FICTION
The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohamed Sarr
In 2018, Diégane Latyr Faye, a young Senegalese writer in Paris, discovers a legendary book from the 1930s. No one knows what became of its author, once hailed as the “Black Rimbaud,” after the book caused a scandal. Enthralled by this mystery, Diégane decides to search for T.C. Elimane, going down a path that will force him to confront the great tragedies of history, from colonialism to the Holocaust. Diégane becomes part of a group of young African writers in Paris. Together they talk, drink, make love, philosophize about the role of exile in artistic creation. Diégane grows particularly close to two women: the seductive Siga and the photojournalist Aïda, impossible to pin down.
If Only I Had Told Her by Laura Nowlin
Finn has always loved Autumn. She’s not just the girl next door or his mother’s best friend’s daughter, she is his everything. But she’s not his girlfriend. That’s Sylvie, and Finn would never hurt her, so there’s no way Autumn could know how he truly feels. Jack, Finn’s best friend, isn’t so sure. He’s seen Finn and Autumn together. How could she not know? And how is he supposed to support and protect Finn when heartache seems inevitable? Autumn surrounds herself with books and wants to write her own destiny―but one doesn’t always get a new chapter and fate can be cruel to those in love.
The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn
San Francisco, 1906. In a city bustling with newly minted millionaires and scheming upstarts, two very different women hope to change their fortunes: Gemma, a golden-haired, silver-voiced soprano whose career desperately needs rekindling, and Suling, a petite and resolute Chinatown embroideress who is determined to escape an arranged marriage. Their paths cross when they are drawn into the orbit of Henry Thornton, a charming railroad magnate whose extraordinary collection of Chinese antiques includes the fabled Phoenix Crown, a legendary relic of Beijing’s fallen Summer Palace.
The Nursery by Szilvia Molnar
There is the before and the after. Withering in the maternal prison of her apartment, a new mother finds herself spiraling into a state of complete disaffection. As a translator, she is usually happy to spend her days as the invisible interpreter. But now home alone with her newborn, she is ill at ease with this state of perpetual giving, carrying, feeding. The instinct to keep her baby safe conflicts with the intrusive thoughts of causing the baby harm, and she struggles to reclaim her identity just as it seems to dissolve from underneath her. Feeling isolated from her supportive but ineffectual husband, she strikes up a tentative friendship with her ailing upstairs neighbour, Peter, who hushes the baby with his oxygen tank in tow.
NONFICTION
Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow
Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it. It was a sophisticated and shockingly well-funded campaign to undermine democratic institutions, promote antisemitism, and destroy citizens’ confidence in their elected leaders, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the U.S. government and installing authoritarian rule.
Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems and Meditations for Staying Human by Cole Arthur Riley
For years, Cole Arthur Riley was desperate for a spirituality she could trust. Amid ongoing national racial violence, the isolation of the pandemic, and a surge of anti-Black rhetoric in many Christian spaces, she began dreaming of a more human, more liberating expression of faith. She went on to create Black Liturgies, a digital project that connects spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black memory, and the Black body. In this book, she brings together hundreds of new prayers, along with letters, poems, meditation questions, breath practices, scriptures, and the writings of Black literary ancestors to offer 43 liturgies that can be practiced individually or as a community.
Your Pocket Therapist: Break Free from Old Patterns and Transform Your Life by Annie Zimmerman
In “Your Pocket Therapist,” Dr. Zimmerman helps readers delve into their past to identify old, unhelpful patterns and teach them how to unlock the present. The book combines practical tools with anecdotes gleaned from the therapy room, distilling complex psychological concepts with her signature warmth and empathy. Her belief—galvanized by her hundreds of thousands of followers — is that if we learn to understand the roots of our suffering, we can bring about meaningful — and permanent — change in our lives. It comes down to learning how to ask the right questions.
The Odyssey of Phyllis Wheatley: A Poet’s Journey through American Slavery and independence by David Waldstreicher
Admired by George Washington, ridiculed by Thomas Jefferson, published in London, and read far and wide, Phillis Wheatley led one of the most extraordinary American lives. Seized in West Africa and forced into slavery as a child, she was sold to a merchant family in Boston, where she became a noted poet at a young age. Mastering the Bible, Greek and Latin translations, and the works of Pope and Milton, she composed elegies for local elites, celebrated political events, praised warriors, and used her verse to variously lampoon, question, and assert the injustice of her enslaved condition. By doing so, she added her voice to a vibrant, multisided conversation about race, slavery, and discontent with British rule.
CHILDREN’S
Sensitive by Sara Levine
This tender picture book follows a little girl who is always being told, “You feel way too much. Stop being so sensitive! Your feelings are too intense; they scare me. What’s wrong with you?” She’s told she needs to grow a thicker skin, because the hurtful words of others slip right through and press against her heart. But nobody tells her how to make her skin tough or how to stop feeling so much. What can she do to stop hurting and prove that what others call her weakness is actually her superpower? Through journaling and taking time by herself to think and recharge her batteries, she learns that her capacity to feel deeply makes her creative, caring and special. This book is dedicated to all the sensitive introverts who feel underappreciated in a busy, boisterous world.
Ages: 4-8
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.
