My LINKcat AccountI have started moving my plants on and off the porch in an act of faith that spring is truly right around the corner. The plants I am moving are some narcissi that have been with me for more than a few years now and don’t seem inclined to bloom, but are inclined to grow. They had been in a paper bag in my basement until about a month ago when I thought to check on them. They were starting to sprout and send forth greenery so I planted those harbingers of spring. They are about 14 inches tall now and very green and healthy looking but not a flower in sight. The pots of grass my cats enjoy chomping on and then depositing in pathways my bare feet tend to find in the middle of the night also got moved outside to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. My most surprising plant that is now soaking up the ambient sunshine and spotty rains is a sweet red pepper plant. At the end of the growing season last year, when I was shuttling my plants with vegetables still on them inside and out depending on the overnight weather forecast, this one came inside and managed to winter over. The eight peppers on the plant that started out green continued to grow – very slowly—and about Christmas time started to turn red. I have eaten a few of the peppers in salads and there are still 5 nice-sized, red sweet peppers on the plant with one still slightly green. Now that that plant is getting more light, it will be interesting to see if it starts to flower again. I had a science experiment in my kitchen and didn’t even know it! Below you will find some new titles which I hope you find surprisingly enjoyable – like freshly picked, home-grown sweet peppers in March—and not like the equally surprising but a whole lot less enjoyable gifts of grass from cats. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
Take a stand : lessons from rebels by Jorge Ramos. An Emmy Award-winning journalist reflects on the subjects of his interviews spanning his 30-year career, including Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Benjamin Netanyahu, Desmond Tutu, Barack Obama and George H.W. Bush and offers his unique perspective on foreign and domestic affairs.
Abundance : narrative essays old and new / by Annie Dillard. A landmark collection of author-curated pieces celebrates the master essayist's celebrated career and offers insight into her establishment of the "novelized nonfiction" form. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of An American Childhood.
A mind of your own : what women can do about depression that big pharma can't : featuring a 30-day plan for transformation / by Kelly Brogan. Discusses why antidepressants are the wrong way to treat depression and might actually disable the body’s own healing system and offers a 30-day plan that includes dietary changes, over-the-counter supplements, detoxification and stress reduction to eliminate depression.
All the single ladies : unmarried women and the rise of an independent nation / by Rebecca Traister. A National Magazine Award-finalist and outspoken feminist reveals that the concept of a powerful single woman, often perceived as a modern phenomenon, is not a new idea and explores the options, besides traditional marriage, that were historically available to women.
Washington's immortals : the untold story of an elite regiment who changed the course of the revolution / by Patrick O’Donnell. A best-selling military historian, drawing on extensive original sources, from letters to diaries to pension applications, pieces together the lives of the 256 brave men “who fell in the Battle of Brooklyn” in August 1776, saving General George Washington and his army, revealing their friendships, loves, defeats and triumphs.
Half-earth : our planet's fight for life / by Edward O. Wilson. A conclusion to the trilogy by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the National Book Award-finalist The Meaning of Human Existence argues that humanity must consider the histories of millions of other Earth species and increase the planet's regions of natural reserves in order to prevent future mass extinctions.
New Fiction
Deep blue / by Randy Wayne White. When the local dolphin population and tourism are threatened by a brutal ocean predator, Doc Ford realizes that the threat may be a human who is staging increasingly violent attacks. By the New York Times best-selling author of Cuba Straits.
The gangster / by Clive Cussler & Justin Scott. Organizing a group of fellow law enforcers to dismantle an Italian gangster mob that has spread throughout 1906 New York City, Detective Isaac Bell of the Van Dorn Agency begins to suspect that copycat criminals are using the gang's name to gain personal power. By a pair of #1 New York Times best-selling authors.
Off the grid / by C.J. Box. When a small team of elite professional special operators recruit him to help defeat a domestic terror cell in Wyoming's Red Desert in exchange for expunging his criminal record, Nate Romanowski, assisted by Joe Pickett, discovers a sinister agenda behind the operation. By the New York Times best-selling author of Endangered.
The steel kiss / by Jeffrey Deaver. Forced to let a murderer escape so that she can save the life of an accident victim, Amelia Sachs, assisted by forensic detective Lincoln Rhyme, discovers that the accident was the first in a series of attacks by a killer who turns everyday utilities into weapons. By the New York Times best-selling author of The Skin Collector.
Two if by sea : a novel / by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Joining the volunteer rescue effort in Brisbane when his family is swept away by the Christmas Eve tsunami, American expat and former police officer Frank Mercy is transformed by his rescue of a telepathic little boy, who he illegally takes back with him to America and struggles to protect against ominous adversaries.
Dark promises / by Christine Feehan. Despairing of seeing the once-gentle man she loves repeatedly risk his life for a cause not his own, Gabrielle longs for a life she believes she was promised far from the conflicts, monsters and secrets of her Carpathian mountain monastery. By the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the GhostWalker series.
Private Paris / by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan. Asked to track down a girl who is on the run from a brutal drug dealer, Jack Morgan identifies chilling links to a series of murders involving Paris' cultural elite. Co-written by the Edgar Award-winning author of the Alex Cross series.