My LINKcat AccountYou all know what today is, right? December 22nd, the day after the winter solstice. That’s the magical day when the hours of daylight and night – (I just noticed that parallel construction doesn’t work here. If I use the word “nightlight” that’s has a whole different meaning (that little light that guides you from your bed to that little room the queen goes to by herself or the refrigerator in the kitchen. No judgement here!). Of course the word night connotes “no light” which is what you’ve got if you pair daylight and night. I, however, think I prefer “starlight” although one could argue that you can’t always see the stars even at night.) But, I digress. Let’s just say that day and night have the exact same number of hours. This means we are heading back towards longer days. In fact, our days started getting longer at the evening end of things on 11th of December. By the end of the year we shall have gained 10 minutes at that end of the day and quit losing daylight in the morning. We’ll stay stuck at a sunrise of 7:29 a.m. until the 9th of January. Then we start gaining light at both ends. Hooray! Waiting for the light to return has been celebrated in many ways in many countries, for millennia. In the dark of winter we are all looking for something to hang our hope on. More light seems something most of us can agree upon. In the meantime the long nights are great times to settle in with a good book. Below you will find some of the recently-arrived books at the library. Enjoy! Wishing you merry and bright days!
New Non-Fiction
“Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods” by Sarah Lohman. American food traditions are in danger of being lost and discusses how we can reverse this trend by supporting community food organizations and producers.
“Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed America” by Judith Tick. A landmark biography that reclaims Ella Fitzgerald as a major American artist and modernist innovator.
“Einstein in Time and Space: A Life in 99 Particles” by Samuel Graydon. This inventive new biography of the legendary physicist examines his complex and contradictory nature—from brilliant scientist to charming lothario and life of the party—in 99 vignettes based on intriguingly different particles.
“The Explorers Club: A Visual Journey Through the Past, Present, and Future of Exploration” by the Explorers Club. From The Explorers Club, the organization that, since it’s inception in 1904, has pushed the envelope of human curiosity, this guided tour of The Club’s most gripping journeys includes hundreds of photos and amazing anecdotes from such members as Teddy Roosevelt, Neil Armstrong and Jane Goodall.
“I am Bunny: How a “Talking Dog” Taught Me Everything I Need to Know About Being Human” by Alexis Devine. The creator of the wildly popular TikTok account @WhatAboutBunny discusses life with her dog Bunny who can communicate using over 100 buttons programmed to say different words and phrases.
New Fiction
“Tom Clancy Command and Control, No. 23 (Jack Ryan)” by Marc Cameron. When a ruthless criminal organization orchestrates a full blown coup d’état to seize the Panama Canal during President
Jack Ryan’s visit with the Panamanian president, the Vice President coordinates a military response but there is one deadly obstacle he didn’t account for.
“Unnatural Death (Kay Scarpetta)” by Patricia Cornwell. Examining the remains of two campers wanted by authorities in a Northern Virginia wilderness, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta considers this one of the most frightening body retrievals of her career as she tries to discover who would commit murders this savage, and why.
“The Watchmaker’s Hand” by Jeffrey Deaver. When a New York City construction crane mysteriously collapses, causing mass destruction and injury, Rhyme and Sachs are on the case. A political group claims responsibility for the sabotage and threatens another attack in twenty-four hours, unless its demands are met. The clock is ticking.
“Dazzling” by Chikodi Emelumadu. Based on West African mythology, follows the story of a woman who meets a spirit and agrees to do one terrible thing for him in exchange for bringing back her beloved, deceased father.
“The Ghosts of Beatrice Bird” by Louisa Morgan. A story of obsession, redemption and the magic of unexpected friendship, from the acclaimed author of “A Secret History of Witches”.
“Mister Lullaby” by J. H. Markert. As coma patients are trapped in a world full of evil mythical creatures of sleep, which is linked to an old train tunnel around town, one troubled man finally acts upon the voice in his head called Mr. Lullaby who wants him to kill all the coma patients he can find.
“The Star and the Strange Moon” by Constance Sayers. From the author of “A Witch in Time” comes a haunting tale of ambition, obsession and the eternal mystery and magic of film.
“The Wonder of It All (The House of the Falconer)” by Barbara T. Bradford. Returning from The Great War a changed man, with wounds both physical and mental, James Falconer, determined to make amends to his daughter, Leonie, now a grown woman who wants nothing to do with him, works toward healing his body, soul and family.