My LINKcat AccountThese past few weeks there have been a number of interesting events taking place in nature. We had those big storms on the 21st and a big northern lights display on May 11th and more solar storms on May 31st were likely to bring more northern light displays due to coronal mass ejections. We are also being blessed with an incredible entomological event. A cicada double brood emergence is taking place, even as I write. As we all know, there are 13-year broods of cicadas and there are 17-year broods. Obviously because of timing they mostly emerge during different years. This year they have cycled together. This is the first time this has happened in 221 years. The last time this happened, in 1803, Thomas Jefferson was president and Lewis and Clark had just started out on their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase. Some of the 13-year brood cicadas reside in Wisconsin and will emerge soon, when the soil is warm enough. Chicago-area folks are already reporting good numbers of cicadas making very loud music all the time. If you want to learn more about this phenomena check out https://cicadasafari.org. The library will have some information and activities about cicadas available around the library (like how to fold an origami cicada). Stop by and check this out. While you are doing that, you can also check out some of the new books that recently arrived at the library. Below is a sample of some of those titles.
New Non-Fiction
“Life’s Too Dhort” by Darius Rucker. The three-time Grammy award-winning, Diamond-selling lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish and country music star tells the story of his life through the music that made him and his own music with Hootie and as a solo artist, sharing stories of his road-hardened life that are raw, real, funny and deeply emotional.
“The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America” by Sara Franklin. Based on exclusive interviews, neverbefore-seen personal papers and years of research, this tribute to legendary editor reveals the audacious woman behind some of the most important authors of the 20th century, including Sylvia Plath, John Updike, Anne Frank and Julie Child, changing culture mores and expectations along the way.
“But What Will People Say: Navigating Mental Health, Identity, Love, and Family Between Cultures” by Saha Kaur Kohil. A writer, therapist and founder of Brown Girl Therapy, a wellness organization for adult children of immigrants challenges the long-held, Eurocentric mental health models that were focused on individuality instead of collective healing and offers an alternative.
“Native Nations: A Millennium in North America” by Kathleen Duval. An award-winning historian tells the story of the Native nations, from the rise of ancient cities to the present, reframing North American history with Indigenous power and sovereignty at its center and showing how the influence of Native peoples remained a constant and will continue far into the future.
New Fiction
“Allow Me to Introduce Myself” by Onyi Nwabineli. After growing up with her life being chronicled and monetized by her entrepreneurial step-mother, Anuri escapes as a young adult but vows to fight the cycle of abuse and save her younger sister from a similar fate.
“Ella” by Diane Richards. A work of “biographical fiction” reimagines the turbulent and triumphant early years of singer Ella Fitzgerald.
“The Summer Swap” by Sarah Morgen. A recent widow’s plan to spend the summer in Cape Cod hiding from her interfering family is upended when she discovers her beach house has an unexpected guest, and the secret she's been keeping about her marriage threatens to be exposed.
“Wives Like Us” by Plum Sykes. A humorous novel features a grand English country house, a heartbroken American divorcee, three rich wives, two tycoons, a pair of miniature sausage dogs and one bereaved butler.
“The Red Grove” by Tessa Fontaine. When her mother goes missing, a young woman uncovers the secrets beneath her protected community.
“The Library Thief” by Kuchenga Shenje. A mystery about a white-passing bookbinder in Victorian England delves into the secrets lurking on the estate where we she works.
“The Strange Eventful History” by Claire Messud. An immersive story looks at a family born on the wrong side of history.
“Every Time We Say Goodbye” by Natalie Jenner. With her future in 1955 London not looking bright, at the suggestion of her friend, Peggy Guggenheim, Vivien Lowry takes a job as a script doctor on a major film shooting in Rome’s Cinecitta Studios.
“Spitting Gold” by Carmelia Lowkis. In 1866 Paris, Baroness Sylvie Devereux and her estranged sister, fraudulent spirit mediums, target the de Jacquinots, who believe they are being haunted, hoping to scare them out of their gold, but the sisters are faced with inexplicable horrors, making them question whether they really are at the mercy of vengeful spirit.
“The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club” by Helen Simonson. In the summer of 1919, Constance, sent as a lady’s companion to Hazelbourne-on-Sea, is welcomed by Poppy Wirrall, a baronet’s daughter who runs a ladies’ motorcycle club, but as the country prepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, the club realizes the freedoms they gained during the war are being revoked.