My LINKcat AccountNow that the first day of summer has officially arrived -- it showed up on June 20th at 4:43 p.m. CDT-- we are suddenly surrounded by all the signs that the season is moving on apace. The early batch of goslings that hang out around Lake Windsor and the pools at Token Creek have lost most of their downy feathers and are marching around like miniature adults. The robins are working on their second broods of nestlings. Those pale robins you've seen hopping around your lawns looking for worms are probably this year's juveniles and not mom robin who is busy sitting on her eggs. The early summer crickets have been chirping away for the past couple of weeks. Not to worry, these crickets are not the one's whose song indicate the approach of frost; these are the ones whose arrival indicates that summer is here (or at least the soil has reached the temperature they need to hatch). The cricket chorus has joined with the frog chorus and the dawn and dusk chorus of birds to fill those long summer nights with song. At the library the signs of summer abound -- a little differently this year, to be sure. The Summer Reading Program is under way. You can record the books you read and earn badges and tickets for drawings and Dragon Dollars which can be spent in our store. The Concerts at the Rocks series is underway. So far one has been inside because of rain, the other outside. By the time you read this, Tuesday's performance shall have already happened. The weather forecast at this point looks okay so hard to tell it it will be a drive-in concert or a live-streamed performance. Weather has always been anxiety producing for these programs: this year it gets combined with building capacity and social distancing.But the show does go on!
Phase Two of Forward Dane started last week. This week, because we have a newly-installed people counter and have an accurate way of monitoring the number of people in the building, appointments (except for computer use) are no longer necessary. We will be closing the library for 15 minute intervals during the day to sanitize high-touch areas and computers, and masks are still appreciated as is wearing gloves (which we provide) when handling the collection. Curbside delivery will continue. Our hours will continue to be 9:30 to 5:30 Monday through Saturday with the last curbside pickup at 5:15.
Below are some of the new books which recently arrived at the library. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
The Book of Rosy: a Mother’s Story of Separation at the Border by Pablo Rosayra Cruz & Julie Schwietert Collazo. A searing critique of the Trump administration-induced immigration crisis, written by a mother who was separated from her children and the American who helped reunite the family, shares timely insights into the injustices of today's migrant experience.
Code Name Madeleine: A Sufi Spy in Nazi-Occupied Paris by Arthur Magida. Documents the story of artist Noor Inayat Khan, the daughter of an Indian Sufi mystic who joined the British SOE during World War II and became an only wireless operator in Paris during the crucial months leading up to D-Day.
Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the 116 Days that Changed the World by Chris Wallace & Mitch Weiss. A “Fox News Sunday”anchor and a Pulitzer Prize-winning AP investigative journalist present a behind-the-scenes account of the secret meetings, global events, leadership decisions and civilian realities that led to the Hiroshima bombing.
Our Time is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America by Stacey Abrams. The award-winning House Democratic Leader and best-selling author of Lead from the Outside draws on extensive national research to outline an empowering blueprint for ending voter suppression, reclaiming identity and reshaping progressive politics in America.
New Fiction
Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh. Discovering a note and grave while walking her dog in the woods, an elderly widow becomes obsessed with learning the victim's story before her grip on reality is shaken by what she uncovers. By the award-winning author of McGlue.
Hideaway by Nora Roberts. Years after escaping a kidnapper with the help of a young man, a Hollywood hopeful pursues healing in Ireland before she is compelled to return to Los Angeles, where she encounters unexpected opportunities in love and vengeance.
The Bright Side of Going Dark by Kelly Harms. Forced to fake her wedding for her sponsors after her fiancé jilts her, a popular social media influencer tries to find a life offline. By the best-selling author of The Overdue Life of Amy Byler.
The Daughters of Erietown by Connie Schultz. A first novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Life Happens explores the impact of forfeited dreams, long-kept secrets and evolving gender roles on a small family throughout the latter half of the 20th century.
Eliza Starts a Rumor by Jane Rosen. Clinging to the community bulletin board she created 15 years earlier, a suburban housewife struggling with agoraphobia engages in fabricated gossip to keep the site more interesting before community member lives are upended by personal setbacks.
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan. Millennial Irish expat Ava becomes entangled in a love triangle with a male banker and a female lawyer. A first novel.
The Lost Diary of Venice by Margaux DeRoux. Navigating her attraction to a married customer who has brought her a 16th-century treatise, a book restorer uncovers the story of a forbidden romance between a courtesan and a Renaissance artist who is losing his sight. A first novel.
Mrs. Lincoln’s Sisters by Jennifer Chiaverini, Devastated by her 1875 suicide attempt, the sisters of widowed former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln navigate the consequences of their husbands' choices while advocating for Mary's needs. By the best-selling author of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker.
Riviera Gold, No. 16 (Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes) by Laurie R. King. Visiting the French Riviera in the summer of 1925, Russell and Holmes are embroiled in a mystery shaped by the traditional pleasures of Monte Carlo and the modern delights of the Jazz Age. By the award-winning author of Folly.