My LINKcat AccountHappy 4th of July! Here in DeForest at celebration begins on July 3rd with bands, pony rides, and fireworks. The celebration continues on to the actual 4th of July with a parade, more bands, food, crafts, bingo, etc. The library shall have been in the parade again this year. Library staff has been casting out collective minds back, trying to remember the first time we had a “float” in the parade. I know for sure we were in the 1991 parade where we unexpectedly (because we didn’t even know there was a contest) won a prize for our entry. It was two 4-foot inflatable dinosaurs dressed up as Uncle Sam-asaurus and Betsy Ross-asaurus. 1991 was my third year as library director here, so it is possible that was our first time participating. And we have flung candy to the crowds each and every year. In the wee hours of the night sometimes I wonder how many pounds of candy we have distributed. And guess what, I don’t have the entire date run, but I do know how many pounds of candy we have started the parade with starting in 2009 (I had to keep track because we would run out – due to the size of the crowds—before the end of the parade and I wanted to buy more the next year so we had enough. Unfortunately, the crowd size kept increasing and we continue to run out.). Since 2009 we have tossed an amazing 3,445 pounds. I hope you enjoy a safe and happy 4th of July, that you enjoyed the parade, and that you managed to snag a piece of candy as the library staff passed by. If you’re looking for soon new books to read in the shade or on the beach or in your airconditioned environs, below are some of the books which recently arrived at the library. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet” by Kate Marvel. Explores climate change using nine different emotions to better understand the science, history and future of our evolving planet.
“Lift” How Women Can Reclaim Their Physical Power and Transform Their Lives” by Anne Marie Chaker. A journalist and bodybuilder explores how strength training transforms women’s health, confidence and resilience while challenging societal norms, reshaping self-worth and offering practical guidance to harness physical power for lasting empowerment at any stage of life.
“More Than Words: How Talking Sharpens the Mind and Shapes Our World” by Maryellen Macdonald. A psychologist explores how talking shapes our attention, memory, learning and even mental health, revealing its surprising impacts on cognition, education and aging, from goal-setting and political polarization to slowing cognitive decline.
“Allies at War: How the Struggles Between the Allied Powers Shaped the War and the World” by Tim Bouverie. Ambitious and compelling, revealing the political drama behind the military events, this fast-paced narrative history offers a fresh perspective on the Second World War and the origins of the Cold War.
“Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers” by Caroline Fraser. From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Prairie Fires comes a terrifying true-crime history of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond—a gripping investigation of how a new strain of psychopath emerged out of a toxic landscape of deadly industrial violence.
New Fiction
“A Beautiful Family” by Jennifer Trevelyan. Her family distracted by summer vacation, a ten-year-old and a new friend investigate what happened to Charlotte, a child presumed drowned two years earlier—but when someone else goes missing, the family find themselves at the center of a police investigation.
“What Kind of Paradise” by Janelle Brown. Raised in isolation in a Montana cabin by her enigmatic father, Jane’s world shatters when she discovers her unwitting role in a terrible crime, forcing her to flee to 1990s San Francisco, where she uncovers long-buried family secrets and confronts the dangers of the digital age.
“Derringer” by William and J.A. Johnstone. n 1867, Jesse Derringer, a troubleshooter for the Union Pacific Railroad, arrives in Cheyenne to keep order among settlers and railroad workers and must use his keen instincts and deadly skills to defuse conflicts before they ignite into something larger.
“Florenzer” by Phil Melanson. In fifteenth-century Florence, young Leonardo da Vinci, rising banker Lorenzo de’ Medici and ambitious priest Francesco Salviati navigate artistic brilliance, political intrigue and forbidden desires that will shape both their fates and the city's future.
“House of Two Sisters” by Rachel Louise Driscoll. Clementine’s translation of a cryptic amulet at her father’s Egyptian relic party in 1887 Essex coincides with a series of tragedies, leading her five years later to Cairo, where she joins a perilous journey down the Nile to return the artifact.
“The Teacher of Auschwitz” by Wendy Holden. From the bestselling author of Born Survivors comes a novel inspired by the powerful true story of a man who risked everything to protect children in Auschwitz.
“Thus With a Kiss I Die, No.1 (Daughter of Montague)” by Christina Dodd. Rosie Montague, a 20-year-old free spirit in Verona, finds her life upended when she’s tasked by the ghost of Prince Escalus the Elder to solve his murder, all while navigating a love triangle, revolution, and a looming threat that may turn her into a tragic heroine.
“Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds” by Allison Brennan. A risk-averse bibliophile gets in over her head when strange notes in a book draw her into a real-life investigation.
“A Botanists Guide to Rituals and Revenge, No.4 (Saffron Everleigh Mysteries)” by Kate Khavari. Returning to Ellington Manor, Saffron Everleigh faces tense family relationships made worse by enigmatic Bill Wyatt, hired as doctor to the ailing Lord Easting, but who in reality is involved in trafficking of dangerous government secrets—and whose presence can only mean trouble.