My LINKcat AccountAs of today, there are two more weeks until our annual Harry Potter Birthday Party. Harry Potter, the character from the fictional series that in some ways re-energized and reshaped the book publishing industry has his fictional birthday on July 31st. We have been hosting a party to celebrate that day for over 10 years now. You are invited and you don't need to bring a present. Costumes are encouraged and this year we're having a dragon judging contest, so if you have a dragon you would like to enter in the competition, it's bring your own dragon! The Harry Potter Birthday party almost exactly coincides with the end of this year's summer reading contest. With two full weeks left to go, there is still plenty of time for a come-from-behind surge that could capture first prize. You are encouraged to take as many books as you can (There is an upward limit in the automated circulation system which a few of you have hit, but for the most part...) carry - and we are willing to help you get the books out to your car if need be. Below, you will find some new titles to whet your appetite. Enjoy! We are looking for some volunteers to help with delivering books to the homebound, helping with the Monday Matinee Movie, and putting flyers up around town. If you have a couple of hours to spare a month, give Jane Henze a call at 846-5482.
New Non-Fiction
Elephant Company : the inspiring story of an unlikely hero and the animals who helped him save lives in World War II by Vicki Croke. Tells the story of James Howard "Billy" Williams, whose uncanny rapport with the world's largest land animals transformed him from a carefree young man into the charismatic war hero known as Elephant Bill.
The Mockingbird Next Door : Life with Harper Lee / by Marja Mills. Describes the story of a journalist who befriended the notoriously quiet and private author of "To Kill a Mockingbird", eventually moving in next door to the writer and her sister and becoming part of their life in Alabama.
The crossword century : 100 years of witty wordplay, ingenious puzzles, and linguistic mischief / by Alan Connor. A British comic writer at "The Guardian" explores the history of the crossword puzzle, which made its debut in 1913 and went from being considered a menace to productivity to being used to recruit codebreakers by the military.
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! : the story of pop music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé by Bob Stanley. This encyclopedic history of pop music begins with Bill Haley & the Comet's 1954 hit, "Rock Around the Clock" and continues up through Beyoncé's first huge hit in 2003, "Crazy in Love," touching on all the groups and genres in between.
The Victorian city : everyday life in Dickens' London / by Judith Flanders. A meticulously researched portrait of everyday life in Dickensian London evaluates the Victorian era as a time of unprecedented transformation marked by rapid construction, railways, street lighting and a population booms at every economic level.
New Fiction
The ways of the dead / by Neely Tucker. A debut entry in a new series by an award-winning "Washington Post" journalist finds reporter Sully Carter investigating a string of cold cases to solve the murder of a powerful Washington, D.C. judge's daughter, in a story inspired by the 1990s Princeton Place case.
The book of life : a novel / by Deborah Harkness. Historian and witch Diana Bishop and her vampire scientist husband Matthew Clairmont return from a trip to the past still searching for the elusive alchemy tome "Ashmole 782" in the final installment of the best-selling trilogy following "Shadow of Night".
Close your eyes, hold hands : a novel / by Christopher Bohjalian. Living in an igloo of ice and trash bags half a year after a cataclysmic nuclear disaster, Emily, convinced that she will be hated as the daughter of the drunken father who caused the meltdown, assumes a fictional identity while protecting a homeless boy. By the best-selling author of "The Sandcastle Girls".
The queen of the tearling / by Erika Johansen. Coming out of exile to ascend her rightful throne, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, with a cadre of soldiers and the magical Tearling sapphire to protect her, makes a daring decision that evokes the wrath of the evil Red Witch, forcing her to embark on a quest to save her kingdom and fulfill her destiny.
Landline / by Rainbow Rowell. Recognizing that her marriage is in deep trouble in spite of her abiding and mutual love for her husband, television writer Georgie excludes herself from a Christmas family visit before discovering a way to reconnect with the man her husband used to be. By the award-winning author of "Fangirl".
Wars of the Roses : stormbird / by Conn Iggulden. After gentle Henry VI takes the throne and is promised a royal bride from France, the rival royal line, the House of York, begins their quest to oust him, in the first book of a new series from the author of "The Emperor" series.
The visitors : a novel / by Sally Beauman. In 1922, 11-year-old Lucy, sent to Egypt to recuperate from typhoid, becomes friends with Frances, the daughter of an American archaeologist, and is drawn into the exciting world of Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter and their search for King Tut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
The dead will tell / by Linda Castillo. Investigating a murder that was staged to look like a suicide, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder follows scanty clues to a long-ago tragedy, a case that is complicated by a second suspicious suicide and the acquittal of the man responsible for killing agent John Tomasetti's family. By the best-selling author of "Last Breath".