My LINKcat AccountI can’t believe it’s the second week of September already and I haven’t done my annual Summer Reading re-cap. All the books have been counted, all the pages and minutes read accounted for, and I can finally give you all of the amazing numbers about how many people read how many books! Every year, for more years than I care to remember, I have been reporting the number of pages read in concrete terms. I have converted the number of pages read (or pages listened to, or time spent reading) into inches, then converted those inches into miles, and then plotted that number of miles on a map. Since I have been doing this annually for enough years for this to have become a tradition, and since I’m wise enough not to tamper with a fine tradition, here goes!
This year 357 people participated in the Summer Reading Program. Those participants managed to read 1,107,735 pages, which is quite an impressive number! Now, on to the calculations which begin with this question: “If you laid all the pages of the books that were read end-to-end how many miles would they stretch?” The average size of a page is 9 inches tall which gives us (1,107,735 times 9” or 9,969,615 inches—always show your work if you want to receive full credit.). Then we take those 9,969,615 inches and divide by 12 to give us 830,801 feet and then divide by 5,280 to give us 157.4 miles. And, voilà! If you laid all the pages read during the Summer Reading Program end to end and drove east on I-90, you would end up about 3 miles west of the Oak Lawn Public Library. Or heading north and west on I-90 you’d end up about a three miles south of Winona, MN. Any way you look at it, that’s a whole lot of reading was done this summer! Congratulations to all the Summer Reading participants.
New Non-Fiction
Nine essential things i've learned about life / by Harold Kushner. The congregational rabbi and best-selling author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People distills nine essential lessons on living a good life that draw on personal experiences to offer counsel on such topics as belief, conscience and mercy.
The patient's playbook : how to save your life and the lives of those you love / by Leslie Michelson. Using personal stories as examples, provides an effective approach for obtaining the best medical treatment, explaining how to research with precision, source excellent doctors and select the right treatment protocols.
The making of Asian America : a history / by Erika Lee. Describes the lasting impact and contributions Asian immigrants have had on America, beginning with sailors who crossed the Pacific in the 16th century, through the ordeal of internment during World War II and to their current status as “model minorities.”
Sisters in law : how Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg went to the Supreme Court and changed the world / by Linda Hirshman. An account of the intertwined lives of the first and second woman Supreme Court justices examines their respective religious and political beliefs while sharing insights into how they have influenced interpretations of the Constitution to promote equal rights for women.
New Fiction
Aftermath: Star Wars : Journey to the Force Awakens. by Chuck Wendig. A story bridging the period between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens follows the efforts of the Rebel Alliance to defeat the fracturing forces of a desperate Empire.
Archmage / by R.A. Salvatore. Preparing for an attack by the powerful Archmage Gromph and his dark elves, Drizzt and his companions find themselves confronting demonic forces from the deepest reaches of the Abyss. By the best-selling author of Night of the Hunter.
After you : a novel / by Jojo Moyes. A sequel to Me Before You continues the stories of Lou, her family and the Traynors as they confront new challenges. By the best-selling author of The Ship of Brides.
Purity : a novel / by Jonathan Franzen. Struggling with identity issues and student loans as the daughter of a mother who hides a mysterious past, Pip takes an internship with an illicit activist group and falls for its charismatic fugitive leader. By the author of Freedom.
Two years eight months and twenty-eight nights : a novel / by Salman Rushdie. A modern fairy tale by the award-winning author of Midnight's Children is set in a world of religious dominance where mystical acts and supernatural abilities shape a war over control of Fairyland.
See me / by Nicholas Sparks. A young man with a dark, destructive past has his plans to remain single challenged by a hardworking lawyer. By the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Notebook.
The gilded hour / by Sara Donati. Haunted by childhood losses in spite of successful medical careers in 1883 New York City, surgeon Anna Savard and her obstetrician cousin, Sophie, consider taking in a child and helping a desperate woman who would escape a dangerous man.
Girl waits with gun / by Amy Stewart. Living in virtual isolation years after the revelation of a painful family secret, Constance is terrorized by a belligerent silk factory owner and fights back in ways outside the confines of early 20th-century women.
Driving heat / by Richard Castle. After being promoted to captain, NYPD’s top homicide detective, Nikki Heat, finds her relationship being tested when her reporter fiancé becomes a major obstacle in her investigation. By the author of Raging Heat.