The James E. Nichols Memorial Library

Bomber’s Moon by Archer Mayor finds Joe Gunther dealing with the murder of a small-time drug dealer. Small potatoes, it would seem, except that victim crossed paths with students at a prestigious prep school. PI Rachel Reiling and reporter Sally Kravitz go where Gunther cannot to coax the skeletons out of their closets.  Sins of the Fathers is J.P. Jance’s latest Beaumont thriller. He reluctantly agrees to help an old acquaintance find his missing daughter. JP soon finds himself on a wild ride that upends his peaceful retirement.  In Nothing Ventured by Jeffrey Archer, a London detective investigates the theft of a priceless Rembrandt.  In his sights? A suave art collector.

The Dutch House by Anne Patchett is a “richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go.”  A Single Thread  by Tracy Chevalier is about a “surplus woman,” who lost her man in the Great War. Doomed to spinsterhood and charity, she leaves for Winchester, where she finds community and hope among the women who embroider for the cathedral.

Enhanced showtime with more challenging themes. In The Professor and the Madman, the compilers of the Oxfrd English Dictionary are about to honor Dr. W. C. Minor (Sean Penn), who had submitted more than ten thousand definitions, until it comes to light that he is a convicted murderer (true story!). The Leisure Seeker, a drama about an aging couple. Ashes in the Snow”, a thriller about an artist in a Soviet labor camp, has gotten five-star reviews from Nichols viewers.

Good crime fiction is like solving a puzzle. As Poirot would say, it stimulates the little grey cells. In The Long Call, Ann Cleeves  introduces detective Matthew Venn, who returns to the evangelical community he grew up in for his father’s funeral, only to be drawn in by the discovery of a murder victim on a nearby beach. In Robert B. Parker’s The Bitterest Pill by Reed Farrel Coleman, the opioid crisis comes to Paradise, where the overdose of a popular student has Chief Jesse Stone probing the underside of his scenic north shore beat. In Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson, wolves sheep and a fatal hanging pose a puzzle for Walt Longmire.  

The United States and New Zealand were both founded by English colonists, but evolved into different highly different societies. Both are democracies, but the latter developed an ethic of fairness while our own country placed an emphasis on freedom. In Fairness and Freedom, David Hackett Fisher looks at how we got to where we are and considers the strengths and weakness of both systems.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood is a ”riveting sequel” to The Handmaids Tale, set 15 years later, with the theocratic Republic of Gilead fighting to hold onto power. A Door in the Earth by Amy Waldman tells the tale of an Afghan-American who, inspired by a book, travels to a remote village in the land of her birth to join the work of his charitable foundation. What she finds are conditions far darker than what she expected.

Homeschooling in the Center Harbor area? The Nichols Library is here to support you. We subscribe to Practical Homeschooling, which offers class plans, curriculum guides and other handy advice.  Our book Homeschooling 101 by Erica Arndt walks you through the basics, from making plans to scheduling time  to staying the course.   You can also explore the library’s selection of step into reading books and youth non-fiction collection. Your library card also gives you access to the Explora database, another great source for class materials, and the NH van service, for materials from other libraries.  The library is also available as a place for you to work on assignments and network with other families who are teaching their kids at home.  Talk to our librarian about how we can help support your child’s education!