August 20, 2020 - Drive-In Concert | DeForest Area Public Library

As of the publication date of this writing,there are 11 days left to the end of the Summer Reading Program. You all have done a terrific job of plowing through pages and pages of books to reach the 10,000 books read mark. Which by the way has "won" a final concert on the Market Street stairs of the library with local celebrity, songwriter, singer, author, educator, and all-around nice guy, Stuart Stotts. This summer's reading program community challenge was two-fold. The first part of the challenge -- 10,000 books-- has already been achieved. I have it on very good authority that the second part of the challenge --12,020 (10,000 books and the current year)-- is within easy reach. This is no reason to slack off now. Reaching a community goal depends on each member of the community recording the books they have read, preferably, as the read them. The second part of the goal is ice cream for all of you who attend the drive-in concert. I am so confident that you all will achieve that goal that I have started to stockpile ice cream Dixie cups (which is a term from my childhood and which I am using generically here). So, read up, record those titles, put the concert date in (on) your calendars for the drive-in concert on September 1st. Please check our website for time and details. Below are some of the new titles which recently arrived at the library. Enjoy!

New Non-Fiction

Children of the Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings by Neil Price. A distinguished archaeologist with decades of expertise offers a full history of the Vikings—from arts and culture to politics and cosmology.

And in the End: The Last Days of the Beatles by Ken McNab. A Scotland “Evening Times” journalist and lifelong fan reconstructs the seismic events of 1969 that shaped The Beatles' acrimonious final collaborations, from filmed rehearsals and the Get Back documentary to creative disagreements and Lennon's heroin use.

Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family by Omid Scobie & Carolyn Durand. With unique access and written with the participation of those closest to the couple, the insider authors offer an honest, up-close and disarming portrait of a confident, influential and forward-thinking couple who are unafraid to break with tradition, determined to create a new path away from the spotlight, and dedicated to building a humanitarian legacy that will make a profound difference in the world.

Olive the Lionheart: Lost Love, Imperial Spies, and One Woman’s Journey Into the Heart of Africa by Brad Ricca. Draws on personal writings in an account of Olive MacLeod's search for her missing fiancé, naturalist Boyd Alexander, in 1910 Africa, a quest shaped by dangerous natural elements, a murderous leopard cult and two adorable lion cubs.

A Good Apology: Four Steps to Make Things Right by Molly Howes. Through the book's four essential steps, the author gives groundbreaking advice on how best to make an effective apology toward rebuilding any relationship.

New Fiction

Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls. A man on the brink of marriage reevaluates his teen experiences with first love, a milestone that was complicated by his father's depression, an unorthodox newcomer and a summer theater troupe performance of Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet.”

The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls by Ursula Hegi. When an 1878 tidal wave claims three children from Germany's island of Nordstrand, three women including a grieving mother, a seamstress and a young girl on the brink of giving birth help each other in unanticipated ways.

Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Evolution (Jason Bourne) by Brian Freeman. Going rogue to investigate suspicions that the agency that trained him is responsible for his lover's murder, Jason Bourne teams up with journalist Abbey Laurent to identify who set him up for the assassination of a congresswoman.

The Safe Place by Anna Downes. Losing her job and agent on the same miserable day, Emily accepts a nanny position on a remote French estate before discovering that her employer, a successful CEO, and his wife are hiding dangerous secrets.

The Silent Wife, No. 10 (Will Trent) by Karin Slaughter. Investigating a brutal murder that eerily resembles another from years earlier, Will Trent reopens the case of a possibly wrongly convicted prisoner before teaming up with medical examiner Sara Linton to hunt down the true killer.

The Vacation by T.M. Logan. Spending a week with loved ones in an opulent villa in southern France, Kate finds her life upended by an incriminating text that reveals her husband is having an affair with one of her three best friends.

The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson. Designed to cater to a human man's every whim, a synthetically designed "wife" hidden on the top floor of a luxurious home secretly longs for a more qualitative existence and records in her diary her fears of being reprogrammed.

The Queen of Tuesday: A Lucille Ball Story by Darin Strauss. From the award-winning, best-selling author of Chang & Eng and Half a Life, comes a new novel about Lucille Ball, a thrilling love story starring Hollywood’s first true media mogul, and an epic multi-layered look at America’s most fascinating era.