November 2018

Windsor Library’s Newsletter for Readers

Coming soon to a bookshelf near you: (Place your hold today!)

Uncommon Type: Short Stories by Tom Hanks Did you know that actor Tom Hanks has another talent? He wrote a terrific book of 17 short stories with a typewriter tucked into each one: Uncommon Type: Some Stories (available in paper and as an audio CD). Here is what NPR said about the book: “Uncommon Type offers heartfelt charm along with nostalgia for sweeter, simpler times — even if they never really were quite so sweet or simple… Even when Hanks writes about somber subjects like the durable distress of combat or the high stakes for immigrants fleeing persecution, he finds a sweet spot.”

Listen Up

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area. Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers

an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it has been hailed as a modern true crime classic—one which fulfilled Michelle's dream: helping unmask the Golden State Killer. Narrated by Gabra Zachman Length: 9 hours and 45 minutes

Staff Pick

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Windsor Library Reading Challenge: Read a Science Fiction or Fantasy Book

Science fiction typically deals with imaginative concepts such as advanced science and technology, time travel, and extraterrestrial life. Fantasy, on the other hand, typically deals with a fictional universe without any locations, events, or people referencing the real world. Its roots are in oral traditions. This year as part of the 2018 Reading Challenge we asked you to “read a fantasy or science fiction book.” Here are some suggestions:

The Martian by Andy Weir

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills--and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit--he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Often described as "the Aeneid of rabbits," this classic fantasy is the story of young rabbit Fiver and his brother Hazel, who set out on an epic journey to find a new home after their own warren is destroyed. Watership Down began as a series of improvised stories author Richard Adams told his young daughters during car trips. Adams also invented the language, Lapine, spoken by Hazel and Fiver.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeymi

Seventeen-year-old Zélie, her older brother Tzain, and rogue princess Amari fight to restore magic to the land and activate a new generation of magi, but they are ruthlessly pursued by the crown prince, who believes the return of magic will mean the end of the monarchy.

Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks

Lededje Y'breq is what you might call an extreme version of the feisty, inventive girl with the dragon tattoo, except that her tattoos go all the way down to DNA-level. Because of her father's debts she is intagliated with the logo of a wealthy mogul and becomes his slave. Her escape and efforts to exact revenge on the mogul form one of many threads of this rollicking adventure-yarn space-opera philosophy-exercise of a novel. If you liked George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire style of juggling the stories of a very large cast of characters and multiple plot threads, you will be just as entertained by Bank's Surface Detail.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the first book in Jemisin's "Inheritance Trilogy," won the 2011 Locus Award for Best First Novel and was nominated for the World Fantasy, Hugo, and Nebula awards.

Yeine Darr, an outcast from the barbarian north, is unexpectedly summoned to court and named heiress to the throne. Belittled at every turn, she does better than hold her own in the vicious power struggle that ensues.

Masterfully written and unpredictable, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended read.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

In this classic Science Fiction story, Valentine Michael Smith, born and raised on Mars, arrives on Earth stunning Western culture with his superhuman abilities.