My LINKcat AccountWith the “End-of-Summer-Reading-Program Party” last week, the summer reading program has once and for all, finally, and totally ended. But there is no rest for librarians! The first week of September has already past which means almost a fourth of the month is gone. And this is a very important month. It is National Library Card Sign-up Month. If you don’t have a library card, now is the time to get one! If you do have a library card now is the time to use it. And, as a special incentive this month, 10 – count them ten—local business will get you dollars off a purchase or a percent off a purchase. These discounts which range from two dollars to 20% off depending on the business. These discounts are available to you if you show them your library card! Now we all know library cards are great for “discounts” on books, audio and visual materials, and all the other stuff we have that you can borrow. Borrowing is a great discount because you can use the book, cd, dvd, equipment, etc. at no cost. It’s free (as long as you bring it back on time). Free is about the biggest discount you can get. So locate your library card or get a library card and visit the library’s website or circulation desk for details about where your library card will earn you a discount during National Library Card Sign-up Month. And when you’re not using your library card to get yourself a discount, then use it to check out some of these new books which recently arrived at the library. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“The Horse: A Galloping History of Humanity” by Timothy Winegard. This riveting narrative of the horse’s enduring reign across human history—and our everyday lives— shows how this noble animal revolutionized the way we hunted, traded, traveled, farmed, fought, worshipped and interacted, from the thundering cavalry charges of Alexander the Great to the Great Manure Crisis of 1894 and beyond.
“Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin, and the Battle Between Science and Religion” by Michael Taylor. Chronicling the development of paleontology and evolutionary biology that challenged the Scriptures, this page-turning narrative reveals the central role of dinosaurs and their discovery in toppling traditional religious authority and changing perceptions about the Bible, history and humankind’s place in the world.
“The Missing Thread: A Woman’s History of the Ancient World” by Daisy Dunn. Reconceiving our understanding of the ancient world by emphasizing women’s roles within it, from Cleopatra to Boudica, Sappho to Fulvia, and countless others, an award-winning classicist documents how women of antiquity are undeniably woven through the fabric of history, and in this monumental work, finally take center stage.
“The Fierce People: The Untold Story of America’s Revolutionary War in the South” by Alan Pell Crawford. Weaving throughout the stories of heroic men and women, unsung patriots, during America’s Revolutionary War, this groundbreaking, important recovery of history excavates the three missing years between Monmouth and Yorktown, long ignored by historians, which recounts the fierce battles fought in the South.
New Fiction
“The Summer Pact” by Emily Griffin. Ten years after they made a pact, promising to always be there for each other in their times of need, Hannah, when one of the happiest moments of her life is suddenly turned upside down, calls on her closest friends, and together, they embark on a shared journey of self-discovery, forgiveness and acceptance.
“Bad River, No.6 (Arliss Cutter)” by Marc Cameron. While investigating his brother's mysterious death in South Dakota, Arliss Cutter returns to Alaska after the discovery of a woman's body in the permafrost indicates the two have things in common in the sixth novel of the series following “Breakneck”.
“The Book of Elsewhere” by Keanu Reeves & China Mieville. A warrior who cannot be killed, known simply as “B,” wants to die and a U.S. black-ops group has promised they can help with that if he helps them in return, but when an all-too-mortal soldier comes back to life, the impossible event points to a force even more mysterious than B himself.
“Breaking the Dark, No.1 (Marvel Crime)” by Lisa Jewell. Retired superhero Jessica Jones helps a distraught mother search for her missing teenage twins who disappeared while visiting their father in the UK in the new novel from the New York Times best-selling author of “None of This is True”.
“The Briar Club” by Kate Quinn. In 1950 Washington, DC, at an all-female boardinghouse called Briarwood, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, drawing her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship, but when a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the women must expose the true enemy in their midst.
“Desperation Reef” by T. Jefferson Parker. A woman whose husband died tragically twenty-five years prior at a big-wave surfing competition must face the same contest again when her grown twin sons follow in their father's perilous footsteps.
“Hard to Kill, No. 3 (Jane Smith)” by James Patterson & Mike Lupica. Attorney Jane Smith takes on the case of an unlucky man accused of killing a family of three in the Hamptons and potentially a second family in the third novel of the series following “Jane Effing Smith”.
“Like Mother, Like Daughter” by Kimberly McCreight. When her seemingly perfect mother, Kat, a successful corporate lawyer, goes missing, Cleo discovers Kat is her firm’s fixer and to find her, must uncover Kat’s secret life by following the shocking clues involving infidelity, blackmail and death threats, not realizing they’re both trying to save each other.
“Shadow of Doubt: A Thriller (Scot Harvath)” by Brad Thor. When a plot to destroy the United States is uncovered, the lives of a shadowy Russian defector, a beautiful Norwegian intelligence officer and a deadly American spy are intertwined as, in the fog of war, friends can appear as enemies and enemies as friends—and when in doubt, there “is” no doubt.