My LINKcat AccountThis past Saturday was the Annual Midwest Crane Count. The International Crane Foundation has been coordinating a scientific, volunteer count of sandhill cranes in the upper Midwest since sometime in the mid-1990s. Which, when I think about it is when I got involved in counting. I have counted the same two sites since I started and a couple of years ago added a third site that was adjacent to "my" other two. And how so you count cranes, I hear you asking. Well, it all starts in the wee hours of Crane-count Saturday morning. You get your cup of coffee. You get dressed. You drive up to Columbia County (which is where I count).You arrive at 5:30 a.m. and you mostly listen for the first half hour or more. Then you can start using your eyes as well. I tell you, there is nothing quite like driving off to an appointment with nature before dawn while everyone else is still abed to make you feel virtuous. It's quiet and peaceful (although this year the migratory flocks of robins were a little rambunctious at dawn) and without urban glow you really get to use your night vision and then watch with wonder as the colors start to come up as the dawn's light intensifies. This year the snow (it was accumulating on the road as I drove from site to site.)sleet, and wind made all the birds a little slow to get going. With only five minutes left to go in the count I did find seven cranes having breakfast, and that was my count for this year. If you've never tried it, it's worth doing in that it provides data about a bird that was nearly extinct in the state and it's fun to be out at the crack of dawn with a purpose. While you're considering contacting the International Crane Foundation to volunteer for next year, you will find a number of books listed below that just arrived at the library. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
The Democracy Project : a history, a crisis, a movement by David Graeber. The influential activist and author of the best-selling "Debt" presents a concise, provocative exploration of the idea of democracy, its current state of crisis and its potential as a tool for change, sharing historical perspectives to inform readers on the effectiveness of democratic uprisings in various times and cultures.
The South Beach diet gluten solution : the delicious, doctor-designed, gluten-aware plan for losing weight and feeling great-- fast! / by Arthur Agatston. Arguing that undiagnosed gluten-related health problems linked to modern overconsumptions of processed grain products are affecting nearly half of Americans, the creator of "The South Beach Diet "outlines detailed meal plans complemented by gluten-free recipes, tips for dining out and inspirational success stories.
The spark : a mother's story of nurturing genius / by Kristine Barnett. The mother of an autistic child who was eventually recognized as a genius recounts her rejection of basic life-skills instructors who counseled her family to expect very little of the boy, sharing the strategies she utilized for tapping her son's potential while describing his current achievements as a paid teenage researcher in quantum physics.
Clean : overcoming addiction and ending America's greatest tragedy / by David Sheff. Combining personal stories and experiences with cutting edge research approaches, the author of the number one "New York Times" best-selling memoir, "Beautiful Boy", describes a new way of treating substance addiction as well as accompanying mental illnesses.
Down the up escalator : how the 99 percent live in the Great Recession / by Barbara Garson. Drawn from interviews with an economically and geographically wide variety of Americans, a journalist reveals the real human cost of our economic decline and demonstrates the resilience of ordinary Americans as they try to overcome huge economic challenges.
Good jeans : 10 simple truths about feeling great, staying sexy & aging agelessly / by Diane Gilman. The Home Shopping Network fashion personality provides 10 secrets for middle-aged women on how to reinvent and reinvigorate themselves, sharing the story of how she overcame her own struggles with early widowhood, excess weight and dwindling energy.
New Fiction
And then I found you / by Patti Henry. Enjoying her loving family life and career successes, Kate Vaughn anticipates a marriage proposal from her boyfriend and realizes that she cannot move forward until she reconnects with a past love and the daughter they gave up for adoption years earlier.
The mystery of Mercy Close : a Walsh sister novel / by Marian Keyes. Forced to return to her mother's home after a career setback, private investigator Helen Walsh frets over her new boyfriend's ex and reluctantly accepts a missing-persons case from her former flame that prompts her search in the former circles of a boy band member. By the best-selling author of "Brightest Star in the Sky".
Tapestry of fortunes : a novel / by Elizabeth Berg. Selling her home and taking time off from her career as a successful motivational speaker, Cecilia Ross moves into a beautiful old house in St. Paul and bonds with three roommates, including one who would reconnect with a daughter she gave up for adoption, one who would visit her long-absent ex and a professional chef who would find inspiration from other restaurants.
The Ashford affair / by Lauren Willig. Feeling unfulfilled in the face of an imminent legal partnership and a broken engagement, Manhattan lawyer Clementine Evans learns of a long-buried family secret that leads her to the inner circles of World War I British society and the red hills of Kenya. By the award-winning author of the Pink Carnation series.
Palisades Park / by Alan Brennert. Sharing a family life in the 1930s near the legendary Palisades Amusement Park, a family of dreamers explores ambitions and cultural boundaries that are challenged by the realities of the Great Depression, multiple wars and the park's eventual closing in 1971. By the award-winning author of "Moloka'i".
Midnight at Marble Arch : a Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novel / by Anne Perry. When the bodies of two high-profile women are discovered, bearing signs of rape, and an innocent man is accused of the crime, Thomas Pitt's quest for the truth forces him to play a dangerous game of international politics and murder.