here comes the sun

Join us for Book It to City Hall: Mini Adult Summer Reading Celebration! 

We’re serving up some Pizza Hut BOOK IT nostalgia at our temporary City Hall location. Adults ages 18 and up can visit on four select Fridays, July 24, 31 and August 7 & 14, check out a book, movie, or music CD from the Adult collection, then spin our prize wheel for a chance to win restaurant gift cards and other fun prizes! One spin per person, per Friday on July 24th and 31s and August 7th and 14th. 

The next Books & Beyond (BAB) meeting will be on Tuesday, August 25th at 6:30pm in the Levite Jewish Community Center’s Berkowitz Boardroom.  I am always excited about our annual Author Study and this year is no exception.  This will be my first time reading any Georgette Heyer!  Explore her life by clicking here, and see what titles the Public Libraries of Jefferson County have by clicking here.

This week, BAB met to chat about the sun and solar energy.  Have a look at what all we discussed:

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY TAIKA WAITITI AND STARRING JENNA ORTEGA AND AMY ADAMS (in theaters October 23, 2026) A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • A BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE 
From the Nobel Prize-winning author of Never Let Me Go and TheRemains of the Day, a magnificent novel about the wondrous, mysterious nature of the human heart. “A masterpiece that will make you think about life, mortality, the saving grace of love: in short, the all of it.” —Maureen Corrigan, NPR

Circle of Days by Ken Follett

From a bestselling author of epic fiction comes the deeply human story of one of the world’s greatest mysteries: the building of Stonehenge.

Chasing the Equinox (2020, 45m, streaming on Disney+/Hulu/HBOMAX)

The ancients hid the secrets of their incredible knowledge of astronomy in their temples and palaces, built to align with the sun, on the same day, all over the world. Revealing our species' obsession with the sun, across thousands of years and on every continent, this is architectural magic on a cosmic scale.

Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L.Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilizationof the Maya by William Carlsen

In 1839, rumors of extraordinary yet baffling stone ruins buried within the unmapped jungles of Central America reached two of the world’s most intrepid travelers. Seized by the reports, American diplomat John Lloyd Stephens and British artist Frederick Catherwood—both already celebrated for their adventures in Egypt, the Holy Land, Greece, and Rome—sailed together out of New York Harbor on an expedition into the forbidding rainforests of present-day Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. What they found would upend the West’s understanding of human history.

(I mentioned Sylvanus Griswold Morley in my description of this book, but I got this wrong!  I learned about Morley in this book, but the great book about him that I read was The Archaeologist Was a Spy: Sylvanus G. Morley and the Office of Naval Intelligence by Charles Harris and Louis Sadler. Alas, it is not available in the JCLC.)

In Defense of Sunlight: The Surprising Science of SunExposure by Rowen Jacobsen

In Defense of Sunlight sounds the call on what researchers have been sure of for years, and what health care providers and media outlets have been slow to take up: that sunlight is one of the simplest, and most equitable, treatments for a variety of health issues, from diabetes to dementia to multiple sclerosis. A call for a return to common sense in our relationship with our local star, In Defense of Sunlight offers its own seven words of advice: Get sun. Not too much. Go outside.

Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

On an ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia awakes to discover that something has happened to the rotation of the earth. The days and nights are growing longer and longer; gravity is affected; the birds, the tides, human behavior, and cosmic rhythms are thrown into disarray. With crystalline prose and the indelible magic of a born storyteller, Karen Thompson Walker gives us a breathtaking portrait of people finding ways to go on in an ever-evolving world.

Cue the Sun: The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum

Who invented reality television, the world’s most dangerous pop-culture genre? And why can’t we look away? In this revelatory, deeply reported account of the rise of “dirty documentary” Emily Nussbaum unearths the origin story of the genre that ate the world, as told through the lively voices of the people who built it. 

The Truman Show (1998, Rated PG, 1h 42m)

He doesn't know it, but everything in Truman Burbank's (Jim Carrey) life is part of a massive TV set. Executive producer Christof (Ed Harris) orchestrates "The Truman Show," a live broadcast of Truman's every move captured by hidden cameras. Christof tries to control Truman's mind, even removing his true love, Sylvia (Natascha McElhone), from the show and replacing her with Meryl (Laura Linney). As Truman gradually discovers the truth, however, he must decide whether to act on it.

Keeping Up with the Kontinuity Errors archive 

"It's no easy feat to Keep Up With the Kardashians, but Mariah Smith does it better than, well, anyone. This is, in part, due to the nature of her column for The Cut, called "Keeping Up With the Kontinuity Errors" (aka KUWTKE). In it, she nails down concrete time frames in which events actually happened and compares them in relation to when the show's scenes are filmed. The result is an exposé of plot holes and continuity errors galore." (bet.com)

Hollywood Demons (streaming on Disney+/Hulu/HBOMAX)

"Hollywood Demons" pulls back the curtain of fame to expose the hidden struggles, sacrifices and scandals of life in the spotlight. From the seemingly cursed dynasties to iconic figures and series plagued by peril and misfortune, this new series unveils the shadowy underbelly of Hollywood. Each episode features accounts from Hollywood insiders, project collaborators, and survivors. Insight and perspective are provided by addiction specialist, Dr. Drew Pinsky and culture writer, Scaachi Koul.

Wonders of the Sun (streams on BBC Select)

Comedian Dara Ó Briain explores Earth's vital relationship with the Sun, the star at the center of our solar system. He looks into stories an
d legends, such as our Sun-worshiping ancestors and ancient monuments like Stonehenge. In this intriguing documentary, he investigates the science behind how the Sun was formed, watches a solar eclipse and reveals where its ferocious power originates.)

Photo by Ankit Sood on Unsplash

Item descriptions pulled from Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes.