Tag Archive for: Joplin Reads Together

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

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In 2023 Joplin Public Library began a new adult program, Joplin Reads Together, the Library’s first community read. Community reads are popular at public libraries throughout the nation and offer an opportunity for a shared reading experience for members of the community. Joplin Reads Together happens in the month of April, centering around one novel with accompanying programs related to the novel, all culminating in a visit from the author of the chosen book. With Joplin Reads Together adult programming at the Library hopes to promote a sense of community, its organizations, reading, and community discussion. Joplin Reads Together is fortunate to have four local organizations as community partners: Friends of Joplin Public Library, Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, MSSU George A Spiva Library, and Post Art Library. In 2023 our selected title was Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt; we spent the month of April enjoying programs related to the title and had the pleasure of hosting Shelby Van Pelt at our Library.

I am very excited to share this year’s selection: The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi. A historical fiction set in 1950s India, The Henna Artist is Joshi’s debut novel and the first in The Jaipur Trilogy. All of Joplin Public Library’s April adult programs are inspired by The Henna Artist, and on April 23rd Alka Joshi will visit our Library to discuss her book!

Set in the decade after India’s independence from British colonialism, The Henna Artist follows a young woman named Lakshmi as she escapes an abusive marriage and sets out to pave a new, brighter future for herself. Lakshmi moves from her small Indian village to the vibrant, bustling city of Jaipur where she begins to make a living for herself through her work as a henna artist. Henna is a traditional paste that temporarily dyes the skin. Henna designs are often elaborate and symbolize things such as good health or happy marriages.

Lakshmi does henna for the elite women of Jaipur, as her paste and artistry is one of, if not the very, best Jaipur has to offer. With this position comes both status and danger. Lakshmi spends hours with the elite, listening to their complaints about their husbands, their worries and fears, and all their drama. While this no doubt puts Lakshmi in the know and provides a more comfortable living, it also places her at a distance and in a precarious position. While Lakshmi knows and spends time with the most wealthy of Jaipur, she is not one of them herself and must be very mindful of what she says and how she carries herself for fear of losing any patronage.

Lakshmi is, for the most part, very good at this, except for the secrets she holds close. In addition to her henna Lakshmi provides additional services for her clients by way of her skills with herbs to create remedies and tea sachets that have varying purposes. Many of her henna clients purchase such sachets to help with things such as illness or conception. However, Lakshmi is hiding the fact that she also sells sachets to men in extramarital affairs or to women attempting not to conceive; some of these individuals are married to or are her clients.

Lakshmi must not only keep the secrets of her powerful clients for their safety, but also her own. When Lakshmi’s estranged husband arrives in town alongside a sister Lakshmi never knew she had her world is turned upside down and the life she has worked so hard to build is suddenly threatened. Lakshmi can’t imagine her husband is up to anything good, and her 13 year old sister Radha’s fascination with the upper class and the excitement of Jaipur can only spell trouble. Can Lakshmi hold onto the life she has worked so hard to create for herself, or will the return of her past force Lakshmi to start all over again?

Alka Joshi has created an eloquent, engaging novel that thrums with color. From the vibrancy of the characters to the immersion in Indian culture Joshi’s descriptive writing brings Lakshmi’s world to life and transports the reader to a different time and place. The representation of the upper and service caste systems as well as gender roles and what is expected of Lakshmi as a woman add to the historical aspect of the novel. Motherhood is a consistent theme in the novel and Joshi has stated in interviews that Lakshmi is based on her own mother and her experiences in India. The Henna Artist is perfect for readers that want a good story that sticks with them and that enjoy being taken to another place and learning about other time periods and cultures.

I am very excited to hear Alka Joshi speak about The Henna Artist in person and I hope that if you read this novel you’ll join the Library in welcoming her to Joplin in April. If you are interested in participating in Joplin Reads Together or want to learn more about it visit the Joplin Public Library website at joplinpubliclibrary.org/joplinreadstogether or visit the Library. Joplin Reads Together is designed for adults and a library card is not needed to participate.

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Review written by Sarah Turner-Hill, Adult Programming Coordinator

Joplin Reads Together Success

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Joplin Public Library would like to thank the community for the success of the first Joplin Reads Together.  The program met or exceeded our goals set, and we can’t wait to continue this program next year!

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

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Hello, fellow reader. Before going too far I must confess something to you: I had ulterior motives when deciding which book my review would focus upon. Nothing nefarious, but with you in mind. My motive is Remarkably Bright Creatures is the book selection for Joplin Reads Together, the library’s premier community read. Common at public libraries across the country, a community read encourages participants from the community to all read one book, and the library provides programs that coincide with the selected book. Through the month of April Joplin Public Library will have a multitude of programs that relate to themes within Remarkably Bright Creatures. There is no cost to participate in Joplin Reads Together or any of the related programs, AND I’m not done with the awesomeness yet – Shelby Van Pelt is visiting the library April 27th to discuss her book. Another plus to the community read is participation is whatever you’d like it to be; you can read the book and come to all the programs in April, or simply read the book and come just to the author visit (or don’t, that’s an option, too!). However one is inclined to participate, Joplin Reads Together offers a shared experience with the library and readers in the community.

In a small tourist town in northern Washington septuagenarian Tova Sullivan works at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, cleaning the outside of aquariums and mopping the floors after closing. As she makes her way from aquarium to aquarium she talks to the sea creatures inside. While Tova acknowledges the animals don’t know what she’s saying and don’t respond (or so she initially thinks), this characteristic made Tova instantly likable to me for her kind, calm manner. A widow, Tova’s husband recently passed away, a sorrow she carries with her along with grief for her son, who died under mysterious circumstances 30 years prior. At the Aquarium Tova seems to find some solace for her loneliness.

Also at the Sowell Bay Aquarium is Marcellus McSquiddles, an irritable giant pacific octopus that vehemently rejects, among other things, his mortifying last name (he is an octopus after all, NOT a squid). Marcellus has a lot of opinions; he spends his days observing the people that come to the Aquarium, perplexed by their human ways and possessing an uncanny ability to pinpoint facts about them just by observation. In Marcellus, Van Pelt creates an entertaining and funny character that pulled me in. I found myself looking forward to the chapters told from his perspective. Also in Marcellus Van Pelt creates a friend for Tova; Marcellus listens to all Tova has to say as she cleans, and finds his own way to communicate back. As a result of this friendship and the grief Marcellus sees within Tova he is determined to assist her in uncovering what happened to her son all those years ago.

In addition to Tova and Marcellus the novel is full of characters from around the town that are friends to Tova and invested in her life. There’s grocer Ethan who has a crush on Tova, the Knit-Wits who are Tova’s closest friend group, and new-to-town traveler Cameron who is searching for his family. Many of the novel’s characters seem to be on the verge of a new start, driven by their unique searches for that certain something missing in their life. Tova especially is haunted by her past and how to move forward with her future. Can Marcellus help her?

Within Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt creates a realistic fiction that pulls at the heartstrings. Van Pelt manages to address the heavy burden of loss and grief in a relatable manner, all while maintaining a gentle, often humorous narrative. Tova’s struggle with how to leave the past in the past, while also bringing its memories to the future, is something I think many readers could identify with, especially those that have lost a loved one. While I myself am not 70 years old like Tova is, I found her additional struggle with aging, particularly after losing those closest to her, a necessary conversation that should be examined by a community often and purposefully. How can we assist those in our community that are, day to day, alone? What is the difference between the community we live in, and the community we choose to make for ourselves? If this is a book you pick up to read I hope it brings you the entertainment and thought provoking questions it brought to me. And if Joplin Reads Together is something that interests you I hope to see you at one of the library’s April programs to hear what you thought of Tova and Marcellus.

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Review by Sarah Turner-Hill, Adult Programming Coordinator