Larry Grieco, Librarian.  In 2015 Alexander McCall Smith published his sixteenth installment in the “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series. It was called The Woman Who Walked in the Sunshine, and tells the story of detective Precious Ramotswe’s vacation, or attempt at a vacation.

MMA Ramotswe, wherever she may be, cannot simply ignore a soul in need. So, when she encounters a young boy named Samuel who is in trouble, she can’t resist helping him find a way out of a bad situation. Meanwhile, back home at the detective agency, there is a new case smack dab on the lap of her assistant, MMA Makutsi. A local politician is being slandered while running for a major public honor, and his daughter wants the allegations investigated. I can’t tell you how charming these mystery stories set in Botswana are—you will have to discover their charms for yourself. Start at the beginning, with book one, and bask in the African sunshine while you gobble up inspiring, humorous, and entertaining tales full of intelligence and compassion.

Allen Klein was a legend in the music business, with clients like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Sam Cooke, the Who, and Donovan, just to name a few. His story is aptly told by Fred Goodman, the award-winning author whose work has appeared in Rolling Stone, where he was an editor, the New York Times, and many other national magazines.

In Allen Klein: the Man Who Bailed Out the Beatles, Made the Stones, and Transformed Rock & Roll, we’re given the inside information on Klein, who was accused of “allegedly” causing the Beatles’ breakup, as well as “robbing the Stones.” In fact, he “taught soon-to-be legends how to be businessmen as well as rock stars,” and “made millions for his clients and changed music forever.”

Woven into Klein’s story are countless anecdotes about him and his famous clients, so this is much more than a mere treatise on the music business. For example, one day while George Harrison was at Nathan’s hot-dog stand with a friend of his, a stranger noticed them. “Gee,” he said, “you look just like George Harrison!” George gave him a quizzical look. “Really?” he asked. When another person made the same remark a few minutes later as they walked down the street, Harrison replied, “Gee, that’s so funny! You’re the second guy to say that.” You can’t get more “behind-the-scenes” than that.

If ever there was a life worth reading about, it’s the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was born March 15, 1933, and is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice (after Sandra Day O’Connor) and one of three female justices currently serving on the Supreme Court (along with Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan).

At 5 feet, 1 inch tall, somehow she has a towering intellect that supersedes her diminutive stature, and makes her a giant in the cause of gender equality and civil rights. She always points out, “we the people” originally left out a lot of people. “It would not include me,” she says, “or enslaved people, or Native Americans.” Slightly irreverent, the book looks at the justice’s life and work in an entertaining “original mash-up of pop culture and serious scholarship.” The book is called Notorious RBG: the Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and I highly recommend it. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow: “A great contribution to what we know about this remarkable jurist, but also a laugh-out-loud joy to read.”

This year’s Summer Reading Program, aka Fetch a Good Book!, is underway and kids from birth to ninth grade are invited to participate. Over the next seven weeks you can read and collect a prize and toy for every week in which you read at least one book.

Just turn in a slip with the names of what you’ve read, and claim your prize out of the lobby display case. We’ll all get together on Saturday, July 30, for a Big Ice Cream Social, with grand prize drawings! All you have to do is sign up any time—there’s no deadline—and begin to collect your weekly prizes. Go fetch yourself a good book and start reading!