Gain Perspective on Pandemics with the NNLM Reading Club

Posted by Michele Spatz on August 5th, 2020 Posted in: All of Us, Health Literacy, News From NNLM PNR, PNR Weekly Digest, Public Libraries
Tags: All of Us, consumer health, disease outbreak, health literacy, NNLM Reading Club, public library

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Diving into fiction can help us understand more about the realities we face. As day-to- day life continues to be shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic, NNLM Reading Club calls your attention to three literary works focusing on the impact of pandemics or infectious disease.

The NNLM All of Us Community Engagement Network is pleased to announce its three book selections for August:

• The Murmur of Bees by Sofía Segovia, translated by Simon Bruni
• Severance: A Novel by Ling Ma
• A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker

Set within the 1918 influenza pandemic and the Mexican Revolution, The Murmur of Bees continues the Latin American tradition of magical realism associated with writers like Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende. Severance is more dystopian, but with a sense of satire amid the outcomes of an apocalyptic plague. A Song for a New Day explores a musician’s experience in a pandemic that makes public gatherings illegal and concerts impossible.

While you are exploring fictional stories amid outbreaks, we encourage you to stay informed about real-life infectious disease. To learn more about each of these titles and to download book discussion guides, promotional materials and infectious disease information, visit the NNLM Reading Club.