BOOKS for August

No wind, no bird. The river flames like brass. / On either side, smitten as with a spell / Of silence, brood the fields. In the deep grass, / Edging the dusty roads, lie as they fell / Handfuls of shriveled leaves from tree and bush. ~ “August” by Lizette Woodworth Reese

ACCENT: AMERICAN ECLIPSE

A total solar eclipse is coming on August 21, 2017. The last time America experienced one like it was 1878. In the days of the Industrial Revolution, the western expansion, and explosive empirical discovery, America was eager to show well-heeled European scientists that they too could conduct successful observations.