My LINKcat AccountWow! Last week our prognosticating badger was on the front page of the DeForest Times Tribune. Sure, he was below the fold, but still he was on the front page! Now, if only he is as good at forecasting as he is photogenic! And, at least he didn’t bite anyone in the ear. If our badger is correct you can expect spring to arrive right around March 16th which would be nice for all of those looking to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th. But let’s not look that far into the future. Let’s look at today, which, if memory serves, is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday – which, by the way appears only on one of the four calendars I have in my office and on my phone. When I was a kid we celebrated Lincoln’s birthday which was followed by George Washington’s birthday on the 22nd. It was a history-rich month that made us think about what an impact one person could have on an entire nation’s history as well as had us pretending to split rails, tell tall tales, make paper axes, and have cherry-based refreshments. President’s Day was/ is the official federal holiday commemorating Washington’s Birthday on the third Monday of February (in order to get a three day weekend). Lincoln’s birthday has rolled into it over the years and is ambiguous a holiday so as to encompass as many Presidents as you’d care to celebrate. Anyway, today is Lincoln’s birthday. A number of books were written over the past year or two to honor the sesquicentennial of his death coming up this year in April in case you’re interested in reading more about the man. A number of new books have arrived this week and coincidentally, the first title is a book about George Washington. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
Washington's revolution : the making of America's first leader / by Robert Middlekauff. A vivid portrait of the formative years that shaped the first American president offers detailed psychological insights into his beliefs, passions and patriotism. Includes five maps. By the Pulitzer Prize-finalist author of “The Glorious Cause”.
The man who touched his own heart : true tales of science, surgery, and mystery / by Robert Dunn. The author tells the story of the human heart--from the first "explorers" who dug up cadavers and plumbed their hearts' chambers through the first heart surgeries, which had to be completed in three minutes before death arrived, to heart transplants and the latest medical efforts to prolong our hearts' lives, almost defying nature in the process
New Fiction
Funny girl : a novel / by Nick Hornby. Intrepid young Sophie Straw navigates her transformation from provincial ingénue to television starlet amid a constellation of eccentric characters in 1960s London. By the best-selling author of “About a Boy”.
A history of loneliness / by John Boyne. A longtime priest in Ireland witnesses a dark period for the Catholic Church in the face of allegations against his colleagues, a downfall that reopens a wound from his past and forces him to recognize his own complicity. By the best-selling author of “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”.
Where trust lies / by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan. Returning home after a year spent teaching in the Canadian West, Beth embarks on a luxurious steamship tour along the East coast and struggles to choose between rejoining her beloved Jarrick and staying with her family.
Condemned to death : a Burren mystery / by Cora Harrison. When Mara is summoned to the western fringe of the kingdom to see a dead man lying in a boat with no oars, her scholars immediately jump to the conclusion that the man has been found guilty of kin-murder; but Mara notices something odd about the body and soon she has embarked on a full-scale murder investigation.
Darned if you do / by Monica Ferris. When her new friend is wrongly accused of murdering a reclusive hoarder, Betsy Devonshire, owner of the Crewel World needlework shop, finds clues to the real killer's identity in the clutter the victim left behind. Includes free crochet pattern. By the “USA Today” best-selling author of “The Drowning Spool”.
Death of a liar / by M.C. Beaton. Discovering that a woman who claimed she was attacked was lying, Sergeant Hamish Macbeth disregards the same woman's claim about an intruder, only to tackle a complicated mystery in the wake of her murder. By the “New York Times” best-selling author of the Agatha Raisin mysteries.
Crash & burn : a novel / by Lisa Gardner. A woman's near-fatal car accident and entreaties about a missing child prove baffling to Sergeant Wyatt Foster when the woman's husband claims that she has suffered a brain injury and cannot be believed. By the #1 “New York Times” best-selling author of “Fear Nothing”.
The forgotten girls / by Sara Blaedel. After the discovery of a body in the forest, the new director of the Danish Missing Persons Department recognizes the dead woman as a child inmate at a state mental institution and uncovers links to her own past during the investigation. . A #1 international best-seller.