December 15, 2016 - Cranes

December 15th. Ten days and counting to the big day. Christmas is definitely coming with as much inevitability as winter has been this past week. Last year temperatures were in the 30s and 40s and we had rain, not snow. Last week on December 8th and 9th – that I am personally aware of. The sandhill cranes started heading south in large numbers. Hundreds and hundreds of them were flying over the village loudly proclaiming they were leaving. They might even have been suggesting that others take a cue from them and start their own migration. And perhaps some of us will. Next week the winter solstice occurs which means that winter shall have officially arrived on December 21st. This year, I think winter is more than a little bit early. If the long evenings and cold have you snuggling in for a long winter’s nap and you need some good books to read, there are many new arrivals at the library some of which are listed below. Enjoy!

New Non-Fiction

  • cover art George Lucas : a life / by Brian Jones. The best-selling author of “Jim Henson: The Biography” traces the story of the man behind such blockbuster franchises as Star Wars and Indiana Jones , offering insight into the challenges he overcame and his influential legacy.
  • cover art Hemingway at war : Ernest Hemingway's adventures as a World War II correspondent / by Terry Mort. An account of Ernest Hemingway's adventures in journalism during World War II explores his early resistance to war journalism, his daring missions with the RAF and French Resistance forces, his role in shaping key understandings about the war and its characters and the impact of the war on his subsequent writings.
  • cover art Relentless spirit : the unconventional raising of a champion / by Missy Franklin. The four-time Olympic Gold medalist and her parents trace the inspirational story of how she became both a legendary athlete and a happy and confident woman, achievements that were accomplished by doing things their own way and making the right choices for their family.
  • cover art Whiplash : how to survive our faster future / by Joi Ito & Jeff Howe. The director of MIT's Media Lab and a contributor to Wired present a set of working principles for adapting and thriving in the face of the 21st century's rapidly changing and unpredictable digital environments.
  • cover art The American fisherman : how our nation's anglers founded, fed, financed, and forever shaped the U.S.A. / by Willie Robertson & William Doyle. The Duck Dynasty star and New York Times best-selling author traces the impact fishing has had in shaping America’s history and reveals the influential role it has played in defining our lives, exploring how it has informed our culture, in literature, movies and television..
  • cover art Are numbers real? : the uncanny relationship of mathematics and the physical world / by Brian Clegg. The critically acclaimed author of “Ten Billion Tomorrows” and “The Final Frontier” presents an accessible, in-depth look at the history of numbers and their applications in life and science, from math's surreal presence in the virtual world to the debates about the role of math in science.

New Fiction

  • cover art The chemist : a novel / by Stephanie Meyer. An ex-agent on the run from her former employers must take one more case to clear her name and save her life. By the #1 best-selling author of “The Host” and the Twilight series.
  • cover art Conclave / by Robert Harris. After the demise of the Pope, 118 cardinals converge on the Sistine Chapel to cast their votes in the world's most secretive election, where ambition and rivalry play out over the course of 72 hours. By the best-selling author of “Fatherland” .
  • cover art Cross the line / by James Patterson. When a prominent police official in Washington D.C. is murdered, leaving police scrambling for answers, Alex Cross is swept up in a series of deadly attacks by a vigilante killer who is targeting suspected criminals. By the award-winning author of “Cross Justice”.
  • cover art Lone wolf / by Sara Driscoll. FBI Special Agent Meg Jennings and Hawk, her loyal search-and-rescue Labrador, must zero in on one of the deadliest killers in the country.
  • cover art Night school : a Jack Reacher novel / by Lee Child. The iconic Jack Reacher embarks on an unprecedented adventure after a pivotal day marked by a medal, his return to school and his work with teammates Marian Sinclair and Frances Neagley. By the best-selling author of “Never Go Back”.
  • cover art No man's land / by David Baldacci. A follow-up to the best-selling “The Escape” and “The Forgotten” continues the high-suspense story of military investigator John Puller.
  • cover art Odessa sea / by Clive Cussler. Dirk Pitt and his NUMA team race to prevent a global war linked to the 1917 effort to preserve the Romanov Empire, the loss of a Cold War bomber's deadly cargo, mysterious Black Sea deaths and modern-day nuclear-materials smugglers.