My LINKcat AccountThe most interesting literary thing that has happened lately is the revelation that J.K, Rowling of Harry Potter fame penned a well-received mystery using a pseudonym. The jacket blurb purportedly says that the name "Robert Galbraith" is a pseudonym. This got some reporters wondering who the author might be. Apparently there is a software program that analyses text using author's preferences - such as preferences for certain words, length of sentences, length of words - an analyses was done on this work and J.K. Rowling was at the top of the list. This analysis was done by computer science professor Patrick Juola using the Java Graphical Authorship Attribution Program to help determine authorship. Forensic linguistics (who even knew there was such a field of study?) uses word pattern usage to help attribute authorship. While the results are never one hundred percent conclusive they can predict with a pretty high level of probability. Once Rowling was determined to be the most likely author the publisher was asked and confessed. This shot that book to the top of the best-seller lists. There were thirteen copies of "The Cuckoo's Calling" by Robert Galbraith before the identity of the author was revealed. Eight more now show on order. The number of holds jumped from zero to 620 almost overnight. Our copies should have arrived before you read this and I'm sure other libraries copies will also be arriving soon. And speaking of J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter, our tenth annual Harry Potter's Birthday Party will be held this year on Harry Potter's birthday, July 31st from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend. Come in costume. Drink pumpkin juice and butter beer. Eat Cake. Play games. Take part in the slug eating contest. In the meantime, while you're figuring out your costume for the party, there are lots of new books to read. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
JFK's last hundred days : the transformation of a man and the emergence of a great president / by Thurston Clarke. A revelatory, minute-by-minute account of the 35th President's final months examines his considerable roles in advancing civil rights and the Limited Test Ban Treaty, recounts the death of his premature infant son and considers what might have occurred had he not been assassinated.
Real talk for real teachers : advice for teachers from rookies to veterans : no retreat, no surrender / by Rafe Esquith. The National Medal of the Arts-awarded teacher shares inspirational advice for fellow instructors that draws on his achievements at Los Angeles's Hobart Elementary School, combining offbeat humor with illuminated stories to offer counsel for the various challenging stages of an educational career. By the best-selling author of "Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire".
New Fiction
New Earth / by Ben Bova. Placed in cryonic suspension to travel to a newly discovered Earth-like planet, a team of explorers say farewell to their loved ones and are astonished to discover that the planet is inhabited by suspicious human-like beings who may or may not be invaders from another world. By the six-time Hugo Award-winning author of "Leviathans of Jupiter".
Storm riders / by Margaret Weis & Robert Krammes. When their centuries-warring kingdoms are simultaneously attacked by the evil magic forces of a Bottom-Dweller society that blames them for the destruction in their land, Freya and Rosia are forced to put aside their differences to defend themselves while a dragon-riding hero leads a ragtag group to save the kingdoms.
First sight / by Danielle Steele. Running a successful fashion empire in Paris and New York that hides the pain of a failed marriage, Timmie O endures a sequence of meaningless relationships before a surprise bout of appendicitis places her under the care of alluring but married French doctor, Jean-Charles Vernier. By the best-selling author of "Friends Forever".
Blood & beauty : The Borgias : a novel / by Sarah Dunant. A tale inspired by the lives of Borgia siblings Lucretia and Cesare traces the family's rise in the aftermath of Rodrigo Borgia's rise to the papacy, during which war, a terrifying sexual plague and the family's notorious reputation forge an intimate bond between brother and sister.
Letters from Skye : a novel / by Jessica Brockmole. A sweeping love story told in letters spans two world wars and follows the correspondence between a water-phobic poet on the Scottish Isle of Skye and an American volunteer ambulance driver for the French Army, an affair that is discovered years later when the poet disappears.
The light in the ruins : a novel / by Christopher Bohajalian. Hoping to safeguard themselves from the ravages of World War II within the walls of their ancient villa in Florence, the noble Rosatis family become prisoners in their home when 18-year-old Cristina's courtship by a German lieutenant prompts the Nazis to take over the estate, a situation that leads to a serial murder investigation years later.
A treacherous paradise / by Henning Mankell. Fleeing her native Sweden in 1905 to escape a life of poverty, Hanna Renström is widowed twice before becoming the owner of a bordello in Portuguese East Africa, where she is isolated by racism while bonding with the prostitutes and discovering an inner strength that leads to a boundary-breaking decision. By the author of the Wallander crime series.
The fire witness / by Lars Kepler. When a medium contacts the police department with claims about a murder at a rural home for wayward girls, detective Joona Linna investigates bizarre clues only to find himself confronting more violent truths and a figure from his past.
Gone with the win / by Mary Daheim. When Ruby Tooms, the world-weary barmaid she met at Oktoberfest, arrives at her bed-and-breakfast with some unexpected baggage, Judith McMonigle Flynn, after much coercing by her husband, agrees to help Ruby solve the 20-year-old mystery of her mother's murder.
The last word / by Lisa Lutz. Targeted by the members of her dysfunctional family for control over Spellman Investigations after staging a retaliatory takeover, Izzy is wrongly accused of embezzling funds from a wealthy Alzheimer's patient. By the Edgar Award-winning author of "Trail of the Spellmans".
The white princess / by Philippa Gregory. Passionately in love with Richard III in spite of her arranged marriage to pretender to the throne Henry Tudor, Princess Elizabeth of York is forced to marry the man who murdered her lover and create a royal family under the controlling gaze of his mother, Margaret Beaufort. By the best-selling author of "The Other Boleyn Girl".