My LINKcat AccountToday – if you are reading this on Friday, April 11th, is the eve of a great library event. Tomorrow our annual National Library Week Open House takes place between 10 a.m. and Noon. Saturday, April 12th is the last day of National Library Week and our celebration of all things library. The open house will feature displays and demonstrations of many of the items you can check out from your public library. The Friends of the DeForest Area Public Library will be holding a mini-book sale. There will be treats – some showing the marvelous cakes that can be made from the library’s cake pan collection (which you can check out) while also demonstrating the Wilton Master Cake Decorating Tip set (which you can check out). There will be egg-dyeing (you must bring your own eggs --up to one dozen hard boiled eggs each. Someone may be attempting to reconnect with their Norwegian roots after more than a few decades by making lefse using the library’s lefse making kit (which you can check out). You can get a “passport” and visit all the various areas and demonstration stations around the library. Getting your passport stamp at all the locations lets you put your name into a drawing for some fabulous prizes. It’s sure to be a fun time. Be sure to stop by! Before, after, or during the Open House, you might want to check out some of the new titles, listed below, which recently arrived at the library. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“Close to Home: The Wonders of Nature Just Outside Your Door” by Thor Hanson. An award-winning natural-history writer uncovers hidden wonders in everyday environments, revealing how backyards, park, and local landscapes host fascinating wildlife, scientific potential, and opportunities to connect with and contribute to the health of our planet.
“Untethered: Creating Connected Families, Schools, and Communities to Raise a Resilient Generation” by Doug Bolton. Addresses the epidemic of children’s mental health challenges, advocating for a shift away from punitive methods toward fostering strong, supportive communities that promote emotional wellbeing, resilience, and healthy attachment, with practical tools for parents and educators to guide children toward healthier, more connected futures.
“Make Your Mark: Lessons in Character from Seven Presidents” by Mark Updegrove. The award-wining author of Second Acts and The Last Republicans draws on interviews and conversations with seven presidents to identify the essence of character, leadership, and legacy that has defined each of them and the modern American presidency.
“Yoko: A Biography” by David Sheff. An intimate and revelatory biography of Yoko Ono from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “Beautiful Boy”.
“Build a Business You Love: Mastering the Five Stages of Business” by Dave Ramsey. The Ramsey Solutions Founder and CEO breaks down the system that took his business from a card table in his living room to a $250 million operation.
New Fiction
“Elphie: A Wicked Childhood” by Gregory Maguire. Elphaba, the green-skinner girl destined to become the Wicked Witch of the West experiences a turbulent childhood, family struggles, friendships and the injustices of Oz on her path to Shiz University.
“Red Dog Farm” by Nathaniel Miller. After a semester at university in Reykjavik, Orri returns to help his father Pabbi run the family’s cattle farm, but when Orri meets parttime student Mihan online and their connection deepens, he must decide if he wants to—or should—return to university and a possible future with Mihan.
“Sons and Daughters” by Chaim Grade Translated by Rose Waldman. In 1930s Poland and Lithuania, Rabbi Sholem Shachne Katzenellenbogen grapples with his children’s embrace of modern, secular ideals over traditional Jewish life, amid rising anti-Semitism and the cultural shifts threatening their shtetl’s way of life.
“Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave, No.5 (The Finlay Donovan Series)” by Elle Cosimano. After a body is found in a neighbor's yard, Finlay and Vero must solve the murder before police uncover secrets they’d rather keep buried in the fifth novel of the series following “Finlay
Donovan Rolls the Dice”.
“Nobody’s Fool” by Harlan Coben. Backpacking in Spain, Sami Kierce wakes up covered in blood, his girlfriend Anna dead, and he runs—then years later he sees Anna in his night school classroom, she bolts, and he must find her to solve the mystery that has haunted him.
“The Icarus Coda, No. 7(Icarus Saga)” by Timothy Zahn. Fugitive Gregory Roarke and his Kadolian partner Selene, pursued for their connection to the Icari teleportation portals, uncover a confused alien with rare abilities, forcing them to protect him while unraveling ancient mysteries and evading deadly foes vying for control of the Spiral's future.
“The World’s Fair Quilt (Elm Creek Quilts)” by Jennifer Chiaverini. As financial struggles threaten Elm Creek Quilts, Sylvia Bergstrom Compson revisits a quilt she and her sister created for the 1933 World’s Fair, uncovering its divisive history and an unexpected revelation that may help preserve her family’s legacy and the future of the quilting retreat.
“Ward D” by Freida McFadden. Medical student Amy Brenner’s dreaded overnight shift on Ward D spirals into a nightmare as patients and staff mysteriously vanish, forcing her to confront buried secrets and the escalating danger within the locked psychiatric ward.