LAPL Blog
Janice Batzdorff, Librarian,

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Bourekas and Shakshuka, Knishes and Latkes: The Intricacies of Jewish Cuisine
Bourekas (savory stuffed pastry) and shakshuka (eggs cooked in a spicy tomato sauce) are favorite foods for some Jewish people, while knishes (pastry filled with mashed potatoes) and potato latkes (pancakes) are preferred by others.
Uncovering Family Secrets: Forming a New Identity
Imagine discovering that the man who raised you is not your biological father. That your mother’s race differs from how she presented herself. That the person you are attracted to is your sibling. That you are the descendant of a renowned individual. A monstrous one.
Adapted Screenplays: A Browsing Gold Mine for Reading
Screenwriters for The Dig, Nomadland, White Tiger, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Queen’s Gambit, The Father, One Night in Miami and News of the World are possible award contenders for their adaptations of books and plays.
Reading in the Time of COVID-19
When the library closed almost three months ago, I checked out eight books. I’ve finished two of them. This is unusual for someone who reads everywhere—in checkout lines, on the Metro, at Dodger Stadium, even during social gatherings to take a break from the extroverts. Maybe that’s the problem.
African American History Makers
Before Barack Obama, Hiram Revels and Shirley Chisholm helped govern the nation. William Wells Brown wrote a novel before Toni Morrison. Phillis Wheatley published poems before Langston Hughes. And Oscar Micheaux made films before Spike Lee and Ava DuVernay.
Anisfield-Wolf Awards: Books That Address Racism and Diversity
Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward’s novel set in the fictional town of Bois Sauvage in rural Mississippi, was presented with the 2018 Anisfield-Wolf Award for Fiction in March.
Asian Pacific American Award for Literature
Lisa Ko’s The Leavers, was selected as the Adult Fiction winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature for 2017-2018.
The Best Cookbooks of the Year
The International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Awards honor authors, publishers, and other contributors behind the best cookbooks published each year. Awards were presented in a variety of categories at an annual conference on February 26, 2018.
African American Mystery Writers and Their African American Detectives
They work in Watts, Chicago, Oakland, and Harlem, go on vacation in Provincetown, MA, and return home to Otis, South Carolina (pop. 5,000). They include an Ivy League professor, an ex-CIA agent, a volatile ex-cop, a journalist, a domestic worker, an attorney, a Ph.D.
Jewish Book Council Awards 2017
On January 11 Francine Klagsbrun’s, Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel was named the Book of the Year by the Jewish Book Council.