Blogs & Podcasts

Find early literacy tips and children's books on the Children's Blog. Discover your next great read on the Books Movies Music Blog. Dig into Nashville history with the Community History Blog. Listen to stories, history, and culture on NPL Podcasts. Please see this Note for Readers.

We Own This City

We Own This City, written by former Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton, (now an HBO limited series), is a true story covering the corruption inside the Baltimore Police Department. This book highlights the sad truth some police officers are willing to do to pad stats as well as their wallets. It also reveals the extreme measures some will go to prevent being charged with their crimes. 

Podcast
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The Crystal Coffin

A tailor witnesses a battle between a magical stag and a bull. When the stag wins, the tailor is carried to a cavern where he finds a beautiful maiden in a crystal coffin. And oh, the tale she has to tell!

Cover image of Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II. Contains a girl dressed in red coat and hat, carrying a small brown suitcase. She is holding the hand of an unseen adult. The girl is reflected in the water puddle on the cobblestone streets. There are also three war planes reflected in the puddle.

This year's Mildred L. Batchelder Award, given to an outstanding children's book translated into English, is the wonderful Italian middle grades memoir Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II. Sensitive and age appropriate, this standout book is an ideal shared read aloud for older children.

Podcast
Sandra Shelton with pet, inside store

Sandra Shelton, Former Owner of Hillsboro Village Shop, Pangaea

Occupying the corner of 21st Ave S and Belcourt Ave for a little over 20 years, and on Belmont Blvd before that, Pangaea was a beloved business by many Nashvillians, tourists, and even celebrities. Sandra Shelton was its proprietor, and she sat down with us to tell us the story of her shop and her life.

Podcast
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"The Canterville Ghost"

“The Canterville Ghost" is a short story by Oscar Wilde about an American family who move to a castle haunted by the ghost of a dead nobleman who killed his wife and was starved to death by his wife’s brothers.

Have you ever wanted to read Dune but the sheer size of it makes you think otherwise? I was in that same boat and finally tackled the book. See how I, a librarian with a short attention span, made it through this Sci-Fi tome!

Podcast
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Madschun

A shiftless young fellow falls in love with the daughter of a sultan and is determined to marry her. When the sultan sets an impossible task as proof of the fellow’s devotion, will he find a way to complete the task?