fought and broken society norms by entering this specific segment of the public sphere. It amazes me that although the number of women in the Senate has slightly increased to seventeen right now, this is still a very small number compared to the men that make up the majority of the U.S. Senate.

Let us all do a favor to our generation and start motivating more women who have a passion to run for any type of public office! Let us make history by spreading the word!

The movie was directed by Mary Lambert, famed music video director, and features senators Barbara Boxer, Maria Cantwell, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Susan Collins, Elizabeth Dole, Dianne Feinstein, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln, Barbara Mikulski, Lisa Murkowski, Patty Murray, Olympia Snowe, and Debbie Stabenow.

Other movies showing for Women’s History Month:

Date   Time    Movie
Mar. 4   12:00 – 1:00 PM    Her Brilliant Career
Mar. 9   12:00 – 1:00 PM    Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for Change
Mar. 11   12:00 – 2:00 PM    Iron Jawed Angels
Mar. 25   12:00 – 1:30 PM    14 Women: the Historic 109th Congress

For a list of speakers for Women’s History Month presenting at STC this month, please visit: http://news.southtexascollege.edu/?p=1894

Contributed by Amy Gowarty, Library Specialist at the Pecan Campus.

Black History Month highlighted through Films

libblog-BookReview3For Black History Month, the Pecan Campus Library showed four films. They include Egalite for all: Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution, Prince Among Slaves, Citizen King, and Scottsboro: An American Tragedy.  (Check for availability by clicking on the title.)  All of these documentaries were amazing. It touched my heart when I saw how these historical figures fought to overcome oppression.

Through my educational years, my past school teachers and college professors repeatedly informed me about Martin Luther King. Due to this information, I automatically assumed that I had general knowledge of who he was and what he did for this country. I was wrong. Surprisingly, there were many of his speeches, marches, and events that I had not been aware about.

Citizen King gives a great outline of MLK’s last five years of his life (1963-1968) before he was assassinated, and his major events that impacted the United States. If you have an opportunity, you should check out this documentary at the Pecan Campus Library. It is very informative about one of the great leaders of the 20th century.

Contributed by Amy Gowarty, Library Specialist at the Pecan Campus.

Staff Pick: Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados

libblog-BookReview2Richardson, Chad. Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados: Class and Culture on the South Texas Border. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1999.

This easy-to-read and interesting book offers an excellent introduction to life in the Rio Grande Valley.  Using touching personal stories and statistical data gathered from numerous interviews and surveys; the author paints a detailed picture of society in Deep South Texas.  Topics such as the experiences of migrant workers, life in the colonias, Winter Texans, the history of Anglo-Hispanic relations in the Valley, and much more are covered.   Whether you’re a newcomer to the Valley (like me) or you’re a life-long Valley native I think you’ll find this to be an enjoyable and valuable read, that will enhance your understanding of this unique region.

Click here to check availability.

Contributed by Joshua Wallace, Reference Librarian at the Pecan Campus

Memory, choice, isolation, and suffering to be found in The Giver

From The Giver “He knew there was no quick comfort for emotions like those.”

libblog-BookReview1

The Giver brings to light the question: Are the trials and tribulations of life worth deeper knowledge of beauty and happiness?

Fans of authoritarian utopian society novels like 1984 and Brave New World will enjoy this different take on societal control and imprisonment. Citizens of the society within The Giver have given up knowledge of love, family, music, and even color so that they no longer have to experience war, jealousy, guilt, and fear. Even death’s place in society is replaced by a much more palatable perception of the event. The authoritarian imprisonment within The Giver takes a softer approach to societal control and the apparent contentment of its citizens, truly allows one to ponder the worth of freedom versus safety.

The Giver is an easy read. Written for a younger audience, the text is not too long or too literally complex. At the same time the novel is not shallow and provides the kind of thought provocation that one would expect from the best of philosophical text.

An excellent read for anyone without a lot of time, but a thirst for perspective.

To check availability click here: (http://lib.southtexascollege.edu/uhtbin/cgisirsi.exe/x/)/0/5?searchdata1=0395645662)

Contributed by Arnold Becho, Librarian at MidValley Campus.