My LINKcat AccountIt seems like summer has arrived (what happened to spring?) and with it the summer book titles are popping up like dandelions in a lawn. If you're looking for your next book to read, you'll find many excellent titles below in this column. These books are (mostly) chosen because of their predicted popularity (based on the previous performance of the authors or the best guess of the publishers). They are often right off the best-seller lists or will soon be on the best-seller lists. We just added a widget to the front page of our website (www.deforest.lib.wi.us) that says "Awesome". If you've read a book you think is awesome tell someone at the desk when you return the book. They will scan it and add it to this library's "awesome" book page. If you have an awesome dvd, audio book, or cd you thought was awesome - we can add those to that page as well. The Harvard Library Innovation Lab created this awesome project. We like it because it tells you what local readers think are great things to read. It also links you directly to the book record in our catalog so it is easy to place a hold on it. Awesome books will be displayed in their own section of the new items book shelves (east side of the building near the circulation desk). Awesome books don't have to be new or best-sellers. If you read something you think is just great, tell you think it is awesome. Odds are someone else will think it's awesome too. To get you started on your search for "awesome", below you'll find a bunch of new titles. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
The total recovery : solving the mystery of chronic pain and depression / by Gary Kaplan. A leading integrative doctor outlines new theories about illness and recovery based on the experiences of patients with chronic pain whose medical exams reveal no clear sources, exploring the theory that disease can be a cumulative effect of inflammation-triggering traumas.
Life's a bark : what dogs teach us about life and love by Larry Kay. A lighthearted book of wisdom by the creator of the award-winning "Animal Wow" DVD and co-author of "Training the Best Dog Ever" combines evocative photos and heartwarming lessons about how to improve one's outlook through the examples of canine companions.
Stuff matters : exploring the marvelous materials that shape our manmade world / by Mark Miodownik. A world-leading materials scientist presents an engrossing collection of stories that explain the science and history of materials, from the plastic in our appliances to the elastic in our underpants, revealing the miracles of engineering that seep into our everyday lives.
Sextant : a young man's daring sea voyage and the men who mapped the world's oceans / by David Barrie. This fascinating and adventure-filled history of the navigation tool that measures the angle between a celestial object and the horizon, allowing sailors to pinpoint their exact location at sea, chronicles its development and how it saved many a navigator.
New Fiction
Crown of renewal / by Elizabeth Moon. A conclusion to the best-selling series finds the awakening of ancient mages, the confrontation of evil and the revelation of secrets invoking difficult consequences throughout the Eight Kingdoms. By the Nebula Award-winning author of "Limits of Power".
Skin game : a novel of the Dresden files / by Jim Butcher. Chicago wizard Harry Dresden must help a hated enemy, Nicodemus Archleone, break in to a high security vault to steal something belonging to the Lord of the Underworld in the latest novel of the humorous fantasy series following "Cold Days".
Dark Aemilia : a novel of Shakespeare's dark lady / by Sally O'Reilly. A U.S. debut by an award-winning writer follows the experiences of Venetian musician's daughter Aemilia Bassano, who a decade after the death of Elizabeth I begs help from her former lover, William Shakespeare, when her son catches the plague.
People of the Morning Star / by Kathleen & Michael Gear. The ancient North American city of Cahokia is threatened by Civil War when the believed reincarnation of divine hero Morning Star is targeted by assassins, prompting his aunt, Matron Blue Heron, to bring the culprits to justice. By the award-winning authors of the First North American series.
The book of you : a novel / by Claire Kendal. While serving jury duty, university administrator Clarissa realizes that the disturbingly violent crime unfolding in front of her parallels to recent events in her own life as she becomes the obsession of her colleague who has crossed the line between fantasy and reality, love and compulsion.
Border war / by Lou Dobbs. Reassigned to a dead-end office after a shooting incident on the Mexican border, FBI agent Tom Eriksen, assisted by a beautiful NSA agent, tackles bureau corruption in the aftermath of his partner's murder.
The directive : a novel / by Matthew Quirk. Mike Ford finds himself utilizing skills from his former life of crime when he helps his brother out of his involvement in stealing a billion-dollar trade secret from the Federal Reserve Bank in this follow-up to "The 500".
Ghost ship / by Clive Cussler. Waking with conflicted memories after an injury sustained while trying to rescue passengers from a sinking yacht, Kurt Austin searches for answers from a state-sponsored cybercrime ring that takes him from Monaco to North Korea. By the best-selling authors of "Devil's Gate".
The Kraken Project / by Douglas Preston. When a NASA accident kills seven scientists and enables a self-modifying artificial intelligence to escape into the Internet, Wyman Ford and the AI's creator, Melissa Shepherd, struggle to keep the evolving program out of the hands of scheming Wall Street traders. By the best-selling author of "The Monster of Florence".