My LINKcat AccountWe made it through the high school basketball tournament with nary a snowflake, but … The NCAA Basketball tournament got off to it’s start a week ago Thursday, and just like clockwork, snow was in the forecast with dire predictions of at least six inches of snow. We did get snow, about 3 inches (at least on my porch), but it mostly melted by day’s end. The publication date of this will be day two of the Sweet 16 playoffs. By Saturday we will be down to the Elite Eight and the forecast is for precipitation, but this time we’re talking about rain. I am not quite ready to take my winter coat and snow shovel out of the back seat of my car, but I starting to think really hard about doing it. What restrains me is my fear that I might be tempting fate. That I might in some way be encouraging a snow storm to deliver one more storm. The tulips and daffodils continue their upward journey. They don’t seem to mind this late-season snow. Nor do I. I don’t mind it, but I am ready for it to be done. Anytime. In the meantime there are many spring books arriving, poking their little heads over the tops of the Baker & Taylor boxes, hoping to make their way into your hands. Below are some of the recently-arrived books hoping for a vacation, Gentle Reader, in your domicile. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling” by Jason DeLeon. An internationally recognized anthropologist, who embedded himself within a group of smugglers moving migrants across Mexico over the course of seven years, presents this first-ever, character driven look at human smuggling that revolves around the life and death of one coyote who falls in love and tries to leave smuggling.
“The Black Box: Writing the Race” by Henry Louis Gates. Through essays and speeches, novels, plays and poems, this epic story of Black self-definition in America is told through the myriad of writers who’ve led the way and who have used words to create a livable world – a “home” – for Black people destined to live out their lives in a racist society.
“The Breakthrough Years: A New Scientific Framework for Raising Thriving Teens” by Ellen Galinsky. Blending cutting-edge research with engaging storytelling, the author offers readers a paradigm-shifting comprehensive understanding of adolescence.
“H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z” by Elizabeth Holbert. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction, this collection of twenty-six essays—one for each letter of the alphabet—is an illustrated journey through the history of climate change and the uncertainties of our future.
New Fiction
“The Angle of Indian Lake, No. 3 (The Indian Lake Trilogy)” by Stephen Graham Jones. Jade returns to Proofrock, Idaho, to build a life after the years of sacrifice—only to find the Lake Witch is waiting for her.
“Glorious Exploits” by Ferdia Lennon. A literary novel celebrates that which binds humanity across battle lines and history.
“Double Lives, No.4 (Lexington, Alabama)” by Mary Monroe. Depression-era, Southern identical twin sisters decide to switch places when one is being stifled in a passionless marriage and the other is heartbroken over losing her true love in the fourth novel of the series following “Love, Honor, Betray”.
“A Deadly Walk in Deveon, No. (Walk Through England Mystery)” by Nicholas George. A grieving San Diego detective and his best friend join a group walking tour of England to get his mind off the loss of his partner and become entangled in a murder mystery involving a wealthy and unpopular entrepreneur.
“A Grave Robbery, No.9 (Veronica Speedwell Mystery)” by Deanna Raybourn. Veronica and Stoke investigate after the purchase of a beautiful wax figure by Lord Rosemorran turns out to be the perfectly preserved body of a real young woman in the ninth novel of the series following “A Sinister Revenge”.
“How to Solve Your Own Murder, No. 17 (Jack Taylor)” by Kristen Perrin. After a fortune teller in 1965 predicts her murder, Frances spends her life searching for her best friend who disappeared at a county fair until she actually is murdered 60 years later, leaving her grand-niece Annie to solve both crimes.
“Murder in the Tea Leaves, No 27 (A Tea Shop Mystery)” by Laura Childs. When she reads the tea leaves on the set of the movie, Dark Fortunes, which results in the film’s director murder, Theodosia Browning starts her own shadow investigation and just when she’s about to solve the case, another murder occurs, sending her back to square one.
“The Silver Bone (Kyiv Mysteries)” by Andrey Kurkov. A perplexing mystery introduces rookie detective Samson Kolechko in Kyiv as he is tackling his first case, set against real life details of the tumultuous early 20th century.
“Never Too Late” by Danielle Steel. Starting a new life in New York, Kezia Cooper Hobson, recently widowed, moves into a beautiful midtown penthouse where she forms an instant connection with her movie-star next-door neighbor over their strong impulse to help those in need after a devastating crisis strikes the city.