As we await what would be a historic moment for the United States Supreme Court should Ketanji Brown Jackson be confirmed, Lititz Public Library offers this selection of recent books on the history and members, past and present, of the Court. From Chief Justice Marbury, considered the father of the Supreme Court as we know it, to the contentious confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, we hope these books provide a lesson in how the Court began and the lives of its justices over the years.

John Marshall : the final founder : a biography and thoughts on the issues of American history he inspired / Robert Strauss – Eighteenth- and 19th-century contemporaries believed Marshall to be, if not the equal of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, at least very close to that pantheon. John Marshall: The Final Founder demonstrates that not only can Marshall be considered one of those Founding Fathers, but that what he did as the Chief Justice was not just significant, but the glue that held the union together after the original founding days. The Supreme Court met in the basement of the new Capitol building in Washington when Marshall took over, which is just about what the executive and legislative branches thought of the judiciary.

A user’s guide to democracy : how America works / Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy ; illustrated by Tom Toro –  It’s the book that sits on your desk for quick reference when the nightly news boggles your mind. This approachable and informative guide gives you the lowdown on everything from the three branches of government, to what you can actually do to make your vote count, to how our founding documents practically affect our daily lives.

The American story : conversations with master historians / David M. Rubenstein – Through his popular program The David Rubenstein Show, David Rubenstein has established himself as one of our most thoughtful interviewers. Now, in The American Story, David captures the brilliance of our most esteemed historians, as well as the souls of their subjects. The book features introductions by Rubenstein as well a foreword by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to lead our national library. Richly illustrated with archival images from the Library of Congress, the book is destined to become a classic for serious readers of American history.

The Chief : the life and turbulent times of Chief Justice John Roberts / Joan Biskupic – John Roberts was named to the Supreme Court in 2005 claiming he would act as a neutral umpire in deciding cases. His critics argue he has been anything but, pointing to his conservative victories on voting rights and campaign finance. Yet he broke from orthodoxy in his decision to preserve Obamacare. How are we to understand the motives of the most powerful judge in the land? In The Chief, … Biskupic contends that Roberts is torn between two, often divergent, priorities: to carry out a conservative agenda, and to protect the Court’s image and his place in history.

First : Sandra Day O’Connor / Evan Thomas – Based on exclusive interviews and access to the Supreme Court archives, this is the intimate, inspiring, and authoritative biography of America’s first female Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor–by New York Times bestselling author Evan Thomas.

The making of a justice : reflections on my first 94 years / Justice John Paul Stevens – When Justice John Paul Stevens retired from the Supreme Court of the United States in 2010, he left a legacy of service unequaled in the history of the Court. During his thirty-four-year tenure, Justice Stevens was a prolific writer, authoring more than 1000 opinions. In The Making of a Justice, he recounts his extraordinary life, offering an intimate and illuminating account of his service on the nation’s highest court.

Confirmation bias : inside Washington’s war over the Supreme Court, from Scalia’s death to Justice Kavanaugh / Carl Hulse – The Chief Washington Correspondent for the New York Times presents a richly detailed, news-breaking, and conversation-changing look at the unprecedented political fight to fill the Supreme Court seat made vacant by Antonin Scalia’s death–using it to explain the paralyzing and all but irreversible dysfunction across all three branches in the nation’s capital.

The fourth way : the conservative playbook for a lasting GOP majority / Hugh Hewitt – Hewitt spells out how Trump and a unified GOP can transform the country and earn a lasting place in history. From defense to immigration, from entitlements to health care, Hewitt outlines how the new President, with the top leaders in Congress and with allies in fifty statehouses, can find a way out of the gridlock and the destructive showdowns that have marked the past quarter-century of American politics.

Dissent : the radicalization of the Republican Party and its capture of the Court / Jackie Calmes – An award-winning investigative journalist presents an account of the life and confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, featuring interviews with his accusers and evidence of his deceptions amongst the Republican Party’s drive toward the far right.

Justice on trial : the Kavanaugh confirmation and the future of the Supreme Court / Mollie Hemingway, Carrie Severino – Justice Anthony Kennedy slipped out of the Supreme Court building on June 27, 2018, and traveled incognito to the White House to inform President Donald Trump that he was retiring, setting in motion a political process that his successor, Brett Kavanaugh, would denounce three months later as a “national disgrace” and a “circus.”

Jane against the world : Roe v. Wade and the fight for reproductive rights / Karen Blumenthal – A history of the fight for reproductive rights in the United States. Tracing the path to the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade and the continuing battle for women’s rights, Blumenthal examines the root causes of the current debate around abortion and repercussions that have affected generations of American women. This book intends to facilitate difficult discussions and awareness of a topic that is rarely touched on in school but affects each and every young person. Includes a glossary of legal and medical terms, timeline, and information about significant Supreme Court cases.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg : a life / Jane Sherron De Hart – The first full life–private, public, legal, philosophical–of the 107th Supreme Court Justice, one of the most profound and profoundly transformative legal minds of our time; a book fifteen years in work, written with the cooperation of Ruth Bader Ginsburg herself and based on many interviews with the justice, her husband, her children, her friends, and her associates.

Supreme inequality : the Supreme Court’s fifty-year battle for a more unjust America / Adam Cohen – In Supreme Inequality, bestselling author Adam Cohen surveys the most significant Supreme Court rulings since the Nixon era and exposes how, contrary to what Americans like to believe, the Supreme Court does little to protect the rights of the poor and disadvantaged; in fact, it has not been on their side for fifty years. Cohen proves beyond doubt that the modern Court has been one of the leading forces behind the nation’s soaring level of economic inequality, and that an institution revered as a source of fairness has been systematically making America less fair.

Panorama Project provides local booksellers with quarterly lists of popular fiction, nonfiction, and young adult titles that are in demand at public libraries beyond their initial promotional windows—optimized for local interest via regional groupings aligned with the American Booksellers Association’s (ABA) regional associations. Here are the top 20 picks for our region.

New Atlantic Region

The Promise / Damon Galgut – “Haunted by an unmet promise, the Swart family loses touch after the death of their matriarch. Adrift, the lives of the three siblings move separately through the uncharted waters of South Africa: Anton, the golden boy who bitterly resents his life’s unfulfilled promises; Astrid, whose beauty is her power; and the youngest, Amor, whose life is shaped by a nebulous feeling of guilt. Reunited by four funerals over three decades, the dwindling family reflects the atmosphere of its country– an atmosphere of resentment, renewal, and ultimately hope”

Hell of a book : or the altogether factual, Wholly Bona Fide story of a big dreams, hard luck, American-Made Mad Kid / Jason Mott – “From a New York Times bestselling author, an astounding work of fiction, both incredibly funny and heartfelt, asking readers to embrace the fantastical in order to get to the heart of racism, police violence, and the hidden costs exacted upon not only Black Americans, but America as a whole”

No one is talking about this / Patricia Lockwood – Fragmentary and omniscient, incisive and sincere, No One Is Talking About This is at once a love letter to the endless scroll and a profound, modern meditation on love, language, and human connection from a singular voice in American literature.

The one hundred years of Lenni and Margot : a novel / Marianne Cronin – “Life is short. No one knows that better than seventeen-year-old Lenni Petterssen. On the Terminal Ward, the nurses are offering their condolences already, but Lenni still has plenty of living to do. When she meets 83-year-old Margot Macrae, a fellow patient offering new friendship and enviable artistic skills, Lenni’s life begins to soar in ways she’d never imagined”

The crown of gilded bones / Jennifer L. Armentrout – She’s been the victim and the survivor…The enemy and the warrior…A lover and heartmate…And now she will become Queen…
Follow Poppy in this latest installment of the Blood and Ash series.

Lucky / Marissa Stapley – When she discovers that a lottery ticket she bought on a whim is worth millions, her elation is tempered by one big problem: cashing in the winning ticket means she’ll be arrested for her crimes. She’ll go to prison, with no chance to redeem her fortune. As Lucky tries to avoid capture and make a future for herself, she must confront her past by reconciling with her father; finding her mother, who abandoned her when she was just a baby; and coming to terms with the man she thought she loved–whose dark past is catching up with her, too. This is a novel about truth, personal redemption, and the complexity of being good. It introduces a singularly gifted, multilayered character who must learn what it means to be independent and honest…before her luck runs out.

Neon gods / Katee Robert – “Society darling Persephone Dimitriou wants nothing to do with her mother’s ambitions. She has plans to leave the ultra-modern city of Olympus and start her life far away from the backstabbing and politics. But that all goes down the drain when her mother ambushes her with an engagement to Zeus, the dangerous power behind their glittering city’s dark facade. With no options left, Persephone flees Olympus and makes a devil’s bargain with a man she once believed was a myth…a man who awakens her heart and her body to a world she never knew existed”

How beautiful we were : a novel / Imbolo Mbue – Told from the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold on to its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom.

The guncle : a novel / Steven Rowley – A warm and deeply funny novel about a once-famous gay sitcom star whose unexpected family tragedy leaves him with his niece and nephew for the summer. Patrick has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is, honestly, overwhelmed. So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick’s brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of “Guncle Rules” ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled acting career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting–even if temporary–isn’t solved with treats and jokes, Patrick’s eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you’re unfailingly human. With the humor and heart we’ve come to expect from bestselling author Steven Rowley, The Guncle is a moving tribute to the power of love, patience, and family in even the most trying of times.

Local woman missing / Mary Kubica – Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community ese incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold. Now, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find…

Dial A for Aunties / Jesse Q. Sutanto – What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests, and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family? You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue!

Mary Jane : a novel / Jessica Anya Blau – “Almost Famous meets Daisy Jones and the Six in this funny, wise and tender novel about a fourteen-year-old girl’s coming of age in 1970s Baltimore, caught between her straight-laced family and the progressive family she nannies for – who happen to be secretly hiding a famous rock star and his movie star wife for the summer”

Great circle / Maggie Shipstead – “After being rescued as infants from a sinking ocean liner in 1914, Marian and Jamie Graves are raised by their dissolute uncle in Missoula, Montana. There –after encountering a pair of pilots passing through town in a beat up Cessna–Marian commences her lifelong love affair with flight. A century later, Hadley Baxter is cast to play Marian in a film that centers on Marian’s disappearance over the South Pacific. Vibrant, canny, disgusted with the claustrophobia of Hollywood, Hadley is eager to re-define herself after a romantic film franchise has imprisoned her in the grip of cult celebrity. Her immersion into the character of Marian unfolds, thrillingly, alongside Marian’s own story, as the two womens’ fates–and their hunger for self-determination in vastly different geographies and times– collide.”

The dictionary of lost words : a novel / Pip Williams – “The Dictionary of Lost Words is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical figures, are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Before the lost word, there was another. It arrived at the Scriptorium in a second-hand envelope, the old address crossed out and Dr Murray, Sunnyside, Oxford, written in its place. It was Da’s job to open the post and mine to sit on his lap, like a queen on her throne, and help him ease each word out of its folded cradle. He’d tell me what pile to put it on and sometimes he’d pause, cover my hand with his, and guide my finger up and down and around the letters, sounding them into my ear. He’d say the word, and I would echo it, then he’d tell me what it meant.”

In a holidaze / Christina Lauren – It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions. Jam-packed with yuletide cheer, an unforgettable cast of characters, and Christina Lauren’s trademark “downright hilarious” hijinks, this swoon-worthy romantic read will make you believe in the power of wishes and the magic of the holidays.

The twelve dates of Christmas / Jenny Bayliss – When it comes to relationships, thirty-four-year-old Kate Turner is ready to say “Bah, humbug.” The sleepy town of Blexford, England, isn’t exactly brimming with prospects, and anyway, Kate’s found fulfillment in her career as a designer, and in her delicious side job baking for her old friend Matt’s neighborhood café. But then her best friend signs her up for a dating agency that promises to help singles find love before the holidays. Twenty-three days until Christmas. Twelve dates with twelve different men. The odds must finally be in her favor . . . right? Yet with each new date more disastrous than the one before–and the whole town keeping tabs on her misadventures–Kate must remind herself that sometimes love, like mistletoe, shows up where it’s least expected. And maybe, just maybe, it’s been right under her nose all along. . .

The plot / Jean Hanff Korelitz – Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written–let alone published–anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot.

Gold diggers / Sanjena Sathian – “An Indian-American serio-comic and magical realist epic love story about the perils of ambition, tracing the mysterious alchemy of its characters’ transformation from high school in an Atlanta suburb through young adulthood in the Bay Area.”

The once and future witches / Alix E. Harrow – In 1893, there’s no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box. But when the Eastwood sisters―James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna―join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women’s movement into the witch’s movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote―and perhaps not even to live―the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive. There’s no such thing as witches. But there will be.

The sixth wedding / Elin Hilderbrand – A postscript to the #1 New York Times bestseller 28 Summers – Jake McCloud returns to Nantucket for Labor Day weekend 2023, this time without Mallory.

Ukraine features heavily in today’s news with Russia’s invasion and subsequent hostilities. Yet, many of us know very little of its role in history. This small selection of books may help us have a greater understanding and appreciation for a country and culture that has had, and continues to have, a central place in European affairs.

Good citizens need not fear / Maria Reva – “These immersive linked stories grapple with Ukrainian history through the waning years of the USSR and birth pangs of democracy…Reva’s characters spark off the page as they confront a brutal bureaucratic past with the only tool they possess–hope.”–O, The Oprah Magazine

Don’t tell the Nazis / a novel by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch – It is June 1941 and after the brutal rule of the Soviets the people of Krystia’s small Ukrainian village are inclined to look on the German invaders as liberators; but soon the Nazis start rounding up Jewish Ukrainians, and Krystia is faced with a terrible choice–risk everything by helping her Jewish friends and neighbors to hide, or save herself and her family by doing nothing.

Here, right matters : an American story / Alexander S. Vindman – Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who found himself at the center of a firestorm for his decision to report the infamous phone call that led to presidential impeachment, tells his own story for the first time. Here, Right Matters is a stirring account of Vindman’s childhood as an immigrant growing up in New York City, his career in service of his new home on the battlefield and at the White House, and the decisions leading up to, and fallout surrounding, his exposure of President Trump’s abuse of power.

Ukraine What everyone needs to know® / Serhy Yekelchyk – Conventional wisdom dictates that Ukraine’s political crises can be traced to the linguistic differences and divided political loyalties that have long fractured the country. However, this theory obscures the true significance of Ukraine’s recent civic revolution and the conflict’s crucial international dimension. The 2013-14 Ukrainian revolution presented authoritarian powers in Russia with both a democratic and a geopolitical challenge. In reality, political conflict in Ukraine is reflective of global discord, stemming from differing views on state power, civil society, and
democracy.

The last empire : the final days of the Soviet Union / Serhii Plokhy – Describes the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, dispelling the myth that the event was spurred on in part by the close relationship between George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. Drawing on recently declassified documents and original interviews with key participants, Plokhy presents a bold new interpretation of the Soviet Union’s final months and argues that the key to the Soviet collapse was the inability of the two largest Soviet republics, Russia and Ukraine, to agree on the continuing existence of a unified state. By attributing the Soviet collapse to the impact of American actions, US policy makers overrated their own capacities in toppling and rebuilding foreign regimes. Not only was the key American role in the demise of the Soviet Union a myth, but this misplaced belief has guided – and haunted – American foreign policy ever since”

The road to unfreedom : Russia, Europe, America / Timothy Snyder – In this forceful and unsparing work of contemporary history, based on vast research as well as personal reporting, Snyder goes beyond the headlines to expose the true nature of the threat to democracy and law. To understand the challenge is to see, and perhaps renew, the fundamental political virtues offered by tradition and demanded by the future. By revealing the stark choices before us–between equality or oligarchy, individuality or totality, truth and falsehood–Snyder restores our understanding of the basis of our way of life, offering a way forward in a time of terrible uncertainty.

From Cold War to hot peace : an American ambassador in Putin’s Russia / Michael McFaul – In 2008, when Michael McFaul was asked to leave his perch at Stanford and join an unlikely presidential campaign, he had no idea that he would find himself at the beating heart of one of today’s most contentious and consequential international relationships. As President Barack Obama’s adviser on Russian affairs, McFaul helped craft the United States’ policy known as “reset” that fostered new and unprecedented collaboration between the two countries.

Lessons from the edge : a memoir / Marie Yovanovitch – An inspiring and urgent memoir by the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine–a pioneering diplomat who spent her career advancing democracy in the post-Soviet world, and who electrified the nation by speaking truth to power during the first impeachment of President Trump.

The sky unwashed / a novel by Irene Zabytko – Marusia Petrenko lives with her family in a small farming village in the Ukraine. The year is 1986. Her son, Yurko, leaves for his shift at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl. In a matter of hours, the lives of Marusia, her son, and the rest of the village change forever as they find themselves in a permanent evacuation of their village. Chernobyl has had a meltdown. Marusia eventually returns to the village along with 5 other older women who are determined to live out their days in the village of their birth.

More books which touch on Ukrainian life and history in different degrees

Trends continue to indicate that we are moving from the pandemic to endemic stages of COVID-19. Based on the CDC’s most recent guidance, and the low rate of transmission as reported by healthcare officials in Lancaster County, effective Tuesday, March 8th mask wearing is optional to enter the Lititz Public Library.

Please note, however, that masks may still be required for certain events and spaces within the library building until otherwise noted. In those cases, failure to comply with library policies will be considered a violation of the Library’s Code of Conduct and will be handled accordingly.

It is important to note that masks remain optional and acknowledge that wearing a mask is a personal choice. The Lititz Public Library fully supports anyone who chooses to wear a mask and expects all patrons and employees of the Library to be civil, respectful and understanding of this choice.

We will continue to monitor local health data to inform library policies. Should COVID-19 cases rise again to significant levels, the Library may reinstate the indoor masking policy and will communicate that immediately.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.