October 30, 2014 - Migratory Flocks

We are truly in the midst of Fall and perhaps even starting to lean towards Winter. Tomorrow is Halloween which means we will be in November in the blink of an eye. Geese have been flying for weeks now, but mostly these are local geese just practicing formation flying. The white-crowned sparrows passed through a few weeks ago on their way South. Migratory flocks of songbirds are still passing through from further North, but there are fewer robins and red-winged black birds passing through daily. If you’re interested in what birds might be migrating through, check out the website http://birdcast.info/forecasts/ which is maintained by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Birds that you usually see in family units or loose flocks are now grouping into much larger migratory flocks. Geese are a great example. While young are being raised, there’s only the family. Once the young have fledged larger family groups start hanging out together and now ponds are nearly covered with them. Cranes group up too with families of three and four getting joining up with bachelor groups to make up larger groups. By the way, Goose Pond is covered right now – not with all that many geese—but 100s of coots, mallards, and other migrating ducks. There were also 36 swans up there last weekend. The Asian lady bugs and box elder bugs have been hanging around on the South facing of buildings for a while now. When you put all of these portents together, it really does look like we are transitioning from the end of one season towards that start of the next. We have plenty of new books that are still arriving during the Fall publishing season. They are listed below. Enjoy!

New Non-Fiction

  • cover art Mr. Hockey : my story / by Gordie Howe. A personal account by the hockey Hall of Famer traces his Depression-era childhood, record-setting career and enduring relationships with his wife and children.
  • cover art Not my father's son : a memoir / by Alan Cumming. The acclaimed actor profiles his turbulent relationship with his father, tracing his 2010 appearance in a celebrity genealogy show to solve the disappearance of a WWII hero grandparent and his discovery of astounding family secrets.
  • cover art The republic of imagination : America in three books / by Azar Nafisi. The best-selling author of “Reading Lolita in Tehran” presents an impassioned tribute to the importance of fiction to democracy that blends memoir with close readings of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, “Babbitt” and “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter”.
  • cover art Rocks : my life in and out of Aerosmith / by Joe Perry. The lead guitarist of Aerosmith shares behind-the-scenes perspectives into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band, discussing such topics as his teen decision to drop out of school, enduring relationship with Steve Tyler and experiences with fame and recovery.
  • cover art Special deluxe : [a memoir of life & cars] / by Neil Young. A follow-up to “Waging Heavy Peace” by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee traces his six-decade career through the cars he has owned, discussing how they are reflecting new understandings about the environmental impact of automobiles.
  • cover art Entrepreneurial StrengthsFinder / by Jim Clifton. Delves into the psychology of the entrepreneur and includes strategies and action items for building successful ventures, as well as access to an online test that measures readers' entrepreneurial potential. By the creators of “StrengthsFinder 2.0”.

New Fiction

  • cover art A call to duty : a novel of the honorverse / by David Weber & Timothy Zahn. A debut entry in a new series set in the frontier past of Weber's Honor Harrington's Star Kingdom follows the adventures of structure-seeking Travis Uriah Long, who confronts unexpected dangers after joining the Royal Manticoran Navy.
  • cover art A vision of fire / by Gillian Anderson & Jeff Rovin. Juggling her career, parenting responsibilities and lackluster dating life, child psychologist Caitlin O'Hara begins treating an ambassador's daughter, who starts having fits and speaking in tongues right before children throughout the world demonstrate similar mystical symptoms.
  • cover art War dogs / by Greg Bear. A first entry in a new trilogy by the best-selling author of “Eon” follows the arrival of highly advanced alien visitors to Earth who bring sophisticated technology while imparting warnings of an antagonistic race that has already established a base on Mars.
  • cover art Beautiful you / by Chuck Palahniuk. Invited by notorious playboy C. Linus Maxwell to a Paris hotel, Manhattan legal associate Penny Harrigan discovers that she is a test subject for the final development of sex toys for women that will render men obsolete and make Maxwell the most powerful person in the world.
  • cover art Full measure / by T. Jefferson Parker. An Afghanistan War veteran puts his dreams on hold to save his family farm before confronting a terrible choice in the aftermath of his crime-connected brother's disappearance. By the Edgar Award-winning author of “The Fallen”.
  • cover art How to build a girl / by Caitlin Moran. After she shames herself on local TV, 14-year-old Johanna Morgan reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde--a fast-talking, hard-drinking Gothic hero and full-time Lady Sex Adventurer--until two years later, while eviscerating bands as a music critic, she realizes she's built Dolly with a fatal flaw. By the best-selling author of “How to Be a Woman”.
  • cover art The ploughmen : a novel / by Kim Zupan. A young sheriff and a hardened killer form an uneasy and complicated bond in a novel set on the plains of Montana.
  • cover art Leaving time : a novel / by Jodi Picoult. Abandoned by a grief-stricken father and accomplished-scientist mother who disappeared under mysterious circumstances, 13-year-old Jenna Metcalf approaches a disgraced psychic and a jaded detective in the hopes of finding answers. By the #1 best-selling author of “The Storyteller”.