My LINKcat AccountIf you looked out your window around 8 a.m. on Monday morning, you might have noticed a few flakes falling from the sky. Yes. That four-letter word that starts with "s" (and ends with "w") has arrived in Wisconsin. And right on time too! The average first trace of snow is October 15th (Monday, in case you get as lost in time as I sometimes do, was the 17th). The first measurable snow, on average. is November 12th. By measurable, I'm guessing that means enough snow to track a cat in. The average date for the first inch of snow is November 25 which is right smack dab between the earliest and latest dates Thanksgiving can fall. It looks like a warming trend-- by the day you read this -- might be in the forecast. I heard robins and saw juncos over the weekend so birds further north of us are beginning to think it might be time to start staging to warmer, more southerly climes. As those of you who have read these words over the course of time know, I am a football fan. I follow the Badgers and the Packers with great interest and often a lot of yelling at the television. I don't even know what to say about this past weekend.Cold conditions should have favored both teams. "Should have" being the operative phrase here. I know there is always next week. But still. Enough said. There are plenty of books to read. Books by your favorite authors can be a little bit like watching your favorite team. Sometimes they astound and amaze you with their excellence. Other times they phone it in. And as always, there's always another book to read. Below, amongst these titles, you might find a new "team" to follow. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir” by Paul Newman, edited by David Rosenthal. Culled from thousands of pages of transcripts, this raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of the greatest movie star of the past 75 years, told with searing honesty, covers everything: his traumatic childhood, his career, his drinking, his intimate life with Joanne Woodward and his innermost fears and passions and joys.
“To Love and Be Loved: A Personal Portrait of Mother Teresa” by Jim Towey. From a trusted advisor and devoted friend of Mother Teresa comes a firsthand account of the woman behind the saint.
“Waxing on: The Karate Kid and Me” by Ralph Macchio. Based on both the classic movies and his current show, the actor, in this entertaining and nostalgic memoir, reflects on the legacy of "The Karate Kid" in film, pop culture and his own life.
“All That is Wicked: A Gilded-age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind” by Kate Winkler Dawson. The documentary producer and crime historian who wrote American Sherlock tells the true story of the "Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter" who used his smarts and regal bearing to evade notice and punishment in the dazzling salons of New York social circles.
New Fiction
“Daughter of Darkness” by Terry Brooks. After accepting her Fae heritage and escaping the sinister Goblin prison, Auris tries to live happily with her lover, Harlow, until the Goblin attacks begin again and she must uncover her still-shrouded past for answers and solutions.
“If This Book Exists, You’re in the Wrong Universe” by Jason Pargin. A “New York Times” best-selling author's hilarious and horrifying John
“Marigold and Rose” by Louise Gluck, A Nobel laureate presents a magical and incandescent work of fiction.
“Poster Girl” by Veronica Roth. After the collapse of the Delegation, an oppressive dystopian regime, Sonya, a poster girl imprisoned for her involvement, is offered a chance at freedom if she finds a missing girl stolen from her parents by the old regime, forcing her to confront a past rife with lies and dark secrets.
“The Hero of This Book” by Elizabeth McCracken. After her mother’s death, the narrator, a writer, recalls all that made her complicated mother extraordinary and even though she wants to respect her mother’s nearly pathological sense of privacy, must decide whether chronicling this remarkable life is an act of love or betrayal.
“The Last Chairlift” by John Irving. Growing up in a family that defies conventions and evades questions concerning the eventful past, Adam goes to Aspen, where he was conceived, to learn the truth about his mother, a former slalom skier and ski instructor, and meets some ghosts, which aren’t the first or the last ones he sees.
“Lavender House” by Lev Rosen. While investigating the mysterious death of matriarch Irene Lamontaine, head of a famous soap empire, Andy Mills is seduced by the safety and freedom found in Lavender House, where a queer family lives honestly and openly, until he becomes a pawn in their deadly game.
“The Boys From Biloxi: A Legal Thriller” by John Grisham. The New York Times bestselling author returns to Mississippi in his most gripping legal thriller yet, the riveting story of two sons of immigrant families who grow up as friends, but ultimately find themselves on opposite sides of the law.
“Righteous Prey” by John Sandford. When a mysterious vigilante group known only as “The Five” starts targeting the very worst of society, using their unlimited resources to offset the damage done by those they’ve killed, Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are called in to investigate – and destroy – this virtually untraceable group.