My LINKcat AccountI believe in last week’s column I mentioned in passing that January is our coldest month. I also noted that the days are getting noticeably longer. Both of which were true then and continue to be true now. What I failed to mention – also in passing—was that there is little bit of weatherlore; a little slogan as it were, that expresses this succinctly. It is: as the days lengthen, the cold strengthens. We gained 23 minutes at sunset and two more at sunrise. Why at this rate, we’ll be at the vernal equinox in a couple of months! I maintain that this is the best time of the year to curl up with a good book. The evenings are long and dark and don’t have much to lure you outside. There’s a good excuse to have a fire in the fireplace and for cats and dogs to snuggle next to (or on top of) you. Now that the football is down to the playoffs and we are before anything playoff-wise in basketball or hockey. There are fewer distractions to sitting down for a good read. There is also the added incentive of sitting down for a good read and that is that our Winter Reading Program is underway. You – Yes. I mean you. I’m looking at you right now—can earn dragon dollars for the books you read. Those dragon dollars can be used to purchase fabulous prizes in our “store” or can be put in our donation jars for the Dane County Humane Society or the DeForest Area Needs Network. Those dollars will be magically converted into real dollars for those charities. Winter Reading continues to the end of February so there’s plenty of time to get some power reading in. If you cast your eyes further down the page you will see a dozen new books that might inspire you to read or to read harder. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
The witches : Salem, 1692 / by Stacy Schiff. Pulitzer Prize-winner author steps back from more than three centuries of hyperbole and supposition to construct her history using every fact available to create a historically accurate narrative of events while placing it within the cultural context of 17th century New England.
Primary greatness : the 12 levers of success / by Stephen Covey. In a posthumous work, the best-selling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People lays out clearly the 12 levers of success that will lead to a life of primary greatness: Integrity, Contribution, Priority, Sacrifice, Service, Responsibility, Loyalty, Reciprocity, Diversity, Learning, Teaching and Renewal.
Maggie Smith : a biography / by Michael Coveney. Shines a light on the life and career of the remarkable performer whose stage and screen career spans six decades and who is most recently known from her brilliant performance in Downton Abbey.
The art of Star Wars : the force awakens / by Phil Szostak. Featuring exclusive interviews with the entire creative team of the much-anticipated Star Wars films, a visual collection includes hundreds of stunning works of art, including production paintings, concept sketches, storyboards, blueprints and matte paintings.
Reclaim your brain : how to calm your thoughts, heal your mind, and bring your life back under control / by Joseph Annibali. A prescriptive guide to restoring cognitive calm in today's over-stimulating world examines the role of over-busy brains in a range of health disorders while outlining practical strategies for healthy mind management.
New Fiction
After she's gone / by Lisa Jackson. Pursuing a Hollywood career in the shadow of her more beautiful sister, Cassie, who survived the crazed fan attack that nearly killed their mother, is targeted with suspicion and doubts her own sanity when her sister's body double is killed and her sister disappears.
House of the rising sun : a novel / by James Lee Burke. Escaping with a stolen artifact after a violent encounter with Mexican soldiers, a Texas Ranger is pursued by a bloodthirsty Austrian arms dealer, who, believing the artifact to be the Holy Grail, targets the man's estranged son. By the Edgar Award-winning author of Wayfaring Stranger.
The hunting trip : a novel of love and war / by William Butterworth. Expelled from boarding school for a prank, 16-year-old Philip W. William III becomes a special agent of the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps in postwar Germany and plays key military roles before marrying an Austrian ballet dancer and becoming a best-selling novelist. By the best-selling author of the Brotherhood of War series.
Doom of the dragon / by Margaret Weis. Trapped in limbo between life and death after failing a quest to summon the great dragon Ilyrion, Skylan Ivorson must reach the last Spiritbone to win back. By the author of Rage of the Dragon.
Been there, done that : family wisdom for modern times / by Al Roker and Deborah Roberts. The best-selling Today show personality and his news-journalist wife share life lessons, wisdom and family anecdotes on subjects ranging from growing up in the segregated South and weight loss to what they have learned from the elderly and child members of their family.
The dressmaker's War : a novel / by Mary Chamberlain. Brought to Paris by an Austrian aristocrat who disappears when World War II breaks out, Ada, a talented dressmaker, survives by working for Nazi wives and is forced to endure the consequences of her choices years later.
Longest night : a novel / by Andria Williams. Reluctantly moving to a remote Idaho outpost when her Army Specialist husband is reassigned, 1950s military wife Nat is horrified when her husband discovers that the local nuclear reactor is crumbling and that his superiors are more interested in concealing the imminent disaster. A first novel.