Staff Picks
#BroaderBookshelf 2024 - Books with If in the title
- Adele C.
- Wednesday, January 24
Collection
Check out one of these titles and fulfill the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge prompt, "Read a book with If or When in the title".
This list is part of the #BroaderBookshelf 2024 Reading Challenge. Find more lists here.
Halal if You Hear Me
Published in 2019
The collected poems dispel the notion that there is one correct way to be a Muslim by holding space for multiple, intersecting identities while celebrating and protecting those identities.
If Beale Street Could Talk
A Novel
Published in 2006
This novel is a moving story of love in the face of injustice. Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, the story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions: affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, the author has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche.
If You Were Here
A Novel of Suspense
Published in 2013
Manhattan journalist McKenna Jordan is chasing the story of an unidentified woman who heroically pulled a teenaged boy from the subway tracks when she discovers that the woman in the subway's video bears a strong resemblance to Susan Hauptmann, a close friend who disappeared without a trace a decade earlier.
If Chins Could Kill
Confessions of a B Movie Actor
Published in 2002
Chronicles the life of actor Bruce Campbell from his childhood in Detroit through his time spent making the film Evil Dead to his days in Hollywood.
If Sons, then Heirs
A Novel
Published in 2011
"If sons, then heirs" sheds light on a uniquely American, largely untold story of African American land ownership, the outmigration from the South, racial violence, and the consequences of past decisions on present realities. A woman who abandoned her son faces the prospect of a reunion, while a young single mother hopes for a commitment from her boyfriend and a young man searches for answers about his parentage.
If I Had Your Face
A Novel
Published in 2020
"Kyuri is a heartbreakingly beautiful woman with a hard-won job at a "room salon," an exclusive bar where she entertains businessmen while they drink. Though she prides herself on her cold, clear-eyed approach to life, an impulsive mistake with a client may come to threaten her livelihood. Her roomate, Miho, is a talented artist who grew up in an orphanage but won a scholarship to study art in New York. Returning to Korea after college, she finds herself in a precarious relationship with the super-wealthyheir to one of Korea's biggest companies. Down the hall in their apartment building lives Ara, a hair stylist for whom two preoccupations sustain her: obsession with a boy-band pop star, and a best friend who is saving up for the extreme plastic surgerythat is commonplance. And Wonna, one floor below, is a newlywed trying to get pregnant with a child that she and her husband have no idea how they can afford to raise and educate in the cutthroat economy. Together, their stories tell a gripping tale that's seemingly unfamiliar, yet unmistakably universal in the way that their tentative friendships may have to be their saving grace"-- Provided by publisher.
To Be Taught, if Fortunate
Published in 2019
"At the turn of the twenty-second century, scientists make a breakthrough in human spaceflight. Through a revolutionary method known as somaforming, astronauts can survive in hostile environments off Earth using synthetic biological supplementations. They can produce antifreeze in subzero temperatures, absorb radiation and convert it for food, and conveniently adjust to the pull of different gravitational forces. With the fragility of the body no longer a limiting factor, human beings are at last able to journey to neighboring exoplanets long known to harbor life. A team of these explorers, Ariadne O'Neill and her three crewmates, are hard at work in a planetary system fifteen light-years from Sol, on a mission to ecologically survey four habitable worlds. But as Ariadne shifts through both form and time, the culture back on Earth has also been transformed. Faced with the possibility of returning to a planet that has forgotten those who have left, Ariadne begins to chronicle the story of the wonders and dangers of her mission, in the hope that someone back home might still be listening."--Amazon.
If You Have to Cry, Go Outside
And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You
Published in 2011
"Kelly writes in her trademark, no bullshit style, combining personal and professional stories to share her secrets for success without selling out. Let's face it: this is a different world than the one in which our mothers grew up, and Kelly has created a real girl's guide to making it in the real world. Offering a wake-up call to women everywhere, she challenges us to stop the dogged pursuit of the "perfect life" and really discover who we are and what we want. Then she shows us how to go out there and get it. From her own experience, she knows that only by staying true to yourself will you achieve your goals. Much of our culture teaches us to muzzle our inner voice and follow the crowd; Kelly allows us to stop pretending and start truly living. With chapters on how to find your tribe (those like-minded souls who make your heart sing), how sometimes a breakdown is really a breakthrough, and how there is no such thing as perfection, Kelly also share practical advice such as how to create a personal brand, how not to destroy your reputation at work (like blogging about your boss), and how sometimes, you have to fake it to make it"-- Provided by publisher.
If I Should Die
A Mali Anderson Mystery
Published in 1998
A graduate student and policewoman--until prejudice drives her from the force--Mali Anderson investigates the death of the director of a Harlem children's choir at the scene of the kidnapping of a young boy.
If I Survive You
Published in 2022
"A collection of humorous and harrowing linked stories following a Jamaican-American family as they seek stability upon moving to Miami"-- Provided by publisher.
Darned if You Do
Published in 2015
"The USA Today bestselling Needlecraft Mysteries have shown that when it comes to murder, Betsy Devonshire, owner of the Crewel World needlework shop, doesn't mess around. But when a local hoarder is murdered, she'll need all her wits to dig a new friend out of a heap of trouble... After a tree falls on Tom Riordan's house, landing him in the hospital, the police discover a mountain of junk piled high in his home. Locals in Excelsior, Minnesota--including Betsy and her Crewel World Monday Bunch--offer to help with the cleanup while Tom recuperates. But when Tom is found murdered in his hospital bed, the sole heir to his property--his cousin Valentina--becomes the number one suspect. Betsy believes there's more to the case than meets the eye, but finding clues to the killer's identity in the clutter Tom left behind will be like looking for a needle in a haystack .."-- Provided by publisher.
If Someone Says "You Complete Me," Run!
Whoopi's Big Book of Relationships
Published in 2015
Because she came to the conclusion that "the things that are required in a relationship are not things I'm willing to do," Whoopi decided to write openly about why marriage isn't for everyone and how being alone can be satisfying. What's most important is understanding what makes you happy.
You Couldn't Ignore Me if You Tried
The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation
Published in 2010
A social evaluation of the influence and legacy of the "Brat Pack" films explores their 1980s cultural themes, in an account that draws on interviews with such celebrities as Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and John Cusack.
Dig if You Will the Picture
Funk, Sex, God and Genius in the Music of Prince
Published in 2017
An exploration of the life and legacy of Prince discusses his vibrant and prolific output, the paradigm-shifting ideas in his music, and his wide-ranging impact on modern culture.
If You Want Something Done
Leadership Lessons from Bold Women
Published in 2022
"From the New York Times bestselling author of WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, Nikki Haley's sharply intimate and inspirational book celebrates the world's most iconic women leaders. "If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman." -Margaret Thatcher In the spirit of Thatcher's quote, Ambassador Nikki R. Haley offers inspiring examples of women who worked against obstacles and opposition to get things done-including Haley herself. As a brown girl growing up in Bamberg, South Carolina, no one would have predicted she would become the first minority female governor in America, the first female and the first minority governor in South Carolina, or the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Her journey wasn't an easy one. She faced many people who thought she didn't belong-and who told her so. She was too brown. Too female. Too young. Too conservative. Too principled. Too idealistic. As far as Nikki was concerned, those were not reasons to hold her back. Those were all reasons to forge ahead. She drew inspiration from other trailblazing women throughout history who summoned the courage to be different and lead. This personal and compelling book celebrates ten remarkable women who dared to be bold, from household names like Margaret Thatcher and Israel's former prime minister Golda Meir, to Jeane Kirkpatrick, the first female U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to lesser-known leaders like human rights activist Cindy Warmbier, education advocate Virginia Walden Ford, civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin, and more. Woven with stories from Haley's own childhood and political career, If You Want Something Done will inspire the next generation of leaders"-- Provided by publisher.
If This World Were Mine
Published in 2012
Four friends, all graduates of Hampton Institute, keep a collective journal they call "If This World Were Mine," and share their personal diaries each month at a gathering filled with humor, gossip, and affirmation. The four group members are as different as the seasons, yet they all share a love of one another. Yolanda, a media consultant, keeps it going on with a no-nonsense attitude and independence that are balanced by the theatrics of Riley, a former marketing executive whose marriage has reduced her to a "kept woman with kids." Computer engineer Dwight's anger at the world is offset by the compassion of Leland, a gay psychiatrist whose clients make him question why God ever invented sex. But after five years, the once-strong bonds of friendship are weakening, and the group must handle challenges of work, lost love, and a stranger in their midst. As the group members confront their true feelings toward each other, resentments and long-held secrets surface, and the stability of the group begins to disintegrate. Is their past friendship strong enough to survive the future?
Do You Mind if I Cancel?
(things That Still Annoy Me)
Published in 2019
""Gary Janetti's book is so rolling-on-the-floor funny, so brilliantly observant, and so full of heart." - Kevin Kwan Fans of David Sedaris, Jenny Lawson, and Tina Fey... meet your new friend Gary Janetti. Gary Janetti, the writer and producer for some of the most popular television comedies of all time, and creator of one of the most wickedly funny Instagram accounts there is, now turns his skills to the page in a hilarious, and poignant book chronicling the pains and indignities of everyday life. Gary spends his twenties in New York, dreaming of starring on soap operas while in reality working at a hotel where he lusts after an unattainable colleague and battles a bellman who despises it when people actually use a bell to call him. He chronicles the torture of finding a job before the internet when you had to talk on the phone all the time, and fantasizes, as we all do, about who to tell off when he finally wins an Oscar. As Gary himself says, "These are essays from my childhood and young adulthood about things that still annoy me." Original, brazen, and laugh out loud funny, Do You Mind if I Cancel? is something not to be missed"-- Provided by publisher.
If I Had Two Wings
Stories
Published in 2020
"Ten heavenly stories that chronicle ineffable events in ordinary lives. When Randall Kenan's first collection was published, The New York Times called it "nothing short of a wonder-book." With comparable inventiveness but seasoned by maturity and shot through with humor, his second collection, If I Had Two Wings, riffs on the human relationship with the transcendent. Rooted in Kenan's fictional territory of Tims Creek, NC, this book also travels to more "sophisticated" places, as these ten stories chronicle ineffable events in ordinary lives: a retired North Carolinian on a church trip to Manhattan, taking in life with gentle curiosity, who is befriended by Billy Idol in "When We All Get to Heaven"; the woman whose cooking sparked an eternal hunger in Howard Hughes, in "The Eternal Glory that is Ham Hocks"; a gay man returns from a glamorous life in DC to cope with an ornery uncle in a nursing home in "I Thought I Heard the Shuffle of an Angel's Feed"; and in "The Acts of Velmajean Swearington Hoyt and the New City of God," an elderly woman turned miracle worker, through a grace either divine or diabolical. A rich chorus of voices marked by grit, humor, suffering, and joie de vivre, If I Had Two Wings is a fully satisfying provocation and delight"-- Provided by publisher.
If I Was Your Girlfriend
An Atlanta Tale
Published in 2023
Rashida meets Alonzo, but knows that a relationship with him will destroy her lifelong friendship with her best friend.
Two if by Sea
A Novel
Published in 2016
"Just hours after his wife and her entire family perish in the Christmas Eve tsunami in Brisbane, American expat and former police officer Frank Mercy goes out to join his volunteer rescue unit and pulls a little boy from a submerged car, saving the child's life with only seconds to spare. In that moment, Frank's own life is transformed. Not quite knowing why, Frank sidesteps the law, when, instead of turning Ian over to the Red Cross, he takes the boy home to the Midwestern farm where he grew up. Not long into their journey, Frank begins to believe that Ian has an extraordinary, impossible telepathic gift; but his only wish is to protect the deeply frightened child. As Frank struggles to start over, training horses as his father and grandfather did before him, he meets Claudia, a champion equestrian and someone with whom he can share his life and his fears for Ian. Both of them know that it will be impossible to keep Ian's gift a secret forever. Already, ominous coincidences have put Frank's police instincts on high alert, as strangers trespass the quiet life at the family farm"--Goodreads.com.
What If? 2
Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Published in 2022
"The #1 New York Times-bestselling author of What If? and How To provides his best answers yet to the weirdest questions you never thought to ask The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone's freezer door at the same time? Maybe it's time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist. Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Randall consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airplane-catapult design to clearly and concisely answer his readers' questions. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances. Filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall's signature stick-figure comics, What If? 2 is sure to be another instant classic adored by inquisitive readers of all ages"--Provided by publisher.
What If?
Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Published in 2014
"Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following. Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by signature xkcd comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with updated and expanded versions of the most popular answers from the xkcd website. What If? will be required reading for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical. "-- Provided by publisher.
If the Shoe Fits
Published in 2021
"In this modern-retelling of Cinderella, plus-size Cindy dreams of becoming a shoe designer. But when a spot opens up on her stepmother's famous reality dating TV competition, Cindy is thrust into the spotlight in ways she never thought possible"-- Provided by publisher.
The Catch Me if You Can
One Woman's Journey to Every Country in the World
Published in 2022
"Celebrated traveler and photographer Jessica Nabongo-the first documented Black woman to visit all 195 countries in the world-shares her journey around the globe with fascinating stories of adventure, culture, travel musts, and human connections"-- Provided by publisher.
Match Me if You Can
Published in 2006
Anabelle Granger endeavors to promote her grandmother's matchmaking business by landing sports agent Heath Champion as a client, an effort that is challenged by Heath's arrogant nature and Annabelle's own unexpected feelings.
None of This Would Have Happened if Prince Were Alive
A Novel
Published in 2022
Ramona's got a bratty boss, a toddler teetering through toilet training, a critical mom who doesn't mind sharing, and oops, a cheating husband. That's how a Category Four hurricane bearing down on her life in Savannah becomes just another item on her to-do list. In the next forty-eight hours she'll add a neighborhood child and the class guinea pig named Clarence Thomas to her entourage as she struggles to evacuate town. Ignoring the persistent glow of her minivan's check engine light, Ramona navigates police check points, bathroom emergencies, demands from her boss, and torrential downpours while fielding calls and apology texts from her cheating husband and longing for the days when her life was like a Prince song, full of sexy creativity and joy.
If Walls Could Speak
My Life in Architecture
Published in 2022
"Over more than five decades, legendary architect Moshe Safdie has built some of the world's most influential and memorable structures-from the 1967 modular housing scheme in Montreal known as "Habitat" and the Yad Vashem memorial in Israel, to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas and the Marina Bay Sands development and extraordinary Jewel Changi airport interior garden and waterfall in Singapore. For Safdie, the way a space functions is fundamental; he is deeply committed to architecture as a social force for good, believing that any challenge, including extreme population density and environmental distress, can be addressed with solutions that enhance community and uplift the human spirit. Safdie always refers to the "silent client" an architect must ultimately serve: the people who live, work in, or experience a building. If Walls Could Speak takes readers behind the veil of an essential yet mysterious profession to explain through Safdie's own experiences how an architect thinks and works-"from the spark of imagination through the design process, the model-making, the politics, the engineering, the materials." Relating memorable stories about what has inspired him-from childhoods in Israel and Montreal to the projects and personalities worldwide that have captured his imagination-Safdie reveals the complex interplay that underpins every project and his vision for the role architecture can and should play in society at large. Illustrated throughout with drawings, sketches, photographs, and documents from his firm's voluminous archives that illuminate his stories, If Walls Could Speak ends with a chapter outlining seven projects Safdie would pursue around the world if resources and will were no issue and the choices were his to make. A book like no other, If Walls Could Speak will forever change the way you look at and appreciate any built structure"-- Provided by publisher.