BREAKING NEWS from two weeks ago! Cats invade the center stage at the G20 summit--the global meeting of the world's 20 largest economies! 

December is finally here, and if you're like me, you've been bumping that Christmas music for a few weeks already. And if you're even more like me, you're already sick of it. Enjoy this month's playlist of non-Christmas songs that have all the qualities of a good Christmas song--fast-paced percussion, a few chimes and bells, and plenty of soaring melodies.

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In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet that will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question what it means to be human. -- Goodreads

"A startling, engrossing, and moral work of fiction." --The New York Times Book Review

"T he Sparrow  is a fantastic journey through faith and science. Telling the heartbreaking story of a Jesuit mission to an alien planet and the ensuing strategy, it makes us think about God's plan and how he can bring true healing out of devastation." --Miss Bree

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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (1954) by J.R.R. Tolkien

Call Number: FIC Tolkien

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J.R.R. Tolkien's  The Lord of the Rings  trilogy is a genuine masterpiece. The most widely read and influential fantasy epic of all time, it is also quite simply one of the most memorable and beloved tales ever told. Originally published in 1954,  The Lord of the Rings  set the framework upon which all epic/quest fantasy since has been built. Through the urgings of the enigmatic wizard Gandalf, young hobbit Frodo Baggins embarks on an urgent, incredibly treacherous journey to destroy the One Ring. This ring -- created and then lost by the Dark Lord, Sauron, centuries earlier -- is a weapon of evil, one that Sauron desperately wants returned to him. With the power of the ring once again his own, the Dark Lord will unleash his wrath upon all of Middle-earth. The only way to prevent this horrible fate from becoming reality is to return the Ring to Mordor, the only place it can be destroyed. Unfortunately for our heroes, Mordor is also Sauron's lair. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is essential reading not only for fans of fantasy but for lovers of classic literature as well -- Goodreads

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