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Summer is always a great time to check out a new book! One of my favorite genres to read during the summer is science fiction, in which, more often than not, the plot takes place in space and usually a few centuries into the future.

The genre itself is so dynamic that you can go from reading some fantastical simple heros journeys to thoughtful meditations on technology and humanity, and their relationship with nature.

The original heros journey-style plots from the Amazing Stories pulp fiction magazine inspired the 1950s and 1960s aesthetic of classic drive-in films. These stories are always fun and usually straightforward. Books by Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein also utilize this structure.

At the same time, science fiction has the ability to produce very thoughtful works that present moral ambiguity and question the nature of humanity. Hence there is a science fiction novel for everyone at the Tyrrell County Public Library! The genre is indeed so diverse that you can check out books by both Jules Verne and Cornwainer Smith out of the same section. Since the range of options can be a bit confusing, here are some of my personal favorites that make great summer reads!

One of my favorite authors from the tail end of the Golden Age of Science Fiction is Philip K. Dick. His stories usually have complicated and strange names such as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? or We Can Remember It For You Wholesale. Despite these elaborate and often strange names, his short stories and novels play with the concept of the artificial, and at what point is the artificial as real as the original or even better?

In his short story The Golden Man, Philip K. Dick constructs a world where mutants (imperfect humans) have become a problem and the government is attempting to sterilize or outright eliminate them. By the end of the story, the protagonists and the reader are left wondering whether this imperfect being is the next stage of human existence.

Dicks most famous work is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which is probably better known by the film adaptations Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. In the novel, the world is a post-nuclear wasteland where actual living animals are nearly non-existent and, as a result, human beings begin to adopt realistic artificial pets (i.e. the electric sheep in the title) as a cultural and status symbol. From this concept, Dick produces a world where it is near impossible to distinguish the latest versions of androids from human beings, and one is left to question whether the androids are persons.

While many authors like Dick play with the concept of humanity and its relationship with technology, science fiction also serves as a place for environmentalism and exploring humanitys impact on nature.

The first to really tackle this was Frank Herbert with his book Dune and its subsequent sequels. Herbert imagines a distant future where interstellar travel is possible not with machines but with the mind-altering spice mlange only found on the planet of Arrakis. The conflict that unfolds across his story deals with resource dependency, dynastic rivalry, and a planetary environment changed by the greed of man as well as war.

On a more detailed scale, the hard science fiction of Kim Stanley Robinson embraces science and environmental advocacy completely. In his Red Mars trilogy, Robinson imagines the terraformation of Mars and asks the question of whether or not it is ethical to change a planet for the needs of humanity before even confirming if there is native life.

A more recent book series, The Expanse, by James S.A. Corey (the pen name for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) imagines a future where humans have colonized Mars, the Moon, asteroids, and the moons surrounding Saturn and Jupiter. As war and politics ravage space, this society is contrasted with the impact humanity has placed on its solar system and each other.

I love this genre because the medium of science fiction offers the space for science, technology, comedy, tragedy and philosophy to intersect. On the one hand you can read casual stories with heroes, aliens, and rocket ships; yet on the other hand, you can find tales and authors that explore deep questions and push the reader to think about larger concepts.

If you want to try science fiction, go ahead! It is worth it. If it is not your style, that is OK, there are tons of other stories out there to explore! Have a great week, and we hope to see you at the Library!

Jared Jacavone is the librarian at the Tyrrell County Public Library.

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Science fiction: From hero's tales to deep thoughts - The Daily Advance

John Corsino| Guest Columnist

Dear future generations: Please accept our apologies. We were rolling drunk on petroleum, wrote another Cape Codder.

Good satire grazes truths held in our hearts but pushed out of mind. It narrows a gap between the people we say that we are and what those people do.

The predictive value of Kurt Vonneguts observation on reckless self-interest is undeniable. We are rolling drunk, peering just weeks or months ahead while making choices with consequences that sprawl across generations. Were living under many influences that distract from achievement and meaning, prioritizing today far ahead of tomorrow, and abandoning an imperative to leave things better than they were left for us.

Our attentions are flipped. We engage with concepts like sustainability, community, and purpose tightly and superficially, but worry a great deal about profits and shares and other fleeting rewards. In an era defined by the dopamine treadmills, its no surprise that appearances might trump the qualities theyre supposed to represent. We were not always goers-through-the-motions, but the symptoms of our backwardness today are clear: our planet boils, debts amass, waistlines swell. How?

Our behavior has proven easy to influence. Manufacture of false insecurities the opening of emotional voids for brands to fill has worked so well that a much deeper sense of self-centricity has followed. Marketers incite a religion of instant gratification and eager paternalists wearing red or blue ties stoke it, because the idea that some other person or product may hold the answer to our problemsleads to votes during the next election cycle or revenues as thumbs hover over buttons that read "Add to Cart."

This conditioned impulsivity shifts focus from truth to triviality. We exchange deep connection with the world around us for control over personal desires. But the deepest danger of me-first consumer culture is the thinking it engenders: the kind that leads us to believe important decisions lie in the hands of others far away from or above us.

Fortunately, this is not so.

The force of commentary like Kurts comes from the acknowledgment it demands that these things dont happen to us, theyre chosen by us. Our systems are not immutable facts of nature: they are people, and emotion, and insecurity. And we actively perpetuate them, not because we agree but because a goading to look at ourselves as users or followers rather than as leaders and makers is so constant that we sometimes forget it is not correct.

We are stuck in a culture of Band-Aids: of passive and flimsy stopgaps that hold just long enough to hit next quarters targets or squeak through to the next term. It can be escaped.

There is a piece of this world for each of us to make better. With every decision to forego engagement with the real things around us and perseverate instead on petty conveniences, we let pass the opportunity to leave our mark and deepen the hole out of which future generations will have to climb. We owe to tomorrow rejection of this superficiality, and ourselves deeper purpose.

Status quo may feel insurmountable, but this proves that an organized whole can become much more than the sum of its parts. The essential truth we have forgotten is that we are our systems. We compose and control them. It will take planning and effort, but we can overcome the short-term focus that is consuming our bodies, minds and planet. It is a myth that commitment to the future can exist only at the expense of the present: adopting longer perspectives makes us better today.

John Corsino lives in Marstons Mills

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Taking the long view, taking control - Cape Cod Times

NEWARK --Nancy Anderson, whose job as executive director of The Midland Theatre was about creating memorable experiences for others, will leave the theater to createher own experiences with family and friends.

The Newark Midland Theatre Association Board of Trustees announced Monday that Anderson willretireSept.1, ending 10 years as executive director and 17 years working for the theater. And, before she started working there, she was a volunteer, beginning with the first show after the theater reopenedin 2002.

Its beenkind of in the back of my mind for a while," Anderson said. "Im ready for something different. Im ready for a break.Its time.

More: Midland Theatre surviving shutdown, but full recovery will take years

"I missed a lot of family get-togethers. I'm looking forward to (family time) and having a social life again. My youngest was 4 when I started in 2004, and now hes 21 and serving in the Navy."

Anderson's departure continues a trend of longtime local leaders retiring.So far this year, the retirements includeEd Bohren from the YMCA,Babette Wofter from Licking County Library, Dan DeLawder fromPark National Bank, Marcia Downes fromThe Works and Robert Hoover as Juvenile Court judge.

And, last year, Barry Connell retired as Newark police chief, Joe Ebel retired from the Licking County Health Department and Dave Bibler left the Licking County Aging Program.

The last 15 months of COVID, I think, a lot of people have re-evaluated their life," Anderson said. "I have three children andall live out of state.My goal was to see the theater was back open after the shutdown.

Air Supply will perform at The Midland before Anderson leaves, on Aug. 13.

Anderson said she has many great memories from her time at The Midland, but tops are the reactions of people coming in for a show or children on a field trip.

I think the thing that brought the most joy is the relationships with the patrons, andas they leave with smiles on their facesI know we accomplished our goal to allow them to escape for a few hours," Anderson said. "And the kids, I just love the kids.The excitement when they get off the bus and when theygo in and look up at the ceiling.Its amazing the power of the arts."

The announcement from the theater board credited Anderson for leading the historic theaterthrough several financial challenges while creating impactful programing, from educational outreach to nationally-recognized entertainment.

Midland Theatre Board President Gary Baker said Anderson'sknowledge and contributions to the theater through 17 years has been immeasurable.

"She has been a steady force at the helm, a stalwart proponent of the arts, and a valued asset to the entire community, especially downtown," Baker said."The board of trustees wishes to express our deep gratitude for all Nancy has done for The Midland Theatre, the city of Newark, Licking County and central Ohio."

The Newark native and Newark Catholic High School graduate went to college in Florida, then traveled, got married and eventually returned to Newark.

After a few years working as a volunteer at the theater, Anderson was hired in 2004as a part-timevolunteer coordinator and office administrator.She later becameassistant manager andin 2012 was namedthe director.

She said two performers stood out as her favorites:Olympia Dukakis and Boz Skaggs.

"Olympia Dukakis, she was just an amazingly talented woman," Anderson said. "She was so kind and I got a chance to share a cup of coffee with her and she talked about Steel Magnolias. Such a down to earth sweet person. A great day.

"Boz Scaggs was one of my favorite artists growing up. It was so surreal standing backstage with him. He was very kind and loved the theater.

Baker said the board's executive committee will create a search committee to look for Anderson's successor.

"A lot of the skill set is the same," Baker said. "Someone community-minded, familiar with the entertainment contract businessand open to any new creative programs. The board is very open, as they have been with Nancy.

The ideal situation, Baker said, is to have someone hired to work with Anderson before she leaves.

Thats kind of our intention, but we dont know what the market is like," Baker said.

As far as Anderson's future, other than spending time with family, she said that's an unknown.

Thats the beauty of it," she said.

kmallett@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8545

Twitter: @kmallett1958

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Midland Theatre executive director Anderson to retire Sept. 1 - The Newark Advocate