My LINKcat AccountThe Summer Reading Program has finally and truly ended. The celebratory party has occurred. There is nothing left to do but to give you all the fascinating numbers. This year 686 participants read, earned a badge, and /or attended an event. Those participants read 38,0522 books. Whew! That’s a whole lot of reading!
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!
Those 38,052 books read by those 686 people convert to 3,344,710 pages (using our traditional and somewhat arcane conversion formula). This is 650,351 more pages read than the 2,694,359 read last year. That’s about 4,876 pages per participant which is 386 more pages read per participant this year when compared to the 4,490 read last year!
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 (3,344,710, times 9” or) 30,102,390 inches (always show your work if you want to receive full credit). Then we take those inches and divide by 12 to give us 2,508533 feet and then divide by 5,280 to give us 475 miles (BTW, last year we only read 383 miles). So,475 miles east of DeForest (assuming you had pontoons on your car and could drive straight across Lake Michigan) would put you just at the western edge of Hamilton, Ontario. Going almost due south, you would drive south of Cape Girardeau and New Madrid ending up somewhere north of Hayti, MO. And if you headed west, on I-90 you’d be west of Mitchell and Plankinton, South Dakota, right on the county line between Brule and Aurora counties. No matter how you look at it, that’s a lot of pages read! You know, suddenly, West Virginia, Niagara Falls, Kearney, NE, and Nashville, seem well within reach. There’s always next year!
Below are some of the new books which recently arrived at the library. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“Backstage: Stories of a Writing Life” by Donna Leon. Blending deep research and vivid memories, this memoir from the celebrated author of the bestselling Guido Brunetti series explores the inspirations behind her craft, love for Venice and opera and eclectic teaching experiences from New Jersey to Iran and Switzerland.
“Are You Mad at Me?: How to Stop Focusing on What Others Thinks and Start Living For You” by Meg Josephson. A compassionate guide that reframes people-pleasing as a trauma response rather than a personality trait, offering relatable stories, practical exercises and tools to help readers set boundaries, embrace their true selves and build healthier, more authentic relationships.
“Primal Intelligence: You Are Smarter Than You Know” by Angus Fletcher. In 2021, researchers at Ohio State’s Project Narrative announced that Primal Intelligence explained some people’s extraordinary mental abilities; U.S. Army Special Operations developed Primal training for its most classified units, and this revolutionary training is now available for the first time.
“Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run” by Peter Carlin. Marks the album’s 50th anniversary with an exploration of the creation of the iconic album through exclusive interviews and detailed song histories, revealing the emotional, artistic, and technical struggles that shaped one of rock music’s most enduring statements
New Fiction
“Isabella’s Not Dead” by Beth Morrey. Fifty-three, jobless, and with grown children, Gwen travels across England and Europe to discover why friend Isabella disappeared fifteen years ago, which tests her marriage and puts her on a collision course with reluctant acquaintances, an eccentric mother-in-law, and a rabbit hole full of clues.
“My Other Heart” by Emma Strenner. Seventeen years after Mimi Truang’s toddler daughter disappears in 1998 in Philadelphia, best friends Kit and Sabrina make plans in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, before starting college—but when Mimi, Kit, and Sabrina come face to face, they will confront the people they truly are.
“The Rabbit Club” by Christopher Yates. A first-year literature student's life begins to unravel in the shadow of a dangerous secret society at Oxford University.
“Tomlinson’s Wake” by Randy Wayne White. Doc Ford makes a perilous journey into Mesoamerica after a world-shattering earthquake threatens his squad's safety—and all of their lives.
“The Violet Hour: A Lowcountry Tale” by Victoria Benton Frank. After breakup and personal tragedy, Violet Adams questions her identity while navigating life among her vibrant family on Sullivan’s Island, aided by her influencer best friend Aly Knox as they seek reinvention, healing, and purpose in South Carolina’s Lowcountry.
“The Art of the Lie” by Laura Shepherd-Robinson. After her husband is murdered, Hannah Cole fights to save her struggling confectionary shop on Piccadilly, contends with suspicion from magistrate Henry Fielding, and finds an unlikely ally in William Devereux, whose introduction of iced cream sparks both opportunity and peril in eighteenth-century London.
“The Lost Book of Hours” by Hayley Gelfuso. In 1938, 11-year-old Lisavet Levy becomes trapped in a mysterious library of memory called the time space, where her path intertwines with American timekeeper Ernest Duquesne, whose 1965 death compels his niece Amelia to uncover buried truths amid shifting histories and shadowy CIA intrigue.
“The Lost Baker of Vienna” by Sharon Kurtzman. Zoe Rosenzweig investigates her family's Holocaust history, uncovering the 1946 story of her ancestor Chana, a young Viennese baker torn between survival, family duty, and love in a fragile postwar world still shadowed by trauma.
“For Duck’s Sake, No. 37 (Meg Langslow Mysteries)” by Donna Andrews. When a skeleton is uncovered in her brother’s yard, Meg helps investigate the decades-old mystery while preparing for Caerphilly’s first Mutt March in the latest addition to the long-running series following “Between a Flock and Hard Place”.