My LINKcat AccountToday is Veterans Day. Today is the day that commemorates the end of the "Great War", or World War I as it has come to be known. The peace treaties weren't actually signed until June 28,1919, but an armistice between the allies and Germany went into effect at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of November, 1918. That date and time is used to remember the end of the hostilities which in effect eneded the war. President Wilson proclaimed November 11th, 1919 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with a call for a brief cessation of business at the 11th hour of that day. In 1938, Armistice Day became a federal holiday. In 1954, Armistice Day, was changed with legislation to "Veterans Day' to honor all veterans. It is a day to thank those you have served in the military for their service to the country. I grew up with older parents, aunts, and uncles. To them November 11th was always Armistice Day and the red poppies sold by veterans on that day were always and forever about the Flander's fields where, as John McCrae's poem says "In Flanders fields the poppies blow /Between the crosses, row on row,/That mark our place; and in the sky/ The larks, still bravely singing, fly/Scarce heard amid the guns below." Below are some of the new titles recently arrived at the library. Come check them out, and enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
The Genome Defense: Inside the Epic Legal Battle to Determine Who Owns Your DNA by Jorge Contreras. In a behind-the-scenes courtroom drama, a brilliant legal team battles corporate greed and government overreach for our fundamental right to control our genes.
Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones. This epic history of the medieval world, which was forged by the big forces that still occupy us today—climate change, pandemic disease, mass migration and technological revolutions, shows us how every sphere of human life and activity was transformed in the thousand years covered by this book.
The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, and the Kidnap That Shaped a Nation by Matthew Pearl. Explores the little-known true story of the kidnapping of 13-year-old Jemima Boone, Daniel Boone’s daughter, by a Cherokee-Shawnee raiding party and the ensuing battle with reverberations that nobody could predict.
To Rescue the Republic: Ulysses S. Grant, the Fragile Union, and the Crisis of 1876 by Bret Baier & Catherine Whitney. This follow-up to the acclaimed Three Days trilogy presents a riveting reassessment of Ulysses S. Grant, the great Civil War commander whose actions both as a general and as president played an unparalleled role in preserving the U.S.
New Fiction
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan. When she is out of a job just in time for the holidays, Carmen, with little cash and few options, is forced to move in with her perfect sister where she takes a job at a book store that desperately needs her help—and helps her in return.
A Christmas Courtship, No. 3 (Berlin Bookmobile) by Shelley Gray. Bookmobile Sarah Anne Miller encourages Atle Petersheim to learn about love through reading romance novels after he mentions his intention to court a local widow as Christmas approaches, in the third novel of the series following An Amish Surprise.
An Irish Country Yuletide, No. 16 (Irish Country Books) by Patrick Taylor. Doctor Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly is enjoying the caroling and tree-trimming of the Irish holiday season in Ballybucklebo when his black sheep brother returns hoping to reconcile, in the latest addition to the series following An Irish Country Welcome.
The Twelve Jays of Christmas, No. 30 (Meg Langslow Mysteries) by Donna Andrews. When a blizzard traps her brother Rob and his fiancé Delaney’s guests inside during their Christmas party, Meg must help the snowbound would-be eloping couple thwart their mothers’ grandiose wedding plans AND solve a murder among the assembled friends and relatives.
Twisted Tea Christmas, No.23 (A Tea Shop Mystery) by Laura Childs. While catering a Victorian Christmas party for Drucilla Heyward, one of the wealthiest women in town who is about to make a huge announcement, tea maven Theodosia Browning finds herself steeped in murder when she stumbles upon Drucilla’s dead body.
God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen, No. 15 (Royal Spyness Mysteries) by Rhys Bowen. Spending Christmas at Sandringham estate with an aunt who has ties to the royals, Georgie is distraught when she learns the Queen expects her to spy for her in the newest novel of the series following The Last Mrs. Summers.
The Book of Magic (The Practical Magic Series) by Alice Hoffman. In this conclusion of the spellbinding Practical Magic series, a frantic attempt to save a young man’s life spurs three generations of the Owens women to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they discover secrets hidden from them in matters of both magic and love.
Dear Santa by Debbie Macomber. Feeling low after her boyfriend cheated on her, Lindy Carmichael heads home to Wenatchee, Washington for Christmas where her mother encourages her to write a grown-up letter to Santa which ultimately brings her hope and joy.
State of Terror by Hillary Clinton & Louise Penny. A passionate young foreign service officer, a dedicated journalist, and a smart, determined, but as yet untested new secretary of state must team up to defeat an intricate, carefully constructed conspiracy planned to take advantage of four years of an American government out of touch with international affairs.