My LINKcat AccountIt seems as if quite suddenly we are in the month of December and one has to ask oneself how we got here. Since mid-March almost every day is like the previous day. I have commented to others that at times I feel like I'm stuck in the movie "Groundhog Day" except I haven't learned how to play the piano or speak French. While each day has borne a striking similarity to most of the others surrounding it, we have moved steadily through the calendar and the seasons. Today's publication date, the 3rd is just three weeks away from Christmas Eve and just four weeks away from New Year's Eve. As I point out nearly every year around this time, we are heading in to the shortest, darkest days. However, already we have reached the earliest sunset time for the year which is 4:30 (with the one day exception of 4:29 on December 8th). Sunrise continues to get later and later going from 7:15 now to 7:33 at the beginning of January. We start adding light at the end of the day beginning December 15th -- the end of the day is when I think most of us notice the shortness of days. There is literally light at the end of the calendar year. We just need to get to it. Perhaps now would be the time to start learning French (the library has an app for that called Mango where you could learn not only French but dozens of other languages). or read a book. Below are some of the titles that recently arrived at the library. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
The Book Collectors: A Band of Syrian Rebels and the Stories That Carried Them Through a War by Delphine Minoui. The award-winning journalist and author of I'm Writing You from Tehran documents the achievements of Syrian Civil War survivors who built a secret library from thousands of books that survived the four-year siege that decimated their community.
A Promised Land by Barack Obama. A deeply personal account of history in the making—from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy.
I Would Leave Me If I Could: A Collection of Poetry by Simon Halsey. Pop star Halsey reveals never-before-seen poetry of longing, love, and the nuances of bipolar disorder.
The Age of Wood: Our Most Useful Material and the Construction of Civilization by Roland Ennos. A scholarly and scientific examination of the unrecognized role of trees in the planet's ecosystem reveals wood's unexpected influence on human evolution, civilization and the global economy. By the author of “Trees”.
The Best of Me by David Sedaris. The American humorist, author and radio contributor presents shares his most memorable work in a collection of stories and essays that feature him shopping for rare taxidermy, hitchhiking with a quadriplegic and hand-feeding a carnivorous bird.
A Wealth of Pigeons: A Cartoon Collection by Steve Martin. Illustrated by Harry Bliss. The Academy, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning comedian and the syndicated New Yorker cartoonist and cover artist blend their creative talents in an uproarious treasury of original cartoons and comic strips that celebrates the cartooning world's evocative power.
New Fiction
The Malt in Our Stars, No. 2 (Literary Pub Mysteries) by Sarah Fox. Booking a famous novelist for a literary event, pub owner Sadie Fox ties the suspicious death of the writer's assistant to a vandalized film production site and a May Day masquerade ball at Shady Creek Manor.
Marauder, No. 15 (The Oregon Files) by Clive Cussler & Boyd Morrison. Aboard the Oregon, one of the most advanced spy ships ever built, Juan Cabrillo and his team of expert operatives go up against nemeses as they prepare for yet another dangerous mission.
Tom Clancy Shadow of the Dragon, No.10 (Jack Ryan) by Marc Cameron. When a high-level mole infiltrates American Intelligence, President Jack Ryan dispatches John Clark and the Campus team to track down a missing scientist who holds critical aerospace and naval technology. By the award-winning author of the Jericho Quinn series.
The Sun Collective by Charles Baxter. The National Book Award finalist presents this timely and unsettling novel in which a mother searches for her son, a once promising actor, who has fallen victim to a local community group and its enigmatic leader.
Fool Me Twice, No. 2 (Riley Wolfe) by Jeffry Lindsay. A sequel to Just Watch Me finds thief and disguise artist Riley Wolfe continuing his Robin Hood-inspired crusade against the wealthy elite by orchestrating the theft of a highly prized Faberge egg. By the best-selling author of the Dexter series.
The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister. Secretly hired by an eccentric Lady Franklin to lead a team of women explorers into the Arctic to recover Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition, Virginia Reeve survives a harrowing quest only to find herself on trial for murder.
The Decameron Project; 29 New Stories from the Pandemic by New York Times. Presents a stunning collection of new short stories originally commissioned by The New York Times Magazine as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, from twenty-nine authors including Margaret Atwood, Tommy Orange, Edwidge Danticat, and more, in a project inspired by Boccaccio’s “The Decameron.”