My LINKcat AccountToday is the last day of the year (if the DeForest Times Tribune publishes on New Year’s Eve). We can check another year off. There will be all sorts of year end retrospectives by all the major media outlets, whether newspapers, magazines, net-based, or television. I won’t do a library-based retrospective for you either. Suffice it to say we had a lot of great programs – some old reliables like the Harry Potter Party and the 4th of July parade – others a bit more daring, such as having a best-selling author here for an event or using the Mindstorm kits and Minecraft to do programming for middle and high school students. It was a big year in publishing with the output of bestselling authors seeming to be an unending and swelling stream (I could say something here about the dearth of good editors, but I won’t. I’ll just let you make an inference about quantity versus quality.). And we look forward to an exciting 2016. There will be some major fundraising events this year to add funds to the library’s endowment and to take advantage of a challenge grant awarded the library by the Madison Community Foundation. We will get a dollar from that challenge grant for every two dollars we fund raise. (BTW if you read this and want to make a donation for this tax year a postmark of December 31st lets you do that). While you’re resting up for the next major holiday (which you would think is Valentine’s Day if you were out shopping today (December 26th), why not kick back and read one of the many new books at your library. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!
New Non-Fiction
Young Elizabeth : the making of the queen / by Kate Williams. The author of the New York Times best-selling Becoming Queen Victoria turns her attention to Elizabeth II, the accidental Queen, who, working as a mechanic and truck driver for the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, carved out a lasting role for herself amid the changes of the 20th century.
The challenge of things : thinking through troubled times / by A.C. Grayling. The author of The God Argument presents a new collection of essays based on the idea that philosophy should engage the world in useful and facilitating ways, collecting the author's recent writings on the habits and prejudices that complicate today's conflicts.
DIY, dammit! : a practical guide to curse-free crafting : 35 tried and tested projects anyone can make & everyone will love / by Joselyn Hughes. A comedian-turned-crafter, and creator of the popular web series DIY, Dammit!, shares what she’s learned the hard way, in a full-color illustrated guide to DIY crafting that includes 35 projects—including a dog bed, "Cutie Pie" pillows and a beer poncho—as well as a helpful list of resources.
Downton Abbey : a celebration / by Jessica Fellowes. Features in-depth interviews with the cast and crew who know the show's secrets, as well as a fascinating look at the changing styles and fashions of Downton and a complete episode guide to all six seasons up to the U.K. Christmas special.
Fox tossing : and other forgotten and dangerous sports, pastimes, and games / by Edward Brooke-Hitching. A quirky collection of 100 of history's most bizarre sports and ridiculous recreational pursuits includes profiles of the forgotten practices of Aerial Golf, Ski Ballet and Eel Pulling.
The world of Vikings / by Justin Pollard. Perfect for both fans of the show and history buffs, an official companion book covering the first three seasons of the series explores the real history—including shipbuilding and navigation, Norse culture and religion and more—as well as the behind-the-scenes stories.
New Fiction
The bone labyrinth : A Sigma Force novel / by James Rollins. An eon-spanning epic by the best-selling author of “Bloodline” finds Sigma Force Commander Gray Pierce making paradigm-shifting discoveries about human evolution while investigating shadowy figures depicted in Neanderthal cave paintings.
Beatrice and Benedick / by Marina Fiorate. A tale set a year before the events of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing imagines the first youthful encounters between famous lovers Beatrice and Benedick to consider their original romance and bitter breakup. By the best-selling author of The Glassblower of Murano.
Captivity / by Gyorgy Spiro. An award-winning tale from Hungary, set during the first century, follows the holy pilgrimage of a hapless Roman-Jewish youth who after an encounter with a condemned Jesus undergoes a scholarly and sexual awakening before escaping a pogrom and returning home to discover a family transformation.
Blood, salt, water : a novel / by Denise Mina (Alex Morrow) Investigating the disappearance of a woman whose family is strangely resistant to questioning, detective Alex Morrow traces clues to a seaside community where the discovery of a murdered body implicates someone in Alex's own life. By the award-winning author of the Garnethill trilogy.
Out comes the evil / by Stella Cameron. Once again Alex Duggins and her veterinarian friend, Tony Harrison, are thrown into a major murder investigation when an almost-fresh body is discovered in a disused well among the ruins of a 14th-century manor house.
The puffin of death / by Betty Webb. While in Iceland to pick up an orphaned polar bear cub destined for the Gunn Zoo’s newly installed Northern Climes exhibit, California zookeeper Theodora Bentley stumbles upon the dead body of an American bird-watcher and is plunged into a dangerous mystery involving rare bird species and a stone-cold killer.
Seize the night / by Sherrilyn Kenyon. This hardcover re-release of the seventh entry in the best-selling series features reviled and painfully reserved Roman Dark-Hunter Valerius, who unexpectedly falls for Amanda Deveraux's sassy twin sister, Tabitha, while outmaneuvering a vengeful Daimon. By the author of the Chronicles of Nick series.