My LINKcat AccountCrazy weather leading up to the day that those of us who are less than fond of winter wait for, Ground Hogs’ Day. All three rodential prognosticators agree with this year’s prediction. Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow and predicted an early spring. He is correct in his prediction about 39% of the time. Our neighbor to the east, Sun Prairie’s Jimmy the Ground Hog has also predicted an early spring.
Jimmy’s handlers claim and 80% accuracy rate, but they are his handlers after all. Now the library’s celebrity badger, Booky, has also made a prediction this year. Booky the Badger did not see his shadow and he too predicts an early spring. Booky has a 100% accuracy rate. In his admittedly short career of weather prognostication he has been batting a thousand. After the polar vortex last week, I’m sure we all appreciate a prediction of an early spring (which as of this writing is already occurring (41 degrees at the airport at 2 p.m.). While you are waiting for the mountains of snow to melt away and some sunshine to return, there are plenty of new books arriving at the library all most daily. Below is a sampling of some of our recent arrivals. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power” by Shoshana Zuboff. Explores the challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, presenting a detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior.
“The Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Ian Port. Chronicles the rivalry between the two men who innovated the electric guitar’s sound—Leo Fender and Les Paul—and their competition to convince rock stars like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton to play the instruments they built
“Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style” by Benjamin Dreyer. A witty, authoritative guide to writing by the leading Twitter language guru and veteran Random House copy chief shares playful lessons on better writing that cover usage questions ranging from the series comma to split infinitives.
“The Martha Manuel: How to Do Almost Everything” by Martha Stewart. An authoritative handbook by the domestic-lifestyle expert shares hundreds of ideas and instructions for homemaker skills, from transporting a decorated cake and folding an American flag to playing a classic lawn game and bathing a cat.
“Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing As We Age” by Mary Pipher. The best-selling author of Reviving Ophelia presents a guide to wisdom, authenticity and bliss for women as they age, exploring how the myriad roles and challenges of women can help promote balance and a transcendent sense of well-being. Illustrations.
New Fiction
“Unquiet” by Linn Ullmann. Presents a genre-bending novel about time, memory and the author’s extraordinary childhood as the daughter of a genius filmmaker and his muse.
“At the Wolf’s Table” by Rosella Postorino. Forced to risk her life every day as a taster at Hitler's secret headquarters, Rosa and a growing sisterhood of involuntary women conscripts navigate Nazi fanatics, an SS guard's unwanted attentions and the escalating war.
“The Eulogist” by Terry Gamble. In pre-Civil War Ohio, Irish immigrants James, Olivia and Erasmus Givens must fend for themselves after they lose their mother to childbirth and their father boards a riverboat to New Orleans.
“The Red Address Book” by Sofia Lundberg” Living alone in her Stockholm apartment, a 96-year-old woman reminisces through the pages of a long-kept address book before starting to write down stories from her past, unlocking family secrets in unexpectedly beneficial ways.
“Crewel and Unusual, No. 6 (Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries)” by Molly MacRae. Caught between two rival shopkeepers who are accusing each other of forging their crafts, Kath Rutledge teams up with the TGIF needlework group and Geneva the ghost to solve an untimely murder. By the best-selling author of “Plagued by Quilt”.
“The Flimflam Affair, No. 7 (Carpenter and Quincannon Mysteries)” by Bill Pronzini. A case involving a con-artist medium and his swindling assistant is complicated by a stabbing and the realization that multiple cons are being played. By the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master-winning author of “The Bags of Tricks Affair”.
“The Conspiracy, No. 1 (Maximum Security) by Kat Martin. Investigating the disappearance of his best friend, the wealthy owner of a security firm uncovers unscrupulous business dealings at the same time he compromises his beliefs by falling for his friend's sister. By a New York Times best-selling author.
“Letters From Peaceful Lane (New Americana)” by Janet Dailey. In the rugged Ozarks of Branson, Missouri, a woman struggles to save her marriage—and finds answers from an unexpected source. By a New York Times best-selling author.
“The New Iberia Blues, No. 22 (Dave Robicheaux)” by James Lee Burke. The shocking death of a young woman leads detective Dave Robicheaux into the dark corners of Hollywood, the mafia and the Louisiana backwoods. By the Edgar Award-winning author of “Creole Belle”.