My LINKcat AccountI am writing ths on the eve of Election Day. You will be reading this a couple of days after the election. No matter what the outcome or who you voted for, if you voted, good for you. Not only did you do your duty as a citizen, but you earned the right to whine. You may now whine about the outcome, the candidates, the media's handling of coverage, and anything else political ad infinitum. If you didn't vote. You don't get to whine. I know this sounds harsh, but these are the rules. I learned these rules at my mother's knee. She was the sweetest, kindest, person you would ever care to meet but she had no tolerance for people in our extended-family household who didn't bother to vote but did bother to have lots and lots of opinions. "Alice's Rule" kept our politcally divided family running smoothly. I share it with you now in the hopes that it may help others. And now, for something completely different. The weather has seeminly reverted back to "typical" October now that we are in November. This nice, warm, stretch of days we shall have been experiencing was called "All Halloween Summer" by Shakespeare in Henry IV part I. It is used to denote a period of warm sunshine as October gives way to November. It seems like the perfect term to use since this stretch of mild temperatures follows so closely upon Halloween this year. While you're out enjoying the milder weather, swing by the library and checkout some of the new titles listed below. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
The Dead Are Rising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les & Tamara Payne. A portrait of the iconic civil rights leader draws on hundreds of hours of interviews with surviving family members, intelligence officers and political leaders to offer new insights into Malcolm X's Depression-era youth, religious conversion and 1965 assassination.
I’ll Be Seeing You by Elizabeth Berg. The “New York Times” bestselling author, in this moving memoir, shares her experiences caring for her parents in their final years, charting the passage from the anguish of loss to the understanding that even in the most fractious of times, love can heal.
Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark. Focuses on Sylvia Plath's remarkable literary and intellectual achievements, while restoring the woman behind the long-held myths about her life and art.
Undaunted: My fight Against America’s Enemies, at Home and Abroad by John Brennan. A revelatory memoir from former CIA director John Brennan spans his more than 30 years in government.
Personal Finance 101: From Saving and Investing to Taxes and Loans, an Essential Primer on Personal Finance by Alfred Mill and Michele Cagan. A comprehensive beginner's guide to personal finances covers basics ranging from selecting a bank and understanding employment benefits packages to refinancing student loans and establishing mortgage-worthy credit.
The Art of Training Your Dog: How to Gently Teach Good Behavior Using an E-Collar by Monks of New Skete and Marc Goldberg. The German shepherd breeders and authors of The Art of Raising a Puppy outline a cutting-edge program for using compassionate remote electronic collars, strategic walks and mindful stimulation activities to establish foundations of positive canine behavior.
New Fiction
White Ivy by Susie Yang, Years after she is sent away from Boston to China for shoplifting, a conflicted Chinese-American woman reconnects with her golden-boy childhood crush before a ghost from the past threatens her ambitions. A first novel.
Happily This Christmas, No. 6 (Happily Inc) by Susan Mallery. An independent businesswoman and single mother offers support to her neighbor and secret crush during a holiday season shaped by a prickly daughter's pregnancy, a painful secret, difficult past mistakes and an unexpected second chance at love.
Paradise Peak, No. 5 (New Americans) by Janet Dailey. A need for absolution compels an ex-con to work beside a woman with an equally tragic past among people who do not know his role in their burdens to rescue the community of Paradise Peak from an advancing wildfire.
The Return by Nicholas Spark. Moving into a family beekeeper cabin to recuperate from war injuries, an Afghanistan veteran falls in love with a guarded sheriff while working with a sullen local teen to investigate the mystery of a grandparent's death.
Thick as Thieves by Sandra Brown. While a woman investigates her absent father's involvement in a 20-year-old heist that ended in murder, two vengeful accomplices wait for a corrupt district attorney to make a fatal mistake. By the best-selling author of “Outfox”.
The Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow. In the late 1800s, three sisters use witchcraft to change the course of history in a Hugo award-winning author's novel of magic amid the suffragette movement.
Hidden in Plain Sight, No. 2 (William Warwick) by Jeffrey Archer. A sequel to “Nothing Ventured” finds a newly promoted Detective Sergeant William Warwick reassigned to a vice squad, where his efforts to apprehend a notorious South London drug dealer pits him against enemies old and new.
The Silence by Don DeLillo. Five people gathered together in a Manhattan apartment in 2022 react to a mysterious, catastrophic event that severs all of modern life's digital connections in this new novel from the National Book Award-winning author of “White Noise”.