My LINKcat AccountIf you think this summer is whipping by very fast, you are correct. The Summer Reading Program has been running since May 18th and will end, 84 days later, on August 10th with a big party. We passed the halfway mark in the program way back on June 29th. There are only 12 days until the big Harry Potter Birthday Bash. (Please do plan on attending. There will be a number of interesting activities and photo ops. You can come in costume. There will be cake!). This week we passed the mid-point of summer or at least the time of the year between Memorial Day and Labor Day – which is 98 days this year. The midpoint was July 15th (if my math is correct). There is still plenty of summer left which the heat wave this week has certainly reminded us about. While there is still plenty of summer left for reading books on the beach and lying in a hammock in the shade of some big old trees, there are seasonal changes already beginning to happen. The dawn chorus is getting thinner with cardinals, mourning doves, and a few robins still joining in. The nestlings that the robins in the tree near my driveway (who did not like me getting in and out of my car) have fledged. The breeding season for the birds is winding down and loose flocks are starting to form again. The wheat fields and oat fields seem to be ready for harvesting. The corn fields – depending on how soggy the fields were in the spring – are (mostly) well past knee-high (by the 4th of July) and some are even thinking about tasseling. Oh, and did I mention the back-to-school ads have started? Well, they have. We must always have our eye on the future rather than being in the now – at least the advertisers would have it so. For those of you who are presently enjoying the summer and a more leisurely pace there are plenty of new books to help you escape to different lives, different worlds, and different times. Below you will find some of the recent arrivals at the library. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“100 Side Hustles: Unexpected Ideas for Making Extra Money Without Quitting Your Day Job” by Chris Guillebeau. The author of “The $100 Startup and Side Hustle School” podcaster presents a full-color guide that shares the stories of 100 everyday people who have supplemented their income with successful, easy-to-run side businesses in underserved markets.
“One Giant Leap: The Untold Story of How We Flew to the Moon” by Charles Fishman. The award-winning author of The Wal-Mart Effect shares the story of the remarkable NASA scientists and engineers who created America's space program and fulfilled President Kennedy's mandate to put a man on the Moon before 1970.
“Where the Lost Dogs Go: A Story of Love, Search, and the Power of Reunion” by Susannah Charleson. The best-selling author of Scent of the Missing draws on expert studies in animal behavior, lost-pet search tactics and the psychology of loss in an analysis of the world of lost dogs and the power of reunion.
“Chaos: Charles Mason, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties” by Tom O’Neill. A journalist's 20-year obsession with the 1969 Manson murders brings shocking revelations about one of the most infamous crimes in American history: carelessness from police, misconduct by prosecutors and even potential surveillance by intelligence agents.
“Confirmation Bias: Inside Washington’s War Over the Supreme Court, From Scalia’s Death to Justice Kavanaugh” by Carl Hulse. A chief Washington correspondent analyzes the political fight to fill the Supreme Court seat in the aftermath of Antonin Scalia's passing, explaining its direct ties to paralyzing dysfunctions throughout the nation's capital.
“The Dictionary Wars: The American Fight Over the English Language” by Peter Martin. A history of the national conflicts stemming from the creation of the first definitive American English dictionary shares insights into how ensuing power struggles among lexicographers, scholars, publishers and other major groups underpinned the nation's founding and growth.
New Fiction
“Fleishman in Trouble” by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. Divorcing his hostile wife when he concludes he could find genuine happiness elsewhere, a doctor is astonished when his ex abruptly disappears, making him unable to move on without acknowledging painful truths about his marriage. A first novel.
“Gone the Dead” by Chanelle Benz. Returning to her ramshackle home in the Mississippi Delta after 30 years, Billie James investigates the accident that killed her famous poet father as well as rumors that she went missing the day he died. A first novel.
“The Islanders” by Meg Mitchell Moore. A writer struggling with a second book, the divorced owner of a café and an unfulfilled stay-at-home mom share a season of unexpected romance and secrets on scenic Block Island. By the author of “The Captain's Daughter”.
“The Most Fun We Ever Had” by Claire Lombardo. The four adult daughters of two Chicago parents who have been madly in love for decades recklessly ignite old rivalries, until a long-buried secret threatens to shatter the lives they built.
“Searching for Sylvie Lee” by Jean Kwok. The best-selling author of Girl in Translation draws on a personal family tragedy in the story of three women from a Chinese immigrant family who navigate complicated secrets when an elder daughter goes missing.
“The Stationary Shop” by Marjan Kamali. The award-winning author of Together Tea presents a debut novel in which a young couple, separated in 1953 Tehran by a violent coup d'état, reunite by chance after more than half a century. A first novel.
“Tom Clancy Enemy Contact (Jack Ryan Jr.)” by Mike Maden. A dangerous mission in Poland catapults Jack Ryan, Jr. into a race to stop an international criminal conspiracy at the same time a friend's dying request reveals the identity of a CIA mole. By the author of the Drone series.
“Backlash, No. 19 (Scot Harvath)” by Brad Thor. Far from home and surrounded by enemies in the wake of an unforgivable betrayal, Scot Harvath tests the limits of his training in an effort to escape and exact revenge. By the award-winning author of “Spymaster”.