My LINKcat AccountWere you paying attention at 5:07 this morning? That's when summer officially arrived. Today marks the astronomical solstice which is astronomically when summer begins. It seems remarkable this year to say summer has just arrived within the past few minutes when we already had a stretch of 90 degree weather at the end of May and then again this past weekend. Day time high temperatures don't really have much to do with length of day, which is what the solstice is all about. Today we will have 15 hours 22 minutes and 14 seconds of daylight. Tomorrow we lose three seconds and it's all downhill from there until the December. But for now, the mornings and evenings are sunlit and the long days of summer are upon us.
All the added daylight is perfect for reading and the publishers continue to release their summer titles. It is also a perfect time for reading because the Summer Reading Program is underway and reading can earn you dragon dollars which may be used to donate to some local charities or to purchase cool items in our "store". Take advantage of the extended days, all the summer titles being released, and staying inside when the heat is too great, to get some reading done. Below you will find a sampling of the new titles that arrived at the library recently. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“Robert F. Kennedy: Ripples of Hope..” by Kerry Kennedy. The daughter of Robert F. Kennedy shares personal remembrances of her father and—through interviews with politicians, media personalities, celebrities and leaders—explores the influence that he continues to have on the issues at the heart of America's identity.
“How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us about Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, and Transcendence” by Michal Pollan. The best-selling author of The Omnivore's Dilemma presents a groundbreaking investigation into the medical and scientific revolution currently taking place in the field of psychedelic drugs, drawing on a range of experiences to trace the criminalization of such substances as LSD and psychedelic mushrooms and how they may offer treatment options for difficult health challenges.
“Pick Three: You Can Have it All—Just Not Every Day” by Randi Zuckerberg. In a motivational handbook—both a business how-to and self-help guide—a New York Times best-selling author of Dot Complicated takes on the fallacy of the “well-balanced” life, arguing that the key to success is learning to be well-lopsided.
“Pops: Fatherhood in Pieces” by Michael Chabon. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh presents a full-length collection of essays on fatherhood, including his viral 2016 GQ piece about his 13-year-old son's immersion in Paris Men's Fashion Week.
“Autoimmune Solution Cookbook: Over 150 Delicious Recipes” by Amy Myers. An acclaimed international doctor and star of the BBC program Doctor in the House presents a much-needed program to prevent and reverse disease and discover a path to sustainable, long-term health.
“Asperger’s Children: The Origins of Autism in Nazi Vienna” by Edith Sheffer. The prizewinning author of Burned Bridge: How East and West Germans Made the Iron Curtain presents an exploration of the sobering history behind Asperger's Syndrome that reveals child psychiatrist Hans Asperger's influence by Nazi psychiatry and his use of one of the Reich's deadliest killing centers to experiment on disabled children.
“Calypso” by David Sedaris. A latest collection of personal essays by the best-selling author of Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls and Me Talk Pretty One Day shares even more revealing and intimate memories from his upbringing and family life.
New Fiction
“To the Moon and Back, No.3 ( Baxter Family)”by Karen Kingsbury. Meeting a bereft and smitten son of an Oklahoma City bombing victim who bonded with, and then lost contact with, the daughter of another bombing victim, Ashley struggles to help the man find the girl at the same time she tries to get her skeptical husband to understand why she feels strongly compelled to get involved. By the author of In “This Moment”.
“He” by John Connolly. A literary Golden Age Hollywood portrait based on the remarkable life of Stan Laurel traces the rise of a Chaplin-inspired comedian whose genius and talent blossoms through his creative and personal relationship with partner Oliver Hardy, at whose side he endures fame, betrayal and heartache. By the Edgar Award-winning author of the Charlie Parker mysteries.
“Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen, No. 3 (Six Tudor Queens)” by Alison Weir. Compelled by her ambitious father to live at court as lady-in-waiting to beloved fellow Catholic Katherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour is horrified when Henry VIII shunts the queen aside to pursue Anne Boleyn, whose failure to rapidly produce a male heir causes Jane herself to be targeted by the king's obsessive desire for a son.
“Love and Ruin” by Paula McLain. The best-selling author of The Paris Wife returns to her fan-favorite subject, Ernest Hemingway, in a tale set on the eve of World War II that is inspired by his passionate, stormy marriage to a fiercely independent, ambitious young Martha Gellhorn, who would become one of the 20th century's leading war correspondents.
“Shout in the Ruins” by Kevin Powers. A sweeping and dramatic novel that spans 100 years and is set in Virginia during the Civil War and a century beyond explores the brutal legacy of violence and exploitation in American society as it examines the fates of the inhabitants of Beauvais Plantation and their descendants. By the author of “The Yellow Birds”.
“The Cast” by Danielle Steele. Building a huge following for her magazine column, Kait, a woman who prefers to focus on her career after two failed marriages, teams up with producer Zack to launch a television series with a colorful cast and crew, each marked by private eccentricities, heartaches and secrets.