The Toadstool Bookshops of Keene, Milford, and Peterborough, NH

This is an entertaining, different look at the mysterious and totally different species – insects – that shares our food, our beds and even our bodies. Mixing brief meditations with longer essays, Raffles explores the world of insects through the lenses of history and science, anthropology and travel, and philosophy and popular culture. Ranging from cricket fighting to deceptive insect courting rituals, from gay behavior in insects to human ‘crush’ fetishism, from art inspired by the deformed insects of Chernobyl to the role of locusts in food and famine in Africa, this fascinating book delves into the strange mixtures of desire and disgust, obsession and fear that characterize the interaction of humans and insects.

Stross dedicated this book to Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. The rollicking adventures across the solar system are Heinleinesque and the fact that the heroine Freya Nakamichi-17, one of a former line of sexual-services androids, lives in a caste-riven society of androids where humans (Creators) have gone extinct is a nod to Asimov. Being the courier for a package from a clandestine lab trying to create a Creator means a lot of trouble from enemies, friends and even your own sisters. If you wanted to slot this into a niche, you could call it a futuristic, satiric, techno-thriller with erotic and violent overtones and political and ethical undertones. If you like hard-SF political space opera, try out a couple of Stross’ early books: Singularity Sky and its sequel Iron Sunrise.

This quirky, funny book features an unusual narrator - a gopher snake. Captured and imprisoned by a boy, Crusher the snake is determined to escape. She (the boy thinks she’s a male) also plans to take her friend Breakfast (a mouse the boy put into her cage for her to eat) with her when she breaks out. A very amusing snake’s-eye-view of humanity.

The Battle of Britain was the greatest and most decisive air battle and one of the turning points of history. Korda’s sparkling narrative avoids getting bogged down in masses of lists and statistics and reads more like a novel. He deftly brings together the critical pieces of the story, from the development of radar and the question of whether the new fighters like the Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf-109 would be more crucial than bombers in war, to the debates and arguments between the politicians and generals about how and where to use the resources each side had. Above all, this is the story of Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding, eccentric, difficult, obstinate and definitely not charming. With rare foresight, courage and determination, he pushed for the production of the fighters, and the radar stations and control centers that comprised Fighter Command that orchestrated the battle and implemented his strategy. Standing up to his superiors, including Churchill, he sacrificed his career and saved his country.