Off the Shelves – November 22

0
280

New items are available at the Hancock County Public Library.

The following items are available at the Hancock County Public Library, 900 W. McKenzie Road. For more information on the library’s collection or to reserve a title, visit hcplibrary.org.

Adult Fiction

“The End of Eddy,” by Edouard Louis

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

Every morning in the bathroom, Eddy would look in the mirror and repeat the same phrase: “Today I’m really gonna be a tough guy.” In this autobiographical novel about growing up gay in a northern French working class town, Eddy Bellegueule only wanted to be a man in the eyes of his family and neighbors. But from childhood, he was different: “girlish,” intellectually precocious and attracted to other men. Already translated into 20 languages, Louis’ novel is a portrait of boyhood, violence, a life of desperation and coming of age.

Adult Nonfiction

“Soonish: emerging technologies that’ll improve and/or ruin everything,” by Kelly Weinersmith

What will the world of tomorrow be like? How does progress happen? Why do we not have a lunar colony already? And where are our flying cars? What is the holdup? In this humorously written book, cartoonist Zach Weinersmith and researcher Dr. Kelly Weinersmith present a snapshot of what’s coming next: from robot swarms to nuclear fusion powered-toasters. New technologies are almost never the work of isolated geniuses with a neat idea. Future technology may need any number of intermediate technologies to develop first. The journey to progress is full of detours and blind alleys that explain much about the human mind and the march of civilization. Weaving their own research and interviews with the scientists who are making these advances happen, the Weinersmiths investigate why these technologies are needed, how they would work and what is standing in their way. To this end, “Soonish” investigates 10 different emerging fields, including programmable matter, augmented reality, space elevators and robotic construction to show us the amazing world we will have, you know, soonish.