My LINKcat AccountThe good news is that there are still two weeks and two days before the big winter holiday eve is upon us. Yikes! Did I just say two weeks? I was going to be reassuring and say something along the lines of “There’s still loads of time to get all your shopping, baking, wrapping, and any other word that ends in “ing” that you do around this season, such as – oh, I don’t know—caroling, wassailing, sleigh riding, and shoveling leap to mind without a second’s thought.” But two weeks isn’t all that much time. Sure you have to take a little break now and then and recharge your batteries, but it really is getting to be nose-to-the-grindstone time now. We have rounded the last turn and are heading into the home stretch as it were. Not only in the amount of time available as we count down the days to the holidays at the end of this month, but also as we count down the loss of light to the shortest day of the year on the 21st. But the good news is that yesterday, today, and tomorrow (the 7th, 8th, and 9th of December) the sun sets at 4:22. That is the earliest that the sun sets around here. On the 10th the sun sets a minute later and by the time the 25th rolls around, we’ve gained six minutes on the sun set end of the day. Of course, we continue to loss time on the front end of the day with the sun rising later and later until it stops at 7:29 and hangs there until January 10th when sun rise is a minute earlier. We are almost through the darkest days of the year. While you’re recharging your batteries and waiting for longer daylight hours, there are a number of new books to keep you entertained. They’re listed below. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
Hank : the short life and long country road of Hank Williams / by Mark Ribowsky. Presents a heartbreaking and unforgettable portrait of one of country music’s founding fathers.
The beautiful country and the Middle Kingdom : America and China, 1776 to the present / by John Pomfret. Describes the shared history of the United States and China, from early American missionaries and Chinese students who were the first to enroll in American universities, through the Boxer Rebellion, the rise of Mao and both countries’ involvement in World Wars I and II.
Our revolution : a future to believe in / by Bernie Sanders. The break-out Democratic candidate for president, who gave Hillary Clinton a run for her money, offers an inside account of his extraordinary campaign—and a blueprint for future political action.
Thank you for being late : an optimist's guide to thriving in the age of accelerations / by Thomas Friedman. A field guide to the 21st century by a three-time Pulitzer Prize recipient and author of “The World Is Flat” shares strategies for surviving today's hectic technological, environmental and economic challenges, contrasting present-day environments with the working model of an earlier generation.
A space traveler's guide to the solar system / by Mark Thompson. The celebrated astronomer and host of BBC Stargazing Live takes readers on a tour through our solar system, exploring the sun, planets, moons and asteroid belts and describing how travelers might survive, navigate and get fuel on such a trip.
New Fiction
Prince Lestat and the realms of Atlantis. by Anne Rice. Via the tale of the lost realms of Atlantis, readers will come to understand its secrets, and how and why the vampire Lestat, indeed all the vampires, must reckon so many millennia later with the terrifying force of an ageless, all-powerful Atalantaya spirit. By the best-selling author of “Interview With a Vampire”
The whole town's talking / by Fannie Flagg. The late citizens of a small Missouri community wake up underground after death and reconnect with loved ones over the course of 150 years before some of them begin to actually disappear, prompting a town-wide investigation. By the New York Times best-selling author of “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café”
The flame bearer : a novel / by Bernard Cornwell. Aspiring to reclaim the home stolen by his traitorous uncle after a truce is forged between the Vikings and Saxons, the warrior Uhtred of Bebbanburg draws on skills gleaned from a lifetime of war to confront new enemy Constantin of Scotland, who resolves to claim or annihilate coveted lands. 100,000 first printing. TV tie-in.
To capture what we cannot keep / by Beatrice Colin. A tale set against a backdrop of the late-19th-century construction of the Eiffel Tower follows the romantic relationship between a widow whose precarious financial situation forces her to chaperone two wealthy Scottish charges and a bourgeois family businessman who must marry a suitable wife.
Sinner man / by Lawrence Block. Lost for nearly half a century, a first crime novel by the multiple Edgar and Shamus Award-winning Mystery Writers of America Grand Master follows the experiences of an insurance man who takes on a new identity in the New York mob after a murder he did not mean to commit.
Stone coffin : a mystery / by Kjell Eriksson. Detective Ann Lindell investigates after a man goes missing on the same day his wife and daughter are run over by a car near Uppsala in the latest addition to the Swedish mystery series following “Open Grave” .
When all the girls have gone / by Jayne Krentz. Teaming up with struggling private investigator Max to track down her missing stepsister, Charlotte falls in love with Max and survives a near-fatal attack before making a chilling discovery about her sister's past. By the best-selling author of “Secret Sisters”.
Chaos : a Scarpetta novel / by Patricia Cornwell. Suspicious of a bizarre death by lightning strike, Cambridge forensics examiner Kay Scarpetta identifies links between the case and a series of poetry emails being sent to her by an anonymous cyber-stalker who has gained access to Kay's personal information.