My LINKcat AccountThis is already the third Thursday of the first month of 2018. My how time flies! If you made a New Year’s Resolution to participate in the Library Winter Reading Program and you procrastinate even though you resolved not to; it’s not too late! This winter our reading program, celebrating the Year of the Dog , continues on its merry way (I suppose you could say “dog-trotting”) until March 16th and ends with a big finale on March 17th. Yes, we did manage to book a dog act to perform for us and it will be on St. Patrick’s Day ( I asked if the dogs would be wearing green and if they could possibly do a jig. I didn’t get much of an answer, but we’ll see.) Until then, join the reading program (online or we can help you in person). Read books. Read books about dogs. Take online challenges. Read books. Attend programs about dogs and dog care. Earn Dragon Dollars. Buy prizes with your dragon dollars in the store. Read more books. Donate dragon dollars if you wish to one of three charities or donate dog “stuff” to the Dane County Humane Society at our library (A list of items they are always looking for is available at the library). Read books. Read more books. If you’re looking for something to read. There is a list of new books below. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
- “Fortress America: how We Embraced Fear and Abandoned Democracy” by Elaine Tyler May. The award-winning social historian and author of “America and the Pill” untangles the roots of America's culture of national and personal security, arguing that the nation's collective obsession with defense and danger is placing us at risk for the loss of democratic traditions.
- “Gorsuch: The Judge Who Speaks for Himself” by John Greenya. Drawing on research and interviews with both Neil Gorsuch's opponents and his friends, the author presents a biography of the youngest judge to be nominated to the Supreme Court in 25 years, following his career, from his early work as a lawyer and his year as a Justice Department officer to his more than 10 years on the Federal bench.
- “Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say” by Kelly Corrigan. The best-selling author of Glitter and Glue assesses seven phrases that can lead to more qualitative adult lives, sharing poignant and whimsical stories of growth surrounding such expressions as "I don't know," "You got this" and "I was wrong."
- “When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir” by Patrisse Khan-Cullors. A lyrical memoir by the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement urges readers to understand the movement's position of love, humanity and justice, challenging perspectives that have negatively labeled the movement's activists while calling for essential political changes. Co-written by the award-winning author of “The Prisoner's Wife”.
- “Achtung Baby: An American Mom on the German Art of Raising Self-Reliant Children” by Sara Zaske. Reveals how German children are given freedoms and independence at far earlier ages than their American counterparts, drawing on the author's family experiences while living in Berlin and the insights of other parents, teachers and experts to outline disciplinary approaches that minimize anxiety and promote self-reliance.
- “The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child” by Daniel Siegel & Tina Bryson. The authors of the best-selling No Drama Discipline counsels caregivers and educators on how to help children reach their full potential by cultivating mental receptivity, sharing scripts, ideas and activities for transitioning resistant children away from reactive states and into mindsets that are more curious, creative and resilient.
New Fiction
- “The Wolves of Winter” by Tyrell Johnson. A brave survivor in a post-apocalypse society broken by nuclear war and disease practices hunting skills in the snowy Canadian Yukon before being compelled into a role she never imagined by an enigmatic man who carries dark secrets. A first novel.
- “Fire Sermon” by Jamie Quatro. A highly anticipated, provocative debut novel by the author of I Want to Show You More charts with bold intimacy and immersive sensuality the experiences of a married woman in the grip of a magnetic affair.
- “Green” by Sam Graham-Felsen. Struggling with bullying in his largely segregated, working-class neighborhood in 1992 Boston, Dave, a white boy at a mostly black middle school, befriends a youth who lives in public housing and who confounds Dave's assumptions about black culture before their bond is tested by girls, family secrets and national violence. A first novel.
- “The Immortalists” by Chloe Benjamin. Sneaking out to get readings from a traveling psychic reputed to be able to tell customers when they will die, four adolescent siblings from New York City's 1969 Lower East Side hide what they learn from each other before embarking on five decades of respective experiences shaped by their determination to control fate. By an award-winning author.
- “The Music Shop” by Rachel Joyce. The owner of a 1988 music shop in a down-at-heel suburban community uses his talent for connecting customers to the music they seek and resists a chance at an intimate relationship with a beautiful young woman, who hides a mysterious agenda and compels him to confront painful elements from his past. By a best-selling author.
- “The English Wife” by Lauren Willig. A fairytale marriage between two English aristocrats erupts at a Shakespeare-themed ball where the husband dies and the wife is presumed dead, a scandalous event that prompts an unlikely alliance between the husband's sister and a reporter who is determined to uncover the truth. By the award-winning author of “The Mischief of the Mistletoe”.
- “The Black Painting” by Neil Olson, Four adult cousins from a family that has been estranged for decades amid suspicions regarding the theft of a cursed Goya painting gather at the mansion of their grandfather, who is found murdered. By the author of “The Icon”.