A new non-fiction book at the library is Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker. The Galvin family seemed to be living the American Dream after WWII. They have 12 beautiful children, and Don, their father, experiences career and financial success. But that dream turns into a heart-rending tragedy as the Galvin boys are diagnosed with schizophrenia – one after the other.

The Galvins’story shows the effect of schizophrenia on the victims and the family. The horror of the disease is presented in the backdrop of a medical profession struggling for decades to understand the illness.

But it is the Galvin Family who is studied by scientists and who give the vital information on the genetic research that offers hope for the treatment, prediction, and even the eventual eradication of the disease. The reader will look at mental illness with a deeper understanding after reading this book.

A new fiction book is one that those who love Agatha Christie will want to read; it’s a mystery thriller in her tradition – The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. Everyone is invited to the party and everyone is a suspect. A group of friends reunite to celebrate New Years Eve at a resort in the remote Scottish Wilderness. They become isolated from the outside world because of a snowstorm. As the reader meets the characters it is clear that any one of them could be a murderer. And one of them is that murderer and one of them will not make it out alive. It is described as an Agatha Christie with a bit of acid.

Adopt A Book

In the library’s adopt a book program, you can select a book, have Julie order it at a discounted price, be the first to read it, and have a nameplate in the front of the book noting that you have donated it.

One book is an autobiography – Lou Gehrig the Lost Memoir. Lou Gehrig, himself, tells the story of his life from a dirt poor kid to one of the most revered baseball players of all time. It is a compelling story based on a sensational discovery of information that had been lost in history.

Another adoptable book is These Women by Ivy Pochada. This is a serial killer story like you have not seen before. “These Women” come from all walks of life – what they have in common is they don’t know they are the targets of a serial killer – that is they don’t know until two murders rock their world.

The End of October by Lawrence Wright is a timely novel. In an Indonesian camp, 47 people die. The WHO sends Henry Parsons, an expert on new diseases with pandemic potential, to investigate. This disease could be an act of biowarfare, and it has devastating effects on the US institutions as well as decimating the US population. This is definitely an eerily timed novel.

For all of us staying at home is boring. Remember a good book can take you places you have never been and give you experiences you have never had. So use your armchair and reading light to get into a good book and get out of the house safely.