Check These Out: May 5, 2016

For several hours a week, I work at the Huntley Library re-shelving items. During this process, opportunity presents itself for me to peruse materials I’d not see while looking on my own. Very often I say to myself, oh, that looks interesting … and then I keep it or jot down the info. I’ll share some with you that pique my interest.

Troublemaker
Leah Remini
B Remini

Do you remember the TV sit-com “King of Queens” (1998-2007)? I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially Carrie. So when I saw a “hot picks” biography of Leah Remini on the shelf, I had to grab it. The subtitle is “surviving Hollywood & Scientology” which also piqued my interest because for 17 years I lived in Clearwater, FL, the spiritual headquarters for Scientology.

Washington’s Monument
John Steele Gordon
975.3 GOR

The shape of this book matches its subject matter; tall and thin. You may remember that a Richter Scale 5.8 earthquake rattled Washington D.C. in 2011 doing significant damage to a famous structure which is probably the only reason most Americans know the word ‘obelisk’. This new (2016) book covers the story of the conception and construction of the Washington Monument (money figures in to be sure) as well as something about ancient Egyptian obelisks. If the JEOPARDY! answer is 555ft, 51/8 inches, then the question is: What is the Washington Monument?

After Visiting Friends
Michael Hainey
B Hainey

Do you like to know how “cold cases” get solved? Did you live in the Chicagoland during the 1960s? Were/are you a Tribune reader? This memoir, according to a back cover “blurb,” says the author “makes the quest for answers about his father read like a thriller”. Michael Hainey was just six when his father, a newsman, was found dead on the street in the early dawn hours. Years later, wondering about some account inconsistencies, he launches his own investigation. Imagine researching your own parent’s death with the vague suspicion that it did not happen as you had been told.

Disclaimer
Renee Knight
FIC KNI

We’ve been reading much about government documents and emails being redacted, so the cover of this novel with its glaring red lines made me take a second look. “…unsettling psychological thriller about guilt and grief…” says the back cover “with a shocking finale.”

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