Author: alamancelibraries

“Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It” by David M. Ewalt; Scribner (288 pages, $26).

Published in 2013 in celebration of D&D’s 5^th Edition, David Ewalt’s Of Dice and Men is a deep dive into the classic fantasy tabletop roleplaying game and cultural phenomena that is known as Dungeons & Dragons.

In Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), players form an adventuring party to explore grand fantasy worlds together, embark on epic quests, loot lost treasures, and level up. The Dungeon Master (DM) is the game’s referee and storyteller. There’s no winning or losing in D&D, at least, not in the conventional way. D&D focuses on storytelling, the dice rolls just help you along. Everything is the player’s decision, from how they look, to how they act, to what happens next. The collective creativity in a D&D game builds stories that players will tell again and again—ranging from the stuff of legend to absurd incidents that’ll make them laugh years later.

From D&D’s creation in 1974 by American boardgame designers Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson, to the copyright battles with J.R.R. Tolkien and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, to the game’s rise to fame and influence in modern pop culture, books, video games, and films, Ewalt has done a fantastic job encapsulating the gargantuan cultural impact of Dungeons & Dragons into a single book of just under 300 pages.

Along the way, Ewalt happily regales the reader with his own experiences playing Dungeons & Dragons from both his childhood as well as his ongoing man-child years. Of Dice and Men easily doubles as a memoir of Ewalt’s time with D&D. I greatly enjoyed hearing about his epic and amusing D&D adventures, both those that occurred in the game and those that occurred in real life because of the game.

My one critique of the book would be that while Ewalt does a generally excellent job of summarizing the many topics of D&D’s long and complicated history, there are some missed opportunities for flushing out the more complex or controversial topics that would have been of great interest to long time D&D players and outsiders alike. My guess is that since the book was published as a celebration of D&D’s latest edition of rulebooks, the author wished to paint the game in a positive light overall without dragging out any of D&D’s skeletons in the closet for discussion, such as how Gary Gygax lost the creative rights to his own creation.

That being said, Of Dice and Men is still a great read full of fun facts you probably never knew! Ewalt’s writing style is easy on the eyes and flows well from topic to topic. Whether you’ve played D&D for years or never rolled dice in your life, this book remains a great overview of Dungeons and Dragons, as well as a study of how this simple game of dice and imagination wonderfully infects every form of media it touches.

David M. Ewalt is an award-winning journalist and author widely regarded as an expert on the intersection of technology and gaming. He currently works as the Editor in Chief of Gizmodo, a news website for design, technology, science and science fiction. Previously he was an editor at The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, and has written for a wide range of media outlets including The Wall Street Journal and New York magazine.

Donavon Anderson is a reference library assistant at May Memorial Library. He can be reached at danderson@alamancelibraries.org.

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Other Birds is a wonderfully written story by Sarah Addison Allen. Her quirky, magical tales are always a delight to read.

When Zoey arrives on Mallow Island, South Carolina, she feels both like she’s come home and like she’s an outsider who doesn’t belong anywhere. Her mother emigrated from Cuba many years ago, and landed on Mallow Island, South Carolina. When she married, she and her husband lived in the South for a few years, until he lost his job and decided they would move back to where his family lived in the Midwest.

Zoey’s mother brought her back to Mallow Island a few times before she passed away, when Zoey was only 7. She remembers very little about her visits to Mallow Island as a young child, but now that she is 18 and headed to the College of Charleston, she is glad to have her mother’s apartment to live in during the summer and on school breaks. She doesn’t have a great relationship with her father or her stepmother, who was all too excited to turn Zoey’s room into a crafting space.

The apartment is the loft unit at The Dellawisp, a small complex of apartments hidden off a side street. The dellawisps (birds) fly everywhere, and seem to communicate with the manager, Frasier. The other apartments house a chef, an artist, two middle-aged sisters who don’t talk to each other, and a bevy of ghosts. When a tragedy occurs at The Dellawisp, the other residents slowly begin connecting with each other. It turns out Zoey is the breath of fresh air they all needed to move on and exorcise the ghosts in their lives, and they’re the family that Zoey has always needed to support and celebrate her.

I really adore the way Allen writes, and her take on magical realism. Her books feel both grounded in Southern culture and alive with magic and fantasy. Maybe that’s less of a contradiction than it should be, given that the South is a place where ancestors are kept alive through their descendants’ storytelling. Allen’s characters, too, feel both familiar and unique, like someone you’d run into at the corner drugstore and want to follow home because they’re just a little different and therefore fascinating to you.

If you love this book (and her other novels), I highly suggest you follow Allen on social media. Most Sundays, she shares short short stories and invites others to comment and continue the story. They are entertaining to read, and encourage us all to flex our creativity muscles.

“Legends & Lattes,” by Travis Baldree. Copyright 2022, Cryptid Press (305 pages, $12.00).

Picture this: You’re sitting at home, reading your fantasy novel, and it ends. Do you ever ask yourself, “What about after? What happens next for those beloved characters that are always in high-stakes scenarios?”

In his debut novel Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree answers this very question. Enter Viv, a mercenary who is wanting to do one final job, get that big pay out, and then retire to a quiet place and open up her own coffee shop. Once she’s retired (she literally hangs up her sword), Viv moves on and settles in the town of Thune, where she converts an old livery into the town’s first coffee shop, and tries her best to just immerse herself in the simple life, a tall order for the tall orc. Viv befriends other “outcasts,” like Calamity, the hard working and genius hobs; Tandri, the misunderstood succubi; Thimble, the pastry chef extraordinaire rattkin; and Pendry, the farmhand who just wants to become the bard he was born to be. With every one of Viv’s new friendships, her shop begins to flourish – from kitchen expansions, to new pastries, and even an open mic night! Don’t think that this novel of high fantasy and low stakes doesn’t have its trials though. Viv has to figure out how to run a new business for a market that didn’t know they needed a coffee shop (and were apprehensive at first), all while working around a corrupt government system in her town that wants to collect extra taxes from the top of her funds.

This cozy-fantasy book has opened a new genre to me that is only continuing to grow. Who wouldn’t love a “normal” kind of life but where magic and creatures roam? If you love this idea too, then put Legends & Lattes on hold with your library card!

Kayleigh Dyer is a library technical processing assistant at May Memorial Library. Contact her at kdyer@alamancelibraries.org.

“Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life” by Jordan B. Peterson; Portfolio (432 pages, $29).

Published in 2021, Beyond Order is an engaging self-help book by the bestselling author and YouTube sensation Jordan B. Peterson, a renowned Canadian Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. Beyond Order is a follow up to his prior book, 12 Rules for Life, and is meant to be read as a sequel, but it remains perfectly capable of being an insightful read all by itself. After all, you should not be afraid to go beyond the order of things. Ba dum tss.

With decades of scientific expertise and professional experience under his belt, Dr. Peterson set out to give psychological advice in written form that would help his readers understand the hardships of being human, and how we may better confront them. While 12 Rules for Life focused on 12 guiding rules meant to help its readers identify and recover their sense of self-determination from the chaos that may manifest in our lives, Beyond Order instead focuses on how its readers can learn to let their guard down in order to face their fears, and go fourth to engage in life’s many disorderly challenges despite the risks involved.

While no book can truly prepare its readers for the various catastrophes life has in store for us, Peterson has done an excellent job in offering direction and guidance to those who need it, as well as providing deep, meaningful psychological insights on the emotional secrets of the human mind. You’ll feel one step closer to being a psychologist yourself by the time you finish this book, likely to walk away with a better understanding of how we humans emotionally operate.

Ultimately, the goal of Peterson’s writings is not mere psychological analysis, but to give his readers the tools to better understand and prioritize their own desires in order to pursue them in a healthy, meaningful way. Peterson explains that no matter how we choose to spend our life, we will find it laced with burdens of one variety or another. With that being the case, he suggests our best bet for obtaining personal happiness is to head-on tackle the largest burden we can carry and to drag it with us with all the ferocity of a parent lifting an overturned car to save their child.

While we certainly can’t solve all of our own problems, Peterson recommends his readers tackle as many of their own problems as they can manage, especially before trying to tackle grand problems of the world beyond their own life. He suggests the process of organizing our own life in a way that orients us towards our desires can begin with something as simple as cleaning our own bedroom. He insists that we must be our own best caretaker whenever possible, to care for ourselves with as much enthusiasm and elbow grease as we would provide for a sickly loved one, which entails cleaning up our own messes.

Peterson always dots his life lessons with meaningful anecdotes and real-life examples of the various topics his book explores. These can originate from himself, his friends, his family, or one of the many unnamed clients from his decades of clinical psychology. Animal psychology, cultural stories, sociology, and neuroscience make guest appearances too. We’ve more in common with our pets than you may think!

I’d definitely recommend Beyond Order to just about anyone. Even if you would self-identify as the happiest person on earth, Dr. Peterson’s psychological insights are just too nifty and useful to pass up.

Jordan Peterson remains a Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. His main areas of study are the psychology of religious and ideological belief, and the assessment and improvement of personality and performance. His YouTube videos and podcasts have gathered an audience of hundreds of millions worldwide, and his global book tour reached more than a quarter million people in major cities across the globe. Alongside his students and colleagues, he has published over one hundred scientific papers, and his 1999 book Maps of Meaning revolutionized the psychology of religion. He currently lives in Toronto, Ontario with his family.

Donavon Anderson is a reference library assistant at May Memorial Library. He can be reached at danderson@alamancelibraries.org.

“The High House” by Jessie Greengrass.  New York: Simon & Schuster, 2021.  255 pages, $27.00

 “The High House” is the story of British teenager Caroline “Caro” who must cope with caring for her young half-sibling Pauly in the environmental disaster aftermath of global warming that leaves the two orphaned and living atop at remote coastal summer home that the great flood has not yet invaded.  Caro is aided in her task by local twentysomething Sal, a diligent farm homemaker who has been brought up in comparative austerity by her capable elderly grandfather Grandy.

Caro’s stepmother is renowned environmental activist Francesca who births Pauly late in life and then spends his first 5-years preparing for the environmental apocalypse. Unbeknownst to Caro, who is 14 years old when her brother is born, her parent and stepparent have been making survivalist preparations to retreat to a coastal summer home high atop the cliffs as global weather becomes increasingly erratic.

After a disastrous weather event on the US east coast that kills both parents, 19-year-old Caro makes an arduous journey to the coastal stronghold, sometimes carrying her little brother on her back.  She finds that her parents have laid in years of supplies in anticipation of worldwide disaster and added amenities including a tide pool, a mill, a greenhouse, a vegetable garden, and lots of self-contained elements for sustainable living. She is met by Sal and her grandfather Grandy, who have been engaged to help the two embark on a life sans civilization.

After just months, the very tenuous fishing village near the High House has been abandoned and the last remaining local denizen is an elderly vicar who sometimes entertains pilgrims or climate refugees at sporadic church services.  Caro is troubled by her failure to assist the rapidly dwindling population and goes on solitary runs in the vicinity of their house to deal with survivor guilt.

The entire family remnant is devastated when the final high water arrives and patriarch Grandy collapses from illness and the church is deserted for good.  This novel touches on themes of isolation, family responsibility, personal good versus societal good, and what human reaction should be in the face of extinction.  This is the second novel for author Jessie Greengrass, who lives in Northumberland England and has written a previous novel and a critically acclaimed short story collection. 

“The High House” is a beautiful novel about going into the great unknown with hope, poise, and aplomb.  It stands with “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy as an intimation of the various trajectories that might arise when “the last one standing turns off the lights”.

Lisa Kobrin is the Reference and Local History Librarian at Alamance County Public Libraries. She can be reached at lkobrin@alamancelibraries.org.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis J. Hall. New York, NY. Forever. 2022.

            A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall is a dashing regency romance that follows Viola Carrol after she is presumed dead at the battle of Waterloo. This “death” allows Viola to reinvent herself and live the life as the woman she always knew she was, but it is also means giving up everything she knew and loved. In her disappearance, Viola loses her wealth, her title, her inheritance, and all her friends. Viola believes this is a loss she suffers alone until word reaches her of closest companion, the Duke of Gracewood. Like Viola, Gracewood was changed by the battle of Waterloo. He was left crippled with terrible PTSD, believing Viola to be truly dead and her death to be his fault. Viola longs to go to Gracewood and help him, but revealing herself to be alive with a new identity could destroy everything she has built and sacrificed for. Can these friends make a fresh start, meeting each other again and finally seeing each other fully so their friendship can, perhaps, become something more?

            Do not let this summary fool you; while A Lady for a Duke tackles serious themes, it also has everything we know and love from a regency romance. Gracewood brings his sister for her debut in London, surprising Viola there. The book describes lavish balls, longing glances, new fashions in lady’s embroidery, and love embodied in a private dance.

            In the spirit of Jane Austen, the side characters in A Lady for a Duke shine. Meddling though well-meaning relatives interrupt situations where they do not belong. Insidious social climbers get their comeuppances. Evil dukes swagger with swishing mustaches and Shakespearean references. More importantly, all these characters speak with their own memorable voices, their roles underlined with humor and wit even in the direst circumstances of the book, adding to the ambience and enjoyment of this escapist romance.

            Unlike more classical fare, A Lady for a Duke is not afraid to mix regency romance with modern sensibilities. The novel’s characters curse. The book contains a sex scene. A Lady for a Duke revolves around LGBTQ+ issues and uses the backdrop of the regency era to question the healthiness of fixed gender roles. If these topics offend you, turn back now, but if you loved Netflix’s Bridgerton or the 2020 movie adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, this book is for you.

            Alexis Hall’s A Lady for a Duke is an unexpected regency romance, but nonetheless a delightful one. Heartfelt and swoon-worthy, it introduces readers to flawed, but lovable characters who, through sword fights, kidnappings, and masquerade balls, must learn that it is only through loving, trusting relationships of all kinds that they can become the best and truest versions of themselves.

Rebecca Mincher is a Children’s Library Assistant at the Graham Public Library. She can be reached at rzimmerman@alamancelibraries.org.