My LINKcat AccountWhat with all the fireworks that have been going off this past week in various neighborhoods and what with the big extravaganza on July 3rd, it’s been a little hard to pick out the sounds of nature that are occurring all around us. The tree frogs have been merrily singing in between rain storms and the crickets have been chirping away. The crickets we are hearing now aren’t the fall crickets which predict the first frost if you pay attention to the old weather lore (and you all know that I do). As we all know – or as you will soon know—there are not only fall crickets, but there are also spring crickets. These spring crickets survive the winter in a juvenile form and as the weather warms, they mature and start chirping. They will die off any time now, and then the fall crickets, who started their post-winter life as eggs, will finally be mature and start chirping by the end of July or early August. When these fall crickets start singing, that is when the countdown to the first frost occurs. I’ll keep you posted on those first frost warnings, but for now, there is still a whole lot of summer yet to come. And there are still a whole lot of summer books to be read and enjoyed. Below you will find some of the new titles that have arrived recently. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“The Call to Serve: The Life of an American President, George Herbert Walker Bush: A Visual Biography” by Jon Meacham. Published to coincide with the 100th anniversary of his birth, this intimate portrait of the 41st U.S. President visually documents his life with over 450+ photographs, celebrating the legacy of a man whose strong values of integrity and respect for others led to a life of leadership viewed as a call to serve.
“Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People” by Tiya Miles, edited by Henry Louis Gates. Written with her characteristic tenderness and imaginative genius, a National Book Award-winning author weaves Tubman’s life into the fabric of her world, probing the ecological reality of Tubman’s surroundings and examining her kindship with other enslaved women, revealing a story of powerful inspiration for our own time of troubles.
“On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service” by Anthony Fauci. A memoir by the doctor who became a beacon of hope for millions through the COVID pandemic, and whose six-decade career in high-level public service put him in the room with seven presidents.
“Roctognearians: Late in Life Debuts, Comebacks, and Triumphs” by Mo Rocca & Jonathan Greenberg. Celebrating the triumphs of people who made their biggest marks late in life, this entertaining and unexpected collection stars an amazing cast of characters—some long gone and some very much still living, including John Goodenough, who scored a Nobel Prize at 97 for inventing the lithium-ion battery.
New Fiction
“Tom Clancy Act of Defiance, No. 24 (Jack Ryan)” by Brian Andrews & Jeffry Wilson. When U.S. intelligence reports there’s something going on in Russia, President Jack Ryan and his youngest daughter, Katie, determine the Russians are about to launch a super missile submarine, and the race is on to find its location and decide if it poses a threat to the continental U.S.
“Very Bad Company” by Emma Rosenblum. A team of wealthy and powerful executives are on retreat in Miami when one of them goes missing.
“Westport” by James Comey. A suspenseful and intriguing tale of high finance and murder, Westport features the characters first introduced in James Comey’s debut novel Central Park West but can also be read on its own. It further establishes Comey, a former FBI Director, as a bold new talent in the mystery genre.
“When We Were Silent” by Fiona Mcphillips. An outsider threatens to expose the secrets at an elite private school. A first novel.
“If Something Happens to Me” by Alex Finley. As Ryan Richardson races from the rolling hills of Tuscany, to a rural village in the U.K., to the glittering streets of Paris in search of the truth behind his missing girlfriend, he has no idea that his salvation may lie with a young sheriff’s deputy in Kansas working her first case, and a mobster in Philadelphia who’s experienced tragedy of his own.
“The Instruments of Darkness (Charlie Parker)” by John Connolly. In Maine, Colleen Clark stands accused of the worst crime a mother can commit: the abduction and possible murder of her child; and soon enough, Charlie Parker is on the case.
“The Return of Ellie Black” by Emiko Jean. Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s life is turned upside down when she gets the call Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared years earlier, has resurfaced in the woods of Washington state—but Ellie’s reappearance leaves Chelsey with more questions than answers.
“I Will Ruin You” by Linwood Barclay. A teacher’s act of heroism inadvertently makes him the target of a dangerous blackmailer who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
“Southern Man (Penn Cage)” by Greg Iles. A man—and a town—are rocked by anarchy and tragedy, but he's unbowed in the fight to save those he loves.
“The Cautious Traveler’s Guide to the Wastelands” by Sarah Brooks. A historical fantasy novel set on a grand express train follows a group of passengers on a dangerous journey across a magical landscape. A first novel.