Lima Public Library Book Reviews

FICTION

In the Shadow of a Queen by Heather B. Moore

Princess Louise’s life is upended after her father’s untimely death. Captive to the queen’s overwhelming mourning, Louise is forbidden to leave her mother’s tight circle of control and is eventually relegated to the position of personal secretary to her mother―the same position each of her sisters held until they were married.

The Seamstress of Sardinia by Bianca Pitzorno

In 1900 Sardinia, a young woman’s remarkable talent with a needle earns her a position as a seamstress with a wealthy family. Inside this privileged world far different from her own humble beginnings, the skilled sewer quietly takes measurements, sketches designs, mends hems—and in the silence, hears whispered secrets and stories of all those around her.

Knock, Turn by Jeb Loy Nichols

Bev and Mouse are learning how to remember. On a canal boat, a floating world, they’re surrounded by past lives, memories, and unfinished business. It’s a journey not of discovery or recovery, but of temporariness, of various, unexpected doings, a journey inwards, a journey of the imperfect, the impermanent, the incomplete. Along the way, floating between what they’ve left and what they hope to find, they find new meanings in the small, often overlooked grains of life.

A History of Present Illness by Anna DeForest

A young woman puts on a white coat for her first day as a student doctor. In the troubled world of the hospital, where the language of blood tests and organ systems so often hides the heart of the matter, she works her way from one bed to another, from a man dying of substance use and tuberculosis, to a child in pain crisis. The long hours and heartrending work begin to blur the lines between her new life as a physician and the lifelong traumas she has fled.

NON-FICTION

The Earl and the Pharaoh: From the Real Downton Abbey to the Discovery of Tutankhamun by The Countess of Carnarvon

In November 1922, the world was mesmerized by news of an astonishing historical find in Egypt’s legendary Valley of Kings: the discovery of the tomb of the Egyptian Pharoah Tutankhamun. George Herbert, himself a famed amateur Egyptologist and noted antiquities collector, financed the expedition and excavation headed by lead archaeologist Howard Carter, and accompanied him inside this sacred space that had remained untouched for centuries.

The Godmother: Murder, Vengeance, and the Bloody Struggle of Mafia Women by Barbie Latza Nadeau

For as long as it has gripped our imaginations, the Mafia has been tied to an ingrained image of masculinity. We read about “made men,” “wiseguys,” and “goodfellas” leading criminal organizations whose culture prizes machismo, with women as ancillary and often-powerless characters: trivialized mistresses and long-suffering mob wives. The reality is far more complex.

Investigative journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau tells the stories of the women who have risen to prominence, and fallen out of favor, in the Italian mob, beginning with the most infamous of these women: Pupetta Maresca.

The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion by Sean Carroll

Physics offers deep insights into the workings of the universe but those insights come in the form of equations that often look like gobbledygook. Sean Carroll shows that they are really like meaningful poems that can help us fly over sierras to discover a miraculous multidimensional landscape alive with radiant giants, warped space-time, and bewilderingly powerful forces. High school calculus is itself a centuries-old marvel as worthy of our gaze as the Mona Lisa.

The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East by Nicholas Morton

In a single generation, the Mongols conquered vast swaths of the Near East and upended the region’s geopolitics. Amid the chaos of the Mongol onslaught, long-standing powers such as the Byzantines, the Seljuk Turks, and the crusaders struggled to survive, while new players such as the Ottomans arose to fight back. The Mongol conquests forever transformed the region, while forging closer ties among societies spread across Eurasia.

CHILDREN’S

See Where We Come From!: A First Book of Family Heritage by Scot Ritchie

Five friends in the same class are looking forward to their school’s Heritage Festival, which will celebrate cultures and customs from all over the world. Each student will bring two things to share that demonstrate their family’s heritage: a food and something for show-and-tell. Martin (Japanese), Sally (Native American), Pedro (Brazilian), Nick (Scandinavian) and Yulee (Egyptian) look forward to showing their classmates and each other how traditions from different countries make us unique—and also show us what we have in common. What is your family’s story?

Ages: 5 – 11

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.