My LINKcat AccountWe have past the summer solstice, so summer is officially here. Now we are counting down to that big holiday that is almost smack dab in the middle of the three holidays that occur during the summer months. The 4th of July is just around the corner. Borrowing heavily from a post in a BBC newsletter, I thought I would share some words that go with the summer season. The first is “apricate” which means to bask in the sun or to sun bathe. This fun word comes from the Latin word apricus, meaning exposed to the sun. Then we have the word “gongoozling” the activity of watching boats and activities on canals for pleasure. I think you can watch activity on any body of water and still qualify as a “gongoozler”. This activity has been compared to trainspotting. Then there is “philocaly” which means “loving beauty” but it implies being focused on things that should be loved such as family, friends, and picnics. How can we ignore “kalopsia” which in a way goes hand-in-hand with the previous word? “Kalopsia” means the delusion that things are more beautiful than they are. In summer, doesn’t the whole world seem more beautiful – the blue skies, the green grass, the flowers and butterflies abounding. The final word I’ll throw out today is “mubble-fubbles”. It is defined as the doldrums; the blahs; a downer; a mood of depression, dejection, or melancholy. I for one know that I experience the mubble-fubbles when there is more rain in the forecast. (I mean really! Haven’t we had enough to last us the summer?). With that, I shall leave you until next week. Below are the titles of some of the books which recently arrived at the library. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space” by Adam Higginbotham. Based on fascinating new archival research and deep reporting, this gripping and riveting narrative provides the definitive story of the 1986 “Challenger” disaster and how it led to America changing its view of itself.
“American Civil War: A Continental History, 1850-1873” by Alan Taylor. A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner provides a masterful historical account of the twenty-year period from 18501873 during which the United States, Mexico and Canada underwent significant transformations and evolved into the nations we know today.
“Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs” by Johann Hari. To answer questions about the new drugs transforming weight loss—from his personal experience on Ozempic, a journalist embarks on a journey from Iceland to Minneapolis to Tokyo to interview the leading experts in the world to answer those questions, in this essential guide to the revolution that’s already begun.
New Fiction
“Summers at the Saint” by Mary Kay Andrews. The widowed owner of the St. Cecelia, a landmark hotel, Traci Eddings has one summer season to restore it to its former glory, but when a tragic death changes everything, she must put wrongs to right, put guilty parties in their place and maybe even find a new romance along the way.
“Clive Cussler’s the Heist, No.14 (Isaac Bell Adventures)” by Jack Du Brul. Detective Isaac Bell investigates an attack on the Federal Reserve being led by a master thief and his assassin accomplice in 1914 Washington, D.C. in the fourteenth novel of the series following “The Sea Wolves”.
“Phantom Orbit” by David Ignatius. Working in secret for years to solve the puzzle in the writings of the 17thcentury astronomer Johannes Kepler, Ivan Volkov, after the loss of his son and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, makes the fraught decision to contact the CIA, risking his life to help stop the Doomsday clock.
“Death Behind Every Door, No.1 (Blackbird Files)” by Heather Graham. Posing as a tourist, an FBI special agent visits a Scottish castle that's been turned into a bed and breakfast to infiltrate a society of twisted killers named after the man believed to be America's first serial killer.
“Return to Blood (Hana Westerman Thrillers)” by Michael Bennett. When her daughter finds a young women’s skeleton in the sand dunes of New Zealand, which is linked to a long ago murder, former Auckland CIB detective Hana Westerman is drawn into the case and risks compromising her own peace and relationships if justice is to be served.
“I Want Your More” by Swan Huntley. An aspiring author accepts a job ghostwriting the memoir of a hit cooking show host and the pair grow close until an unexpected incident makes them question just how much they really know about each other.
“The Last Murder at the End of the World” by Stuart Turton. On an isolated island where 122 villagers and three scientists live in peaceful harmony, one of the scientists is found brutally murdered, which triggers a security system, giving the islanders only 107 hours to solve the murder or be smothered by the fog that destroyed the planet.
“The 24th Hour, no. 24 (Women’s Murder Club)” by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro. While celebrating Cindy’s engagement at one of San Francisco’s finest restaurants, a woman is assaulted and Lindsay, Claire and Yuki spring into action, but when the victim’s story keeps changing, Lindsay must expose a high-society killer before the Women’s Murder Club is short a bridesmaid…or two.
“One Perfect Couple” by Ruth Ware. Landing on a tropical paradise where they’ll compete against four other couples to win a cash prize, Lyla and Nico, starring on the new reality TV show, “One Perfect Couple”, find themselves trapped on a storm-swept island where they all must band together for survival as a killer walks among them.
“Red Sky Mourning” by Jack Carr. When three seemingly disconnected events are about to ignite a power grab unlike anything the world has seen, Navy SEAL sniper James Reece, to save America, must reconnect to a quantum computer called “Alice” who is positioned to act as either the county’s greatest savior or its worst enemy.
“You Like it Darker: Stories” by Stephen King. Delving into the darker part of life—both metaphorical and literal, the legendary storyteller and expert in short fiction presents this exhilarating collection of 12 tales, many never-before-published, about fate, mortality, luck and the folds in reality where anything can happen.