My LINKcat AccountWow! The countdown to the Annual Harry Potter Birthday Party is nearing single digits. In a dozen days, that’s 12 days, the Harry Potter Party will be upon us. “When is the birthday party?” I hear you ask. “It’s on his birthday, July 31st.” I reply. The party starts at 10 a.m. and runs to noon. Games, prizes, treats will all be happening. Checkout our website for more details and plan to attend.
The Harry Potter Birthday Party puts us right on the doorstep of August which means there are only 17 days left in the Summer Reading Program which ends on August 17th. The 17th is the last day to log your books. You can redeem your dragon dollars in the store through August 28th.
The last on our Concerts on Market Street shall have occurred by the time the Harry Potter Birthday Party is done. But as of this reading you still have two more concerts you can attend. On Tuesday, July 23rd, the Low Czars shall be performing at 6:30 p.m. They do cover songs from the 50s onward. You’re bound to recognize a lot of the music they play. On July 30th, Harmonious Wail will be performing. They bill themselves are Americana flavored Gypsy Jazz. It’s sure to be a treat.
While you’re waiting for all these great programs to occur, why not settle back with a good book to read? Below you will find some of the recently-arrived titles at the library. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“Boymom: Reimaging Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity” by Ruth Whippman. This deep dive into the complexities of raising boys in the face of the many cultural messages they face leave them anxious, emotionally repressed and socially isolated offers ways to help them overcome the confines of masculine expectations.
“The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi” by Boyce Upholt. A sweeping history of the Mississippi River looks at the centuries of human meddling that have transformed both it and America.
“Sing Like a Fish: How Sound Rules Life Underwater” by Amorina Kingdon. Synthesizing historical discoveries with the latest scientific research, an award-winning science journalist takes us beneath the surface of the ocean to show the repercussions of human-made sound on the marine world’s delicate acoustic ecosystems, issuing a clarion call for humans to address the ways we invade these critical soundscapes.
“The Explorers: A New History of America in Ten Expeditions” by Amanda Bellows. Told through the stories of a diverse group of ten extraordinary, yet often overlooked, adventurers, including Sacagawea, James Beckwourth, Harriet Chalmers Adams and Sally Ride, this exhilarating new history of American exploration brings to life the people who took on great risk in unfamiliar territory to exercise personal freedom.
New Fiction
“The Stardust Grail” by Yume Kitasei. From the acclaimed author of The Deep Sky comes a thrilling anti-colonial space heist to save an alien civilization.
“Bear” by Julia Phillips. Trapped on a remote Washington island with their dreams seemingly out of reach, two sisters clash when a mysterious bear arrives swimming in the channel, forcing them to confront their conflicting desires for escape and connection.
“Brat” by Gabriel Smith. Mourning the death of his father, Gabriel moves into his parents' house to clear it out but is instead taken on a surreal and mysterious journey where he finds unfinished manuscripts that change and a video hinting at long-buried secrets.
“Caledonian Road” by Andrew O’Hagan. A biting portrait of British class, politics and money is told through five interconnected families and their rising—and declining—fortunes.
“Dad Camp” by Evan Porter. Desperate to hold on to his little girl as she approaches her eye-rolling teen years, a dad organizes a father-daughter camping retreat, but instead finds toxic dads, cringe-worthy forced bonding activities and the inexplicable ire of the camp director.
“God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer” by Joseph Earl Thomas. An ex-Army grad student, Joseph, navigates PTSD, single fatherhood and strained family ties while confronting the complexities of race, love, and justice in modern Philadelphia in the new novel by the author of “Sink”.
“Fire Exit” by Morgan Talty. From the porch of his home, Charles Lamosway has watched the life he might have had unfold across the river on Maine’s Penobscot Reservation, and, on the far bank, he caught brief moments of his neighbor Elizabeth’s life—from the day she came home from the hospital to her early twenties; but there’s always been something deeper and more dangerous than the river that divides him from her and the rest of the tribal community: it’s the secret that Elizabeth is his daughter, a secret Charles is no longer willing to keep.
“In the Hour of Crows” by Dana Elmendorf. In the wilds of Appalachia, young Weatherly Wilder uses her unique gift to solve her cousin’s mysterious murder and prove her own innocence.
“Sandwich” by Catherine Newman. From the beloved author of “We All Want Impossible Things” comes a moving, humorous story of a family summer vacation full of secrets, lunch and learning to let go.
“The Seaside Sisters” by Pamela Kelley. Two sisters, both book lovers, explore a summer of second chances and new beginnings in a new novel from a USA Today best-selling author.