Books and Photos

Fiction

Lockdown by Laurie R. King. The image cover says, "Trouble at a school." The dust cover says, "Explosive confrontation."

The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand. Cover image says, "Beach story about female friendship." Dust cover says, "Identical twins, grown women, switch lives."

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. Cover image says, "Pre-WWII London and new woman in town." Cover says, "Women in 1915 and 1947 do spy stuff in London and France."

The Fall of Shannara: the Black Elfstone by Terry Brooks. Cover image says, "Wizard with a staff." Dust Cover says, "Words words words words." [I did not try to read it.]

The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz. The cover is all graphic artisty text. Koontz's photo is weirdly blurry/fuzzy.

The Force by Don Winslow. I don't care what the cover says, I'll read it anyway.

Warning Order by Joshua Hood. Cover says, " Shoot'em Up! novel." The description says, "Yep, Shoot-em Up! novel." I read the first one. That novel was pretty decent but had a couple plot holes.

Beach House For Rent by Mary Alice Monroe. Cover says, "Gerard, don't bother. You won't be interested."

Photos

Town and Country Days in Lake Mills is the last weekend of June every year. There is a carnival, Boy Scout Dunk Tank, beer tent, live music, sidewalk sales, parade, food vendors, so on, so forth. The event continue through today and ends early afternoon on Sunday. Here are a few photos. I'm at work all day but the parade goes by the library.

Parade out front of library

Dunk Tank

Dunk Tank with names of "dunkees"

Library building

Library before parade starts

View from Library lawn

Some due I know who always poses on rocks and pedestals

Fiction? No. Non.

NonFiction

The Encyclopedia of Deer by Dr. Leonard Lee Rue III. Lots of pretty color photos. All deer species including whitetail, mule, caribou, elk, moose. The plural of moose should be "meese".

Manga Art: inspiration and techniques from an expert illustrator by Mark Crilley. I met Crilley in Arizona when he did a bunch of library visits. He's a good dude. He also does instructional videos on YouTube. He does longer instructional videos and these time lapse ones.



Passchendaele: the lost victory of World War I by Nick Lloyd.  "The ultimate expression of meaningless, industrialized slaughter." A fight to the death in a vast mud pit that caused 500,000 dead and wounded. Yet, a continued fight by the British might, might, have crushed the Germans.

Songs of the Baka and other discoveries: travels after sixty-five by Dennis James. Retired couple travel to remote international destinations.

Special Forces Berlin: clandestine Cold War operations of the US Army's elite, 1956-1990 by James Stejskal. I thought this would be interesting. Spy guys and soldiers must have been involved in all sorts of secret shenanigans in Germany.

Trespasser by Justin M. Ryan, et al. Comic book novel dad and daughter in remote home have a "strange visitor" crash land nearby.

Bad Guys, Bullets, and Boat Chases: true stories of Florida Game Wardens by Bob H. Lee. I read a description in a publisher catalog and it sounded interesting enough to try out.

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Books with BIG LETTERS

 

So Much Music I "Can't Even"

Recording devices use advanced technology to transform sound waves into digital files. A "compact disc player" uses those computer files to broadcast those recordings through speakers.

Pollinator by Blondie. Blonde woman sings songs of pop.



Welcome Home by Zac Brown Band. Bearded musicians sing through there beards about gardening.



From A Room by Chris Stapleton. Another guy with a beard sings through his beard about busted hats.




Live: in Paris by Sleater Kinney. Indie band sings songs of indie rock.



Mental Illness by Aimee Mann. Singer sings songs of snow cones made from acoustic guitars.




This Old Dog by Mac Demarco. Singer with diastema sings funky love song.




Waiting on a Song by Dan Auerbach. A Black Key sings songs of kings and horses.




El Dorado by Shakira. Colombian pop star sings songs about forestry.



Witness by Katy Perry. Singer sings songs about musical detention.



Harry Styles by Harry Styles. English singer sings songs that last five minutes and 41 seconds.



What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Los Straitjackets by Los Straitjackets.  Musicians play music without any singing.




Soulfire by Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. Famed guitarist and music historian sings songs about garage rock.

Fictional Stories

Fiction

Knife Creek by Paul Doiron. Main egame warden is killing feral hogs and finds a baby in a shallow grave. Doiron is a Registered Maine Guide. I remember reading that some people were upset with the Registered Guide testing process because it was a paper test with no skills test. That may have been 15 years ago that I read about that.

The Ultimatum by Karen Robards. Robards sells a lot of books. Here is something from page 154, "Doc shrugged."

The Switch by Joseph Finder. Some sort of thriller, I think. Probably a Spy Guy thing. Let's check... I was close. A guy picks up the wrong laptop at airport security and the new laptop is a Senator's and has classified info that is not supposed to be on there.

A House Among the Trees by Julia Glass. I like the cover.Glass lives in Marblehead, MA. I wonder where that is. Let's check...

The Little French Bistro by Nina George. There was a chain of coffee shops intended to look like French cafes. I'm not sure how many were ever established but they were kinda neat. Just about everything in the cafe was intended to be French. Furniture, signs, decor. They didn't just change the sign's font and sell croissants.

I hurt my right shoulder

I am typing left handed and will not worry about spelling.

DVD

John Wick 2 -actor shoots things.

Banshee: the final season. I enjoyed the first two seasons of this show about an ex-con masquerading as a Sheriff.

Arrow : the complete fourth season. Super hero acts super.

Rogue One. There is a war in the stars. It is a star war.

Logan. Old superhero does action drama.

A Bone to Pick. Some mystery movie.

I Am Using Both Hands Now

Get Out. Hugely popular horror movie.

Holiday Inn. Bing Crosby sings White Christmas.

Mobsters. 1991 film starring popular young actors of the time. They shoot at each other.

Sabrina. Meh, I've never seen it.

Lord of War. Arms dealer makes money selling guns and ammo.

I hurt my shoulder on vacation.

We went to South Dakota. My son and I rented mountain bikes and I wiped out and landed on my shoulder.

Badlands National Park.

Everything in South Dakota has a casino attached. Even gas stations.

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

How I felt after getting back from my bicycle accident.

We walked around Devil's Tower.

Panoramic view from the trail around Devil's Tower.

I halfway tore off my back pocket when sliding down a railing at Mt. Rushmore.

Seven Books: I'll make things up again

Fiction

Death on Nantucket by Francine Mathews. Ben Franklin has accomplished a lot in life. When he hears of a unsolved murder on Nantucket Island he decides to try his hand at homicide investigator. Will Franklin's wit overcome his inexperience?

Shiver Hitch by Linda Greenlaw. Bucky Dayton was a famed NFL linebacker know as "Shiver" for his forearm blasts to offensive lineman. Since retiring from his Hall of Fame career Shiver has realized how lonely has life has been. When single mom Bernadette moves in next door Shiver starts to wonder about what he missed.

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. Bo and Sven were orphans in the Ukraine before adoption by the Smithers family in Wyoming. The Smithers hope that the boys will leave the trauma of their old life behind them as they begin life in the U.S. But Bo and Sven saw things in the Ukraine. And the people involved don't want witnesses.

Love Story by Karen Kingsbury. Professional cyclist Kate struggles in a sport dominated by the men's racing series and wants more freedom from her dominant father. When Kate meets Sara-May she learns about cycling, and love, than she thought possible.

Dis Mem Ber by Joyce Carol Oates.  Mitch Keeper's arrest and trial have ostracized him from most everyone in town. Even his alcoholic drinking buddies won't acknowledge their friendship with Mitch. With not friends, no family, and no job Mitch is apart from his old life. He is Dis Mem Ber.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. You've heard of the Bob Convention? Open to anyone named Bob? Well Alice Krachtner decides her plain name needs some sprucing and starts the Alice Network.

Lonesome Lies Before Us by Don Lee. Connor Bookman earned a lot of money after his lonesome country songs hit the charts. But, unlike some artists, Connor's success has been great. A loving wife, young children, and the end of money troubles have put him in a song writing funk.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy. Residents of the Kingdom of Quirrish are required to be happy. Sadness sends you to the Ministry of Utmost Happiness where they discuss their issues.

NonFiction

Jackie's Girl: my life with the Kennedy Family by Kathy McKeon. McKeon was Jacqueline Kennedy's assistant and we find out if they really played football all that much.

Five Novels With Made Up Plots By The Library

Fiction

Murder in Saint-Germain by Cara Black. Opal the Lessor fears she will be scapegoat when the handsome herdsmen hired by the convent is found dead in the vespers chapel. Opal starts to question her religious superiors and her life.

Indecent Exposure by Stuart Woods.  Middle-aged lawyer Vance Harkins has to defend his brother-in-law, Bart "the Cart", from an indecent exposure charge.  Vance finds out his brother has been been doing more than over-drinking and how can Vance hide those secrets from his own wife?

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. Australian magpies sing at night. Charlotte's great-aunt used to say the magpies warned of witches. That was when Charlotte was just a child. But, a 15-year-old knows better. Right?

The Sunshine Sisters by Jane Green. Olivia and Tobi are 'summer sisters'. They have spent 10 years together every summer as their families vacationed on the beaches of Georgia's Jekyll Island. This year their interests have turned from sand castles and seashells to boys and bikini-phobias. Will their joined interest of dreamy Charlie Carter keep them together, or split them apart?

Camino Island by John Grisham. Small town Florida lawyer Skip Battersea has made a modest living on real estate, divorce, and estate planning. When Miss Gretchen brings him a far fetched case of illegal toxic disposal on her land he finds that the facts lead to county government, to state government, to a small mobster with big time anger issues.

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Stack O' Books

Fiction

The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman. I've been doing literacy tutoring with a 7th grader. The tutoring manual goes over spelling rules and says that no "American" words, except "hi", end with an "i". I mentioned how that obviously ignores several names.

House of Names by Colm Toibin. This guy's last name has to accent marks. I'm not gonna try and find the keyboard commands to add those marks. The novel tells the story of Agamemnon from Clytemnestra's point of view.

The Simplicity of Cider by Amy E. Recihert. Reichert? Is she from Wisconsin? Let's check... Oh, yeah. She is, she spoke at the library system's annual dinner last fall. Single dad and daughter end up in Door County and work at an orchard.

There Your Heart Lies by Mary Gordon. Gordon is not from Wisconsin. Maybe she has visited though.

The Leavers by Lisa Ko. There is a musician named Ko Melina who DJs on Sirius radio. She is a member of The Dirtbombs. The band has not had an album out since 2013.




The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck. Widow of the German Army officer who participated in the 1944 coup against Hitler tries to save the other widows of the conspirators.

Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig. COVER ILLUSTRATION has a lot of red and silhouette of a ladder. I had the caps lock on, I'm not gonna go back and change it.

The Thirst by Jo Nesbo. Mystery series set in Norway and featuring police detective Harry Hole. Novelist Anthony Neil Smith really enjoys these stories. I've not yet read any of them, I've been busy.

The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry. I have no idea what this is about. Brunonia is an uncommon name. She lives in Massachusetts and has a dog named Angel. I live in Wisconsin and have a dog named Stop Licking Me.

What My Body Remembers by Agnete Friis. Friis wrote The Boy in the Suitcase which I did not read and the title really creeps me out.

New Boy by Tracy Chevalier. Don't most Chevalier books cover 400+ pages? Or is that someone else? I'm not sure. This is 204 pages and says Chevalier lives in London and has a name that is very difficult for me to type.

NonFiction

Killers of the Flower Moon: the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI by David Grann. This book has gotten a lot of press. About the Osage tribe in Oklahoma that became oil rich in the 1920s and had con men and killers swooping in to steal the dough.

Radical Hope: letters of love and dissent in dangerous times edited by Carolina de Robertis. Reminds me of this song. That drumbeat sounds very 1980s.

Three Books and A Dog

Books

The News From Lone Rock: observations and witticisms from a small-town newsman by Freeland Dexter. Compilation of news columns and quips by Dexter who wrote for the Weekly Home News in Lone Rock, WI from 1884 to 1912.

One A Clear Night: essays from the heartland by Marnie O. Mamminga. From the author of Return to Wake Robin about summers spent in the north woods of Wisconsin. Mamminga went to University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. The official, and wrong way, to write the University name is Urbana-Champaign. But Champaign belongs in the front. Go Illini!

Dead Spider by Victoria Houston. Latest novel in the Loon Lake series. Houston lives up in Rhinelander. I bought a case of Rhinelander Bock beer in 1995 or so. That beer was incredibly awful. I bought it because it was cheap and I figured I'd try it out. I did not drink more than two bottles.

Dog

My dog on some carpet.




Dog riding in the car.

Hey, Dunedin, I Put Up Some Photos.

Fiction

G-Man by Stephen Hunter. According to the cover this is about a guy in a hat shooting people with a Thompson machine gun. The dust cover description says: Another Bob Lee Swagger novel.

Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar. A novella set in Castle Rock, Maine.

Exit Strategy by Steve Hamilton. I've read a couple Hamilton novels. The Lock Artist was good.

Photos

I'm not sure I posted any photos recently. Let's see what is on my phone...

We are going to add shelving and storage for all the items piled up inside and outside our meeting room.







Jefferson County Dairy Breakfast was Saturday, May 20 in Jefferson. I had my picture taken while I stood next to a mutant cow wearing a apron.



I spent a good portion of the weekend supervising and assisting with a science experiment to test how well homemade solid rocket fuel burns.






Summer Reading Program weekly prizes are coupons good for a variety of places and things. The display is being set-up. Details to follow.

A Bunch of WI Stuff Plus Some Novels

Wisconsin Stuff

Hunting Camp 52: tales from a North Woods deer camp by John Marvin Hanson. 60 years of hunting camp traditions of food, laughter, singing, and a cold outhouse.

Warriors, Saints, and Scoundrels: brief portraits of real people who shaped Wisconsin by Michael Edmonds and Samantha Snyder.Tom Towner was the Happy Hermit of the Marshes. "He lived on fish, potatoes, flour, muskrat meat, and freshwater clams." He lived in a marsh for 40 years and died when he was 73.

How to be an Indian in the 21st Century by Louis V. Clark III (Two Shoes). Memoir told in poetry by man who grew up on the Oneida reservation.

Wisconsin on the Air: 100 years of public broadcasting in the state that invented it by Jack Mitchell. This sounded boring but I flipped through the book, looked at pictures, read some sections and saw it is kinda neat.

Never Curse the rain: a farm boy's reflections on water by Jerry Apps. People really like Apps's books.

Alexander Hamilton: from obscurity to greatness edited by John P. Kaminski. Not a Wisconsinsubject by published by the Wisconsin Historical Society. A collection of excerpts and letters by people who knew and worked with Hamilton.

Fiction

Full Wolf Moon by Lincoln Child.

Secrets in Summer by Nancy Thayer, The cover images sure are nice and summery. Yesterday's weather was quite nice. Today is a little warmer but occasionally overcast.

My window is dirty.

Testimony by Scott Turow. More lawyerly mystery and suspense. What's the weather in Chicago now? Let's check... 85 degrees.

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Here Are Four Books To Read. With Photos.

Book One

 

Book Two

 

Book Three

 

Book Four

Paper or Plastic?

Paper

The Soak by Patrick E. McLean. Thriller crime novel that Lee Goldberg's Brash Books has been promoting.



Audiobook on CD

When the World Stopped to Listen: Van Clibunr's Cold War triumph and it's aftermath by Stuart Isacoff. 8 hours on 7 CDs.

Golden Prey by John Sandford. 11 hours on 9 CDs.

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Bunch of Books

Fiction

Salt Houses by Hala Alyan. Soemthing about something. Alyan has a sharp author photo. Photographer was Beowulf Sheehan. Not many people around named Beowulf.

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue.

16th Seduction by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.

Borne by Jeff Vandermeer. Woman in abandoned and ruined city has a huge bear to deal with. Vndermeer's author photo is black and white and not as nice as Alyan's. Vandermeer's bio says he grew up in Fiji. My trip to Fiji in 1992 was only ok.

Walking on my Grave by Carolyn Hart. We have a lot of books by Hart. I rate her author photo above Vandermeer but below Alyan.

The Spy by Paulo Coehlo. Coehlo is a big deal, right? I cannot recall his previous titles. Let's check... No title sticks out but Coehlo has written a lot of novels. Unfortunately there is no pronunciation guide for her name. That's right, I wrote "her" because I kept reading this at 'Paula'.

The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova. I wanted to read Kostova's previous novels but have not yet done so. She writes think novels. Kostova has a decent photo but I am surprised she does not have a bigger photo on the back because I figure her for being very well known.

Against All Hands by Danielle Steel. Another romance I suppose.

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins. Hawkins hit the big time with The Girl on the Train so expect this to be popular.

Trajectory by Richard Russo. I've never read a Russo novel. I have seen a couple movies based off his novels.

NonFiction

Thousand-Miler: adventures hiking the Ice Age Trail by Melanie Radzicki McManus. The Ice Age Trail runs through Wisconsin and MCManus completed the 1,000 miles in 36 days. 27 miles a day? For 36 days? That must be a typo. Read the book and find out.

Three Flicks

DVD

La La Land starring Hey, Girl and Emma Stone. Something about singing and dancing. I've not seen this.


Don't Think Twice starring Keegan Michael Key and [other actors]. Member of a sketch comedy team hits the big time as a solo act. Man's former partners worry if they will ever hit success.


White Girl starring Morgan Saylor [no relation] and Chris Noth. Party girl in college gets street dealer boyfriend and he goes to jail.

Here Are Books For You To Read

NonFiction

Sketch Your Stuff: 200 things to draw and how to draw them by Job Stich. Cacti! Eye glasses! Beets!

The Radium Girls: the dark story of America's shining women by Kate Moore. Is this about those people who put radium on watches? The cover illustration says, "Yes." Let me check... Yep. Apparently, radium dust was all over the factories and coated the women. Yikes.

Fiction

Fast and Loose by Stuart Woods Literary Monthly Services. Another month, another Woods novel.

The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve. Her last name always makes me think these are literary novels. I've not read one of her books so I don't actually know. Let's check the dust cover... The description says "ferociously suspenseful"  The bried bio says her novels are in 36 languages and thse lives with her husband in New Hampshire. I misread the bio to say she lives with her third husband in New Hampshire and instantly thought, "That's weird. Why mention he is the third?"

To be clear: I have no idea how many times Shreve has been married. I do know that her author photo is pretty sharp.

The Burial Hour by Jeffery Deaver. Deaver has the same author photo as the last few books. The portrait is a studio shot. A much better photo than the one from several books with him walking down the sidewalk and sticking his palm out at the camera and obscuring his head.

The Fix by David Baldacci. "Still a resident of Virginia, he invites you to visit him- " What?! Visit his house? Nope"- at DavidBaldacci.com."

Fallout by Sara Paretsky. I've not read many Warshawski novels but Paretsky sets this one in Kansas so I want to read it. I've read that Paretsky is uber-smart with lots of brain power.

Audiobooks

Audiobooks on CD

Dead Ice by Laurell K. Hamilton. 16 CDs at 20 hours. U.S. Marshal who kills vampires is engaged to a vampire.

Letterman: the last giant of late night by Jason Zinoman. 9.75 hours on 8 CDs.  "To understand popular culture today, it is necessary to understand David Letterman."

Killers of the Flower Moon: the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI by David Grann. 9 hours on 7 CDs. This book has had a lot of press. Osage Tribal members in Oklahoma become insanely rich from oil. Osage start getting killed and so do people who question what is happening.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. 11 hours on 9 CDs. Journalist gets week long cruise on an exclusive ship touring the North Sea. Journalist sees someone tossed overboard but cannot prove it.

Photos

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A Studio Is Utilized by Musicians, Engineers, and Producers to Records Sounds That Are Then Digitized and Digitally Set Into Thin Plastic Discs For Later Playback Using Modern Technology



Essential Oils Workshop on May 3




Front Railing Needs Repainting
This should still be under warranty. I need to email the painters.




Front Steps Need Repairing or Replacement
The City dudes will arrange repair or replacement.  The engineer only saw my cell phone photo so they have not inspected the steps in person yet.






Photo With an Instagram Filter
From last night. We started using Instagram a couple weeks ago to try and reach more people: @ldfargolibrary




National Poetry Month

 

A Mystery with Leaphorn and Chee

Fiction

Song of the Lion by Anne Hillerman. I did not know Tony Hillerman's daughter took over his mystery series. Chee's wife Manuelito (I'm not sure I read any books with her), Chee and Leaphorn investigate a car bombing. There was a nicely done TV movie series done several years ago about Chee and Leaphorn.

The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes. Reprint of a 2009 novel. Probably reprinting because Moyes is such a big deal right now.

Music of the Ghosts by Vaddey Ratner. Woman goes to Cambodia after a letter writer claims he knew her father in a Khmer Rouge prison camp.

One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline. I'm pretty certain I still have not read a Scottoline novel. I've been busy. It looks like Scottoline was having fun when her author photo was taken. She's not sitting in a studio just wishing to get the task over with and go home.

Hours and Hours of Audiobooks

Audiobooks on CD

Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr. 18 hours on 14 CDs. I really like the Bernie Gunter series. John Lee's narration is excellent. This has Bernie in both 1939 Berlin and a matching story in 1956.

The Craving Mind: from cigarettes to smartphones to love - why we get hooked and how we can break bad habits by Judson Brewer. 8.5 hours on 7 CDs. Bad habits and addictions and cravings. The latest ideas on how your brain works and how to practice mindfulness to "interrupt these habits."

Hallelujah Anyway by Anne Lamott. 3 hours on 3CDs Something to do with "mercy".

Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the fight for Europe by Robert Matzen, 12 hours on 11 CDs. "First in-depth look at Stewart's life as a squadron commander in the skies over Germany."

The C.I.A. as Organized Crime: how illegal operations corrupt America and the world by Douglas Valentine. 17 hours on 14 CDs. Under Director Colby Valentine interviewed CIA staff about the Phoenix program. The CIA then tried to block publication of the document. Valentine kept on researching and writing about the agency.

Another DVD Stack

DVDs



Architectural Preservation

A local master mason does a lot of architectural preservation work. He regularly travels to Europe for different jobs and also fixed some eroding sandstone in front of the library. The mason created our current display and brought a few pieces of stone and clay work in to show. 

Stack of New DVDs

Stack of New DVDs

I am short on time. Here they are.

More Books, Take A Looks

NonFiction

The Truth About Your Future: the money guide you need now, later, and much later by Ric Edelman. Page 171 says, "Your current financial plan is probably fatally flawed." That sure is a cheery diagnoses.

Fiction

Gem and Dixie by Sara Zarr. The cover says, "Teen girls are best friends."  DUst cover says, "A girl with crappy parents has to evaluate her relationship with her sister."

Once In A Blue Moon Lodge by Lorna Landvik. The cover image says, "Winter vacation cabin." The dust cover says, "Woman loses job and decides short vacation is the ticket." Landvik lives in Minneapolis. I remember driving through Minneapolis and crossing by Xerxes Avenue. At the time I'd not read enough mythology to know who Xerxes was and wondered what the heck was up with that.

Paperbacks

The Obsession by Nora Roberts. Reprint of hardcover. I think.

Iced Under by Barbara Ross. Paperback original. A mystery with food.

The Undateable by Sarah Title. Paperback original from the series Librarians in Love. Plot: Librarian caught on film rolling her eyes during a marriage proposal in the stacks. Rea life: Library Director caught rolling his eyes reading the description.
Sarah Title librarianizes in North Carolina. Before we were married my wife interviewed for, and was offered the job, for a Director gig in western North Carolina. The area was very nice but remote. I wouldn't have been able to find a library job there and my wife ended up passing on the job.

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Celine, Samuel, Edgar and Lucy

Fiction

The Twelves Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti.  Single dad and former crook moves with his teen daughter back to his dead wife's home town.

My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith. Do Italian bulldozers break down as much as Italian cars? Or, has Top Gear/The Grand Tour brainwashed me?

Eggshells by Caitriona Lally. The title and cover make me think, "literary novel".  Something about a flighty young Irish woman who advertises for a new friend that must be named Penelope.

Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens. Cover image says "abusive male partner". Dust cover says, "abusive male partner". Woman whose husband went to prison is convinced he is following her after his release.

Celine by Peter Heller. Heller wrote The Dog Stars. I know this because the cover tells me so. I cannot recall if I read that book or not.

Edgar and Lucy by Victor Lodato. This is a thick book at 533 pages. Lodato's author photo is a black and white studio shot.

Miss You by Kate Eberlen. This is kinda long at 433 pages. Eberlen grew up in London. Oops, I read that wrong. She grew up "in a small town thirty miles from London."  I was listening to The Len Price 3 all of yesterday. They have several songs referring to places southeast of London. Chatham Town Spawns Devils and Medway Sun. I sure do enjoy that band. They have a new album coming out soon.

GO GUSTIES! Murder and Mystery

Mysteries and Crime

Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito.  18-year-old Swedish woman murders students at a wealthy prep school.  
Translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles, Gustavus Adolphus class of 2002. Go Gusties!

Hey! Willson-Broyles went to UW-Madison as well.

Pekoe Most Poison by Laura Childs. Not a Gustie. Is Pekoe tea a caffeine tea? I should look that up.

Earthly Remains by Donna Leon. Not a Gustie. Another Italian mystery set in Italy with Italians.

All By Myself Alone by Mary Higgins Clark. Not a Gustie. I just weeded a couple Clark books.  Most of her backlist still goes out regularly.

NonFiction

City of Light, City of Poison: murder, magic and the first Police Chief of Paris by Holly Tucker.  Not a Gustie. Several illustrations.

Obessions Castle

Fiction

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck. Spouse survivors of army revolt against Hitler try to protect one another. Shattuck lives in Massachusetts. Massachusetts always reminds me of Ralph Wiggum receiving Lisa Simpson's Valentine card with a train illustration and "I Choo-Choo-Choose you!" as the text.

A Perfect Obsession by Heather Graham. Graham attended the Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee last year. Or, is she attending this year? I'm not sure. She has the same author photo as the last several books. I'm assuming the photography session had a stylist on hand to make her hair look so glamorous.

The Ebb Tide by Beverly Lewis. Amish girl takes job as a nanny on the East Coast. Cover photo/illustration has a shoeless Amish woman walking on the beach and wearing a full dress and head scarf.

Audiobook on CD

Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich by Norman Ohler. 7.5 hours on 6 CDs. The Nazis loved methamphetamine and loved to share it with the rest of the country.

Five of the Usual. A Few Others.

The Usual

Dangerous Games by Danielle Steel. INvestigative reporter looks in Vice-President and has a ex-navy SEAL friends. You know why? Because Navy SEALs are always in romances.

Murder on the Serpentine  by Anne Perry. Something about a river judging by the cover. Book jacket bio says Perry lives part-time in Los Angeles and Scotland. This surprises me. I always pictured her as living in remote England or Scotland.

Vicious Circle by C.J. Box. There was a thread on a Facebook group I belong to about authors people have met. Someone wrote that C.J. Box was a very nice man. He attended Murder and Mayhem in Muskwego a few years ago back when I was able to attend. I never spoke to him because I never read any of his books. Why haven't I read his books? Because I'm busy. There a lot of books out there, you know.

Man Overboard by J.A. Jance. "An Ali Reynolds" novel.

The Black Book by Patterson Literary Industries Amalgamated and David Ellis. Chicago Police Detective investigates murder at a brothel used by rich men.

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Fiction

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel. I like the title, the cover is so-so. Oh, yeah. This is the book set in rural Kansas. Orphan moves in with family and returns a decade later when cousin goes missing.

Non Fiction

Defensive Tactics: street-proven arrest and control techniques by Loren W. Christenson. I bought a similar book a couple years ago and saw that it circ's pretty well. So, I bought this. Everybody scowls in the demonstration photos. Demonstrations includes punches to the bladder. Zowie! That must hurt.

The 100 Best Stocks to Buy in 2017 by Peter Sander and Scott Bobo. Bobo?

More Stuff. Maybe Some Nonsense.

Fiction

Bound Together by Christine Feehan. Modern romance. The title makes it sound like a sado masochistic thing but the back cover doesn't hint at that.

If Not For You by Debbie Macomber. I like that Dylan song. Here is George Harrison singing the song.



If I'm Found by Terri Blackstock. Social Distortion has a song like that.



Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles. I don't think I've read a Iles book yet. I sometimes listen to Mississippi All Stars.



The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See. I have nothing.

NonFiction

50 Super Bowls by Allan Maki and Dave Naylor. Page 23 says, "He found out he had won when his teammates congratulated him for it."

Social Security 101 by Alfred Mill. Page 197, "If you are in your twenties or thirties, you may feel like you have all the time in the world to invest for retirement."

Spot the Difference! by Firefly Books. One of those books where you look at the photos to spot the difference or odd thing.

Comic Book Novel

My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris. Book description says: murder mystery, family drama, historical epic, psychological thriller.

Pile of Books

Pile of Books




Delivery Truck Seen Through My Office Window



Table Divider Trial

I had a couple dividers made up to try out on our study tables. The idea was to allow each user a separate space and encourage more than one person to use the table at a time. I placed comment sheets on the tables and the comments were overwhelmingly negative. So, I am taking the dividers off.






The dividers were attached with double-sided foam tape. The tape sticks very well, I had to cut it out with my pocket knife.