April's Diversions features a selection of British spy novels and their film/television adaptations from the twentieth century, selected by library director Mark Dahl. The genre is one that is simultaneously dark, entertaining and complex and often offers insights into the geopolitical zeitgeist.

John Buchan’s work provides an early example of the international espionage thriller from the pre-WW I era. The Thirty Nine Steps was adapted to film three times, perhaps most famously in 1935 by Alfred Hitchcock. The works of Graham Greene and Eric Ambler appeared during and after World War II and added a new realism to the genre with an anti-imperialist outlook. Works of John le Carré, Len Deighton, and Joseph Hone from the sixties through the eighties center around anti-hero protagonists in Cold War settings. Le Carré, who’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has been dramatized as a mini-series and a recent feature film, develops narrative tension through intrigue within the bureaucracy of the ‘service’ as opposed to the glamorous international exploits of Ian Fleming’s James Bond. The Sandbaggers, an obscure, low-budget 1970s British television series about a under-resourced unit of the British SIS offers exceptionally taut plots and train crash endings set in the geopolitical hotspots of the time such as East Berlin, Cyprus, and Iran.

This month check out Diversions in the library or online for a selection of books that support the themes of L&C's 32nd Annual Gender Studies Symposium. This year's Gender Studies Symposium will bring together pressing issues of gender and religion: from recent evangelical Christian politics attacking reproductive health, to theological questions about women in ancient texts, to ongoing controversies over institutional hierarchy and authority. Join with scholars, students, community organizers, and religious leaders in exploring national and global gender issues related to faith, practice, and spirituality.

The full schedule of events for the Gender Studies Symposium, which runs March 13-15, can be viewed here.

In this last week of February, we invite you to browse our collection of African-American writers, poets, and historians. This selection is devoted to the thematic focus of LC’s Black Heritage Month, "Frames of the Black Experience: A Retrospective Through Film, Photography and the Arts." The books are located on the Diversions bookshelf in the library atrium, and you can also find them on our Pinterest board.

For more info about the full slate of events commemorating Black Heritage Month, visit the LC Multicultural Affairs web page.

Don't have any plans for Valentine's Day yet? Make a date with a book! Can you guess what you'll be getting? Stop by the display in the Watzek atrium to see if your guesses are correct, to see other books on display, or to pick up a hot date.

To celebrate the state of Oregon's 154th birthday, we've assembled a collection of books all about the wonders and quirks of Oregon history. Browse our selection on the Diversions bookshelf or on Pinterest. On February 14, 1859, President James Buchanan signed a bill that officially admitted Oregon to the United States of America. Happy 154th, Oregon!

This month, diversions is all about music. We've assembled an awesome selection of books to complement the 9th annual Watzek Rocks. Check out these reads on the diversions bookshelf at Watzek or online on Pinterest.

Image: Kathleen Hanna reads. (via Awesome People Reading)

This month, check out Diversions for a selection of books that support the themes of L&C's 9th Annual Ray Warren Multicultural Symposium. Pick up a book from our display, and read up on the role of media technology in shaping individual self-definition and cross-cultural interaction.

The full schedule of events for the Ray Warren Multicultural Symposium, which runs November 7-9, can be viewed here. Our selection of supporting materials can be found on the Diversions bookshelf, located in the Watzek Library Mac Lab, and also on Pinterest.

Throughout September, check out Diversions for Portland-centric books to acquaint you with our fair city and the Great Northwest.

Our selection of Portlandian materials will be on display throughout the month of September on the Diversions bookshelf, located by the Mac Lab and in our online display on Pinterest.

Remember reading for fun? School's out, and we've chosen a slew of books for your summer reading pleasure. Check out the Diversions bookshelf or our online display for a selection of recent fiction, graphic novels, and Northwest trail guides to get you through the summer.

Image of Rick Ross reading Tina Fey from Awesome People Reading

This month, check out Library Diversions or our online display for a selection of books that support the themes of L&C's 50th Annual International Affairs Symposium. Pick up a book from our display, and read up on dynamic relationships among states, societies, and the world system. The full schedule of events for the International Affairs Symposium, which runs April 9-11, can be viewed here.