Upgrade by Blake Crouch. New York: Ballantine Books, [2022].

This is the perfect book to read on a scorching hot day as you wonder if, perhaps, this near future isn’t far away at all, and maybe we need to do something about it before it is too late…

If you’d like to scare yourself about the possibilities of using gene therapy to permanently alter humankind, this is the book for you!

Upgrade is set in the near future, when climate change has half of Manhattan and other coastal cities under water, and genetic alterations led to a mass starvation event.

The Great Starvation occurred when Mariam Ramsay genetically altered some locusts to deliver a virus to improve a rice crop. But instead it mutated and killed off crops all over the world.

Mariam killed herself, and her son Logan works for the GPA (Gene Protection Agency), trying to make amends for her mistakes and his part of it. During a routine arrest, he is lured to a basement and is infected with a gene-altering virus. But instead of hurting him, it has made him smarter, stronger, faster – better in every way.

Soon Logan is running away from his former employers, who want to study his mutations and keep him locked up in a black site. He finds out his mother is still alive, and is the one who infected him. And his sister Kara has gotten the same “upgrade.” Now he and Kara have to decide whether to continue their mother’s work.

This story definitely makes you think about what limits need to exist in science to keep even well-meaning experiments from leading to grave unintended consequences. It makes some pertinent points about humanity and our lack of effort to curb climate change. And it is a rollicking good thriller to boot! If you like the pace and excitement that thrillers provide, you’ll love Upgrade, even if you’re not usually a science fiction fan.

The only thing that might keep people from enjoying this book is the discussions of genetics. Crouch has a reputation of making the science in his books accessible to readers, and I found that to be true in Upgrade. But the discussion of gene therapy sometimes gets very technical, even if he isn’t using scientific jargon, and that might turn off a casual reader. I found it fascinating!

Mary Beth Adams is the Community Engagement Librarian for Alamance County Public Libraries. She can be reached at madams@alamancelibraries.org.

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. 2015.

Welcome to Night Vale is a book of everyday conspiracies, non-existent and heavily regulated dog parks, life threatening librarians- and two women.

The dog parks are the most normal part of this book, as expected.

Welcome to Night Vale.

Jackie is an eternally 19 pawn shop owner, with a piece of paper reading KING CITY suddenly and permanently attached to her hand. This makes operating her business impossible, and disturbs her endless days of making trades and writing out slips of paper for the many items (like single tear drops) that come through her door.

Diane is a PTA mom of a shape shifter son who is just trying to get a glimpse of his estranged father, no matter how many eyes he will have to grow to do it. When she begins to catch glimpses of the father around town, looking exactly as he did when he left years ago, she knows nothing good can come of their meeting.

A mysterious man with a deerskin suitcase weaves in and around the desert town they call home- a man no one can seem to remember, not even the angels that city officials would like to remind you do not exist.

Inspired by the podcast WELCOME TO NIGHTVALE, this book personifies the phrase “A wild ride from start to finish.” Embroidering the impossible fabric of a town with its own radio station but no way to leave, are points of discussion and emotions that seem a bit more everyday- Why should you grow up? How do you warn your teenage child about a bad influence in their life? When should you take the risk of accepting a little adventure into your life? And why on earth would you ever risk your life by going to the library?

(Side note- as a library worker, I would like to reassure you that, outside of Night Vale, libraries are NOT populated by tentacled eldritch horrors. However, just like inside of Night Vale, libraries do absolutely hold answers to many of life’s questions.)

This book is a joy to read, and a creative feat. Between bouts of laughter and mysterious exclamations of “ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD” you just might catch yourself thinking deeply about what constitutes a “normal” community, and how you might interject a little healthy weirdness into your neighborhood. After all the talk of mysterious, sentient, glowing clouds (not to mention a dog park that is under 24/7 surveillance by individuals in dark hooded cloaks) this book is, at its core, about Jackie and Diane exploring their town, interacting with their usually harmless neighbors, and trying to solve their respective problems while hanging on to whatever shred of routine and normalcy they can muster.

And really, can’t we all relate to that?

Cyna A. Woodard is Library Assistant I at Graham Public Library, and can be reached at cwoodard@alamancelibraries.org

“Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man” by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic; Simon & Schuster (592 pages, $28).

Published in July of 2018, Indianapolis by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic is an in-depth true account of the 1945 sinking of the USS Indianapolis, the court-martialing of Captain Charles B. McVay III, and the decades long legal battle to clear his name. The sinking of Indianapolis resulted in the greatest loss of life at sea from a single ship in the history of the US Navy. Of 1,195 crew, only 316 survived, including Captain McVay.

Indianapolis departed San Francisco’s Hunters Point Naval Shipyard on July 16, 1945 on a top-secret mission of utmost significance to national security: to proceed to Tinian island carrying about half of the world’s supply of uranium-235 as well as other parts required for the assembly of the infamous atomic bomb codenamed Little Boy, which would be dropped on Hiroshima, Japan a few weeks later. Indianapolis set a speed record of 74.5 hours from San Francisco to Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor, averaging 33 miles an hour. Indianapolis arrived at Pearl Harbor on July 19^th, then raced on to deliver the atomic bomb components to Tinian island on July 26^th. Indianapolis next went to Guam, where crew who had completed their tours of duty were relieved. Leaving Guam on July 28^th, the ship began sailing toward Leyte, where its crew was to train before joining Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf’s Task Force 95.

At 12:15 a.m. on July 30^th, the Indianapolis was torpedoed twice by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58, sinking within 12 minutes. Of its 1,195 sailors, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remaining 890 faced the hardships of exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks while stranded in the open ocean with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The US Navy learned of the sinking four days later, when survivors were spotted by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura on routine patrol. In total, only 316 sailors had survived, little over a fourth of the crew.

In November 1945, Captain Charles B. McVay III, who had commanded Indianapolis through several battles, was court-martialed on two charges: failing to order his men to abandon ship and hazarding the ship. Cleared of the charge of failing to order abandon ship, as he was one of the last to leave it, McVay was successfully convicted of “hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag”. Several aspects of the court-martial were controversial. There was evidence that the US Navy itself had placed the ship in harm’s way. McVay’s orders were to “zigzag at his discretion, weather permitting” but McVay had not been informed that a Japanese submarine was operating in the vicinity of his route to Leyte. Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto, the commanding officer of I-58, testified that zigzagging would have made no difference. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz remitted McVay’s sentence and restored him to active duty. McVay retired in 1949 as a rear admiral.

Many of Indianapolis‘s survivors didn’t blame McVay for the ship’s sinking, but some families of men who died felt otherwise. “Merry Christmas! Our family’s holiday would be a lot merrier if you hadn’t killed my son” read one letter. The guilt placed on him mounted until he died by suicide in 1968, using his Navy-issued revolver. McVay was found in his front lawn by his gardener with a toy sailor in one hand, and his revolver in the other. He was 70 years old.

In 1996, a sixth-grader by the name of Hunter Scott began his research on the Indianapolis’s sinking for a class history project, stirring public interest in the process as well as catching the attention of certain officials, including Senator John Warner III (R/VA). This culminated in Congress passing a resolution that Captain McVay’s record should state that “he is exonerated for the loss of Indianapolis.” President Bill Clinton signed the resolution in October 2000. The resolution noted that, although several hundred ships of the US Navy were lost in combat during World War II, McVay was the only captain court-martialed for the loss of his ship. In July 2001, Secretary of the Navy Gordon England directed Captain Toti to enter the Congressional language into McVay’s official Navy service record, clearing him of all wrongdoing.

Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic’s Indianapolis is an emotional and informative retelling of the tragic sinking of the USS Indianapolis, the injustices that followed for its captain, and the eventual clearing of his name in far more detail than I could hope to capture here. I highly recommend the book for history fans, Navy fans, and aspiring lawyers alike.

Lynn Vincent is an American writer, journalist, and author or co-author of 12 books. Her work focuses on memoirs, history, and narrative nonfiction. She also wrote a 2001 book called The Military Advantage which focuses on how one can best take advantage of a military career. Sara Vladic is an acclaimed documentary filmmaker and one of the world’s leading experts on the USS Indianapolis, having met and interviewed 108 of the ship’s survivors.

Donavon Anderson is a reference library assistant at May Memorial Library. He can be reached at danderson@alamancelibraries.org.

Untamed By Glennon Doyle. Narrated by: Glennon Doyle Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins Unabridged Audiobook Release date: 03-10-20 Language: English Publisher: Random House Audio.

It is rare when an author can move me from a belly laugh to tears within the space of a five-minute story, but Glennon Doyle does this repeatedly in Untamed. Her poignancy and hilarious honesty were totally unexpected in what I thought was going to be a self-help book!

I found this title through a referral from someone I know whose tastes in reading are similar to mine. Lately we have both been immersed in nonfiction titles on leadership, management, and antiracism. When she recommended this title, I was fully anticipating that it would be directly related to one of those topics.

Imagine my surprise when, within the first few minutes of the very first story, Glennon Doyle has become my good friend. She has drawn a complete picture not just of the cheetah that she and her daughter are observing, but of the life I and so many of the women I know have been living! I was hooked, and she has not let me down since.

Glennon’s ability to take her experiences and relate them to something universal is a touchstone of this book. Her honesty about her eating disorder, alcoholism, and failed marriage allow the reader/listener to connect with her as a real person – a less than perfect person – who is willing to open herself to the world through writing powerful memoirs about her experiences.

A little background on Glennon Doyle – after her early battles with bulimia, alcohol, and drugs, she was faced with an unplanned pregnancy in her 20s. This pregnancy was a lifeline, as it was the realization that she wanted to be a mother to this child that allowed her to tap into her own stubbornness and use it to motivate her to clean up. Glennon got married, found God, and started her writing career. As her family and her success grew, Glennon was certain she was living the perfect life. Then she met the love of her life, and she knew that her perfect life was a perfect lie.

Glennon Doyle was swept off her feet by Abby Wambach, a retired soccer player and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. When people told her that she would lose both her family and career by coming out, Glennon decided “I’m willing to lose anything that requires me to hide any part of myself.” This radical self-acceptance is a message so many of us need to hear, whether we are members of the LGBTQ community or simply people wondering why we have spent so much of our time and energy pleasing others.

Much of Glennon’s insight comes from her close relationship with her family. As the mother of three, her reflections on what it means to be a mother and what a mother’s responsibility is to her children provide her with some of the most moving insights she shares with readers. In addition, her humor rings true when she says “It’s so important to be a bad parent often. This way if our kids become parents, they will be able to forgive themselves for being human – Because they’ve seen us do it.”

Check out Untamed as an audio, eBook or book today. Other titles by Glennon Doyle include Love Warrior and Carry On, Warrior.

Deana Cunningham is the Associate Director of Operations for Alamance County Public Libraries. She can be reached at dcunningham@alamancelibraries.org.