My LINKcat AccountSo how did it get to be the end of January already? How are we already a twelfth of the way through 2025? How can we already be a month and a day from the end of the Winter Reading Program? How can we have had wind chills a week ago (as of this writing, not of the publication date) that schools were closed and have high temperatures approaching 50 degrees this week? Will there be an early spring or will this strange winter linger on? Most of these and other burning questions will not, I repeat, will not be answered below. I will however remind you that one of the library’s many celebrity mascots will be making his annual prediction on February 2nd at or around sunrise. I am of course talking about Booky, our prognosticating badger. On Ground Hogs Day, every year for a couple of decades now, our badger takes on the likes of Jimmy the Sun Prairie Ground Hog and Punxsutawney
Phil. Booky, as you probably recall, has a perfect record for Ground Hog Day predictions. While badgers and ground hogs are both, squat, short-legged mammals the similarity ends there. Groundhogs (Marmota monax) are grazing members of the rodent family; badgers are hunting members of the weasel family, (Mustelidae). This pretty much means, theoretically, a badger could eat a groundhog for lunch which is probably why our badger’s predictions trump the local groundhog’s prediction consistently. Watch for Booky’s prediction on Ground Hogs Day on February 2nd. While you’re waiting you might want to check out some of the new books which recently arrived at the library. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“The Survivor: How I Survived Six Concentration Camps and Became a Nazi Hunter” by Josef Lewkowicz. Tells the remarkable story of Josef Lewkowicz, who endured six concentration camps during the Holocaust and later became a determined Nazi hunter, capturing notorious SS officer Amon Goeth, while offering readers a poignant narrative of survival, justice, and the resilience of the human spirit amidst the darkest moments of history.
“The Way of Play: Using Little Moments of Big Connection to Raise Calm Confident Kids” by Tina Bryson & Georgie Wisen-Vincent. Presents seven playful techniques that promote healthy emotional development and resilience in children through intentional, brief interactions, emphasizing the importance of daily moments that nurture calmness, cooperation, and communication, all supported by scientific research and engaging.
“Intention Obsession: Rituals and Witchcraft for Every Season” by Erica Feldmann. The owner of a Salem-based wellness company offers seekers practical magic and self-care rituals organized by the zodiac seasons, empowering readers to create intentional lives and defy oppressive systems through spells and DIY projects.
“The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynee” by Kate Winkler Dawson. Revisits the mysterious 1832 death of Sarah Maria Cornell, intertwining historical investigation with modern forensic techniques to uncover the truth behind her demise and the trial of Reverend Ephraim Avery, while reflecting on the impact of women who challenged societal norms in their pursuit of justice.
“Eat Your Age: How the 2000s Became Everything (Essays on the Future That Never Was)” by Ian Smith. A doctor and best-selling author provides decade-specific nutrition and lifestyle advice to help readers maximize longevity, prevent disease and age well, offering practical steps to optimize health and vitality in your 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond.
New Fiction
“Death of the Author” by Nnedi Okorafor. After being fired and facing yet another novel rejection, aspiring author Zelu writes a futuristic epic about AI and robots, unknowingly setting herself on a path to literary stardom that could change the future of humanity.
“Order of Swans” by Jude Deveraux. Kaley Adams travels to friend Jobi’s island home, but she awakens on the plane in the birthplace of fairytales, and when the king asks Kaley to find the prince, she must rely on fairytale knowledge and her handsome guide to survive this new world.
“Hold Strong” by Jeff Langholz and Chris Crabtree. A novel based on true events explores love, heroism and resilience during the darkest chapters of World War II.
“Good Dirt” by Charmaine Wilkerson. Ebby Freeman's life unravels when her brother is killed and a centuries-old family heirloom is shattered but years later, while fleeing a public breakup, she uncovers how that lost, shattered jar may hold secrets to her future.
“Grace of the Empire State” by Gemma Tizzard. During the Great Depression, Grace O’Connell disguises herself as her injured twin to work on the Empire State Building and support themselves, but when a deadly accident occurs, she faces a life-altering decision that could expose her secret.
“The Granddaughter” by Bernhard Schlink. Birgit and Kaspar flee East Berlin in 1964 for love and freedom, but after Birgit's death, Kaspar discovers she abandoned a child, prompting a search that leads him into the heart of a neo-Nazi settlement, where he meets a woman who might be Birgit’s lost granddaughter.
“The Heart of Winter” by Jonathan Evison. Abe Winter and Ruth Warneke’s seventy-year marriage, born from a disastrous college blind date, faces a new crisis as Ruth’s health deteriorates, prompting Abe to care for her while their family questions his abilities, forcing the couple to navigate love, loss, and enduring partnership in their golden years.
“Let’s Call Her Barbie” by Renee Rosen. Including a readers guide and exclusive vintage Barbie photos, a bold new novel by a “USA Today” bestselling author shows how Ruth Handler, along with head engineer Jack Ryan and designers Charlotte Johnson and Stevie Klein, created a doll like no other.
“The Life of Herod the Great” by Zora Neale Hurston & Deborah Plant. Zora Neale Hurston’s unpublished novel offers a reimagined portrayal of Herod the Great, not as the notorious villain of the New Testament, but as a philosophical and visionary king who brought prosperity to Judea during a tumultuous period of war and imperial expansion in the first century BCE.