Best Books of 2021 – Cleveland’s Recommended Reads for 2021 #BookDropsCLE

SO many lists at the end of the year! How do you decide what’s notable, best, award-winning, Top 10, or Top 100 list? List-making is inherently fraught with caveats and disappointments! “Why wasn’t XYZ on there!”  Genre books don’t necessarily make it on the “Best Books” of the year unless you’re specifically looking at “The Best Sci-Fi…” or “The Best Romance Titles of…” even…

Dream and Do! Find Inspiration at Maker Faire Cleveland

Cleveland Public Library hosts the greatest show-and-tell on Earth at the Great Lakes Science Center and throughout the Library system. Dream and do at the 9th annual Maker Faire Cleveland. Starting Monday, November 15, Cleveland Public Library will host FREE family-friendly events at the Great Lakes Science Center and throughout the Library system. All activities will lead up to the Maker Faire Cleveland…

Baggage Claim: Reading Garden Installation Celebrates New Beginnings

I often think of my kids when I think of progress. The idea of the future, of the possibility of something new happening, is what fascinates me about youth. I can see myself in them—I can see whole alternative ways of living. Artist Darius Steward Darius Steward’s Baggage Claim, in Search of New Beginnings, an installation embracing themes of identity,…

The Art of Speaking Up: Claudia Rankine Discusses Race and Whiteness in America

On July 24, Literary Cleveland’s 2021 Inkubator writing conference culminated in a keynote address from author Claudia Rankine, who discussed the power of engaging in conversation about race and whiteness in America. The event was moderated by ideastream reporter Shelli Reeves and presented by Cleveland Public Library. Rankine’s latest book, Just Us: An American Conversation, mines the conversations she had…

#BooksFromTheStacks: City Dog by Karla Kuskin

This week’s book from The Stacks is City Dog by Karla Kuskin. Published in 1994 by Clarion Books. A family from the city takes their dog on a trip to the country in this sweet rhyming story about getting out to the countryside. In beautiful pictures, watch the dog frolic and explore! Find this book and other books about cities,…