Tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept. 30, at noon in the Cumberland Room, the Plateau Pluckers Ukulele Band will perform good old familiar tunes from country to rock to old time music. Not to be missed.
Art Circle Public Library is at 3 East St., Crossville. Visit artcirclelibrary.info or call 931-484-6790 for information.
Great New Books
Ply by Hernan Diaz. This novel vaults into the future when humanity’s grip on civilization slips precariously. All governments have been silenced. Only the markets rule, as the haves and the have-nots struggle to survive. Just two monopolies reign supreme, one controlling water, the other electricity. Ruthless security contractors maintain this brutal order.
Orphaned, a girl learns enough skills from her parents to steal electricity from the grid, load it into batteries of her own devising, and sell the power to pop bands needing connections for their musical computers.
Lured by a theoretical physicist seeking massive power for an experimental space-time machine, she scales up her invention. The two work secretly on equipment that will reveal the particle from which the universe emerged. During a trial run, she endures a break in her selfhood and experiences a space-time paradox.
The French Illusion by John Grisham. Newlyweds Paul Tanner, a Justice Department attorney, and Chelsea Clayburn, an art appraiser, set off for their Paris honeymoon. As Chelsea eagerly documents their trip on social media, a French gang tracks their movements. The gang members stage a car accident, and, in the ensuing chaos, render Paul and Chelsea unconscious.
The newlyweds awake to find they’ve been separated and are being held captive with no way of knowing whether their partner is safe. Meanwhile, Paul’s and Chelsea’s families receive ransom notes demanding $2 million.
The plot thickens when it is revealed that FBI personnel have been unsuccessfully investigating two similar cases that appear to have political implications. The parallel storylines of Paul and Chelsea trying to escape captivity and the FBI, CIA, and French authorities working together to nail the kidnappers generate crackerjack suspense. It’s a blast.
Dodge City by Patrick DeWitt. Lee Clarke nurtures few academic ambitions, so being expelled from UCLA for getting caught up in a fistfight only matters because it’s 1967, and expulsion means the end of his deferment status.
Sure enough, a draft letter arrives in short order, and Lee recognizes there’s “only one sensible response to such a thing”: head to Canada. He charts a circuitous course that will allow him to visit his dad in his hometown of Concrete, WA; his mom in Montana; his brother in Minnesota; and his sister in New York City. Each stop offers an opportunity to say his goodbyes. Each character is drawn as comically absurd, yet each portrait feels strangely poignant.
Dad, a struggling dog catcher, dognaps to meet his quotas, while brother Harry engages in a little light felony for recreation. The narrative is appropriately zippy, given that Lee’s driving is fueled by a baggie of amphetamines called “white crosses,” which also help with the creeping dread of his unknown future.
Lee is also saying his farewells to America, and to the absurdity of a country being torn apart for a war that many people don’t believe in. This elegiac tale is good company for dark days.
Library Laugh I
What do you call an alligator detective? An investi-gator!
Libraries= Information
When possible, choose paper products that are made domestically. While recycled paper has benefits, paper manufactured closer to home often has a smaller carbon footprint because it avoids the emissions associated with long-distance shipping (where most recycled products are made in other countries).
Domestic paper mills are also subject to stricter environmental regulations and sustainable forestry standards, making it easier to trace where materials come from. The best bet? Recycled paper products made domestically.
Library Laugh II
What classical ballet did the pig pen perform? Swine Lake.
Stingy Schobel Says
Let technology comparison shop for you. Sites like Google Shopping and Price.com make it easy to quickly contrast prices across multiple retailers to make sure you’re getting the best price.
Be sure to factor in total costs, including shipping, taxes and any discounts or cash back you might get through loyalty memberships when deciding when and where to make an online purchase.
Falling Leaves Bonus
What vegetables are a sailor’s enemies? Leeks!