My LINKcat AccountIt seems like only last week when I was mentioning the rather hasty change in the weather from crickets and frogs singing and temperatures in the 60s to freeze warnings and snow. Well, as they say, “if you don’t like the weather, just wait (insert duration here: times can change from a minute to an hour to a day (or more))”. This morning there were robins on the grass, alas (to paraphrase Gertrude Stein). There was a very strong southerly airflow from the south so that when I got up this morning it was already 55 degrees. Right now, according to my phone, it’s 66 degrees. The skies are sunny and we all know this won’t last. This is not a repeat of last week’s column, but I will note two things which I previously mentioned. A number of the titles listed below, once again, have some reference to Christmas in their titles. ‘Tis the season! Obviously, Christmas sells. And since we’re talking about Christmas, it is now only 44 days until that winter holiday. Those were the two things mentioned last week. There was one more thing which is Dino Day which is being planned for the 11th of November from 10-1 p.m. Delilah, the feathered T-rex, is looking forward to welcoming you to her new home.
There are lots of new books to read (some without Christmas in the title) listed below Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“Being Henry: The Fonz..and Beyond” by Henry Winkler. With profound heart, charm and self-deprecating humor, the Emmy award-winning actor, producer and director, who has endeared himself to a new generation, shares the disheartening truth of his childhood, the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you.
“Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution” by Cat Bohannon. Covering the past 200 million tears to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex, this groundbreaking account of the real origin of our species—and a sweeping revision of human history—will completely change what you think you know about evolution.
New Fiction
“Christmas in Painted Pony Creek, No.4 (Painted Pony Creek)” by Linda Lael Miller. When Tessa Stafford and her daughter arrive in Painted Pony Creek, Texas, cowboy Jessie McKettrick, who always wanted a family of his own, is immediately smitten, but when her past threatens their newfound future, he won’t let the family he’s come to love go without a fight.
“A Holly Jolly Ever After, No.2 (Christmas Notch)” by Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone. A washed-up former member of a boy band agrees to star in a sexy Santa biopic that also stars his ex in the second novel of the series following “A Merry Little Meet Cute”.
“Wreck the Halls” by Tessa Bailey. Stepping out of her comfort zone with her former best friend Beat Dawkins to convince their mothers to perform one last concert on Christmas Eve, Melody Gallard, the daughter of music royalty, discovers a decades-old scandal threatens to wreck everything—the reunion, their relationships with their mothers and their newfound love.
“Wyoming Proud, No.12 (Wyoming Men)” by Diana Palmer. Fleeing to Wyoming after Ty Mosby, the love of her life, breaks her heart, Erianne, keeping her pregnancy a secret, tries to stand strong when he follows her, willing to do anything to beg for her forgiveness and win back her trust.
“Becoming the Boogeyman, No. 2 (Boogeyman)” by Richard Chizmar. After making a successful true crime writing and filmmaking career revolving around the murders that shook his hometown decades earlier, Rich Chizmar is terrified when the killings again in the sequel to “Chasing the Boogeyman”.
“Blood Lines (Scott Brodie * Maggie Taylor)” by Nelson DeMille and Alex Demille, Reunited and tasked with investigating the murder of CID Special Agent Harry Vance, an accomplished counterterrorism agent, Army Criminal Investigation Agents Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor are immersed in many conflicts and contradictions of modern Germany as they discover Vance’s murder is a prelude to a much more sinister event.
“The Christmas Guest” by Peter Swanson. An American art student in London is invited to join a classmate for the holidays at Starvewood Hall, her family’s Cotswold manor house.
“Christmas Presents” by Lisa Unger. The only surviving victim of a killer suspected in the disappearance of two sisters, bookstore owner Madeline Martin, when a true-crime podcaster opens up the cold case, must return to a past she hoped was dead to expose the terrifying truth when more young women go missing.
“Judgement Prey, No.33 (A Prey Novel)” by John Sandford. Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers team up to solve another challenging case in this edge-of-your-seat thriller.
“My Darling Girl” by Jennifer McMahon. Taking in her estranged mother who only has weeks to live, Alison, with memories of her violent abuse coming back to haunt her, discovers her mother is not quite who she seems as strange things start happening, forcing her to decide how far she’s willing to go to protect her family.
“Obsession, No. 6 (Teddy Fay)” by Stuart Woods & Brett Battles. Brought in to recover a young
Croatian billionaire’s wife, who was kidnapped while her husband was making a deal with Centurion Studios, Teddy Fay quickly comes to realize dark forces are at play, while dealing with an obsessive fan with deadly intentions who weasels his way onto the film set.
“The Secret, No. 28 (Jack Reacher)” by Lee Child & Andrew Child. In 1992, when eight respectable, upstanding people are found dead across the US, Jack Reacher, assigned as the Army’s representative, must discover the link between these victims and who killed them, navigating around the ulterior motives and deciding if he should bring the bad guys to justice the official way—or his way.