Talking Book Topics November–December 2018 Volume 84, Number 6 Need help? Your local cooperating library is always the place to start. For general information and to order books, call 1-888-NLS-READ (1-888-657-7323) to be connected to your local cooperating library. To find your library, visit www.loc.gov/nls and select “Find Your Library.” To change your Talking Book Topics subscription, contact your local cooperating library. Get books fast from BARD Most books and magazines listed in Talking Book Topics are available to eligible readers for download on the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) site. To use BARD, contact your local cooperating library or visit nlsbard.loc.gov for more information. The free BARD Mobile app is available from the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon’s Appstore. About Talking Book Topics Talking Book Topics, published in audio, large print, and online, is distributed free to people unable to read regular print and is available in an abridged form in braille. Talking Book Topics lists titles recently added to the NLS collection. The entire collection, with hundreds of thousands of titles, is available at www.loc.gov/nls. Select “Catalog Search” to view the collection. Talking Book Topics is also online at www.loc.gov/nls/tbt and in downloadable audio files from BARD. Overseas Service American citizens living abroad may enroll and request delivery to foreign addresses by contacting the NLS Overseas Librarian by phone at (202) 707-9261 or by email at [email protected]. Page 1 of 89 Music scores and instructional materials NLS music patrons can receive braille and large-print music scores and instructional recordings through the NLS Music Section. To learn more, email [email protected], call 1-800-424-8567 ext. 2, or visit www.loc.gov/nls/music/index.html. Publication feedback? Share your thoughts about this publication by writing us at: NLS Communications and Outreach Section Library of Congress Washington, DC 20542 or email us at [email protected]. Library of Congress, Washington 2018 Catalog Card Number 60-46157 ISSN 0039-9183 Contents Talking Book Topics November–December 2018 Contents In Brief Books for Adults Adult Fiction Adventure Family Fantasy General Historical Fiction Holidays Human Relationships Humor Medical Themes Mystery and Detective Page 2 of 89 Occult and Horror Political Themes Religious Themes Romance Science Fiction Short Stories Spies and Espionage Sports and Recreation Suspense Westerns Adult Nonfiction Arts Astronomy Biography Business and Economics Computers Consumerism Cooking Crime Diet and Nutrition Education Family Folk and Fairy Tales Geography Government and Politics Home Management Humor Language Legal Issues Literature Page 3 of 89 Medicine and Health Nature and the Environment Psychology and Self-Help Religion Science and Technology Social Sciences Sports and Recreation Stage and Screen Travel U.S. History World History Books for Children Children’s Fiction Adventure Animals and Wildlife Family Fantasy Friendship Growing Up Historical Fiction Humor Mystery and Detective Scary Stories School Science Fiction Sports and Recreation Children's Nonfiction Adventure Animals and Wildlife Astronomy Page 4 of 89 Biography General History Nature and the Environment You and Your Body Foreign Language Books Español Audio Magazines In Brief Multi-book Cartridges? No Problem! NLS recently released an important revision to the software that controls the Digital Talking Book Machine (DTBM) or player. This much-anticipated update enables users to play multiple books sequentially on a cartridge without having to use the Bookshelf feature. A growing number of NLS network libraries are distributing cartridges with more than one book on them and if you subscribe to more than one audio magazine, you already receive cartridges that contain multiple titles. Most users love the convenience of having several books or magazines on a single cartridge, but not everyone is comfortable using the DTBM’s Bookshelf feature to navigate among titles. If you’re one of those people, then the new sequential-play feature may be just the thing! With the update installed, when you hear the player announce “End of book,” tap the play button to go to the next book or magazine. The updated software is included on all cartridges that contain multiple books or magazines and installs itself automatically when a cartridge is inserted into the DTBM. No action is required on the part of the user. The new feature makes it easy to play multiple books in sequence just by pressing a single button. For those who want more flexibility, standard Bookshelf mode will still work as before, allowing users to play multiple books in any order they wish. NLS on the Move: The latest on our new initiatives In July 2017, NLS launched a newsletter called NLS on the Move to keep the staff in our national network of cooperating libraries updated on the progress of pilot Page 5 of 89 projects and other new initiatives. Selections from this newsletter that may be of interest to NLS patrons are reprinted in Talking Book Topics and Braille Book Review. From NLS on the Move, originally published September 27, 2018 A big next step for the NLS eReader project Just as it has provided audio playback equipment since the 1930s, NLS has long been interested in providing an affordable, easy-to-use braille eReader to its patrons. In the summer of 2017, NLS took the first step toward achieving that goal when it partnered with Perkins Library to test the effectiveness of distributing digital braille files for use on eReaders. Now we are ready for the next step. NLS has a contract in place to purchase eReaders designed specifically to read NLS braille materials. Initially, NLS will purchase enough devices to conduct a pilot project with a few network libraries. The pilot will cover all aspects of acquisition, quality assurance, distribution, cleaning and maintenance, technical support, training, media distribution, and other relevant topics. We expect the pilot to last two years. NLS is able to move ahead with this exciting project thanks to a 2016 amendment to the 1931 Pratt-Smoot Act—the NLS authorizing legislation—that now allows it to provide playback equipment in all formats, not just audio. A report by the Government Accountability Office recommended that Congress make that change. * * * Dystopian fiction Recently, there has been increased interest in dystopian fiction. Classic dystopian novels have reappeared on bestseller lists and have been made into TV series and movies. More dystopian series have also become popular in young adult literature. A dystopia is defined by Oxford’s English Dictionary as “An imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic.” Novels tend to fall into two categories: one where society is in a state of chaos and collapse or one in which everything is under the control of a specific agency or government. Following is a short list of both enduring novels and 21st-century classics in the genre. Animal Farm (BR20910, DB38959) by George Orwell Page 6 of 89 An allegorical political satire of communism in which the animals on a farm overthrow their master and live a utopian life until the intelligent pigs take over and one establishes himself as dictator. 1945. Brave New World (BR11922, DB47108) by Aldous Huxley A satire set in a future technocratic society in which people are rigidly classified by the state and kept happy by a government-administered drug. When two bureaucrats, Lenina and Bernard, travel to a "savage" reservation, they "rescue" a woman and her adult son, abandoned long ago, and return them to civilization. For senior high and older readers. 1932. A Clockwork Orange (BR18284, DB15213) by Anthony Burgess A teenage hooligan named Alex, who uses a dialect known as "nadsat," roams the streets of London randomly terrorizing people. He is arrested and subjected to corrective brainwashing at the hands of government psychologist Dr. Brodsky— with unanticipated results. Basis for Stanley Kubrick's film. Violence and some strong language. 1962. Divergent (DB73203) by Veronica Roth In a future Chicago, society is divided into five factions. During the Choosing Ceremony, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must pick her lifelong faction. But Beatrice discovers she is an anomaly—a divergent—who does not fit anywhere. Some violence and some strong language. For senior high and older readers. 2011. [Disponible en español como Divergente (DB79961)] Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (BR14247, DB54649) by Philip K. Dick In the year 2021 Rick Deckard is employed on a dying Earth as a bounty hunter. He seeks androids that look like humans and destroys them. Basis for the 1982 movie Blade Runner. 1968. Fahrenheit 451 (BR15332, DB34963) by Ray Bradbury Social satire set in the future, when owning or reading books is a crime. Guy Montag, the fireman-hero, becomes a fugitive when he succumbs to temptation. Some strong language. 1953. [Disponible en español como Fahrenheit 451 (DB67981)] The Handmaid's Tale (BR11911, DB24695) by Margaret Atwood Page 7 of 89 In the future the United States of America is the Republic of Gilead, a fundamentalist Christian theocracy. To reverse the declining birthrate, women are forcibly recruited to the ranks of Handmaids and are assigned to the Commanders of the Faithful, whose wives are barren. Explicit descriptions of sex and some strong language. Bestseller. 1986. The Hunger Games (BR18488, DB68384) by Suzanne Collins In a future North America, Panem's rulers maintain control through a televised survival competition pitting teens from twelve districts in a fight to the death. Sixteen-year-olds Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are this year's girl and boy contestants from District Twelve. Some violence. For junior and senior high readers.