My LINKcat AccountThere are only ten (or eleven days depending on when you read this and depending on how you count) until Daylight Savings Time starts. The days don’t actually get longer, but we are awake and moving during more of the daylight hours so the days seem longer. And if Daylight Savings Time is in effect, can spring really be that far away? I think not. If the weather holds and the forecasts are somewhat accurate, I should be out in Nebraska gazing at cranes by the time you are reading this. The first returning cranes were spotted on February 7th, so the odds are very good that a lot more sandhill cranes shall have arrived in the Kearney, Nebraska area by the time I get there. Those of you have read this column for lo, these many years know that I am a bit of a craniac (a portmanteau word made from “crane” and “maniac”). But even if you’re not a craniac, the annual sandhill crane migration through the central flyway is a sight you should see sometime in your life. It’s about a ten to 12 hour trip (depending on how fast you drive and how many stops you make), mostly out I-80. Words really can’t describe the spectacle of seeing tens of thousands (half a million at the peak) of cranes congregating in a stretch of the Platte River from York to a little past Kearney, Nebraska. The sound that tens of thousands of cranes can make is also indescribable. It truly is a wonder of the natural world. Anyway, while the countdown to spring continues here, I shall be searching for my February cranes which to me are the real harbingers of spring. There are a number of new books for your perusal listed below. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
The monopolists : obsession, fury, and the scandal behind the world's favorite board game / by Mary Pilon. Tracing back to Abraham Lincoln, the Quakers and a forgotten feminist named Lizzie Magie, and presenting a remarkable social history of corporate greed, a fascinating inside story of the world's most famous board game reveals how Monopoly came into existence.
The creator's code : the six essential skills of extraordinary entrepreneurs by Amy Wilkinson. In a book culled from detailed interviews with more than 200 top entrepreneurs--including the founders of eBay, Tesla Motors, SpaceX, LinkedIn and Spanx--the author describes the six essential proficiencies required to turn small ideas into big, successful businesses.
Performing under pressure : the science of doing your best when it matters most by Hendrie Weisinger. Offers more than 20 different strategies to use to downplay and reduce the feelings of stress while under pressure in both personal and professional situations, from public speaking, sales presentations to job interviews and even playing a friendly, but competitive, game of golf.
The fear cure : cultivating courage as medicine for the body, mind, and soul / by Lissa Rankin. A physician, drawing on peer-reviewed studies and true stories, reveals how being afraid can become a serious health risk factor and provides guidance on how we can reshape our relationship to uncertainty so that it becomes a doorway to new possibilities, instead of something to dread. By the best-selling author of “Mind Over Medicine”.
Get what's yours : the secrets to maxing out your social security / by Laurence Kotlikoff. Helps those nearing retirement make the best decisions about their Social Security benefits by detailing techniques and options like “file and suspend” and “start stop start” to maximize their benefit income for a variety of different life situations.
On your case : a comprehensive, compassionate (and only slightly bossy) legal guide for every stage of a woman's life / by Lisa Green. A legal analyst for “NBC News” presents a legal guide for women in which she explains common legal issues in practical, easy-to-understand terms and shares guidance on such topics as relationships, separation and divorce, domestic violence, midlife and elder care.
New Fiction
Empire / by John Connolly. A follow-up to “Conquest” finds a separated Syl and Paul struggling across millions of light years to reunite while endeavoring to reveal the horrifying truth about a mysterious alien race's role in the Empire.
Half the world / by Joe Abercrombie. Fifteen-year-old girl soldier Thorn learns the ways of war in the king's army while falling in love for the first time. By the “New York Times" best-selling author of “Half a King”.
Dorothy Parker drank here : a novel / by Ellen Meister. While trying to convince brilliant writer Ted Shriver, a cantankerous recluse who is slowly dying of cancer, to keep her company on this side of eternity, Dorothy Parker, tired of haunting the halls of the Algonquin alone, uncovers startling secrets about his past, with the help of an ambitious TV producer.
The girls of Mischief Bay / by Susan Mallery. Three very different women find family through friendship--including Nicole, who faces a difficult choice involving her dependent husband; Shannon, who must choose between love and career; and Pam, whose marriage is tested by an unexpected change.
In plain sight / by Fern Michaels. A new novel from a #1 best-selling author is presented in a special library-only hardcover edition.
Shame and the captives : a novel / by Thomas Keneally. A tale inspired by true events follows the experiences of a World War II prisoner's wife who befriends an Italian anarchist in the hopes of alleviating her husband's suffering, only to be swept up in a violent prison break. By the Booker Prize-winning author of “Schindler's List”.
A touch of stardust / by Kate Alcott. Taking a job at the studio where David O. Selznick is filming “Gone with the Wind”, Julie Crawford becomes an assistant to Carole Lombard, a rising actress from Julie's hometown who embarks on a scandalous affair with Clark Gable.