Bullying is a sad fact of many children’s lives. Some adults like to dismiss school bullying as kids just being kids, a normal part of growing up. For those who are bullied, life is anything but normal—becoming a tortuous, unbearable place with no one and nowhere to turn to for relief.
I have tried, and failed spectacularly, to write a concise recommendation of We Have Always Lived in the Castle. So here is the short version: This book is an actual masterpiece written by a true literary genius. Go read it. Now.
The Martian follows an American Mars astronaut who is mistakenly left for dead on the red planet after an abnormally bad sandstorm causes NASA to scrub a month long mission after six days. The extremely long flight, preparation time and resources required by NASA for such a voyage means this astronaut’s life depends on some creative means of seriously extending his supplies until the next mission is sent—and that means lots of math!
Kinsey Millhone has been hired by Lorna Kepler's mother to investigate her death. Mrs. Kepler is convinced Lorna was murdered, but it's been 10 months, and no proof or substantial information has ever been found. How will Kinsey be able to find what the police couldn't? But of course, she finds little clues that lead her forward in her investigation. Following the footsteps of a serious night owl turns Kinsey's world upside down and throws off her game. As in all of the Alphabet Series books so far, Kinsey puts herself in danger and suffers the consequence.
Ben Goldacre is a British doctor who has a major bone to pick with science done badly, and with the media that often misuses, misunderstands, or distorts scientific concepts (intentionally or not).
Whether you're a lush (as Betty White says, "Vodka is a kind of hobby") or a teetotaler, this book will fascinate and entertain (I was laughing out loud at least once every chapter). I particularly recommend the eAudiobook, which I listened to on a long road trip.
Linda Rodriquez has always wanted to be a writer. As for so many of us, life doesn't always give us what we want. At least not right away. Luckily for mystery and poetry readers, Linda has found her voice and created a successful writing life. You can hear Linda read at the Thomas Zvi Wilson Reading Series, co-sponsored by Johnson County Library and The Writers Place.
If you’re expecting something akin to Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid, you will be in for a disappointment. Lydia Millet’s Mermaids in Paradise is both hilarious and heart-wrenching. Narrator Deb has just gotten married to Chip, her positive, gregarious partner.
In March of this year ProQuest announced they were “advancing the research experience for family history enthusiasts and genealogical experts with a new version of its popular HeritageQuest® Online.” Being an avid family researcher, I was always a little disappointed that we could not access Ancestry.com from home through the Johnson County Library as there was always so much more to find on Ancestry.com than there was on HeritageQuest.
Beg: a Radical New Way of Regarding Animals, with its sweet-faced dog peering at me from a soft, sage green background, imploring me to “regard him in a new way” didn’t prepare me for the most heavy-handed, condescending book I’ve ever experienced. Freedman doesn’t actually present “a radical new way of regarding animals” so much as beat readers over the head with how perfectly enlightened she’s become and then shame us into submitting to her will.
