Ebook of the Week - Christmas in America: A History

Restad, Penne L.  Christmas in America: A History.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

In Christmas in America, Penne Restad reveals that Christmas has always been an ambiguous meld of sacred thoughts
and worldly actions, as well as a reflection of our changing society. In these 240 pages, Restad captures the rise and transformation of our most universal national holiday.  Christmas was sometimes solemn, sometimes wildly social -- and sometimes not celebrated at all. Virginians hunted, danced, and feasted, city dwellers flooded the streets in raucous demonstrations, and Puritan New Englanders denounced the whole affair. Restad shows that as times changed, Christmas changed--but it always grew in popularity.

In the early 1800s, New York served as an epicenter of the newly emerging holiday, drawing on its roots as a Dutch colony (St. Nicholas was particularly popular in the Netherlands, even after the Reformation), and aided by such men as Washington Irving. In 1822, another New Yorker named Clement Clarke Moore penned a poem now known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," virtually inventing the modern Santa Claus. Well-to-do townspeople displayed a German novelty, the decorated fir tree, in their parlors; an enterprising printer discovered the money to be made from Christmas cards; and a hodgepodge of year-end celebrations began to coalesce around December 25 and the figure of Santa. The homecoming significance of the holiday increased with the Civil War, and by the end of the nineteenth century a full- fledged national holiday had materialized, forged out of borrowed and invented custom alike, and driven by a passion for gift-giving. By the twentieth century, Christmas had  seeped into every niche of our conscious and unconscious lives to become a festival of epic proportions. Restad carries the story through to our own time, revealing the inescapable presence, and ambiguous meaning, of Christmas in contemporary culture.

Previewed by John Breitmeyer.  Click here to read the book.

Ebook of the Week - Christmas at the Movies: Images of Christmas in American, British and European Cinema.

Connelly, Mark, ed. Christmas at the Movies: Images of Christmas in American, British and European Cinema. London: I. B. Tauris, 2001.  

Love or hate it, Christmas has always played a special role in the cinema, and Christmas movies like "It’s a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street" have assumed a special place in popular affections; by now, they almost constitute a cinematic mini-genre. Cinematic representations of Christmas, as Connelly points out in his introduction, have had a global impact, but resonate especially in Western, Christian societies. So, what does Christmas in the movies mean to societies across the Anglo-Saxon and European world, and what does it have to say about them? The eleven contributors to this book take a good look at popular Christmas films, decoding the messages they convey about Christmas-related preoccupations and attitudes internationally and about the different societies that produce them.

Previewed by John Breitmeyer.  Click here to read the book.

Ebook of the Week - Trader Joe’s Adventure: Turning a Unique Approach to Business into a Retail and Cultural Phenomenon

Lewis, Len. Trader Joe’s Adventure: Turning a Unique Approach to Business into a Retail and Cultural Phenomenon Chicago : Dearborn Trade Pub., 2005.


In Trader Joe’s Adventure, Lewis outlines the unlikely success story of Trader Joe’s, a chain of grocery stores which offers gourmet food and beverages at moderate prices. Since the chain’s inception in the 1970s, Trader Joe’s has steadily grown a loyal, almost cult-like following due to its ability to differentiate itself from competitors. Lewis analyzes the various factors that have contributed to this success, from maintaining a strong business philosophy and corporate culture to knowing the customer and placing the utmost importance on employee satisfaction. Each chapter focuses on a different innovative strategy used by Trader Joe’s to keep customers coming back. This is an entertaining look into a wildly successful business model.

Previewed by Rosie Hanneke.  Click here to read the book.

Ebook of the Week - Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday

Baker, James W.  Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday  Durham, N.H.: University of New Hampshire Press, 2009.

The origins and history of this distinctly American holiday are a great deal more complex than many people realize. The popular conception of the day as a commemoration of a 1621 al fresco dinner where Pilgrims and their Native American guests peacefully celebrated a successful harvest after a very difficult first winter is only a small part of the story. Thanksgiving actually had its origins as a Puritan holy day that predated Pilgrim migration to North America. At first it was celebrated only in New England, but by the late 18th century had been established as a national holiday. Still, it was not associated with the 1621 dinner until the rediscovery in 1840 of a 1622 booklet called Mourt’s Relation that described the Pilgrim/Indian feast. Nevertheless, this image of Thanksgiving did not really take hold until the early 20th century; in fact, some popular depictions from the Victorian era showed the colonists being attacked by their indigenous neighbors while trying to eat their Thanksgiving dinner. Baker is uniquely qualified to write this fascinating account: he grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts, worked as a teenager on the Mayflower II, and has been the research librarian at Plimoth Plantation since 1975. He traces the evolution of the holiday up to the present, bringing in cultural ramifications and the latter-day protests by Native American groups.

Previewed by Jack Ray.  Click here to read the book.

Thanksgiving Holiday Library Hours

Ebook of the Week - African-American Actresses: The Struggle for Visibility 1900-1960

Regester, Charlene. African-American Actresses: The Struggle for Visibility 1900-1960. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010.

Through a look at nine African-American actresses from 1900-1960, Regester explores how mainstream Hollywood movies characterized them as shadow figures designed to illuminate the lead white actress. She examines how the actresses perceived these representations and how it affected their lives off-screen. Particular attention is paid to coverage of these actresses in both mainstream and African-American media outlets. 

Previewed by Danielle Johnson.  Click here to read the book.

Ebook of the Week - When Janey Comes Marching Home: Portraits of Women Combat Veterans.

Browder, Laura. When Janey Comes Marching Home: Portraits of Women Combat Veterans. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.

Browder and photographer Sascha Pflaeging provide a compelling portrait of 52 female veterans from various combat units who were deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and neighboring regions in recent years. In her introduction, Browder explores the evolution of roles that women have played in the military dating back to the Revolutionary War and raises some potentially unsettling questions about the incompatibility of “mommyhood” and military service, the various stereotypes with which female soldiers are routinely confronted, and the physical and psychological perils of service that are, arguably, unique to women. Each chapter begins with a brief synthesis of the interviews relevant to the chapter subject, followed by interview excerpts and photographs of the veterans. The inclusion of Pflaeging’s photos helps to personalize the narratives even further, although the quality of the photos is not always consistent. Throughout the book, the juxtaposition of accounts of brutal sexism with expressions of empowerment and accomplishment consistently defy easy conclusions about women in the military. Overall, an illuminating and thought-provoking read. 

Previewed by Jennie Ray.  Click here to read the book.