My LINKcat AccountAs is so often the case, over the past weekend when we finally started seeing a little, weak, pale, the sunlight the temperatures started to drop into the teens (sometimes low teens) over night. The week we are just about finished with as you are reading this was predicted to be warmer so one assumes the dark, gray, clouds shall have returned. I, for one, think this is perfect weather for reading. There isn’t enough snow to contemplate outdoor sports and reading gives you an opportunity to experience that cozy feeling – which I have been promoting for years, but leave it to the Danes to come up with a word that no one can pronounce but which is very trendy – popularly known now as ,”hygge”. In just two short weeks it will be December 27th, two-days after Christmas, and even a day after Boxing Day. In just two weeks you will be 10 days into the Winter Reading Program and three days from New Year’s Eve. My how time flies. Time truly is flying, In fact, according to my sunrise/sunset chart on December 10th we gained a minute of daylight at the end of the day. Sure, we keep losing it in the morning until the 28th and sunrise stays at 7:29 until January 8th, but by then we've gained 15 minutes at sunset. Going home after work with a little more light in the sky feels like progress to me. Below you will find some of the new books that have arrived at the library recently. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures” by America Ferrera. From an award-winning actress and political activist comes a vibrant and varied collection of first person accounts from prominent figures—including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Issa Rae, Kumail Nanjiani, Roxane Gay and many more—about the experience of growing up between cultures.
“Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America’s Most Powerful Mobster” by Stephen Carter. The best-selling author of The Emperor of Ocean Park traces the story of his grandmother, an African-American attorney who, in spite of period barriers, devised the strategy that sent mafia chieftain Lucky Luciano to prison in the 1930s.
“Becoming” by Michelle Obama. An intimate and uplifting memoir by the former First Lady chronicles the experiences that have shaped her remarkable life, from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago through her setbacks and achievements in the White House
“Bing Crosby: Swinging on a Star: The War Years, 1940-1946” by Gary Giddins. In a much-anticipated follow-up to the universally acclaimed first volume of a comprehensive Bing Crosby biography, an NBCC Winner and preeminent cultural critic focuses on Crosby's most memorable period, the war years and the origin story of “White Christmas”.
“Churchill: Walking With Destiny” by Andrew Roberts. The best-selling author of The Storm of War draws on extensive new materials, from private letters to war cabinet meetings, in a revisionist portrait of the iconic war leader that discusses Churchill's motivations and unwavering faith in the British Empire.
“Gene Machine: The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome” by Venki Ramakrishnan. The co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009 discusses the medical and scientific importance of the ribosome, a molecular machine that actually forces DNA into action, turning genetic code into functioning proteins that create life.
“The Ravenmaster: My Life With the Ravens at the Tower of London” by Christopher Skaife. Yeoman Warder Christopher Skaife describes his years of service to the Queen, which include caring for the infamous ravens of the Tower of London, painting a vivid and intimate portrait of these intelligent, unusual and often misunderstood birds.
New Fiction
“Not Quite Over You, No.4 (Happily Inc)” by Susan Mallery. A romantic reconciliation is shaped by comedic events and complicated bonds in the small wedding-tourism community of Happily Inc, California. Hardcover Library Edition. By the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Fool's Gold Romances.
“Elevation” by Stephen King. A timely, upbeat tale about the power of finding common ground, written by the #1 New York Times best-selling author of “Mr. Mercedes”, traces the story of a man whose mysterious affliction unites a small community.
“Fire and Blood: 300 Years Before Game of Thrones, No.1” by George R.R. Martin. A first volume of a definitive two-part history of the Targaryens in Westeros is set centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones and answers key questions about the dynasty's origins, conflicts and relationships with dragons.
“Hazards of Time Travel” by Joyce Carol Oates. The National Book Award-winning author of We Were the Mulvaneys presents the story of a recklessly idealistic girl who tests the limits of her oppressively controlled, dystopian world only to fall fatefully in love.
“A Christmas Secret, No. 19 (Cape Light)” by Katherine Spencer. Returning to Cape Light to sort through the odd terms of his grandfather's will, Martin Nightingale finds himself playing Secret Santa to the entire town in the latest addition to the series based on the art of Thomas Kinkade.
“Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart” by Alice Walker. The award-winning author of The Color Purple returns with a collection of nearly 70 works of poetic free verse, presented in both English and Spanish, that focus on issues of love, hope and gratitude in our troubled times.
“Jeeves and the King of Clubs: A Novel in Homage to P.G. Wodehouse” by Ben Schott. Brings back P.G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster and his incomparable valet, Jeeves, in a new adventure that is full of the hijinks, entanglements, imbroglios and Wodehousian wordplay that readers love. By a best-selling author.
“A Christmas Revelation” by Anne Perry. An orphan boy investigates a woman's kidnapping in the days leading up to Christmas before discovering that more than a missing person is at stake. By the best-selling author of the William Monk series. By a New York Times best-selling author.