Iowa City Public Library | Virtual Branch

Featured Collections On the shelf & ready to reserve

Where the meet-cutes start with pratfalls--enjoy a book that makes you want to laugh *and* love.

The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss.

The princess and the fangirl : a geekerella fairy tale

Not your average hot guy : a romantic comedy at the (possible) end of the world

Enjoy the warm weather while it lasts--harvest, grill, go Hawks!

On flowers : lessons from an accidental florist

All new square foot gardening cookbook : [taking the harvest to the table]

The book of kale & friends : 14 easy-to-grow superfoods

Ikebana step-by-step : Japanese flower arrangement

Paddling Iowa : 129 outstanding journeys by canoe, kayak, or SUP

The art of floral arranging : learning from the master florists at FlowerSchool New York

The wreath recipe book : year-round wreaths, swags, and other decorations to make with seasonal branches

Between earth and sky : our intimate connections to trees

The great Iowa touring book : 27 spectacular auto tours

The book of greens : a cook's compendium of 40 varieties, from arugula to watercress, with more than 175 recipes

Crafting modern florals : creating botanical patterns with petals, pencils & paint

Bountiful : recipes inspired by our garden

Ancient trees : trees that live for 1000 years

The wood fire handbook : the complete guide to a perfect fire

Bean by bean : [a cookbook : more than 200 recipes for fresh beans, dried beans, cool beans, hot beans, savory beans, even sweet beans!]

Saving the season : a cook's guide to home canning, pickling, and preserving

Ruffage : a practical guide to vegetables : 100+ recipes and 230+ variations

The flower chef : a modern guide to do-it-yourself floral arrangements

Thanking the moon : celebrating the mid-Autumn Moon Festival

First snow in the woods : a photographic fantasy

Moon Messenger : a family reunion during the Mid-Autumn Festival : a story told in English and Chinese

Celebrating Chinese festivals : a collection of holiday tales, poems and activities

National Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month is celebrated in the United States from September 15 to October 15 to recognize the histories, cultures, and contributions of Americans with roots in Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. September 15 is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September18, respectively.

El libro de los secretos : descubre quiénes somos, de dónde venimos y por qué estamos en esta vida

Latinx : the new force in American politics and culture

Voces sin fronteras : antología Vintage español de literatura mexicana y chicana contemporánea

La increíble y triste historia de la cándida Eréndira y de su abuela desalmada : siete cuentos

Sólo una cosa : detrás de cualquier éxito se encuentra una sencilla y sorprendente verdad: enfócate en lo único

More featured collections

Events

Text Effects in Illustrator

September 26, 2022 - 7:00pm

Book to Art Club: Read, Make, Take!

September 28, 2022 - 4:00pm

Eat Out to Read@Pagliai's Pizza

September 29, 2022 - 4:00pm

Community Writing Center

September 29, 2022 - 6:00pm

ICPL Recommends

The Middle Ages : a graphic guide book cover

The swerve : how the world became modern book cover

The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I

Lindsey Fitzharris

OverDrive Audiobook
Literary Nonfiction, History, Biographies

From the moment the first machine gun rang out over the Western Front, one thing was clear: mankind's military technology had wildly surpassed its medical capabilities. Bodies were battered, gouged, hacked, and gassed. The First World War claimed millions of lives and left millions more wounded and disfigured. In the midst of this brutality, however, there were also those who strove to alleviate suffering. The Facemaker tells the extraordinary story of such an individual: the pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies, who dedicated himself to reconstructing the burned and broken faces of the injured soldiers under his care. Gillies, a Cambridge-educated New Zealander, became interested in the nascent field of plastic surgery after encountering the human wreckage on the front. Returning to Britain, he established one of the world's first hospitals dedicated entirely to facial reconstruction. There, Gillies assembled a unique group of practitioners whose task was to rebuild what had been torn apart, to re-create what had been destroyed. At a time when losing a limb made a soldier a hero, but losing a face made him a monster to a society largely intolerant of disfigurement, Gillies restored not just the faces of the wounded but also their spirits. .

This book is devastating and hopeful at the same time. It is a story that starts out harrowing, but after hard work and ingenuity by a few individuals, things change for the better. The Facemaker, a history of World War I facial reconstruction, sets the scene: how World War I was fought in new and horrific ways. It was industrial. There were a lot of advancements in weapons of war. (And of course, for what?) Lindsey Fitzharris describes this moment in time very well. Then there are the people put in the trenches and at sea and in the air, not to mention the civilians, facing this new weaponry. Fitzharris makes these stories personal and individual, the pain experienced both inside and out. She picks a number of individuals that came home with significant facial injuries and how they viewed their lives as over. Enter Harold Gillies, an ears, nose, and throat doctor, who is about to become the leading expert in facial reconstruction. If you love compelling histories of war or medicine, I recommend this book. As an aside, the audio version was excellently narrated. -Anne M