Dive into summer reading

Dive into summer reading with these July new book releases

By Kim Martens-Tyo and Alison Gowans

People often perceive library summer reading programs as aimed at children, but the staff of the Cedar Rapids Public Library want patrons of all ages to get excited about reading, not just in the summer but year-round. So, although our official Summer Dare Program wraps up July 31, we wanted to share some July new book releases for adults that we hope will get you excited to dive into a great summer read.

“Across the Airless Wilds: The Lunar Rover and the Triumph of the Final Moon Landings”

Who were the greatest explorers in human history? In Earl Swift’s history of Apollos 15, 16 and 17 — the last three manned missions to the moon — Earl Swift argues that title goes to the astronauts of those often overlooked expeditions, who drove over the moon’s surface in the revolutionary technology of Lunar Roving Vehicles. The tracks they left behind remain almost perfectly preserved to this day, nearly five decades later, a monument to the farthest humankind has ever traveled.

“Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea”

Much closer to home than the moon lies an equally mysterious realm to explore — the depths of the ocean. Marine biologist Edith Widder takes readers into the darkest depths, as she explores the phenomena of bioluminescence, a language of light and life in the deepest parts of the ocean. This autobiography is an adventure story as well as a scientific one, as Widder navigates tense equipment malfunctions while exploring questions about our largest ecosystem, one that is increasingly threatened.

“The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer”

Before the term serial killer even existed, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream was poisoning at least 10 people in the United States, Canada, and Britain. Dean Jobb weaves the horrific tales of his crimes, based on his 1892 murder trial in London, with the history of policing and development of forensic science to solve crimes, along with an examination of a society that let him go uncaught for 15 years as the doctor preyed on the very women who turned to him for help.

“Dear Miss Metropolitan”

Our book list now turns to new fiction. In this novel by Carolyn Ferrell, three girls are abducted by “Boss Man.” When they are finally rescued from a rundown house in Queens, one still is missing. Worry for the still missing victim haunts the survivors, who are now women, as does the continued trauma of being in the public eye, forced to relive their horror. Meanwhile, they wonder why longtime neighbor to Boss Man, an advice columnist for the local paper known as Miss Metropolitan, missed the story happening across the street.

“The Forest of Vanishing Stars”

In this book by Kristin Harmel, a young woman, who was abducted from her wealthy German parents and raised in the isolated wilderness of Eastern Europe, finds her life taking a turn after her abductor dies, leaving her alone. When she meets a group of Jews fleeing the Nazis, she sets out to help them survive in the forest. What will happen when her past catches up with her?

“Not a Happy Family”

In this novel by Shari Lapena, money can’t buy happiness, or safety, for the wealthy Mercer family. After an Easter dinner at their house in upstate New York, Fred and Shelia Mercer are brutally murdered. Their three adult children are either devastated mourners or suspects only pretending to be sad. Could one of the siblings in this unhappy household be guilty?

“The Shadow”

Vigilante crime fighter the Shadow was first introduced to readers as a pulp fiction hero in the 1930s. Now James Patterson and Brian Sitts has brought him back for modern readers with a time-jumping mystery.

Only Lamont Cranston’s greatest love Margo Lane and his nemesis Shiwan Khan know his secret identity as Shadow. To survive an attack by Khan, Cranston cryogenically cools himself, waking more than a century later. He meets teenager Maddy Gomes and learns Khan’s influence still is felt in his city — and he may be the only one who can counter it.

“The Women’s March”

Inspired by true events, this novel by Jennifer Chiaverini tells the story of three suffragists fighting for women’s right to vote in 1913. On the eve of anti-suffrage President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, Alice Paul plans a protest march down Pennsylvania Avenue. The marchers are met by a crowd of jeering men, some of whom go so far as to physically assault the marchers and threaten their lives. Also joining the march are librarian and advocate Maud Malone, a daughter of Irish immigrants, and civil rights activist and journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who is justifiably worried white suffragists will leave Black women out of their fight for equal rights.

Kim Martens-Tyo is a materials librarian and Alison Gowans is the content writer at the Cedar Rapids Public Library.