My LINKcat AccountWe are at the end of the merry month of May which in years past used to mean the beginning of the planting season. For decades, I never put a garden in until the weekend after Memorial Day (since we all know from my column last week that Memorial Day can came as early as 25th of May which might have been a little early for less-hardy plants). I put my porch garden in between the rounds of thunderstorms this past week. Two weeks ahead of what used to be the safe, no-frost date. Now the end of April is starting to look like the safe, no-frost, plant-by date. I swear I have seen a sandhill crane chick – also weeks early. First crop have was being cut a couple of weeks ago! We never made hay before –I know I am beginning to sound like a broken record here – Memorial Day weekend weather permitting. Corn is planted and in lots of fields looks to already be 4-6 inches tall. (I made this measurement by eye, driving past said fields at the speed limit of 45 mph.) All in all, a year that is progressing seasonally faster than the calendar is advancing. I don’t necessarily object to it. I’m just noting it. And I’m old enough to not only note it, but to opine “My how things have changed since I was growing up”. School is all-but done and with that the start of the Summer Reading Program will arrive. Check our website or at the circulation desk for details. Below you will find some of the books which recently arrived at the library. Some are “beach” books. A couple are about the age of Good Queen Bess (Elizabeth I) and the rest a mixed bag. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“Send Me: The Incredible Story of a Mother at War” by Marty Skovlund & Joe Kent. This extraordinary story of a heroic Navy cryptologic technician who worked clandestinely to hunt the most wanted terrorists in the world while trying to balance being a wife and mother, lifts the veil from the life of a Special Forces family to share their duty, sacrifice and humanity.
“You Never Know: A Memoir” by Tom Selleck. An American icon and famed actor brings us on his uncharted but serendipitous journey to the top in Hollywood, clearing up misconceptions; sharing dozens of never-before-told stories from both his personal and professional lives; and offering a truly fresh perspective on a changing industry and a changing world.
“Paradise of the Damned: The True Story of an Obsessive Quest for El Dorado, the Legendary City of Gold” by Keith Thompson. An ambitious courtier, confidant to Queen Elizabeth and El Dorado fanatic, Sir Walter Raleigh, released from the Tower of London, journeys across an ocean to find the fabled city, gambling his painstakingly acquired wealth, hardwon domestic bliss and his very life, while back home, his rivals plotted his demise.
“A Gentleman From Japan: The Untold Story of an Incredible Journey from Asia to Queen Elizabeth’s Court” by Thomas Lockley. This story of the first Japanese man to set foot on North America and England follows his 1588 journey from Japan to Mexico, Java and Southern Africa and up the River Thames to meet Queen Elizabeth I.
New Fiction
“The Shanghailanders” by Juli Min, Starting in 2040 and going backwards to 2014, this brilliantly constructed exploration of marriage, relationships and the layered experience of time, follows the Yangs, a cosmopolitan Shanghai family, parent by parent, daughter by daughter and through the eyes of those closest to them.
“Loneliness and Company” by Charise Dyroff. Assigned to train an AI how to be a friend, Lee discovers this project is part of a classified government mission to solve loneliness – an emotion erased from society’s lexicon decades ago – and must decide what she’s willing to give up for.
“Reunion” by Elise Juska. Three old college friends in their 40s, coming together for the 25-year reunion at their beloved campus in New England, each find the reunion not what they envisioned when the weekend takes a startling turn, forcing them to reckon with the past and how it will bear on the future.
“The Guncle Abroad, No2 (The Guncle)” by Steven Rowley. With his brother getting remarried in Italy, Patrick takes his niece and nephew back under his wing, and as they travel through Europe, he tries his best to help them understand love, while dealing with a groom with cold feet, his over-flirtatious sister and other disasters.
“Long After We are Gone” by Terah Shelton Harris. Told from alternating points of view from all four siblings, this emotional story about the power of family and letting go, follows CeCe, Junior, Nance and Angeline, each fighting their own personal battles, as they return home to save their ancestral land—and themselves—after the death of their father.
“The Second Coming” by Garth Risk Halberg. When he receives a call from New York that makes him fear his 13-year-old daughter is in deeper trouble than anyone realizes, Ethan, a convicted felon and recovering addict, decides it’s time to return home where they navigate love, grief, betrayal and redemption.
“Summer on Highland Beach, No.3 (Summer Beach)” by Sunny Hostin. A cohost of “The View” and a three-time Emmy Award winner transports readers to Highland Beach.
“Ministry of Time” by Kaliane Bradley. A time travel romance, a spy thriller, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all.
“Butcher” by Joyce Carol Oates. A disgraced doctor's quest for surgical renown in 19th-century America leads him down a horrifying path of experimentation on marginalized women at a New Jersey asylum, until his obsession with a young Irish indentured servant brings about his ultimate destruction.
“First Frost, No. 20 (Longmire Mysteries)” by Craig Johnson. Sheriff Walt Longmire tries to manage his increasingly complicated personal life while staving off the violent underworld that is encroaching on the Old West in the twentieth novel of the series.