My LINKcat AccountWell. I am declaring spring officially here. This is based on the fact that I have seen and heard sandhill cranes, robins, and red-winged blackbirds. The red-winged black birds are the clincher as far as I’m concerned. Not the longer days. Not the warmer temperatures. Not the slight cast of green the grass is starting to show. It’s those pesky, omnipresent black birds “ker-chinking” in the background that says spring is (just about) here. Now. Please note that I did not declare winter officially over. It has been my experience of this transitional time in Wisconsin that both winter and spring can sometimes cohabit. In fact, March is rather notorious for blowing hot and cold as it were. And for dumping large snow storms upon us which disappear in a few days. Now is the time to start really planning for a garden – or at least looking at books or magazines about gardens. It is well past time to be starting seeds (but it’s never too late really it will just take longer for your harvest or for your flowers to bloom). It is almost time to be taking that ice scraper and snow shovel out of the car. It is certainly time to be getting some serious (or not too serious) reading done because sooner than you think you will be outside, getting your hands in the dirt, mowing the grass, and enjoying all the outdoor activities you’ve missed for the past months. Below you will find some of the new books that have arrived at the library recently to help you keep busy until you can get outside. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“The Girl on the Velvet Swing: Sex, Murder, and Madness at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century” by Simon Baatz. A chronicle of the events surrounding the 1906 murder trial of millionaire Harry Thaw details the scandalous victimization of teen actress Evelyn Nesbit and Thaw's vengeance-fueled, public murder of legendary architect Stanford White, a case that tested the limits of the free press and raised awareness of the disproportionate power of Gilded Age tycoons
“In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement” by John Hemingway. Documents the story of the French-born member of the renowned Flying Doctors Service who became revered throughout Kenya for her treatments of hundreds of thousands of patients over half a century, sharing insights into her controversial past as a Nazi doctor and whether or not her postwar services compensated for her wartime acts.
“Movie Night’s With the Reagans” by Mark Weinberg. The former special advisor and press secretary to Ronald Reagan presents an intimate, behind-the-scenes look inside the Reagan presidency that reveals the iconic 1980s movies they watched during Camp David weekends, what the family was going through at the times of the viewings, what they thought of the films and how they shared laughter and free time together.
“Reinventing Capitalism in the Age of Big Data” by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger. The Oxford professor and best-selling author of Big Data shares predictions for how data will revolutionize the market economy and make cash, banks and big companies obsolete.
“Enough as She Is: How to Help Girls Move Beyond Impossible Standards of Success to Live Healthy, Happy, and Fulfilling Lives” by Rachel Simmons. The best-selling author of “Odd Girl Out” counsels today's young women on how to recognize and reject perfectionist messages that lead to self-doubt, unfulfilling relationships and fears of failure, drawing on two decades of research to share practical counsel on healthy risk-taking and finding support.
“Close Encounters With Humankind: A Paleoanthropologist Investigates Our Evolving Species” by Sang-Hee Lee. An international best-seller by Korea's first paleoanthropologist explores how the field enables new insights into some of the world's leading evolutionary questions, drawing on cutting-edge findings to explore such topics as the life cycles of ancient people, the origins of social nature and the common traits between today's humans and Neanderthals..
New Fiction
“A Whisper of Bones, No. 25 (Jane Lawless)” by Ellen Hart. Visiting her mother's family home for the first time since her own childhood, Britt is shocked when her relatives tell her that a cousin she played with never existed, a mystery that is investigated by private investigator Jane Lawless amid a suspicious fire, the discovery of a buried body and an untimely death. By the award-winning author of “Fever in the Dark”.
“Munich” by Robert Harris. A spy thriller set against a backdrop of the fateful Munich Conference of 1938 follows the experiences of a rising star in the British diplomatic service and his Oxford friend, a secret member of the anti-Hitler resistance, who while on a disastrous collision course with each other witness pivotal events involving Chamberlain, Mussolini and other historical figures.
“The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah. When her volatile, former POW father impulsively moves the family to mid-1970s Alaska to live off the land, young Leni and her mother are forced to confront the dangers of their lack of preparedness in the wake of a dangerous winter season. By the best-selling author of “The Nightingale”.
“The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore” by Kim Fu. Attending a remote sleepaway camp in the Pacific Northwest, a group of young girls embark on an overnight kayaking trip to a nearby island, only to be separated from their adult counselors and subjected to a life-changing event. By the award-winning author of “For Today I Am a Boy”.
“Mrs: A Novel” by Caitlin Macy. Successfully navigating the gossip-fueled culture of New York's Upper East Side, the wife of a powerful banker finds her carefully cultivated life thrown into chaos by an explosive revelation that connects her to a heavy-drinking prosecutor's criminal investigation. By the author of “The Fundamentals of Play”.
“Summer Hours at the Robbers Library” by Sue Halpern. A head librarian who would leave behind the painful realities of her suburbia past unexpectedly bonds with a teenager performing community service, a disgruntled former Wall Street high flyer and other offbeat regulars who encourage her out of her self-imposed isolation. By the author of “A Dog Walked Into a Nursing Home”.
“Only Killers and Thieves” by Paul Howarth. Two adolescent brothers are exposed to the brutal realities of life and the seductive cruelty of power after a tragedy shatters their family on the untamed frontier of 1880s Australia. A first novel.