Non-Fiction

An Apple A Day, plus other foods!

staceyLeave a comment

Wow. How did it get to be Fall? I’m a fan of cozy sweaters, beautiful Fall foliage, new school supplies (less this year than usual -obvs), and Halloween, but I’m not ready yet… are you?

It’s here, whether any of us are ready or not, and I have decided now is a good time to match up my excessive kitchen time with seasonal foods. Take that! (I don’t know who’s taking it but it felt good to put that there. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) I need a few more apples and I can make King Arthur Baking Company’s Old Fashioned Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting (yum!) and then I”ll move along to searching for main meal options from books in the Fall Harvest collection… dessert should *always* be first!! If you have a tasty Fall recipe, please feel free to share! While I wait for ideas, maybe some soup?

-enjoy!
Stacey

Baking Books for Rainy Days

NicoleLeave a comment

It’s been a cloudy, stormy few days here in Northeastern Ohio and some of my favorite rainy day activities include: reading on the couch, drinking many mugs of coffee, and baking tasty treats. The weekend looks like it’s going to bring more thunderstorms, so I’m rounding up my favorite five cookbooks with fabulous baking recipes to inspire you in the kitchen!

There are recipes for fancy French patisserie, dairy-free and grain-free treats, and even my favorite homemade funfetti cake. No matter your skill level there is a recipe for you to tackle confidently here!

You can find Molly Yeh’s awesome funfetti cake recipe on her blog here if you can’t get your hands on a copy of Molly on the Range in time to satisfy cake cravings.

Image from http://mynameisyeh.com/mynameisyeh/2014/9/funfetti-cake.

Stay safe and happy reading/baking!

Let’s Talk about Ohio

staceyLeave a comment

I don’t think there’s been anything really easy about this year so far and so I like to take a small win (or a rare 2020 big win!) whenever I can find one! I just finished reading Barnstorming Ohio To Understand America  by David Giffels and it’s definitely in my win column for this week!

Ohio. We are full of variety and contradictions. We are the 7th most populous state but 34th in total are; the top of the State gets incredibly cold with lots of snow and the lower half can be 10 to 20 degrees warmer with almost no snow; our economy is based on agriculture, industry, and innovative ideas; and there’s an incredible range of natural landscapes to explore. Ohioans have plenty to be proud about and issues we need to solve, but we are also an almost perfect cross-section of the U.S.A.

In Barnstorming Ohio, Mr. Giffels provides the current and historical context that helped me to understand exactly what it means to be seen as bellwether State for the Country. Having thoughtful conversations with the people who live in the “Five Ohios” (representing diverse voting communities) and offering great insights for what could be a larger, nation-wide conversation, this book was engaging, eye-opening, and easy-to-read. As we head into the 2020 General Election, you might also find this book worth checking out, and then we can chat!

(Small tangent -Did you know tomato juice is the official beverage of Ohio? Can we vote on that?)

—Stacey

True Crime Addict by James Renner Review

MeganLeave a comment

True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray by James Renner

Investigative journalist James Renner was just eleven in 1989 when ten-year-old Amy Mihaljevic disappeared from Bay Village, Ohio. This disappearance marked the beginning of his interest and obsession with true crime. For many suburban Northeast Ohio children and teens this case was their first introduction to crime and the impact on their lives was immediate. How could something like this happen in broad daylight in a small, white, suburb? This desire for answers led Renner to a career in journalism.
Fast forward to 2011. James begins investigating the mysterious 2004 disappearance of Maura Murray, a University of Massachusetts student who vanished following a car wreck in rural New Hampshire. Maura was an athlete, a former West Point cadet, and a nursing student at UMass. On February 9 she emailed professors letting them know she would be absent for a week due to a death in the family. Later that night she was involved in a single car accident hundreds of miles away. By the time help arrived Maura was gone.
What happened to Maura Murray? The question remains unanswered today.
This case fascinated Renner and dragged him down a rabbit hole of research that took a toll on him personally. True Crime Addict is part investigative journalism, part confessions of a true crime addict.

If this case interests you, join me and Sherry next Wednesday, September 9 for a Zoom discussion.
Register here to and you will be emailed the link: http://rrpl.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails?EventId=26155&backTo=Calendar&startDate=2020/09/02

~Megan

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

semanurLeave a comment

This week we have varieties of exciting new books picked out for you to indulge into. Hope you enjoy them~

All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny – Horrified when his billionaire godfather is targeted in a near-fatal accident, Chief Inspector Gamache follows clues deep within the Paris Archives to uncover gruesome, decades-old secrets. By the award-winning author of A Better Man.

Chaos by Iris Johansen – A CIA agent breaks into a billionaire’s mansion to secure financing for an unsanctioned mission in Africa to rescue schoolgirl hostages, including her sister, from a cold-blooded killer. By the best-selling author of the Eve Duncan series.

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi – A follow-up to the best-selling Homegoing finds a sixth-year PhD candidate grappling with the childhood faith of the evangelical church in which she was raised while researching the science behind the suffering that has devastated her Ghanaian immigrant family.

Daddy: Stories by Emma Cline – An anthology of 10 stories by the award-winning author of The Girls includes three original entries and follows a theme of how fateful choices and other disturbances reveal the perversity and violence beneath the surface of everyday life.

Dark Song by Christine Feehan – Stolen from her home as a child and tormented for centuries, a woman too traumatized to answer the call of her lifemate is pursued by an ancient warrior whose first experiences with emotions compel him to heal her fragile heart.

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie – Enduring a life of minimal prospects among her uncles many wives, a young seamstress relocates to Accra when she is married in absentia to a wealthy man whose family would separate him from the woman he loves.

An Inconvenient Woman by Stéphanie Buelens – An LAPD contractor for hire who would discretely resolve a messy domestic dispute and a woman who would protect a family from her violent ex delve into the heart of a years-old crime to prevent another murder.

Interference by Brad Parks – When her husband, a quantum physicist, goes missing in the midst of a strange, violent seizure, Brigid Bronik discovers that his research had gained unwanted attention and wonders if the very same physics that endangered him could actually be used to save his life.

Thrawn: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn – The first book in a new Star Wars trilogy is set before Thrawn traveled to the Empire and became a Grand Admiral.

The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim – Suspecting foul play in the wake of her mother’s accidental death, Margot Lee investigates her mother’s past as a Korean War orphan and undocumented immigrant before uncovering profound secrets. A first novel.

One True Patriot by Sean Parnell – Special operative Eric Steel travels from Paris to a top-secret Russian prison to track down a mysterious woman behind the death of a fellow Alpha. By the best-selling author of All Out War.

Payback by Mary Gordon – A vengeful reality television star reconnects with a former teacher who she blames for her sexual assault years earlier, in a timely novel by the award-winning author of There Your Heart Lies.

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie – Abandoned by a mother who instructs her never to fight or ask questions, an illegitimate child of mixed heritage in 1948 Kyoto forges a powerful bond with her older half-brother against the wishes of their formidable grandparents.

Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains by Kerri Arsenault – Traces the author’s working-class upbringing in a rural New England paper mill community among three generations who unwittingly contributed to environmental destruction and the catastrophic decline of the community’s economic, moral and emotional health.

~Semanur

Imagine your Story – Books

EmmaLeave a comment

 

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Mrs. Morhard and the Boys: One mother’s vision. The first boys’ baseball league. A nation inspired. 

by Ruth Hanford Morhard

The Rocky River Public Library is pleased to invite you to an author talk via Zoom on Tuesday, September 22nd from 7:00-8:00. Ruth Hanford Morhard is the daughter-in-law of Josephine Morhard, the star of the story.

In the book the reader learns about Josephine’s life before she settles in Cleveland a single mother with two children, owning a butcher shop, and surviving the impact of the Great Depression,

Josephine, who was one of 17 children, had a hard life. Her father depended on her for much of the farm work in addition to helping with her siblings. At 12 she left home figuring she could support herself by living with another family taking care of children and doing housework.

Eventually Josephine married twice. Both husbands were alcoholics and abusive. After divorcing her second husband, Josephine was particularly worried about her son, Junior (Albert). He needed positive male role models and something to occupy his time.

You will know and understand the “rest of the story”, as radio personality Paul Harvey would say, by joining the presentation on September 22nd. Hope to see you there!

~Emma

 

 

Imagine Your Story@ RRPL

MaryLeave a comment

Title details for Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker - Wait list

Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker

WOW, what a book.   It took me about a week to finish this book, but each time I put it down, I could not stop thinking about it.  In fact, if I was reading it before going to bed, several times I ended up dreaming about it – it was that good, that thought provoking, that well written, that emotional.  As you can see by the cover, this book is one of Oprah’s Book Club picks, so you have confidence going into the book that it should be a good one.  Fair warning, it’s a gut wrencher but well worth your time.

The Galvin family consisted of 12 children, 6 of them developed schizophrenia.  It was like a row of dominoes, Donald, the oldest , with his all american good looks & athleticism, during college, began a steep and steady descent into madness, with five of his brothers following in his footsteps. Kolker takes the reader right into the home of the Galvins to experience the chaos and confusion about what was happening to them. While 6 of the children have no mental illness, not one family member walks away from their home unscathed.  Kolker also explores the scientific piece of schizophrenia, mostly in laymen terms, so the reader has better knowledge of  schizophrenia as a disease without getting lost in the extensive history of the brain.  The matriarch of the family, Mimi Galvin, is one of the  survivors of this brutal truth, until her death late in life, and she is not to go unnoticed.  Despite every obstacle and roadblock thrown at her, she remained steadfastly committed to the care and support of her sick sons, even at the expense of losing her well children. Imagine if you were once a healthy young man, facing down the terrifying consequences of schizophrenia. Imagine if you were not mentally ill, surrounded by siblings struggling with mental illness and worrying, will you be next. Imagine being a mother to both and trying so very hard to protect them all.

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

semanurLeave a comment

Here some of the new exciting releases for you to take a look at this week!

A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom by John Boyne – From the award-winning, best-selling author of The Heart’s Invisible Furies comes an epic tale of humanity, a novel that aims to tell the story of all of us. Imaginative, unique, heartbreaking, this is John Boyne at his most creative and compelling.

No Offense by Meg Cabot – A sequel to No Judgments finds a broken-hearted Molly relocating to a library in the Florida Keys before the discovery of an abandoned newborn leads to an unexpected partnership with an arrogant town sheriff.

Choppy Water by Stuart Woods – When his Maine vacation is interrupted by extreme weather that a menacing adversary uses as cover to target a close friend, Stone Barrington uncovers a massive scheme with corrupt ties spanning New York City through Key West.

Lone Jack Trail by Owen Laukkanen – A veteran Marine and an ex-convict find themselves on opposite sides of the law, in a new thriller from the best-selling author of Deception Cove.

We Are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin – The discovery of an unknown girl found by the side of the road a decade after an unsolved disappearance compels a young police officer’s investigation into dangerous local and personal secrets. By the best-selling author of Black-Eyed Susans.

The Midwife Murders by James Patterson & Richard DiLallo – When two kidnappings and a stabbing occur on her watch in a Manhattan university hospital, a fearless senior midwife teams up with a skeptical NYPD detective to investigate rumors that shift from the Russian Mafia to an underground adoption network.

Microbes: The Life-changing Story of Germs by Phillip K. Peterson & Michael T. Osterholm – With straight-forward and engaging writing, infectious diseases physician Phillip Peterson surveys how our understanding of viruses has changed throughout history, from early plagues and pandemics to more recent outbreaks like HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Zika, and Coronavirus.

Then She Vanished by T. Jefferson Parker – Helping a rising politician whose wife has gone missing amid an inexplicable series of bombings, private investigator Roland Ford investigates the activities of a mysterious group before uncovering sinister ties to a kidnapping that threatens an entire city.

Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family by Omid Scobie & Carolyn Durand – With unique access and written with the participation of those closest to the couple, the insider authors offer an honest, up-close and disarming portrait of a confident, influential and forward-thinking couple who are unafraid to break with tradition, determined to create a new path away from the spotlight, and dedicated to building a humanitarian legacy that will make a profound difference in the world.

Olive the Lionheart: Lost Love, Imperial Spies, and One Woman’s Journey into the Heart of Africa by Brad Ricca – Draws on personal writings in an account of Olive MacLeod’s search for her missing fiancé, naturalist Boyd Alexander, in 1910 Africa, a quest shaped by dangerous natural elements, a murderous leopard cult and two adorable lion cubs.

Last Call on Decatur Street by Iris Martin Cohen – Working as a Crescent City burlesque dancer after college pressures and a drinking problem lead to her expulsion, Rosemary interweaves her pain into seductive performances before resolving to go sober on a transformative night.

Via Negativa by Daniel Hornsby – Dismissed by his conservative diocese for his eccentric insubordination, a homeless Father Dan transforms his car into a mobile monk cell and embarks on a spiritual road trip marked by an injured coyote and other offbeat travelers.

Making Sense: Conversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity by Sam Harris – The best-selling neuroscientist and author of The End of Faith shares transcripts of 12 top-selected conversations from his controversial podcast to explore such topics as the nature of consciousness, free will, political extremism and ethical living.

Little Scratch by Rebecca Watson – A debut novel written in the style of a woman’s thoughts on a deceptively ordinary day traces her growing perturbation of mind as she moves through a routine marked by self-doubt, impatience, philosophical development and personal neuroses.

Houseplants for All: How to Fill Any Home With Happy Plants by Danae Horst – A beautiful guide to selecting and growing the right plants for your home, with a plant profile quiz.

Help Yourself: A Guide to Gut Health for People Who Love Delicious Food by Lindsay Maitland Hunt & Linda Pugliese – More than 125 gut-friendly recipes plus science-backed advice for wellness in body and mind. This game-changing cookbook will make you rethink how you eat.

Operation Vengeance: The Astonishing Aerial Ambush That Changed World War II by Dan Hampton – The best-selling author of Viper Pilot presents a narrative account of America’s secret World War II mission to assassinate Isoroku Yamamoto, the Japanese commander who masterminded the Pearl Harbor attacks.

Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History by Kurt Andersen – The best-selling author of Fantasyland presents a deeply researched history of America’s 20th-century transition toward government-sanctioned, normalized inequalities that favor big business and resist progressive change while rendering everyday workers increasingly powerless.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

semanurLeave a comment

In this weeks picks, there are many varieties, such as romance, horror, mystery, and so much more to choose from! Here are some books that may peak your interest!

Hideaway by Nora Roberts – A family ranch in Big Sur country and a legacy of Hollywood royalty set the stage for Nora Roberts’ emotional new suspense novel.

A Week at the Shore by Barbara Delinsky- The author presents a captivating new novel about a woman whose unexpected reunion with her estranged family forces her to confront a devastating past.

The Friendship List by Susan Mallery – Two best friends jump-start their lives in a summer that will change them forever. They discover that life is meant to be lived with joy and abandon, in a story filled with humor, heartache and regrettable tattoos.

If It Bleeds by Stephen King – A collection of four novellas includes the title story in which Holly Gibney of the Bill Hodges trilogy and “The Outsider” struggles to face her fears and another possible outsider.

The Falcon Always Wings Twice by Donna Andrews – Volunteering at her grandmother’s craft-center Renaissance Faire, Meg is challenged to prove the innocence of her grandfather when he is wrongly accused of murdering a fairgrounds performer who was suspected of mistreating a rare falcon.

Sucker Punch by Laurell K. Hamilton – When a young wereleopard is scheduled for execution for the brutal murder of his uncle, Anita Blake navigates escalating pressure from the local authorities and family demands for justice in the face of evidence that does not quite add up.

True Story by Kate Reed Petty – Haunted by the roles they played in covering up the sexual assault and attempted suicide of a student 15 years earlier, reclusive ghostwriter Alice and her former schoolmate, Nick, explore memories from different viewpoints that eventually reveal what really happened.

In Case of Emergency by E. G. Scott – Managing a painful career setback with the help of an online support group and a secret boyfriend who goes mysteriously missing, a neuroscientist is declared a person of interest when she is asked to identify the body of a stranger.

The Silent Wife by Karin Slaughter – Investigating a brutal murder that eerily resembles another from years earlier, Will Trent reopens the case of a possibly wrongly convicted prisoner before teaming up with medical examiner Sara Linton to hunt down the true killer.

The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne – Living in self-imposed exile in a psychiatric facility where she is tortured by fractured memories of her parents’ murder, Rachel uncovers maternal secrets and an unspeakable act of evil that unveils the true nature of her bond with her sister.

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis – A New York Public Library superintendent’s wife reevaluates her priorities upon joining a woman’s suffrage group in 1913, decades before her granddaughter’s efforts to save an exhibit expose tragic family secrets. By the best-selling author of The Chelsea Girls.

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin – In this new thriller from the author of The Escape Room, a podcast host covering a controversial trial in a small town becomes obsessed with a brutal crime that took place there years before.

Brontë’s Mistress by Finola Austin – A meticulously researched debut by the award-winning “Secret Victorianist” blogger follows the scandalous 1843 love affair between a grieving Lydia Robinson of Thorp Green Hall and her son’s erratically unconventional tutor, Branwell Brontë.

The Boys’ Club by Erica Katz – An Ivy League overachiever accepts a job at a prestigious Manhattan law firm where the dynamics of workplace sexism force her to choose between her career and doing what is right. A first novel.

The Palace by Christopher Reich – When a man to whom he owes his life reaches out from prison, international spy Simon Riske recruits a daring investigative reporter and a rogue Mossad agent to thwart an international conspiracy targeting major European cities.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson – The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Warmth of Other Suns identifies the qualifying characteristics of historical caste systems to reveal how a rigid hierarchy of human rankings, enforced by religious views, heritage and stigma, impact everyday American lives.

Live Free or Die: America (and the World) on the Brink by Sean Hannity – The Fox News host and best-selling author of Conservative Victory argues that the leftist radicalism that he believes undermined American democracy in the 1960s must be purposefully fought again during the 2020 election to prevent progressive changes.

True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump by Jeffrey Toobin – The CNN chief legal analyst and best-selling author of American Heiress presents a behind-the-scenes account of the Mueller investigation to explain how in spite of associate convictions and an impeachment, Donald Trump has survived to run for reelection.

A Furious Sky: The Five-hundred-year History of America’s Hurricanes by Eric Jay Dolin – A best-selling author tells the history of America itself through its 500-year battle with the fury of hurricanes.

The Finisher by Peter Lovesey – Tasked with crowd control during the Other Half, Bath’s springtime half marathon, Detective Peter Diamond catches sight of a violent criminal he put away years ago and believes he may be responsible for a runner not crossing the finish line.

~Semanur