The James E. Nichols Memorial Library

Shipping from our book suppliers have been delayed of late, but yesterday we received and added a dozen new titles! Among them are the latest from Lee Child, John Grisham, Alice Hoffman, Jodi Picoult and Dean Koontz, as well stories by respected authors Emma Straub, Paulette Jiles and Susanna Clarke, and the surprise bestseller, The Guest List by Lucy Foley. Send us your requests for Monday curbside pickup!

The latest eBooks and audios from NH Downloadable Books (NHDB).

Remembering roots-rocker Tom Petty (October 20, 1950). He shared the day with two giants, jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton (October 20, 1890) and American composer Charles Ives (October 20, 1874). For a tastes of Ives, try Three Places in England; for Morton, sample Tom Cat Blues.

Bone-chilling stories about two modern autocrats. Blood and Oil by Hope Bradely covers Saudi strongman Mohammed bin Salman’s ruthless rise while Shadow State by Luke Harding reports on Putin’s undercover opps in the West.

Yesterday was the birthdate of Chuck Berry, poet laureate of Rock and Roll. He shares the date with Laura Nyro (October 18, 1947 –April 08, 1997), who wrote “Wedding Bell Blues“, “Stoned Soul Picnic“, “Sweet Blindness“, “Eli’s Comin’“; and “Stoney End“.

Fall into Reading at the Nichols Library

There is always fresh crime fiction on the plate at the Nichols Library. In The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen, a guest at a country home is accused of murder, but amateur sleuth Georgina Rannoch is there to set things straight. In One Last Lie by Paul Doiron, Charley Stevens, mentor to ranger Mike Bowditch, vanishes. Bowditch embarks on another rule-bending investigation to save his friend. In Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling), detective Cormoran Strike takes on a cold case involving a woman who disappeared in the wilds of Cornwall. In Shadows in Death by J. D. Robb, Eve Dallas suspects a friend of her husband’s, thought to be a hire killer, as a person of interest in her latest case. Near Dark by Brad Thor finds Scott Harvath on the run with a price on his head. Carl Hiaasen’s Squeeze Me is a light romp about a prominent presidential donor who goes missing. These last two are hot tickets; best get your reserve in now!

Bob Weir (10/16), American songwriter, guitarist and founding member of the Grateful Dead, turns 73. Bob was the tag-along kid. He almost got kicked out of the band but started to come up with some great songs and became a co-frontman with Jerry Garcia.   \

Paul Simon turned 79 today. An R&B one hit wonder in the 50s, he scored folk hits in the 60s with Art Garfunkel, hit the pop charts in the 70s, and helped bring attention to world music in the 80s. Not bad for a kid from Queens.

Chime in–name your favorite Paul Simon song(s).

Elmore Leoanard (10/11) made a name was a western writer (Hombre) before turning to crime (Rum Punch) to adventure (Cuba Libre’). His character Raylon Givens inspired the FX series Justified. His terse dialog made for easy transition to movies, among them the aforementioned Hombre, Valdez is Coming, Joe Kidd, Jackie Brown, Out of Sight and the fabulously tongue-in-cheek Get Shorty.

The Nichols Library will not be putting books out today in observance of Columbus Day. “See” you Wednesday.

About the holiday: “President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially instituted Columbus Day in 1934, but the idea for the holiday rose in the 1920s, when the Knights of Columbus tried to undercut the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan by emphasizing the role minorities had played in America. The KOC published three books in a “Racial Contributions” series, including The Gift of Black Folk, by W. E. B. Dus Bois. They celebrated the contributions of immigrants, especially Catholics, to America with parades honoring Christopher Columbus. The Knights of Columbus were determined to reinforce the idea that America must not be a land of white Protestant supremacy.”