My LINKcat AccountToday is the ultra-penultimate day of the year 2016. It has only two claims to fame besides being New Year’s Eve’s Eve’s Eve. It is National Pepper Pot Day – which celebrates a soup made at the request of General George Washington to cheer up his troops in the middle of the hard winter of 1777-1778 The recipe includes peppercorns, tripe, bacon, and root vegetables – pretty much anything you might have laying around the old military camp. The pepper pot, also known as the Philadelphia Pepper Pot Soup has been called the “soup that won the war”. It is also National Tick Tock Day. Tick Tock Day is a reminder that there are only 2 days remaining in the year. So, do you have any unfinished business that needs to be done in this calendar year? Is there something big you want to accomplish yet this year? Better hurry up. Time’s running out. Tick tock. If you have taken care of all your 2016 business then now’s the time to relax and read a good book – many of which are listed below. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year! Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
Goop clean beauty / by Editors of Goop. An ultimate guide to clean beauty by the experts at Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle brand shares advice on eating, sleeping, exercising, using clean makeup products and addressing a range of skin issues.
If our bodies could talk : a guide to operating and maintaining a human body / by James Hamblin. The doctor-turned-journalist behind the “The Atlantic” video series by the same name explores the stories behind persistent health questions that are subject to mischaracterization and oversimplification by marketing and the media, covering health topics ranging from sleep and aging to diet and the immune system.
Forged through fire : war, peace, and the democratic bargain / by Frances Rosenbluth. Two celebrated political scientists explore the question about whether democracy is dependent on war, tracing how democracy has evolved in brutally competitive environments, has been repeatedly excised and is being compromised in America today by drone warfare.
The private lives of the Tudors : uncovering the secrets of Britain's greatest dynasty / by Tracy Borman. An in-depth examination behind the public faces of the Tudor monarchs draws on original material from their most intimate courtiers to illuminate lesser-known details about their private worlds, from what they ate and the clothes they wore to how they practiced their faith and how they were treated while sick.
The art of Rogue one : a Star wars story / by Josh Kushins. An official behind-the-scenes companion to “Rogue One” provides an in-depth tour of the production's art department, profiling key droids, vehicles and weapons through hundreds of concept paintings, sketches, storyboards, matte paintings and designs.
Inside the magic : the making of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them / by Ian Nathan. Returning to the wizarding world created by J. K. Rowling, a must-have companion to the new movie starring Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell and many others casts a spell over its readers as interviews, insights, set design, costumes, special effects and more are brought to life within its pages.
New Fiction
Turbo twenty-three : a Stephanie Plum novel / by Janet Evanovich. A latest entry in the best-selling series starring intrepid bounty hunter Stephanie Plum finds her receiving support from prostitute-turned-bounty hunter Lula, gun-toting Grandma Mazur, on-again-off-again paramour Officer Hottie and mentor Ranger.
Take back the sky / by Greg Bear. Marooned on Titan, Skyrine Michael Venn and his comrades face adversaries who would eliminate them for their growing awareness of what the alien Gurus are really planning for the solar system. By the author of “Hull Zero Three”.
Ill met by murder / by Elizabeth Duncan. When Charlotte Fairfax, costume designer for the Catskill Shakespeare Theater Company, discovers a body murdered the night before their wealthy benefactor's daughter's wedding, she decides she must investigate.
Plaid and plagiarism / by Molly MacRae. When the murder of a surprisingly hated local disrupts preparations for the annual Inversgail Literature Festival in Scotland, the owner of a new bookshop and an ambitious investigative reporter comb through the victim's hate mail for clues about who was the killer.
When she's gone : a thriller / by Jane Palmer. Ara, a highly discreet bodyguard to a powerful billionaire's family, falls under suspicion by the FBI when the 16-year-old in her care is kidnapped, a situation that forces her to team up with savvy agent Luke, who believes she knows more than she is admitting.
Christmas days : 12 stories and 12 feasts for 12 days / by Jeanette Winterson. A collection of stories written annually at Christmas by the best-selling author of “Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?” includes tales of trees with magical powers, a tinsel baby that talks, flying dogs, philosophical fairies and a haunted house.
Curtain of death / by W.E.B. Griffin. When two WACs are accosted by Soviet NKGB agents from an officers' club in 1946 Munich and kill three of their attackers to escape, the incident triggers shock waves that have major repercussions throughout a fledgling CIA.