Hampton Library’s Adult Services Department provides for the educational, recreational, and informational needs of adults of all ages. This is accomplished through our workshops, events and activities, as well as individual assistance and group instruction which assist library patrons in becoming literate users of information. Hampton Library strives to foster an atmosphere of free inquiry and provide information without bias or discrimination.

Non-fiction

American Moonshot, by Douglas Brinkley

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity."

So begins this comprehensive and well-researched volume recounting NASA’s commitment to realize President Kennedy’s dream of “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” A history professor at Rice University, Douglas Brinkley has woven together a mesmerizing chronicle that recalls the spirit of America during one of its greatest moments in history, the race to space. One part biography, one part political history, one part rocket science, all come expertly together to retell a story that is colossal, engaging, never dull, and never old. Brinkley includes sharp color photographs (a rarity in historical works), copious notes, and a bibliography that makes for fascinating extended reading. If you pick up only one book this summer, make sure this is the one.

CHECK IT OUT

Non-fiction

The Moment of Lift, by Melinda Gates

Melinda Gates’ initial foray into nonfiction writing does not disappoint. As you work your way through the first pages of her narrative, you soon realize there is much about her that you do not know: She holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s in computer science; she is a devoted feminist; and she originally embarked upon her tireless efforts in altruism and social consciousness in 1996, the year she left Microsoft to become a stay-at-home-mother and raise her firstborn child. After introducing you to herself, to a Melinda Gates whose voice is as unguarded as it is engrossing, she goes on to acquaint you with a collection of extraordinary women whose personal accounts enlighten you regarding the predicament of women in developing nations. The reader, whether female or male, comes to appreciate Gates’ appeal for global female empowerment. The women’s wide-ranging stories will inspire you – no, compel you – to feel, to take individual action, and to connect to others. And that, Gates contends, is the moment of lift, for it is through connection that “we see ourselves in others. We see ourselves as others.” An affecting piece of work.

CHECK IT OUT

Literary Fiction

Trust Exercise, by Susan Choi

Every now and then, an original novel emerges to demonstrate to its reading audience how inventively words in the English language can be stitched together. Choi, a master storyteller and Pulitzer Prize finalist, presents an incomparable plot about young love through the filter of truth and lies. Constructed in three parts – each one titled “Trust Exercise” – the succeeding segments of the novel challenge the perspective of the preceding ones. For a girl named Sarah and a boy named David, what ostensibly is a straightforward tale about puppy love (written for adults) is anything but. Choi defies the traditional novelistic structure to offer her readers a work that strikes mental and emotional chords that won’t easily settle back into sleep mode once the last page has been turned. For those seeking something different, this is the one to choose

CHECK IT OUT

Fiction

City of Girls, by Elizabeth Gilbert

In this, the third work of fiction by the author of Eat, Pray, Love (nonfiction), we meet eighty-nine-year-old Vivian Morris. Vivian reveals the story of her succulent youth in 1940s Manhattan, and does so with a colorful mix of remorse and delight. Nineteen years old and newly expelled from Vassar College, listen as she describes her journey by train from her parents’ upstate home to Grand Central Terminal: “ I was always pretty, Angela. What’s more, I always knew it. My prettiness, to be sure, is why a handsome man in the diner car of the Empire State Express was staring at me as I sipped my malted milk and ate my pears in syrup.” Soon after her arrival in NYC, Vivian is initiated into to the glamourous world of her aunt’s drama theater in midtown Manhattan. Adventures follow and a scandal ensues, but with them both come everlasting lessons in happiness, love, and freedom.

CHECK IT OUT