My LINKcat AccountToday, this morning actually, at 10:27 a.m. the Winter Solstice occurred. This is the time when the Northern Hemisphere of the earth is titled away from the sun so we get the least amount of sunlight. Today is the shortest day of the year – if you measure in fractions of minutes. If you look at rounded up numbers the last few days have had the same number of minutes the only difference being that sunrise keeps getting later by a minute most every day and sunset kept getting earlier until – and I know you’ll find this hard to believe – December 8th when sun set at 4:22 p.m. From December 10 through the 15th it was setting a minute later while sun rise kept getting later. Today, the sun rose at 7:26 and will set at 4:26 p.m. We have already gained 4 minutes in the evening. Sun rise will keep getting later until December 28 when it rises at 7:29. It stays there well into the new year. It isn’t until January, 9th before sun rise starts getting earlier. By that date we shall have gained nearly 20 minutes of light at the other end of the day. While today may officially be the shortest day of the year, we have gained time at the end of the day. We are already heading into more daylight and we have all the year-end holidays to light our days as well. There are still plenty of new books arriving for your reading pleasure. They are listed below. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
- “Prairie Fire: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder” by Caroline Fraser. A comprehensive historical portrait of Laura Ingalls Wilder draws on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries and official records to fill in the gaps in Wilder's official story, sharing lesser-known details about her pioneer experiences while challenging popular misconceptions about how her books were ghostwritten.
- “The Gifted Generation: When Government Was Good” by David Goldfield. A sweeping history of the post-World War II decades traces the efforts of an activist federal government to guide the country toward a realization of the American Dream, exploring how the era was marked by unprecedented economic, social and environmental growth. By the lead author of “The American Journey”.
- “The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism” by John Bacon. A gripping account of the world's largest man-made explosion before the atomic bomb describes the events that led to the catastrophic igniting of the French freighter Mont-Blanc in 1917 Halifax, killing and wounding thousands while leading to advances in medicine and weapons science. By a New York Times best-selling author.
- “Our Year of War: Two Brothers, Vietnam, and a Nation Divided” by Daniel Bolger. Presents the story of Chuck Hagel—who would one day become U.S. secretary of defense—and his brother, Tom, who went to war in Vietnam, fought in the same unit, and saved each other's life, despite one supporting the war and the other detesting it.
- “Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom” by Russell Shorto. From the best-selling author of The Island at the Center of the World comes an account of the American Revolution that draws on diaries, letters and more to flesh out six disparate lives affected by the war, including an African man who freed himself and his family from slavery, a woman who abandoned her abusive husband and an often-criticized George Washington.
- “When the World Seemed New: George H. W. Bush and the End of the Cold War” by Jeffrey Engel. Based on unprecedented access to previously declassified documents and dozens of interviews with key policymakers, an account of the critical events faced by the 41st president examines his pivotal role in ending the Cold War.
New Fiction
- “Vengeance, No. 3 (Major Brooke Grant)” by Newt Gingrich & Pete Earley. When a terrorist crashes a truck loaded with explosives into her Washington, D.C. wedding, killing the president, Major Brooke Grant resolves to track down the master terrorist responsible and joins a clandestine CIA team under the leadership of an unorthodox new commander-in-chief.
- “The Secrets of Cavendon, No.4 (Cavendon Hall)” by Barbara Taylor Bradford. A latest entry in the Cavendon Hall saga is set in the summer of 1949, when a new generation of the estate is torn by scandal, intrigue and romantic betrayals that force the Inghams and Swanns to protect each other from unimaginable threats. By the best-selling author of “Secrets from the Past”.
- “The Ghost of Christmas Past, No. 17 (Molly Murphy)” by Rhys Bowen. Struggling with depression in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and a miscarriage, semi-retired private detective Molly Murphy Sullivan and her husband, Daniel, accept an invitation spend the holidays at a Hudson mansion only to be embroiled in the mystery of their hosts' daughter's disappearance.
- “Hardcore Twenty-Four, No. 24 (Stephanie Plum)” by Janet Evanovich. Reluctantly agreeing to babysit a professional grave robber's pet boa constrictor, Stephanie Plum is embroiled in a bizarre series of crimes that escalate from the violation of stolen corpses to the murder of a homeless man, a case that is complicated by the return of the hunky but reckless Diesel.
- “The House of the Unexpected Sisters, No. 18 (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency)” by Alexander McCall Smith. Investigating a case of wrongful dismissal, Precious Ramotswe discovers information that causes her to rethink her views about the case before meeting a local nurse who shares her unusual surname.
- “Much Ado About Murder, No. 3 (Shakespeare in the Catskills Mysteries)” by Elizabeth Duncan. Costume designer turned amateur sleuth Charlotte Fairfax investigates the death of a disagreeable director. By the author of “Untimely Death”.
- “The Shadow District” by Arnaldue Indridason. Investigating the murder of a 90-year-old man, a retired detective discovers unsettling links between the victim, the World War II case of a strangled woman and a pair of attacks that suggest the wrong man may have been arrested decades earlier. By the award-winning author of “Silence of the Grave “