Lima Public Library Book Reviews

FICTION

Before I Do by Sophie Cousens

Head-in-the-stars Audrey is about to marry down-to-earth Josh. Though they are polar opposites, they have a healthy, stable relationship. But romance should be unpredictable and full of fireworks, and as the big day approaches, Audrey’s found herself wondering if Josh really is “The One.” So, when Josh’s sister shows up to the rehearsal dinner with Fred, Audrey’s “What If? guy”—the man she met six years ago and had one amazing day with—Audrey finds herself torn.

Devil House by John Darnielle

Gage Chandler is descended from kings. That’s what his mother always told him when he was a child. Years later, he is a true crime writer, with one grisly success―and a movie adaptation―to his name, along with a series of subsequent less notable efforts. But now he is being offered the chance for the big break: to move into the house where a pair of briefly notorious murders occurred, apparently the work of disaffected teens during the Satanic Panic of the 1980s.

My Dirty California by Jason Mosberg

When Marty returns to Pennsylvania after living in California for ten years, he’s happily welcomed by his father and older brother, Jody. The joyful reunion is short-lived. Two days later, Jody enters the house to find his father and Marty shot dead as their masked killer flees out the back door. Without any answers from the local police, Jody heads to Los Angeles looking for who murdered his family and why.

The Village Idiot by Steve Stern

It’s quite an extraordinary life. From his impoverished beginnings in an East European shtetl to his equally destitute days in Paris during the Années Folles, the Crazy Years, from the Cinderella patronage of the American collector Albert Barnes, who raises him from poverty to international attention, to his perilous flight from the Nazi occupation of France, Chaim Soutine remains driven by his unrelenting passion to paint.

NON-FICTION

Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence by Ken Auletta

Twenty years ago, Ken Auletta wrote an iconic New Yorker profile of the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was then at the height of his powers. The profile made waves for exposing how volatile, even violent, Weinstein was to his employees and collaborators. But there was a much darker story that was just out of reach: rumors had long swirled that Weinstein was a sexual predator. Auletta confronted Weinstein, who denied the claims.

Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World by Gaia Vince

Drought-hit regions bleeding those for whom a rural life has become untenable. Coastlines diminishing year on year. Wildfires and hurricanes leaving widening swaths of destruction. The culprit, most of us accept, is climate change, but not enough of us are confronting one of its biggest, and most present, consequences: a total reshaping of the earth’s human geography.

The Sassoons: The Great Global Merchants and the Making of an Empire by Joseph Sassoon

A spectacular generational saga of the making (and undoing) of a family dynasty: the riveting untold story of the gilded Jewish Bagdadi Sassoons, who built a vast empire through global finance and trade—cotton, opium, shipping, banking—that reached across three continents and ultimately changed the destinies of nations. With full access to rare family photographs and archives.

The Middle Out: The Rise of Progressive Economics and a Return to Shared Prosperity by Michael Tomasky

In the first half of the twentieth century the Keynesian brand of economics, which saw government spending as a necessary spur to economic growth, prevailed. Then in the 1970s, conservatives fought back. Once they got people to believe a few simple ideas instead—that only the free market could produce growth, that taxes and regulation stifle growth—the battle was won. The era of conservative dogma, often called neoliberal economics, had begun. It ushered in increasing inequality, a shrinking middle class, and declining public investment.

CHILDREN’S

Camping Activity Book for Kids: 35 Projects for Your Next Outdoor Adventure by Amelia Mayer

Get ready for adventure in the great outdoors! There’s so much to see and do when you’re out camping or hiking or even in your own backyard. Master the basics of setting up camp, identifying plants and animals, observing the weather, and wilderness survival skills like how to safely build a campfire, read a compass, tie knots, build a shelter and what to do if you get lost. Learn how responsible campers and hikers care for the environment by ‘leaving no trace’. Featuring some fun DIY games, songs and stories you can enjoy with your family. If some autumn camping or hiking is in your plans, bring along some of these ideas for even more outdoorsy fun.

Ages: 8 – 12

LIBRARY OPEN

• Lima Public Library is open to the public six days a week. Hours for the Main Library in Lima are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Our Cairo, Elida and Spencerville branch libraries are open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Our Lafayette branch is open from 12 noon to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday.

• Curbside pickup is available at the Main Library from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Arrangements can be made by calling 567-712-5239, contacting the library through Facebook Messenger, or putting a hold on a book through the online catalog. 24 hour notice is required. Call us when you arrive (park near the main entrance) and your items will be brought to you.