Hello! Today we will be presenting book recommendations
from our collection for the loveable characters
from the TV show Community. If you’re a
fan of the show, or just want to learn more
about the mindset of our favourite Greendale
Community College crew, keep watching!
Community ran for six seasons from 2009-2015.
It had a core group of loyal fans, which helped
to keep it on the air for as long as it did.
Now, with the availability of streaming services,
a whole new group of people are discovering
this series for the very first time.
Welcome to Greendale, you’re already accepted!
This comedy series revolves around a group
of students who form a study group to help
them learn Spanish, and despite their differences
become friends. Throughout the seasons, they
are roped into wild and unpredictable situations
mostly by the dean of the college, and also
must deal with the antics of their mentally
unstable teacher, and eventual classmate,
Ben Chang.
All six seasons are available on DVD to borrow
from our collection, or you can stream the
series on Netflix, or Prime Video.
Let’s take a closer look at each of the
main characters.
At the beginning of Community, we learn that
Jeff Winger has been disbarred after his law
firm discovers his college degree was fake.
Jeff states multiple times that his goal is
to finish his degree as quickly as possible
and return to law, so our first recommendation
is the book "Law: A Very Short Introduction"
by Raymond Wicks. We figured this would be
a good refresher text for Jeff on his return
to law after spending four years at college.
The second recommendation is "Real Influence"
by Mark Coulston and John Ullmen. Since Jeff
is quite practiced at using his words and
influence to get people to do what he wants,
we thought that maybe this book will help
him to use those powers for good.
After Jeff graduates, he doesn’t get rehired
to his previous firm and instead, reluctantly,
takes a teaching position at Greendale to
help him pay his bills. Jeff quickly realizes
that he doesn’t really know anything about
teaching (despite graduating with a degree
in Education), and spends most of his classes
showing students Planet Earth videos. With
that in mind, we figured that Jerry Dee’s
book "Teaching is Harder Than it Looks", might
be a good choice for Jeff.
Worried about failing her first Spanish test,
Britta Perry reluctantly takes Jeff’s suggestion
to join his study group and becomes close
friends with all of them. Throughout the series,
she often speaks about her unsettled past,
having lived in New York, and her activism
and anarchist group memberships. Early in
the series we see Britta participating, and
supporting various fundraising and activism
efforts at Greendale. In keeping with her
ideals, we are recommending "The Everyday
Activist" by Michael Norton. This book will
help keep Britta grounded as she finds new
and positive ways to save the world.
The second book recommendation is "The Little
Book of Cannabis" by Amanda Siebert since
Britta often speaks openly about her recreational
use of marijuana, even with Shirley’s abject
disapproval.
In keeping with Britta’s distrust of organizations,
especially government and religion, she identifies
as an atheist, and, of course, enjoys flaunting
it every chance she gets. So, the last book
we are recommending is "The Happy Atheist"
by P. Z. Meyers. Hopefully this book will help
Britta to find some peace within her Atheism
and maybe stop judging the religious choices
of the rest of the group.
Annie Edison ends up at Greendale after finishing
rehab for an Adderall addiction in high school.
Although she is young, she is also highly
driven to succeed which is why she joined
the study group in the first place. She is
the driving force behind any actual studying
or completion of group projects, and is always
striving for top marks in everything that she does.
Fittingly, our first recommendation is "Ace
Any Test" by Ron Fry. With this book, Annie
can now study on how to study! It’s so meta!
In addition to being driven, Annie is also
very organized. In several episodes we see
that she organizes everything into binders,
which she is able to produce at any moment
(like the wedding binder during Shirley’s
engagement, or her ideas binder as part of
the Save Greendale Committee). We are recommending
"Journal Me Organized" by Rebecca Spooner
for Annie, so she can find new ways to help
organize all her thoughts and ideas.
After graduating from Greendale with her degree
in Health Care Management, Annie is unhappy
with her pharmaceutical sales position and
decides to re-enroll at Greendale, this time
studying something that she is more interested
in, forensics. Our last book recommendation
is "Science 101: Forensics" by Edward Ricciuti,
which would be a good introductory text for
Annie as she begins this new chapter.
Abed Nadir originally enrolls at Greendale
to study business so he can take over his
father’s falafel business when he graduates.
However, it quickly becomes clear that Abed’s
real passion is television and film and, with
his father’s approval, he switches his major
to film studies. To help Abed’s chances
of making it big in Hollywood, we recommend
the book "Secrets of Breaking into The Film
& TV Business" by Dean Silvers. This will
help him learn how to get his films seen by
the right people.
The second recommendation is the movie "Die
Hard" starring Bruce Willis. Abed is a huge
fan of this movie, going so far as to avoid
eating at the restaurant Señor Kevin’s
because the manager told him it was a terrible
movie, and also suggesting to the study group
that they do a “Die Hard” themed Christmas
Party.
Although never stated clearly by Abed, it
is frequently hinted that he has some form
of Autism. Throughout the series Abed demonstrates
amazing observational skills, but he has difficulty
understanding social or emotional cues, often
asking the group if he is understanding them
correctly. The third recommendation we are
making is "The Dictionary of Body Language"
by Joe Navarro. It may help Abed to better
distinguish how people around him are feeling.
Early in the first season, we learn that Troy
Barnes was a high school football star who
lost is scholarship opportunity in a freak
keg-flip accident. After enrolling, he admits
that he faked his injury because the pressure
was too much. Later, Troy begins playing for
Greendale Human Beings and since the team
is so terrible, there is no pressure to win.
We thought that Troy might be able to get
some inspiring words from John Feinstein’s
book "Quarterback", which may help improve
the team’s chances of winning a game or
two.
One of Troy’s other favourite things to
do with his best friend Abed, is to make forts.
They even attempted to break the Guinness
World Record, however the decision to make
a pillow fort or a blanket fort led to the
Greendale Great Fort War, which nearly ended
their friendship. The book "Blanket Fort"
by Grackle and Pigeon could give Troy and
Abed new inspiration for their next fort.
The last selection is "Black Wave" by John
and Jean Silverwood. This is a memoir of a
family who sailed around the world and the
lessons they learned to survive at sea. This
book will help Troy when he leaves the study
group to sail around the world with LeVar
Burton in order to fulfill the bequeathment
request of Pierce in Season 5.
Shirley Bennett enrolls at Greendale after
discovering her husband has left her and her
two boys for the woman he cheated with. She
decides that she wants to provide for her
family by running her own business selling
her famous brownies. "Start Up & Run Your
Own Business" by Johnathan Reuvid would be
a perfect choice in addition to her Greendale
education to help her begin a new business.
Shirley is also a devout Christian, even trying
to convert members of the study group at times.
The second book we’re recommending is "Jesus
Speaks" by Steven K. Scott. This book has
365 daily devotionals that can provide guidance
and encouragement for Shirley, which she may
need with this group.
As a mother of three boys (baby Ben is born
during Season 2), Shirley is trying to balance
her school schedule and raising her boys,
sometimes feeling like she is letting down
her family. As such, we recommend "Intuitive
Parenting" by Debra J. Snyder, which will
remind Shirley to listen to the wisdom of
her heart while raising her kids.
Pierce Hawthorne has been a Greendale student
for 14 years and has taken almost 80% of the
classes offered, sometime taking classes twice.
He tries to be hip and cool like the younger
members of the study group, but often makes
outdated comments that are offensive to people.
To try and help Pierce improve his social
ties and learn more appropriate ways of communication
we are recommending "How to Win Friends and
Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.
Another area that Pierce has difficulty with
is technology. We see him struggle with the
voice command on his mobile phone, asking
for help in retrieving photographs from his
drone, and wanting to use a specific computer
in the library because his email is 'saved
on that one'. We thought that we would give
Pierce a little help by recommending "Android
Phones for Seniors" by Nick Vandrome, which
will provide step-by-step guides for specific
features on his phone.
The last selection is "Run Your Business,
Don’t Let It Run You" by Clay Mathile. After
Pierce’s dad dies, we learn that he never
actually ran the Hawthorne Wipes company,
his half-brother Gilbert did. This book will
give him some tips on how to actually help
run the family business.
At the beginning of the series, Ben Chang,
who goes by 'Chang' throughout most of the series,
is a mentally unbalanced Spanish teacher at
Greendale with some questionable teaching
methods. We soon find out that not only does
he not have any teaching qualifications, but
the only Spanish he does knows is what he
picked up watching Sesame Street. In light
of this, we highly recommend "DK’s 15-minute
Spanish" audio book so Señor Chang can learn
some new Spanish vocabulary.
After losing his teaching position, Chang
hatches an elaborate plan to take over the
school. As such, the second recommendation
is "How to Be A Dictator" by Frank Dikötter.
This book takes a deep dive into the cult
personality and founders of modern dictators.
After nearly blowing up Greendale during the
height of his dictatorship, Chang is driven
away from the college and is later found by
police with no memory, and suffering from
“Changnesia”. During several episodes
we see Chang re-learning basic things like
how to use a water fountain, how to throw
a frisbee, and how to wear a hat. The third
recommendation is "The Illustrated Encyclopedia
of Knots" by Geoffrey Budworth, which comes
directly from the episode 'Intro to Knots'.
In this episode the study group discovers
that Chang can’t remember how to tie a knot,
which nearly causes them to fail their history
paper.
Dean Pelton is ultimately responsible for
the running of Greendale Community College.
He enjoys interacting with most of the students
on campus, and has a real soft spot for the
study group, and especially Jeff. Unfortunately,
Dean Pelton doesn’t have particularly strong
leadership skills, and is frequently concerned
about whether people think he is a 'good dean'.
We thought that we would start by recommending
"Good Boss, Bad Boss" by Robert I. Sutton,
so that the dean can learn how to be more
effective in his position.
Another quirk of the dean’s is that he enjoys
dressing up in outrageous costumes to deliver
news to the study group. For example, he once
dressed up as Tina Turner to remind people
to 'Tina Turner the clocks ahead' for daylight
savings time. As such, we thought the book
"The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Costume & Fashion"
by Jack Cassin-Scott might help him to preparing
new interesting costumes.
Dean Pelton decides to bring Greendale into
the future by purchasing a virtual reality
machine in Season 6. He giddily tests the
device where he is awestruck by the virtual
environment and refuses to leave. We decided
to recommended the book "Virtual & Augmented
Reality for Dummies" by Paul Mealy to teach
Dean Pelton how he can actually apply these
technologies to his school.
Remember to find your next great read on one
of our digital platforms, or by browsing our
physical materials in branch, all for free
with your Halton Hills Public Library card.
Happy Reading!
