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 Last Watchman of Old Cairo,” by Michael David Lukas
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Joseph, a literature student at Berkeley, is the son of a Jewish mother and a Muslim father. One day, a mysterious package arrives on his doorstep, pulling him into an adventure to uncover the tangled history that binds the two sides of his family. For generations, the men of the al-Raqb family have served as watchmen of the storied Ibn Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo, built at the site where the infant Moses was taken from the Nile. Joseph learns of his ancestor Ali, a Muslim orphan who nearly 1,000 years earlier was entrusted as the first watchman of the synagogue and became enchanted by its legendary Ezra Scroll. The story of Joseph’s family is entwined with that of the British twins Agnes and Margaret, who in 1897 departed from England on a mission to rescue sacred texts that had begun to disappear from the synagogue. This multigenerational tale illuminates the tensions that have torn communities apart and the forces that attempt to bridge that divide.
Adult Nonfiction
“Cookie Cure: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of Cookies and Cancer,” by Susan Stachler with Laura Stachler
When 22-year-old Susan Stachler was diagnosed with cancer, her mother, Laura, was struck by déjà vu: the same illness that took her sister’s life was threatening to take her daughter’s, too. Heartbroken but steadfast, Laura pledged to help Susan through the worst of her treatments. When they discovered that Laura’s homemade ginger cookies soothed the side effects of Susan’s chemo, the mother-daughter duo soon found themselves opening Susansnaps and sharing their gourmet gingersnaps with the world. “The Cookie Cure” is about more than baked goods and cancer; it’s about fighting for your life and for your dreams.
