What Lincoln is reading
Wondering what the folks in Lincoln are reading? Here are a few of this month’s most popular titles at the Lincoln Public Library District.
ADULT NON-FICTION
“Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War” by Philip Klay
Uncertain Ground is a collection of essays by former marine Philip Klay on the “invisible” wars America has been fighting since 9/11. Klay delves deep into the ways these invisible wars “hide” themselves from most Americans. Most Americans, if pressed, could not name the countries we are at war with or for what reason we are at war with them. Klay explores how these “hidden” wars seem to create a vortex that only sucks in the soldiers at war and their families. This fuels the ignorance of average Americans, which ultimately just hurts the soldiers who return from these wars and continues our country’s endless fighting with other nations for no reason.
“How to Take Over the World: Practical Schemes and Scientific Solutions for the Aspiring Supervillain” by Ryan North
Have you ever wanted to control the weather, have an evil, floating, secret sky-base, destroy the internet, and live forever? In How to Take Over the World, Ryan North instructs readers on how to enact absurd villainous schemes to rule the world, backed up with science and real-world technology. While the main point of this book is to have some fun and learn something new, North also addresses real-world issues like climate change and cyberterrorism and explores ways to solve these problems.
ADULT FICTION
“Lies” by T. M. Logan
Lies is a psychological thriller about an ordinary teacher named Joe Lynch, who in one random encounter realizes his entire life is completely built on deception. The novel begins with Joe Lynch driving with his son when they spot Joe’s wife turning into a hotel parking lot when she is supposed to be at work. They follow her in and spot her arguing with a family friend, Ben. Ben sees Joe and starts a fight with him but is knocked unconscious by Joe. Joe’s son begins having an asthma attack and they leave to get an inhaler. When Joe comes back, Ben has vanished from the scene and vanished from everywhere else. Joe becomes the main suspect in a police investigation for his missing friend which threatens to destroy his life. With a hard-hitting plot twist and chapters filled with cliffhangers, this is a hard book to put down and will satisfy any mystery-thriller fan.
“The Kaiju Preservation Society” by John Scalzi
The Kaiju Preservation Society focuses on Jaime Gray, a food delivery driver caught in a dead-end routine when their friend Tom recruits them into grunt work at an “animal preservation society” he works for. The “animals” Tom is helping preserve aren’t bees or white rhinos though, they’re interdimensional giant monsters called kaiju (Japanese for “monster”). The Kaiju Preservation Society isn’t the only group that’s gained access to the kaiju dimension though, other groups have, and their carelessness could end up killing kaiju or bringing them into our world and killing millions.
YOUNG ADULT
“A Snake Falls to Earth” by Darcie Little Badger
A Snake Falls to Earth follows two characters, Nina, a Native American girl who, while a part of our human world still longs for a cultural past and believes in the old myths. The other character we follow is Oli, a literal cottonmouth snake who exists in a spirit world of talking animals and monsters. While Nina and Oli don’t even know of each other’s existence, they have a spiritual connection that is fully made real when their worlds collide.
“A Loved One with Dementia: Insights and Tips for Teenagers” by Jean Rawitt
A Loved One with Dementia offers insight into dementia and how to interact with and help people who’ve been afflicted with it. With lots of anecdotes from teenagers, testimonies from healthcare workers, and scientific writings from psychologists, this book is very comprehensive in understanding the diseases that create dementia. While being educational, it is also practically useful in the way it can provide the reader with tips on helping people with dementia and also with feelings of anger, sadness, and grief when a loved one develops dementia.
DVD/VIDEORECORDING
Blurbs are taken from the back of video cases
Il soprasso [The Easy Life]
The ultimate Italian road comedy, Il sorpasso stars the unlikely pair of Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant as, respectively, a waggish freewheeling bachelor and the straitlaced law student he takes on a madcap trip from Rome to Tuscany. An unpredictable journey that careers from slapstick to tragedy, this film, directed by Dino Risi, is a wildly entertaining commentary on the pleasures and consequences of the good life. A holy grail of commedia all’italiana, Il soprasso is so fresh and exciting that one can easily see why it has been long adored in Italy.
Edge of Darkness: The Original BBC Mini-Series
This apocalyptic political thriller, with a score by Eric Clapton, swept the boards at the 1986 BAFTAs winning six awards including Best Drama Serial and Best Original Music. It’s been a cult hit in North America ever since and is finally making its DVD debut!
Escorting his daughter home from college, Detective Inspector Ronald Craven [Bob Peck, Jurassic Park] watches helplessly as she is gunned down in cold blood. Hell-bent on revenge, his search for her killer leads him on a terrifying one-way trip to the heart of the nuclear state.
This and past articles can be found on their website www.lincolnpubliclibrary.org ● Other reading recommendations can be found under “I Don’t Know What to Read” ● Still stumped? Call the annex circulation desk for more suggestions at (217)732-8878.
This article originally appeared on Lincoln Courier: What Lincoln is reading
