My LINKcat AccountHaving rolled past the 4th of July, we are now more than a third of the way through the summer – if you consider summer to be that expanse of warm to hot days that occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day. This year there are 98 days from those “bookend” holidays and Independence Day fell on the 36th day after the beginning of summer. Our Summer Reading Program which runs from Memorial Day to Harry Potter’s Birthday (July 31st). The program is of shorter duration, so at this point we are more than halfway through. This means that there is still plenty of time to sign up and participate. You can sign up online and add books that way too. There are challenges to take, dragon dollars to win, and programs to attend. Check out the library’s website for signup details. This past Tuesday we celebrated the 241st anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. On July 4th, the Continental Congress approved the final draft of the document, formalizing what had already been decided on July 2nd. That congress hired John Dunlap to print 200 copies of the Declaration to be distributed throughout the colonies. He delivered 200 copies, now known as the Dunlap Broadsides, on July 5th. On July 6th, the Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first newspaper to reprint the whole Declaration. Publishers, printers, and newspapers were there at the birth of this nation. Reading and having access to information should also be celebrated when we think about the 4th of July. Some of the new books that arrived this past week are listed below to help you celebrate. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
Believe me : a memoir of love, death, and jazz chickens / by Eddie Izzard. A wide-ranging memoir by the critically acclaimed British comedian details his childhood in multiple countries, his first performances on the streets of London and the achievements that have marked his international success.
Daring to drive : a Saudi woman's awakening / by Manal al-Sharif. An intimate memoir by a devout Saudi Arabian woman who became the unexpected leader of a movement to support women's rights describes how fundamentalism influenced her radical religious beliefs until her education, a job and legal contradictions changed her perspectives and made her an accidental activist.
Kennedy and King : the president, the pastor, and the battle over civil rights / by Steven Levingston. A revelatory account of the contentious relationship between the 35th president and Martin Luther King, Jr. throughout the tumultuous early years of the Civil Rights movement shares insights into their profound influence on one another and the important decisions that were inspired by their rivalry.
Never call me a hero : a legendary American dive-bomber pilot remembers the Battle of Midway / by N. Jack Kleiss. In an eyewitness account of the Battle of Midway by one of its key participants, timed to the 75th anniversary, an American dive-bomber pilot discusses how he sank two Japanese carriers, struck a third, received the Navy Cross and is credited with playing a decisive individual role in determining the outcome of a battle that is considered a turning point in World War II.
New Fiction
Walkaway / by Cory Doctorow. Abandoning formal society to pursue a minimalist counterculture life in a near-future world wrecked by climate change, a disenchanted senior and his heiress paramour inspire a host of followers who become obsessed with cheating death in ways that turn the world upside down.
16th seduction / by James Patterson. Reeling from her husband's betrayal at the same time an unnatural wave of heart attacks claim seemingly unrelated victims throughout San Francisco, Detective Lindsay Boxer is challenged to assist the prosecution of a bomber in the face of a hostile defense team.
The boy on the bridge / by M.R. Carey. A standalone novel set in the same world as the best-selling “The Girl with All the Gifts” finds a clever boy declared the savior of his land and dispatched outside the gates to the region of monsters.
Dragon teeth : a novel / by Michael Crichton. A recently discovered novel by the ER creator and best-selling author of Jurassic Park is set in the Wild West during the golden age of fossil hunting and follows the exploits of two ambitious paleontologists who sabotage each other’s careers in a rivalry that came to be known as the Bone Wars.
Dying breath / by Heather Graham. Seeing a ghost for the first time while escaping a violent attack in her teens, historian Vickie is recruited to aid the authorities in tracking down a brutal serial killer with the assistance of a murder victim's ghost.
The fallen : a testament novel / by Eric Lustbader. When the Testament of Lucifer is discovered in a Lebanese mountain cave, Gnostic Observatine sect leader Bravo Shaw, his sister Emma and Fra Leoni become the world's defenders against the devil's advance guard and an End of Days plot to enslave the human race.
Full wolf moon : a novel / by Lincoln Child. Traveling to an isolated writers' retreat deep in the Adirondacks, Jeremy Logan, an investigator who specializes in unexplained phenomena, discovers a dead hiker whose wounds suggest an unnatural attack before encountering numerous suspects and a woman scientist struggling with the death of her father.
Into the water : a novel / by Paula Hawkins. When a single mom and a teen girl are found murdered at the bottom of a river in a small town weeks apart, an ensuing investigation dredges up a complicated local history involving human instincts and the damage they can inflict. By the best-selling author of “The Girl on the Train”.