My LINKcat AccountToday is the 12th day of the year. How are your resolutions holding up? Probably as well as the temperatures. There’s an old, weather-lore, saying that as the days lengthen the cold strengthens; that has held true this past week. Yesterday, January 11th, was National Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day. I know, I know. It’s hard to believe all the national days and celebrations there are out there. Given the weather we generally experience in January, it would be darn near impossible to splash a puddle until well into the next month (or more). Today is National Marzipan Day as well as National Curried Chicken Day (not sure if you are supposed to eat curried chicken or feed your chicken curry today). The next few days hold many wonders not only is tomorrow, Friday the 13th, it is also National Blame Someone Else Day (which always falls on the first Friday the 13th in the year. It is also National Rubber Ducky Day. National Dress Up Your Pet Day is January 14th and – I know we’re all looking forward to this day – January 16th is National Nothing Day as well as National Fig Newton Day. As you can see, even with the cold weather that accompanies January and the start of a new year, there are lots of things to celebrate. Let’s toast to those celebratory days with a good book! Below you will find a sampling of some of the new books that have arrived at the library this week. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
Citizen science : how ordinary people are changing the face of discovery / by Caren Cooper. Cites the essential contributions of millions of people in the lay community who contribute to the scientific process by volunteering in cooperation with scientists to help collect and discover information, tracing the history of citizen scientists and how they are reshaping scientific awareness.
The secret life of fat : the science behind the body's least understood organ and what it means for you / by Sylvia Tara. A University of California biochemist blends historical perspectives with cutting-edge research to examine body fat as a critical endocrine organ, equipped with its own defense mechanisms that can be better understood and managed when recognized as a necessary component of human health.
The telomere effect : a revolutionary approach to living younger, healthier, longer / by Elizabeth Blackburn & Elissa Epel. The Nobel Prize-winning scientist whose team discovered telomeres, telomerase and their role in aging and a psychologist who researched specific lifestyle habits tied to health and longevity share strategic information about sleep, exercise, diet and stress.
Language at the speed of sight : how we read, why so many can't, and what can be done about it / by Mark Seidenberg. A psychology professor specializing in the cognitive and neurological bases of language and reading discusses why he thinks we have been incorrectly teaching children and adults how to read and offers suggestions on how to vastly improve this vital life skill.
A consequential president : the legacy of Barack Obama / by Michael D’Antonio. In response to criticism and disappointment from the Left, the author offers a bold assessment of the lasting successes and major achievements of President Obama. By a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
New Fiction
Wyoming brave / by Diana Palmer. Agreeing to let Meredith Grayling, who is hiding from a dangerous stalker, stay on his ranch, Ren Colter, who has lived as a recluse since his fiancée left him years ago, finds his protective instincts kicking and his heart opening up to this blonde beauty who has gotten under his skin. By a New York Times best-selling author.
Idaho : a novel / by Emily Ruskovich. A tale told from multiple perspectives traces the complicated relationship between Ann and Wade on a rugged landscape and how they came together in the aftermath of his first wife's imprisonment for a violent murder. A first novel.
Little deaths : a novel / by Emma Flint. A gripping suspense tale set in 1960s New York and inspired by true events follows the investigation of a cocktail waitress whose two young children have been brutally murdered and a rookie tabloid reporter who would uncover the truth. A first novel.
The Ripper's shadow : a Victorian mystery / by Laura Joh Rowland. Supplementing her meager income by shooting illicit "boudoir photographs" of the local ladies of the night, photographer Miss Sara Bain and her motley crew of friends are embroiled in the crime of the century when two of her clients are murdered by Jack the Ripper.
Below the belt / by Stuart Woods. New York City cop-turned-Manhattan law firm rainmaker Stone Barrington and his gang of cronies find themselves back in the line of fire in a latest breakneck thriller by the Edgar Award-winning author of “Chiefs”.
Dead and breakfast : a Merry Ghost Inn mystery / by Kate Kingsbury. Melanie West is getting her life back on track after a messy divorce when her grandmother, Liza Harris, asks her to open a B&B with her. Together, Liza and Melanie purchase a purportedly haunted mansion on the Oregon coast and jump right into clearing out the cobwebs. But while attempting to remove wallpaper in an upstairs bedroom, the new B&B owners stumble upon a very real skeleton in their closet.
The second Mrs. Hockaday : a novel / by Susan Rivers. A tale inspired by a true story follows the efforts of a Civil War veteran to discern the truth about his teen bride, who during the two years he was at war was convicted and imprisoned for allegedly having a baby in his absence and killing it. A first novel by the award-winning playwright of “Overnight Lows”.
Mrs. Sherlock Holmes : the true story of New York City's greatest female detective and the 1917 missing girl case that captivated a nation / by Brad Ricca. Presents the shocking and amazing true story of the first female U.S. District Attorney and traveling detective who found missing 18-year-old Ruth Cruger when the entire NYPD had given up.