My LINKcat AccountEleven days and counting. Eleven days until the Summer Reading Program ends. Eleven days until the Harry Potter Birthday party. It’s still not too late to sign up for the reading program. The books you’ve read this summer count. You just need to enter the titles into the account you create online. Those books will earn you dragon dollars. If you’re in the teen category – or know someone who is – our teen librarian has challenged teens and the library staff to a friendly little competition. If the teens read more books than library staff does during the Summer Reading Program, then the teens get to do something to the teen librarian that involves whipped cream, a plate or pie, and her face. (I’m still trying to figure out what the incentive is for library staff to read as much as they can.). As of the weekend of July, 15-16th, there were 414 participants in the reading program. Joining is a trending thing so be one of the trendsetters and signup now. Go to the library’s webpage at: www.deforestlibrary.org . There is a large banner near the top of the page that says “Join the Summer Reading Program: Build a Better World”. Click on that link and choose your age group and create your account. Then, if you read any of the books below, or anything else, just record the title and you are now part of the program. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
If I understood you, would I have this look on my face? : my adventures in the art and science of relating and communicating / By Alan Alda. The Emmy Award-winning actor and founder of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science traces his personal quest to understand and teach others how to relate and communicate better, from practicing empathy and using improv games to storytelling and developing better intuitive skills.
The secret life of the mind : how your brain thinks, feels, and decides / by Mariano Sigman. A leading neuroscientist provides a complete and accessible layperson's guide to all that the human mind is capable of.
New Fiction
The identicals / by Elin Hilderbrand. Forced to call a truce by a family crisis, estranged identical twins Tabitha and Harper reevaluate their bond and the resentments that drove them apart from their respective homes on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. By the best-selling author of “The Rumor”.
The map that leads to you / by J.P. Monniger. Traveling through Europe with her friends during a romantic summer after graduating college, Heather falls in love with enigmatic New Englander Jack, who is recreating his grandfather's European tour while harboring a secret that changes everything.
The ministry of utmost happiness : a novel / by Arundhati Roy. A provocative love story by the award-winning author of The God of Small Things meanders through a spectrum of powerful emotions experienced by diverse protagonists, including a grieving father who writes a letter profiling the people who came to his 5-year-old daughter's funeral and two longtime friends at a guest house who sleep wrapped around each other like newlyweds.
Our little racket / by Angelica Baker. When an investment banker is accused of malfeasance in the wake of the 2008 economic crash, four women including friends and family members begin questioning their shifting roles in their personal and community lives. A first novel.
The people we hate at the wedding / by Grant Ginder. A fractured family from the Chicago suburbs reluctantly gathers in London to attend an eldest daughter's wedding to an upper-crust Englishman, an affair that exposes secrets, triggers riotous culture clashes and tests the bonds of both families.
The duchess / by Danielle Steele. A tale set in early 19th-century England, Paris and New York follows the endeavors of a noble orphan who after being thrown out of her ancestral home by a vicious half-sibling makes her way to Paris, where she takes in abused streetwalkers and transforms them into upper-crust courtesans in an exclusive bordello.
The Essex Serpent : a novel / by Sarah Perry. An American debut of an award-winning book from England is set in the late-19th century and follows the experiences of an intellectually minded young widow and a pious vicar who investigate rumors about a mythical sea creature that has been blamed for a death in coastal Essex.
Kiss Carlo / by Adriana Trigiani. Establishing a stable home and Western Union Telegraph Office in post-World War II Philadelphia, the hardworking Palazzini family is shattered by their nephew's epiphany in the wake of a telegram that changes everything for the citizens of a small Italian-American village.
The lost letter / by Jillian Cantor. A young apprentice works secretly for the Austrian resistance in World War II and resolves to save the fiery daughter of his Jewish stamp engraver master, a story that is found decades later by a divorced descendant who investigates an unusual stamp on an old love letter. By the award-winning author of “Margot”.
Seven stones to stand or fall : a collection of Outlander fiction / by Diana Gabaldon. A collection of seven short stories set in the Outlander universe stars beloved character Jamie Fraser and includes two previously unpublished stories, including "Besieged," a tale about Lord John Grey; and "A Fugitive Green," centering on John's brother, Hal Grey.