Litsy

The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne | Chris Sweeney

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This outstanding book chronicles the life and work of Roxie Laybourne, a woman who was just trying to do work she loved. She had a knack for taxidermy and was hired by the Smithsonian (unpaid for a while, of course) and found she was especially good at birds. This segued into her pioneering a way to ID bird species from airplane bird strikes. I can‘t emphasize how good this book is—amazing woman with fantastic writing.

MallenNC I just got this book. Roxie Laybourne is an alumna of the college where I work, so the author let us know it was coming out. I‘m glad more people will be aware of her through this book. 4mo

Hooked_on_books @MallenNC What a cool connection! I love seeing people who have really made a mark being elevated, especially women and people of color who were often treated so badly. And the author is a white guy! Which is very cool, as he clearly has a deep respect for Roxie. 4mo

MallenNC @Hooked_on_books Yes, I connected with him to do a story on the book, and it was clear he was a big fan of Roxie. Here‘s the story I did: https://www.meredith.edu/news/new-book-focuses-on-trailblazing-meredith-alumna/ 4mo

Hooked_on_books @MallenNC Great article! And bravo to your archivist for going above and beyond to help him get the book to happen! 4mo

48 likes4 stack adds4 comments

MallenNC

The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne | Chris Sweeney

Excited to read these new nonfiction books. The Feather Detective is about an alumna of Meredith College (where I work) and her pioneering work as a forensic expert on feathers. The other is narrative nonfiction that was featured this week on The Stacks podcast and it sounded right up my alley.

26 likes1 stack add

Abe

How to Build a Museum: Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture | Tonya Bolden

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How to build a museum is the best book on how you can build enthusiasm for museums I have ever read!

13 likes

Schwifty

Hope Diamond: The Legendary History of a Cursed Gem | Richard Kurin

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Kurin has two objectives: One is to trace the history of the gem, from its acquisition by Tavernier (I‘m related to him which is partly why I read the book) through its time in royal French and British circles to its transfer to the United States and its gifting to the Smithsonian. The second objective is to dispel the claims of a curse affecting the Hope‘s owners and explore the story of how the the curse claim evolved over the 20th century.

3 likes

GatheringBooks

The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet: A Novel | Reif Larsen

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#ArtfulAugust Day 1: This one definitely #IncludesAMap. I don‘t know if it is because the protagonist is a young science genius and brilliant mapmaker that made me appreciate the novel, despite its daunting thickness. I find myself naturally gravitating towards stories of outliers, particularly those in the farthest-high-end of the bell curve. My review: https://wp.me/pDlzr-7rA

Eggs, Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I love a book with a map 🗺 3y

Eggs Love the visuals❣️ 3y

44 likes2 comments

wisherwishinguponastar

My Washington, DC | Kathy Jakobsen

Weekend trip that has been filled with good food and museums! I managed to find a kindred spirit at the National Art Museum. #washingtondc #smithsonian

15 likes

Abe

How to Build a Museum: Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture | Tonya Bolden

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Great children‘s book about the creation of the African American history museum!

7 likes

rambiepaige

America's Art: Masterpieces from the Smithsonian American Art Museum | Theresa J. Slowik

I love that I figured out my library loans out coffee table books. This is a painting of my Ohio River, no wonder I was drawn to it! ☺️

wanderinglynn Beautiful painting 5y

Chelsea.Poole I live right on the Ohio River! Sometimes I forget to appreciate the amazing views. 5y

rambiepaige @Chelsea.Poole oh that‘s awesome! My hometown is on the river and I used to stare out the window in high school and think about how much I‘d rather be swimming 😄 5y

15 likes3 comments

mhillis

A Fool's Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture During the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump | Lonnie G. Bunch, III

#NovelNovember Update
🍁 Read The Last Story of Mina Lee. I wanted to know what was going to happen so I read this quickly!
🍁 Finished A Fool‘s Errand. This is such an interesting look into all aspects of creating the NMAAHC: staff, donors, artifacts, events, curators, architects, politicians, etc. I was moved by the founding director‘s stories and hard work in making this museum a reality.

Andrew65

ValerieAndBooks Looks interesting, stacking. I hope to visit next time I‘m in DC. The building had just opened the last time I was there. 5y

MallenNC I am definitely stacking the tagged book. My family and I went to the museum last year and it was a moving experience. And so well curated. 5y

Andrew65 Well done 👏👏👏 5y

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mhillis @MallenNC I would love to visit there one day! 5y

mhillis @Andrew65 Thank you 🌟 5y

MallenNC @mhillis I hope to go back. It was more to take in than one visit allowed. 5y

mhillis @ValerieAndBooks Hope you enjoy it!! 5y

mhillis @MallenNC It said in the book that people stay in the museum a long time. And the cafe is award winning too. I recently learned that Carla Hall is a culinary ambassador there! 5y

Crazeedi Merry Christmas Mary! 5y

mhillis @Crazeedi Merry Christmas!!🎄 5y

42 likes2 stack adds10 comments