My LINKcat AccountToday is March 14th which can be written as 3/14 or 3.14 which is also known as the Greek letter Pi or π which makes today Pi day. This is a day celebrated around the world by mathematicians, scientist, and those who remember high school geometry. Pi, as you all know, is an important mathematical constant (the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter) which is also an irrational number - it goes on and on and on no matter how many times you divide the numbers into each other it never comes out even. The value of π, using superfast computers, has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond the decimal. π is used in all sorts of sciences and architecture. I find it more than a little coincidental that today is also Albert Einstein's birthday. Now there was a fellow who knew his way around mathematical calculations and proofs. So, how do you celebrate π day? Well the obvious answer is to eat pie! But since pies are messy to distribute to large numbers of people, we thought we would hand out some π cookies if you come in a recite a few of the digits in π library staff. If you want to know what a π cookie looks like, you'll just have to stop by the library on March 14th. Another reason to stop in is to check out some of the new books that have just arrived. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
Lean in : women, work, and the will to lead / by Sheryl Sandberg. The Facebook CEO and "Fortune" top-ranked businesswoman shares provocative, anecdotal advice for women that urges them to take risks and seek new challenges in order to find work that they can love and engage in passionately.
Raising Cubby : a father and son's adventures with Asperger's, trains, tractors, and high explosives / by John Robison. The best-selling author of "Look Me in the Eye " recounts how Asperger's syndrome has shaped his experiences as a parent, describing his unconventional approaches to fatherhood and his eventual discovery that his son shared the same condition.
Out of order : stories from the history of the Supreme Court / by Sandra Day O'Connor. The former Supreme Court Justice shares stories about the history and evolution of the Supreme Court that traces the roles of key contributors while sharing the events behind important transformations.
The secrets of happy families : improve your mornings, rethink family dinner, fight smarter, go out and play, and much more / by Bruce Feiler. Combining cutting-edge science with novel techniques that leading figures in business, sports, technology and the military use with their own families, this essential guide provides contemporary families with new ideas for cherishing and enriching their home life in an age of chaos.
New Fiction
Benediction / by Kent Haruf. A terminally ill cancer patient is attended throughout his final days by his wife and daughter while the trio contemplates their relationships with an estranged son, a situation that stirs up painful memories for a new next-door neighbor who has recently lost her mother.
The icecutter's daughter / by Tracie Peterson. Unconventional woman Merrill Krause and carpenter Rurik Jorgenson find their chance at love threatened by a major scandal in their Minnesota community.
The sunshine when she's gone : a novel / by Thea Goodman. Told from alternating viewpoints, this hilarious story of trust and love follows a young couple over one life-changing long weekend during which the husband flees lower Manhattan with his newborn daughter for a weekend in the Caribbean, while his wife tries to recapture who she was before the baby.
A thousand pardons : a novel / by Jonathan Dee. Forced back into the working world after her corporate lawyer husband's spectacular downfall, Helen discovers a talent for public relations and is tempted away from her dysfunctional family by her childhood crush, now a movie star who needs her professional assistance.
The children of kings / by Marion Zimmer Bradley. After an interstellar civil war, heir to the throne Gareth Elhalyn, takes on a secret mission to stop the seedy population of Darkover from arming the Dry Towners with forbidden weapons in this expansion of the late fantasy author's unpublished work.
The obituary writer / by Ann Hood. An obituary writer searching for her missing lover at the turn of the 20th century is linked to a woman considering leaving her loveless marriage in 1963 in this literary mystery.
Death on a pale horse : Sherlock Holmes on Her Majesty's secret service / by Donald Thomas. Sherlock Holmes and his biographer Dr. John Watson go up against their toughest adversary yet when Colonel Hunter Moran, who bears upon him The Mark of the Beast, cuts a swath of destruction across the world, starting with the annihilation of a British armored column.
Eleven little piggies / by Elizabeth Gunn. When a family feud between Minnesota farmers ends up with one of them dead, Detective Jake Hines must find the killer.
The striker : an Isaac Bell adventure / by Clive Cussler & Scott Justin. After witnessing a terrible coal mining accident, Detective Isaac Bell hunts for the high-level saboteurs he believes are responsible in this new novel from the best-selling co-authors.