My LINKcat AccountWe are just past Labor Day and already the weather seems autumnal. The nights are crisp, the days (mostly) dry, the crops are finishing, some trees are starting to change colors, and the birds are flocking up. Often as not, the week that school gets back in session and fully underway, we get a week of really hot weather. So far, it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. About two weeks ago my tomato plants (in big porch pots) started dying back. It always seems to me, with tomatoes particularly, once a lot of fruit is set, the foliage starts dying back and then it becomes a race between new foliage, the fruit ripening and the foliage dying off. At this point, dying off is winning. I have a nice set of mostly sticks with dozens and dozens of cherry tomatoes ripening in the sun. Flocks of red-winged black birds have started to assemble. These flocks aren’t as big as they’ll get before the big migration south, but it’s a start. It’s an indication that the year is turning towards fall. Families of geese are taking practice flights in formation as are the double-crested cormorants along the Mississippi. The world seems to be gearing up in preparation of the next season, but it also seems to be slowing down as the days get shorter so there’s more time to sit in side and relax and perhaps read! September is National Library Card Sign-up Month, so if you don’t have a card, stop on down and we’ll get you one. Then you can check out some of the fascinating books listed below. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
It takes two : our story / by Jonathan & Drew Scott. Shares never-before-revealed tales of the authors' childhood and rise to fame—from starting their first business at 7 years old and their years modeling and acting to their first house purchase at the impressive young age of 18 and their rise to become the hosts of “Property Brothers” and “Brother vs Brother”.
Streampunks : YouTube and the rebels remaking media / by Robert Kynci. The chief business officer at YouTube and former vice president of content at Netflix traces the rise of YouTube, the creative minds that have capitalized on it to become pop-culture stars and how streaming video is revolutionizing the media world.
Draft no. 4 : on the writing process / by John McPhee. A guide to writing long-form nonfiction, written by the legendary New Yorker author and teacher, is presented as a series of lighthearted essays that share insights into the lessons he has learned on the writing process during his years at Princeton University.
Stephen Colbert's midnight confessions / by Stephen Colbert. Based on the popular segment from “The Late Show”, a revelatory compilation of satirical, irreverent writings conveys in self-deprecating language the innumerable memories and behaviors for which he is almost sorry.
Fantasyland : how America went haywire : a 500-year history / by Kurt Andersen. The best-selling author of Heyday explains how the influences of dreamers, zealots, hucksters and superstitious groups shaped America's tendency toward a rich fantasy life, citing the roles of contributors ranging from P. T. Barnum and Billy Graham to Disney and Donald Trump in perpetuating conspiracy theories, self-delusion and magical thinking.
New Fiction
Phasma / by Delilah Dawson. Discover Captain Phasma’s mysterious history in this "Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi " novel.
A secret history of witches / by Luisa Morgan. Follows five generations of women—all of whom happen to be witches—from 19th-century Brittany to London during World War II.
The golden house : a novel / by Salman Rushdie. A novel inspired by today's headlines follows the experiences of a real-estate tycoon and his mysterious, corrupt family, who become the subjects of an aspiring filmmaker's project before revelations of monstrous past activities give way to the rise of a mad presidential candidate. By the award-winning author of “Midnight's Children”.
Sing, unburied, sing : a novel / by Jesmyn Ward. Living with his grandparents and toddler sister on a Gulf Coast farm, Jojo navigates the challenges of his tormented mother's addictions and his grandmother's terminal cancer before the release of his father from prison prompts a road trip of danger and hope. By the National Book Award-winning author of “Salvage the Bones”.
Something like happy / by Eva Woods. Thirty-five-year-old Annie Hebden is stuck in a rut until her bubbly new friend, Polly Leonard, challenges her to try a new way to be happy each day for 100 days.
Sourdough / by Robin Sloan. Enduring a virtually solitary existence working for an ambitious software company, an exhausted coder is bequeathed a sourdough recipe from sibling bakers who are forced to close their shop, a gift that leads to a new vocation, a legal dispute and a venture into a secret market that fuses food with technology. By the author of “Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore”.
The world of tomorrow / by Brendan Mathews. Fleeing Ireland for New York City after stealing a small fortune from the IRA, three brothers immerse themselves in the cultural and political tensions of 1939, only to find their lives falling apart when they are tracked down by a hired assassin.
Body on Baker Street : a Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery / by Vicki Delany. When the author of the controversial Hudson and Holmes mystery series comes to their bookshop for an author signing—and winds up dead—owners Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson must do their best to clear the name of one of their patrons and deduce the real killer. By a best-selling author.