My LINKcat AccountToday, June 29th, besides being the “eve” of my mother’s 105th birthday (May she rest in peace.) also has a number of national celebration days associated with. This is National Almond Buttercrunch Day – think of toffee covered with chocolate then sprinkled with almonds. It is also National Bomb Pop Day. Bomb pops are those red, white, and blue popsicles which were purportedly invented in Kansas City, Missouri in 1955. It is also National Waffle Iron Day which celebrates the means to create waffles. Apparently waffle irons were used in the 14th Century in the Low Countries. Cooking waffles over an open fire sounds very challenging to a person who just mastered the automated waffle maker used at various motel/hotel chains. Early waffle irons had coats of arms and religious symbols. In 1918 the electric waffle iron was available. There’s a story about the Nike trainer and a waffle iron. Bill Bowerman, was looking for a shoe surface that would be light weight and grip a surface well. He was eating waffles for breakfast one morning and it dawned on him that the waffle pattern would be perfect. And the rest, they say is history. My first pair of running shoes was Nike’s waffle trainers. Who knew their inspiration came from the humble waffle iron? (Good thing the Bowerman’s had the grid pattern waffle iron and not hearts, or Mickey Mouse or the Death Star.) The final national day celebrated today is National Handshake Day, which is pretty self-explanatory. So, eat some almond butter crunch, have a Bomb pop, make and eat a waffle, and shake somebody’s hand. Not necessarily in that order. You can always celebrate any national day, or really any day, by reading a good book. Below are a few samples for you to peruse. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
Cartel wives : a true story of deadly decisions, steadfast love, and bringing down El Chapo / Mia Flores. A redemptive memoir from two anonymous women who escaped the international drug trade share never-before-revealed details about El Chapo, the Sinaloa Cartel and the dangerous world of illicit drugs.
Democracy : stories from the long road to freedom / by Condoleezza Rice. The controversial former Secretary of State traces her witness to key events throughout the past half century while assessing the evolution of global democracy and how it is under attack in all world regions.
Everybody lies : big data, new data, and what the Internet can tell us about who we really are / by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. The New York Times op-ed columnist and former Google data scientist presents an insider's look at what today's vast, instantly available amounts of information can reveal about our world.
New Fiction
Murder in the Bowery / by Victoria Thompson. A latest entry in the series by the best-selling author of Murder in Morningside Height investigates the murder of a newsboy against the backdrop of the victim's brother's account of a young society woman whose penchant for risky behaviors implicates several suspects in and out of her family.
Party girls die in pearls : an Oxford girl mystery / by Plum Skyes. The best-selling author of Bergdorf Blondes presents a first installment in a comic mystery series set in the fashionable world of Oxford University of the 1980s and follows the experiences of a studious country girl who in her first term is catapulted into the mystery of a glamorous classmate's murder.
Robert B. Parker's Little white lies / by Ace Atkins. Boston private eye Spenser and his sidekick, Hawk, follow a con man's schemes on cable news shows and within police precincts in the wake of an elaborate double cross that has victimized a smitten woman as well as a cache of investors, cops and paramilitary contractors.
Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love / by James Runcie. Discovering the body of a man in the Cambridgeshire woods, priest and detective Sidney Chambers immerses himself in the 1970s counterculture of psychedelic plants; while his longtime friend, Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, investigates the disappearance of a historic religious text.
Sticks and bones / by Carolyn Haines. Clashing with an arrogant local writer whose best-selling memoir is being turned into a documentary, private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney is hired by the film crew to discern the truth about the writer's story only to find herself targeted by someone who would kill to protect a long-held secret.
The thirst : a Harry Hole novel / by Jo Nesbo. Harry Hole is inextricably drawn back into the Oslo police force by a serial murderer who has been targeting Tinder daters using methods reminiscent of a nemesis from Harry's past. By the award-winning author of “The Snowman”.
Walking on my grave / by Carolyn Hart. When a wealthy shop owner who has written several cash-strapped locals into her will suffers a suspicious accident, Annie and her husband, Max, race to identify a calculating killer from among several suspects. By the Agatha Award-winning author of “Letter from Home”.
Against all odds : a novel / by Danielle Steele. A Soho widow struggles with her grown children's plans to gamble their futures in their determination to pursue their hearts, from her attorney daughter's illicit romance with a client to her struggling writer's son's decision to have children before he can afford to support them.
The girl who knew too much / by Amanda Quick. Discovering the body of a beautiful actress at the bottom of a pool at an exclusive California hotel, rookie reporter Irene Glasson investigates the victim's secret about an up-and-coming man and becomes drawn to a once-famous master magician whose career was mysteriously cut short.