FICTION
The Guest Lecture by Martin Riker
In a hotel room in the middle of the night, Abby, a young feminist economist, lies awake next to her sleeping husband and daughter. Anxious that she is grossly underprepared for a talk she is presenting tomorrow on optimism and John Maynard Keynes, she has resolved to practice by using an ancient rhetorical method of assigning parts of her speech to different rooms in her house and has brought along a comforting albeit imaginary companion to keep her on track—Keynes himself.
Tale of the Dreamer’s Son by Preeta Samarasan
In what was once a Scottish tea planter’s mansion in the highlands of Peninsular Malaysia, all religions are one and race is unheard of. That is, until the occupants of what is now known as the Muhibbah Centre for World Peace are joined by Salmah, a Malay Muslim woman. “All are welcome here,” they are reminded by their spiritual leader, Cyril Dragon, who is ignoring news of the changing political climate with its increasing religious intolerance.
Fake Money, Blue Smoke by Josh Haven
When former platoon sergeant Matt Kubelsky is paroled from Ray Brook Federal Correctional Institute in upstate New York, he’s surprised to find his ex-girlfriend waiting for him out in the parking lot. An ex-girlfriend he’s spent years pining for after she dumped him and stopped answering his letters. An ex-girlfriend who wonders if her apparently criminally-hardened ex-boyfriend can help her out of some extra-legal difficulty of her own.
Lost in the Long March by Michael X. Wang
China, 1934: A naive orphan and shy gunsmith, Ping, has fallen in love with Yong, who is a sophisticated veteran, a skilled marksman, and a true believer in Marxist ideology. Winning her affections will take an ideological battle—something he does not understand. To make matters worse, Yong has shown interest in Ping’s best friend, Luo. On the eve of a great Communist defeat, Ping sabotages Luo’s rifle, causing the bullet to backfire into his friend’s head.
NON-FICTION
The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family by Kerri K. Greenidge
Sarah and Angelina Grimke―the Grimke sisters―are revered figures in American history, famous for rejecting their privileged lives on a plantation in South Carolina to become firebrand activists in the North. Their antislavery pamphlets are still read today. Yet retellings of their epic story have long obscured their Black relatives. Historian Kerri Greenidge presents a parallel narrative, indeed a long-overdue corrective, shifting the focus from the white abolitionist sisters to the Black Grimkes and deepening our understanding of the long struggle for racial and gender equality.
The Creative Lives of Animals by Carol Gigliotti
Most of us view animals through a very narrow lens, seeing only bits and pieces of beings that seem mostly peripheral to our lives. However, whether animals are building a shelter, seducing a mate or inventing a new game, animals’ creative choices affect their social, cultural, and environmental worlds.
Against the Wind: Edward Kennedy and the Rise of Conservatism, 1976-2009 by Neal Gabler
With Richard Nixon having stilled the liberal wind that once propelled Kennedy’s—and his fallen brothers’—political crusades, Ted Kennedy faced a lonely battle. As Republicans pressed Reaganite dogmas of individual freedom and responsibility and Democratic centrists fell into line, Kennedy was left as the most powerful voice legislating on behalf of those society would neglect or punish: the poor, the working class, and African Americans.
The Pushcart Prize XLVII: Best of The Small Presses 2023 Edition by Bill Henderson
In last year’s Pushcart Prize, editor Bill Henderson noted that the Pushcart Prize, “the small good thing, has evolved into an international prize drawing nominations from small presses around the globe.” As always, the selections are made by a distinguished panel of Guest Editors and hundreds of Contributing Editors. The list of authors selected and encouraged over the decades, is immense.
CHILDREN’S
One Step Further: My Story of Math, the Moon and a Lifelong Mission by Katherine Johnson
On August 26, 1918 in Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, an exceptional baby girl was born. Katherine Coleman Johnson grew up in the Jim Crow South but nothing could hold back her brilliant mind and her ambition to do something great. She entered high school at 10, graduated college at 18 and became a mathematics teacher. After having three daughters, she was accepted as a ‘human computer’ for NACA (later NASA) in 1953. Her mathematical calculations helped to eventually put American astronauts on the moon. Mrs. Johnson wrote this book with two of her daughters, who followed in their mother’s footsteps and also became mathematicians and teachers. After presiding over an extraordinary century and receiving the Medal of Freedom from President Obama, Katherine died peacefully at her home in 2020 at the age of 101. This book celebrates her incredible story.
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.
