Did you know that open educational resources (OER) can be more than simply textbooks? Many people think of a textbook, that standard tool for teaching and learning, when they think of OER. But did you know that OER can be much more than just textbooks? There are great many ancillary resources available as OER as well, and the depth and variety of what’s available is only growing.
Summer is here, exams are finished, and now you need an excellent book to bring to the beach or read while lounging in front of the AC on a hot day. My goal this summer is to read two new books, but whether your goal is one or one hundred, here are some recommendations from Touro Libraries to get you started!
Contemporary Fiction
The Glass Hotel, Emily St. John
This novel follows Paul and Vincent, two friends working at a hotel in Vancouver as they are embroiled in the collapse of an international Ponzi scheme.
Available from TC Kew Gardens Hills
A Funny Kind of Paradise, Jo Owens
“When her husband left her with a baby, a toddler, and a fledgling business, Francesca managed – she wasn’t always gentle or patient, but the business thrived and Chris and Angelina had food to eat. At nearly 70, she feels she’s earned a peaceful retirement. But when a massive stroke leaves her voiceless, partially paralyzed and wholly reliant on the staff of an extended care facility, it seems her freedom is lost.” -Provided by the publisher
Available from TC Kings Highway
Classic Literature
Don’t be daunted by classic lit. It may seem boring at the outset, but these books are classics for a reason!
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
To Kill A Mockingbird is a classic coming-of-age story about a young girl named Scout, growing up in the South during the Great Depression with her brother Jem and her father Atticus. Much of the story revolves around the childish shenanigans Scout, Jem and their friend Dill get up to during summer vacation. Paralleling Scout’s story is that of her father as the defense lawyer of a Black man falsely accused of a crime by the white citizens of the town. Full of heart, this book is renowned for its warmth and humor, as well as its critical analysis of racial inequality.
To Kill A Mockingbird is available from TC Starrett City
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice follows witty and independent Elizabeth Bennet as she and her sisters navigate love and marriage. Throughout the book, Elizabeth must overcome both pride and prejudice as she slowly falls in love with the surly but handsome Mr. Darcy, a wealthy aristocratic landowner.
(Once you finish the book I recommend you watch the 2005 movie with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen in the lead roles)
Pride and Prejudice is available at the TC Midwood
Historical Fiction
The Great Train Robbery, Michael Crichton
“In teeming Victorian London, where lavish wealth and appalling poverty live side by side, Edward Pierce charms the most prominent of the well-to-do as he cunningly orchestrates the crime of the century. Who would suspect that a gentleman of breeding could mastermind the daring theft of a fortune in gold? Who could predict the consequences of making the extraordinary robbery aboard the pride of England’s industrial era, the mighty steam locomotive? Based on fact, as lively as legend, and studded with all the suspense and style of a modern fiction master, here is a classic caper novel set a decade before the age of dynamite– yet nonetheless explosive..,” (summary from tourolib.org)
Available from TC Kew Gardens Hills
A Gentleman In Moscow, Amor Towles
“On 21 June 1922 Count Alexander Rostov – recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt – is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol. But instead of being taken to his usual suite, he is led to an attic room with a window the size of a chessboard. Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. While Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval, the Count, stripped of the trappings that defined his life, is forced to question what makes us who we are. And with the assistance of a glamorous actress, a cantankerous chef and a very serious child, Rostov unexpectedly discovers a new understanding of both pleasure and purpose.” Summary via publisher.
A Gentleman in Moscow is available from TC Israel
Mysteries
The Daughter of Time, Josephine Tey
“Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, recuperating from a broken leg, becomes fascinated with a contemporary portrait of Richard III that bears no resemblance to the Wicked Uncle of history. Could such a sensitive, noble face actually belong to one of the world’s most heinous villains—a venomous hunchback who may have killed his brother’s children to make his crown secure? Or could Richard have been the victim, turned into a monster by the usurpers of England’s throne? Grant determines to find out once and for all, with the help of the British Museum and an American scholar, what kind of man Richard Plantagenet really was and who killed the Little Princes in the Tower.” -summary provided by the publisher
The Daughter of Time is available at TC Kew Gardens Hills
Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories, Agatha Christie
“At last, a single volume that gathers together all of the short stories featuring Agatha Christie’s most famous creation: Hercule Poirot. The dapper, mustache-twirling little Belgian with the egg-shaped head and curious mannerisms has solved some of the most puzzling crimes of the century–and, in his own humble opinion, is “probably the greatest detective in the world.” In this complete collection of stories, ranging from short tales to novellas, Poirot faces violent murders, poisonings, kidnappings, and thefts–all solved with his characteristic panache. Only Agatha Christie could have devised cases worthy of Hercule Poirot’s skill and ‘little gray cells.'” -summary from tourolib.org
Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories is available from TC Kew Gardens Hills
Let us know if you read any of our recommendations and feel free to suggest your own favorite summer reads in the comments!
[Post by Emma Larson-Whittaker, Library and Outreach Assistant, Starrett City]
We’re sure you do!
Continue reading
TU Library Blog 
