My LINKcat AccountThe end of the year will soon be upon us. Three more weeks and 2021 will be done and gone. It's amazing how quickly time flies at this time of year while at the same time it drags on and on -- especially if you're a kid, waiting for Santa to arrive. And speaking of Santa, in case you have a child who is into meeting Santa the big guy with the white beard in a red suit will be at the library, tomorrow, Saturday, December 11th at 10 a.m. I can tell it's getting to the end of the year by the fact that previous columns have listed Christmas themed titles for the past month of more. This week there is only one paltry title that meets that criteria. I can also tell because the books I've been ordering that will appear by next month have included all kinds of self-help and self-improvement topics. A large number of those types of books get published just when people are starting on their New Year's resolutions. Coincidence? You decide! Right now, you will find a mix of non-self-help non-fiction titles and non-holiday-themed fiction books listed below. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, the brilliant author transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be.
Clanlands Almanac: Season Stories from Scotland by Sam Heughan & Graham McTavish. A light-hearted education in Scottish history guides readers through a year of Scottish legends, traditions, historical battles, contemporary events and famous and infamous Scots, including First Footing, Samhain, Fringe Festival follies and whisky lore.
Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World by Wil Haygood. Explores the history of Black cinema and how it has served as a reflection of social realities and events, from the early racist films of D.W. Griffith to today’s groundbreaking work of Black moviemakers and stars.
The Forever Dog: Surprising New Science to Help Your Canine Companion Live Younger, Healthier, and Longer by Rodney Habib & Karen Becker. Two of the world’s most popular and trusted pet care advocates, drawing on wisdom from top geneticists, microbiologists, and longevity researchers, arms readers with the knowledge needed to make wise choices to keep their dogs healthy and happy for years to come.
Little Sister: My Investigation into the Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood by Lana Wood. In this true crime memoir, the author presents a candid account of the life and death of her sister, revealing decades-old secrets and setting the record straight on one of Hollywood’s most notorious celebrity deaths.
New Fiction
Dava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti. After receiving a brain cancer diagnosis at seventy, one of the world's richest women tells her children that she wants to announce her death early so that she can read her obituaries, which ultimately reveal devastating secrets.
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. The Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author presents this unusual novel in which a small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store’s most annoying customer.
Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom. After a deadly ship explosion, nine people, adrift in a raft, struggle to survive at sea and pull a strange man from the sea who claims to be the Lord, in this mesmerizing and inspiring novel.
The Family by Naomi Krupitsky. Pushing against the boundaries of society’s expectations and fight to preserve their complex but life-sustaining friendship, Sofia Colicchio and Antonia Russo, who live in the shadow of their fathers’ unspoken community until Antonia’s father disappears, find their loyalty tested on one fateful night
A Christmas Legacy, No. 19 (Christmas) by Anne Perry. After her friend gets unceremoniously fired with no references right before the holidays, Gracie takes the recently-vacated job herself to try and figure out what happened in the latest novel of the series following A Christmas Resolution.
The Dark Hours, No. 4 (A Renee Ballard and Harry Bosch Novel) by Michael Connelly. LAPD Detective Reneé Ballard, investigating a New Year’s Eve murder along with an unsolved murder, teams up Detective Harry Bosch once again when their two cases—one old and one new—intersect, while an undetected killer watches their every move.
Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich. Unsure if he is her partner or her competition, Stephanie Plum and Oswald Wednesday try to hunt down a master cyber criminal in Trenton the latest novel of the popular series following Fortune and Glory.
Killer Research, No. 12 (A Library Lover’s Mystery) by Jenn McKinlay. When she finds the body of a man in her trunk whom she dated 40 years ago, librarian and mayoral candidate Ms. Cole refuses to go down without a fight and asks Lindsay, Sully and the rest of the crafter-noon pals to figure out who is trying to frame her.