My LINKcat AccountThe Summer Reading Program has been underway since May 19th. Have you signed up yet? This year in honor of our 15th year of celebrating Harry Potter’s Birthday our reading program will be offering a bit of Hogwarts – a summer school, if you like. There will be lots of programs which lend themselves to things Potter. There will be “classes” on owls and plants and chemistry. Professor Venom and his animals will be back again this year. Dr. Bassam Shakhashiri will be demonstrating the magic of chemistry in a show that packs in audiences on campus. Oh, and there will be a quidditch demonstration. There is so much happening this summer you sort of need to check things out on our website calendar or pick up the “summer school schedule” available at the library now. Oh, and did I mention the Concerts in the Park? Those will be occurring during the month of July, but prior to the Concerts in the Park series, there will be a short series of Concerts at the Rocks at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays starting on June 12th. Of course, every time you come to the library for one of these wonderful programs you should be checking out some books – not only because of the pleasure reading books brings, but in order to earn dragon dollars which you can redeem for items in our “store”. Those dollars may also be donated to one of three charities – Dane County Humane Society, the DeForest Area Needs Network and the library’s endowment fund – which have donation jars at our circulation desk. I will convert those dragon dollars into United States dollars at the end of the summer. So, to get you started on your summer reading, there is a list of some of the new books that have arrived at the library recently. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“Broadway: A History of New York in Thirteen Miles” by Fran Leadon. A mile-by-mile history of Manhattan as reflected by its most celebrated street traces its origins as a muddy cow path in a 17th-century Dutch colony and its eventual transformation into a commercial and cultural thoroughfare of businesses, hotels and theaters reflecting the contributions of such figures as P. T. Barnum, Alexander Hamilton and Edgar Allan Poe.
“Rescue Board: The Untold Story of America’s Efforts to Save the Jews of Europe” by Rebecca Erbelding. A U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum scholar responds to criticism of America for its alleged refusal to give harbor to Jewish victims of Nazism, tracing the extraordinary story of the War Refugee Board and FDR's lesser-known, last-ditch effort to save Europe's Jewish survivors.
“Born Trump: Inside America’s First Family” by Emily Jane Fox. The Wall Street and Silicon Valley Hive reporter presents an insider's account of the Trump family that discusses the experiences and perspectives that have shaped their controversial political and cultural views, as well as the upbringings of the family's younger members.
“Rocket Man: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon” by Robert Kurson. Shares the lesser-known inside story of the dangerous Apollo 8 mission, focusing in particular on the lives and families of astronaut heroes Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, while illuminating the political factors that prompted America to risk lives to save the Apollo program and define the space race. By the award-winning author of “Shadow Divers”.
“To the Promised Land: Martin Luther King and the Fight for Economic Justice” by Michael Honey. Goes beyond popularized views of Martin Luther King, Jr., to explore his committed advocacy of the poor, the working class and unions, as well as his views about nonviolent resistance to all forms of oppression, particularly economic inequality. By the award-winning author of “Going Down Jericho Road”.
New Fiction
“The Only Story” by Julian Barnes. A man who ran away as a teen university student with a married woman more than twice his age reflects on how they fell in love, how he freed her from a sterile marriage and how their relationship fell apart as she succumbed to depression. By the award-winning author of “The Sense of an Ending”.
“Varina” by Charles Frazier. Forced by limited prospects to marry much-older widower Jefferson Davis, teenaged Varina Howell finds her expectations as the wife of a Mississippi landowner upended by his appointment as the leader of the Confederacy, a situation that renders her and her children fugitives in a divided and increasingly hostile nation.
“Miss Julia Raises the Roof, No. 19 (Miss Julia)” by Ann B. Ross. Learning that a nosy local gossip has teamed up with a new pastor to set up a secret home for wayward teens in the lot beside Hazel Marie's home, Miss Julia is shocked to discover that the venture has a sinister underlying agenda with the power to permanently disrupt their quiet and peaceful community. By the best-selling author of “Etta Mae's Worst Bad-Luck Day”.
“Shot in the Dark (Coffeehouse Mysteries)” by Cleo Coyle. Setting a date for her wedding at the same time her ex and other locals begin arranging dates at her coffeehouse, Village Blend manager Clare Cosi is entangled in the untimely demise of a lothario associated with innumerable brokenhearted conquests, including one who swears she has been framed for murder.
“Twenty-One Days, No.1 (Daniel Pitt)” by Anne Perry. Daniel Pitt, the young lawyer son of London's Special Branch investigation team Thomas Pitt, puts himself at odds with his father as he races against time to save his client, an arrogant biographer, from execution. By the best-selling author of the William Monk series.
“Bad Men and Wicked Women” by Eric Jerome Dickey. When his pregnant and bitter daughter blackmails him for $50,000, Los Angeles enforcer Ken Swift embarks on a clash of wills that is complicated by a contract that spirals out of control, revealing the vengeful nature of a dangerous adversary. By the best-selling author of “Finding Gideon”.
“The Family Gathering, No. 3 (Sullivan’s Crossing)” by Robyn Carr. A highly anticipated latest entry in the series that includes What We Find and Any Day Now continues the story of the residents of and visitors to the rustic campground of Sullivan's Crossing.
“A Nantucket Wedding” by Nancy Thayer. The long-awaited nuptials of a woman to the love of her life are thrown into turmoil and drama by family dynamics involving her daughters, including one whose husband has just revealed an affair and another who falls for her soon-to-be stepbrother. By the best-selling author.