There's a good chance you're glutted with Christmas goose and have a lot of new toys to play with, so let's keep this week's column short and to the point. Local writers have been busy, and you have all kinds of new books to look forward to in the New Year. Here's a start:

•"Through No Fault of My Own," the diary of Coco Irvine, edited by Peg Meier, will be published in April by the University of Minnesota Press. Irvine grew up on Summit Avenue in the house that is now the Governor's Mansion. The diary, which covers her early teens, gives a glimpse of life in St. Paul in the 1920s.

•"All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons," edited by Jay Walljasper and with an introduction by Bill McKibben, will be published in January by The New Press. Walljasper is a longtime editor at Utne Reader. The book looks at the importance of common ground and public spaces -- everything from parks and community gardens to the Internet. Contributors include Lewis Hyde, Winona LaDuke and Robert F. Kennedy.

•The hardworking Laura Childs (Gerry Schmitt) has two new mysteries in the works. "Bedeviled Eggs," a Cackleberry Club mystery, was published this month, and "Scones and Bones," from her tea shop series, will be published in March by Berkley.

•Monica Ferris' latest needlecraft mystery, "Buttons and Bones," has been published by Berkley Crime. Ferris lives in Minneapolis.

•Karen Henry Clark's first book, "Sweet Moon Baby: An Adoption Tale," has been published by Knopf Delacorte Dell. The picture book about a couple adopting a Chinese infant is based on her own experience. Clark lives in St. Paul.

•"Penny Loves Pink" is Minnesotan Cori Doerrfeld's debut picture book and has been published by Little Brown. She illustrated Brooke Shields' picture books, "Welcome to Your World, Baby!" and "It's the Best Day Ever, Dad!"

•Paul Pinsky's "Biking Through the 'Hoods: Exploring Fifty American Cities by Bicycle," includes a section on the Twin Cities. He bikes through Uptown, along the Greenway, gets unnerved in north Minneapolis, and crosses the Mississippi long enough to declare downtown St. Paul "definitely a poor cousin of downtown Minneapolis." Pinsky's book was published by Cityscape Press.

• Biermaier's Books, the Dinkytown used-book store that is closing after more than 60 years, will remain open until Feb. 26, with all books half-price. In an earlier news release, owner Bill Biermaier had indicated the store would close at the end of December. The store is at 809 S.E. 4th St., Mpls.