2020 Book Picks: Branch Manager Edition

Ibram X. Kendi describes a method of deconstructing the path by which people combat racism by becoming antiracist, which implies being an active participant in combating racism rather than attempting to become "not racist" which Kendi argues is nothing more than being tacitly complicit in racism. Also examines other marginalized groups and how his antiracist message can be transferred to any bias.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"In her book, Melinda tells the stories of the inspiring people she's met through her work all over the world, digs into the data, and powerfully illustrates issues that need our attention—from child marriage to gender inequity in the workplace." — President Barack Obama
"The Moment of Lift is an urgent call to courage. It changed how I think about myself, my family, my work,

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"Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but her beloved neighborhood seems to change every time she blinks. Condos are sprouting like weeds, FOR SALE signs are popping up overnight, and the neighbors she's known all her life are disappearing. To hold onto her community's past and present, Sydney channels her frustration into a walking tour and finds an unlikely and unwanted assistant in one of the new arrivals to the block -- her neighbor Theo....

"There is a voice of longing inside every woman. We strive so mightily to be good: good mothers, daughters, partners, employees, citizens, and friends. We believe all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, overwhelmed, and underwhelmed. We look at our lives, relationships, and world, and wonder: Wasn't it all supposed to be more beautiful than this? We quickly silence that question, telling ourselves to...

Mary Addison has spent the last six years of her life locked up in juvenile detention, convicted of killing a white baby who was left in the care of Mary's mother. Now fifteen, the African American teen finds herself pregnant and at risk of having her own child taken away. Desperate to keep her baby, Mary makes a startling confession--she did not kill the baby in her mother's care. But with a conviction hanging over her head, it might be hard to convince...

Evan goes from being a nobody to everyone's hero and a social media superstar after a chance encounter with Connor just before his suicide leads others to believe Evan was his only friend.

Jessica reveals for the first time her inner monologue and most intimate struggles. Guided by the journals she's kept since age fifteen, and brimming with her unique humor and down-to-earth humanity, Open Book is as inspiring as it is entertaining. This was supposed to be a very different book. Five years ago, Jessica Simpson was approached to write a motivational guide to living your best life. She walked away from the offer, and nobody understood...

This adaptation of Ibram X. Kendi's "Stamped From the Beginning" explores the history of racist ideas in America by examining the lives of notable historical figures, from Cotton Mather and Thomas Jefferson to W.E.B. Du Bois and Angela Davis. Discusses how racist ideas spread and how they are also discredited.

For everyone who loved You Are a Badass and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck — a cut-through-the-crap guide to quitting the self-destructive habits that undermine happiness and success
How to Stop Feeling Like Sh*t is a straight-shooting approach to self-improvement for women, one that offers frank truth-telling about the most common self-destructive behaviors women tend to engage in. Andrea Owen — a...

In this thoughtful treatise spurred by the 2015 death of African-American academic Sandra Bland in jail after a traffic stop, New Yorker writer Gladwell (The Tipping Point) aims to figure out the strategies people use to assess strangers -- to "analyze, critique them, figure out where they came from, figure out how to fix them," in other words: to understand how to balance trust and safety. He uses a variety of examples from history and recent headlines...